**********
When I woke late that afternoon, disoriented and heavy with sleep, the smell of Calder still surrounding me, I reached for him, but he wasn't there.
I sat up, bringing the blankets up with me, as my robe had fallen open while sleeping. I immediately spotted the note on the nightstand next to me and picked it up.
Morning Glory,
We went to get some clothes and shoes and other necessities. We'll bring back some food, too.
I love you. C.
P.S. Sleeping on an actual mattress for the first time came in second to sleeping next to you.
I grinned and set the note back down, noticing he'd left a bag of peanuts and the still unopened Coke on the table for me, too. His thoughtfulness caused me to smile. I stretched and got out of bed. After using the bathroom and freshening up, I ate the bag of peanuts and drank a bottle of water the hotel provided.
I flopped back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, feeling happy, feeling safe, and feeling free.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Calder
I had woken up to the feel of warm skin against my face, the smell of apple blossoms all around me. A dream, I thought, a beautiful dream. But it hadn't been. It had been real. I had wanted to stay wrapped in her warmth all day, her delicate scent lulling me into peaceful dreams. But I had to take care of her. There were things she needed.
So now Xander and I were walking the aisles of a store called "Target" that the hotel clerk had directed us to when we told her what we needed. "Our stuff was stolen," Xander had explained. "We need everything." And then he'd shaken his head and shrugged his shoulders, as if to say, What can you do? The state of the world is such a bummer.
"Good thing you're not just an accomplished thief, but an accomplished liar, too," I said as we walked out the door of the hotel.
"Don't forget nighthawk call expert." He winked. His face sobered. "I'm still pretty disappointed I never got to use that."
I laughed. I was still wearing a large bandage wrapped completely around the foot that had no shoe. Hopefully if people noticed, they just thought I had an injury, not that I was using it to replace a shoe.
We walked across the large parking lot of the store and both jumped back slightly when the double doors in front of us opened before we even touched them. "What the . . .?" Xander said under his breath as we both looked around and up at the top of the doorway. We walked through tentatively and entered the massive, brightly lit store.
We wandered the aisles. When I looked over at Xander, his mouth was open and his eyes were filled with awe. I was sure I had the same look on my face. There was so much of . . . everything. And it was all so . . . colorful. One part of the store had clothes and shoes, and another part had soaps and grooming products, and one huge section even had food, all packaged up with bright pictures on the boxes.
"Have you ever seen stuff like this?" I asked Xander.
"Yeah, some at the ranger station, but never this much." He looked around in wonder.
"Let's get what we need and get back," I said. "We probably look like we're aliens from another galaxy the way we're looking around."
"Yeah, that or on some sort of drugs."
I laughed.
We each picked out a pair of shoes and made sure they fit on our feet. When I put my foot inside the padded sneaker and walked a few steps on it, I groaned. "Wow, this is nice," I said, bouncing slightly.
Xander laughed. "You look like an idiot."
"Look who's talking," I said, taking the shoe off. "You're trying on slippers."
Xander looked down at the brown leather bootie on his foot. "These aren't slippers."
"Yes they are. It says so right on the tag."
Xander turned over the tag at his ankle and read it. He took the bootie off and hung it back up on the rack. "I knew that."
I laughed.
"Listen, we only have about a hundred fifteen dollars, so let's spend as little as possible."
I nodded, checking the price tags on the shoes we'd just gotten. "Hopefully we can replenish some cash with the jewelry."
"Yeah, but that's not a sure thing yet."
I nodded. "We probably have enough in change to eat until we can get a hold of Kristi."
"Yeah, I'm gonna try her later. She leaves the ranger station at eight o'clock. I guess she'll be home at about nine . . . hopefully."
"Do you even know how to use a phone?"
"I'll figure it out. Anyway, Eden will know how."
"Oh, right, she will. Speaking of Eden, what size shoe do you think she wears?"
"Small."
"I don't think shoes come in small."
