Lost & Found

“About that . . .” I turned to face her. “Are you still okay with me working around the rest of the place if I wear something less . . .” I glanced down at my clothing, trying to paraphrase it, “intense?”

Rose nodded. “More than okay with it. You want to hang with me and the girls tomorrow?”

“Um, yeah,” I began, fiddling with the hem of my skirt. “I just don’t . . . I don’t exactly have . . .”

“Why don’t you stop by Lily’s room before you head to bed?” she said, saving me. “She’d be happy to loan you a few of her things until we can get into town to get you some new clothes. You two have to be pretty close in size.”

“Really?” I said. “You don’t think she’d mind?”

“I know she wouldn’t.”

Why? Why would a teenage girl not mind another teenage girl who was basically a stranger knocking on her door and asking to borrow some clothes? Oh yeah, because the Walkers were the damn nicest people I’d been around. Something was in the well water out at Willow Springs.

“Okay,” I said with a wave. “I’ll see you in the morning. I mean, I’ll see you at the crack of dawn.” I smiled at Rose as I left the laundry room behind.

“Tomorrow morning. Brand new chance. The first day of whatever life you want to have for yourself.” Rose called after me, “Wake up wisely.”

The first floor was quiet as I headed for the stairs. No sounds other than the ticking of the old grandfather clock in the foyer and the chorus of crickets coming through the cracked open windows. The kitchen lights were turned off, along with most of the other lights, except for one small lamp glowing in the living room window. Rose had told me earlier they always kept that one light glowing to remind them that when the night is at its darkest, there’s always a promise of dawn to come.

Yeah. I wasn’t living with just the nicest family in existence; they were probably descendants of Aristotle.

I still hadn’t met Neil, Rose’s husband, but if Willow Springs kept him as busy as Rose, it wasn’t a big surprise I hadn’t bumped into Jesse’s dad. Especially since all I’d been bumping into was washing machines and dryers.

Before traipsing up the stairs, I took one more look around. He wasn’t here.

Maybe he didn’t live here anymore. He was nineteen after all. Maybe he lived some place else and only worked there. Maybe he stayed back in the bunkhouse with the rest of the ranch hands.

When I realized I was spending way too much time contemplating where Jesse laid his head at night, I gave myself a mental slap and bolted down the hall toward Lily’s room.

The door was halfway open, but I still felt the need to knock.

“Entrez-vous,” was the sing-song reply.

“Hey, Lily,” I greeted, stepping inside her room. It was almost identical to the one I was staying in except the walls were a minty green instead of tan.

“Oh . . . hey, Rowen,” she said, spinning in her desk chair. “I thought you were mom.”

“Am I interrupting you? I can come back later.” I hitched my thumb at the door and stepped toward it. She had a couple books spread over the desk and a pencil behind her ear.

“No, an interruption was exactly what I needed. If I have to conjugate one more French verb, I’m going to go voulez-vous crazy.”

“French verbs?” I wrinkled my nose. “It’s summer break. Why are you doing anything that resembles homework?”

“I’m one of those unfortunate few who goes to school year round,” she said, not sounding the least bit devastated.

“Why?” I’d known the summer school kids—I’d been one of them—and Lily didn’t fit the profile.

“Mom home schools us, so other than Sundays, a week in the winter, and a week in the summer, the Walker kids are in ‘class’ every day. Except for Jesse. He graduated last summer from Willow Springs High.” Lily smiled at me in a girlish way. That, combined with the side braids and makeup-free face, made her seem a few years younger.

“What are you going to do after you graduate?” I asked, obviously not understanding the way it worked out there. Everything seemed a little backward compared to where I came from, yet it also made some sense.

“I want to go to one of the state schools and work on getting my veterinary medicine degree,” she said, her eyes glowing. “Specializing in large animal.”

“I imagine that profession is in high demand out here.” I was impressed. The girl had goals and didn’t look the least bit concerned she wouldn’t achieve them.

She bobbed her head. “Willow Springs alone could keep me employed full-time. I grew up with so many cattle and horses I feel like I’m already halfway to becoming a vet.”

“I bet you are.”

Her smile grew. “How was your day? Do you never want to see another bottle of laundry detergent for the rest of your life?”

“For the rest of this life and my next,” I said. “That’s actually kind of the reason I wanted to talk with you.”

Lily sat up in her seat. “Do you want me to give you a hand tomorrow? I’m sure mom wouldn’t mind once I get my other chores—”

I lifted my hand. “Thank you, but I was actually wondering if I could borrow some clothes? I can’t spend another day in that place.”

Lily hopped out of her chair. “I totally don’t blame you, and of course you can borrow some clothes. What do you need?” She slid her closet door open and swept her arms through its contents.

“Whatever you think I need,” I said, peering inside the closet. “I’m officially in unchartered territory.” I ran my eyes down my body. “Obviously.”

