Declan slept almost into the afternoon after his first night staying with Lindsey. When he woke up, he walked into the kitchen and noticed a small piece of paper with a note addressed to him.

Good morning Declan,

I had to go into the office for a few hours, but I didn’t wanna wake you. Feel free to eat anything you’d like. My cell number is on the refrigerator if you need to reach me for any reason.

See you later,

Lindsey

Declan replaced the note on the counter and pulled open the refrigerator. He took out some eggs and milk, and quickly whipped himself up some scrambled eggs. As he sat down at the table to eat, he realized that Lindsey had left her phone number, but he had no way to call her. He ate his eggs slowly as he tried to think of a way to contact her, but the only way would be to get a new phone. He hoped that the payment Maria had made on the card had already gone through.

He collected the dishes he’d used and washed them and dried them, and then he put them away, neatly. He gathered his clothes from the dryer and folded them and quickly replaced them, adding them into his backpack. Realizing that he’d have no way to lock the house, Declan got out through the garage door, secretly hoping that Lindsey would be back before him, so he’d have a way to get back inside.

Declan climbed inside his car and pulled out onto the street which led out of her neighborhood. He paused a moment as he realized that he might not be able to find his way back, so he drove back to the house and wrote down her address on a small piece of paper. He pulled out again, and back out onto the road, and then he started driving.

He passed a local general store not far from the house, and turned into the parking lot. As he parked, Declan reached for his wallet in the glove compartment and checked to make sure that the card was still there. He got out of the car and made his way into the store.

“Welcome,” a young man drawled from behind the register. He looked bored, and nothing was welcoming about him, but Declan smiled anyway, as he approached him.

“Hey,” Declan said. “Do you guys carry any cell phones here?”

The young man stared at Declan and said, “Check aisle twelve.” Declan nodded and made his way deeper into the store. As he walked down aisle twelve, he found a few, cheap-looking cell phones hanging in plastic boxes. He picked one out and grabbed a memory card as well. He walked back up to the register and put the phone onto the counter.

The young man sighed as he rang up the phone and the card. He looked up at Declan and blinked twice before he said, “That’ll be thirty-two dollars and twenty-nine cents, Sir.”

Declan slid the card into the machine and sent up a prayer that the transaction would be approved. The young man stared at the screen emotionlessly, and Declan started tapping his fingers nervously.

“Is there a problem?” asked Declan.

The young man looked at him and opened his mouth to say something, but as he did, the receipt printed. He took the receipt and handed it to Declan saying, “Have a great day.” Declan nodded and made his way out of the store and back to his car.

In the driver’s seat, he ripped the phone free of its packaging and plugged in the cable to the car charger. After a few minutes, the screen lit up, indicating that the phone was powering on. Declan smiled to himself as he pulled out of the parking lot and turned right to head back to Lindsey’s house.

As he pulled into the driveway, he noticed there were two cars there. One he recognized as Lindsey’s, but the other; he didn’t know who it might belong to. Declan climbed out of the car, grabbing his new phone and he headed toward the house. As he approached the front door, he could hear voices yelling from the outside, although he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.

He hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door. The voices died down, and he heard footsteps quickly approaching. Lindsey pulled open the door, and Declan could tell immediately that something was wrong —her eyes were red from crying, and her face was splotchy and wet.

“Lindsey?” Declan asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Who’s at the door, Lindsey?” a man’s voice called from the other room. “Tell them to go away, we are busy right now.”

Lindsey looked upset, and she bit her lip. “Declan, my ex is here. Can you —can you come back later? I’m so sorry. He’s…” she trailed off as she looked behind herself nervously.

“Lindsey, are you okay?” Declan could see fresh tears welling up in her eyes, and he had the overwhelming urge to push the door open and find the man who was causing her to be so distressed.

“Just go, please,” she whispered urgently. But it was too late at that point, and a man emerged from the other room and headed straight toward the door.

“Who’s this, Lindsey?”

“This is a friend,” she said quietly, shrinking back as the man got closer.

“A friend, huh?” The man looked at her with a wild expression. “Well, hey, pal, can you leave us alone? We’re in the middle of something.” Declan looked at Lindsey and then at the man, and every fiber of his being wanted to send his fist smashing against the man’s nose.

“No,” Declan said quietly, “I think I’ll stay.” Declan stepped inside of the house and straightened up so that he towered over the man in front of him. The guy sneered at Declan and then as if he thought better of it, he shrugged his shoulders and looked at Lindsey.

