Wings of Boden (6 page)

“We’ve got much more on our plate,” Jaydenn
said to Dad. “Actually, we need to discuss something with you. You
wanna play a game, build a team? Well, we have just what you need.
This game has much more at stake, though.” He took a grinning
sip.

Dad’s face tightened with intrigue, a
sharpened serious gaze as if he sensed something. He lifted his
glass, emptied his drink as the ice cubes clicked against his
teeth. He set the glass back to his desk. Then rose, stretched out
his full wingspan—the slightest hint of blue iridescence to his
feathers, the color that showed interest in something—and folded
them back to rest between his shoulders. He paused, nodded. “Well,
what’s say you tell me about this?” A taut grin deepened the
creases on his face, before he tramped around the desk and ambled
across the room, over his shoulder he said, “Let’s discuss this at
the table.”

Jaydenn followed with drink in hand. Vyn gave
a quick squeeze to my shoulder, and released to join them at the
polished conference table on the far side of the room—the strategy
slab, Dad called it. Maps, papers, sports schedules, construction
documents, books and such, stacked and organized as a leader’s base
of operations. All the time growing up, Angie and I knew to avoid
this table, but he’d remind us to stay away from it. The
bookshelves are what drew our childhood interest, particularly the
bottom shelf; the enticing story shelf. In the room that smelled of
paper and dreams, we’d sprawl out on the floor together in our soft
cotton PJ’s, spread a book in front of us, flipping our feet in the
air while we discussed our kid fantasies.

As the males began to talk, jab, snort and
chortle at the table, Angie and I exchanged smiles, the mall on our
minds. Let the boys be boys. We had silk clothes and designer shoes
dancing through our thoughts. Dad interrupted, “Girls, come over
here, please. You need to hear this. The mall can wait.”

What now?

Angie’s grin seemed to say, Just calm down,
Ellie, have some patience.

Blowing out a breath, I pushed from my chair.
Angie got to her feet, laid a hand on my shoulder with a smile.
While she tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear she said, “We’ll
go in a little while, sis. Let’s just see what they want,
okay?”

I tried to smile, didn’t work, more like a
lip twitch that earned a snicker from Angie.

We walked over and stood at the table
opposite Vyn and Jaydenn.

At the head of the wood slab, Dad leaned
palms flat on the surface, eyes down at a map of some sort. “That
should do. We’ll iron out all the details later. I think it’s about
time we did something about this.” He pushed off the table, marched
around behind Vyn and placed his hands on Vyn’s shoulders. A
grimace crinkled Vyn’s face. Dad had never done that before, to
Vyn. The air in the room seemed to go still. Even Bub, on his belly
over by the windowed wall, lifted his head in curiosity.

Vyn tightened straight up, one eye twitching.
He always seemed to do that around Dad for some reason. He aimed
wide eyes on me. Poor Vyn ... The look on his face, though. I
lifted my hand over my mouth to cover a giggle so he wouldn’t feel
so … small. Dad hovered behind and above him. Angie and Jaydenn
exchanged grins; they’d been through this before.

The weight of the moment sent a tickle of
energy through my wings. I felt like I was standing at an altar and
a candle was about to be lit in honor of our past youth. I waited.
Dad took his time, smiling at me, holding onto Vyn’s shoulder as if
he was presenting me with a gift.

My heart fluttered for the future. Emotion
welled up like an underground spring that found the surface and
began to bubble in the sunlight. But I knew that look on Vyn’s
face; nervous pressure. Why can’t everyone just leave him
alone?

“Well, Vyn,” Dad eventually said, “looks like
we have some work to do. I’m proud of you, son. Change the world
you will. I’ll be there with anything you need.” Judging by Vyn’s
slight wince, I could tell Dad squeezed a little tighter on his
shoulder, a clenching confirmation to back up his words.

“I appreciate that, sir, uh, Phil.”

Dad nodded, grinned. “That’s better. Doesn’t
that sound better?”

Vyn’s muscles seemed to relax, as if years of
carrying around tension just fell away into the past. He breathed
out long and smooth with the words, “Yes, it does, much
better.”

“Good.” Dad patted Vyn’s shoulders with a few
quick movements, and walked back to the head of the table. Mission
accomplished, it seemed. My gaze stayed on Vyn as I tucked some
hair behind my ear, my chin down just enough so I could look up at
him under my lashes. Vyn gave me that smile, those
dimples—familiar, yet somehow different.