"I don't know then. Just take half your size. That's probably hers."
I picked out a pair of sandals that didn't have a back strap. I thought they'd be forgiving of size, even if I was a little off.
We were okay on clothes for now, but Eden needed something. We wandered through the girl's clothes, confused.
"Can I help you with anything?"
I turned around and a girl with a red shirt on was standing behind me. I looked down and her Target nametag said, "Ashleigh." Her eyes widened and she blinked at me. I guessed I looked pretty bad. I hadn't shaved in two days now. I cleared my throat.
"Hi, Ashleigh, uh, yes, I need something for my girlfriend and I've never picked out girl clothes before."
She got a disappointed look on her face, and I glanced at Xander, wondering if I'd said something wrong.
"Of course. Well, is this for an occasion, or just something casual?"
"Something casual."
"Well, a sundress always works. What about one of these?" She held up a dress with bright blue and green flowers that looked like it would barely cover Eden's br**sts.
"Uh, something more . . . covered?" I asked.
Ashleigh sighed. "She could put a sweater over it." She held up a very, very short sweater with short sleeves. I looked between the dress and the "sweater," not liking the idea of Eden wearing either one.
"Is that what girls wear?"
Ashleigh stared at me. "Well . . . yeah."
"Looks good. We'll take it," Xander said.
Ashleigh looked over at him. "What size is she?"
"Small."
She nodded and dug through the racks, pulling out another one of the same dress and same sweater. She handed them to me. I smiled.
"Thanks for your help."
"No problem. Thanks for shopping at Target." She smiled a fake looking smile and walked away.
We walked back over to the aisles where we'd seen soap and picked up toothbrushes, toothpaste, and a brush for Eden. The hotel had all the other stuff we needed, and we didn't want to waste any money unnecessarily.
Our last stop was the food department. We looked around, confused about what everything was. I wanted to pick things up and read about them, but we didn't have time right now and although it was supposedly the food department, half the stuff didn't resemble food at all. Finally, we settled on a loaf of bread, some cheese, and a bag of apples.
We returned to the front of the store where we had seen people paying for their items and followed along behind a mom with two kids sitting in her cart. We watched as she put everything on the counter and then the counter moved her things right to the clerk's hand.
"Whoa!" Xander said, his eyes widening as he looked at me. I just nodded, my eyes wide as well.
I looked up at the clerk who had her eyes narrowed on us as she ran each item over a machine that beeped loudly.
When it was our turn, we did the same and watched as the clerk bagged our items, our heads moving back and forth as each item was pulled forward.
"One hundred fourteen and thirty-six cents," the clerk said, her eyes narrowed on us. We were obviously doing something wrong again.
"I added it all up in my head and I thought it only came to a hundred five or so," Xander said out of the corner of his mouth.
"Tax," the clerk said, overhearing him.
"Oh," Xander said back. "Right. Tax. Yeah, I forgot about the tax."
"We've never been in a Target before," I explained. Xander sighed and shook his head.
The clerk stared at us. "You boys Amish or something?"
"Yup," Xander said, handing over our money. We'd just spent practically every cent of it.
The clerk nodded knowingly. "I thought so. I watch those shows." She took our money and put it in the drawer and scooped out some change.
"Oh, uh, that's good," Xander said, clearly confused.
I laughed. I couldn't help it.
"You'll do fine," she said, giving us a smile and handing Xander the change. "Good-looking boys like you, you just ask for help if you need it, m’kay?" She winked at us.
"Thanks," Xander said, staring back at her for a minute. "Oh hey, we're looking for a place to pawn jewelry. Can you tell us where to go?"
The clerk furrowed her brow. "Well, I can't say exactly, but if you walk about a quarter mile in that direction," she pointed her finger out the doors in front of us, "you'll run into a neighborhood that most likely has a dozen of those."
"Right. Okay, thanks."
