Protection

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Bliss walked into the house and then to the kitchen from which the merry voices of her father and Damian echoed.

“Hey, baby girl,” her father smiled when he saw her. “How was your ride?”

“It was fine, Daddy,” Bliss said, sitting at the table across form him.

“Kind of hot out there, ain’t it?” Damian asked.

Bliss smiled at the older man. “You’re used to the weather in North Carolina. Here in Arizona the low eighties like it is now is just about right.”

Damian shook his head.

“Wait until we get later on in the month. When we get into the low seventies we start wearing coats,” Daddy winked.

Bliss smiled.

“Where’s that strange man?” Damian asked.

“Taking care of his horse,” Bliss informed.

“Does he know that’s what Mason’s for?” Daddy asked.

Bliss nodded.

“Then why didn’t he leave his horse with him?” Daddy pressed.

Bliss huffed. “I don’t know. It’s not a crime if a man wants to take care of his own horse.”

She stood and walked down the hall to her room. Ever since that discussion about Seth, she had felt irritable. Even the mention of that intolerable man made her stomach want to deposit its contents onto the floor.

Deciding that she needed to lie down a moment, Bliss collapsed onto her bed and closed her eyes on the memory.

Instead of removing the thoughts altogether, closing her eyes made her hear the sounds of years before. The laud yelling, the angry, hurtful words, the sobs coming from her own mouth…

Jerking up into a sitting position, Bliss shook her head to try to get the sounds to leave her alone.

Standing on shaky legs and walking to the wash table, she washed her face and tried to clear her head.

“Why can’t I forget?” she whispered into the thin air. “Why can’t these memories just let me be? I’m tired of battling with this.”

A lump formed in the back of her throat and she swallowed to try to remove it. She knew that she was afraid. Afraid of the past and what would become of her in the future. It was like she had told herself - a battle. A fight to try to keep going and forget about what had been. Every day she had to pull herself out of bed and plaster a brave smile on her face, but her heart was weighed down with trying to appear as if nothing was wrong as her father focused on keeping so many secrets from her.

The daily façade was wearing out her strength.

A knock sounded at her door and a moment later, the door opened.

“You okay, honey?” Grace’s voice asked.

Bliss had her hands braced on either side of the wash table, staring out of the window. She didn’t look at the woman, knowing that she was helping her father keep the secrets she was trying so hard to find away from her.

“No,” was all she told her.

“What’s wrong?” Grace placed a motherly hand on Bliss’ back.

Bliss shook her head, looked away from the window, and occupied her hands by putting her hair into a chignon.

“You can tell me, dear,” Grace said softly.