Page 16 of Wildly Yours (Owl Creek #3)

I get Serena settled on the couch and look for her bandages in the bathroom cupboard.

Her house exudes femininity. There's fluffy cushions on the couch, art on the walls, and a basket of knitting supplies next to her recliner.

Everything matches, or it looks like it belongs.

It's almost as if I walked into a museum exhibition that someone decided to live in.

Her bathroom is no different. There is light streaming in through the window, and cheerful colored towels handing on the rack.

The soap has a mild almond scent, and a mosaic table next to the bathtub with everything you'd need for the full spa treatment.

This place is the polar opposite of mine. It's cozy like one of my birds' nests. I want to crawl inside and never leave.

I lean against the stand up sink and look at myself in the mirror.

I see a confused man looking back at me.

A man conflicted by his own decision to stay away and keep her safe—from me.

A man who convinced her that she is alone in the world.

That she has to work herself to the bone to create a safety net around her because she doesn't believe that anyone will help her when she needs it.

And I can't help but return to what happened this morning. I kept my cool in the face of the violence of Blake's intention. I passed a test I didn't know I would be taking.

I want it to be enough. But it won't be for her. She deserves someone who doesn't have a secret like the one I'm holding. A secret that if she knew, she'd be right to run away from me.

I find the bandage in the cupboard. It's inside a box with a label that is handwritten, just like all the box labels in here. I look at each one, neat script describing the contents. Each box organized like a drill sergeant lives here.

When I stand up and start looking around, I notice everything is in its place. Nothing askew. I walk back down the hall to the living room, and survey my surroundings. Everything is neat and orderly. Books are organized by color and size. Throw blankets are folded with corners matching up.

I sit on the couch next to her, and she shifts her pillows as she adjusts. Her hand brushes up against the one between us, setting it straight.

"Serena, what are you trying to control?"

"What?"

"This house. Everything is just right."

"I like things to be tidy."

"There's tidy and then there's…" I sweep my hand toward the bookshelf. "Obsessive."

"I'm not obsessive, how dare you!"

"So I'll ask you again. What are you trying to control?"

"Thinking of changing careers and becoming a therapist?"

"No. I just recognize it when I see it. I've had my own battle with control. Or rather, a lack of it. I had a similar tick to try to diffuse my energy. To control what I was feeling."

"Okay, seriously Cody. I'm not interested in being psychoanalyzed by a park ranger."

"I'm not psychoanalyzing you. I'm asking as a friend."

"Is that what we are?"

"Let me wrap that foot. Do you have some pain medicine? I should have looked."

"It's in the box in the bathroom cabinet labeled medicine."

"How many people do you know label their boxes of bathroom items?"

She glares at me so I hop up and grab her some ibuprofen and a glass of water.

"Having things labeled keeps me efficient. I don't have to look for anything. I already know where it is."

"Okay, but you can't convince me that you do it because you like it. You haven't always been this way."

"What is the big deal, Cody? I'm clean. I'm organized. So what?"

"You also count things when you are stressed out."

"How do you know?"

"I saw you moving your lips when you were staring at the brooms in your shop after Blake left. And then you did it again when we were in the car."

"You saw that?"

"Yeah." I sit back down and start to untie the makeshift splint. "So what are you trying to control?"

"Quid pro quo."

My chest deflates. I don't want to do this. Not now. Not when I feel like we've broken through so many barriers without having to talk about that night. About what I did.

"You tell me what happened all those years ago, and I'll tell you why I count things. News flash, they're related."

It feels like sand is filling up my lungs. After all this time, her body is still responding to what I did. To the wound I caused.

"Let me wrap your ankle properly first."

"So you're going to tell me what happened?" Her eyes are bright and hopeful. There's no backing down now.

"Promise me that no matter what I say, we still work together to save the park."

"What? Are you—? Cody, I take my job as mayor seriously. I will always put the town of Owl Creek above my personal grievances."

"There's always a first time for everything."