Lovers at War - (A.R.)

Chapter 25

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Secrets of a Beast

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I HADN'T SEEN or spoken to any of the Russell family ever since Lenora's untimely death. Even on the day of the funeral, I hadn't said one word, too unstable to utter a word. Because of everything that went down just a few weeks ago, I had mostly confined myself to my home, only coming out when absolutely necessary. One time, Wesley hurried into my room holding the telephone to his ear: he muttered something about a call, but I didn't bother, hushing away my brother to loathe in self-pity.

Due to unrealistic childish expectations, I was under the assumption that Lenora was still alive and healthy, only away shortly for a vacation of some sort. She was going to come back to me to pick up a fresh bouquet of orchids and we'd visit town together.

I was wrong.

And I hated to admit it, but seeing orchids made me sick. Seeing as I couldn't see the person who reminded me of them anymore, I didn't want to even think about them. In fact, I'd considered quitting my job at the flower shop, maybe go back to school and work at another nearby place.

I was sitting on the living room couch, Wesley once again off to his summer camp, when the doorbell suddenly rang. Frowning, I answered it only to see the one person I truly hoped I wouldn't have to deal with again:

Arvin.

He was the first to break the silence. "Are you busy?"

I shook my head, letting him in. As he stepped inside my home, he looked around himself briefly before setting his gaze on me. "You've not been pickin' up the phone. I called you, uh, yesterday."

"I've been busy," I responded simply to which he furrowed his brows. "What?"

"You sure? Because when I visited the flower shop the other day, 'yer manager said that you ain't around these days."

My fists involuntarily clenched as I narrowed my eyes at him. "I don't see a need to explain myself to you, Arvin."

Arvin held up his hands in surrender and I rolled my eyes. "Why don't I see you around no more?"

Sighing, I sat back down on the couch as he remained standing. Just a second and he'd decided to take a seat beside my as well. Arvin could tell my answer just by the sudden silence that held in the room. Truth be told, I didn't like the topic of Lenora: the image of her lifeless body in the shed had engraved in my mind like a permanent scar. Whenever I did find myself thinking about her, I'd only become sadder, thinking that there could have been something, anything that I could have done to save her.

"It's important," Arvin said after a moment and I fought the urge to roll my eyes again. "Please, you're the only one who would believe me."

No. "Fine."

"I, just, 'cause 'yer Lenora's friend, I thought that maybe you'd -"

"Just spit it out already!"

"Did you know Lenora was carryin' a baby?"

I'd heard him despite my hardest attempt not to. Standing up abruptly, I looked at Arvin, my mouth parted in shock while he remained calm, almost as if this wasn't something that surprised him, or maybe that he'd gotten used to the fact.

"I - what?" I stuttered, struggling to create coherent sentences. "How do you know, I mean -"

He continued, "One of the guys from the station came to see me. Had some 'ol drunk at the Coroner's take a look at . . ." He gulped, not finding it within himself to continue, yet I understood him completely.

"I didn't . . ." I admitted quietly. "B-But, there's something I didn't quite tell you."

"What?"

"The other day, uh, some weeks ago before Lenora . . . she'd come over and had gotten really sick. Like, throwin' up sick. I thought that maybe it was the food I served, mac 'n cheese, allergic to dairy, and I -"

"Hold it," Arvin interrupted, his voice steely. I looked down at my feet, unable to stand the intensity of his gaze which was starting to look a lot more like a glare. "Lenora was sick and you didn't tell me?"

"She said she'd get better soon, and that maybe you knew -"

"You don't think that if I knew, that I'd still let her roam outside?"

"Oh." I suddenly felt the need to change the subject. "But Arvin, who . . . who do you think is the father?"

"Some girl gets a feelin' for a fella and lets him have her holy gift," Arvin said, quoting Preston the Preacher from last month's session. "That's what he said."

The colour drained from my face, but I knew that he may have been right. Oh, I should've known! When Lenora defended that Preacher all those days ago, I knew that she had taken a liking for him. And don't forget when she told me that she'd be a little late when she came over that day. Something about her needing to talk to somebody.

"Teagardin," I said slowly, shaking my head in denial. "Do you think he meant Lenora?"

"I ain't sure," Arvin answered truthfully. Seemed to me, he was just as stuck on the truth as I was. He took off his cap, moving his fingers across his scalp. "But if he was, I'm not gonna let him live to tell the tale."

I placed a gentle hand on his hand and he leaned in to rest his forehead on my shoulder. "You're not going to do anything stupid, right?" When there was no response, I prodded, "Right?"

"For now."