by Elin Peer
“I’m not here to fight you,” Solomon muttered like a warning, his skin drawn tight over his cheekbones, his eyes haunted.
“And I’m not here to kill you, but I will if you get too close to my sister.” Hunter backed up four steps before turning his back on us and walking toward the lake. I had no doubt that he was heading to give Willow a heads-up that Solomon had arrived.
“He doesn’t like you.” Shelly spoke the obvious and it somehow lightened the heavy atmosphere.
“Fuck, thank you for pointing that out, Shelly. I did get some vibes but wasn’t sure how to read them,” Tristan said.
Punching Tristan on the shoulder, I warned him. “Don’t mess with my wife.”
Tristan held up both his palms.
“Are you two the only old people here?” Solomon asked Archer and me.
“Old? In what universe is thirty old?” I asked in a tone that sounded offended.
“A child would think that you’re old,” Shelly speculated. “I think.”
Archer pointed to Solomon. “Just because you’ve grown up to be bigger than a mountain doesn’t mean Marco and I can’t still crush you.”
Solo snorted and flashed his teeth in a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Sure you could. Granted, I would have to be drunk or half asleep and both of you would have to come at me at the same time using heavy weapons and a small army.”
“One thing that hasn’t changed is your confidence and arrogance.” Archer patted Solomon’s shoulder. “You hungry?”
“Starving.”
“Good, then let’s make breakfast and you can update us on what you’ve been up to.”
I gave Shelly a kiss and told her to relax while I helped make breakfast. “You could pack our things in case we need to leave with Willow and Hunter in a hurry,” I whispered in her ear.
“Can I be on the breakfast team too?” Storm asked.
“You can set the table,” Archer instructed him and turned to Mila. “Mila Vanilla, will you do me a favor?”
“Of course.”
“Boulder should be on his way, but get the message to him, Finn, Magni, and Khan that Solomon has arrived. They are at the Gray Mansion with all the women to spend the morning with the kids.”
“No problem. I’ll tell them to bring some of the puppies. Pets always have a way of calming people down; maybe it’ll help Hunter. He seemed a bit stressed out.”
“Fine, just don’t bring the crazy frizzy one you brought last time. That thing pissed on the carpet in the school room.”
“Egypt is young. He can’t help it.”
Archer gave me a sideway glance when we left Mila. “Don’t let her pressure you into adopting one of her puppies. Mila has a whole litter of troublemakers in her room at the mansion. It’s rare to see her without animals by her side.”
“Thank you for the heads-up.”
Ten minutes later I was stirring a large pot of oatmeal, Storm was setting up the breakfast buffet in the dining room, while Archer and Solomon were working on getting fruit, bread, jam, and a variety of nuts and vegetables ready.
“What happened to the bacon or steaks?” Solomon asked with one hand holding the door to the fridge open. “It looks like a fucking greenhouse in here.”
“Don’t worry. There’s a large fridge up at the butcher’s house with all the meat.” Archer gave an apologetic shrug. “Kya wanted it that way; when she was pregnant the smell of meat made her sick.”
“So? She’s not pregnant anymore, is she?”
“No. But we struck a compromise.”
“Okay. She got meat out of the fridge, but what did you get?”
“I get four days with her alone in a cabin twice a year.” Archer held up the knife he was cutting with. “Don’t give me that look. I share her with our kids and the students every day. Four days alone with my woman is a big deal.”
Tasting the oatmeal, I added a bit of salt. “I get that, but the butcher’s house is a five minutes hike. Sounds like a pain in the wintertime.”
“It’s worth it.”
Solomon walked to the door. “I’ll go and get the meat then.”
“Hey, wait up, I’ll come with you. In case you run into Hunter.”
Solomon turned. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt him.”
“Not intentionally.” I turned off the oatmeal and put on the lid. “But you’re both hungry, which always makes things worse.”
“Good point.” Archer pushed Solomon back into the kitchen and called to Storm in the dining room. “Hey, Storm, fetch bacon, sausages, and some steaks in the butcher’s house, will you?”
“I’m not some fucking errand boy,” Storm protested but still went out the door.
“Tell me about you and Shelly,” Solomon asked and went back to cutting a large cucumber. “How did you get her to marry you?”
“I knocked her up.”
Solomon put the knife down, turned, and sat on the edge of the corner of the sink. “She let you have sex with her without being married?”
“Yes, in fact she was the one who initiated it the first time. Took me a while to convince her that marriage was the right thing to do.”
“Fuck.” Solomon looked from me to Archer and back again. “That’s like something from an antique novel or something. A woman chasing a man.”
“I wouldn’t call it chasing exactly. I mean I didn’t make it hard for her.”
“Well, no, of course not, you’re not an idiot.”
“Right.” I cleared my throat. “No, but seriously, it’s not just that I’m flattered that a woman wants to be with me. I would never do the Matching Program or anything. It’s because Shelly is special… like a whole different gender in herself.”
“What the fuck are you saying?” Archer’s eyes widened. “Does she lack her lady parts or what?”
“No of course not – I just told you she’s pregnant.” I laughed. “I meant that Shelly is somehow more.”
