The Haret (The Haret Series) (17 page)

             
The accusing look on Grants face did nothing to soften Sharon’s demeanor. Felicitas bold accusations and defiant attitude only added fuel to her mother‘s flame. She did not back down.

             
“No dear, the only nightmare here is my seventeen year old daughter wanting to run off with a forty year old man. I blame your dad for this. Maybe if he had given you the attention you needed you wouldn’t be romanticizing it with some rugged mountain man old enough to be your father!”

              Felicitas ripped away her covers and stood on the bed towering over her mother. She swept her long auburn waves away from her pale face and pointed her finger to the door. “Get out!”

             
Sharon’s perfect posture gave way to slumped shoulders as she stood there flabbergasted at her daughters demand.

             
“What?”

             
“You heard me out. We’re strangers. You don’t know me at all if you really believe that.”  Felicitas looked away from her mother but held her position pointing at the exit.

             
Sharon headed for the door in silence. She spoke quietly before leaving the room. “So where is he Taz? The one who got you pregnant. Why isn’t he here for you? According to the story book once the baby is conceived he is free to come through the portal and protect his love. Think about it….if he is so real, then where is he?” With having said that. She closed the door behind her?

             
  As hard as Felicitas tried she could not hold back the tears stinging in her eyes. Once one escaped the others followed soaking her cheeks. She fell to the bed sobbing. Although Grant wanted nothing more than to hold her and let her cry on his shoulders he refrained and slipped from the room not wanting to bring any more accusations on himself or her.

             
Felicitas lay across the bed and gazed through the skylight in the ceiling. Tears rolled off her cheeks and onto her pillow. All her mother’s words stinging, still hurting long after they were said. She slid her slender fingers across her flat stomach. By looking it was not evident that life was growing inside of her. But it was there, she could sense it even though she hadn’t had much time to dwell on it. She thought of sneaking from the house and running but where would she go?

             
She lay there hoping to fall asleep and dream of Raine but in spite of her exhaustion sleep escaped her. So she lay there waiting and hoping he would come until the sun rose shining through the window filling her room with light.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

             
Sharon didn’t rest well after she returned to her room. Instead of falling back to sleep she lay in the bed staring at the rotating ceiling fan and wondering when she had lost control of her daughter. Felicitas had always been different not at all like Lisette and Hayley. She was a nonconformist from early on and as strong willed as any child Sharon had ever known, questioning everything and everyone. Sharon often wondered if it was due to the fiery red curls growing out of her daughters head.

             
Felicitas wasn’t a bad child in fact she was very agreeable and obeyed better than Lisette or Hayley. It was just that Felicitas was a bit of a silly heart always fantasizing  things, sensationalizing the most mundane details of her experiences to the point of ridiculousness as Melvin always put it.

             
He had the hardest time with Felicitas because unlike her sisters she didn’t simply accept his word as truth on any given subject. Especially where the Bible was concerned and that annoyed Melvin greatly seeing he felt he was an expert on the book. Felicitas studied the Bible too and would challenge her dad during many an evening meal, sometimes backing him in a corner. Melvin would get flustered when Lisette and Hayley would applaud their sister and hold up hand written score cards deeming Felicitas the winner in the debate.  He would launch in to a three point sermon overpowering their voices and then leave the table. On one such occasion Felicitas announced at the dinner table that Eve hadn’t taken a bite of an apple in the Garden of Eden but had sexual relations with Satan and conceived Cain. Melvin nearly choked on his pork chop. When he vehemently opposed her statement she rebutted instantly pointing out that Cain wasn’t listed in Adam’s genealogy therefore was not his son. She went as far as to ask if Cain wasn’t Satan’s seed then to whom was God referring when he told the serpent he was declaring war between his offspring and Eve’s. She said it made sense because Cain killed Abel.   Felicitas  made the same declaration at a youth group meeting a few weeks later, which resulted in angry parents  filling Melvin’ inbox with concerned letters. Melvin confided to Sharon that he felt Felicitas was becoming a heretic to which Sharon laughed only infuriating her husband more. If the truth were known Sharon secretly admired her daughter’s unconventional beliefs and although she would not admit it to her husband, thought Felicitas actually showed more faith than any of them.

