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care of that? he asked delicately, and I scrubbed my face with my hand.
"Well yeah!" I answered back in frustration. "I just& I just wish he'd forgive
him, that's all. That would make it just a little bit easier on all of us, you
know?
Eric nodded somberly. "I know." Then he gave me an unexpected hug. "You are so
good here, he said through a tight throat. He took a step back and smiled,
and turned towards Chloe.
"You know, I was here when your mother first got here, he said
conversationally.
"What were you, like two?" Chloe asked, ungraciously.
"More like sixteen. Your mom used to sit out at night, until almost dawn. I
was& well, pretty fucked up at the time. I'd come out here and sit at her feet,
and then I'd start to worry that she wouldn't go in on time. That's when
Adrian would come out and feed from me, and offer me to Grace, and then we'd
all go inside together. Sometimes, Adrian couldn't make it, for one reason or
another, and then it would be just me and your mom. And eventually, she'd
start calling me inside all on her own. She hurt so bad back then it was like,
she needed a fucked up teenager to mother, or she wouldn't have survived. I
bet you're bringing all that back to her all over again how easy are you
making it on her?" There was a pause, while Chloe opened and closed her mouth,
looking for something to say, and Eric tossed me a wave. "See you inside,
Cory I m going to make sure the boys don't fill up on pie.
Chloe just stood there, searching for words, a reply, anything at all. I
wasn't going to make it easy on her.
"I've got things to do before dinner, I said shortly. "And I understand you
have to work. You can see yourself out.
I turned around and was almost to the smaller Goddess grove when Chloe
suddenly asked, "Who is Adrian?
I turned halfway. "You wouldn't understand if I told you, I said after a
moment. "He used to live in the room with the yellow door." And then I turned
back to where Bracken was waiting.
BRACKEN
'Other Foot' Issues
We made up, of course. Well, more accurately, we made love, fast and furiously
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behind the bole of the giant lime tree in the smaller Goddess grove it wasn't
like I gave my due'ane a chance to argue with me, after all.
But the difference between making up and having sex haunted me as I lay with
my head on her stomach, scenting lightly at the juncture of her thighs. She
smelled like Green, and like me, and like Corinne Carol-Anne Kirkpatrick op
Crocken Green like home. I would not jeopardize that smell, that taste, or
that texture for all of the hard quickies in the garden that I planned to have
in the years to come.
But it was a good moment, and I have a history of walking all over good
moments with my king-sized feet and I didn't want to screw that up either.
"Say it, she murmured, combing her fingers through my hair. I'd had it cut
again, right before Green got back. She had bitched about that too.
"Say what?" I protested.
"I can hear it rattling around in your head, Bracken, she said mildly. So
mildly that it suddenly felt like saying what I was thinking was not an
intrusion into the moment, but an extension of it.
I turned to look at her. Her T-shirt was rucked up to right below her breasts
and her bra was poking out the neck of the T-shirt, and her sweatshirt was
under her bare hips. Her jeans were pooled with her shoes and one of her socks
was about a foot above her head, and her eyes peered brightly at me from under
lazy, hooded eyelids.
"Are we good?" I asked, the question rougher on my throat than I had expected.
Her lips quirked, and I knew she was about to deliberately misunderstand me.
"I mean, are we made up? Have we forgiven each other?
And now her eyes grew over-bright, and I could have kicked myself all over
again, except I knew that she had forced this conversation for the same reason
I had thought about it neither wanted this or any other argument hanging over
our heads. Her hand came to touch my cheek, and then she struggled to sit up.
I let her.
"I'll always forgive you, Bracken Brine, she murmured, then she stood and
started hunting for clothes, shaking her underwear out of her jeans and free
of grass before shimmying into them. "It's just that& " She paused, and her
tears overflowed and she hid this by brisk motions of putting on her jeans and
fastening on her bra and hunting for her other sock.
It was painful to watch.
"It's just what?" I reached above her head to retrieve the sock from the lime
tree. I handed it to her and then pulled up my own jeans and did the fly.
She sat down and put her shoes and socks on, dashing tears off her cheeks as
she did so. Then she looked up at me with swollen eyes and an expression of
such tender pain that I had to swallow past a lump in my own throat. "I can
forgive you as often as I need to, Bracken," she said after a moment, "But we
keep having the same argument again and again and again, and we will keep
having it until you forgive yourself and him. I'll forgive you every goddamned
time, but it will never be 'All good' between us until you forgive Adrian.
My breath caught in my throat, and the backlash, the denial of what she just
said was so great that what came out of my mouth next was damn near
unforgivable. "Funny you should mention that," I snapped, "Because I could
have sworn that what set you off in the first place was being pissed at
Green.
Her face went shock white, and her eyes narrowed darkly in the paleness.
"You're goddamned right I'm mad at Green," she breathed, seemingly pulled
upright to standing by her words alone. "But when I'm ready to yell at Green,
you can bet your ass I will be yelling at Green, and not you, Bracken Brine I
may be young and stupid but I think I can tell the two of you apart.
Goddess.
I took a step backwards, awed by her anger and by my shame. Then I lowered my
eyes. "I'm sorry," I murmured. "That was wrong of me.
She took a deep breath of her own and reached out and brushed my hand to get
my attention. "Right backatcha.
"You don't pull your punches, do you beloved?" I said gruffly, and was
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rewarded by the slightest quirk of her lips.
"Right backatcha," she repeated, dusting off her bottom and taking another
step away. "I've got to go get ready for banquet." She turned away towards the
house.
"Cory, wait& " I felt helpless and bereft, even as she turned back. "Can I come
with you?" Goddess, that sounded lame. Then she smiled, a whole complete
smile, and her face lit up and she extended her hand.
"I was hoping you would." She leaned her head against my shoulder (well, my
upper arm) as we walked up to the house.
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