AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Seventeen
Vanessa
With Opal home, Vanessa tried to maintain their normal schedule, but it was difficult. For one thing, Hunter was staying with them for added security. That alone put her on edge, because she was in the constant struggle of knowing they could never work, but still wanting him and needing him. Every night she found herself longing for him.
There was also the constant waiting. Every time she heard any sort of bang, she thought it was someone knocking on the door. It could be CPS, back to talk to Opal, or it could be Jeremy or one of his goons, coming to kill her or take Opal, or both. She slept little, though having Hunter in her bed helped.
Going to work and school was just as bad. Maybe worse. She couldn’t have an eye on Opal the whole day, but she felt confident in Mari and knew she’d keep her safe. But the class wasn’t with their teacher every second of the day. Hunter was nearby and watched the school. Even with all of that, Vanessa had to walk by Opal’s classroom many times a day to be comforted that she was still there and safe.
What was perhaps the most disturbing thing of all was the silence from every direction. The black van hadn’t returned, nor was there any other vehicle watching or following them. There had been no contact from Jeremy. CPS had not returned. The quiet, this sense of false peace made her uneasy. She waited for something to happen, and the more time that passed without incident, the more uneasy she became.
On the evening of the fourth day of silence, Vanessa stood in the kitchen, drying dishes and cleaning up after dinner. In the next room, she could hear Opal and Hunter.
“You cheated last time we played Candy Land!” Opal protested.
Hunter laughed. “I did not! The card said to take the shortcut.”
Opal harrumphed. “How come I never got the shortcut?”
“I don’t know. Maybe this time you will.”
“Okay. But I want to be the blue piece.”
“That’s fine,” Hunter said. “I’ll even let you go first.”
“Really?”
Vanessa could hear the excitement in Opal’s voice. She’d been having fun with him. She seemed to like him being there. It was moments like this that made her wonder. Having him there for the last four days, where his guns were mostly put away, where he sat and had dinner with them and played with Opal, it all seemed very cozy. He didn’t feel like a killer. He felt like he belonged there with them.
Why was it that the man she had feelings for, the one who made her feel so safe, who seemed to get along great with Opal, and who Opal liked back, the man who was ready to kill for her—and wasn’t just saying that—the man who had already protected her and taken care of her. This was the one man who seemed to have it all. Except he also had a dirty past and his present and future weren’t too clean, either. He was off limits. There was no way around it. She could enjoy him now, but their time would end, and she would have to say goodbye.
# # #
Hunter moved his game piece along the board. He never thought he’d actually enjoy playing a game like Candy Land. Not in a million years. He’d never planned to have kids of his own. But somehow, Opal made it fun. She put so much energy and excitement into each move, growing overjoyed when she got ahead, and sticking out her lower lip in a pout when she was behind. He almost threw the game just to see her grin, but it was just as much as fun to challenge her to a rematch if she lost.
He tried to talk to her, but she was harder to crack when it came to family life.
“So, what’s your daddy like?” he asked.
Opal shrugged. “I don’t see him anymore. Oh look, I got doubles!” She happily moved her game piece along the board.
“Did he ever hurt you?” Hunter could see Vanessa in the kitchen, cleaning up. They’d talked about this, though, and they needed to see what sort of things Opal would say so they could be prepared when Nicholas came back.
“Umm, I don’t know.” Opal’s face fell and she looked intently at her game piece. “I think it’s your turn.”
Every time he tried to get her to talk, she brought the subject back to the game. He decided to try a different method. Maybe if she felt more comfortable with him in general, she’d talk more.
“What’s your teacher like?” he asked.
A big grin stretched across her face. “Miss Snyder is the best. She’s so nice and fun, and always helps me understand math when it’s not making sense.”
“It never makes sense to me,” he confessed. “Too many numbers moving all around.”
“Yeah.” She sighed. “I like reading better.”
“I always liked science. And gym class. Do you like gym?”
“Sometimes. Games are fun, but the boys can be mean.”
