A Demon Made Me Do It(42)
“Give or take a few days…” he murmurs. “My uncle brought me here soon after I arrived.”
“Tell me about him,” I say, eager to break the uncomfortable silence. I want to go back to how we were yesterday when it was so easy to talk to him, before all the weirdness got in our way.
“His name is Troy. He was my mother’s brother.”
“Was?”
“She passed away when I was six.”
“Oh…I’m sorry. My mother’s gone, too. She died when I was born,” I blurt out, much to my surprise. I’ve never told anyone the truth about my mother before. Usually I just say that my parents died together in a car crash when I was two.
“I’m very sorry.” His gaze briefly leaves the road to meet mine.
“It’s okay,” I say, shrugging. “I never knew her. It must have been much harder for you, losing your mom at such a young age.”
He doesn’t answer, and I want to kick myself. Good going, Liora. Morbid conversation, much?
“It was…very painful,” he finally says, his mouth pressed in a straight line, his eyes like steely ice.
“So is it just you and your uncle?”
He slowly nods. “Troy’s lived out here for several years.”
“What about your father?” I ask.
He gives me a funny look, and again doesn’t answer right away.
“Um…I don’t really know him. He took off shortly after I was born,” he says after a long pause.
Great.
“Any brothers or sisters?” I ask. Please don’t tell me they’re dead, too.
He shakes his head. “Nope, only me…that I know of. But I suppose anything’s possible.”
His strange answer makes me think of my own father, or more accurately, my Creator. For all I know I have dozens, maybe hundreds, of half-siblings running around that I don’t even know about.
“Yeah, I’m an only child, too,” I say.
He turns to stare at me, one hand on the wheel. The intensity of his gaze takes my breath away.
My eyes widen. “What?” What?!
An easy smile replaces his serious look. “Nothing…so it’s just you and your… grandmother?”
I swallow hard. I’m marching on some dangerous territory, all of my own doing. If I hadn’t started asking him all those questions about his family…
“Well, yeah, Tatiana isn’t my biological grandmother…she just took me in after my mother died. It’s just been the two of us ever since.” Make that the three of us.
“Hmm.”
“You’ve always lived here?” he asks a few moments later.
“Yup.”
“And you’ve never been up this way before?” His eyes are sparkling again, and the tension eases from his brow.
“Nope. I’ve been to some places outside of town, but I usually stick close to the woods around my cabin. My Mustang isn’t exactly built for off-roading.”
He flashes me a delicious smile that reaches his eyes, sending the butterflies fluttering in my stomach again. “Well, then, you are in for a real treat.”
The twisty road narrows even tighter, and Kieron turns onto a smaller, unmarked path… one more suited for hiking than driving. The trail is so closely lined by trees and bushes on either side that if someone were to come at us there wouldn’t be enough room for both cars to pass.
But this doesn’t bother me. I’m too enraptured by the gorgeous scenery. Trees arching over us create a lush canopy of sage-colored silk, and bushes ripe with brightly colored flowers grow everywhere. It’s as if we’ve pulled into the entrance to an enchanted kingdom, unspoiled by human hands.
He drives slower now; the truck bounces over bumps and holes in the uneven dirt road. The sunlight peeks shyly through the overhanging trees, casting a muted glow.
When we finally reach the top of the mountain, the road flattens out. We seem to be truly in the middle of nowhere, worlds away from where we started.
“We’re here,” Kieron says. “We have to go the rest of the way on foot. The truck won’t make it.”
We get out. Kieron moves to the back of the pickup and pulls back the protective tarp. Grabbing a large bag in one hand and a cooler in the other, he nods toward the truck’s bed. “Wanna grab those?”
I wander back to see what he’s talking about. Peering in, I see two fishing poles, a net, and a small tackle box.
“What…this?” I ask, incredulous. Are we seriously going fishing?
“Yes, please. All of it.” His smile is so charming he probably could’ve asked me to skydive naked over the Grand Canyon and it would’ve sounded like the best idea ever. I’ve never gone fishing a day in my life, nor has it ever remotely crossed my mind to want to.