Moon Phased: The Triple Claim novel Chapter 14

Chapter11-2

“Oh dear, you must be Rosemary’s granddaughter. I should have known at first glance, but these eyes of mine aren’t as good as they used to be.” She said as she opened the door for me, but I hesitated, stepping inside her house, as I was dripping wet from the rain, while I continued to shiver

The woman’s lips drew a straight line, seeing my hesitation, before she said, “A little wetness isn’t going to hurt these old floors. Come inside before you catch a cold. I can see you shivering child.”

Wiping my feet on the welcome mat, I stepped inside the house, as the woman said to me, “Wait here.”

Before she disappeared down a hallway.

As I stood there, not daring to move off the rug, my eyes began to wonder, looking at her vintage décor mixed with a touch of modern day, and it reminded me of a home that was featured in a country home magazine. If I was being honest, this was the kind of home I expected when I moved here, but I guess my

mother wasn’t lying when she said she didn’t have much growing up.

The woman reappeared, carrying a towel and a black tee shirt in her hands, as she says to me, Take your

shoes off, and follow me.”

I did as she asked, taking my shoes off, making sure that they remained neatly on the entry rug, before I followed her down another hallway that led to a bathroom. Handing me the towel and shirt, she said to

me, “I pulled a nice warm towel out of the dryer for you, and I thought you might be warmer putting on a

dry tee shirt. I know it isn’t much, but it’s better than the wet clothes you have on.”

I thanked her for her kindness, as she closed the door, allowing me privacy, before I quickly made haste drying off, and removing my dripping wet cover–up that was clinging to my body. Once I was as dried off as I was going to get, I pulled the dry tee shirt over my head, and a familiar scent tickled my nose, making

me think of where I smelled it before, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

Looking in the mirror, I looked like a drenched rat, wishing that I had a brush to comb this mane of mine. but unfortunately, I didn’t. So instead, I pulled my hair up into a messy bun, with the hair tie I had around my wrist. Placing the towel she had given me in the hamper, I rang out my cover–up, before rolding it up.

୮ and headed out of the bathroom back towards the front door.

Now that I wasn’t a dripping mess, and I was no longer shivering, I followed the sound of the radio towards the kitchen, to find the kind woman, hoping I could now use her phone. But as I entered the kitchen, the elderly woman was already on the phone, and by the conversation she was having, she had already called my grandmother, as I heard her say, “I will have someone bring her home after dinner. It’s no problem, Rosemary” Before she hung the phone up, turning to me, as she says, “I assume you like pot

roast.”

Shaking my head, I tell her, “Yes, but I don’t mean to intrude on your dinner.”

“Nonsense. You will stay for dinner. It’s been a while since another female has been in this house, and it will be nice to have some help to prepare dinner. Do you know how to peel potatoes?” She now asks me,

Chapter 12-

Claim

as she plops a bag of potatoes on the island, before adding, “These old hands of mine just don’t work like they used to, and besides your mother used to cut them for me when she was around your age.”

A

“Wait, you knew my mother well?”

The elderly woman handed me a potato peeler, motioning for me to start peeling, before she said to me, Your mother used to come over every Sunday to help me prepare dinner for the boys on the ranch. Back then, this place was booming when my mate was alive and running it.”

She looked off in the distance for a second as if she was remembering back to those days, like she was

lost in her memories, while a faint smile forms on her face. Finally, she says to me, “My Edgar had high

hopes for this ranch, and my boys worked so hard to help their father make his dreams come true. The ranch was an amazing place back then, bringing prosperity to our lands, and my family couldn’t have been happier, but then my poor Edgar passed away, forcing my youngest boy to have to make sacrifices.”

The smile on her face fell as she turned to look at me, tears now in her eyes, as her memories of her loss

brought sadness to them. But then her hand reaches out to my face, and she gently caresses the side of

my cheek, before she says to me, “But you can never change what fate has in store for you, as it always

seems to find its way back here.”

I wondered what she meant by fate always finding its way back here, but it didn’t take long to figure out

what she meant, when the sound of the screen door shutting drew my attention to look down the hallway

towards it. My heart instantly began to race in my chest, as he began to walk down the hallway towards

me, while I realized whose fate she was referring to, but little did she know I had already nipped it in the

ass from happening.

Out of all the houses I could have walked to, what were the chances of me picking his house in the middle

of nowhere to seek shelter?

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