Page 31 of Scars of the Sun
“Uh… thanks? How about we just wait for her to get out here and give us our tasks for the day. Do you have any questions?”
Delaney looked around and rubbed the side of his face again. “Is… is your brother gonna be here too?”
“Huh?” It wasn’t his question that took me off guard, but the reddening of his cheeks and the uncertain way he asked it. I took a sniff of the air, and I tried not to wrinkle my nose at the telltale boiled egg smell of fear and… the remnants of bubblegum. Like an old crush. “Uh… no. He’s working on some stuff at home.” Oh, god, he used to have a crush on Orion? While part of that made me want to gag, I worried that it wasn’t such a good idea that he was here. Hell, even in the pack at all. Though I could tell it was an old crush, his skittishness now made a little more sense.
“Good,” he said under his breath but then seemed to realize that he’d said it out loud, eyes widening in horror, “Oh, no—I mean. I just?—”
My face twisted, feeling wholly awkward now, “Look… I know he can be aloof, but he really isn’t scary. If that’s what you’re worried about. And, he’s also happily mated to Sylvie, so…”
Delaney’s eyes were blank, his brows furrowed, and we stood in silence as he worked to make sense of what I was trying to imply without outright saying it. Eventually, he blinked, blushed harder, and looked horrified. “Oh, no no no no, I wouldnever. Please believe me. I really like Sylvie.” His hands clutched together beneath his chin, and tears threatened to shed.
I felt like an asshole. “God, please don’t cry. I wasn’t—” fuck. “I shouldn’t have. Like spied on your feelings or whatever. Um, it’s okay.”
He rubbed the heel of a palm on one of his eyes, as if that would stop the tears from escaping. “What do you mean spying? I don’t get it?”
Now I was rubbing at my eyes. When Orion had pointed out that it could be done, I’d had lots of practice over the years, identifying and cataloguing the complex notes that lay underneath the more obvious scents people gave off. I couldn’teven remember how the conversation first started, but I’d learned that day that my brother had used and honed the skill to understand and navigate social situations that otherwise made little sense to him. With a mother who rarely spoke what she was actually feeling, and most people obscured their emotions so much that it was commonplace, I’d gotten pretty good at it, too.
“Ah, shifter nose? Like, underneath your scent I could tell that my brother makes you afraid. And…” I tried to soften my words, something I wasn’t used to doing around adults, “that you used to have a crush on him.”
Delaney’s face fell, looking devastated, but before I could rush to apologize even more, he started pleading again, “Please don’t tell him or Sylvie. I swear, I stopped as soon as I realized he had a mate. I just always saw him when he was dropping off at the school, and he was the first shifter I’d come that close to since moving here, and his Leader scent, but Iswear, as soon as I knew about Sylvie, it went away. Please don’t be mad.”
Oh good god, I was not equipped for this. I should’ve kept my big mouth shut, and now he was really crying. I raised my hands, hesitating for a second, before laying them on his arms that were hard with muscle but soft to the touch. “Hey, hey, Delaney it’s okay. Let’s just—let’s just start over, okay? I’m sorry. That I said all that. We’re glad you’re here and invited you for a reason. Okay?”
He sniffed, but his wide and red eyes on me made him look heartbreakingly young. “You mean that you’ll still be my friend?”
“A-absolutely.”
“And you won’t tell your brother? Or Sylvie?Please.”
“Won’t tell me what?” Sylvie padded into the garden on bare feet with both her children in her arms. Dahlia and Sylvie looked worried, Ollie curious.
More embarrassment wafted off Delaney, so I squeezed his forearms in what I hoped was reassurance. “Just that Delaney’s a little nervous about his first time helping out.”
Sylvie’s long look let me know that she knew it was bullshit, but she thankfully didn’t push. “Oh, well that’s okay.” She walked closer. “I’ll show you what to do, but you’re also welcome to just sit and chat if you’d like.”
I dropped my hold on my friend, and he swatted away the last remaining tear before it could fall. He cleared his throat. “No, I want to help. Thank you for inviting me. And being so nice to me.”
My sister-in-law’s gaze softened and she relented to both of her kids’ squirming. “Oh, honey, no need. As Ramona already told you, I’ll put you to work if you give me the chance. You might not want to thank me once we’re done for the day.” Sylvie let her daughter and son down, and instead of taking off to run amongst the plants, Dahlia took Ollie’s hand in hers and marched toward Delaney.
She almost had to stare straight up to look at his face. Ollie wobbled a little bit but was able to stay upright. “Mr. Delaney, do you wanna water the flowers with us?”
He blinked down at her, face clearing and relaxing. He crouched until he was still quite a bit taller than my niece but much closer to her height. “You gotta show me what to do, but I’d love to.”
Dahlia gave a serious nod, looking scarily like my brother, “We’ll teach you.” Sylvie chuckled and stood back while her daughter started doling out demands, waving Delaney and Ollie behind her as they went to retrieve the watering cans to get to work. She instructed Delaney to take the bigger one while she and Ollie shared a smaller, child-sized one.
I watched them for a while, Delaney seeming much more at ease with conversing with Dahlia and Ollie. Guilt still wrappedaround my throat for making him upset, but the big guy looked to be able to bounce back pretty quickly. His smile was back as he watered and smelled the different blooms. All three laughed when their watering sent up a flurry of butterflies and bumble bees that flew around them.
“He’s had a difficult go of it.”
“What do you mean?” I’d heard her approach but didn’t bother turning.
“Not sure what it is, but it’d be hard to ignore. Sadness and trauma aren’t as easy to hide as some would think.” Her statement held a silent echo, one that made me feel too vulnerable. Seen. Or was I reading too much into it? Was that what Sylvie saw when she looked at me?
“Well, he seems good right now,” I waved in the direction of Delaney, mouth pursed in concentration while he carefully watered a cluster of orchids that, amazingly, bloomed delicate and proud amidst everything else. “And if he gets more used to—what the fuck!”I’d turned to my sister-in-law but now had to stop myself from smacking her arm and running into the house.
Petunia, at least I assumed it was the same spider, had been slowly crawling up Sylvie’s bare arm but stilled at my outburst.
Sylvie took a step back from me, too, looking afraid and concerned until she followed my gaze to the spider now resuming her ascent to perch on the curve of Sylvie’s shoulder. Petunia sat beside my brother’s mating mark, just like, sunbathing or some shit, and I tried to stop from progressing to full hyperventilation.