“The hell do you mean?” Estelle’s father grumbled, struggling to sit up in his hospital bed. “I’m fine. Get the hell out of here!”
Estelle felt as if she had been kicked in the stomach. She had spent all day on the bus out to visit her parents, knowing it was the most economical option for her to get out East. She still had to pay off her school and the student loans that had been piling up since she had moved out west to attend SU, and was risking her internship and graduation to see the father her mother had sworn was lying on his death bed. She had no idea what she was doing there.
“Mom said you were in trouble, so I just wanted to come and see you,” Estelle said, trying to ignore the anger and pain rising in her chest.
“What the hell for? You left. As far as I’m concerned, your fat ass ain’t even my daughter anymore.”
She had expected a lot of backlash, but now, being right in the middle of it after such a long time of being alone and in a balanced and supportive place, she was feeling lower than she ever had before. How had she grown up listening to this kind of poison every single day of her life?
“Damn, dad,” Estelle’s brother Lance said, sniggering. “Harsh.”
“Shut it, boy. This girl thinks she can live without us, disown her family? Abandon us and leave us to fend for ourselves? Forgetting everything we ever done to make her happy and take care of her?”
“Make me happy?” Estelle sputtered, completely flabbergasted by the thought. “You always went out of your way to bring me down! Any chance you got you made me feel like hell about myself!”
“You’re full of shit,” her dad mumbled. “You’re just a selfish bitch and always have been. Stupid little twit. I done told you to get the hell out of my room! You ain’t no daughter of mine. My kids stick around. They know what it means to be a family and take care of each other.”
Estelle glanced over at her brother, whose chin was raised with an air of superiority that made her want to go over and punch him right in the mouth. But she was better than that. Though she wished to hell that she wasn’t.
“I don’t know why I bothered coming back here. You’re just a sad, pathetic little man who doesn’t feel good about himself unless he has someone to put down. You’re just a bully who gets his self-worth from bullying people you think are weak. What a joke.”
The aging man glared at her fiercely, his face growing red just like she knew it would. He had never taken defiance very well. She should have listened to Blaine. It had been a mistake to come here.
“I know you’re anxious to get rid of me, so I’ll make this fast,” Estelle said, sighing deeply. “My entire life you worked your hardest to make me feel like I wasn’t good enough. You did everything in your power to disempower me; to make me feel ugly and worthless. Because maybe you feel ugly and worthless yourself. But I’m going to tell you something. No matter what you feel about me, no matter what you say, I love the woman I’ve become, and I wouldn’t change anything about myself for the world, whether that’s good enough for you or not. Your words can’t touch me anymore. And they’ll touch me even less when you’re dead.”
Estelle stormed out, her anger and her pride preventing the lump in her throat from becoming productive until she was far away from the hospital parking lot. She sank down onto a bench and began to cry, wishing more than anything that she had just stayed put in the mountains.
“Estelle!”
Estelle’s heart leapt to her throat when the sound of her mother’s shrill voice reached her ears.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Is that really the last thing you want to say to your father?”
“He’s never acted like much of a father,” Estelle grumbled, standing from the bench and wiping her eyes quickly. The only thing worse than crying was crying in front of her mother. That woman was toxic, and always found a way to make everything about herself. Somehow Estelle had survived the family dynamic, but now she felt herself suffocating under the pressure of being near people who truly didn’t know her worth. And it wasn’t her job to teach them about it. If they didn’t want to value her, they never would, and she was just going to have to deal with that. She would make her own family. She didn’t need them.
And yet it seemed nearly impossible to get away from her mother, who stood up and walked after Estelle when she rose from the bench and attempted to get out of there so she wouldn’t have to listen to any more put downs by her family. They had no right to cast judgment on her and she wasn’t going to listen to another second of their bullshit.
“Don’t walk away when I’m talking to you! I’m your mother and you will show me some respect!”
Estelle sighed, her face growing hot as the people on the sidewalk stopped to stare at them. They must have made quite a spectacle – her mother in her heavy make-up and tight clothing, hurrying after Estelle in six-inch-high heel shoes and a glare that could turn a flame into ice.
“I’m not talking about this with you, mother,” Estelle growled. “Please, just leave me alone.”
“You’re going to regret walking away from me like this,” Estelle’s mother said, her voice an icy growl. It sent a chill up her spine. “You can expect a visit from your brothers. You will apologize to your father, whether you like it or not.”
And with that, her mother turned on her heel and stalked back toward the hospital. Estelle watched her from over her shoulder until she turned the corner, and a wave of nausea consumed her. she had to get out of there. But her bus wouldn’t leave until the next day. She knew she shouldn’t worry too much about her mother; she was probably just spouting off hot air. But she knew that her family would be furious at her. She had never done anything to provoke them for as long as she had lived with them; she couldn’t bring herself to draw attention to herself after the type of abuse she had endured. But now, she had turned all eyes onto her, and there was no telling what extremes they might go to put her back in her place. At least, the place they believed that she belonged in.
