Chapter Two
The thunder was so loud it shook the house and woke me up. At that moment, lightning flashed outside and gave a perfect silhouette of a man standing outside my window. I sat up. The wood floor stung my barefeet with its coolness.
Was I dreaming? Had the people my parents were afraid of followed me here?
I marched across the floor and pulled aside the blinds. My heart stopped beating the moment I saw his eyes. A scream lodged in my throat, but did not come out. He was wearing a black hood that hid most of his features in shadow, but I could see in his eyes that he was smiling at me.
Scream Piper.
His pasty white hand reached toward the glass separating us, but froze midair. The ferocious feral sound was loud enough to be heard over the thunder, and we both looked in the direction of the noise. It came from a huge, black dog with long, white sharp teeth that was coming toward him. The shining wet black hair on its back stood on end as another ferocious sound shook the windowpane.
I grabbed my phone off the desk as the man took off running and dialed 911. When I looked out the window all I could see was the black dog, but it was no longer chasing the masked man. It had stopped and was looking right at me. That was no dog, it was a wolf.
The police searched the grounds for any signs, but with the rain there was nothing to find. A basic trespassing statement was given. I watched them talking to Grandma Sidney at their cars. I had already read the skepticism in the way they asked their questions. They probably thought I was just another rich girl looking for attention from the parents who ignored me.
Tony was standing with her and looking in through the front windows at me. I could not tell if he believed what had happened or not, but I was glad he was with Grandma Sidney. Johnny and the new guy were busy working with the animals, and I decided to get dressed. Last night was probably a fluke. Some random thief came walking onto the wrong property.
No way had the “they” my parents referred to followed me here. Obviously, they had known where I was all seventeen years of my life. If they wanted to come for me, they would have. Maybe my birth mother had just wanted me to know of her existence and now that I did she would leave me alone.
I dressed in a hurry and hoped that I would be able to bury my fears in my dirty laundry basket along with my discarded pajamas.
“Where are you going?” Sidney caught me by the shoulder when I rounded the corner from the hallway toward the front door.
“Don’t want idle hands right now.” It was true, but sounded lame.
I hugged Grandma Sidney and headed out the front door. The air smelled like rain, and the ground was still muddy. Tony put me to work right away feeding the dogs.
The sun was at its zenith, and sweat had long ago begun to pool at the small of my back. Tony dropped my straw cowgirl-style hat with its black velvet ribbon on my head. He kept it hanging in the first barn and always remembered to make me wear it.
I was listening to my iPod while I brushed down one of the horses when the guy my grandma warned the night before, stopped in front of me. He was smiling slightly and gave me a head nod once he spotted the earphones.
I gave the cord a tug, and they popped out. “Yeah?”
“I’m Ivan Crawford, you’re Piper?” His hair touched the tops of his shoulders and fell into his face when he leaned forward as he was doing. He had a well-trimmed mustache and goatee that was the same dark brown as his hair and eyes. I kept brushing the horse. “Tony said I should help you with the horses.” I had no desire to participate in a conversation with him, so I didn’t answer. That didn’t stop him.
“This is my first time working with animals. I bet you’re a pro. Have any pointers for me?”
“Tony is the one with the pointers.” I put the earphones back in my ears and gave Ivan my back. After Sidney’s warning last night it was clear this fool was dense. The next song was a quiet starter, and I heard him talking under his breath and with my curiosity piqued I hit pause and kept brushing.
“-keep giving me your back all day. I’m lovin’ the view, little sweet thang.” My face was burning with embarrassment immediately, and I turned around to tell him where he could go when I caught a movement in the brush.
Dark black fur. It was the wolf. I dropped the brush and walked slowly towards the bushes and pines.
“Hey, where you going?” I stopped when I saw its eyes. They were brown and yellow and alive like a jungle. I had not been able to see their color in the dark last night, nor the unique focus they seemed to have. My heart pounded in my chest, and my breathing was coming faster. I pulled off my hat and knelt down.
“Come here, boy.” A low growl vibrated, and my heartbeat doubled its pace. “I’m not afraid of you. Come here.” I began to raise my hand palm down toward the brush.
It’s just a dog.
“Babe, what are you doing?” I almost threw up because Rick scared me so bad. He grabbed my shoulders and set me on my feet. The wolf was gone when I looked back. “You’re looking beautiful as always. Miss me?” I felt like hitting him, but stifled the urge.
“Yes, of course.” He kissed me and brushed off my soiled knees. “What were you doing?”
