Page 27 of Deserving Lara
Lara peeked up at him shyly, and saw a look of satisfaction on Owl’s face. It seemed that he was just as happy to have her in his lap as she was to be there.
He pulled back and smiled at her.
“Let’s get you downstairs. You can reassure everyone that you’re okay. Then we’ll go home and I’ll take a shower and we’ll find something to watch on TV. That sound okay?”
“Do you think we can get some lunch somewhere along the way? I’m hungry.”
It was such a mundane thing to say, but for some reason it felt momentous. Probably because for the last couple of months, she’d never admitted when she was hungry. She’d eaten, but only when Owl or someone else suggested it was time.
“Yeah, I think we can do that. You want me to ask Robert for something, or have me make grilled cheese sandwiches?”
“With tomatoes and pickles?” she asked with a small smile. Deep down, the blackness and ugliness that was Carter Grant lingered, but she was determined to push that,him, to the recesses of her mind. She’d have to deal with him one day…but that day wasn’t today.
Owl wrinkled his nose. “If you want.”
Lara smiled. He hated pickles, and putting them on a sandwich was completely gross in his opinion. But he’d do it for her.
“I want,” she told him.
“Right, then that’s what you’ll get. Can you stand?”
“Of course.” But when she got to her feet, Lara found she was a little wobbly. Owl’s arm went around her waist a second later, supporting her. He led her to the stairs and insisted on going down first—and backward, holding onto her the entire way.
Lara was a little embarrassed when she first went into Cora’s cabin to say goodbye, but her friends quickly made her feel more at ease.
It wasn’t until later that night, when it was dark outside and she was sitting on the couch under a fluffy blanket, her feet in Owl’s lap, and they were binge-watching a show about the British royal family, that Lara thought more about what had happened that day.
Her best friend was getting married, wanted Lara there, she’d gone five hours without the need to have Owl within sight, she’d agreed to help Cora entertain the kids coming to stay at The Refuge in a couple of weeks, and she felt as if she was getting closer and closer to the other women who lived and worked on the property. And not superficial friendships either. The concern on their faces after Owl had brought her down from the deck had been real.
And it felt good. Really good.
Yes, she’d had a flashback, and it was a bad one. But she couldn’t shake that feeling of anger that had welled up deep down. Even if she’d planned to give up, to let Carter do whatever he was going to do, that small spark of fury gave her hope. It was the same feeling she’d had after finding that piece of metal she’d hidden under the mattress.
She wasn’t there yet, but maybe in the future she’d be able to do more than just freeze when Carter finally made his move. She might not win, might not be able to get away from him or prevent him from hurting her, but just knowing that her psyche might be ready to fight for what she was building here at The Refuge, made her feel like a different person than the Lara Osler who’d naively flown to Arizona with a man she hadn’t even loved.
CHAPTERSIX
“Jab! Jab! Jab! That’s right. Harder. Stop trying to protect him. Hit him like you mean it!” Pipe ordered.
Owl kept his gaze locked on Lara as she punched the pads he wore on his hands.
This was the second self-defense lesson she had attended, and all the women were really into it. He thought they might not take it too seriously, but he’d been wrong. Every single one of them had somber expressions on their faces as they followed Pipe’s directions on how to hit and punch. They didn’t joke around. Didn’t make light of what they were doing. Which made sense considering everything that had happened to some of them.
Lara wasn’t super coordinated, but every time she made contact with one of the pads, he felt it down to his toes.
Minutes later, Pipe was still verbally encouraging the group when, all of a sudden, Lara dropped her arms and stared off into space for a moment.
Then she spun and headed for the door.
Owl didn’t hesitate to follow. He tossed off the pads and reached her just as she was pulling the door open.
“Lara?”
She looked up at him—and her eyes were full of tears.
Immediately concerned, Owl wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. She landed against him with a softoof…but she didn’t freeze up. She did the opposite, in fact. She wrapped her arms around him and lowered her head to bury her face in his shoulder.
“Lara? You okay?” Cora asked. She and Pipe had obviously seen Lara’s almost-exit and had come to see what was wrong.