“So, is this the real reason you can’t take the boys back early, Lindsey? Too busy lying on your back with your legs wide open to notice anything else?” Lindsey’s face turned beet red as she opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.

“I think it’s time for you to leave,” Declan said, his voice dangerously low.

“This is my house, pal. I can stay as long as I want to.”

“I said, leave.” Declan leaned forward while slightly tensing the muscles in his jaw.

Whatever false bravado the man had left, it immediately went by the wayside. He swallowed nervously and then headed for the door. He turned back to say something else, but Declan slammed the door in his face before he could get any words out.

As the door closed, Lindsey let out a huge breath as though she’d been holding it in, forever. She looked at Declan with a fierce expression he didn’t quite understand, and then she ran toward him and hugged him tightly. Declan wrapped his arms around her, and they stood like that for a while before Lindsey finally pulled away, wiping the stray tears from her eyes.

“Where were you?” she asked quietly. “When I got home, your car was gone, and all your stuff was gone. I thought you’d left without saying goodbye.” Declan tilted her chin up so that she was looking at him.

“I’d never leave without saying goodbye,” he whispered softly. “I only went to the store to buy a cell phone.”

“Oh,” she said, chuckling. She excused herself and Declan watched as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

He made his way into the house and sat down on the couch waiting for Lindsey to come back out. When she did, she looked refreshed, and she plopped herself down on the chair across from him and pulled her legs up underneath herself.

“So, that was your ex, huh?” Declan asked, trying to keep the judgment from his voice.

She nodded and said, “That was James.”

“Why was he here?”

Lindsey looked at him and shook her head briefly before explaining. “He came over to see if I’d take the boys back, tonight. He said that they are too much to handle since I’ve spoiled them and that he can’t deal with them anymore.” Lindsey let out a breath. “I mean, he’s their father. He should want to spend time with his sons. Or am I crazy?”

“You’re not crazy,” Declan said. “When I was young, I didn’t have the best relationship with my dad, and then he died. I really would’ve liked to have grown up with a good dad, you know? The kind you see playing catch in the front yard and teaching you how to ride a bike and stuff.”

Lindsey nodded and smiled to herself. “That was how my dad was with us,” she said. “He was always our biggest fan.”

Declan considered her words and then carefully asked her a question which had been bothering him for a little while. “Lindsey, how can someone like you end up with a guy like that?”

She gave him a sad smile and said, “He wasn’t always like that. I mean, looking back on our relationship, I should’ve never married him. My dad never liked him, but I thought he was just stubborn, you know? Not wanting to let go of his baby girl. But as the years progressed, things got worse over time, and then after we had the boys, it was like something inside of him completely shut down. I tried to make it work, for the boys’ sake. But the time came when I had to say enough was enough.”

Declan nodded and said quietly, “I think you made the right call.”

Lindsey smiled at him gratefully and then stood up from her seat. “I think I’m gonna take a shower.” Declan smiled at her and watched as she left the room. He stood up and collected his phone and bag from the ground, then went into his room to plug it in to charge some more.

Once the battery was about half full, Declan took the phone and dialed Maria’s number. It rang several times before being sent to voicemail. “Hey, Maria, it’s Declan. I just wanna let you know that I bought a phone so you can reach me at this number. Also, I found a really nice lady who’s helping me out, so you don’t have to worry so much about me. Anyway, call me back so I can hear how things are going on your end, okay? I’ll talk to you later.” He clicked the phone closed and replaced it back on the charger.

There was a knock on the door, and Declan turned to see Lindsey standing there, wrapped in a towel. “I thought you might wanna join me,” she said, smiling. Declan couldn’t help the smile that was emerging on his own face, and he walked up to her and took her hand in his as she led him down the hallway to the shower.

* * *

Noelle sat on the bench in the shower and struggled to try to wash her hair and body. She couldn’t stand up with the splint on her leg, and the idea of asking this complete stranger for help just made her nauseous. She tried to flip her hair forward to get the soap out, but it was useless.

She groaned in frustration as she called out meekly for Lucas. He knocked on the door before he came inside, and Noelle noticed that he had his eyes covered with his hands, which made her laugh.

“Lucas,” she said, “I need your help washing my hair if you wouldn’t mind. I just need a way to rinse it out.”

“Oh,” he said, “of course. Hang on.” He went out of the bathroom and then came back a few moments later carrying a cup. “Will this work?” he asked. Without opening his eyes, he handed Noelle the cup and then turned around.