“More what?”
“More than most people. Smarter, sharper, better… it’s hard to explain.”
Archer shook his head and laughed. “You’re in love. It’ll pass.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Oh, I understand. I’ve been obsessed with Kya myself. Nothing that a healthy dose of time together can’t cure.”
I frowned.
“You’re blinded by her and it’s understandable. Hey, I still get flustered sometimes when Kya smiles at me with those eyes.”
“What eyes?” Solomon asked.
“She has a certain expression in her eyes when she’s horny.”
“Whoa, whoa, I don’t need to hear that about Kya.” Solomon held up a hand. “She was my mentor.”
“She’s also a woman.”
“I know that, but still.”
“What are you gonna say to Willow?” The question had been burning on my tongue.
Solomon scratched his short beard. “Magni told me the best thing to do is apologize and ask for forgiveness.”
“I’m surprised. I didn’t think that man knew what the word meant.”
“Magni knows what it means, he just hardly ever uses it.”
“Willow might not want to talk to you.”
“I don’t blame her.”
Archer stiffened and I followed his gaze out the window to Willow, who was walking between Raven and Hunter, a small towel wrapped around her body doing nothing to hide her long gorgeous brown legs or the straps from her bikini top. Her hair was wet and pulled away from her face, which looked serious.
“What is it?” Solomon came to the window and froze to the spot. I watched his mouth open and then close as his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. He didn’t verbalize a thought, but the pain in his eyes said it all. “I need to talk to her,” he muttered.
“Now isn’t the time.” Archer stopped him with a firm hand to his shoulder. “Let Willow come to you. If you’re lucky she’ll wait until we’ve had breakfast.”
“I don’t si
t around and wait for things to happen.”
“This time you will. Trust me on this. I’ve been married for ten years and one thing I’ve learned is that there are two ways of arguing with a woman. She’ll initiate the most arguments when she’s hungry or cranky from her period, but those arguments are impossible to win because they’re not about changing your mind in the first place. Then there are the other arguments which are more practical and takes place somewhere between dinner and bedtime when there are no kids around.”
“And they work better?” Solomon asked.
Archer chuckled. “None of them work.”
“But you said there were two ways of arguing with a woman. Now you’re saying that neither of them works?”
“That’s right. Don’t expect to better a Motlander in an argument. They look sweet and polite, but I’m warning you: they’re relentless and stubborn beyond anything you can imagine.” He held up an index finger. “And they use dirty tricks.”
“Like what?”
“Like asking you to agree on something they know you don’t want to do at the one time your brain is malfunctioning.”
Solomon shook his head. “You lost me.”
“Just after sex. When you’re high on endorphins and shit, she’ll ask something that sounds like a minor thing compared to the bliss of having just orgasmed inside her and then the next day you’ll see your male students participating in fucking honesty sessions.”
“You didn’t,” I breathed with my eyes wide in shock.
“What’s honesty sessions?” Solomon asked.
Archer looked down and his shoulders lifted in a heavy sigh. “It’s a thing they use in the Motherlands to build a bond between the students and teachers. Something that Kya wanted from the beginning and we refused to engage in.”
“How long has this been going on?” I asked in a blameful tone.
“For about a year.”
“Christ, Archer. We said that we’d never do that.”
“I still don’t understand what an honesty session is.”
Turning to Solomon, I explained. “Motlanders believe in strengthening children’s ability to not only verbalize their feelings and emotions, but also to detect what’s going on inside them to begin with. You know how they do all that meditation?”
“Yeah. I kind of like meditation.”
“Kya had a different word for honesty sessions – she called them exploration sessions and we shielded you Nboys from it.”
“Why? What was so dangerous about it? If it’s just talking, I mean.”
“You don’t get it, do you? Have you looked at males from the Motherlands? They are indoctrinated to suppress their nature and be gentle and kind. We wanted you boys to run, fight, climb, swear, and be real Nmen. She wanted you to calm down, be safe, and dive deep to find your inner voice.”
Archer lifted his hands. “I have to say, though, it’s not been as bad as I thought it would be. There’s less uncontrolled fighting now that the boys are better at communicating their feelings.”
“Don’t tell me they hug it out?” Solomon snorted.
Archer bit his lip. “Look, the point is that Motlanders have learned how to express their feelings since they were little and arguing with them is a sure way to lose a discussion. Take my advice and at least wait until Willow and you have eaten. People who are hungry get unreasonable in arguments.”
Solomon kept his eyes on Willow, who was close to the school building now. “But I just want to have it over with.”
“Bullshit, Solo. You want her to forgive you, so be patient and let her come to you.”
“I don’t think I can do that. It’s not in my nature to be patie…”
Solomon stopped talking when the kitchen door was flung open and Willow stood in the doorway with Raven and Hunter right behind her.
Willow was tall for a Motlander woman. She looked straight at Solomon with her green eyes darker than usual. For a long second they just stared at each other.
“I’m taking a shower and then we’ll talk.” It wasn’t a question but an order, and Solomon blinked his eyes and parted his lips with a look of surprise.
“You should both eat first,” Archer suggested.
