Chapter 11
Adrian Wolfe has some nerve waltzing into the town dance just to badger me yet again. Why can't he just leave well enough alone and understand the property is mine and I will fight tooth and nail to make sure it stays mine, even if that means bankrupting myself in the process?
I can't get away fast enough. Putting space between myself and that ogre is priority number one, and my ballet flats slap the sidewalk in my hasty retreat toward my house. Anger rumbles the sky overhead and judging by the way the wind whips around me tossing my skirt, I will be drenched before I make it up the steep hill of my driveway, but Gloria gave me a ride into town and I have no ride home. Since the dance is still going on and Gloria is probably enjoying herself, I have no choice but to walk.
A chill prickles my skin and I hug my arms over my stomach. The puffed cap sleeves of my dress offer zero protection against the wind, and I shiver as the temperature drops drastically by the minute. The storm will be a doozy, but hopefully there is no hail. I'll have nowhere to get out of the danger if it does.
I glance over my shoulder as I begin my descent down the hill. I have an eerie feeling I'm being watched, followed maybe. After that man showed up in my driveway harassing me, it's a very real possibility, but I can't go back. I won't give Adrian the satisfaction of knowing I am vulnerable. He thinks he needs to rescue me like some waif tied to a set of railroad tracks, but I'm anything but helpless.
When I moved to Johnson City, I had to live in my car for three weeks while I searched for an apartment after the one I put a deposit on wasn't ready. Didn't dare tell Daddy either or he'd have made me come back home. It worked out and I'm stronger for it.
This situation with the house is the same.
Light sprinkles begin, and they make my legs work faster, carrying me one hasty. step at a time homeward. With everyone in town at the dance still, there are no cars on the street, no one to flag down for a ride, so I tuck my chin and let the wind tangle my hair. Still the creepy sensation on the back of my neck that I'm being watched lingers. I move faster, trying to put it out of my head. Nothing bad happens in this town; I'm just imagining things.
After no more than ten minutes of walking, I see headlights crest the hill behind me and a car approaches. I'm freezing now, getting wet from the light precipitation ahead of the storm front, and honestly I don't want to walk the next mile by myself in the dark with a storm coming. And the chances of this being that horrible man hounding me for money my father owed him are slim. So I turn and raise my hand, and flag it around in the air. I don't recognize the car--until it stops next to me.
The black BMW is the last thing I want to see right now. I don't even bother bending down to the open window to tell him off. I turn and keep walking. I can't get in that car and let him rile me up over the property again.
"Eden, get in. You're being ridiculous. I'll take you home and say nothing more about the house. It's going to storm."
The rain drops grow larger, dousing me in heaven's tears, but I clench my hands into fists and keep walking. The car rolls alongside me at the same pace that I walk. The wind picks up too, bending the tree branches low enough to almost reach me. It's a bit spooky out here in the middle of the night with a storm approaching but I won't admit it to Adrian, who shouts at me from the open window of his car.
"Stop being so stubborn and get in."
I know I should get in. He's not a stalker or even dangerous in the least, and if the cacophony of the wind through the trees is any indication of how bad this storm is going to be, it would be the smart move. But I'm fighting against something bigger than Adrian Wolfe. Something bigger than my obstinate need to remain in control of my family property. I'm fighting myself. I hate him and I like him at the same time. If I get in that car we're going to argue more, and he's going to say something that makes sense, something I don't want to hear. That I really am struggling with all of this and I'm refusing to let anyone help me at all.
"Eden!" he shouts, as a bolt of lightning rends the sky above illuminating the angry tree line that reaches out to frighten me. The resounding boom of thunder shakes the ground I walk on, terrifying me and I yank that car door open and climb in while he's still moving.
Seconds later, as Adrian slams on his breaks, the skys open up and it rains so hard even with his wipers on full blast and driving only a few miles an hour, we can't see out the window.
"Shit," he hisses, turning his defrost on high to combat the moisture. I sit in the seat angry and shivering as the cold air coats my arms in a thick layer of goosebumps.
"I could have walked home."
"In this? I know you're stubborn, but you're not stupid, Eden." He turns on his high beams and uses the back of his hand to wipe at the windshield which has a heavy fog on it.
I'm not sure if I think that's a compliment or an insult but I take it as an insult. It's the only way to make sure I don't fin dmyself feeling vulnerable with him again. Everything he's said is true. I have no money to pay off the tax debt, and even though I can commute to my job in Johnson City and make the remainder of the mortgage payments, the amount of work needing done to the property is way out side my budget. I hate him for that, but I love that he is actually thinking about me needs going forward.
I am a literal walking paradox and my only reaction is anger, because anger is safe. "Just take me home."
"I'm trying. You know you are about the most stubborn person I have ever met."
I scowl at him. "And you're pushy and demanding and rude."
"And you're loud and--"
"Stop it!" I snap as he pulls into the driveway. His car starts the climb toward the house and I've had enough. "Just stop. I told you I don't want to sell my family property. What don't you understand about that. Leave it alone."
"I am only trying to help you, Eden. You have taken the mentality of this town a little too seriously. Pushing me away is a mistake." The car rounds the bend and stops, but the rain only picks up. I stare at the window unable to even see the house despite having left the porch light on.
"I don't need your help." I say it but even as the words leave my lips I know it's not true. I do need his help, just not the way he wants to give it to me.
"You don't even know what you need."
I'm so angry I grip the handle of the door, ready to spring out, but pings of hail hitting the roof and hood of his car stop me in my tracks.