Page 89 of Dark Endures

I don’t want to spend time with irritating men. My stomach rumbles loudly. It seems I’ve been thwarted by my ownbody. “Thank you for the invitation. I will join you for the light repast.”

“Are you sure you haven’t gone nuts?” He winks at me.

No. I’m not sure at all. That question doesn’t even deserve an answer. With all the grace I can muster, I stand up and walk over to him.

Canyon, surprisingly, keeps quiet as we walk together to the bakery.

Something feels off.

The bakery is eerily empty. Every other time that I’ve walked past, there’s been a line and almost every table has been filled, especially on a Sunday.

What’s going on?

It’s probably just my imagination. Every business has slow times.

Rather than engaging Canyon in conversation, I glance out the window.

Where are all the kids? “Something’s going on.”

Canyon stands up. “I’ll grab us something to eat. What do you want to drink?”

“A bottle of water would be lovely, thank you.” He didn’t answer me.

Something is definitely going on. There are always kids on the street, even late at night.

It’s deserted. Everything is quiet.

And Canyon is serving us food.

“What’s going on?” I demand as soon as he sits down, depositing a big plate of various pastries and two bottles of water on the table.

“Nothing that you need to worry about.”

So, there’s definitely something going on. “Is that why Maddox shoved me out of his office?”

“What do you think?” He reaches for a piece of biscotti.

Does it matter what I think? Canyon certainly isn’t going to tell me anything. “That it’s easier to converse with the snakes.”

He laughs.

***

Watching television isn’t all it’s cracked up to be when you haven’t done it in…almost five years. The only time I even have access to one is when I go on vacation with the girls.

I flip through channels like Mom goes through men. What is even on? The whole world loves television. All this work must have broken that part of my mind.

People eat while they do this. Maybe I should pop some popcorn. My totally full belly rejects that notion. Canyon managed to convince me that three pastries equal a balanced lunch. He isn’t wrong.

The front door opens and Adonis steps in. At least this time he isn’t half-naked. He actually looks really nice for a Sunday afternoon. “Mindy.” He gives me a big smile. Then it turns into a frown. “What’s wrong?”

Am I that obvious? Mom would be so disappointed. “Nothing. I’m fine. Just can’t find anything on the television to watch.” That was a pathetic excuse, but we’ll go with it.

He walks over and sits down next to me. “You know you can treat this place like it’s your own. You can invite people over. Have dinners and parties whenever you like.”

I can? This is the first place in my adult life that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to invite someone to.

“Matter of fact, why don’t you do that tonight? You look like you can use some company. Invite Dahlia or one of your other friends. I’m going to head out for dinner so you guys will have the place to yourselves.”

---