Lost Wanderer Awakened - Book One of the Airendell Chronicles (25 page)

“Of course, I will just follow your lead. How
many girls are staying here now?” he asks.

“We have a full house: six girls. Ages 15 to
21. There’s Monica, you know her, right? She works with Mike at The
Shack. She’s 21, but she has been on the street since she was 12.
She is very tough little lady, but really very, very sweet. She is
taking classes at Murray State in Tishomingo. She wants to be an
occupational therapy assistant.

“Then there is Amanda, she is 19. She was
first girl I met, really she’s the reason I started the house. She
has kind of become a mother-hen to the other girls. I really don’t
know her story. She won’t share and I won’t push.”

“Jan is the youngest at 15, she ran away from
a very abusive home, her father molested her and beat her. She is
very, very frightened of men. She should be in school today, but
for future reference… I am sure you know this already, but don’t
make any sudden moves around her, okay?” Luca nods.

“Josie, also 20, is a bit of hard case, but I
hope she will come around, eventually. I just don’t know how to
reach her. All the girls are supposed to either go to school or
work. Josie refuses to do either. I may have to make her move out
if she doesn’t get with the program soon.” Luca pats her hand; he
understands that considering this step is very hard for Morna, she
doesn’t like to give up on people.

“And Samantha is 16. She is a special case.
She’s been in and out of mental facilities. Luca, I think she might
have the second sight. But I am not sure. Perhaps you could help me
solve that riddle. But she will pose a bit of a quandary for you,
as a man. She is, well she acts a tad promiscuous. I think she sees
flirting, sex and such as some sort of power play. So be on your
guard, okay?”

“Wow, you have your hands full here don’t
you?” He asks.

“Not me. I just handle funding, inspections,
certifications, staffing and the legal side of things. The staff
here does the hard part, the day to day operations of this place.
They are amazing ladies. They work 12 hour shifts. By the way, just
so you know, I too am on call. If one of the ladies can’t work and
the others can’t fill in, I do. It usually only happens a couple of
times a month, but when it does happen, I have to drop everything
and go. I really need to hire another lady, these three work way
too hard, I worry about them becoming burned out, but I haven’t had
much luck finding another woman suited to this type of operation,
willing to work for what I can afford to pay.

“So darling, are you ready to meet my girls?”
she asks quietly.

“Can‘t wait!” he says calmly. “Lead the way,
oh fearless leader.” He grins lopsidedly at Morna, and drops a kiss
on her forehead as he helps her out of the car.

“NUT,” she hisses at him, but grins widely.
“Let’s go. I haven’t been over here since Wednesday of last week.
They probably think that I have deserted them.”

“Well, let me warn you, it sounds like there
is a minor war is going on right now,” he whispers into her ear as
they proceed up the walkway.

“Nothing new, darling,” she sighs. “Nothing
new.”

Morna uses her key to let them in. The scene
that greets them is total mayhem. Monica and Amanda are squared
off, shouting at each other. Ms. Johns is trying to separate the
girls before the situation becomes physical. Two other girls are in
the room also. Samantha is shouting and adding to the general
confusion, but Mac is standing alone. She’s standing behind one of
the living room chairs, covering her ears, and rocking at the
waist.

Morna watches the scene for a few seconds,
and then calmly, but very firmly says, “Ladies! We have a
guest.”

All eyes, except for Mac, turn to Morna and
Luca. Ms. Johns is obviously very relieved to see Morna. Samantha
is eyeing Luca appreciatively. The other two girls simply look
annoyed that the free-for-all has been halted so abruptly. And Mac
continues to cover her ears and rock at the waist.

“Monica, Amanda, please join Ms. Johns in the
den to settle whatever dispute you seem to be embroiled in.
Samantha,” who is only wearing a small tee shirt and panties,
“please go finish dressing, and then come explain to me why you are
not in school right now.”

All the home’s residents leave the room
except for Mac. Morna wanders over in her general direction. “Hello
Mac. It’s nice to see you dear. Can you come meet Mr. Michaels?
He’s a friend of mine.” Mac shakes her head no, then slowly works
her way out from behind the chair. She comes to stand in front of
Morna, but doesn’t look directly at Morna. Rather she seems to be
studying something on the wall behind her. “Hello Mrs. Montfort. So
nice to see you today.”

