Slut - Woodruff Jettie - Страница 27
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“You woke me up at two in the morning to talk, but you don’t know what you want to say?” I asked confused, feeling the frown on my face. I turned to my side, and propped myself to on one elbow.
“I watched it.”
“You watched it?” I asked while questioning his stableness. I had no idea what the hell he watched. None.
“Yes, your friend sent you the email. Nick hypnotized you.”
“Oh, that. Yes, he did.”
“That made it real, Gabriella. You really do have a twin. She was with you. Where is she?”
A sadness instantly fell over me when I thought about watching myself tell the story, tears streaming down my face while I begged her not to die.
“She has a little boy.”
“I heard. I don’t know how to feel right now. You were in so much pain, and not from your injuries. It was for her, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. She spent hours outside, trying to knock on the door. Why didn’t she just knock on the door?” I asked the loaded question as a tear slid down my cheek.
“Where is she, Gabriella?” Paxton asked again, his determination stronger than my own.
“I don’t know. According to my subconscious, the last thing I remembered was the crackling of a tree, and covering my face when I saw it. I don’t know what happened after that, I swear, I don’t, Paxton.”
“I believe you, but she was with you. Where the fuck is she?”
I shrugged one shoulder and played with the satin on the corner of the sheet. “I’ve thought of everything possible. She got washed away with the river. Alligators ate her. Someone found her and is keeping her. She floated out to the sea and the sharks fed off her flesh. I don’t know what happened to her.”
“Did you look for records? A Jane Doe around that time?”
“Mi did. She hasn’t found anything yet. A lot of injuries were reported over those couple of days from the storm.”
“It was so fucking bad, Gabriella. It hit so fast and hard. I’ve lived in Florida my entire life and I have never seen a storm like that. I knew you were out there somewhere. The girls knew it, too. They were scared to death. I was scared to death. You have no idea the anger and relief I felt when I got that call. I didn’t know what the fuck happened to you.”
“You thought I was with Lane, didn’t you?”
“You would have thought that, too.”
“I wasn’t.”
“I know. Why didn’t you tell me about her?”
“I don’t know, Paxton. I barely remember her. I don’t remember her, I just know she was a part of me, and I loved her dearly. Remember when I told you about the dream where I was taken to a studio and photographed?”
“Yeah, I hate that story.”
“Izzy was with me. We were both victims. I see things like a movie, about my mom, Izzy, and I, but I wouldn’t call it remembering. She’s real, she’s my twin, and I don’t know where she is.”
Paxton’s body fell backward, over my legs with a groan. His hands washed over his face like he could just wipe it all away, and then he turned to me, serious expression and focused eyes.
“Are we doing this? Do you want this with me, Gabriella?”
I honestly didn’t even have to think about it. I did want it. As crazy as it sounded in my head, I wanted him. I loved him. “Yes,” I admitted in a quiet tone.
“Then we have to lay it all out there. Together. I want to know where the hell you came from.”
“Yeah, I don’t think you do, but just for kicks, I’d like to know that about you, too. I know as much about you as you know about me, and we’re freaking married. How does that even happen?”
Paxton mimicked my tone, stealing my words with a twist. “Yeah, I don’t think you do, but just for kicks, let’s start with you.”
“Of course, and we’ll never get to you, right?”
“What does Mi know?”
“I don’t know. I’m going to meet her at the park for breakfast in the morning.”
“I have to be at a job site at seven. I didn’t make arrangements with Tricia.”
“I’m taking them with me, and then we’re going school shopping. We have two weeks before school starts.”
“You’re not taking them to meet your friend. I don’t want them dragged into any of this mess.”
“How about we stop calling it a mess? Nothing grows out of a mess.”
“Lotus flowers do.”
My frown was meant to be noticed. “What?”
Paxton shook his head like he couldn’t believe he said it. “Nothing, it’s something stupid I’ve heard you tell the girls.”
“From out of the muddiest waters comes a beautiful lotus, untouched from the filth it comes from.”
“Stupid, huh?” he smiled while propping himself up on one elbow over my legs.
Silence fell upon us as our eyes locked, lingering in each other’s presence, and I whispered, “Kiss me.”
Something lifted from my chest that night. I felt lighter, and for the first time since our Disney trip, I felt like we would be okay. Like we could do this as long as we did it together. Whatever the future held, whatever the past held, we could overcome it as long as we both let it. I knew we could.
Our make out session continued to warm up, and I knew it would go to the next step when I felt my tampon slide out, and Paxton slide in. I didn’t care where the wetness came from between us, I didn’t care about the sheets, and I didn’t care about it being gross. It wasn’t. Not at all. Not in the least. Paxton made love to me uncaring of anything between us. It was amazing, something beautiful I shared with a man that I shouldn’t love. With a man I’d die for. Paxton had my heart and he held my soul in the palm of his hand. Paxton invaded my space, all of me, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. I was in love.
The time when I swiped my phone caused me to sit straight up. It was almost eight-thirty. Mi would be at the park in half an hour and I wasn’t even out of bed yet. I jumped up, grabbed a two-minute shower, and dressed. The thought of Tricia with my girls, in my house, went through me like a gun loaded with pissed off bullets. I knew there would be a confrontation. Paxton told her not to let me take them. I was sure of that. I was also sure he told her to let me sleep. Jerk.
Seven
An instant giddiness swept over me when I heard screaming. The kind of screaming that brought an instant smile to my face. Whatever it was, Ophelia had it first. After a quick two minute shower, I dressed in my own shorts and a loose t-shirt, applied a little makeup, and slid my feet inside leather flip-flops before rushing out to the scent of something baking and—
“Paxton?”
“Mommy!”
“Mommy!”
Both my little Clydes slid from their stools and into my arms. My eyes locked with his briefly, wearing a smile and flipping a pancake with either blueberries or chocolate chips. I shook my head in confusion and gave my undivided attention to my little girls as a fruity scent touched my nose. Blueberries.
“Hi babies,” I said, my eyes leaving his for them, both hands stroking long soft hair, one blonde, one black.
“I saw her last night and you didn’t,” Rowan chanted while trying to sneak in an unnoticeable shove with her elbow.
“I did, too.”
“Nuh-uh, because you didn’t know she was here. I did.”
“Stop that,” I interrupted. “I saw you both. Who wants to go to the park? Eat your breakfast, we’ve got to go.”
I looked up to the smirk on Paxton’s face and then a wink from is right eye. He was up to something, and he knew I knew it. My expression wanted him to know it. Not that it mattered, but still.
Rowan was the one who spilled the beans. “Well, we have to wait. Daddy said your friend is coming here first.”
I didn’t even feel surprised. Not in the least. Annoyed, but not shocked. I kissed both their heads as they slid back to their stools, back to their blueberry pancakes, content to have their mommy home. I picked up a blue crayon and a quarter from the floor while I looked at Paxton through narrowed eyes. The blue crayon rolled to the pile, joining the other colors on the island, and I dropped the quarter in his hand.
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