Tessa Stark: Desert Heat

Chapter Eight

 "Oh my god. You...you kept it? Why?" Peyton asked, an expression of mild horror on her face as she took in the sight of the vehicle in her driveway.

Tessa shrugged, glancing at the hulking '88 Wagoneer that had become almost a part of her. He...had bought it with the intention of restoring it one day. The thing had sat in her mamaw's barn for years, until she had decided to claim it has her own. For years now, the old steel blue beast with the wood grain panels was her constant physical reminder of who had made her...

"Well, there's nothing like a little moral masochism, I guess," Peyton stated somberly. "Anyway, don't the people you work for fly you to where you need to go?"

"They offer, but I like to drive when I can. Driving gives me time to think," she answered.

"And it means you'll be alone? Hidden safely away from the rest of the world for a while?"

Again, Tessa shrugged, pulling her gaze away from the Wagoneer and looking out into the deepening evening dusk. The temperature had dropped so that the air on her skin was pleasantly cool and she stood there just...feeling it, breathing it into herself. It was a lovely balm after sitting in the living room with all those candles putting out heat and the window air conditioner struggling to stave it off.

"Are you okay here, Peyton?" she asked as she turned to her sister, finding that facing the woman was easier through the gloom. "I mean...really?"

"I'm as okay here as I am anywhere else," came the response. "And I have Kimber. She's fun to hang around. Mostly."

"Well, I'm glad you have someone. And Kimber seems...nice." Even if she was one of the most annoyingly cheerful people to ever be clothed in clay.

Peyton pulled in a long breath, crossing her arms over herself in an effort to offset the chill air. "She grows on you. And she's just so...normal...that it almost makes me feel normal, too. I mean, almost."

"If that's what you need, then I'm happy you have that," she said truthfully.

A tight smile lifted the corner of Peyton's overly plump mouth. "Its what I want. To feel normal. To not wake up every morning and recount my steps from the day before, just to make sure that I remember exactly what I did and where I went, to make sure that I didn't..."

She didn't bother pretending not to understand what her sister was talking about. Because she did understand. She caught herself doing the same thing from time to time. Opening her eyes first thing in the morning and instantly retracing her movements the day before, needing to make sure that she could account for every minute, needing to make sure that she hadn't...slipped, that she hadn't done the things that...he...had done.

"Well, anyway," Peyton sighed, taking a step backward, "will I see you again before you leave? I mean, I'd really like to."

"I might not be able to find the time while I'm working on the case, but I won't leave without saying goodbye," she vowed.

"The spa Kimber and I work at isn't too far from the sheriff's office.  If you're ever free for lunch, just give me a call.  I can take a break and we can grab a coffee or something?  Or we can do dinner again?  I can come to you, if its easier?"

Not wanting to shoot her sister down, she gave a nod of agreement. "I can't promise, but I can certainly try to make some time."

Peyton's seemed to relax a fraction. "Where are you staying?"

"The Desert Rose, over on Pinedale," she said, feeling a waft of sadness as Peyton took another step backward.

"I know that place. Its not too far from work," her sister revealed. "If you want some company or, I dunno, maybe somebody to just talk to, you can give me a ring?"