Page 96 of Power
Chapter nineteen
Reece
Waking,Istretchand reach for Emily. Panic takes over when I find she’s not in the bed. “Emily!” I shout as I jump out of bed and run through the retreat on May’s farm. “Emily!” Barefoot, I run to the sliding door and near take it off the railing as I search for Emily.
“She’s over here,” May calls.
“Hey, Mom.” Emily pokes her head up from where she is.
My heartbeat instantly calms when I see she’s safe. I head back into the retreat and slide my feet into a pair of flip flops. Wrapping my arms around my torso, I walk out to where May and Emily are. “What are you doing out here?”
“I woke up to go to the bathroom, and I heard May. So, I came to help her. Look at the garden, Mom.” Emily eagerly points to the massive vegetable garden. “Over here she has zucchinis, and there’s eggplants over there. Look, she’s even growing potatoes in this tub here. There’s also arugula too.” She snaps a few leaves off a plant and eats it.
“Hang on, you can’t just eat that,” I scold her.
“Yes, I told her she can. Besides, I don’t use pesticides on anything, it’s all natural and organic.” May turns to Emily. “We’ll collect some chicken eggs soon, and I’ll make you both some breakfast.” May leaves Emily to pick some vegetables while she heads over to me. “How are you holding up?”
“Um. I’m not really sure. Do you want to sit and we can collect the eggs?” I ask as I notice her leaning on her cane.
May screws her nose up and stares at me. “No, I don’t need to sit, but when I do, I’ll let you know.”
“Sorry,” I murmur.
“Yeah, so you should be,” she teases in response. “How did you sleep?”
“I slept like a log. I tell you what, I desperately needed it too. Thank you for hosting Emily and myself.”
May shuffles back toward the vegetable garden. She flicks her hand at me. “Pish posh, Reece. No need to thank me.” She looks at Emily. “Emily, leave the zucchini and arugula over there, and let’s get some eggs.”
“Okay.” Emily has a bunch of the arugula she’s picked from the garden, and a decent sized green zucchini in her other hand. She places both on the edge of the verandah and skips to catch up to May. I hang back, and soon they return with Emily holding four eggs and May holding two. “May’s going to make us breakfast.” The smile on Emily’s face is enough to make my heart spark to life.
“Come on in,” May calls over her shoulder toward Emily and me. “Okay, straight through there is the kitchen, and, Emily, down that hallway to the left is the bathroom. You can clean up in there.” Emily places the ingredients down, then rushes off toward the bathroom. “Can you cook, or are you as useless in the kitchen as Hope?”
“I’m not a master chef, but I can throw things together.”
“Good. Get your ass over here, and start preparing.” I walk around the island counter and wash my hands. “I’m tired, so you can make breakfast.” I swing around to look at May. “I wasn’t tired ten minutes ago.”
May brings a smile to my face with her cocky-old-lady ways. “What am I making?”
“Do you know how to make a frittata?”
“Sure. Frypan?” May points toward one of the lower cabinets and I open it to find a neatly arranged cupboard.
“Emily and I had a chat this morning. You explained to her what you do.”
“I had to,” I admit in a small voice. “It’s unfair to keep this from her considering it’s affecting her life. The principal of the school called me to tell me Emily is no longer welcome there.”
“I bet you were paying a pretty penny for that school too.”
“Yeah, I was.”
“Judgmental assholes,” May says without a quiver to her voice. “I can guarantee those dickwads haven’t always been so righteous in their own lives.” She huffs and shakes her head.
“Well, you’re right, the principal certainly hasn’t been. He once tried to pick me up, and wanted me to have fun with him and his friend.” May gasps and I think I may have overstepped my sharing. Perhaps she’s not as advanced in her thinking as I thought she was. I mean, she is a seventy-something-year-old woman. “I’m sorry,” I instantly apologize. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“What? Why not? I’m not a prude by any means.”
“Do you want me to help?” Emily asks when she returns from the bathroom.
