I nod to Ryland, and he unlocks the door. His eyes don’t leave the wrinkly old hag’s face as she watches us with suspicious eyes.
“You’re not worried she will tell her?” Ryland asks, opening the door.
We haven’t even stepped inside the trailer when we are instantly hit with her scent. My mouth waters as the intoxicating aroma wraps around us. My body relaxes the same instant; her scent calms me as we step inside and close the door behind us.
“You can deal with the woman when we leave,” I tell him, and he nods his head, looking around.
Evelyn doesn’t own much. I think it’s a bit weird that she has no personal belongings besides clothing, even though this is where she lives. We start opening drawers and find some bills with her name, a make-up bag, and a hair straightener. But other than that, there isn’t much here.
No photos, no albums, no paperwork, nothing that could show what her personality is like, or where she comes from. Nothing.
As we walk into her room, Ryland instantly lays on her bed and just as quickly, jumps to his feet. “God, she might as well just sleep on the springs,” he mutters to himself, as he turns and opens the bedside drawer.
While he goes through it, I notice a shoebox under the bed and bend down to reach for it. The moment it’s in my hands, I open it. Inside, there is a small amount of cash, maybe around 500 dollars, and a newspaper clipping. The paper looks old and has fold lines in it.
I squint my eyes at it, it’s a photo of a church and a nun holding a baby. The title of the article is asking for information on a baby that was dropped out the front of the very church. “I wonder why she has this?” I ask, turning the clipping and showing it to Ryland.
His eyes scan the paper for a second, but he just shrugs. “Well, this was a waste of time,” he mutters and opens the top drawer of the dresser.
As soon as he does, he growls in the back of his throat, making me raise an eyebrow at whatever he might have found there. Before I can question him, Ryland turns around and, in his hand, he has a pair of lace panties.
I roll my eyes at him as he dangles them in front of my face. To his dismay, I snatch the panties from his hand and place them back in the drawer. No matter how annoyed he might be, Ryland has to understand we must leave everything as Evelyn had it before we came here.
He still complains under his breath as I place the shoebox where I found it and push him out of the trailer. Then, we lock the door and leave.
“What now?” Ryland asks.
“Hungry?” I ask, and he nods.
I am getting sick of waiting and being patient. When we first saw her and the fear in her eyes, the thought of having her scared me. Now, all I can think about is her. Every waking moment of the day, she is in my thoughts, and I know it is the mate bond. But we all already decided that she will be ours, one way or another.
We let Orion go first. He is trying to get to know her and woo Evelyn, but she shows no interest in him. In fact, she has shown little interest in anyone. Orion claims she does her job and heads straight home. According to him, she has no hobbies and doesn’t wander far from home or work.
Those facts just make us more curious about why she keeps her private life so hidden, even from someone who’s seemingly close to her. What is she hiding or running from that not even her co-workers are aware of? Or is she really that mundane?
As we pull up out the front of the cafe, both of us look inside the windows and we instantly notice Orion, sitting on a stool at the counter. The girl, Lisa, appears very animated as she talks to him. However, I don’t see Evelyn around anywhere. She must be out in the back or somewhere near; Orion wouldn’t sit there if she weren’t around at all.
Evelyn
The week goes by quickly. Reaching the cafe, I quickly unlock it and apologize to Lisa who is already waiting outside for me. She has a smoke between her fingers as she greets me with a smile.
She isn’t the only one waiting, though. Orion is also waiting for the cafe to open as he leans against the hood of his car, looking graceful despite his enormous size. Lisa heads straight inside to turn everything on and heat the stoves along with the deep fryers.
Shoving the key in the first padlock, I unlock it, lift the roller shutters on the window, and quickly move to the next one. However, much to my annoyance, the key doesn’t go in this time. The lock mechanism appears to be frozen. I jiggle the key for a few seconds, a feeble attempt to fix the mechanism without really trying. It still doesn’t work, so I drop my bag off my shoulder and crouch down so I can see the lock better.
“Let me try,” Orion says, suddenly standing next to me. He bends over and inspects the key. Then, he jams the key in, and it does the same. Lisa comes out to hand me my apron. I glance at Lisa and then the next moment, I hear metal hit the ground and realize the padlock is broken apart on the ground.
“Whoops,” Orion drags out with a mischievous grin on his face.
I raise an eyebrow as I hold out my hand for the keys, which he places in the center of my palm. Somehow, his fingers graze my wrist, making me jump, when I feel sparks rush up my arm. I pull my hand back, eyeing him, and he has a lazy smile on his lips, which confuses me more.
Lisa’s voice pulls me out of my awkwardness. “Cheap bloody locks. I have to go to the store to grab bread. Do you need anything?” she asks, looking at me.
“Yeah, can you grab me some smokes?” I tell her as I focus on rummaging through my handbag. Finally, with a smile across my lips, I hand her some cash.
Lisa takes it and leaves the cafe, walking toward the corner store.
Throwing the broken lock in the trash, I walk inside and head behind the counter. The first thing I do is turn on the coffee machine. Once it is done, I pour three coffees, one each for Lisa and myself, and then hand Orion his one. He sits at the counter, watching my every move, making me nervous.
“Must you always stare?” I ask, as I turn around to pull the cash tray out from the safe and drop it into the register.
“No harm in looking,” he says.
I roll my eyes at his answer, but thankfully, Lisa is here to get him off my case. As soon as she enters the cafe, she throws the pack of smokes at me.