A Wild Flower Among Wolves

Eamon and Elma.

The ride seemed quick with Bo occasionally humming to the radio or asking every question she could think of to try and figure out Kieran. He was a good sport and all of his answers seemed to please Bo. He had one hand on the wheel while he held mine in his lap slowly tickling circles into my palm.

I had never been this far into the hills of Lakewood Falls, the trees completely blocked the view on both sides of the truck. We pulled onto an asphalt driveway and a beautiful log cabin came into view.

“Here we are ladies.”

It was starting to get dark outside and I could see the lights on inside the cabin. There was more than one figure moving about inside and it heightened my senses. We parked and Kieran walked slightly ahead of us to the front door. He opened the door and motioned for us to head in first. Bo and I had our arms linked again and gave each other a quick calming glance before stepping over the threshold. I immediately clock a man sitting on the couch across from a brightly lit fire. I could only make out his short curly hair and his massive forearm over the back of the couch was covered in tribal tattoos. Hearing us enter he arises from the couch and turned to greet us.

Not that he was standing his stature was impressive. While he wasn’t quite as big as Kieran he was still impressively tall. His skin was dark and glistened in the fire light. The longer I looked the more I realized his focus was solely on my sister. His smile showed more stunningly white teeth than I had ever seen, his eyes; locked on Bo’s. Suddenly my arm attached to Bo’s was feeling increasingly warm and sweaty. I unlocked our connection and turned to look at Kieran.

“Ladies id like you to meet my best friend Eamon, E this is Clover and her sister Blossom.”

His eyes shifted quickly to mine but he made sure to glance over at Bo any chance he could.

“I’ve heard a lot about you Clover.. I haven’t gotten the pleasure of hearing about your sister though. Blossom is it? .. You’re beautiful.. I mean your name is beautiful.”

Bo started twisting her feet into the ground and twirling her red locks between her fingers. I tried to get her attention but to no avail. Kieran looked back and forth between the pair, smiling the whole time.

“Eamon would you like to show the girls around,” he turned to lock eyes with me, “do you want to start in the garden?”

I nod and walk over to interlace his fingers with mine. Bo and Eamon trailed behind us giggling and deep in conversation. The garden out back was beautiful. The lush green patches of wildflowers were beginning to close for the night and fireflies scattered themselves throughout the foliage. Our walk was short lived before a sweet melodic voice chimed from the back porch.

“Dinners ready!”

Walking back I could make out a petite woman bustling about the kitchen.

“There’s my boys! Tuck in babies I made your favorite, Mama Elma’s famous meatloaf and mashed potatoes.. Eamon make sure you grab some of that salad too.. you need your vegetables.”

She radiated motherly energy. Her skin was a deep chocolate brown that complimented her hazel eyes. Her coal black curls were closely cropped showing off her striking features. She may be petite in size but her stature read strong and she had the personality to match.

“Ladies I’m so happy to meet you both” she embraced Bo and I in a tight hug.

That evening we learned so much about the childhood Kieran spent together with Eamon. Eamon had two other sibling who lived a few towns over but he saw them regularly, they all sounded like one big happy family. I was a little jealous I won’t lie. I loved my sisters more than life but our childhood was less than dreamy. We didn’t have one adult figure we could count on growing up. I envied the picturesque family I never had.

“Did you girls grow up around here?”

Bo perked up quickly to answer her but I could tell she hadn’t thought her answer all the way through,

“Sort of.. we were raised close to here in a small community of free spirited.. umm..” panic flashed in Bo’s eyes as she turned to mine for help.

“Miss Elma our mother brought us up in a commune, my sisters and I pretty much raised each other.”

The smile faded from Elma’s face slowly.

“Where was your mother if you were raising each other?”

Bo and I looked at each other and let out a few breathless laughs.

“Our mother was wherever her heart was at the time .. First our dad then creepy Kenny, stinky Steve, uhh nasty Ned..” Bo was unable to control her laughter at this point recalling all of the dumb nicknames we gave our moms various boyfriends. They were all garbage but it gave us a chance to practice our alliteration.

“Poppy’s dad was one of the better ones he at least stayed long enough to see her birth..”

Now I was laughing too. Our trauma bond was best dealt with using humor. I put my hand over my mouth to stifle my smile.

“Poppy, is that another sister?” Elma asked.

“Yes she my favorite sister by far.” Bo was grinning ear to ear and gave me a huge wink. I rolled my eyes.

“Poppy is our younger sister. She is out at state getting her degree in psychology.. she got all the brains in the family.”

“It sounds like you girls are all quite close.” I could see the start of a tear brimming in Elma’s eye. I reach out and take Bo’s hand,

We instinctively intertwine our pinkies while pulling each other in. We bump hips and release our pinkies into a full palm clasp before ending it all the a finger snap. We burst into laughter and fall into each other’s arms before falling to the floor.

We had barely recovered before I felt the warmth of Kieran above me. He helped me up gently by the hand while Eamon scooped my sister up off the floor in one swift motion.

“Can I offer you kids a drink? I was just about to make some mojitos.”

Elma never waited for an answer and went straight back into work mode. We put back two pitchers within an hour and I was starting to feel pretty good if you know what I mean. I couldn’t keep my hands off Kieran if I tried. Bo and Eamon were about 6 inches apart now but seemed a little closer every time I looked in their direction.

“Would you like to see the rest of the house?” Kieran made the offer loud enough for everyone to hear but I could tell he hoped no one would take it. Bo piped up quickly,

“Actually I could use another drink first.”

Bo shot her eyes to me and I understood immediately.

“Yeah, how about you and Eamon whip us up another drink and Kieran and I will start the tour.. we can meet back up in the garden?”

Bo’s smile proved I read her correctly.

“Perfect! E can you come help me find the ingredients for a margarita?” He smiled and took her hand.

“Of course, let’s go.” They set off towards the kitchen hand in hand.

I turned to look at Kieran whose eyes had darkened just slightly.

“Alone at last, flower.”

I bite my lower lip,

“Where to first?”

Kieran walked over and gently kissed my forehead while taking my hand.

“Follow me.”