“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get all pitiful on you. None of this is your problem and I don’t have any expectations of you. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but come morning, I’ll be out of your hair.”
“Hitching your way to parts unknown?”
“Most likely, but I’ll be fine. I’ll be careful.”
“I don’t guess it is up to me what you do, but I really hate to see you strike out on your own like that. Will you at least take some money from me? Can I at least help you out that way?”
“Oh, God. No. You’ve already shelled out for a place for me to sleep and all my food since you found me. I feel bad enough about that as it is. I couldn’t take anything more from you.”
“Alright, well, we’ve still got some of that food and there’s no sense in it going to waste. Let me make you dinner and we’ll finish off the wine before bedtime. I’ll take you to breakfast before you leave to make sure you get a good feed before striking out to wherever you go, okay? Can I at least do that?”
“Yes. That would be great,” she said, an awkward smile spreading across her beautiful face. “Do you want some help?”
“Nah. I got it.”
“Okay. I’m going to go get my things packed up and see what’s in there that I can do without, maybe lighten my load a bit.”
He nodded, biting back the urge to try to talk her out of it again. It was killing him to let her go off on her own like this. It wasn’t any way for a woman like her to live, on the run, hiding in the woods, eating whatever she could capture. There were shifters that lived perfectly fine out in the wild, even preferred it, but Autumn had never lived that life. She had been fairly sheltered, from what he gathered. His heart was breaking for her.
He threw the last two pieces of chicken they had bought into the iron skillet and tossed in some chopped-up vegetables to sauté with them while he made a separate pan full of seasoned rice from one of the quick-cook packets. It wasn’t the fanciest meal in town, but it would be filling. With that all going, he mixed together a packet of brownies and put them in a buttered pan in the oven to cook for a bite of dessert. They’d be great with the red wine they had left.
For a moment, he felt a sense of contentment. It felt good for him to be taking care of someone. To have someone to take care of, someone that needed him. Just as quickly, it all washed away as he realized that it was fleeting. By this time tomorrow, he’d be on his way to find someone else, and she’d be God knows where. The joy subsided, replaced with a hole he didn’t expect.CHAPTER FOURTEENAutumn-5
In the bedroom, she picked up her duffle bag and placed it on the bed. It was heavy, far too heavy to lug across the country in search of somewhere safe. Pulling everything out, she looked at what she had brought and realized what poor choices she had made. Any clothes that weren’t suited for someone out in the elements, she put aside. She selected a single pair of shoes and all the clean socks, which weren’t nearly enough for the amount of walking she anticipated.
She hadn’t packed any snacks for the trip, so she would have to wait until she was shifted to eat. That wasn’t ideal if she was in a car with someone or walking in a non-wooded area and felt weak. Maybe when they went to eat breakfast in the morning, she could stop at one of the dollar stores and buy some cheap eats to put in the pack.
She finished picking through everything and put what she didn’t need to one side. She had probably reduced the weight by half. On top of one of the discard piles was a framed photo of her mother. She frowned at it for a moment and then opened it up, taking the photo out and folding it into the folds of one of her t-shirts before repacking the duffle. She put the excess on a nearby chair, not yet ready to toss it out in case she changed her mind about any of it before she left in the morning.
“Dinner’s ready,” Malcolm called out from the other room.
“Coming,” she replied.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, gathering herself. She walked out of the bedroom and sat down at the small bar where he had put our plates and sat down as he poured her a glass of wine.
“It looks and smells delicious,” she told him.
“Let’s hope it tastes good, too,” he laughed.