Total pages in book: 254
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
But Henri was listening, so I kept going. “When I have, there’s been someone talking to me in the dark. Every single time. Whoever it was, whatever it was, I remember thinking it felt familiar. I can’t tell you what they looked like, but I’ve always thought it was a man. And there was something in those dreams that felt more real than… not. I’d wake up and feel like I’d spoken to someone I should know.” Then I told him the same thing I’d only mentioned to Sienna and Matti before. “When I was little, I used to think it was my dad talking to me, but I don’t remember why I thought that, and it’s been at least ten years since the last one.
“Chances are it doesn’t mean anything. Who understands how the brain works anyway, right?” I bit the inside of my cheek. “It isn’t like anyone ever came looking for me. If my biological family wanted to find me, I’m sure they could have. But they didn’t.”
Silence crept its way between us. Pity had that effect on people. What did you say after that? I wouldn’t know what to do either, to tell the truth. Say I was sorry? Give someone a hug?
“Anyway,” I told him, “everything turned out great. I’ve got the most handsome boy in the world. My mom and dad are the best, even though I don’t get to see them or talk to them that much anymore, but they’re happy. The weather is nice. It smells so good out here….”
“But?” he asked.
“But what?”
“There’s something off.” Henri made a sniffling sound. “You don’t smell as happy as you did when you first got here.”
There was no hiding anything. I lifted a shoulder. “I’m fine.”
“Are you though?”
I hesitated for a second, knowing he’d pick up on anything other than honesty. “I’m a little lonely, I guess, which doesn’t make sense since I’m not used to having a lot of people around normally. And when Duncan’s around, I’m fine. I can’t be lonely with my boy close by. It’s just that so many things still feel up in the air? Maybe? I’ll be okay.”
“You’re being given time to settle.”
That had been what Matti had implied. “I know, that’s what your cousin said too.”
There was a long pause where the only sounds around us were the kids’ loud breathing. “It’s more than that, Cricket,” he tried to explain. “Most people who come here don’t stick around. Nobody mentioned that, did they? New residents rarely make it the three months. Half of them leave before the first month. Almost all of them are gone by the end of the second. Our residents don’t want to invest in people who aren’t going to stay,” he said very matter-of-factly. “Three years ago, a giant came with her three children, and they were gone two weeks later without saying anything to anybody. A year before that, a goblin made it six weeks before he left and tried stealing a UTV while he was at it. People being distant right now has nothing to do with you personally. I should’ve explained that before, I’m sorry.”
That made so much sense it was annoying. It was my turn to frown. “Well, I’m not planning on going anywhere or stealing anything. Maybe it’s wishful thinking but, for some reason, this place feels… right. This forest, I mean. But I might be magic-high.” I snickered, hoping I didn’t sound defensive. My hands were feeling less jittery now, but on the inside, I was still hopped up on magical energy. “Has anyone else ever said that before?”
“We’re family at the ranch. All of us,” he told me. A little grumble rolled at the base of his throat in the stretch of silence after that. “There’s no reason to think you aren’t supposed to be here, Nina. Maybe you are. Maybe… this is where you’re supposed to be.”
Rising onto my elbow, I watched him do a crunch, his head angled just the perfect amount to make eye contact with me. He’s so handsome. “I needed to hear that. Thank you, Henri.”
Amber eyes moved slowly over my face, his expression a deeply guarded one that I wanted to understand. For the millionth time, I wished I could smell what he was feeling. Maybe one day, Duncan could speak more telepathic words, and he could give me the inside scoop.
“What is it?” Henri asked after a moment.
“I was thinking I wish I could smell what you’re feeling right now.”
The slow smile that came over his face made me blink. I might’ve even braced myself a little. “I’ll tell you what I’m feeling if you tell me what Matti said that day at the airport that had you looking like you’d seen a ghost,” he offered.
MFer. Why did he remember that a month later? Didn’t he have better things to do? And how bad did I want to know what he was thinking?