Chapter 29

Raelynn

Her phone wokeher from a deep sleep and Raelynn's initial thought was that something had happened to her Daddy. But when she checked the screen, it showed the shelter was calling. Raelynn looked at the time and wondered why they'd be calling at three in the morning.

"Hello..." She cleared the sleep from her voice and tried again. "Hello?"

"Hi, sorry to bother you this late or... um... early, I guess." Diana's voice sounded a bit timid as if she were scared of Raelynn's reaction. Considering she'd come to the shelter less than a year ago, it wasn't surprising. Diana had her own history to contend with.

"It's fine, really. What's up?"

Diana began to explain the situation and before she'd even finished the first sentence, Raelynn was up and getting dressed.

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes," she said into the phone before ending the call and rushing out the door.

The shelter wasquiet when she arrived. At this time of day, the only ones up and about were those whose pasts had caught up to them in dreams, and those just getting out of their living nightmares. Raelynn rushed to the second floor where Diana had said to meet her. Pausing outside the room, she heard Diana speaking softly to someone and figured it had to have been the traumatized young woman Diana had called about.

Raelynn peeked through the cracked door and before entering, headed back down to her office. She didn't know what compelled her, but something did. Once she'd gotten what she was looking for, she went back up to the room and entered quietly, hoping not to startle either their new guest or Diana.

When Diana nodded at her and stood to head out, Raelynn sat cross-legged on the floor. She was a pretty small woman anyway, but she wanted to seem as small and non-threatening as she possibly could.

"Hello, Rosalie," she said softly while she scooted just a bit closer. "My name is Raelynn. This is Sami Junior," Raelynn held up the smaller version of her best sloth friend for Rosalie to inspect. "He looks just like my Sami that I have at home, only smaller."

This information made one of Rosalie's swollen eyes open and she looked at the stuffed animal with curiosity. That was better than the complete lack of any kind of response that Diana had said they had been getting so far. Raelynn scooted just a bit closer.

"Would you like to hold Sami Junior?" The question made Rosalie's other black eye open, as she appeared to think about her answer.

"Stuffies are for babies," Rosalie finally whispered in a voice so small, Raelynn almost missed it.

"No, they aren't. Like I said, I have one just like him at home. Even if they were, though, who cares? If the stuffed animal makes you happy or makes you feel better, then you should definitely have one."

"Harold didn't like me having stuffies."

Ah, well, that wasn't going to be a problem anymore. Raelynn held out the little sloth to Rosalie and watched her debate for just a moment before taking Sami Junior from her. Once the stuffed animal was being hugged close to Rosalie's chest, Raelynn settled in for a chat. They talked about little things for a while, discussing favorite colors and movies. Raelynn was sure to keep the topics light until Rosalie seemed to feel more comfortable.

"Where are you from, Rosalie?" she finally asked the other woman.

"Oh, um, Montana."

Raelynn startled at the answer. It wasn't one she'd been expecting. She hadn't been the one to arrange for Rosalie to come to the shelter, so she honestly knew very little about her. Raelynn probably could have studied up before coming in but sometimes, being less in the know worked better in these kinds of situations. It helped when the curiosity was more genuine and the questions and answers less practiced.

"I'm from Montana, too," she told Rosalie.

"You are?" As she spoke, Rosalie lifted herself a bit off the sofa cushions and looked curiously at Raelynn.

"Yes, I am. I actually just got back from a vacation there."

"Why did that make you sad?"

Raelynn looked up sharply at Rosalie and the girl shied back just a bit, "I'm sorry, I'm not upset. I was just wondering why you thought it made me sad."

"Oh, when you said you came back, your whole face fell, and you looked down. Everything about you seemed to change."

"You're an observant person, aren't you?"

"Not really," Rosalie replied and Raelynn laughed.

"So, I'm just obvious then?"

"Kinda.... yeah." Rosalie's smile lit up her battered face and it made Raelynn's heart sing to see this spark of life in the woman.

"Well," she explained, "I kind of left behind the love of my life. He works on a ranch out there."

"Why'd you leave, then?"

"I own this place, and it needed me."

"Who took care of it while you were on vacation?"

Raelynn felt a bit like she was being interrogated and shifted in her seat. Was she supposed to get Rosalie talking or was Rosalie supposed to get her talking? Because right at that moment, it seemed like the latter.

"Diana. The lady who was in here before I came in." She pointed over her shoulder toward the door.

"Does she not do a good job?"

Rosalie seemed genuinely curious, and Raelynn couldn't stop herself from answering, "She's amazing at her job."

"Well, if this place is needed and Diana does an excellent job of running it, then who's to say a shelter just like it isn't needed out in Montana? Diana could run this one, and you could open one there." Rosalie stopped petting the stuffed sloth for a minute and looked up at Raelynn, "Unless he's not nice; don't go back if he's not nice."

"He's very nice," Raelynn replied.

The women continued talking for a couple more hours. She brought Diana in and helped them get acquainted as well. Before Raelynn headed back to her house, Rosalie was completely secure in her new home, and Raelynn was increasingly more certain that Texas wasn't her home anymore. Les was her home.