Outside Target, we sat on a bench and unpackaged our shoes and put them on. They felt incredible. I could practically hear my blisters sighing in happiness.
We walked in the direction the clerk had pointed us and about ten minutes later, the buildings started looking more rundown, and groups of people stood on street corners, some laughing and others just seeming to mill around. Xander and I didn't talk. We were so busy looking around, taking everything in, trying to understand how the big society that we were now a part of, worked. I thought I had understood a lot of it from the people who talked about the lives they'd lived before Acadia, but being among it was a completely different experience.
"Look," Xander said, pointing his finger across the street. I turned my head to see a giant sign that said, "PAWN SHOP." I couldn't help laughing softly. "Well that's not easy to miss. Come on."
We crossed the street and entered the shop and went to the counter. A man came out from the back. "Can I help you?"
Xander took the piece of jewelry he'd brought out of his pocket and put it on the counter. "I want to sell this."
The man picked up the heavy chain and looked it over, squinting his eyes and rolling the small stick in his mouth. My heart picked up in speed. What if this didn't work? We'd have basically no cash left.
"You got ID?"
"No, all our stuff got stolen," Xander said.
The man studied him. "You need an ID to pawn something in my shop."
Xander blinked at him, opening his mouth and then closing it as he looked down at the chain in the man's hand.
"But I'll buy it from you, no ID required."
I wasn't too stupid to see we were about to be cheated. "How much?" I asked.
"Five hundred dollars."
Which meant it was probably worth four times that. "We'll take it," Xander said. I nodded. What other choice did we have? Plus, we had some more. Maybe Kristi would help us out next time and we'd get a fairer price.
The guy nodded and went to the back. When he came back out, he counted out five one hundred dollar bills and put them down on the counter. "Nice doing business with you boys," he said, looking to the side and belching.
I grimaced and pulled Xander's arm as he picked up the cash. He put it in his pocket and we walked to the door. I kept having the feeling someone was going to reach out and pull us back, so when we let the heavy door close behind us, I let my breath out in relief.
"Let's get back," I said, suddenly not liking the feel of this particular neighborhood. Xander seemed to feel the same way as he looked around nervously.
We walked back to the hotel, moving as quickly as possible.
Being in the city with cars racing by us, sudden noises I wasn't acquainted with, shouts of people I didn't know, eyes of strangers on me, caused a brief longing for Acadia and all I was familiar with. It was confusing since I'd wanted so badly to experience the outside world and now here I was doing that. But inside, I longed for the familiar, for the things and surroundings that made me feel confident and in control, for the way of life I understood.
Eden, I needed Eden, my comfort, my purpose, the other half of my heart. I picked up speed and Xander jogged to catch up with me, not asking any questions, seeming to understand why I was in such a hurry.
**********
Xander used the key to open the hotel room door and I practically pushed him aside to get through. "Eden?"
All the curtains were open, showing the night sky. The beds were made and everything looked like it'd been straightened. But where was Eden? "Eden?" I called again.
I dropped all the bags in my hands on the bed, my heart rate starting to increase.
"In here," she called, walking out of the bathroom. I breathed out, putting my hand over my chest.
I rushed toward her and picked her up in my arms and she laughed as I squeezed her tight.
"Success?" she asked.
"Yeah," I said, burying my nose in her fragrant neck. I drew in her scent, feeling at peace. "We got money and clothes and food."
Eden sucked in a breath. "Big success. Let me see. Oh, and I'm starving. Feed me."
I laughed and put her down, leaning back to open the bag with the food in it.
As I got all the food out, Eden went back in the bathroom. When she came out a few minutes later wearing the small sundress and sweater, I stopped what I was doing and simply stared. Her slim, but shapely legs were fully on view, and the fitted sundress showed her curves, her creamy cle**age on view at the top. I raised my eyes to look at her face and she was biting her lip, waiting for me to speak. "You look beautiful," I said. "Almost too beautiful. I'm going to have to get used to the way people dress out here."