Chapter Twenty — Sunflowers

Maria tried her best not to look at anyone on the bus ride to Rosslow. It only took one hour, but it was still nerve-racking. There were so many noises, scents and strangers she wasn’t used to anymore. She craved to be back in the little log house in the middle of the woods with Moose and her Alpha.

Questionable if Joseph would ever take her back though, even if Alma besieged him day in and day out. It had been almost four days now and Maria slowly lost hope.

The rough stop of the Greyhound bus pulled her out of her thoughts. They had arrived in Rosslow. She took a deep breath and grabbed her handbag tightly. If she lost it or had it stolen from her, she truly had nothing left but her life and the clothes on her body. She exited the bus with three other travelers and headed straight for the next bus stop that read the general direction of her former home. Thankfully, it was not a busy day with little to no other people waiting for this exact bus. She stood in front of the ticket machine and chewed on the inside of her cheeks. Should she be safe and invest in a two-way ticket or believe in her mother and sister?

No, better safe than sorry, she told herself. It might be more expensive, but at least, she wouldn’t be stranded so close to Chad if they, for whatever reason, didn’t believe her.

The early sunset colored the sky in all kinds of purples, pinks and oranges. It was beautiful, but even this couldn’t calm her mind. All the what-if’s and worries about what her family would say to her unexpected return circled through her head. Would they be glad? Would they cry tears of joy? Would they believe her? She didn’t have the photos Joseph had taken of the bruises as proof. Right now it would be her word against his… and he was a very convincing liar.

The bus ride to her destination took half an hour. By the time she arrived at the calm and very “atomic” suburb, the sun had set completely, making the late winter air blow cold and harsh.

Her heart beat so fast and hard, Maria was sure it would jump out of her chest any second now. The bus stopped a few houses down from her former home, already close enough to see that there was light coming from the living room. Somebody was home.

She exited the bus and held tighter onto the strap of her handbag. Every step over the mushy snow covering the sidewalk felt heavy. A quick peek into the driveway assured her. Chad’s car wasn’t there. He was indeed not home, which only left her mother and Bethany. Good.

She sucked in a deep breath of the frosty air as she climbed the steps onto the porch and swallowed thickly before lifting her hand to ring the bell. At first, there was nothing, but after a few moments, steps sounded through the door.

Maria’s heart skipped a beat when Bethany stood in front of her. She hadn’t seen her in what felt like forever. A smile spread across her face while Bethany only stared at her with paling cheeks.

“Mom!” she screamed over her shoulder, a hint of panic in her voice, and a moment later their mother joined them. Maria didn’t miss the way the older Omega positioned herself almost protectively in front of her younger daughter. Did she think Maria would harm her? Quite the opposite was the case.

“What are you doing here?” Diane asked sharply, leaning slightly out of the door to make sure nobody saw them.

This was not the welcome she had expected, but was not completely unexpected either. Maria took in another deep breath and stopped when she detected the telling scent of something almost forgotten coming from the inside of the house. She stared at her mother and then Bethany in disbelief.

“You are pregnant.”

Bethany’s cheeks regained some of their color as she blushed. Diane on the other hand only lifted her chin as if to challenge her.

“Yes, she is. Thank God. At least one of you knows how to be a good Omega.”

Her words stung, but still Maria had somehow, deep inside her soul, expected them. What she didn’t expect was the sudden change in her little sister’s behavior.

“I did what you weren’t able to. I am pregnant and I am healthy.” Bethany rested her hand on her small baby bump, and continued with venom in her voice, “Chad loves me, he adores me, because I’m not broken like you.”

She was in absolute shock. True, they had never been close, but Maria would have never thought her sister capable of these things. They were family for God’s sake!

Now, realization suddenly hit Maria. No, they had never truly been a family. Not since they had left their father’s house. When she looked at Joseph and his nephews, she saw family, but not when she gazed into the cold eyes of these serpents in front of her.

Their mother wrapped a protective arm around her younger daughter and shot daggers from her eyes when Maria still didn’t move from the porch. “You are not welcome here anymore. You have brought nothing but shame to this family. I never want to see your miserable face again. You’re a disappointment. I should have never wasted my time with you.”

Diane kissed Bethany on the temple and pushed her back into Maria’s old home.

“Go, you are too precious to catch a cold because of someone like her.”

