He shook his head. “Not really. I never wanted to live in the country, but now that I do, I like it. The school is great, but I wish Robin was still here.” There was a wistfulness in his voice.

“So do I,” I replied, searching his face.

We sat in quiet peacefulness for a bit, draining our hot chocolate, remnants now sitting in stained cups on the coffee table, and drifted off to sleep, both warm under our large fuzzy blanket.

The next morning, I woke up before Archie. I sneaked out from under the warm blanket, grabbed the tray of used mugs and cookie crumbs to deposit them into the sink. Wind howled outside. The trees blew from side to side with its force as it whipped around the branches. I peeked out the kitchen window to a fairytale world covered in icy, white snow. Snow hung on the barn, the trees, and the power lines. Hopefully the power wouldn’t go out today, although we did have a generator for short-term use. I was about to turn away from the window, but I noticed footsteps in the snow going around the perimeter of the house. Not a full footprint impression, due to the strong winds swirling the snow, but footprints, nonetheless.

I hurried over to the back door—more footprints, slowly being dissolved by the wind, around the corner to the door and then out the door around the other side of the house. I grasped the handle and turned. It wasn’t locked. The door had been unlocked all night. Damn it, Archie. He was supposed to check all the doors before we went to bed.

I stomped into the living room, where he was already awake.

“Come look at this,” I said. “You never locked the back door last night. There are footsteps around the house. Someone could be in here.”

“Show me.” He quickly jumped up. “We should have put security cameras in. I knew we should have done that.” He then pulled on boots and grabbed a coat from the laundry room.

“You should have locked the stupid door!”

“Sorry, I’ll check it out,” he said. “Then I’ll check the house. Why don’t you make some coffee?”

I sighed and watched him go out the door. I got the coffee going, and he was back in a few minutes.

“Okay, looks like the footsteps go down the driveway, but no car tracks and not many footprints left either with this wind,” he reported, taking off the boots and coat. “So, it looks like whoever was here did leave, but I’m going to check the house now. Every part.”

And he did. From attic to basement and every nook and cranny in between and found nobody and nothing unusual. Thank goodness.

We drank coffee at the kitchen table as the wind howled outside. Little pieces of ice patted against the windows. Archie took an English muffin out of the toaster. He smeared butter on it and put half on a plate for me. I watched the butter melt into the muffin before I took a bite.

“I’m sorry I didn’t lock the door,” he said. “I’ll feed the chickens. Why don’t you take a shower?”

“Okay,” I agreed. We finished our muffins and mugs of coffee, then went our separate ways.

I was irritated by the presence of the footprints and that he hadn’t locked the door, even though he apologized; but the house was clear, and the doors were locked now. I guessed I needed to check to see if they were locked every night; I couldn’t trust him to do it.

I went upstairs, brushed my teeth, and put the water on in the shower to warm up. I heard Archie come inside for something and then the door slammed shut downstairs as he went to feed the chickens. I walked into our bedroom and opened my underwear drawer. A white box lay atop my underwear. A red ribbon was wrapped around it.

I glanced around the room. I was alone. I opened the ribbon, allowing it to fall to the floor.

I lifted the lid of the box.

A delicate gold heart locket was inside. Almost the same as the necklace Dream got me many years ago.

The necklace I lost in the canyon.

THIRTY-EIGHT2017

The Commune

Dream

It had been a weird week for so many reasons. Sunny had been going off with Raindrop for private chats several times, which was unlike her. They did talk, but I wasn’t sure what all the privacy was about lately. My gut told me it was nothing good. The purchase of the property next door was supposed to be finalized next week. Fire paid cash for it, so that shortened the paperwork and overall settlement time, much to Jim Bob’s delight. I hadn’t toured the house yet, but had walked to the edge of Raindrop’s property and checked it out. It was a one-acre lot with a modern ranch-style home, smaller than Raindrop’s house, with three bedrooms and three bathrooms. A kidney-shaped pool in the backyard with a well-landscaped area around it. A big swing set to the left of the property. I wasn’t sure who would use the swing set, although two family members were pregnant, so it would probably be needed at some point.

After the purchase of the property, Brother Jim sparked with ideas about buying more real estate in the area, particularly anything attaching to the current locations. His vision was a complex built on many acres of land, owned by Listening Lark to facilitate all the family members.

The complex would have a cathedral, a gym, pool, and sauna. There would be a communal eating space and a bunk house for those members without a permanent housing assignment, mostly a place for new members until sleeping arrangements were made.

His plan sounded wonderful and expensive. I was sure he had some future family members lined up with the money to finance all of his dreams. Who knew how far Brother Jim could take Listening Lark? I was happy to be along for the ride.

Venus moved into Raindrop’s house. She shared a room with Harmony, Willow, and Star. She was a yoga instructor and led the morning yoga that week on the outdoor deck. She was a very good instructor and very wonderful to watch in every position. My attraction to her engulfed me.

I struggled to keep my distance from Venus, to view her only as a fellow family member. I didn’t know how long I could continue because my attraction to her grew daily, and I felt myself drawn to her as if by the universe itself. I loved Sunny and promised it was only her and I forever. I needed to keep that promise, to be honorable, but I wasn’t sure if I would, or could, but I knew it was so important to Sunny. The pull I felt toward Venus was electric, just as it was for Sunny. How could I ignore something so powerful? If the universe spoke to me in such a direct way, how could I not answer its call?

Sunny walked out of the house and joined me by the pool. She wore her yellow bikini.

“Where were you?” I asked.

“Talking to Raindrop,” she said in a low voice.

“Again? What’s going on with you two?”

Sunny looked at me, indecision covering her beautiful face.

“Tell me,” I said.

She motioned for me to follow her into the guesthouse and closed the door behind her. She stared at me.

“Raindrop wants to leave Listening Lark.” She paused. “And get away from Brother Jim.”

“What?” I yelled in total surprise. “I hope you’re trying to talk her out of it!”

She shushed me and shook her head. “No, why would I? He’s terrible to her. You should see all the bruises he leaves on her. And she’s in love with River.”

“What the fuck, Sunny,” I said, pacing the floor. “If she leaves, we leave too. She’s not going to want us staying in her guesthouse.”

“I know,” she replied. “But we’ll move back to your grandmother’s house, or maybe the new house.”

Anger surged through me. “I don’t want to do that. I love living here.”

“You should talk to your cousin. He should not be abusing women like that,” she said in a sharp voice.

“I agree, but he won’t listen to me.”

“Maybe we should go to the police,” she suggested, looking at me with questioning eyes.

“No!” I roared, a bit louder than I intended. I grabbed her arm and squeezed hard, intentionally. “No cops!”

“Dream,” she snapped, pulling her arm away. “You’re hurting me.”

“I’m sorry.” I wrapped my arms gently around her. “Please, no cops. We’ll figure this out.”