No Longer Strangers by Rachel Ann Nunes

Author:Rachel Ann Nunes [Nunes, Rachel Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Deseret Book Company
Published: 2005-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Cory awoke early Wednesday morning, feeling as though she hadn’t slept in a week. Not only did she miss the buzzing and cries of the insects and animals in the rain forest, she’d been disturbed by strange dreams that now eluded her grasp. She stretched in the twin bed the owners of the house had kindly lent her. The quilt they’d also left was on the floor in a heap, since she’d been hot during the night.

Utah’s heat was nothing like the Amazon’s, but the lack of moisture in the air made her skin and hair feel dry. At this rate, she’d have to buy special lotions to keep her skin from shriveling and her hair from frizzing.

Light filtered through the curtained window, making the room cheery despite its relative emptiness. She forced herself to her feet and opened the window, enjoying the cool breeze from outside. The morning sky was cloudy, but she suspected the clouds would burn off before afternoon.

Dragging herself across the carpet, her foot hit the edge of the book Tyler had given her. That’s probably why I had such a lousy night, she told herself. She’d read for some time in bed and the last thing she remembered was a war where the soldiers all strangely looked like Mitch. Or was that from her dream?

In the kitchen, Cory started to make herself a cup of coffee before she realized that she’d forgotten to buy any. She wondered how the Mormons woke up in the mornings. AshDee had been a big coffee drinker before her baptism, and getting her out of bed in her teenage years had been a challenge. Cory wished she could ask how she’d felt about giving up the coffee.

Grief hit her then, completely and totally, taking her by such surprise that she sank down onto the patterned ceramic tile, holding her gut and trying not to scream aloud. AshDee! Why? Why did you leave me? Oh, AshDee!

Refusing to cry, Cory wrapped her arms around herself and gritted her teeth. She tried thinking about EmJay or even Mitch, but the emotions in her heart only intensified. AshDee, I need you! The oak cupboards and empty white walls seemed to press down on her until she felt she would smother.

Dear God in Heaven, she prayed—not because she believed, she told herself, but because the words from her childhood might bring comfort.

At that moment, her eyes spotted a discoloration on the wall where a picture had once hung. Focusing on this, she forced herself to breathe through the ever-increasing flow of grief. That spot saved her. She stared at it until the emotions receded, like the tide on a gritty shore.

At last she could stand. Forgetting her growling stomach, she stumbled to the shower to wash off the sheen of sweat clinging to her brow. She emerged feeling better but not ready for battle. Her plan had been to go to Mitch’s this morning and begin to work on him, kicking her charm into high gear.

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