Darkly Devoted (Book 1, 2, 3)

LOMD Chapter 2 - You Can't Go Home Again

Chapter 2

WHEN THEY got to the road, Vivienne was surprised to see a car immediately pull over. There was a man with greasy hair, wearing a black suit, in the driver's seat.

"Lost?" He asked as he lifted his eyebrows at Blake. This driver was definitely not the type of man Vivienne would get into a car with during the wee hours of the morning, but Blake wasn't deterred.

"We're heading to the nearest train station," Blake said. "Will you take us there?"

The man nodded and motioned for them to enter the back seat. Vivienne noticed, as she opened the car door, that the driver had shoved some folders into the glove compartment. She noticed a hawk logo on one of the folders. Blake cleared his throat as he noticed her prying eyes.

"Will this cover it?" Blake asked as he took three wet bills out of his wallet and handed them to the driver. Vivienne rolled her eyes as she saw the handful of one-hundred-dollar bills. Yes, Blake Thorne was rich, so rich that he had absolutely no concept of how much anything cost. For that amount, the driver could take them two states over, never mind to the nearest town. The driver shook his head.

"No, of course, that's not necessary."

"No, I insist," Blake said. The driver seemed to swallow hard and reluctantly shoved the soaking wet bills into his jacket pocket.

"Train station?" Vivienne asked as he settled down beside her. At least with the black leather interior, there wasn't going to be any concern of Blake bleeding onto the car seats. Judging by how nervous the driver was, she didn't think the man would have any complaints. "Have you taken public transportation ever, Blake?"

"What an unfair question, Vivienne," Blake said as he pretended to be hurt. "Are you insinuating I'm some type of snob?"

Vivienne rolled her eyes. "Where is my family living again? Remin? That's a tiny town, isn't it? I don't even know if the trains run there."

"I can take you to Remin if you would like," the driver offered. "I'm actually on my way there, so it's not out of my way at all."

"See," Blake said with a smile. "Things have a way of working themselves out."

Vivienne sighed and nodded. She had to admit, this was better than bringing a man who was covered in blood onto a crowded train.

~*~

The sun was starting to peer over the horizon, turning the sky cotton-candy pink as the car pulled up the street to her parents' house. Vivienne noticed Blake didn't give the driver an address. The driver simply knew where to take them. Vivienne waited and waited for the driver to ask where exactly in Remin they were going.

He didn't ask. It was about 7 a.m. when the car pulled up in front of a modest suburban house with a clean lawn and a white picket fence. No. This could not possibly be her house.

Back in Lewisville, Vivienne's house faced a highway. There were overgrown shrubs all over the dilapidated front lawn. Her father never noticed any of it, and her mother was too resigned to complain. Vivienne knew her defensiveness about having Blake escort her home was partly because she was utterly embarrassed by the state of her house.

But that was her house back in Lewisville.

This house, here in Remin, was so utterly clean that it couldn't be her house. Who mowed the lawn? Who repaired the shutters? The steps weren't a tripping hazard, and there was even a car parked out front. A brand new car.

"This isn't my house," Vivienne blurted out before the driver could come to a complete stop. "There's been a mistake."

Blake, who was still nursing his chest wounds, coughed and shook his head.

"There's no mistake. Look."

Vivienne looked out the car window and, to her absolute surprise, saw Janun appear at the front door. Her father was heading out, briefcase in hand. His back was still hunched, and his sweater showed holes at the elbows, but he was beaming.

"Hey, Dad!" Janun called out from the front door. She was wearing a brand-new coat. It flared out at the hem as she walked. It was perfectly fitted and soft pink, her favorite color. She could never afford a coat like that in the past because it would get dirty on the bus. "Can you pick me up from gymnastics today?"

Vivienne sat back in the car seat and hoped her father wouldn't see her. He waved and nodded to Janun before he jumped into his brand-new car. He barely noticed the garbage can at the edge of the driveway before he sped off to work.

"You did this," Vivienne whispered after her father's car disappeared from view. "The new job my father mentioned on the phone. That wasn't an accident, was it? It was all you."

"I suspected there was another reason you stubbornly remained with those Pearl Tower witches," Blake said, hoarsely. "You are free to go home."

"No!" Vivienne snapped. "If I wanted your help, I would have asked."

"You don't need to ask."

Vivienne glared back at him. Tears were starting to fill her eyes. She would have been ashamed for him to see the state of her house, but now she was even more embarrassed that he had fixed it all for her before she even came home. "I don't want your charity."

"It isn't charity," Blake insisted as though her reaction completely baffled him. "This was nothing to me." As soon as those words left his lips, he seemed to regret them.

"I don't want to owe you," Vivienne hissed.

"You don't owe me," Blake replied, laughing, as though he could not imagine a more ridiculous sentiment. "There's nothing I want in return."

Vivienne noticed Blake shoot the driver a hard look. Immediately, the driver fumbled around for a box of tissues, which he shoved in front of her. Vivienne blew her nose on the tissue and balled it up in her fist. Blake reached out and placed his hand over hers. Then he removed his hand and touched her shoulder. He didn't know what to do with himself. He seemed at a loss for how to comfort her. Clearly, he didn't expect her to make a scene.

What did he expect? Gratitude? A big hug and possibly a kiss?

"I can't accept this," Vivienne whispered between sobs. "Take it back."

"How?" Blake laughed again, nervously this time. "Your parents already moved out of their house in Lewisville. Should I force myself in there, at this hour of the morning, and throw them out onto the street? Look at me, do I look like I'm dressed to meet your family?"

Vivienne placed her hand on the car door. Then she sighed and took her hand off the button to exit.

"I can't."

"You can."

"No," Vivienne replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "I won't."

"Then what will you do?" Blake asked, jokingly. "Should I drop you off at the nearest hotel? At a train station? Where do you want to go?"

Vivienne didn't reply. Finally, the car started moving again, and they drove away from Remin.

"Where are we going?" Vivienne asked as the car picked up speed and merged into the main street.

"A house I own in Remin," Blake replied absently, staring out into the passing trees. "I can't describe it further because it is the first time I've laid eyes on it, too."