Estelle hailed a taxi and went straight to the hotel she had booked for herself. It was a crummy little place, where she felt uncomfortable and unsafe. She was used to living in shifter communities, where everybody was held accountable for their actions and everybody who wanted to act like an asshole still knew how to respect others. Humans could say what they wanted about shifters, but after living among them for the past several years, Estelle had grown to really love their straight-forward ways. Much more than she had ever liked being around her passive-aggressive and toxic family.
When she arrived at the hotel, she sank onto the bed and sighed, glancing at her cell phone. She had missed a call, and was almost afraid to check it in case it was from her family. But she took a deep breath and checked anyway, surprised to find the phone number for BBT Mining Company.
Estelle called back automatically, assuming Blaine had probably changed his mind about allowing her back to complete the internship. And she wouldn’t blame him for it. Things between them had been awkward since the night of the storm. And not only that, but she hadn’t exactly been respectful of his authority. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who tolerated that kind of thing.
“Estelle?”
Estelle’s heart thudded dully in her chest at the sound of Blaine’s deep, rumbling voice in her ear. She was shocked by the physical reaction she had to something as simple as his voice, and had to catch her breath after a moment’s pause before answering.
“Hi Blaine.”
“Hi.”
She waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. Estelle sighed inwardly. Whatever was going on, he wasn’t making it very easy on her.
“I saw I missed your call,” she said, eager to get off the phone. She couldn’t allow herself to have such a strong reaction to his voice. There was no way anything more could happen between them. It just wasn’t right.
“Yeah. I just wanted to see how it’s going. I know you have a difficult relationship with your family.”
Estelle was stunned. He hardly seemed like the kind of man who would go out of his way to check on somebody’s emotional well-being. And not only that, but she wasn’t at all used to anybody having any idea what she was going through with her family. But he seemed completely serious, as if it were one of the most important things in the world how she felt. It was bizarre, really. Nobody had ever cared how she felt before, except maybe Helen. But even then, it was never anything like this.
“I…”
Estelle’s eyes filled with tears, and she cringed. She could kick herself for letting her emotions shine through like this. It was completely ridiculous. But a small sob slipped from deep in her throat and the energy between them grew tense.
“I’m on my way.”
Estelle furrowed her brow, not sure if she had heard him properly. But before she could compose herself well enough to ask, the call had been dropped. She stared at the phone, stunned, and lowered it slowly to the bed beside her. What did he mean he was on his way? He had no idea where she was!
She tried to shake off the feeling of confusion and bewilderment. She had to think clearly right now. Especially if her family was angry enough to come after her.
Estelle closed her eyes and tried to relax into her pillow. She had to accept that she had no control over what other people said or did, even when it came to her own personal safety. Her family wouldn’t do anything stupid enough to get them arrested, so she was probably physically safe.
And yet, she was afraid. Afraid enough that Blaine had seemed to sense exactly what she was feeling without her even having to say a word. Perhaps what had happened during the night they had spent together truly had connected them in a way that she wouldn’t ever be able to fully understand. She had been so sure in that moment that Blaine had cared endlessly about her in a way she had never experienced before.
But now that they had made it clear that their relationship would never go anywhere beyond what it already had, she had done everything in her power to forget the comfort and safety she had felt in his arms; the deep and intimate connection she had shared with him in the moment. There was no good in letting herself believe she would ever have any business being comforted by a man like Blaine. It just wasn’t meant to be.
Estelle groaned, shoving all thoughts of the mysterious, obnoxious man out of her head, and headed to the shower. Even if things felt like they were never going to get any better, she had to focus and take care of herself. That was all she would ever be able to do.
***
“Estelle!”
Her heart leapt into her throat and she was whipped around by the shoulder, forced to face her brother Lance.
“What are you doing here?” Estelle asked, doing her best to keep her voice from wavering.
Lance scowled at her. “You owe our father an apology.”
“He’s not my father, remember?” Estelle growled. “He said I don’t have to be his daughter anymore. Best news I’ve ever heard in my life.”
“I don’t think you understand the issue here,” Lance said, his silver eyes narrowing. “You ain’t going to get away with disrespecting the man of the house. You get what I’m trying to say? It’s kind of important.”
“Only to someone with a tiny flea brain,” Estelle growled, shoving Lance’s hand off her shoulder and trying to turn back toward the door of the hotel. But Lance was strong, and gripped both of her shoulders almost as quickly as she had been able to shake him off.