Willow ignored him. Her gaze was burning with intensity and locked with Solomon’s. As if a time bomb was ticking, I was waiting for an argument to explode with apologies, tears, loud voices, and accusations. Instead we all stood caught in a silent exhibition of raw emotions accompanied by loaded tension from unsaid things.
Solomon finally cleared his throat. “I’m ready to talk when you are.”
“Meet me by the lake in twenty minutes.”
Hunter pushed his way forward, grabbing Willow’s arm. “You’re not going anywhere with him.”
Jerking her hand back, Willow ignored Hunter’s comment, gave Solomon a last hard stare, and walked away.
“Be there,” she said over her shoulder before the door to the shower room closed behind her.
“Hey, Raven,” Archer called out.
“Yeah.” Like Willow, Raven was wearing only a swimsuit. Her towel wasn’t wrapped around her body but hung across her shoulder.
“Make sure Willow eats after the shower.”
Raven’s eyes fell on Solomon. “My guess is that she’s lost her appetite.”
“I don’t care. Make sure she eats.” Archer’s order was clear, and then he turned to Solomon. “Don’t even think about touching her or asking her to go anywhere with you. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Hunter stepped closer. “This is not one of those gray area things. If you touch her you’re dead. Magni gave me his word that you wouldn’t touch her and that he’d let me kill you if you do.”
Solomon’s face tightened. “You really hate me, huh?”
“You stole my sister and you fucking hurt her.” The four last words came out as a hiss, Hunter filling up the entire doorway and looking large and intimidating.
“I won’t hurt her again.” Solomon reached for an apple and a bun. “I’ll go to the lake and wait for her. “
At first Hunter didn’t move from the doorway.
“What are you going to do? Trap me in this kitchen forever?” Solomon waited for three seconds and all the time I held my breath hoping that he wouldn’t physically push his way out. Hunter’s behavior was an invitation to a fight.
Luckily Solomon didn’t take the bait. “Would you mind moving so I can get out?” he asked in a calm voice.
Archer and I exchanged a glance, aware that Hunter had put both men in a predicament. If Hunter backed down and moved it would be a win for Solomon. They were both proud men, and we needed to intervene before Solomon had no other choice than to push Hunter out of the way.
“Hunter, can you put this on the breakfast buffet?” I asked and handed him a breadbasket.
It worked. With a last cold stare at Solomon, Hunter took the bread and moved to the side.
Solo stepped through the doorway and had only taken a few steps toward the exit of the school when Hunter’s words made him stop cold.
“Willow is with Tristan now.”
None of us saw Solomon’s expression because he had his back to us, but from the way his shoulders tensed up it was clear that he’d understood.
“That’s right, the two are in love, so keep your fucking distance.”
If Solomon had seen the surprise on Archer’s and Raven’s faces, maybe he would have seen through Hunter’s lie, but Solomon didn’t turn around to confirm that he’d heard right. He was already moving away from the school in long strides.
“I didn’t know Willow and Tristan were a couple,” Archer said when it was just the two of us in the kitchen.
“They’re not. I’m sure Tristan would love it, but Willow doesn’t like him that way.”
“Hunter is playing a dangerous game.”
“I know, but Tristan volunteered to play the role.”
“Brave fool.” Archer sighed. “Do you think Willow
will forgive Solo?” The question hung in the air as we watched the giant of a man duck his head under a branch hanging high over the path leading down to the lake.
“Even if she wanted to forgive Solo, she couldn’t.” I exhaled noisily. “We all know Hunter would never forgive her if she did.”
CHAPTER 33
Love Declarations
Shelly
It was close to noon, and Marco and I were on the grass soaking up sunshine.
Others were sitting around in groups enjoying the last hours with their old friends before we would all split up and go back to our normal lives again.
“Marco, I haven’t seen Hunter for a while. Do you know where he went?”
Marco was flat on his back, his eyes closed.
“I asked you a question.”
His voice was low and drowsy when he answered, “Magni, Archer, and Hunter are keeping an eye on the situation by the lake.”
“They’re spying on Willow and Solomon?”
“Shh… keep your voice down. You didn’t expect them to let Willow be unprotected, did you?”
“It’s been hours. Do you think everything is all right?”
“I don’t know. They must have a lot to talk about. Solo said that he was going to apologize to her, that’s all I know.”
I nuzzled my body into the crook of his shoulder and rested my head on his chest. “Willow told me about what happened before she left the school. It’s sad, because there used to be so much love between them.”
“Please.” I snorted. “They were just kids.”
“Don’t say that. He was seventeen and she was fifteen when they ran away together.”
“My point exactly. Fifteen is still a child, Shelly.”
“I remember being fifteen and having strong feelings too. May I remind you that in this country women used to marry at the age of fifteen?”
Marco squeezed an eye open. “We fixed that. Now women have to be twenty-one.”
“You’re changing the subject. You might have been twenty when I was fifteen but I was way more mature than you.”
“Ha! Not even close. I was an adult.”
“Were you really? I remember you as being juvenile, with you and the boys competing about who could eat the most disgusting things, make the longest yellow line in the snow in the wintertime, and make the smelliest farts.”