Chapter 7

 

 

Mae comes back with our lunch and Mick asks her to come up for dinner. Looking down at my salad, I pour the dressing all over it.

“Hey, mind if I spend the night, Spring? It could be a girls’ night, you know paint nails, drink wine.”

“OK, sounds like a plan. I’m sure you know how to get there?” Squealing, she jumps up and down.

“Yes, I sure do.” Hugging me, she goes and kisses Mick on the cheek and then heads off to the back of the diner. Shaking my head, I start to eat my salad.

“Thank you, Spring,” Mick says.

“I didn’t do anything, I’m sure we’re going to have fun,” I tell him between bites.

We eat everything on our plates when this little waitress brings over peach cobbler. Looking over at Mick, he shakes his head grinning.

“Thank you,” I say to the girl.

“You’re welcome,” she says shyly, darting glances at Mick. Smiling at her, she walks away. Well, well, she has a crush on Mick.

“Mick, she has a crush on you. That’s so cute,” I say laughing. Looking over at Mick, he’s blushing, and it makes me giggle even more.

“She has for a while,” is all he says. I take my last bite of cobbler and push my plate away from me.

“You ready to head out?” I ask him.

“Yep, just let me take care of the bill. If you want, you can go to the little stores that are right next to us.”

“You know, I think I will.”

I grab my purse, get up, and walk out the door. Going to the right, I head into a little bookstore. It’s not brightly-lit like some of the stores are. Taking a deep breath, it smells of old books. Walking around the stacks, I see that they are old books. The further I walk into the store the newer the books. Finding a few I like, I head to the counter. Getting that weird feeling that I’m being watched again, I look over my shoulder. Maddox is standing right behind me. Turning around, I smile.

“Hello, Maddox, what are you doing in here?”

“Well, it is a bookstore, Spring.” Looking behind him, I see his friends are with him. Turning around, I swipe my card and sign my name. The clerk puts my books into a bag and hands them to me. Thanking her, I slowly walk to the door.

“Here, let me walk you out,” he whispers in my ear.

“Oh, thank you for the wine that was very sweet of you.”

“How about dinner tonight?” he asks me as we stop at the truck. My hand starts hurting as soon as his friends come near us. Fisting my hand, I pull it behind me. The little pup is going nuts in the truck growling and barking. Suddenly, Mick comes crashing through the door of the diner, and he looks pissed.

He comes over to me and whispers in my ear, “Don’t.” How did he know I was going to reach out to the pup to see what’s wrong? Trying to ignore the little guy, I look over at Maddox.

“I have plans tonight. How about another time?” I watch his expression change from shock to anger then a small grin settles onto his face.

“That will be fine.” He bows slightly, as do his friends, and walks away. After I see them go around the corner, I look beside me to Mick. He looks just as shocked as Maddox did.

“Let’s go get into the truck.”

Getting in, I put my seatbelt on, and the puppy jumps into my lap and kisses me. Closing my eyes, I reach out to the little one. What’s wrong, little guy? Why were you acting that way? Looking at him, I wait for him to answer. Evil man friends too, they want to hurt you.

Maddox or his friends? I ask him.

Friends, I’ll protect you.

“What’s going on, Mick?” I ask when I see him watching my exchange with my puppy.

“I know you have tons of questions, and things are happening to you, but I can’t tell you everything I know. It’s not for me to say.” He looks away like he doesn’t want to look at me.

“Look at me, Mick.” He slowly looks over at me. “You know I can talk to animals, don’t you?”

“Yes, I know.”

OK, I might as well go for broke here too. “You also know what else I can do, right?” He slows the truck down.

“I don’t know what you mean, tell me what you can do.”

Looking at him, I guess the cat is out of the bag. “I can feel when people are watching me. Like I did back there with Maddox’s friends. I also can, I don’t know what you call it, but when I’m in danger or pissed, I can do something with my hand. I made one of Maddox’s friends fly across the street the other day,” I say, really looking at him to watch his expressions.

He runs his hands through his hair. “You shouldn’t be able to do that yet, but you can,” he says almost talking to himself. “Spring, I want to tell you, I do. But I can’t, will you trust me when I say you will know everything as soon as the brothers get here?” Looking at him, I can see that he’s telling me the truth, I don’t know how I know it, but I do. I know I feel safe with him and so does the pup.

“OK, I better know everything that’s going on by then,” I say, looking out the window as we cross the bridge. All I know is someone better start talking and soon. I know I’m different but how different is what I want to know.

“His name will be Tanner,” I say, looking over at Mick. He looks over at me like he doesn’t understand what I’m saying.

“Oh, the pup. It’s a good name for him,” he murmurs. Scratching his head, he looks at me from the corner of his eye. “How long could you talk to animals?”

“All my life, well, I think, anyway. I’ve always been able to,” I say to him. “Now I have a question for you. Are you human?” Looking over, I watch how he reacts to my question. From what I can see, it doesn’t even faze him.

“No, I’m not, but I can’t tell you what I am. I’m sorry. But I will tell you this; you aren’t either. I’m not trying to scare you, and I promise I’m a good guy. You will know everything in two days, promise.”

Well, I didn’t think I was normal, but not being human? That’s scary.

When we get to the house, I set the puppy on the ground.

“Tanner, stay where I can see you,” I tell him. He turns his head and gives a little yip. Laughing, I shake my head and get out of the truck.

It takes me a half hour to get everything in the house, and that’s with Mick’s help. Going to the cab of the truck, I grab my purse, my mom’s package, and the few little things I bought at the bookstore. Shutting the door, I make my way into the house closing the one door all the way and leaving the other open a little, so Tanner can come in. Setting my purse and packages down on the couch in the great room, I run upstairs to my bedroom. Taking off my good clothes, I put my old ones back on and head back down.

Mommy, Mommy, where are you?

“I’m here, boy, it’s OK,” I tell him as he greets me.

Heading back into the kitchen, I start unpacking bags and putting stuff away. Thank God, I have a walk-in pantry. I would never have a place for all this stuff otherwise. Walking in, I notice the shelves stocked already. And it looks new. I will have to ask Mick about this when I see him.

Tanner comes running out and asks to go outside then runs past me. Watching him out the kitchen doors, I see him use the bathroom then chase Mick.

Once I get everything put away I head out the door. Looking around, I see Tanner running to me. Bending down, I give him a quick pet and head toward the barn. I notice that Mick pulled the truck up. Walking past it, I see my saddle, and things are already inside. I put my riding boots on back at the house, so I walk to the tack room and grab the bridle. Walking through the barn, I watch Mick cleaning out the stalls. I don’t say anything; I have too much thinking to do.

Tanner walks beside me. “Tanner, you need to stay back, he could hurt you, don’t go by his legs,” I tell him. He backs up, so I know he understands me. Shaking my head, I whistle for Storm. It doesn’t take long, and he comes running. I’m getting excited—I have missed riding. Looking at Tanner, I see he has found some straw and lay down on it out of the way. Walking up to Storm, I open my mind to him; he nickers softly. “I want to ride you, will you let me?” Slowly I slid the bridle on. It’s a perfect fit.