Free Harvest, Quietus #1 by Shauna King Page A

everywhere and she looked so sweet and
innocent. Although he wasn't so sure she was so innocent.
    At sixteen, Evelyn was at the age
where she thought she knew everything and wanted to be all grown
up, period. When he'd met her at the airport the night before, he'd
been shocked at her appearance. Far too much makeup, heavy perfume,
and very provocatively dressed.
    He couldn't imagine she'd left home
like that. She wouldn't have dared and he knew mom wouldn't have
allowed it. And to cap it off, to test him further, she'd whipped a
cigarette out of her purse and lit up on the way back to the car.
James had just quit smoking himself. He knew all about the
addictive nature of it. That and drink and other things. He didn't
want her to get hooked on the little cancer sticks. He'd been
really angry with her at that point, and they'd had words. A lot of
words. But they'd smoothed it over since. He'd always got on so
well with her before, and he wanted that to continue, through this
stage she was going through. He wanted to be there for her to guide
her away from some of the things things he'd done, and deeply
regretted. He thought she actually might listen to him. They had a
special relationship, one which began when he first held her in his
arms when she was a tiny, premature little baby, and he was eleven
years old. Her tiny eyes had opened and she stared at him and he
stared back in wonder. Her effect on him had been profound. How
tiny, helpless and dependent on others. He fell in love with her
instantly. And when she'd hovered on the brink of death... her
lungs failing... the whole experience had opened his eyes to the
meaning of life. He'd never felt so scared.
    Love.
    How precious it was. Up till recently,
it had scared him. He'd not dared to let himself love, because he
feared the pain of losing it. But he was starting to reconsider
that.
    Seriously.
    He was lonely. And he had to admit to
feeling broody. He wanted to be a father. One by one all his
friends and colleagues were settling down, getting married, having
kids... and to his surprise he'd been getting more and more
envious. He actually wanted some of that.
    He placed the plate and mug on the
bedside bookcase and then opened the blind slats a little, peering
through them. It wasn't light yet, and the sky was a mass of
pre-dawn streaks. James was used to getting up early, as he had to
be on the desk at 07.30 a.m, for work.
    He touched her on the arm.“Up you get,
kiddo. It's time to go,” he said cheerfully.
    She raised her head and gave him a
dirty look. She wasn't bright and chirpy like he was first thing in
the morning. In fact, she was a rattler, ready to
strike.
    “ Oh for God's sake...” she snapped, well in character, and
making him smile, “It's still dark. Why do we have to get up so
frickin' early?”
    “ For a number of reasons.” Which he wasn't going to explain
while she was so grouchy and not really listening. “C'mon, move
yourself, grumpy. Don't go back to sleep.”
    He chuckled as he slapped her lightly
in the region of her backside.
    “ Go away, Jammy boy ,” she said testily, and covered her
head with her pillow.
    In his younger years, her pet name for him used to grate on
his nerves... it was not cool, and he was a cool guy. But now he
had matured, and he just smiled, finding it sweet and amusing.
“Your breakfast is sitting next to you, getting cold. And we're
leaving in half an hour. Move your ass, Evie girl .”
    He returned to the kitchen to drink
his coffee by the window, and gazed outside blindly, his mind
wandering. He'd originally had misgivings about his sister's visit,
as she'd definitely cramp his style, but now, he was more than
pleased she was here for the next seven days. She'd given him a
great opportunity to break his unhealthy bad habits, to remove
himself from that world and think, seriously, about his life
plan.
    He needed this break. His lifestyle
had caught up with him. He shouldn't be feeling so tired and jaded
at twenty