Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 79749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
"You will," I answer, not bothering to look at Aspen.
I know it's a conversation we'll have to have, but neither of them is in a place to go anywhere else any time soon.
"How many people will be in my room?"
"Are you used to sharing a room?" I ask, using the opportunity to gather more information without it feeling like I'm grilling him.
"Yeah," he says, not giving me much.
"Here, you get your own room," Hemlock says from the front porch.
I don't miss the way Eli leans in closer to Aspen. I know Hemlock is a scary dude. Being around mean-looking people who don't hurt others will be something else he has to get used to.
"I'm Hemlock," my boss says before holding his hand out. "And this is Zara."
"I'd love to show you to your room," Zara says with an easy, welcoming smile.
Eli looks at his mother, and when she dips her head in approval, he follows Zara up the steps and into the house. Aspen doesn't look in my direction before following both of them.
Her one and only focus right now is Eli, as it should be.
I hold back, waiting to speak with Hemlock.
"How is he doing?" the man asks as we walk inside.
"He's exhausted. I don't think we'll know the real extent of his trauma for a while. The doctor mentioned it manifesting in the form of behavior issues because of his age. He needs a therapist."
"We'll make arrangements for someone to come to the house. Whatever it takes, we'll do," Hemlock says, and it shows the value of the man that I didn't even have to ask.
I swallow a lump in my throat. For the very first time, in a very long time, I feel like I have a family, and I easily include this man in that. I just don't know how long everything will stay intact. There's a lot up in the air right now, and I don't have a clue how it will all fall when the dust settles.
"Something to eat?" Zara asks when she comes back down the stairs.
"Thank you for all you've done for us," I tell her, thinking better of offering her a hug of gratitude.
Family or not, there's only so much Hemlock will take where she's concerned.
"You're more than welcome," she says, fitting herself into Hemlock's side.
It's insane how different the man is around her. It's as if she was a missing piece. They fit together perfectly.
"He loved his room, but his eyes were already drooping. I don't imagine he'll be awake much longer," Zara says before turning to Hemlock. "Hungry?"
I feel like an outsider, watching the way his eyes dip to her mouth before a smile pulls up the corners of his lips.
"Starving," he says, his voice more of a growl than a word.
I huff a laugh when they head up the stairs instead of toward the kitchen, waiting for them to clear the top landing before I climb them.
I take a gamble on the door that's cracked beside my room and pop my head in. I feel like everything is right in my world when I look toward the full-sized bed to see Aspen curled around Eli who, like Zara predicted, is already asleep.
When my shadow reaches out to her form, she lifts her head, smiling gently in my direction. It hits me right in the middle of the chest like a lightning strike. This is everything. She's everything. Eli is everything.
This scenario is what I've been missing my entire life. The two of them are the puzzle pieces I didn't know were missing to make me whole.
She lifts her hand, waving it in my direction, an offering for me to join the two of them, but the rawness that's scratching at my skin is too much.
They have this connection, a bond that every mother and child should have, but I also know how fragile it is. His age may not allow for him to understand how impossible it was for her to protect him, and the pain and punishments she did receive in order to keep him safe. I want their bond to solidify. I don't want him to be bitter and blame her for anything. I can't interfere with their bonding, even if it means putting mine and his on hold for the time being.
I hold my hand up in a slight wave, letting her know I can't join them just yet, before backing out of the room and closing the door behind me.
Chapter 36
Aspen
Somehow I got everything I've been hoping and praying for. Eli is back in my arms and as healthy as we could've ever hoped, yet I still feel like I'm missing something. I'm not an ungrateful person. I don't get handed the world and ask what else. I've never been that way, but I feel like something is absent.