Page 18 of Coerced
I twisted my neck and looked toward the end of the driveway. A couple of the kids from the neighborhood were making their way in my direction. “Hey, kids. What’s going on?”
“We saw you shooting those arrows.”
“Yeah, we wondered if you could show us how to do it.”
I wasn’t quite sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way, I’d become the resident cool guy in the neighborhood. These kids never went by without stopping to talk to me if I was outside.
I never shunned them.
And since I enjoyed archery so much, I had a feeling the kids would like it, too. “Sure. Have any of you ever tried it?” I asked.
“No.”
“I’ve always wanted to, but my mom doesn’t know anything about it. She says we’ll have to find someone who does before we buy anything for it.”
I laughed. “Well, I guess this is a great opportunity for you to check it out and make sure you like it before your mom spends any money on the gear. It can get expensive.” I jerked my head toward the end of the driveway. “Come on, I’ll teach you guys how.”
The kids followed behind me to where I thought would be an appropriate distance to start learning. And as they moved their bikes off to the side, my eyes drifted toward Aria’s window.
She was no longer there.
There was a small part of me that was hoping she’d walk out her door, but it never happened.
And sadly, I didn’t catch another glimpse of her for the rest of the day.
But on the bright side, with my curiosity piqued about my new neighbor, I found the lasting bits of heaviness from my week had dissipated.
FIVE
Aria
“How is Sasha doing?”
With my phone up to my ear, I smiled as my eyes landed on my cuddly girl. She was curled up in a ball across the room, napping. It was to be expected, considering we’d had nearly a full morning of playing after we both had breakfast.
Admittedly, I’d been spending a bit more time with her doing things we always used to do before I made the decision to pick up and leave my hometown.
It was the beginning of September now, and it had been roughly two months since I was on Britney’s doorstep to drop off my cat. My best friend had looked after Sasha for roughly seven and a half weeks before I got myself settled. I’d gone back to pick up Sasha a week ago, and it was safe to say we’d been doing our best to make up for lost time.
As difficult as it had been to leave her, I knew it wasthe best thing for both of us. Because it gave me the ability to take my time to figure out where the best place would be to start rebuilding our lives.
While Britney kept Sasha with her, I’d visited three separate towns, taking just shy of two weeks in each one to scope them out. Ultimately, I settled on one and spent the remainder of my time nailing down housing.
Now, Sasha and I were here in our new hometown, Steel Ridge, a small town in northeastern Pennsylvania. My old hometown was about two and a half hours southwest of where I was currently living.
We were both settling in nicely, and I felt inclined to share that news with the woman on the other end of the phone line.
“She’s doing great, Brit. As you know, she was a little standoffish when I first picked her up from your place, but she’s been slowly warming up to me again. Of course, I’ve been doing everything I can to spoil her, so she knows just how sorry I am for leaving her for so long.”
Britney let out a laugh. “Oh, I’m sure she’s gobbling it up, though.”
“Yeah, she is. I still don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been willing or able to keep her for me while I did this.”
“Don’t even mention it. She was delightful. I enjoyed having her here with me. In fact, I miss her so much, I’m considering getting a little companion of my own,” Britney revealed.
“Next to you, she’s the best thing I have in my life, so I can promise you won’t regret it if you decide to go down the path of pet ownership. Sasha and I are partial to British shorthairs, in case you’re looking for input.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. I still can’t believe you’re so far away. What am I going to do without you being here?” she asked.