Morna smiles. “Yes Mac, it is very nice to
see you today also. Would you like to meet Mr. Michaels?”

“Yes,” she answers in a small voice. Her
rocking at the waist picks up intensity and she covers her ears
again, but follows Morna across the room to stand near Luca.

“Mr. Michaels, I would like for you to meet
one of my friends. This is Mac,” Morna begins the
introductions.

Mac still doesn’t look directly at Luca, but
she says, “Hello Mr. Michaels. So nice to meet you today,” Mac
recites the words mechanically, a learned script of acceptable
social interaction.

“It is nice to meet you as well,” replies
Luca in his very smooth, calming voice.

Mac’s head snaps up and she looks directly
into Luca’s eyes. Morna is taken aback, then smiles happily.

Mac whispers, “It is really is nice to meet
you, Shining Man.”

Luca says, “It is really nice to meet you
too.” Luca is very thoughtful at her response to him.

By the time Monica and Amanda come out of the
kitchen with Ms. Johns they are acting like best friends again. And
Samantha has returned. She’s watching everyone belligerently and
looks like she is spoiling for a fight.

“Sammy, why aren’t you in school today?” asks
Morna. Samantha ducks her head at Morna’s question and looks
embarrassed.

Ms. Johns looks pointedly at Luca. “I’ll step
out. I need to call the airline anyway,” he says. Morna smiles
thankfully at him. Once he has stepped out, Morna turns her
attention back to Samantha. “Sammy, can you please join Ms. Johns
and me in the den?” Once they are settled in the den turned office,
Morna turns to Samantha and says, “Spill.”

Samantha refuses to meet her eyes. “I got
suspended. I was giving Ray a blow job in the gym when the
assistant principal caught us.”

“I see. And how long is the suspension for
this time?” Morna asks.

“Fifteen days,” supplies Ms. Johns when
Samantha remains silent. “I am sorry Morna, I left a message on
your machine at home when the school called yesterday.”

“Not your fault Robbie, I haven’t been home
since Monday morning and my cell is acting funny again. I will call
Janice to see if she can come do tutoring for the next three
weeks.” Morna pulls out her phone and finds the number on the
contact list and hits send. “Janice. Hi, this is M… Deidra
Montfort. How are you today?” She’s silent, then says, “I have
three weeks’ worth of tutoring for you if can take it on.” She
listens again. “Great, how about starting Monday. 4:00 to 6:00,
Monday through Friday? Yes, your usual rate will be great. I will
leave a check in the office each Friday. Okay? “Yes, it’s for
Samantha. Tenth grade. She will have her assignments and books from
school, I just need you to help her stay caught up. Thanks again,
you are a Godsend.”

Morna turns to face Samantha, who has been
watching her belligerently during the phone call. “Okay, young
lady. Your classes are taken care of. What can we do about work?
You know the rules, if you get kicked out of school, you have to
work. The homeless shelter is out, I am afraid you might exercise
poor judgment with some of the men there. Any ideas?”

“Yeah, I got an idea. Why don’t you kiss my
ass?” Samantha sneers.

“That’s not something I can see myself doing.
Besides, how would that solve our little problem?” asks Morna
calmly.

Samantha laughs. Then becomes contrite. “I’m
sorry Mrs. Montfort. I don’t know why I said that to you.”

“Sammy, as bad as that was, I am more worried
about why you got yourself suspended. Why would you demean yourself
that way?” Morna asks softly.

“Shit! I don’t know why I do that stuff. I
just do, okay?” snaps Samantha.

Morna watches Samantha thoughtfully for a few
moments and then says, “If I can find another therapist, will you
work with someone? I don’t want you to keep hurting yourself this
way. Other people will not consistently start treating you with
respect until you learn to respect and love yourself. You know
that, right?”

“Sure, whatever Mrs. Montfort. I’ll try if
you think I should.” Sammy says begrudgingly.

Morna looks at Sammy with an appraising eye.
She‘s not very tall, about 5‘6” or so. She‘s slender but has large
breasts and lovely rounded hips. Her long hair is a lovely chestnut
color with deep red highlights. Her eyes are bright blue and
intelligent looking. She‘s a very pretty girl. “I do, Sammy, I
really do.” Says Morna softly, then she hugs Samantha to her. She
kisses the top of the young girl’s head and says, “You will also do
all the dishes and laundry around here until you return to school.
Okay ladies, come meet my friend.”