Dad broke me out of my concentration when he
said, “I think we should do something else. It’s time you two moved
into a place.” He aimed eyes on me. “I was thinking we should go
ahead and construct a home for both of you. It’s time for you two
to settle. Vyn can be near his work. You two are a little young, I
know, but you’ve been together all your lives. I trust you can
handle yourselves maturely.”

My mouth had frozen into a large O. My eyes
had stretched wide. After a moment of dreams whirling around in my
head, my mind got up from the floor and I exhaled the words, “Oh,
Dad, you don’t have to do that for us. We can—”

“Of course you can,” he stopped me. “I know
that. It’s time, though. This is the perfect opportunity for me to
do something special for my girls.”

Angie was looking at Dad as I tried to beam a
message to her, He said girls, sis. She lifted her eyebrows at Dad.
“Girls?”

Dad grinned. “I wouldn’t forget you,
sweetheart. We’ll build you and Jaydenn a worthy home. Your cottage
is too small. Or we could build a larger home for all of you.”

Angie and I raced to him and hugged, one on
each side. We sniffled our thanks as he folded his tree trunks
around us. I angled my head to view Vyn and Jaydenn standing
together. Vyn seemed to be in some sort of shock. He just stood
there. Blank. Distant eyes on the edge of fear, it seemed.

Jaydenn grinned down at Vyn and said, “Looks
like it’s official, we’re brothers now.” He laid a hand on Vyn’s
shoulder, pulling Vyn out of his daze.

“Yeah,” Vyn finally said, slanting a look up
to Jaydenn, “brothers. I like the sound of that.” He balled up his
fist and threw a brother punch into Jaydenn’s brick chest.
“Brother, Jay.” He chuckled, rubbed his now sore hand.

Jaydenn scoffed out a snicker. “Is that all
you got, little one. We’ll have to work on that if you’re gonna
hang with the big boys.”

Looking at those two, I couldn’t help but
smile. Vyn, an only child—a hunter had killed his parents so many
years ago. That could be the source of his family phobia, I hoped.
That’s fixable, pushing him to love me isn’t.

Angie and I released off Dad and I looked up
at him. He seemed so happy, smile lines around his eyes. Angie
floated me a grin. She’d gathered herself like a big sister again.
I tilted my head to Dad’s upper arm and held his hand with both of
mine.

Vyn and Jaydenn chuckled about something.

“Okay,” Dad said, “that’s that. Boys,
whattaya say we get started on some plans. And you girls wanted to
go shopping, right?”

Shopping? Now? … I wiped my eyes and tucked
some hair behind my ear. “No, Dad. I don’t need to go to the mall.
I wanna stay here with you guys.”

Angie did a little nod of agreement. She
pulled a silk hair tie from her bra, where she always kept them.
Then palmed both her hands through her shining brown hair, pulled
it back and tied it into a tail like a pro. Her little diamond stud
earrings sparked with window light as she said, “Well, sis, how
does lunch sound? Let’s go make us all a salad.”

“Now see, that’s our Ang,” said Dad. “You
always know the way.”

That was the best idea I’d ever heard. My
stomach needed attention, and a giant fruit salad sounded like a
gift from Source.

While Angie and I sauntered off, Bub got to
his feet as I said, “C’mon, Bubby, let’s get you a snack.” He
didn’t hesitate, just started running toward the door, feet
slipping on the hardwood and toenails clicking.

Dad voiced out behind us, “Don’t give him any
fruit. I don’t want him fartin around the house. He’s got boar
nuggets in the pantry.”

While Angie, Bub and me crossed the dark
flagstone tiles of the foyer, I glanced to my left and caught a
glimpse of a deer feeding in the front yard. Bub ran over to the
windows by the oak entrance door, gave a halfhearted “woof” at the
deer, then wheeled around and padded back.

We stalled in the foyer, sat together on the
brick bench that encircled the giant bronze statue of a hawk—a long
ago gift from one of Dad’s friends. Standing like a folded-wing
sentinel, the statue faced the front, seeming to gaze out the foyer
windows and up to the distant Crag Mountains. Dad had named this
brick sitting area “the reflection bench,” a place to sit in
silence, a place to ask questions about life, or just vent. Over
the years, this bronze confidant had taken brunt of my worries.

