BLIND FAITH
By
Kimberley Reeves
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events are the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Copyright 2010 by Kimberley Reeves
All rights reserved
No part of this eBook may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanic means, including but not limited to, information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This eBook is self-published by Kimberley Reeves. If you are interested in publishing this book, please send your request via the comment section.
Chapter 1
“Hold her down.”
“You take her arms and I’ll grab her legs.”
“Whoever lasts the longest gets to take her to the prom.”
Drunken laughter echoed off the cave walls. She wanted to scream, to beg them to stop, but the overpowering stench of beer and sweat clogged her nose and made her gag…
An icy thread of fear shimmied up Serena’s spine. It is not real, she told herself. Any memories she had of that night were safely locked away behind a door that would never be opened again. But the nightmares came even when she was awake; unwanted, uninvited, terrifying. Most of the time they faded into oblivion the moment she woke up, but this one lingered, hovering in the recesses of her mind. She was powerless to stop it. To stop the fear that came with it.
Rufus nudged her leg and Serena leaned down, absently patting his head. “It’s okay, boy. I’m fine.”
The Golden Retriever had been a gift from her father the day after she was released from the hospital. A guilt gift for not being there to protect her. She supposed giving her the dog she’d begged him for since she was six was a way of alleviating a small portion of that guilt. But her father hadn’t been the only one giving her gifts and treating her as if she was the crowned queen of England. They all harbored feelings of guilt; her mother, her two brothers, even some of her friends. But no one carried the burden of self-recrimination or tried harder to make up for it than her big sister, McKinley.
Vibrations from the cell phone in her pocket jerked Serena back into the present. Pulling it out, she skimmed her finger along the top and pressed the button, not entirely surprised to hear the automated voice announce it was her mother calling. After six months of living on her own, she’d hoped her family would back off a little and stop their incessant worrying, but apparently that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. Drawing in a deep breath, Serena did her level best to keep the irritation from her voice when she answered.
“I hope this is important, Mom, I was just getting ready to take a shower.”
A white lie wouldn’t condemn her to purgatory but it would save her from listening to her mother recount all the safety precautions she should be taking. Or not, Serena thought dismally when her mother immediately launched into an all too familiar spiel. She maneuvered around Rufus and dropped down onto the cushy sofa while her mother rambled on about checking the locks on the windows and remembering to set the security alarm. Serena mumbled an obligatory ‘I will’ after each set of instructions and tossed in an occasional ‘I already have’ just to break up the monotony.
“If it makes you feel any better,” she interjected when her mother paused to take a breath, “Aunt Rose just rented out the upper half of the house to a young college student.”
“Male or female, and how young?” Leslie Cross asked her daughter.
“His name is Will and he’s three years older than me…”
“A twenty-five year old man we’ve never even met before living in the same house with you? I don’t like it, Serena, and I intend to talk to my sister about it the minute I hang up.”
“Mother please, I’m fine with it. And you do know him. It’s Will Duncan. He used to play football with Anthony and Sawyer in high school, remember?”
“Of course I remember him. But are you sure…”
“I’m sure,” Serena replied with much more conviction than she felt. “Will was always very nice to me and I…I’ve talked to Anthony and Sawyer and they both said they would feel better knowing Will was here. Besides, he knows all about me, and Rose said he was extremely agreeable about helping out if I needed it, so you can stop worrying. I would have thought you’d be happy to know I have a big, strong man around to protect me, or at least to make sure all the windows are locked up tight.”
“I’d be happier if you moved back home.”
“You do recall that you’re the one who said I was so self-sufficient I could manage just fine on my own, right?”
“Yes, but I didn’t expect you to move out two weeks later! I’m so mad at Rose for offering you one of her rental houses, I could spit nails. And don’t think I’m not going to light into her as soon as the little coward stops avoiding me.”
Serena bit back a giggle. “She is not avoiding you, Mom. We came to see you just last week and had a great chat over lunch.”
“Oh, she doesn’t have a problem seeing me as long as someone else is along or we meet in a public place because she knows I’ll hold my tongue.”
“Go easy on her, Mom, as a favor to me. I know you don’t like me living here all alone but you can’t watch over me forever and I really am very grateful to Rose for letting me stay here. You and I both know she could be getting twice the rent she charges me, not to mention all the remodeling she had done just to accommodate me and Rufus.”
“I know,” Leslie said with a sigh of resignation. “You always were Rose’s favorite niece. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised she jumped on the chance to offer one of her rentals once she discovered you wanted a place of your own.”
