Becoming Calder (A Sign of Love Novel)(39)
"So what do we do?" I whispered.
"I don't know there's much we can do. Calder's going to do what he thinks he needs to." He picked absently at the grass next to him for a minute. "Calder, he breaks the rules once in a while, but he'd never do anything he thought would hurt someone else. He’s so damned honorable."
"Yeah, tell me about it," I said.
Xander chuckled. "I should get back. I'm going to bring some holy water to Maya." He pulled himself up and so did I.
"What can I do?"
"Not much, Eden. Just pray for her."
I nodded. "Xander, if I leave some candy for her under the bush on the right side of the main lodge's porch, will you retrieve it and bring it to Maya from me?”
Xander smiled. "Sure."
"Okay, thanks. And thanks for coming down here to let me know about Maya."
"You're welcome."
I thought he'd turn and leave, but he looked up at the clear blue sky for several beats before his eyes met mine and he said, "There's a storm coming, Eden."
I nodded, not looking upward. "Yes," I said simply. He furrowed his brow and nodded, and then he turned and left me standing there, alone.
**********
Calder didn't show up at our spring for the next few days. I left the candy by the front porch diligently, though, and made sure to see if it was gone. It always was. Xander was doing the job I'd asked him to do.
I did see Calder at Temple, but Maya wasn't with his family and even from far away, he looked so drawn and tired. I gave him a discreet smile, and he smiled back, but it looked like he did it with effort. I was screaming inside as I quietly and obediently went about my religious duties.
I wanted desperately to ask someone if Maya was okay, if she was getting better, but who could I go to? Hector wasn't here. What if I just walked myself right over to Calder's small cabin and knocked on the door?
I threw myself backward onto my bed and groaned. Someone, probably one of the council members, would drag me back in about seven seconds, that's what. And then they'd start watching me like a hawk again and I might not be able to meet Calder down at the spring. I couldn't risk it for either of us.
I lay there contemplating what I could do when I suddenly heard the distant sound of an engine on the road. That wasn't too unusual. All the council members had vehicles they used to travel to and from work in the big community. But for some reason, I sat up anyway and went to my window to look out. I strained my eyes to see what kind of car it was drawing closer. It was a black jeep. I kept watching, disbelieving for a few minutes, but as it came nearer, it was unmistakable. Hector had returned. He had been gone for almost six months, and now he was back. Sadness and anxiety suddenly filled me. My access to the spring, to Calder, would now be practically non-existent. All these months, that fear had loomed, and now it was reality.
**********
Mother Hailey rushed into my room, saying, "Hurry, Eden, make yourself presentable. Hector's returned. He'll want to see you right away."
I didn't reply, but moved to put on my lace dress, the one he favored. It was slightly tight on me now, as I hadn't had it altered in six months since he'd been gone. There'd simply been no need. I despised that dress. It was a symbol of everything I hated about my own life.
Still, I pulled it on and then Mother Hailey brushed my hair and put a ribbon around it. I looked like a child.
"Mother Hailey," I murmured as she ran her hands through my hair, "can I still call you Mother?"
She was quiet for a moment before she said gently, "No, Eden. You'll be my mother in a few months now. You must simply call me Hailey."
Tears gathered in my eyes and Hailey turned me toward her and led me to the bed where we both sat down, and she grasped my hands in hers. "Eden, you don't need to be scared. Hector is a very kind husband. And if you're lucky, you'll be pregnant with Hector's child before the great floods come. And picture it now, the two of you leading us all into Elysium, a blessed child in your womb." She smiled warmly, squeezing my hands in hers.
"A child wasn't part of the prophecy," I murmured.
"No, but the gods can't send every detail, I don't imagine. That wouldn't be practical."
I didn't try to imagine how all that might work, but the thought of making a child with Hector filled me with dread. And it made the reality of what I'd be expected to do with him even more vivid. I wasn't sure what "that" was precisely, but I knew it involved things I had no desire whatsoever to do with Hector. He had raised me, for all intents and purposes. I thought of him as my father. I tried to swallow down the bile that rose up in my throat.