Bethany gave her sister one last judging once-over before she turned on her heel and left, her blonde bombshell curls bouncing with every step. Maria swallowed against the lump in her throat as she replayed all the moments when Bethany had crawled into her bed after a bad dream or the many times she needed her help with homework. Did that all mean nothing to her? Well, to Maria they did and she couldn’t simply let go of them.

“He abused me,” she said with a quiver in her voice.

“He corrected you. You must have disobeyed him. Alpha always knows best. You never remembered the lessons I taught you. Bethany does. She knows how to please him.”

“Mom, he—”

“Don’t call me that. I am not your mother anymore. You are no daughter of mine.” Diane looked down her nose again and snarled. “Leave before anyone sees you and starts asking questions. It would be better for you if you stayed a missing person case.”

With that, she slammed the door shut and cut all ties that might have still connected them. They were not family… never had been. Still, Maria held onto the hope deep in her heart. She didn’t want Bethany to suffer like she had. She dug out the pen in her handbag and scribbled down Alma’s address with the simple phrase, She will help you, Bethany, before slipping it into the mailbox.

It wasn’t right to pull Alma into this, but since she still didn’t exactly know Joseph’s address, Alma was the only helpful person she could refer her to. She hoped so much that Bethany wouldn’t show the address to Chad. Maria didn’t know what he would do. Maybe, hopefully, after seeing where she lived, he would assume that it had been a mistake, a truce of some sort or simply a number twist.

Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully. It was all she could do right now.

Maria let out a deep sigh and pulled her coat tighter around her shivering body. When she turned to leave, light from the neighboring house caught her attention. The old neighbor stood by the window, squinting at her as if he couldn’t believe his fleeting eyesight. She wanted to greet him and show him that she was all right, but it would only involve more people into this weird game of hiding in plain sight.

She turned her face away and hurried down the snow-muddy street to the bus stop she had arrived at before. A quick check told her that the next bus to the central station would be here soon. Good, that way she would be gone before Chad returned from the gym.

***

Maria stood at the bus station and stared down at the couple of dollars she had left. It would be just enough to buy a ticket back to Metcalf where Alma lived. She had offered it, but still… could she invite herself back into her tiny apartment with already too little space for the people living there?

It was the only way. She had nowhere else to go.

With a heavy sigh, she approached the ticket machine and typed in her destination. When she saw the price, she swallowed thickly. She was one dollar short. Maria looked in every nook and cranny of her purse and coat pockets to find the one dollar that had to be there. There was none. Oh, no. She had bought herself a bottle of water when she had started her journey in Metcalf. It cost two dollars.

Tears burned in her eyes.

How was she supposed to get back now? She couldn’t even call her without a phone or even knowing her number. Maria sank down onto a bench and buried her face in her hands. She was stranded in Rosslow, her face had been all over the news, and the only family she had wanted was gone.

With nobody else at the station, she allowed the tears to stream down her cheeks freely. She had never felt more like crying than she did right now. The man she loved had sent her away, her family hated her, her husband had abused her, she had no money and no way of getting back to the only friend she had.

“There, there,” a deep voice said, startling her. Maria looked up and looked directly into the round face of a huge sunflower. Her favorites since she had been a little girl. She blinked against the veil of tears and moved her eyes higher to the man standing in front of her. Something about him calmed her instantly. She sniffled, sucking in hints of his scent. She knew it. Somehow.

“May I sit down?” he asked, his smile kind and fatherly.

It hit her at that moment. Of course, she knew him. Maria stared at him wide-eyed.

“Daddy?” It was barely a whisper, but still loud enough to reach his ears. Leonard was much grayer than she remembered him and his crow’s feet had turned into full-fledged wrinkles over the years, but it was him. The same comforting scent that had accompanied her through the happiest years of her life.

“Hello, Maria.” A tear glistened in his deep blue eyes; the same as hers. “I wasn’t sure if you would remember me.”

Fresh tears, this time of joy, ran down her cheeks as she bolted up and hugged her father. His warmth and the soothing scent that engulfed her now, calmed her nerves. She couldn’t believe that he was truly here and held her like he never wanted to let go of her again. Seventeen years they had been apart and yet, nothing seemed to have changed.

“Are sunflowers still your favorites?” Leonard asked, sniffing against happy tears himself.

Maria nodded and hugged him even tighter. She didn’t care why he was here or how he had found her. She wasn’t alone anymore. That was the only thing that mattered.

“I missed you,” he whispered into her hair and kissed the top of her head.