“Now that we’ve established Rose is not to blame and that having Will move in is a good idea, I really have to go. I would hate for him to show up and find me wearing nothing but a towel.”
She supposed she should have been ashamed of herself for making her mother believe she was sitting here half naked when Will was due to arrive any minute but she still had several papers to grade and her students would be expecting their essay scores tomorrow. If she hadn’t cut her mother off, she would have been stuck on the phone for at least another hour and she was already going to lose valuable time once Will got here. Not that she intended to spend any more time with him than necessary, but she wanted to set down the ground rules right up front so there were no misunderstandings later.
***
Serena had finished nearly half the essays when the doorbell rang. Rufus padded to the door and waited for her to hit the intercom button and ask who it was before moving out of the way and allowing her to open it. He’d been trained well, and part of that training included protecting his owner, but she knew for a fact that keeping her from opening the door until she checked to see who it was first hadn’t been anything he’d learned. Instinctively, he always seemed to know when a situation required caution. She trusted Rufus whole heartedly, so when he stood at her side instead of placing himself between her and Will, it told Serena a lot about Will Duncan’s character.
“I wasn’t sure if I should come in the front or just start moving my things in through the back entrance,” Will told her as he stepped inside.
A nervous flutter took up residence in the pit of Serena’s stomach. His voice was much deeper than it had been in high school, as unfamiliar to her now as a stranger’s. She hadn’t realized how much of her courage in letting Will move in had been based on the memories of a young girl who used to feel all warm and melty inside when he spoke. It made her wonder what else the years had ch
anged about Will Duncan. He’d been so handsome back then, with thick, dark hair and eyes that were nearly the same color. He’d played center guard on the same team as her brothers and she’d fallen in love with the sport after watching Will play because his strength and athletic ability had simply mesmerized her.
Serena had a mad crush on him, as did most of the girls at school, but to Will Duncan she had always been Anthony and Sawyer’s kid sister so she doubted he even realized just how much she’d idolized him. What she’d liked most about him was that he didn’t treat her like an inanimate object as most of her brother’s friends did. He was kind and sweet and always took the time to say hi or tell her how pretty she looked. It was because of her fond memories of Will that she’d let Rose talk her into letting him move in.
“It will probably be easier to use the front door until you have everything moved in. And don’t worry about Rufus,” she added when he seemed to hesitate to come in any further. “He’s already decided you’re trustworthy, otherwise you would be flat on your back with a hundred and thirty pound dog on your chest.”
“You’re joking, right? He wouldn’t really attack me.”
Serena’s lip quirked. “Would you care to make a threatening gesture and find out?"
“Uh…thanks, but if it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll just take your word for it.”
“Smart man. Would you like me to show you around or would you rather start hauling your things in?”
“As you can see, I’m traveling light at the moment. I just thought I’d drop this off and give you the heads up that I would be back later with all my things. I would appreciate it if you showed me around now so I won’t have to disturb you later.”
“If that’s a suitcase you’re holding, you can leave it here or run it upstairs first.”
There was a long pause before Will replied. “God, I’m such an idiot. It’s just that you look so…so…”
“Normal?” Serena supplied.
“Yes…no! I mean, yes you look normal, but you don’t fit the image of…uh…what I’m try to say is no one would guess you were…” He stopped and drew in a deep breath. “Holy hell, I’m screwing this up big time, aren’t I?”
Serena angled a sympathetic smile in his direction. “Would you like to start again?”
“I don’t know if I should,” he said miserably.
“Does it make you uncomfortable that I’m blind, Will? Because this really isn’t going to work if it does.”
His gaze swept over the unruly golden curls that framed the delicate features of her face. Sky blue eyes blinked unseeingly at him, breathing life into something deep inside that he’d thought had withered and died long ago. There was a time when those eyes had held nothing but sheer and utter adoration for him; now they couldn’t see anything at all. It clawed at his chest because he’d always liked Serena and she didn’t deserve what happened to her.
He had a vivid memory of long legs and a figure that was just beginning to blossom. It must have been tough being so tall and thin when her sister had a body most women would have killed for. McKinley had so many dangerous curves she left a trail of young men panting after her whenever she walked by. She was also was captain of the cheerleading squad and quite the social butterfly, as different from Serena as night and day. Serena had been painfully shy, but on those rare occasions when he coaxed a smile out of her, Will had seen past the awkward, gangly teenage girl and caught a glimpse of the beautiful woman she would one day become. And she was beautiful now, so beautiful it took his breath away just to look at her.
“I’m not uncomfortable,” he finally said. “When your aunt told me who it was that I would be sharing the house with, I couldn’t sign the lease fast enough.”