“I thought I spotted a stray.” I searched again for any sign of the black wolf with its hypnotic gaze.
“Oh. Want to go out tonight?” His dirty-blond hair was looking lighter, and his skin was much tanner than when I’d last seen him. “I’ve got enough to take you some place really nice.” Ivan was watching us. Someone was always watching, and I was tired of the constant stressing over what they would say. He was watching to see if he could tell his buddies that the Senator’s daughter was a tease.
I shifted my weight and then bent over to pick up my hat. I was grounded, but I was also mad at the people who grounded me, specifically from Rick. “Okay.”
“How come I had to hear from Nina that my best girl is back in town? Why didn’t you call me?”
A nervous smile curved my lips. “I got in late.”
“You okay?” He grabbed my chin with his thumb and pointer finger. “You look like you’re mad.”
I laughed, “No, I’m not mad.”
“Is that code for, yes, I’m mad you idiot who did something stupid?” He gave me a sheepish look, and his blue eyes sparkled at me.
“No,” I laughed. Rick grabbed my waist and pulled me in for another kiss. His hands squeezed my bottom, and I broke the kiss. Ivan was smiling and shaking his head in an, I knew it kind of way. “There are people all around, Rick.”
“What? Good ole Harry wants you to break up with me? Should I call him up or go to his house?”
“We’ll talk about this later.” I nodded toward Ivan, who was openly watching and listening. “He’s new.” Rick was glaring in Ivan’s direction. “Well, let’s go. You don’t have to work.”
The last thing I wanted at the moment was to leave the sanctuary. My sanctuary. “But I want to.” My voice came out harsher than I had intended.
“I’ll pick you up at seven. Sorry to have interrupted.” He raised his hands up and let them fall as he stomped away.
“Piper?” It was Sidney’s voice. “Your mother’s on the phone.” I pretended not to hear and did not look back in the direction of the house. My lips pressed tightly together and without my bidding, my eyes filled with tears, again. I needed to get away, somewhere away from Ivan and his staring problems.
I grabbed the reins and lead the horse I’d been brushing toward the field used to run the horses. It was surrounded by trees, and it gave me the feeling of seclusion. A big breath of air I had been holding rushed out, and I continued walking in the huge oval shape of the field. Two laps around and I was already lost in my own internal interrogation of my feelings.
Then the horse jerked from my hold, and I turned and tried to calm the horse. “What’s the matter?” The horse reared up and slammed its foot into my chest. Pain exploded inside of me, and I landed several feet away. The horse rose u
p again, and I rolled out of the way as a ferocious growl sounded near my left ear.
The black wolf was right next to me.
The horse turned and ran back toward the sanctuary. The wolf laid himself down in the grass next to me. I was watching him and not believing what I was seeing. This had to be a dog. There was no way a wolf would just come and lay down so close to a human. My curiosity was screaming at me. This might be my only chance to touch him. My hand shook as I raised it. I offered it to him, and he inhaled the scent of me. He licked my hand and rolled onto his back.
He was longer than me all laid out like he was. I stroked his stomach, but he quickly rolled back. He laid his head in my hand, and I lost the rest of my hesitation. He was a giant teddy bear. “You’re so sweet.” I started scratching behind his ear. “You saved me last night didn’t you?”
“Piper, are you okay?” Tony came jogging up with Ivan in tow. “The horse came back without you.” Tony slowed when he saw the black dog. “Hold onto him.” Tony tossed me a leash, and it was not easy to get it on the dog. Tony laughed uncharacteristically at me the entire time.
Once I got it around his neck, his body went stiff. From his earlier reaction, I knew he liked it when I scratched behind his ears so I did, and he relaxed. The black fur was so silky, nothing like I would expect a strays’ hair to feel. The texture was so different from any of the other dogs.
“Come on, Pipey.” I stood up and led him back towards the sanctuary. He rubbed up against my leg, and I laughed and stopped to pet him again.
How could I ever have been afraid of you?
I did not want to cage him, and I knew that Grandma Sidney would not let me set him free. I would have to convince her to let me keep him. When I straightened to a standing position, I felt Ivan’s breath on the back of my neck and quickly turned around. “So that was your boyfriend?”
“Obviously.” I hated that my heart was racing again.
He smirked at me. “Kind of young isn’t he?”
“He’s older than I am.”
“No way, the body I’m looking at is all woman.” Bile stung the bottom of my throat.
