Reviving Bloom (5 page)

That
i
s huge. What
c
an
it be?

I watch as she involuntarily move
s
closer towards the trees. She’s drawn to me just as I am to her. Good to see this isn’t one sided.

Someone holler
s
her name and she snap
s
out of her daze. She look
s
at the door
of
the restaurant and back into the woods. She’s scared herself
,
that
’
s easy to see as she practically r
u
n
s
back inside to get away from what the shadows h
o
ld.

Laying in the tree line I ke
ep
my eyes locked on the
pizza place
. The light fade
s
away and the night swoop
s
in but I c
a
n’t take my eyes away. Finally when all the customers ha
ve
left
she walk
s
back outside surrounded by a group of her co-workers. They invite her
o
ut to the local bar but she decline
s
. With a wave and a slight smile she sa
ys
goodbye and climb
s
into a large truck and pull
s
out.

I could easily track her scent to follow where she
’
s going but there
i
s no need for that because now I can read her thoughts. And the only thing on her mind
i
s home.

Chapter 5 – Bloom

~ I’m not sure what I’m going to do without you ~

Walking into the house I kick my shoes off by the door and toss my keys at the counter. By the end of the night I felt like my shift would never end, but thankfully it did. Some of the other waitress
es
invited me to go to Hudson’s bar but I decline
d
. The only thing I want
ed
to do
i
s get home and take a long bath
.
I had a shower this morning, but after working I smell like pepperoni
and I need the water to relax away the painful memories today brought up
.

I ru
n the water and dump in some strawberry bath beads. I
’m
n
ot
a person who like
s
to smell like flowers or even vanilla but I love the smell of strawberries. I test the water with my toe
;
it
’
s warm but not scolding hot,
so I
plop the rest of my body into the water.
After thoroughly washing the pepperoni smell out of my hair and off of my skin I close my eyes laying my head back to enjoy the feeling of the water relaxing my muscles. I fell asleep that way.

The sound of
a
text message coming through my phone w
a
ke
s
me up. The water ha
s
already chilled so I
pull the plug and climb out. I dr
y
myself and grab the phone off the bathroom sink The text message
i
s from Billy.

Just a reminder I’ll be there in the morning. Sleep tight!

I sen
d
back a quick response.

K I’ll see you then. Night!

By the time on my phone I ha
ve
napped for almost an hour. I kn
o
w I won’t be able to get back to sleep right away so I g
e
t dressed, grab a bottle of water out of the fridge and head outside. I momentarily flick on the porch light but th
ink
twice and flick it back off. The sky
i
s clear and even though the moon
i
sn’t full I c
an
see clearly.
I climb onto to the old porch swing and lay with my face down on the cushions. Using my hands I push till I ha
ve
a nice slow swinging motion then I tuck both arms under my head and look out at the night sky.

Watching the stars
remind me of
Dad
and before I kn
o
w it I
’m
talking out loud to him
confessing
things I never got the chance
to
.
“I love
Rose’s
cross
necklace you gave me. I’m sorry I had been such a brat when I found out it was hers. I’m also sorry she left I know you loved her, and I’m sorry I don’
t.
” I let that thought linger in the quiet night before I continue, “Oh
, remember when those two bottles of beer came up missing when I was 14. Well it was me and Bonnie. We thought it would make us cool sneaking and drinking them. We learned our lesson though, we were sick the whole next
day
.
”

“
Billy
’s
been good to me since you’ve been gone. Not that you didn’t already know
he
would.
He
miss
es
you
…” the tears start, “and
Dad
dy I miss you too. So much!
”
Tears are now falling freely from my eyes as I
choke
out my last confession of the night, “
I’m not sure what I’m going to do without you.” I curl around myself as the sobs rock my body.

Chapter 6 – Pike

~ Caught in her trap ~

I
’ve
been sitting at the edge of the wood
s
near the strawberry patch listening to her.
But when
the tears start
my
wolf’s need to protect her, even from her own sorrow,
i
s so great that I los
e
control
and
start running from my hiding spot.
I
d
o
n’t even make it out of the trees when
I
fe
el
the cold hard metal latch onto my front paw
. I howl in pain. If she didn’t know I was close before she definitely
does
now and I can’t get this da
m
n trap off even if I do shift. Crap!