              Sharon gave up on getting any more sleep and climbed from the bed as the first rays of sunlight filtered through the lace curtains. She stumbled in to the adjoining restroom and opened the complimentary toothbrush from the basket of toiletries sitting on the countertop. She figured the home was some sort of bed and breakfast Inn considering all the beautifully furnished rooms upstairs. She wondered when her mother had moved here and just what her relationship was to the cowboy who resided here as well.

             
She brushed her teeth, ran a comb through her platinum hair and rummaged through her purse applying what little cosmetics she carried in a small silk case. She redressed in the tailored suit she wore yesterday and sighed.  It was the first time in years she had worn the same outfit two days in a row. She smoothed the wrinkles from the skirt with her hands while slipping her feet into the high heeled pumps sitting at the end of the bed. She lifted the delicate earrings from the nightstand, tilted her head, and placed the expensive stones on her ears. She took a final glance in the antique mirror hanging over the mahogany dresser before heading downstairs. She wondered why she cared how she looked being stranded out in the boonies somewhere in Pumpkin Holler. She denied the answer that rushed into her thoughts and left the room.

             
Grant and Rosie were already up, drinking coffee in the kitchen, accompanied by Sheriff Edwards. Sharon figured the Sheriff had feelings for her mother and smiled at the thought. She wondered at how much her mother’s life had changed over the years. Rosie had raised Sharon alone since she lost her dad at the age of six and as far as she knew had never dated. There had been a man named Paul that came around from time to time that Sharon adored but then one day he simply disappeared. Rosie worked hard to support them both and any free time she had she spent with Sharon. They had a special bond back in those days when it was just the two of them. Her heart ached for what had been lost but as she did with all the emotions she refused to deal with, she pushed it aside, straightened her posture and entered the room in a façade of self-assurance.

             
Sharon noticed the conversation stopped abruptly when she entered but she was used to it. It happened so frequently at ladies gatherings at the church. Whenever Sharon arrived hushed whispers would be exchanged for boisterous flattery but she was smart and didn’t buy into their pretense for a minute. She knew the women discussed her passionately and did it in the most holy of ways so not to be accused of gossiping. She could only imagine the prayer chains flooding the internet and cell phones regarding her daughter and the latest turn of events. Dread along with hunger pains gnawed at her stomach as she headed to the coffee pot and poured herself a cup.

             
“Please don’t stop talking on my account, I didn’t mean to interrupt your scheming.”

             
Grant stood abruptly from the table and left the kitchen, never making eye contact with Sharon. She figured he loathed her right now but she didn’t care. She spooned sugar into her cup and followed it with sweet cream stirring ever so daintily not making a sound. She placed the spoon in the sink then turned around and faced the table as she leaned against the counter sipping her coffee.

             
Rosie eyed her daughter with a look of disapproval forming across her face.

             
“You owe that man an apology, young lady. You spoke out of turn and what you accused him of last night is inexcusable.”

             
Sharon took another sip and remained completely indifferent.

             
“I found him in my daughter’s room on her bed after she woke me screaming. What was I supposed to do?”

             
“He was helping her recover from a night terror, you had no right in accusing’ him of anything else.”

             
“I call them like I see them mother and I’ll have you know I am taking my daughter home today and that is my right.”

             
Rosie gave a sarcastic laugh.

             
“Call them like you see them, well that certainly explains your behavior. You make stupid, asinine decisions all the time because you don’t actually see anything anymore. Tell me Sharon, when did you lose your wonder?”

             
Sharon nearly choked on her coffee. Felicitas had asked her the same question two days ago at the police station. Her words had stung but Rosie’s had only inflamed her.

             
“Do you mean when did I grow up? When did I get some common sense?”

             
“Yes!” Rosie bit back “When did you become common? When did you become blind to the world around you?”

             
“Oh I didn’t mother. I woke up. I woke from this frightening wonderland you raised me in. Melvin helped me escape your little rabbit hole and thank God I haven’t had to run from the jabberwockies or drakes or whatever you call them in a long time and I’ll be damned if you try and indoctrinate Felicitas in your belief system. My life is good momma and they life we have provided for our daughter is a privileged one where she is well taken care of and has everything she needs. You should have never interfered.”

