Page 105 of His White Moonlight
She kissed my cheek then patted it before releasing me.
We walked back to the house, holding hands like when I’d been little and too afraid to venture out on my own because of the neighborhood girls.It felt good to be protected, and it made me realize how exhausted I was from having to watch my own back for so long.
Bennett was in the kitchen making something that smelled good when we walked in.My stomach growled, and Grandma winked at me.
“Did you make enough for three?”Grandma asked.
“Enough for five.Mom and Dad will be here in about fifteen minutes.”
“Why?”The question popped out before I could stop it.
Both Grandma and Bennett glanced at me.
“They’re worried,” he said.
Tired of only seeing them on their terms and not ready to face them, I said, “I’ll pass on the family dinner and turn in early.”
Neither of them said anything to stop my retreat.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The mattress dipped nextto me, not quite waking me but disturbing me enough to bring me closer to awake than asleep.
“She’s fine, Christine,” I heard Grandma say.
“She doesn’t look fine.”Fingers lightly touched my cheek.“Did she say what upset her?”
“No.But…I think sheknows.”
The bed shifted as Mom stood.
“Do you think that’s why she hurt herself?”she asked, her voice fading as they left.
I willed myself to sink back into a deeper sleep.It was safer than thinking about what I’d just overheard.
However, Grandma was right about hiding from problems.
Bennett haunted my dreams.He stalked me in the office, watching everything I did, and he waited.For what, I didn’t know.But I felt it.His impatience.His need to hold me.To breathe me in.
When I woke to my alarm, I didn’t feel rested but restless.
My hand slid under the covers to touch the warm space beside me.The panic I felt wasn’t as consuming as it had been the day before, but it was still there, spurring me to come up with a solution.
I could move out, but then I’d be dipping into the money I’d already saved.While I would still have enough to cover the first tuition, I’d need to keep working.What was the point of moving out if I still had to see Bennett at the office until I found another job?
Sitting up, I pressed my hands to my face and tried rubbing away my frustration.
“Are you hungry?”
I screamed at the sound of Bennett’s voice and tumbled off the other side of the bed, only to spring to my feet and stare at him with wild eyes.
He wasn’t fast enough to hide his shock.
“Are you okay?”
Slowly, lowering my arms, which had come up defensively, I tried to act as normally as possible, given the circumstances.
“Please stop coming into my room without permission.”
