“I’m not sure yet. Bread. Biscuits. Pie. Maybe a cake. You
better wake Snake and Jean up in a few hours. I won’t be able
to eat all of this alone.”
“I should hope not.”
“Easy stuff. I’m not making the hard stuff. I don’t want the
fancy shit. Just this.” Just her. I just want Haley.
“Snake’s been watching her.”
Claire nearly sent the bowl clattering to the floor for the
second time. “What the hell are you talking about? What kind
of watching? Stalking her?”
Jenny’s eyes were rimmed with guilt. She smiled
sheepishly. “He was just following orders. My orders. I told
him to keep an eye on her. To make sure she was okay. I knew
we could be sending her back to the wolf’s den.”
Claire thought her heart was pounding before. She had no
idea. It was racing out of her chest now. She was pretty sure
that at any second it might tear itself free and fall to the floor
with a splat, like a dropped tomato.
The truth was, she couldn’t fold her emotions into neat little
boxes anymore. She couldn’t keep them from becoming a
mess, from running roughshod over her. She was out of
control, and she knew it.
No wonder Jenny was amazed. If she was resorting to
cooking, it was indeed bad. The adrenaline shot that she got
even hearing Haley’s name made her head spin. It’s been too
long. Too many days since I last saw her. I miss her. I miss her
so fucking much. It’s torture. Horrible, pure, agonizing torture.
The house felt too big. Too empty. Too all the things it never
was before Haley. Claire’s body felt too small to contain the
pain.