             
“I didn’t. Felicitas got pregnant and came to me. I have simply listened to her and given her the answers that you wouldn‘t.”

             
“All you have given her is vindication for her behavior and a hoax of deception to hide behind.”

             
Rosie had an uncanny way of always being able to tell when Sharon was lying or hiding the truth behind her eloquent vocabulary.

             
“You honestly believe your daughter is lying to you?”

             
Sharon looked out of the window delaying her answering. She knew all three of her daughters well despite accusations that she spent too much time away from home. She knew Lisette had lost her virginity some time ago and although regretted her actions was promiscuous and continued giving herself away. That is why she had her daughter on birth control and used the excuse that Lisette needed to be on it for her acne medication. That was the only way she could justify it to Melvin. She also knew Hayley was sneaky and manipulated her parents to get her way and Sharon knew when Hayley told them she was going to her friend’s house to study she was really going to the mall to pick up on guys. Even though her other two daughters were less than trustworthy she knew deep inside Felicitas was nothing like them. Felicitas was a good soul and had been her entire life. She loved others deeply always sacrificing so her sisters could have their way over hers. She was generous always giving to those in need. Unlike her sisters who spent lavishly on themselves, Felicitas gave most of her monthly allowance away regularly supporting orphans in other countries. Once at a high school assembly she saw a film about Invisible Children in Africa and was so moved by it she began personally sponsoring the organization.  She had a wall in her room with pictures of the children she provided for and a single picture of mother Teresa which rubbed Melvin the wrong way every time he saw it. He told Felicitas her hero should not be catholic since they were Christian to which Felicitas only laughed, shook her head in disbelief, and walked away.

             
If she made a commitment she kept it. She had the strongest will power of anyone Sharon had ever known. She set standards for herself and stuck to them without wavering. If Felicitas said she got pregnant in a dream then deep inside Sharon believed Felicitas sincerely thought it to be true.

             
As if Rosie were reading her thoughts she walked over to the counter and stood beside her daughter.

             
“You do believe her don’t you?”

             
Sharon didn’t answer her; she continued to stare out of the window.

             
“Why won’t you admit it?”

             
A lump formed in Sharon’s throat as she held her tears at bay. She continued her deep inspection of the back yard swallowing hard before answering.

             
“Because mother, I hate the book and I hate the story, it’s been a curse my whole life. It took daddy away from me and then Paul and all my friends. It separates you from those you love, believe me I know. If I admit she got pregnant in a dream and help her on this quest, then I am as much sending her away from me forever. We both know how the story ends, either the drakes kill her and the baby or the guardian escorts her and my grandchild safely home…. to Haret I lose them either way.”

             
Rosie bowed her head in silence and Sheriff Edwards realizing he needed to give a mother and daughter some time alone slipped quietly from the kitchen.

             
Rosie placed her scarred hand on Sharon’s shoulder and spoke softly.

             
“I’m sorry honey. I’m sorry about your dad, and Paul and everything you have lost. It’s taken a lot away from me too, including you. But hating it doesn’t make it go away. The reason it brings us pain is we were never meant to be here in the first place. Our true home is in Haret and whether we like it or not we’re involved in the war to preserve it.”

             
Sharon pulled her gaze away from the window and looked at her mother standing there wearing a sling, an obvious battle scar of the war which she had referred. Rosie was still beautiful even at sixty; she had no wrinkles only laugh lines at the corners of her eyes and a few pulling at the corner of her lips. Her chestnut hair still shined with less than half of the strands giving way to silver and her cornflower eyes continued to dance even when filled with tears. Sharon knew her mother had lost a lot in this life, yet she continued to believe and persevere and did it with such joy. Just like she did when Sharon was a child, no matter what the circumstance her mother always smiled, always hoped, always carried on, and always believed. Sharon’s soul ached for the lost years. She took her mother’s disfigured hand and kissed it gently.  

             
“I’m going to need a little more time.”

             
Rosie cupped her free hand over her daughters grasp.

             
“I know dear, just don’t make it too long.”