Shattered

When I awoke, the memories came flooding to me. All the loud explosions, the dazzling displays of blues, silvers, and greens, and the moments with Austin in the car. Right now, I was laying under my green blanket of my bed. A cool morning breeze swept through the ajar window. My eyelids were heavy with the leftover sleep. The clock over the wall rang out nine thirty. It seemed like I was the only one up because no creaks signaled anyone walking the hallways.

As I rolled over to get out and change, I felt something pull me back down. I let out a small breath of surprise as two long arms pulled me into a warm body. Austin Carlile pulled me back into his embrace. I shivered a little as his warm breath hit the back of my sensitive neck.

That was probably one thing I could never get over.

“Good morning, beautiful Kynder.” He sighed into my shoulder. I grinned out of a pleasant surprise.

“Good morning, sir.” I responded back with a yawn. He kissed the side of my neck, sending all nerves tingling. Since when had he gotten in my bed?

“I trust you slept well?” Austin asked me. I didn’t turn to face him.

“Yes, I did.” For the first time, I responded truthfully. A pair of soft lips lingered on my neck, waiting for a reaction. I froze on the spot until he moved away.

“Good.” Aus responded. Rolling around in his grasp, I stared down at his shirtless chest. How someone so beautiful and flawless could be cursed with a heart that didn’t beat normally, I didn’t know.

My finger ran over the tattoos on his chest, tracing the numbers and letter absent mindedly. I sighed sadly.

“Sir, I’m sorry about your heart problems.” I mumbled softly. He caught my hand and held it close to his heart. I could feel each strong beat.

“Don’t be. I was born with it and I’ve made a good life for myself despite it. I just don’t drink that much and I don’t go out running a lot.” He chuckled. I closed my eyes and leaned into the warmth that radiated from his chest.

“What happens if you get drunk?” I asked him. Austin sighed and touched his forehead to mine. I could feel his long eyelashes flutter against my cool skin.

“If I get drunk too often, it could lead to heart disease and that could be really bad. Even drinking excessively gets my heart beating irregularly, especially on the fall out of being drunk. That can be bad for me as well since my heart already has issues. I went into surgery a while ago to fix most of it, but I don’t want to even risk anything.” He murmured to me. I thought about it sadly. Something little, even one night with way too much in his system, could send his heart into failure. At this moment, I wasn’t worried for my safety of being beaten, but for Austin’s heart.

“Oh. That would be very bad, sir.” I responded thoughtfully. Austin simply stared down into my eyes before rolling back out of the bed. Mentally, I sighed for the loss of contact.

“Yes, but you know what is good for the soul? Pancakes. I think I’ll have to wake Aaron to make some.” Pancakes did sound good. Through last week, I had gotten my appetite back bit by bit. Now I could eat two full meals a day with a few snacks. I counted that as a big accomplishment.

After throwing on a fresh shirt, I followed Austin down the stairs to the kitchen. To our surprise, Aaron was already out and making pancakes. He must’ve read minds!

“Oh good, you’re already up and making pancakes!” Austin smiled happily. Aaron nodded, still in deep focus with the batter pouring.

“You can have some pancakes, Kynder, but then Tino wants to see you in the garden.” Aaron peered up to meet my eyes. A lump formed at the back of my throat. What did he want now? Austin looked down to Aaron, who held up his hand before he could complain.

“He just wants to talk to her, nothing bad so don’t worry.” Aaron explained with an eye roll. Austin took a seat next to me and we scarfed down fluffy cakes of batter. Aaron made the best pancakes!

“Someone’s hungry.” Aaron chuckled. I had already finished two. Alan poked his head around the corner, slyly eyeing us.

“I smelled pancakes.” He wiggled his eyebrows and came around the island, stealing a few off a stack of steaming fresh pancakes. Aaron swatted him away, but Alan had already scored two.

Rinsing my plate, I decided to head over to the garden. It was best to get this out of the way now. I could feel three pairs of eyes watch me as I as I pushed the door out and into the open.

Now was my chance to escape, just run, just run fast and far…

No. I wouldn’t do it. Not to avoid punishment, but I didn’t want to leave because of Austin. He’d shown me so much kindness, and I couldn’t just leave him.

Rounding the corner of the house, my feet treaded on the bare grass path to where Tino sat in the garden. He had a trowel grasped in his right hand and a day lily in his left. He looked up when he saw me.

“Oh, hey Kynder.” He smiled. I returned the favor and knelt next to him.

“Hello, sir. I heard you wanted to talk to me?” I asked him. He handed me a couple of flowers and a trowel. Pointing to a spot around roses, he directed me to plant the flowers in a specific pattern. It brought me back to the memories of working beside my mom.

“So, I kind of took you out so that I could have assistance in the garden. You seem to have an appreciation of flowers that none of the other do.” Tino gave me a small grin. Was he actually being nice?

“Um, I used to work in the gardens with my mom, sir.” I responded. Tino gave a satisfied grunt as I carefully tucked the roots into the holes and covered them back up. The Sunday sun was a blessing upon the leaves of many flowers that lined the garden path.

“Did you learn from your mom, sir?” I asked him. Tino nodded and handed me more flowers to plant.

“She was a master gardener. She always loved to plant around ponds, but we don’t have one around here.” Tino shrugged. I nodded in the silence. I remember about two weeks ago when I told Alan and Tino about what had happened to my parents. It still stung with a painful bite.

“My mom always loved irises and roses. I was more of a rose person than anything else, sir.” I responded after a minute. A single finger pointed to the far edge of the garden.

“I planted some irises back there. They should be blooming, or starting to open up.” Tino pointed out. A little shiver of relief went through me as I realized I still hadn’t been punished. I glanced at the blooming irises and turned back to the roses. They were my favorites of them all. Crystal whites, blood reds, and bright pinks were scattered through the assorted flowers.

“This garden took a few years to complete, but it was well worth all the hours of labor.” The man beside me lovingly explained. It was obvious that the garden was well cared for.

“Well thanks for helping me. I cut back about half the work time.” Tino smiled. I nodded, feeling a little joyous at the thought that Tino wasn’t the cruel man I expected him to be.

“No problem, sir. It was good to be out in the warm sun.” I let out a true smile. Tino got up. I followed him and helped put the tools away. Now for some inside chores to wash away any insecure thoughts.

Notes