Growing Wildflowers | WLW

Sundrop

The drive into thee the city is quiet. Jamie drives now since she's not mad at me anymore and I still don't feel comfortable behind the wheel. Getting pulled over without a license is the least of my concerns but it certainly wouldn't help the situation at hand. What's one more issue to sort through? I'm sure Sophie and John would find a way to break me out of jail.

Jamie pulls into her driveway but my heart stops when I see the tall white van Sophie brought. It's empty.

"Why is it empty?" I ask. I'm practically backwards in my seat to get a better look, hoping I'll see Sophie and the others standing around the passenger side but they're nowhere to be found.

"They're probably inside," Jamie answers like it's no big deal.

"Why didn't they wait in the car?" My voice rises in panic.

Jamie shrugs. "Maybe... They're trying to be polite?"

"Since when does Sophie care about manners? The last time we were here, she called your mom a dinosaur."

Jamie snorts. "She probably deserved it." She frowns. "I still can't believe how rude she was to you."

I flash her a curious look. "I didn't think I'd ever see the day when you chose Sophie's side."

Jamie shrugs one shoulder. "As much as she bothers me... She saved your life. I would thank her if she didn't hate me so much."

"She doesn't hate you." The response is automatic. I don't see how anyone could ever hate Jamie. She's kind and easygoing but... I remember the way Sophie pushed her out of the way when I got shot. The way she blamed her for my injury.

Jamie rolls her eyes. "You don't have to lie to protect my feelings, Gwen. I've been hated by plenty of people before."

I reach out and rub my thumb across her cheek. "That's their loss."

Jamie looks at me. Her frown pulls into a smile and she leans over the center console to kiss me. "You're sweet," she murmurs against my lips. "Let's go inside before they kill each other?"

My head is still buzzing from our kiss as we walk inside. I don't think I'll ever get used to this feeling.

Surprisingly, it's quiet inside besides the distant sound of Mrs. Vanderbilt chatting with Sophie. John and Aurora are sitting at the dining table made of sturdy oak. John's sweating through the back of his shirt and when we approach, he shoots to his feet.

"Excuse me," he says and rushes toward the front door.

Aurora's wearing her usual warm smile despite John's abrupt departure. "We're working on his tolerance but he hasn't had anything to drink in a while and there's a few too many bodies with pumping blood around," she explains, gesturing to the rest of the room. "He's doing extraordinarily well though considering it was just a few weeks ago when he was draining people without restraint." She pushes to her feet. "I'll go see how he's faring."

"Thanks, Aurora," I tell her and wait until she's outside to look at Jamie. "Sorry about that."

Jamie shakes her head. "I think it's cute that John is trying to support you and your human girlfriend." She nudges me and I retaliate by moving to pull her into a hug when her sister joins us.

"Mom said if she ever saw you with the leech again, she'd kill her," Oakley taunts.

Jamie rolls her eyes. "Shut up, Oakley. You already know mom's the one who called Gwen."

Oakley narrows her eyes. "I swear I'm the only sane one in this family." Jamie and Oakley launch into a sibling argument. I don't catch most of it. I'm more focused on Sophie and Mrs. Vanderbilt walking casually through the house while Mrs. Vanderbilt explains which contracting company she used for her kitchen remodel.