In the shadow of the hawk, I pondered, my
gaze going up to the cathedral ceiling. Thick beams, diagonal wood
slats. A ceiling fan dangled, blades turning slowly. I looked up to
the loft and saw the small desk by the railing where I used to
study. Bub sat on his haunches at our feet.

“Angie, I need to talk to you about something
that’s been bugging me.”

“Yeah. What is it?” She started petting Bub’s
head.

“It’s just, well, it’s about Vyn. I’m
confused. Everyone keeps saying family and stuff like that. Just
assuming things. I’m wondering if we’re together just because we’ve
been friends for so long.” I paused for a sigh. “I’m not sure if he
really wants the family thing. I mean, did you see the look on his
face when Dad mentioned the new house? It was fear, Angie. Fear. To
see that look, it scared the flap outta me. I thought he was going
to run right then. My heart would’ve stopped, Ang, right there in
the den. My heart would’ve stopped.”

Angie kneaded Bub’s floppy ears between her
fingers. “You’re imagining things, Ellie. He loves you so much.
There’s nothing to worry about. Right, Bubby?” She scrunched up his
lips in her hand, shook his head as if he was talking. “Dat’s wite,
Ewie, nuffin to woowy about. See, Bubby agrees with me.”

“Well, why hasn’t he told me then? Every time
I say it, he just gets this nervous look on his face, sometimes he
says,
you too
, and that’s something, I guess. But my heart
just sinks. I won’t stop telling him. I can’t, that’s not who I
am.”

She stopped petting, turned and arched
eyebrows at me. “He’s never told you he loves you? It’s been—
Source. I didn’t know that. It’s been years. Oh, Ellie, you must
feel—”

“I do. It’s so hard to look at him sometimes.
All this love I have in my heart. I just need to know he feels the
same. But, I’m not sure anymore. I know it’s just three little
words, but, it hurts so bad when I tell him, and he just looks at
me.”

She laid a palm on my knee. “He loves you. I
just know it. We all know it. That’s why we just assume. It must be
about his parents. That’s all it could be.”

I dropped a sigh at the floor. “Yeah, you’re
probably right, but—” The dam broke on a burst of breath. “I’m
just, so, scared. I love him, so, much.”

She folded her arms around me. I wilted into
my sister.

Her gentle hands rubbed my back and wings.
“Don’t cry. I promise you, it can’t be what you think. It just
can’t. I know Vyn. He loves you more than anything. He’d die for
you, Ellie. He’ll tell you, I promise.” She paused. “Do you want me
to talk to him?”

Into her chest, I shook my head no, her shirt
soaking up my emotions.

Bub laid his head on my lap….

****

About fifteen minutes later, we walked into
the kitchen to see the result of Dad fending for himself. The
granite counter and stainless sink held a hodgepodge of crusted
dishes, specked and splattered with blueberry. Dad had a tendency
to overindulge. As far back as I could remember, Mom had always
reminded him that there was more to being healthy than sweet: “Eat
your carrots or roots or lettuce, honey,” she’d say something like
that, or whatever happened to be on her mental list at the time. I
tended to side with my dad. Give me a bowl of berries over a carrot
any day. Raspberries had always been my favorite; a bowl of
raspberries with sugarcane sprinkles. Yummy.

Bub sat on the white-tiled floor, looking up
at me while I stood before the pantry with a handful of boar
nuggets. When I reached down, he politely gummed one from my hand,
munched it up, swallowed, and waited for another.

Angie was straightening up the dishes in the
sink when I asked, “Why do animals have to eat other animals?” I
gave Bub another treat.

“I don’t know. That’s just the way it is.”
Plates
clinked
together as she stacked another.

“Have you ever eaten meat?”

“Yeah, I had boar meat once.”

Bub took another treat from my hand. “Eew,
really, what was it like?”

“Kinda like chewing on a dirty shoe.”

“Well, that sounds yummy. Where’d you get
it?”

She grabbed a rag, started wiping down the
counter. “One of Jaydenn’s friends is a boar hunter for a pet food
factory. He brought some over for us. He called them steaks.”

“Did Jaydenn eat them?”

“Yeah, you should’ve seen him. He devoured it
like he was in love. Moaning and groaning. It almost made me
jealous.”

“But, it’s a dead animal, that’s gross.” I
gave Bub the last nugget.

“Yeah, I guess. Males are weird though, so it
doesn’t surprise me.” She walked to the island table at the center
of the kitchen, began wiping it down.