She placed the cup underneath the shower stream and then poured it overhead, washing out the soap. “This is perfect, thank you.” Lucas nodded once before walking out of the bathroom again, closing the door shut behind him.

Noelle finished rinsing off and then reached for the towel he’d draped on the back wall on the shower. She wrapped herself as best she could, before calling him back inside again.

“You good?” he asked.

“Yes,” Noelle said, unable to hide her smile.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d met such a modest man, and it was kind of refreshing. He took his hand from off his eyes slowly, and as he took her in, Noelle could tell that he was struggling to hide his attraction to her.

He walked into the shower and picked her up, careful to leave her towel covering all of the ‘right’ areas. He carried her into the room across the hallway and sat her gently on the bed.

“Here,” he said as he handed her a pile of clothes. “They are mine, but I think it should work, for now at least.”

Noelle smiled gratefully as she maneuvered the shirt over her head without letting go of the towel, and out of respect to Lucas. As she reached down to pull on the sweatpants he offered her, a sharp pain went through her leg causing her to suck in a deep breath.

“Let me help you,” he said as he kneeled on the floor in front of her.

Slowly, he placed one of her feet through the material and then the other. He pulled the pants up a little over her knee and then helped her to her feet. Noelle leaned against him as she struggled to pull the pants up the rest of the way, and while Lucas struggled to keep his eyes forward. The towel dropped between them, and Noelle quickly wriggled the pants up and tied them tightly around her waist.

Lucas let out a small breath and laid her gently on the bed. “Okay,” he said. “You should get some rest. I’ll wake you up when dinner’s ready.” He didn’t wait for a response before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Noelle laid on the soft bed and stared at the ceiling. It had been five months since she’d last slept in a bed and the softness beneath her felt foreign and sublime, all at the very same time. She hadn’t realized how accustomed she’d become to living a life in the wild, but now that she was back in a somewhat social setting, she was beginning to notice the effects that the woods had pressed on her.

She missed the open sky above her as she laid down. Now, the ceiling felt too close, and she felt like it stifled her. She closed her eyes and tried to picture her parents —she imagined them living happily with one another, enjoying vacations that they never had the chance to go on before, and she pictured them smiling and laughing with one other. She tried to imagine Megan finally accepting her life and her family, even if it was with one less cousin.

Noelle thought about her nana, and her heart clenched tightly. She missed her nana dearly and even though she doubted that any of this would’ve happened had her nana not passed away, Noelle still wondered what she might have to say about the mess that Noelle had found herself in.

She drifted off slowly to sleep, and she tried to clear her mind completely of everything, but as she was entering into sleep, the two eyes staring up at her beneath the tree came back into her mind. She was jolted awake briefly, and then almost immediately; she fell right back into her dreamless sleep.

Noelle dreamed of an open field with a river running straight through it…

As she walked closer to the river, she noticed someone sitting on the other side. The closer she got, the more she recognized the body of the person, until finally, she stood directly across from them. They turned around, and Noelle saw Declan staring back at her. He looked at her with a sad expression.

“What’s wrong?” Noelle asked.

“You betrayed me,” Declan whispered. The words were carried to her by the wind which caressed the field. “You betrayed all of us.”

“No, I didn’t,” Noelle shouted angrily. “I helped you!”

Declan shook his head sadly and turned and started walking away. Noelle tried to shout at him again, but she had no voice. She began to cross the river to get to him on the other side, but something snagged her foot.

As she looked into the water, she saw Edmund underneath the water, holding onto her foot and trying to drag her down. The more that Noelle fought against him to get to Declan, the stronger he became. She kicked him, and she tried to scream, but no sound came out. Declan never turned around to look at her.

Noelle woke up screaming. When she opened her eyes, Lucas was throwing the door open, clearly worried. She was covered in sweat, and she looked panicked.

“What is it?” he asked. “Is everything okay?”

Noelle looked around the room as the dream slowly left her mind and reality crept back in. She nodded slowly and wiped the sweat from her brow.

“Yes,” she said finally. “Just a bad dream, I guess.” Lucas nodded as though he understood all about bad dreams. He wiped his hands on his pants and then reached for Noelle.

“Well, it was good timing, I guess.” For the first time, Lucas smiled at Noelle, and any remnants of the bad dream were immediately cast aside. “Dinner’s ready!” he announced. He gathered her into his arms and Noelle rocked gently against his body with every step he took toward the dining room.

She looked at him and wondered; not for the first time, who this man really was —and what he was doing out here in the woods.

“Declan never turned around to look at her.”