Page 59 of Wonder
It was almost dawn when we cut back across the golf course to Roberta’s car in the resort’s parking lot. I made sure no one was hanging around, and she gave me a hug before driving away.
I was exhausted, and I still needed to search Dermid and Hendry’s van. I’d scored the key plus around five hundreddollars from their pockets, but nothing else. I didn’t have high hopes for the van, but I had to look.
I trudged across the parking lot as the first rays of sun came over the horizon.
“Okay, everyone, get ready. We’ll do a sun salutation sequence as the day breaks on the new year.” The voice came from over by the clubhouse. A group of about fifteen people were standing on mats facing a man with long blond hair and a serene expression on his face. He saw me and grinned, waving me over. “You’re just in time. Hurry!”
I spread my hands out. “Thanks, but I don’t know how to do yoga.”
He waved harder. “You don’t have to. Come on and follow along as best you can. There are spare mats right over here. You’ll feel amazing afterwards, I promise.”
When was the last time I’d felt “amazing”?
What the hell. If I didn’t like it, I’d leave. I grabbed a mat, unrolled it, and kicked my shoes off before bemusedly following the man’s instructions to put my feet together and breathe in as the sun rose fully over the horizon.
CHAPTER 16
RENO
I was workingon cleaning Simon’s hair with a damp towel when Shirley came in, carrying a plate with three slices of pizza, followed by Cal, who had Simon and my phones and laptops. “Thought you might want these.”
“Thanks. And thanks for coming.” I tossed the wet towel into the bathroom, then took the plate from Shirley. Cal set the electronics down on the bed on Simon’s other side.
Shirley paused on her way out of the room. “I’ll be downstairs, but yell if you need anythin’.”
“Thanks, Shirley.”
She opened her mouth, shut it, then apparently decided to tell me what was on her mind. “That’s a good man you have there. A good mate. You may not be aware, but those are hard to find. I know you were worried about getting’ bonded, but don’t forget you and Simon are not your mother and father.” I opened my mouth, but she held up a hand. “I’ll only say this once, and then I won’t bring it up again. Your parents might have been joined at the hip for their entire matin’, but that was their choice. Either of them could’ve asked for boundaries but they didn’t. They set apiss-poor example for you, if you’ll pardon me speakin’ ill of the dead.”
She pointed at me. “You may be afraid of repeatin’ the past, but it’s your and Simon’s choice how your matin’ looks.” She gave me a sharp nod and left the room.
I focused on scarfing down pizza instead of looking at Cal.
He must’ve decided to ignore the elephant Shirley had dumped in the room. “Both of your phones have been going off, but I can post an update on Discord if you like.”
“Thanks, I’d appreciate it. I’m not really in a good mindset to deal with everyone right now.”
“Hah. Understandable.”
I pretended he was only referring to Simon being injured. “The guest room’s all yours if you want to stay the night. There are clean sheets in the hall closet.”
“Thanks, I’d like to see what happens with Jackson.” He rubbed his chest, right where his connection to Jackson had once emerged.
“You’re welcome here as long as you’d like to stay.”
“Thanks. I’m gonna head downstairs and write that post. You need anything?”
I lifted the plate. “I’m good, thanks.”
I was exhausted when I finished the pizza, so I laid down next to Simon and pulled the sheet over both of us. I was out before I had a chance to stew over what Shirley had said to me.
I woke a few hours later, my phone buzzing with a text. It was a little after midnight. I checked on Simon, but there wasn’t any change that I could see. Getting up and stumbling to the bathroom and back took enough time I knew I didn’t want to be alone with my thoughts about Simon and our mating. Taking a deep breath, I put on my big boy pants and unlocked my phone.
I waded through the texts and Discord private messages. Most of them were from before Cal had posted the update, so I didn’t bother to respond. A few were newer, and a couple of those were only well wishes for Simon to get better.
When I was done with my messages, I looked at Simon’s phone and laptop. I really shouldn’t... should I? He’d given me access to the devices after all, and he’d specifically said it was so I could check his texts and Discord.
His phone was dead, and I didn’t have a charger for it. He’d probably left his in the guest bedroom, but it was past the time when Cal would’ve gone to sleep. I’d just use his laptop.
