13. Anevae

Iwoke up the following morning and went to the kitchen only to realize I had eaten the last of the eggs the day before. Without those, I couldn"t figure out a substantial breakfast, so I texted Eiri to see if she was up.

Hey, you up?

Sure am! What"s up?

Do you have plans today?

Don"t think so. I"m finally done unpacking, and my first interview is tomorrow, so I"m just relaxing. How about you?

I"m low on food, so I need to head into town today. Wanna grab breakfast and hit the store after?

Oooooooooh! Breakfast sounds amazing!

There"s a cute little diner down the street called The Big Bacon Pancake. My neighbor told me they serve amazing breakfast!

We should try it! I"d love any chance I can get to spend time with my sister before she completely ditches me for her lame experiments.

I"m down!

Also, don"t be a jerk because we chose two different career paths!

I love being outside. This job puts me the closest to the outdoors!

Anyway, I can meet you at the diner in thirty if I leave now. Send me the address. Thanks!

Sorry, sorry. You"re right.

I"ll send you the address shortly and get myself ready.

See you soonish!

On the way to my car, I saw the black fox in the tree line. Stopping dead in my tracks, I stared at it. Bright orange eyes intently watched me. When I reached for my phone to take a picture, it took off in the opposite direction. Having missed my chance, I hopped in my car and headed to town.

About thirty minutes later, I pulled up to a charming little diner boasting all-day breakfast and the best pancakes in town. I didn"t imagine that was hard to beat as the town"s population was only about two thousand people, and there were only about three diners throughout. As I parked, I saw Eiri waiting by the door.

Walking up, I smiled at her and gave her a big hug. "I know it"s only been a few days, but I still have missed you a lot," I whispered. Eiri and I hadn"t been separated much growing up. Of course, we both went through our phases of wanting to be alone, but it never lasted long between us. We even went to the same college because we didn"t want to be too far away from each other. While I loved my home in the woods, Eiri loved being near others, putting us a little further from each other than we were used to.

"Should we head inside? The hostess said there wouldn"t be a wait when I checked in. The pancakes smelled AMAZING! I can"t wait to try them," Eiri said.

"I"m always ready for pancakes! Let"s get in there!"

As we walked into the diner, the scent of cooking pancakes and real maple syrup hit me, making my mouth water instantly; I just hoped the pancakes tasted as delectable as they smelled. The hostess showed us to a booth against the row of large windows at the front of the diner. She placed a menu in front of each of us before letting us know our waitress would be right over, and then she walked away. Once the waitress had collected our orders, we finally settled into some quiet conversation.

"So, have you started your experiments yet? Or are you too busy spending time with your neighbor?" Eiri asked, a teasing smile on her face.

I blushed just thinking about everything that was going on with Maeyve. "I haven"t started any experiments yet, mainly because I"m waiting on the results of the soil samples I collected. I"ve been taking advantage of my downtime and spending some time with Maeyve. She"s told me a lot of helpful stuff about the area. She"s also really nice, and I enjoy spending time with her."

"Please be careful. You"ve only known her for a few days," Eiri said.

Feeling frustrated that Eiri wasn"t trusting my instincts, I lowered my voice and chided her, "Eirian, I am a grown woman, and I trust my gut regarding her. You may not understand, but please try to cut me some slack. I know you just want what"s best for me, and I appreciate that deeply, but please chill out with it already."

"Fine!" Eiri said harshly but continued, "I just don"t want you to get hurt again. I know you"ve been interested in women, and it seems you"re intrigued by her. I"m unsure why, as I haven"t met her, but I can"t watch you undergo another traumatic break-up."

Sighing, I looked down at my folded hands resting in my lap. "I know you"re just concerned, but something is different about her. I will still be careful, but please don"t say anything to our parents." Looking back up at her, I tried to change the subject. "Oh! Guess what I saw before I left the house!"

Eiri rolled her eyes, clearly not falling for it. "What did you see?"

"I saw the black fox! I"ve seen it more than once in the past couple of days, but it was right by the driveway when I walked to my car. It seemed like it was watching me. It darted away when I tried to take my phone out for a picture. Sorry, I couldn"t get the picture for you. I"ll keep trying," I promised.

Eiri stared at me as she seemed to think hard about what she would say next. "How about after the store, I come to your house? While I"m there, we can work on the greenhouse together, and you can show me around. When you showed us around the other day, we didn"t see much, you know? Maybe I"ll be able to see the fox with my own eyes."

