Chapter 260 Chapter 260
Leah frowned at her image on the phone, “I hope I’m doing this right.” She glanced at the little counter at the bottom of the screen, “it says I’m recording.” She blinked and smiled at herself, “I love writing, you know that, but this is exciting, isn’t it? Seeing each other? You are so pretty, Evanna and nothing like I pictured you. I’ve heard you in my head for so long, but to hear you is,” she frowned, “it’s strange? Considering we share the same body and features? I don’t know, but it’s the truth.” She looked at the counter again, “I don’t know how long this can record, so if it ends, I will start another one, okay?”
Leaning back, she cleared her throat and glanced out the window, “Jesse is outside with a contractor about getting the walls up on the house.” She looked back to the screen, “I’m so excited about the house,” she sobered, “I’m actually relieved that this will be home, are you? It’s so peaceful here,” she shrugged, “the mountain was too, but that felt secluded and limited, with all the trees,” she smiled, “here it’s so open and free feeling. Does that make sense?”
Rolling her eyes, she blew out a breath. “I met his family, although I’m still shocked you forced me to come out to do it. His sisters are so cute and energetic. Oh,” she picked up the tablet and awkwardly moved it around until it was in the picture, “they gave us this tablet, it’s like Jesse’s laptop only without a keyboard.” She set it back down, “Jesse will show you how to use it. There are so many movies on it. They did that for us.” She nodded. “His parents seem nice.” She couldn’t show her the phone, because she was on it, “his mother had Jesse put her phone number in our phone and said to call if we had any questions, I don’t know if I could, but it was very nice of her to offer.”
She took a deep breath and blew it out, “I had another session with the doctor today, I,” she watched her reflection blush, “spoke to her about your video to me and she says if we are both in agreement it will only help make us stronger, to have that,” she dropped her head down and grinned, “connection.” She whispered before looking back to the screen. “She said being shifters makes it much easier to stabilize than if we were one-forms—normal people.” She wasn’t sure if Evanna knew what a one-form was, but she’d just learned about it today.
Sucking in a quick breath, she pushed it out, so it made a whooshing sound, “I agree with what you were saying, Evanna, all of it.” She sat there staring at her image on the phone, “I don’t think I can front during it if you know what I mean.” She blushed again, “I can’t say it out loud, I’m sorry.
She nodded her head slowly, composing her thoughts, “Jesse is a wonderful man and I truly believe he will protect us from anything. He told me our safety is all he thinks about. I had to work hard and not cry when he said that, Evanna, it’s so important and I don’t know if he realizes it. And it helps you to have someone else keeping a watch over me, you know I can crumble without warning.” She sniffled, to keep the tears she felt just under the surface on the inside. “The doctor has more things for us to do, to help with that, my crumbling and she said that it’s normal and, in most times, good that we don’t know all the memories.” She nodded, “um, that it’s not healthy for us to know everything, that they are locked from us for a reason. She also said that flashbacks, if memories are forced, can be dangerous and shut down the whole system.” She paused, staring into the phone. “I think having Jesse close to us will make a world of difference, he won’t let anything happen.”
She sucked in another breath, then shook her head, “I can barely breath when I think about this retrieval,” she sighed, “missions or whatever they’re called, but I know you and Minn can do it. I just know you are strong enough to do what it takes to help those people be free.” She offered a slight smile, “so do that, Evanna. Help free our people.”
Looking out the window, she saw Thera bounding across the field, “I think Jesse’s family is going to watch Thera while we’re away with that team, I think she’ll be happy there.” She looked back at the phone and chuckled, “being among a whole clan of leopards, she’s going to be in her glory having so many others to run with.” Her hand was starting to shake slightly, “it’s going to be strange not having her with me, but it’s the best thing to keep her safe. She hates cities,” Leah took a ragged breath, “I hate cities, but I know you will be able to do this.”
She sat there for a moment, “okay I’m going to go now.” She smiled, “I think the best thing that has ever happened to us was Jesse coming up our mountain and even though I’m half scared out of my skin, I can’t wait to see what the next chapter is in our life.”
She stared at the phone and then reached over and tapped the button. Blowing out a breath, she debated on watching what she’d just done. Setting the phone down quickly, she shook her head, “I’d probably erase it.”
Getting up, she went over and moved the curtain so she could see Jesse. Sitting on the couch, she leaned on the back of it and watched him. He was a lot larger than the man he was talking to, but he didn’t flaunt the fact. They were both looking at the house and pointing to it every few moments. As the man wrote something in the notebook he held, Jesse turned and looked right at her. She blushed, not sure how he knew she was watching him. He didn’t look mad, so she continued to do it.
When he held up his hand to tell the man to wait, she leaned back away from the window as he walked quickly toward the trailer.
She stood up, eyes wide when he stepped inside. Was he upset with her?
He smiled at her, “Quick question, do we want the bay windows to wind outward,” he motioned with his hand, “or slide across?”
She blinked; she knew nothing about windows. “It’s your...”
He was up the step and in front of her before she could finish, “it’s our house or will be if it’s ever finished, you have a say in it.” He brushed the hair back from her face with a gentle touch.
That movement distracted her briefly, “okay. Uh, I looked at the diagrams, but they’re very technical,” she looked out the window at the frame that stood there. “What is going to be on the outside of it?”
“Stonework, Evanna and I both liked the look of that.” He moved to stand beside her, their arms touching.
“I think windows that wind out would look good.” she glanced up at him.
“Yeah. Do you have a door color preference?” He smirked, “I didn’t even know that was an option.”
“Oh,” she looked back outside, trying to picture the stone walls, a window, “maybe a wooden framed one, if the window frames are a light wood shade, then I think the door should match. It will look more natural, not like some of those white slat houses we passed in that town.”
Jesse made a low sound of amusement. “Yeah, I’m not a fan of siding either. Okay,” he leaned down and kissed her mouth softly, “stone and wood.” Straightening he smiled down at her, “you are going to make this place look so much better than I ever would.”
She smiled up at him, “it’s going to be our castle, like in the encyclopedia books I’ve read, only it’s a house.”
“Our house,” he whispered and kissed her again. Clearing his throat, he backed away, “I’ll go tell him what we want.”
“Is it really going to have walls when we come back?”
He nodded, “it will, then we can start on the inside.” He shrugged, “stonework won’t be done until spring, but if we work hard, we won’t have to stay in the trailer much longer.”
She looked around the trailer, “I’m okay in here,” she smiled, “but a big house,” she bit her lip, “I have so many ideas.”
He winked at her, “write them down because there’s no way I can relay it all to Evanna and not screw it up.”
She nodded and watched him go out the door. “Our house.” She mused quietly, “with gardens and flowerbeds.” Sucking in a breath, she went over and picked up the booklet Jesse wrote his lists in, “the next chapter,” she said out loud. Squeezing her eyes, shut, she reached to see if Evanna was close, “we have so much to do.” She whispered and hoped that Evanna was close enough to hear her.