“You think you’re so much better than us, don’t you? But you’ll never be anything more than a fat, worthless bitch!”
“Lance, let go!”
Estelle fought against her brother, the same feeling of powerlessness that had haunted her all throughout her childhood crashing down upon her. Fury consumed her and she tried to fight free from his grip once again.
“Let her go.”
Estelle froze, and Lance’s lips curled into a sadistic smile at the sound of Blaine’s voice. Estelle struggled against Lance, who dug his fingers hard into the soft flesh of her shoulders in direct defiance of Blaine’s orders.
“Who the hell do you think you are, boy?”
Estelle could see Blaine now. he was standing directly behind them, glaring down at Lance. She had never noticed just how tall and burly Blaine was compared to most humans. He wore the look so well on the mountain that she had never thought twice about his impressive size. It was just natural. But here in the human world, it was apparent just how hard it was for Blaine and people like him to belong. And really, why would they want to? In Estelle’s experience, humans were terrible, to each other and to everyone else.
“Just butt out of it!” Lance said, turning to face Blaine and trying to drag Estelle along with him. “This is family business.”
“You’re not my family,” Estelle growled. “Families know how to love each other. You guys only know how to care for yourselves.”
“I think you are both missing the point here,” Blaine said, crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently. “This little asshole here is supposed to let go of you, because if he doesn’t, it’s going to make me very, very angry.”
“Like I give a shit,” Lance said, sneering at Blaine. “She has a lot to apologize about and if she doesn’t, she’s in for a world of trouble.”
“Right,” Blaine said, taking a step forward and nodding as if Lance were saying the most reasonable thing in the world. “I know just how difficult that can be for you. Thinking you’re the only thing in the universe that matters.”
Before Lance had a chance to open his mouth and respond, he cried out in agony and a sickening thud filled the air. Estelle blinked hard, unable to believe what she had just seen. Blaine had lunged forward, his fists clenched tightly, and knocked her brother out with one powerful thrust of his arm. Neither of them had seen the punch coming, but Lance was on the ground, his eyes lolling back toward his skull, and Estelle found herself falling forward toward his limp body.
“Easy there,” Blaine said, catching her before she landed. “Don’t want to mess up that nice dress of yours.”
Estelle blushed; the truth was that the dress was one of her favorites. She had packed it hoping that having it with her would boost her confidence when her family was being the same as they always were. But it hadn’t helped.
“I…thank you,” Estelle mumbled, steadying herself against Blaine’s broad body. “But what are you doing here? Don’t you have things to take care of at BBT?”
“I thought I’d take care of you first,” Blaine said simply, flashing her a grin that nearly made her heart stop. “You mean a lot to me.”
“Right…”
She couldn’t dare to believe what she was hearing, but the sight of her brother knocked out on the ground was pretty convincing.
“Look, I have to catch my bus. I can’t stay here another second longer. You were right, I never should have come here. It was a huge mistake. I’m sorry you felt like you had to come out here to rescue me or something, but I’m not some damsel in distress…I just…”
“Shhh,” Blaine said, surprising her by embracing her tightly. All her defenses melted and she just let herself be held for a few moments, fighting the urge that had been haunting her ever since she had arrived out east. She lost the fight this time, and broke down, dissolving into tears.
“It’s going to be fine now,” Blaine said, kissing the top of her head tenderly. “You’re not taking any stinking bus back to the mountain either. I’m a wealthy man. We’re going back in style. I need my intern back at BBT as soon as you can get there.”
“What…”
Estelle looked up at Blaine, who smiled down at her, his dark, mystical eyes sparkling in a way that made the heat rise in her cheeks. He was something special, that was for sure. How had she ever been able to deny that to herself?
“Come on,” Blaine said, leading her away from the motel. “Let’s get out of here.”
Estelle was shocked when he walked with her to a long black limousine, parked on the other side of the motel. He took the small bag from her hands and the driver quickly grabbed it from Blaine and tucked it safely in the trunk.
“After you,” Blaine said, opening the door for Estelle while the driver was tending to her luggage.
She shook her head in disbelief and climbed inside. Soon, Blaine was beside her, filling the new-car-scent of the limousine with his rugged outdoorsy musk. She had to admit that she preferred it over the scent of leather seats.
“You look like you could use a drink,” Blaine said with a soft chuckle, grabbing a bottle of champagne from the bucket beside him and pouring her a glass.
Estelle took it in a daze and sipped it quietly. Soon, they were on the road, Blaine sitting beside her, a pillar of strength and comfort. Estelle leaned back in her seat, dazed by the rapidity with which they traveled from the motel to the landing strip with Blaine’s private jet in waiting.
The next thing she knew, they were up in the air, leaving her family as small as ants on the ground behind them.