Hell Transporter (Between) (19 page)

While the pie baked, we worked on making Christmas cards with Sarah’s extensive collection of stamps, papers, and ink, admiring each other’s handiwork. Even though it was only October, Sarah was the type who gave handmade gifts for the holidays, which meant she had to plan ahead. In the evening, we watched a sappy romance movie on their big screen television as we ate our apple pie with homemade whipped cream, giggling like little girls and swooning over the hunky male lead.

Steph and I shared the guest bedroom, which boasted a feather bed the size of a football field as well as an attached bathroom. She went in to brush her teeth and came out wearing long sleeved polka dotted jammies. The alarm clock on the nightstand glowed 3:00 a.m. by the time the two of us stopped talking and laughing, and finally fell asleep.

The tantalizing smell of cooking bacon stirred me awake the next morning, drawing me out of the warm cocoon of pillows. After a quick shower, I pulled on a tank top, a green sweater, and my favorite jeans. When I came downstairs, Sarah had prepared a country breakfast of mammoth proportions.

“This is amazing,” I said between mouthfuls of bliss. Buttery biscuits slathered in sausage gravy, homemade jam… Thank God my mom couldn’t cook to save her life while I was growing up or I’d have been unable to fit through the doorway. I’d have to be careful around Sarah, I thought, or my jeans wouldn’t fit anymore.

After we helped clean up the dishes, Sarah shepherded us into a sewing room where she’d spread out an assortment of blue and red fabric patches, batting, needles, and yarn. Seeing our curious faces, she took a seat and explained.

“It occurred to me the other day that your sweet Aiden needs a quilt of his own, honey. My mother’s old pink bedspread doesn’t suit him at all, so I thought it would be a fun surprise for him to come back to a new quilt. Would you girls like to help me make one? It’s as easy as pie.”

Steph laughed at that, fingering the fabric. “Well, I don’t know that I’d call making a pie ‘easy,’ but it certainly was worth the effort.”

We settled in and got to work sewing the swatches together, talking like old friends. Sarah had made some of her sweet tea, which I had grown to love. Classical music played in the background while we worked. When Steph named the piece and its composer as one of her favorites, Sarah paused with a needle midway through her fabric.

“You don’t mean to tell me you write music?” she asked, surprised.

Steph shook her head. “No, no. Nothing that impressive. I just play it.”

“Just!” I said in mock outrage. “She’s the first chair violinist in the orchestra and even does paying gigs during the summer.” Unable to contradict my statement, Steph dropped her eyes and began busily sorting the squares of cloth on the table, her manic organization skills kicking into high gear. She tried to look unaffected but the flame in her cheeks gave her away.

“First chair!” Sarah exclaimed, her face aglow in admiration. “My goodness! A master musician in our presence and here I didn’t even know. You’ll have to play for us sometime, dearie. That would be such a treat.”

Steph finally looked up and nodded, unable to hide her smile. “I’d love to.”

Sarah reached across and squeezed her hand. The two shared a sweet moment and then went back to work. As we stitched the blanket together, I snuck glances at Steph, who looked more relaxed than she had all semester.

I wasn’t paying attention and stuck my finger with the needle.

“Ouch!” My knee knocked against the table and Steph’s tea tipped over, soaking the sleeve of her shirt, then cascading onto the thick beige carpet. “Oh, no! I’m so sorry!” Sarah waved a hand at me then ran to the kitchen for a towel to sop up the spill. Steph cradled her dripping arm, trying to decide what to do.

“Steph, look at you!” I said. “I’m such an idiot. Here, you can wear my sweater. I have a tank top on underneath. Let’s go into the bathroom and change. I’ll grab a band-aid for my finger. Sarah?” I asked, gesturing to the mess. She shooed us away, insisting it was no problem.

The MacKinnons’ guest bathroom was about as large as our dorm room and much newer, with marble countertops, knotty pine cabinets, and ornate wall sconces. I stopped sucking on my finger long enough to pull my sweater off over my head and hand it to Steph. She hesitantly removed her soiled blouse.