My Giant started growling and showing his teeth. Ivan took a step back. “Good boy.” I scratched behind his ear again.
“Looks like you’ve got a new friend,” Johnny said, pushing Ivan another step back. “We’d better have a look at him.” He gestured to My Giant. “He’s a big boy. Don’t know if we’ve got an empty run for him.” The smile on his face made him seem closer to his twenties even though he was well into his thirties.
“That’s okay, Johnny. I’m keeping this one.”
Johnny looked to Ivan and then back at My Giant. “I don’t think Sid is going to let you, hun. It’s a rule that you can’t adopt any of them isn’t it?”
“I’m keeping this one.”
He grinned instead of being offended by my tone. “Well, you go give it a try then.”
I gave the leash a slight pull when we were nearing the front door, and he stopped. He quickly sat down when I looked at him, his tongue hanging out happily. I sighed, trying to think of what was going to work with Grandma Sidney. Nothing was coming to mind. “This isn’t going to work.” The dog whimpered, and I gave him a pat on the head. “I’m still going to try,” I assured him and realized I was talking to a dog.
Genius.
Sidney was in the kitchen and stuck her head out of the doorway when she heard the front door. I gave her my brightest smile and jumped right in. “Grandma, I know there are rules against adopting strays but I need you to make an exception.” My teeth bit into my lower lip when her eyes lowered slightly to take in My Giant. Her gray eyes were widening, and it was not in a good way. “Please?”
“But sweetheart,” she said, looking at him like he was going to eat me alive. “You’ll only be here a year and then you’ll be gone to college.”
“I know but Dad won’t let me live on campus anyway.” I wrapped my arms around his huge neck and smiled again.
This had to work.
“Having a pet is a big responsibility. That one there is like having three.”
I gave his back-end a push to get him to sit, hoping he’d look a little smaller. “It’s not like I won’t have money to feed him.”
“What about when you get married and have children? That thing will gobble up a baby.” My Giant lay down and rolled onto its back with a whimper.
I don’t know why I thought she would let me keep him.
I felt like if he was gone, I’d be afraid. My eyes filled with tears, so I looked at the front door instead of at my grandma. “Grandma, I can’t explain it but I really need someone to belong to me right now. He’s the one I need.”
Grandma Sidney was trying to read into what I really meant and didn’t respond for at least half a minute, which felt seriously long. “We’d better get a dog bed,” she said finally. “I don’t want it jumping up and shedding all over my furniture.”
“Thank you, Grandma Sidney.” I tried to discreetly wipe my eyes before smiling at her.
She went back into the kitchen. “You’re welcome,” she called. I led My Giant down the hallway so I could see her in the kitchen. “I wonder what Rick will think of your new dog.” Sidney turned the knob on her gas top burner and set some ham in the frying pan. “Rick looked upset when he left,” she added when I chose not respond to her first question.
“I’ve got a date with him later.” The dog was drooling heavily all of a sudden, and I grimaced at the huge wet spot on the carpet beneath him.
“You’d better feed that dog.”
“Oh, okay.” I lead him back toward the front door.
Please don’t let her change her mind.
“Hey,” Sidney said, stopping me before I could clear the open doorway. “Is that the same dog you saw last night?” I looked down at the still salivating dog.
“Yes, he is.” I closed the door so she would not have the chance to tell me she had changed her mind. It was surprising she had chosen Rick to discuss and not my mother. I’ve never been especially close to my parents. It’s always been Grandma Sidney that I’ve relied on. My sister, Trina, was my parents’ pride and joy. I’d never resented this fact because it made it easier for me to be with Grandma Sidney.
My throat was tightening up again. It was stupid to think of my parents, especially while I was constantly fighting with the tears that popped up at the least opportune moments. Right then there were eyes everywhere, and I had no explanations to offer for tears. I cleared my throat and called Nina on my cell as I led My Giant toward Johnny to be looked over.
I had promised not to tell, but it was going to be really difficult not to tell Nina. It was hard not being able to talk about it with Grandma Sidney. I’d seen how my parents had responded to whomever had come, and it was a mixture of fear and disgust. I didn’t want Grandma Sidney to see me or treat me differently.
Had that pasty person with the strange eyes come for me?
My hand went down to My Giant’s back, and I looked at him the same moment his eyes looked up at me. The flecks of yellow were more like gold sparkling up at me from the bottom of a chocolate riverbed. I could swear they were focused in on me like he was trying to understand me.
Wow, I’m really starting to lose it.