Page 14 of Making Haven
I sit on the porch and wait until the sun sets, waving to Lawrence as he steps outside his house. “Morning.”
Lawrence steps over to me. “I take it your night went well? Could you sleep all day or is your sleep schedule all fucked up now?”
“A little of A, a little of B,” I say truthfully. As much as I want to be an ass, it’s becoming harder and harder to keep acting like Lawrence is a bad person. Vampire. Whatever.
I want to keep my walls up, just in case, but seeing him as a bad guy when all he’s done is show me kindness feels fucked up. I’m an untrusting ass, but even I can see reason!
“I have something I want to work on today,” he says, shifting from foot to foot. “But I can put it off if you’d rather I stay around here?”
I shake my head. “Nah, you go do your thing. I’ll stay here and try to find where Her Majesty has gone.”
“Her Majesty? You named the cat?” Lawrence gives me an unreadable look, something between disbelief and fondness. I do my best not to read too far into it.
“She needed a fitting name,” I tell him with a scowl.
Lawrence chuckles warmly, shaking his head. “I’m not going far so I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Alright. I’ll just be here hoping you don’t die while you’re gone.”
“Aww! Youdocare!”
“Nope. Just don’t want to have the burden of bringing the water up from the well until I’m better,” I say, but do my best to keep my voice light so it’s clear that I’m trying to joke. There’s that look of disbelief again before he’s shaking his head and walking away.
I watch until he disappears down the hill, making his way into the nearby trees past the fences. My stomach turns unpleasantly as I watch him go. Yet another complication that I don’t fucking need. Fuck Lawrence. Fuck these feelings. Fuck me.
“Hey there, beautiful,” I call out as Her Majesty makes her way over to me. The two of us sit on the porch, waiting for Lawrence to return. I’m not sure how long he’s gone but eventually, I see him making his way back.
I’m expecting him to run but he’s walking incredibly slowly, something cradled gently in his hands. As he gets closer, I can hear him talking. No, not talking, he’shumming.
The humming is so soft, so soothing. It feels so wrong. I don’t remember the last time I’ve heard something so gentle. It’s been so long.
My chestachesas I sit and listen. Could there be softness left in the world? Could gentleness still live on despite all the horrors that surround us?
The only name I can come up with for the feeling inside of me islonging. I put on a hard exterior because it’s the only thing I know that can guarantee my survival. That doesn’t mean I don’t crave the opposite, that I don’t cravesoftness. God, maybe I evenneedit.
“Whatcha got there?”
Lawrence looks up and the humming stops. I miss the noise immediately. He gives me a sheepish look before opening his palm. “Beehive with a queen. I’ve made my own beehive here but didn’t have a queen until now.”
He looks away, starting up the humming once more. He’s keeping the bees soothed and at ease with the noise so they don’t sting him. This is the man I was so distrustful of. Someone who soothes bees with humming.
Something inside of me shifts. There’s a small blossom of hope. It’s terrifying to feel this again after not allowing myself to hope for so long.
This place could be my safe haven. This place could be so much more than a place haunted by people’s past lives. This place could have a real future.
I just have to figure out how to swallow my pride. I can show Lawrence that it’s better if I stay rather than leave when my ankle is better. I just have to figure out how to stop being an ass. Should be easy, right?
Chapter Eight
Lawrence
“There you go. Anew home made just for you,” I whisper, watching as the queen bee moves away from the old beehive I stole and into the homemade hive I made. I gently lay the old hive on top of the new one so the swarm of bees huddled onto this piece of hive can follow their queen into their new home. I continue my humming, trying to soothe them all as they transition into a new place.
A couple of bees are still on my fingers and I carefully guide them into the hive instead of further up my arm.
Once I’m bee free, I take a step back, checking out my handiwork. They’re already buzzing into their new home. Soon enough, they’ll be making their own cells, making honey, and making the hive their own.
My chest warms with pride. My humming grows a bit more jovial as I step away from the hive. When I turn around, my smile falls away and my body freezes. Devin is leaning against the house, watching me.