Ms. Johns and Samantha follow her back out to
the living room. Luca is waiting, chatting quietly with the other
girls. Mac is standing directly in front of him, staring at him
raptly. “Luca, I would like for you to meet one of my right hand
ladies, this is Robbie Johns. Robbie this is Lucian Michaels. Luca
nods politely to Ms. Johns. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Johns,” he says.
“You as well,” comes Robbie’s reply.

“And this is Samantha. She is on a bit of a
forced vacation from school right now,” says Morna.

“Nice to meet you,” says Luca.

“Sure,” mutters Sammy, then leaves the
room.

“Ms. Johns, where is Josie this morning?”
asks Morna.

“I am not sure Mrs. Montfort, she slipped out
after breakfast. She was mad because it was her turn to do the
dishes,” supplies Ms. Johns.

“Okay, I will deal with that later. We better
get Amanda to her appointment. Girls, I love ya, stay out of
trouble. Be back in a bit,” Morna says as she herds Amanda out the
door. “Ms. Johns, I will take care of dinner tonight? Okay?”

“Deidra, that would be a Godsend!” gushes Ms.
Johns.

She looks back at Luca, and is amazed that
Mac is holding him back. She is holding his hand and gazing into
his face. Luca is smiling back. He leans down to get on eye level
with Mac and says gently, “Mac, I am going with Mrs. Montfort and
Amanda, but I could come back later if you would like that.” Mac
suddenly throws her arms around Luca and hugs him fiercely, then
she abruptly runs out of the room. Ms. Johns tells Morna that she
will look after her.

When the three of them are settled into
Morna’s Camry, Amanda can no longer contain herself. “Deidra, did
you see that? WOW! Mac hugged him!”

“Yes, that was really something wasn’t it?”
says Morna thoughtfully. “I guess I was worried about nothing Luca.
She really took to you.”

“She’s a beautiful soul, Morna,” is his only
reply. He too, seems to have been deeply touched by Mac‘s reaction
to him.

The three of them go along in companionable
silence for a several minutes when Amanda breaks the silence by
blurting out, “So you two finally hooked up?” Morna blushes and
Luca chuckles quietly as he turns into the parking lot of the
dental office.

Once Morna helps Amanda with the paperwork
and pays for the visit, they settle into the waiting room in chairs
on either side of Luca. Luca reaches over to takes Morna hand.
Amanda spots the move and giggles, then she says, “I knew it! Mrs.
Montfort, you deserve a nice man like Mr. Michaels.”

When Amanda is called back for her exam and
treatment, Morna stands up to go with her. “No way,” says Amanda.
“Stay here and hang with your man.”

“Fine Amanda, I will be waiting here if you
need anything,” says Morna.

Morna returns to her chair, and Luca takes
her hand again. “Well, what did you think of my girls? Jan was in
school. But I hope everyone will be there when we get back. I just
can’t get over how Mac reacted to you. That was amazing. What did
she call you, ‘Shining Man wasn‘t it?”

“Morna, I have a strange feeling that she
knows what I am.”

“Really?” Whispers Morna. “Why do you think
that?”

“I don’t know, I just have a feeling,” he
replies thoughtfully. “When you were busy with Samantha she asked
me how I could go out in the sunlight. She must have met someone
like me before.”

Morna is quiet for several minutes as she
traces the lines of Luca’s perfect, pale, cold hand. “She didn’t
even react to the feel of your hand.” Morna is quiet for a few
minutes then whispers, “Too bad Natalie had such a hard time. I
always felt guilty that I became so agitated when you touched me. I
always knew it was okay, I even knew that I loved you and you loved
me, but your touch would just make me… vibrate all over. It was
inexpressibly overwhelming. I was always so torn, I wanted to be a
woman with you, but I just couldn‘t do it.”

Luca‘s gaze softens and he begins to say
something but seems to think better of it and closes his mouth.
After a moment he says; “Yes, Natalie was a very hard incarnation
for you,” he agrees. He picks up her hand and kisses it gently. “Me
too, if I am being honest. I often felt more like your father than
your husband.”

Morna strokes his cheek gently and mouths,
“Sorry.” The couple remain silent, holding hands and lost in their
own thoughts until Amanda returns. After the dental visit; they
drop her off at the house. Luca says, “Where do you want to eat
lunch?”