What I saw made me stop breathing.

Her upper arms were mottled with fading bruises. She refused to meet my eyes and quickly pulled the sweater over her head.

“What the—?” I said, aghast.

She bent to riffle through the cabinets looking for a bandage for my finger.

“Steph, did Micah do that to you?”

“It’s no big deal. It looks worse than it is. He was just upset, that’s all. It was my fault, really.”

“What? No way is this your fault! It’s never okay for a guy to hurt you, even if he is upset. You have to break it off with him.”

To my surprise, her eyes flashed cold and angry at me.

“That’s easy enough for you to say, Lindsey. You’ve got Aiden. I don’t. Micah may not be perfect, but he loves me and that’s good enough. You wouldn’t understand. Excuse me.” She shoved past me on her way out of the bathroom and didn’t look back. I stood dumbly staring after her, not knowing what to say or do to make things right.

Chapter 25

Jen’s whole body twitched with that I-Have-Big-News look as she plunked down across the lunch table from me with her tray. “Guess what? I entered this drawing at the mall like a month ago, and yesterday they called me to tell me I won! Can you believe it? How awesome is that?” I nodded enthusiastically as I swallowed my forkful of salad and prepared to ask what she’d won, but she continued without prompting. “I won a weekend at this really cool ranch that’s about twenty miles outside of town. It comes with two cabins, and there’s hiking trails and a lodge, and all kinds of cool stuff. I was thinking maybe you and Aiden would like to go with us next Saturday.”

“A weekend with just the four of us, with two cabins in the woods? Um, yes please!” Something flickered across Jen’s face, but before I could decipher what it meant, it was gone.

“It’s gonna be great. Just wait,” she said, then popped a grape in her mouth.

Aiden was excited about spending the weekend with Jen and Paul, as he had become fast friends with Paul in the weeks since school had started. I was looking forward to getting a little space from Steph, who had hardly spoken to me since our confrontation at the MacKinnons’ house. We pulled onto the road that led to the main lodge and followed the instructions that Jen had given me to find our cabin. Recognizing Paul’s red Honda Accord, I parked next to it and popped the trunk.

Stepping out of the car, I breathed deeply, reveling in the cool autumn air. It had been raining off and on for weeks, but we’d gotten a respite that weekend. The weather was cold but clear, and the scent of pines all around reminded me of our family cabin. Jen appeared and helped us unload our things. She was giving us a tour of one cabin when I heard another car pull up outside. When the car door slammed, Jen looked at me guiltily.

“Don’t be mad, okay, but there are two bedrooms in each cabin so we decided to invite Steph and Micah to come, too.”

“What? Jen…” I sounded whiny and unappreciative, I knew, but I was so looking forward to getting away from… that. Aiden’s grip around my waist intensified in admonition. “Fine, whatever,” I said, resigned to the change. Maybe Steph and Micah would stay in the other cabin so we could still get some time alone.

Just then, Mona’s signature nasal laugh wafted through the open front door.

“Oh, yeah, and Mona and Ravi.”

If looks could kill, Jen would have been dead on the spot.

“I know, I know!” she said, holding up her hands. “It was Paul’s idea. He said he wants all of his friends to get along and that if we spent some time together as a group, maybe it would help.” She shrugged helplessly and rolled her eyes as if to say, “What was I supposed to do?” Apparently, she hadn’t told the other couples either, and I watched her repeat this same story to them as they came in, their lips pursed in displeasure as they saw us standing there. Only Mona seemed truly pleased at the situation. My jaw clenched as she smiled invitingly at Aiden.

When Micah went out to get their bags, Steph surprised me by making a beeline over to us. “Lindsey, can I talk to you for a second?” she whispered and pulled me aside. “I didn’t realize everyone was going to be here or I would have told Jen I couldn’t make it.” Before I could take offense, she continued, her face ashen. “Jen and Paul are going to want a bedroom to themselves and I expect everyone else will, too. I don’t want to share a bedroom with Micah. I can’t. I already told him I’m not ready to have sex and I know he’ll freak out that everyone else is doing it and we’re not.” Her eyes pleaded with me for understanding.