Chapter 7 – Bloom

~ Come with me ~

The sound of a dog howling in pain snap
s
me out of the crying. It sound
s
like he
’
s over near the woods. Oh crap
!
H
e probably got caught in one of the old animal traps
Dad
put out to keep the coons out of my strawberries. Wiping my eyes
,
I scramble to my feet and r
u
n inside
to
grab a flash light.
H
e sounds like he’s in pain and I can’t leave him like that. Pointing the beam from the light into the woods I t
a
k
e
a breath to steady
my nerves then walk in. I f
i
nd him lying on his side, I was right he ha
s
his foot in one of th
ose
old traps. I d
o
n’t walk over to him right away I c
a
n’t. He’s huge! I’ve seen large dogs, my friend Bonnie use to have a Saint Bernard and he was large, but he looks like a pup compared to this dog. I’d say he
’
s a wolf but I k
now wolves don’t get this large.
H
e
could
be a mixed breed.
H
is coat is
so
…
black. Not a dull black either
,
jet black and when the moon
shine
s
on
him
, the tips look blue.
When my eyes finally f
i
nd his I notice they
’
re locked on me. They
’
re the most striking blue, like staring into the clearest blue ocean. I c
an
’t look away
from him
. If I d
o
I fe
el
I’
ll
lose something
,
though I’m not sure what. Then he whimper
s
and my eyes fl
y
to his paw still in the trap. I close the distance and f
a
ll to my knees. Using all my strength I pr
y
the trap open. He
d
oes
n’t move just s
i
t
s
there and watche
s
me but when the trap
i
s finally off he trie
s
to stand.

He
’
s favoring that leg and I c
an
see the wound
i
s deep. He needs it cleaned up and bandaged, but how do
I
explain that to a 300 lb dog? Standing up I h
o
ld my hand out. I want to touch his coat but I fe
el
I need his permission. He watch
es
my face then glance
s
at my hand. Limping
closer
he rub
s
his muzzle across my palm. Thank goodness he’s friendly. It might make it easier to get him inside. Walking back towards the house I pat my leg and in a soothing voice
call
, “Come on boy. Come with me. It’s okay. I just need to clean your paw.” To my surprise he follow
s
me all the way into the house without a problem.

I grab the first aid kit from under the kitchen sink and a bowl of warm water,
and then
I
g
e
t started on cleaning the wound.
It’s
deep and probably need
s
stitches but the vet won’t be open till tomorrow so this will have to do till then. For a dog he
i
s rather attentive. He watche
s
everything I d
o
for him.
His eyes never le
ave
me and he d
oes
n’t try to pull away.

Closing the first aid kit and wiping off my hands I look at him. He really
i
s gorgeous, huge, but gorgeous. And he must belong to someone because he looks well taken care of. I’ve never seen a stray that look
s
this good. Running my hands down his side I
ask
, “So boy what’s your name and why are you all the way out here?”

Chapter 8 – Pike

~ Please, don’t call me Rover ~

I’m
screaming in my head
.
Pike. My name is Pike! Please don’t call me Rover or some ridiculous dog name like that.
Geez I
hope
she c
an
hear me like I can her. She’s so beautiful maybe I should shift right now and take her in my arms. Da
m
n it Pike think straight. You don’t want to scare her to death. I can’t think with her hand rubbing down my side like th
is. T
his woman is going to be my down fall.

Chapter 9 – Bloom

~ You got a dog? ~

The name c
o
me
s
to me
like it
’
s sent from somewhere else. But looking
at him it seems
right so I test it, “Pike! Is your name Pike boy?” His ears prick and at the time I’d swear he actually
nods
his head yes (but it’s late and I’m sleepy so I could be seeing things). “Ok
ay
Pike it is,” I
say around
a yawn then add, “
Well
Pike
,
I better make you a bed so we both can get some rest.” I st
and
to
walk to the bedroom and he follow
s
me. I d
i
g a couple old comforters out of my closet and ma
k
e a
spot
for him in the kitchen next to a bowl of water. He sniff
s
at the blankets then look
s
at me. Yawning, “Sorry boy
,
best I c
an
do. I’m going to bed. Now get some sleep.”