“I missed you, too.” Maria slowly let go of him and shivered immediately as his warmth subsided.

“How about we go into a little diner not far from here? You can warm up and we can talk.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” she said with a wide smile and looped her arm around his before they left the grungy bus station for a much nicer place.

***

Maria held onto the steaming mug of hot chocolate in her hand and glanced at the bright yellow petals of the sunflower next to her. Her father was still looking through the paper menu while the waitress did her best to look annoyed by his pickiness.

“I think I’ll take the burger with fries.”

“Good choice, and you, Miss?”

“Waffles, please.”

Leonard smiled. “Still a sweet tooth?”

“Always.”

Once the waitress had left them alone again, the Alpha leaned over the table and extended his hand, knowing how much she craved the physical contact.

They just looked at each other for a few moments, getting reacquainted with the face of the other. It had been such a long time since they had last spoken and yet, it seemed like they had nothing to talk about with still so many questions hanging between them.

“What happened between Mom and you?” Maria finally asked. “She would never speak about it when I asked.”

Leonard dropped his gaze to their hands and cleared his throat. “I don’t want to speak bad about your mother.”

“After today, you can’t destroy my image of her more than she has already done.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He took a deep breath before he began shedding light on the things that happened so many years ago, “I guess, I’ll start at the very beginning. I fell in love with your mother the first time I saw her. We married quickly and I’d almost claimed her right away, but…”

He drifted off into memory for a moment.

“We had you within the first year.” His hand over hers applied a little pressure and gave her a warm smile. “I loved you the second I laid eyes on you. I have to admit though that I would have loved a son as well. I guess that’s the Alpha in me wanting a boy to keep the name alive.”

Maria tried to remember a moment between them when he had made her feel like he would have rather had a son than her. She couldn’t. He had always been wonderful.

“Your mother became… She tried for another baby almost immediately after your birth. She conceived again, but there were complications and for the sake of her health, we decided to have an abortion. She changed after that. Somehow, she started to get much harsher with you. So much that I had a bad feeling leaving you alone with her.”

“Mom has always been the stricter one.”

“I tried to balance it out.” Leonard smiled and looked her in the eyes. “I was so proud of you every day. My office was covered in the drawings you made and I couldn’t wait to see your smile when I brought you sunflowers home.”

Maria involuntarily purred at the loving memories she shared with him. It felt like a completely different life. The low rumble of his returning purr brought back even more fluffy feelings she had almost forgotten about.

“Why did Mom leave you?”

Leonard shrugged. “You have to ask her that. After Bethany was born and she was, again, a girl, Diane wouldn’t even let me hold her at the hospital. She apologized for being “bad” and I was about to get her professional help. I had just found a well-renowned private mental hospital, but when I came home, she had already left. The only thing she left was a letter with strange apologies about her inability to be a good Omega for me and that she would not “insult me with her failures” any longer. I didn’t know where this was coming from or where she had taken you two.”

His voice became thicker as he continued, “I tried to find you for the last seventeen years. Your mother changed her name and stayed out of the spotlight. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw your picture on the news and your mother standing behind your husband pleading for you to be returned back home. I probably put her under too much pressure. I don’t want you to think that it was just her fault. I’m sure, I’m also to blame.”

Maria’s scent changed, remembering the press conference and the effect Chad’s lies had had on her, as well as the teachings of her mother. She didn’t think her father was to blame. Not at all.

“I hope you don’t take this wrong, but after seeing it, I hired a private investigator to find you.”

So that’s why he knew where she was. Maria suddenly remembered the man creeping through the forest right after her heat.

“And he did,” she said just as the waitress returned with their orders.

“Yes,” Leonard replied and smiled broadly before digging into his burger. “I’m excited to know who the man in the woods is. He’s obviously not your husband.”

“No, he isn’t.” Maria shifted in her seat uncomfortably. She wanted her father to know why she ran away from her former life, but she also didn’t want him to feel guilty for not finding her quicker. “He… I love him.”

“You weren’t kidnapped, I gather?”

“No, I wasn’t. I ran away and I would rather not talk about the reason why.” She didn’t look up from her waffles as she cut them in little pieces.

Leonard purred again with a comforting smile. “If you need my help, no matter what, I am always here for you.”

People said it’s always darkest before the dawn and for the last few years, Maria always thought it was simply words with no meaning behind it. Now, she believed them. Her dad was her dawn.