Page 54 of Havoc's Fox
“Thank you, but I think I’m just going to take a shower and go to bed.”
“But, when they come back, we’ll have more marshmallows,” a little girl’s voice said hopefully.
Analise hadn’t realized that Harley was sitting with them. It made sense that she’d have stayed behind if she wasn’t yet able to shift. “My tummy kind of hurts, Harley. But maybe I’ll get a chance to see you tomorrow. Okay?”
“Probably too much adult drink. Daddy doesn’t drink adult drinks ‘cause they make his Wolf hard to manage,” Harley said.
“I have no doubt,” Analise said.
“We can go for a walk tomorrow since we didn’t get to go tonight,” Harley said hopefully.
“Maybe. We’ll see.”
“I love being outside. But I can’t keep up with the grownups when they run, so I can’t go with them. I have to stay behind at home, too. I usually stay with Aunt Talie when everybody else runs at home. It’s kinda boring.”
“One day you’ll be able to keep up, and I bet they’ll have trouble catching you, then,” Analise said.
Harley grinned and turned to look at Avaleigh. “She’s right.”
“I bet she is,” Avaleigh agreed.
“So, you’ll take me for a walk tomorrow?” Harley called out to Analise who hadn’t quite managed to get home while Harley was talking to Avaleigh.
Analise didn’t want to disappoint the girl, but she most likely wouldn’t be here. And even if she was, she really didn’t want to bond with her any more than she already had. It killed her enough that she missed everything about home, she didn’t want to add this child to the mix. Harley was so easy to love, and so clearly starving for a mother figure in her life. She just didn’t want to give her any false hope, nor have to deal with another broken bond when she went back to Boston with no more contact.
“Tell you what… if I’m still here, we’ll see about going for a walk,” Analise said.
“Yayy!” Harley called out excitedly. “But you have to come get me from by Aunt Hellen’s house.”
“Oh, you’re staying at Aunt Hellen’s house?” Analise asked.
“No. But it’s by Aunt Hellen's. But I might be at Poppy’s and Val’s. We slept at Poppy’s and Val’s house last night, but we moved our stuff to a house by Aunt Hellen’s today. Maybe you should just call my daddy and ask him where I am when you’re ready to go for a walk. But I think I’m spending the night with Poppy again. He makes even better blanket forts than my daddy does, so I hope so. And Val paints with me. I like painting with Val.”
Analise smiled, remembering the blanket forts they’d all played in on rainy days in Maverik’s house and the art projects that Valerie would organize for all the kids.
“I’ll tell Poppy that you’re coming to get me so I need to be ready.”
“Well, we’ll have to see. I might not be here,” Analise reminded her. “But if I am, I’ll come find you.”
“Okay! If you do, we can go early,” Harley insisted. “The birds get up early and they make pretty songs. Except the chickens. I hate the chickens.”
“Why do you hate chickens?” Avaleigh asked.
“Well, really I hate the roosters. They make so much noise!” Harley complained dramatically.
“I completely understand. And we’ll see. If I’m here, okay?” Analise said, smiling a little at Harley’s antics. She was a very animated little girl, and so very self-confident. She waved at them sitting near the bonfire still warming the entire area, then turned and hurried to her parents’ home.
“Sleep well, Analise,” Avaleigh called.
“Goodnight, hon,” Janie called.
Avaleigh shook her head sadly and made eye contact with Janie as Analise slipped inside her parents’ front door and closed it quietly behind herself.
“I know. It kills me,” Janie said. “Last time she was here she seemed so much better than this time.”
“He wasn’t here last time,” Avaleigh said. “She could let her guard down and just be herself.”
“That’s true. But you’d think they’d have both moved on by now.”