Free Take Me Back by Kelli Maine Page B

She knows it’s probably too late for she and I to be as close as she wants to be, but I’ll try. I’ll talk to her more. I wish I could promise what I might say won’t hurt her, but I can’t.

Chapter Sixteen
    It’s Wednesday. I can’t stand it one more second. I hold my breath and hit the Send button on my phone.
    “Aren’t you supposed to be in Cleveland?” Joan says, answering.
    I’ve stooped to new lows making an alliance with Joan, but my options are limited.
    “I am in Cleveland. Have you been back to the plantation?” I pry the blinds apart and look out my bedroom window to the neighbor’s side yard.
    “I’m standing in the great room right now looking at the plans for the greenhouse.”
    And I’m here looking at dead grass and a rusting chain link fence. “Any more from Ingrid?”
    “Not a peep since you were here.”
    Damn. I guess it’s good. I can’t exactly leave here and go there and explain it to you. I told you I’d clear my head. Still, the thought of her stuck there and wanting to be back at Turtle Tear as much as I do is making me crazy. It only makes our bond stronger.
    “Let me know if you see or hear anything, okay?”
    She laughs. “Okay, Rachael.”
    “Why are you laughing?”
    “Only something supernatural could put us on the same team.”
    “True.” I laugh, but silently. I won’t give her the satisfaction of knowing I thought her comment was funny.
    “Bye, Rachael.” She hangs up, and my only physical connection to Ingrid is gone.
    I drop my phone on my nightstand and collapse on my bed. I’m glad I left my tattered old quilt here. It was passed down through generations of my family and reminds me of the one I found in Ingrid’s trunk. Nothing compares to an old, handmade quilt.
    I wrap myself in it and enjoy the dimness of my room with the sun blocked behind the shades. I stretch and yawn and am just about to go to sleep when I hear a knock at the front door.
    It squeaks open and I hear Mom chattering with whoever it is. I should be polite and go find out and say hello, but I’d rather stay here and pretend I’m asleep.
    A moment later, she shuffles down the hallway and stops outside my door. “Rachael?” She taps softly.
    “Come in.”
    She opens the door, and she’s holding the most enormous vase of roses I’ve ever seen. “I think there are three dozen here,” she says. “At least.”
    I hop up, tangled in the quilt and almost trip, and rush over to take it from her. The scent is amazing. “Wow. They’re beautiful.”
    I sit them on my nightstand, pluck the card off of the stick in the center and open it.
    TT isn’t home without you.
    M.
    “From Merrick, I’m guessing,” Mom says.
    “Yeah.” I smile and blink back tears.
    “It must be love. You’ve only been gone a few days.” She comes in and sniffs the roses. “Your dad used to send me flowers. I loved getting them. It’s so old-fashioned, but always such a nice gesture.”
    I lean in to the bouquet and inhale deeply. “It is nice.” I love the roses, but you could’ve kept them and just sent the card. It means the world to me.
    I make Turtle Tear home to you.
    You make it home to me.
    “I should call and tell him thank you.” I pick up my phone from the nightstand.
    “Tell him hello for me.” Mom shuts the door behind her.
    I dial and it rings once before you answer. “Just the person I was thinking of,” you say.
    “That’s funny. I was just thinking of you.” I catch myself grinning in the mirror over my dresser.
    “What were you thinking?”
    I go with your teasing tone. “I was wondering how to break it to you that some wonderful man sent me a huge bouquet of roses. They’re the most beautiful flowers I’ve ever seen.”
    “Hmm… he must be one lucky man.”
    “I’m pretty sure I’m the lucky one.”
    I love the sound of your laughter. “You’re only saying that because you’ve been away from me for a few days.”
    I lay back on my bed. “No, that’s not why.