My heart ached at the look on her face. “It’s okay. You can share my room with me,” I told her, realizing at the same time that I was committing Aiden to sharing a room with Micah.

Aiden…
I reached out to him with my mind and explained the situation. Mona turned to us then, her eyes darting between me and Aiden.

Aiden came over and kissed me on the cheek then turned to Steph. “I thought I heard you ask to stay with Lindsey tonight.” She nodded guiltily. “‘Tis no problem at all. I’ll sleep outside. I’ve brought my plaid. I’ve never needed more than that and a blanket of stars to cover me at night anyway. Though I do love the quilt that you made me whilst I was gone. Thank ye kindly.” Steph’s face flushed with appreciation and relief.

After unloading the car, Aiden and I stole away to take a walk along one of the nature trails, enjoying the afternoon and the time alone. The meandering path eventually led us back to the main lodge, so we stopped for a quick peek inside. The beautiful log building felt so open and airy, its high ceilings lined with heavy beams. A gift shop was tucked into one corner next to the reception desk. Mounted game heads hung all along the walls, their glass eyes seeming to follow my every move. Retreating from their creepy stare, I took a step back and felt a sharp poke between my shoulder blades. A squeak of fear slipped out as I turned to find the display of a wild boar with its razor sharp teeth bared for battle. Aiden’s laughter rang through the open building and I smacked him on the arm.

“Shut up! These heads are freaking me out. I swear they’re watching me.”

Grinning, Aiden looked up at the hunting trophies in appreciation. “‘Tis a fine, braw stag there.” He pointed to one with a massive set of antlers. “Lord in heaven, I’m looking forward to going hunting again.”

I swiveled my head in surprise. “When are you going hunting?”

“Next weekend, with Ian and Paul. Och, I must have forgotten to tell you.” My face fell at the thought of him being gone another weekend. “I’m sorry, Lindsey. Ian had already bought the tags before he asked. I didn’t think it proper to turn him down.”

I tried to put on a brave face. “It’s all right. You said yourself that you’re really looking forward to it.”

He smiled then and I could see the truth in that statement. His eyes got a faraway look as he talked about the joy of tracking a deer through the brush, finding the signs of the trail like pieces to a puzzle, and waiting for just the right moment to make the kill, clean and quick.

I grimaced and shook my head. “I don’t like the idea of killing an animal, not when you don’t have to.”

He took my hand and we left the lodge, walking back along the path into the woods. “I can see why you’d feel that way. You’ve never had to kill a living thing in order to eat. All your food comes in a wrapper or a box, from a shelf in the store. But there is something beautiful and wild about the dance between a man and a beast when you depend on the meat to survive. And aye,” he held up a hand to stifle my protest, “I know very well that I will not starve now without the hunt, but I will honor the spirit of the animal and use every bit that I can, just as my family always did before.”

“Well, I guess it won’t be a complete loss. Mom wanted me to take the girls to the seamstress next weekend so we can be fitted for our dresses for the wedding.” I was telling him about the pattern I’d picked out for the bridesmaids’ dresses when we heard a muffled cry off in the distance.

Aiden stopped on the trail, listening, his brows drawn in concentration. The sound of a woman crying became more pronounced and he moved off the trail toward her. I followed behind him, worried about how badly she might be hurt and what had happened. But I came to a dead stop when we found Mona on the ground, hunched over and clutching her ankle. Aiden bent down beside her and reached toward her injury, but she batted his hand away.

“Freakin’ hole came out of nowhere and I fell right in like a dumb Dora,” she said, tears streaking her cheeks.

“Can you put any weight on it?” He gently pulled her to her feet, putting one arm around her waist. She tried standing, but winced in pain and shook her head. Aiden effortlessly lifted her into his arms and carried her back to the main trail. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder, and I could swear I saw her breathe in his scent with a little smile.

“Maybe you shouldn’t wear high heels when you’re hiking in the woods, Mona,” I snarled while holding a tree branch out of the way for them to pass.