All I could hear was the sound of rain pelting my window while I laid in bed trying to fall asleep. That's when Richard my mom's boyfriend walked in. He had seemed pretty nice from what I had saw the few times we spent time together. He would never replace my daddy but he could be there to do the things my daddy cant now that he is with Granny. He also made mommy happy so that was good, she deserves to be happy.
I hear the sound of my door creaking open and am surprised to see Richard coming into my room. Once he is in my room he closes and locks my door. He makes his way over to me a sits down on the edge of my bed smiling down at me. "Hi Richie, whatcha doing in here?" I ask him smiling back at him. "I just wanted to see how you were doing baby doll." He tells me and I just nod in reply.
For a while he doesn't say anything and I don't either. That's when I feel his big hand on my leg as he starts rubbing it. I don't say anything and soon his hand starts getting closer to where I pee so I put my small ten year old hands on his to stop him but it doesn't. instead he grabs both my arms and pushes them above my head before he continues to touch me where he shouldn't be and I cry out for my mommy and shake and move all I can to get him off of me.
I can't get him off and after what feels like forever he lets go of me. Before he leaves he bends down and kisses my forehead which is covered in sweat from me trying to get him off of me. "Sweet dreams baby doll." He whispers to me before leaving in a mess of tears and confusion. All I know I want my daddy back and to never see Richie again.
I wake up in a cold sweat and my heart beating like I had just ran a marathon. For the past week and a half since I found out Tate and I don't have a chance I have been avoiding him and my dreams have been getting a lot worse. They feel so real, like I am that helpless child again in the house I could never escape with the man I wish I'd never set eyes on.
Slowly I get out of my bed wishing I could just stay in it forever. I quickly get dressed in black jeans and a baggy sweater before heading to the door only to stop when I hear Tate's voice with someone else. I turn around and head back to my bed to wait out till he is gone. I wait about ten minutes then get up again, making sure the peek out the door to make sure it is clear first before leaving.
Once I am sure it is clear I start leaving and quickly make it to the kitchen to grab some breakfast. I walk in and Nana already has eggs and some toast waiting for me amongst all the sausage and bacon for everyone else. Once I have finished eating Nana gives me her car keys so I can go into town. I quickly leave once I have them not wanting to run into anyone that will stop me from leaving.
I easily make it to town and head to the diner to see if I still have a job or not, since I have been gone for a few weeks now. Right when the bell on the door dings I see Patty run from behind the counter and stands in front of me. "Haven where in god almighty name have you been!" He asks sounding worried and a little scared to what my answer might be. "Well I have been staying with Tate at his house." I say making his jaw drop and a few people around us eating turn to look.
"You have been staying in the Westbrook manor this whole time! Most people in this town haven't even seen the road to get to that place and you've been staying in it! You have to tell me everything, now come on." He says motioning for me to follow him into the back part of the diner. "So how was it? Was there a dungeon or a giant moat with crocodiles in it surrounding the place?" Patty asks getting very excited.
"It looked like the castle every girl dreams about living in when she is little." I tell him. "But I can't stay there anymore and I was wondering if I still had a job here?" I ask him sadly. He looks at me with a comforting smile. "Of course you still have a job here and you can stay at mine until you find a place or go back to the inn." Patty offers. "If it's no trouble I will stay with you." I tell him knowing if Tate comes looking for me he will defiantly be checking the inn out first and I can't have him find me. It's better to end things now before I get hurt even more.
"It's no problem at all, it'll be like a big sleepover." Patty starts getting excited while he lists off all the cool things we can do while I grab an apron to get to work for the first time in a while. It takes a few customers before I get back into the grove of things and when I do the day quickly flies by and I don't even notice as the last customer leaves.
"So you ready to head out?" Patty asks putting on his jean jacket. I nod my head and follow him to his small silver Toyota. Once we are both in the car and start driving I hear my phone start going off and pull it out to see that Tate is calling me. I don't answer and just watch as the screen goes black once the rings stop.
After a few seconds I get a notification I have a new voicemail and decide to listen to it. "Snowflake I know we haven't really talked or seen each other much since I told you, but the whole not even being in the house thing is a little too drastic because I may have a calm voice right now but I am freaking out not knowing where you are. So please call or just text me so I know you are at least safe and have somewhere warm to stay the night if you aren't coming home, please." He says before the voicemail ends and I notice I have a tear running down my face.
I quickly text him, telling him I am okay before putting my phone on silent and putting it in my back pocket. "So was that Mr. Westbrook?" Patty asks me sounding very curious. "Yeah." I say while turning to look out the frosted window. When we reach Patty's house which is in probably the only neighborhood in town I notice how cute and old lady like it looks.
"I know what you're thinking. Why is such a strong manly man like Patty living in grandma's cottage? A few years ago my grandma got sick so I moved in with her and when she passed away she left her home to me." He says as we get out and walk to his bright yellow front door. "I also very much need to paint the house too, because light blue and bright yellow aren't really my colors." He tells me opening the door and motioning for me to walk inside.
The inside looks nothing like the outside of the house. On the whitish colored carpet trash and clothes are thrown around everywhere. Dirty dishes, cups, and paper plates are cluttering table surfaces. From the entrance of his house if gives me a good view of the kitchen and living room since they are connected. "I really need to clean but I have just been honestly putting it off since I am way too lazy for my own good." Patty says smiling like a young child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"It's fine. If you wouldn't mind id help cleaning since you are letting me stay here." He is also hiding me away from the man who runs this town but I don't add that because it is an unspoken thing we both know about. "So the room to the left right there is yours, it has a bed and dresser and the bathroom is the door right next to it. I am going to be ordering pizza for dinner. Is there any request from you?" Patty asks a little awkward. I have a feeling he isn't use to having someone stay with him let alone a women. "Please no meat, I will be fine with anything else." I tell him and he nods before going to use the old home phone hanging on the kitchen wall.
I head into the bedroom I will be staying in a lay my bag on top of the dresser. I grab my phone and turn it back on. Once it is I see Tate has responded to my text. I open the message and sigh when I read the three words he sent. 'I miss you.' That is the only thing he has sent since I told him I was fine and those three words are making me want to go back to him more than anything he had sent before that while he was pleading with me.
I just stand there rereading those three words trying to calm the world wind of emotions they are causing me. I don't know how long it takes until I hear a knock on a door and then Patty shouting. "Could you get that, it's the pizza guy. The money for it is on the dining table." I don't reply but head out to the living room and grab the money for the pizza. When I open the door the pizza guy looks confused for a few seconds before covering it up and handing me the pizza. Once I've given him the money he gives me one last look before leaving.
"Are people in this town usually weird?" I ask Patty when he walks out of what I am assuming is his bedroom. "Yeah, but after a while you will become accustomed to it." He spluttered as he ate the pizza. I smiled at how childlike he is before taking a bite of my own pizza.
Once we had finished eating, Patty put on a comedy that we watched until we were both falling asleep with me on the couch and Patty on the recliner. Before I was totally asleep I heard the faint sound of a lone wolf howling in the distance. The howl sounded depressed and I knew then it was Tate letting me know again in his wolf form that he missed me.
