Page 6 of Storm the Night

“The only family I’ve ever had are not here anymore. My mama died when I was young. My dad died in my third year of my marriage to Colin. He was sick and Colin made it extremelydifficult for me to spend time with him. I’ll hate him forever for that.” She cleared her throat, and I could tell she was trying to keep it together.

I spoke up. “I’m sorry that happened to you. I’m sorry all of this has happened to you, and you’ve felt you haven’t had a way out.”

“I’m still really uneasy about it all. I don’t know what to do. You say you can help me, but how?”

I pulled out the burner phone I got from D. “I want you to take this. Call me on this so he can’t track you. If you need anything at all, you can always reach me with this phone. As a matter of fact, every club member’s contact is in there. No matter what number you call or text, I will get the message.”

“What? They know about me? This is so embarrassing.”

“Look. They know I wanted to possibly help my neighbor because I had a bad feeling. Then, after I came to see you and cleaned up your foot, they helped me move out of my house.”

“Wait? I don’t understand. You moved out of your place? Across the street from me? Oh my god. I’m so sorry. This is a mistake.”

“No, no. Stop!” She froze and I realized she was scared at my command which was the last thing I wanted her to be. “I just mean, it’s ok. I moved out because I wanted to help you. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do that if I lived across the street from you. He would see everything and that wouldn’t at all be comfortable for you. It was easy to get out of my lease because the landlord actually needed the apartment for a family member.”

She looked up at me and hesitated but then asked, “Where did you move to? And how does that help me?”

“I’m at a place just a few blocks away. I wanted to take you there when we finished eating. It’s a three-bedroom house.”

Just then, Mika came back with our food. Calliope asked, “Can we get it to go?”

I knew she might be upset but I didn’t expect her to want to leave. “I’m sorry. Yeah. Mika, can we have two to go boxes, please?”

Mika smiled. “Sure thing. I’ll be right back.”

I looked at Calliope and said, “I’m sorry, Calliope. I want you to eat.”

She shook her head. “I will but I want to see where you moved. Is that ok?”

I would do whatever she wanted. Since she hadn’t had many choices of her own, it was the least I could do. “Of course.”

Mika brought our boxes and we packed up our food and headed to the new house.

*

We pulled into the driveway of the new place. It was an all-white with black shutters bungalow type. The inside had a cabin feel with all wood trim and floors even though the outside was white. Not bad for a rental. I could see myself buying something like it someday.

Calliope looked ahead at the house in awe before saying, “Wow, Ryder. What a cute place.”

“Hang on.” I got off my bike and then helped her off. She laughed hard, making me ask, “What’s so funny? Haven’t heard you laugh before.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I just… my dad told me once that if a man didn’t open the car door for me, I shouldn’t give him the time of day.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Don’t apologize for laughin’. Soooo, what did I do that was funny though.”

She hesitated and then said, “Colin didn’t open my door the first time we started talking. The red flags were bright red, and I didn’t listen to my dad. Now, here you are, not quite a stranger anymore but still someone I barely know, and you practicallylifted me off the bike so I wouldn’t fall. It’s not quite opening the door but basically the equivalent. My dad would’ve liked you.”

I smiled at her. “Well, Colin is a dickhead, and all women deserve to have the door opened or held open for them, no matter whether you’re dating or not.”

She smiled and looked toward the house. I turned and started walking up the front pathway. “Come on.”

Once inside, I said, “It’s not much but it’s enough. Honestly, it’s pretty great for a rental. I wanna show you something.” The front door opened to the living room which had an open layout straight to the kitchen. It was all one level and straight down the hall on the other side of the kitchen are the bedrooms. There are two bedrooms on the left, one at the end of the hall, and the bathroom is on the right. On the other side of the wall is the kitchen.

My nerves were ramped up a notch at showing her the room. I opened the first door on the left and it was all white and had a floor to ceiling bay window. There were built in bookshelves on the left wall and on the right, we set up a brand new bed with two side tables and a small lamp on each one.

“Whose room is this?” She asked.

I looked down at her and paused before saying, “Yours.”

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