Sorting through a few pairs of jeans, Lily pulled a couple of the newer looking ones off their hangers. “These ought to work,” she said and slid a few T-shirts free. “Here you go. Will these be all right?” She handed me the heap of clothing and waited.

“These will work great,” I said, studying the shirts and jeans in my arms. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d worn sky blue, the color of one of the shirts she’d handed me. Sky blue. The color of a certain pair of eyes who saw too much when they looked at me.

I gave my head a shake. “Thanks, Lily. You’re pretty great, you know that?”

From her expression, I couldn’t have given her a bigger compliment.

“I’ll let you get back to your homework.” I flashed her a smile before heading for the door with my Willow Springs-approved borrowed wardrobe.

“Rowen?”

I stopped and looked over my shoulder.

“Did that hurt when you had it done?” Lily asked, glancing at my eyebrow.

“A little. But I’ve experienced a lot worse.”

Lily gave me a nod and a smile. “I wish I could be more like you. You’re so confident in who you are.”

I had to look away from her eyes full of admiration. “I don’t know who I am, Lily. I’m just really good at pretending.” Then, because I couldn’t say or hear another “deep” word, I darted out of her room.

Hyacinth and Clementine must have also been busy with homework because the hall was quiet. After shutting myself inside my room, I dropped my armful of clothes on the foot of my bed and wandered to the window. It was warm up there, and if the old house had air-conditioning, it certainly wasn’t on.

As soon as I whooshed the window open, I understood why. The days might have been warm, but the nights were almost chilly. Fresh, cool air flooded the room, and in less than a minute, the hot air was gone. I headed over to the dresser, grabbed my sketchbook and pencil, and wandered back to the window. A few minutes of losing myself on a blank white page sounded like just the way to end the day.

As I lowered my pencil to the paper, my eyes shifted to the barn, where a warm, yellow light flooded from its open doors. The pencil dropped from my fingers.

Jesse stood in the bed of his old truck, parked just outside the wide doors, heaving huge bags of something onto the barn floor. The white shirt he’d slipped into in the laundry room wasn’t clean anymore. I started to understand why the washing machines ran non-stop at Willow Springs.

The bed of his truck was stacked high and wide with bags about the same size as me. Jesse lifted each one, threw it over his shoulder, and walked it to the tailgate as he had my bag. Like those bags were filled with packing popcorn. Farm work obviously gave a person superhuman strength and, from what I’d witnessed earlier from my spy spot on the laundry room floor, superhuman muscles as well. He wasn’t even breathing heavily.

Yeah, the way my heart started hammering in my chest and the way my whole body went all tingly was pretty much the opposite of winding down.

Jesse had just tossed another bag onto the ground when he froze. His whole body went wire straight right before he started to twist around.

“Crap,” I hissed, dropping to the floor as fast as gravity allowed me. He knew I’d been watching him . . . spying on him. He knew.

Jesse was as hardwired to me as I was to him and, right then, that scared me more than anything else. I didn’t like letting people get close. I didn’t want them to see past the smoke and mirrors.

I stayed cowered down on the floor for so long, I fell asleep there. My dreams that night, as always, were in black and white.

Chapter Five

Another soft rapping on the door. Another groan from me. I sensed a routine forming.

“Rowen?” Lily’s voice was just as timid as it had been yesterday morning. And by morning, I mean butt crack of dawn. “Rise and shine time.”

I groaned and attempted to peel myself from the floor. The carpet was practically pasted to my cheek. “I will rise, but I do not shine,” I croaked as I stood. “Even if I did, I sure as heck wouldn’t this early.”

Lily laughed a few soft notes. “I’ll see you downstairs.”

“Yay,” I said with a hefty dose of sarcasm. Before shuffling over to the dresser, I took a quick peek out the window. Jesse and his truck were long gone, and the barn was dark. After peeling out of the clothes I’d slept in, I grabbed the first jeans and shirt my hands touched. Lily was a couple inches shorter than me and a rail, so the jeans were tight—Jesse’s jeans tight—and the tee fit kind of snugly, too. At least I’d have more than Maytag and Whirlpool to keep me company. Wearing tight, uncomfortable country digs was worth it.

I was sure my black boots looked ridiculous with the rest of my get-up, but the other shoes I’d brought would have looked even weirder. A quick mirror check revealed I was a mess. A hot, crazy-haired one. Not wasting any time, I undid my braid from yesterday, tore a brush through my unruly hair, then re-braided it. I wiped away the smears of what was left from yesterday, but I didn’t apply any more makeup. It was too early, I was too tired, and I doubted if Midnight Scarlet lipstick paired well with a simple, sky blue tee.

Great. I had on that tee. Talk about a Freudian slip . . .

I flipped off my reflection before leaving the room. A peek inside each of the girls’ rooms showed them empty, beds made, and no clothes dotting the carpet. I was less and less surprised by that sort of things when it came to the Walkers.