Why thehellcouldn’t he understand her position here?
Her breathing went shallow again.
It had never occurred to her that he would shut her down so swiftly and even coldly, as though he savored meting punishment. Leaving her flailing to refind her balance. She was furious at the injustice, furious at him for showing her what life could be like with him, just a little hint, and then taking it all away in a heartbeat.
Like Annelise, Eden curled her fingers into her own skirt as if seeking a hand to hold as family history was made in her living room.
Eden had decided ahead of time that it was best to keep Jasper’s visit to just an hour and a half.
During that time, Annelise almost never took a breath as she dragged Jasper from room to room and narrated her life for him.
It went a little something like this:
“Who’s your best friend? Mine is Emily. She’s in Hummingbirds with me. The Hummingbirds went over to my Uncle Mac and Auntie Avalon’s and they have goats and a donkey and we helped find worms in the garden. Do you have a garden?” She turned hopeful eyes upon him.
“Um. You have to stay in one place for a long time to have a garden, sweetie. But I have, um... a Bentley!”
Eden tried not to laugh.
“Is Bentley your best friend?”
“Bentley is a car,” he said kindly.
“Oh, you named your car Bentley?”
“Sure,” he said after a moment. A little desperately.
“Mr. Caldera was there in the garden at their house chopping a stump with an ax and he has muscle squares on his stomach.”
“Shocking,” Jasper said grimly.
And, “This is my cat, Peace and Love.” She smoothed a gentle hand down Peace and Love’s side. Peace and Love was trying to sleep on the kitty tower in the computer room, but he obligingly rolled over and trilled, then sighed deeply. “He’s called that because he has a paisley on his side. See?”
“That’s a great name.” Jasper reached over to pet him. Peace and Love opened one golden eye and fixed it on those dangling bracelets with great interest.
“Be careful how you pet him, though. If he’s scared, he scratches!”
Jasper’s hand froze cautiously in place over Peace and Love’s head, as though he were bestowing a blessing.
Fortunately Peace and Love was more of a lover than a fighter and bumped his head up against it.
“But he hardly ever gets scared,” Annelise claimed.
And, “I’m good at spelling. Check this out—m-o-u-r-n-f-u-l. Like A minor.”
“Oooooh, good one!” he agreed.
She clasped her hands together. “Oh, how I love words.”
Jasper grinned at this. “You know what? I love words, too. Checkthisone out—phalanx. Do you know it?”
Annelise was clearly torn between longing to know and a little jealousy that she didn’t already know the word. “Did you make that up?”
“No, I swear it’s a real word.”
“Spell it,” she demanded, like a prosecuting attorney.
“P-h-a-l-a-n-x.”