Serena instantly bristled. “Look, Will, if you’re doing this because you feel sorry for me or because you consider watching out for a blind woman some sort of charity project then maybe you should find someplace else to live. I’m sure I could talk Rose into letting you out of the lease.”
Will set his duffle bag down and closed the front door. “I think we need to get a few things straight before I move in. First of all, I don’t feel sorry for you. And since you’ve been living here by yourself, I have to assume you don’t need me or anyone else watching out for you. I have one year of medical school left before I begin my internship and I’m fed up with housemates that want to party their way through college or think they can cram for medical exams.”
“I…I’m sorry for doubting your motives.” Serena could feel the heat of a blush slowly creeping up her neck and was even more embarrassed because she knew Will probably thought she had a few screws loose for going off on him as she had. “I wouldn’t blame you for leaving after the horrible things I accused you of, but…I’d really like it if you stayed.”
“I don’t know,” he drawled, “you were rather harsh. I suppose I could be persuaded if you promise to make it up to me with a home cooked meal. I’ve eaten so much take out over the past few years I can’t distinguish between the food and the cardboard containers anymore.”
“You poor thing,” Serena laughed. “So what happened to all the hoards of girls that used to flock around you? Couldn’t you con one of them into cooking for you?”
“Good God, no,” he sounded horrified. “Asking a woman to cook for you is tantamount to asking them to move in and take up residence.”
“Does that mean I don’t have to worry about finding some strange woman in my kitchen rustling up a meal for you?”
“I’m not involved with anyone right now, if that’s what you’re asking. Even if I was, I would have more respect for you than to have her spend the night here.”
Serena didn’t know why that made her happy but it did, although she didn’t expect a man like Will to be without a girlfriend for long. After showing him the way to the kitchen they would be sharing and promising to start dinner as soon as she graded a few more papers, she waited for him to take his bag upstairs then walked him to the door. Rufus had trotted alongside them the entire time but he’d obviously accepted Will, and that more than anything put her at ease with him as well.
“I should feel bad for roping you into making dinner for me,” Will said as he opened the front door, “but my mouth starting watering the minute Rose mentioned what a great cook you were and that you make a mean pot roast. Your aunt bragged up on you pretty good, and not just about the cooking.”
“She’s been like that since the day I was born. Personally, I think she felt bad I was such an ugly duckling compared to McKinley that she took it upon herself to be my personal champion.”
Will shook his head. “You don’t need a champion, Serena. You’re an amazing woman. And just for the record, I never thought you were an ugly duckling. Maybe it was hidden behind skinny knees and elbows back then, but your beauty was always there and it’s certainly not hiding anymore.”
Serena stood there for several minutes after he’d gone. Will thought she was beautiful? Tentatively, she ran her hands down her ribs and over the gentle flair of her hips. She’d never really been aware of her own body before and was astonished to discover she had all the same womanly curves she’d once envied McKinley for. She had developed generous sized breasts too, although she was too embarrassed to touch herself there. For the first time in seven years, Serena wasn’t afraid of having a man notice her. Will Duncan might be just what she needed to cure her phobias of men.
***
Yankee pot roast, garlic mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables stewed in the juices of the roast, and homemade dinner rolls. If the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, Will was going to be madly in love with her before she even set the apple cobbler on the table. Serena let out a derisive snort. It was a ridiculous concept; a man like Will Duncan did not take a romantic interest in a woman because of her culinary talents, and even if by some stretch of the imagination he did, what could she offer him in return? Just the idea of being intimate with a man made her break out into a c
old sweat, so it was pretty much a given that she would go into hyperventilative convulsions if there was any real physical contact.
Besides, it may not bother him right now that she was blind but he would change his tune quickly enough if he ever escorted her out in public and had to endure the curious stares and hushed whispers of strangers. It was amazing how many people believed she couldn’t hear them talking about her just because she was blind when, in fact, her hearing was much more acute than normal as a result of losing her sight. Some of the misconceptions people had towards those who were handicapped often bordered on the ridiculous. Serena eventually learned to pity their ignorance rather than resent them for it, but it had taken her years to overcome the urge to lash out at them.
She was setting the table when Rufus padded over and let out a soft woof, which was his way of telling her someone had pulled into the driveway. It had to be Will, otherwise the silly mutt would have been coaxing her towards the door to use the intercom. Rufus had never taken to anyone so quickly before, but she was glad that he had because his gentle nature morphed into something more along the lines of a rabid animal whenever a stranger showed more interest in her than he should.
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