"It would be nice to have you come over and spend some time with me. I"m sad we"re so far away from each other, but I also love the area I"ve moved to."

When our food arrived, we chatted a bit more and ate. The pancakes were good, but I"d definitely had better. Before leaving, I paid the bill, and we made our way to the store. We pulled into the parking lot around the same time, exited our cars, and headed toward the store"s entrance.

"What do you need? Did you bring a list?" Eiri asked.

"Of course I did." Pulling out my phone, I showed her the list on my notepad app. "Do you expect anything less from me?"

Eiri grinned. "I guess I shouldn"t. We all know how meticulous you can be."

Putting my phone away, I strolled toward the store"s entrance. Eiri fell right in line with me as she matched my stride. We perused the store for everything I needed plus some things I didn"t. We decided to make that night a movie night, so we grabbed some ice cream and popcorn to enjoy during the movies we planned to watch.

When we were done, we loaded my car with the groceries I purchased and started the trek to my cabin. Eiri trailed me the entire way, still unfamiliar with the area. I had always been more comfortable with directions than my sister, so she relied on me or GPS for navigation. Unfortunately, GPS wouldn"t get her directly to my cabin.

Pulling into the driveway, we parked side by side. Before going into the cabin, we each grabbed as much as we could, barely denting what was in my car. Three trips later, my kitchen island was full, and my car was empty.

It took us a lot longer than I liked to put everything away. I"d bought groceries and other necessities I didn"t have for the house already, like decorations and towels for the guest bathroom upstairs. Glancing around, I sighed. Even with all the groceries I"d bought, the kitchen still looked barren. I didn"t know having a colossal kitchen would be a blessing and a curse.

Satisfied with our work, we headed to the greenhouse. I was excited to decorate and organize it; having my sister by my side made things even better. She never understood my infatuation with nature but always supported me in any way she could, even if that meant doing something she didn"t like.

Grabbing my speaker and phone, we got to work. My sponsors had given me enough supplies to get started with a few experiments and a large sum of money to purchase any additional supplies I desired. The amount they gave me both frightened and excited me. When I looked into the shops near the cabin that sold supplies for my experiments, I found that Havenridge didn"t have any. That meant I would have to make a special trip to Fawnhaven if there were any additional supplies I needed.

Later, while we ate lunch, we discussed the plan for the rest of the day. Eiri again expressed an interest in venturing outside, as she"d only gotten a glimpse of the property when she and my parents helped me move into the cabin. Since I knew more about my land after spending time with Maeyve, I could give Eiri a more comprehensive tour of the area.

After we finished eating, we headed outside through the greenhouse. I started by showing Eiri the gardens around the property and explained how my experiments there would work during the late spring through early autumn. Because of how much snow the area historically received, I didn"t want to do any experiments outside that would be affected by the extreme weather.

Eiri seemed interested in my work for the first time in years, asking several questions about how far out the garden plots went on the property. There were plots further into the woods where I could do some of my experiments, but I didn"t plan on using them anytime soon. I wanted to start close by first.

When we finished looking around outside, the sun had almost set. I didn"t want to be in the woods at night until I became more familiar with the area. As we headed inside, I spotted the black fox again. It seemed to be watching me from where it sat.

Catching Eiri by the arm, I pointed toward where the fox was and whispered, "Eiri, the fox is out there! Do you see it?"

She stopped dead in her tracks and looked toward where I was pointing. A bright smile spread across her face as she spotted it. "Oh my god. It"s so pretty! I know you told me about it before, but seeing it with my own eyes, it"s absolutely stunning!" She answered as she tried to reach for her back pocket.

As her hand descended, the fox took off into the woods. "Damn it! I really wanted a picture. Oh well. Maybe one day I"ll be able to get one. You"ll see me around here often if I get one of those work-from-home jobs now. I hope you have good Wi-Fi around here!" She said as she moseyed back to the cabin.

Shaking my head and laughing, I trailed after her. When we entered the cabin, I went to the kitchen to make our popcorn so we could have our movie night, and Eiri grabbed some soda from the fridge before sitting on the couch. After the popcorn was done popping, I grabbed a soda of my own and joined my sister to begin our evening of movies.

After a couple of movies, we both started nodding off and decided it was time to call it quits. Eiri had a job interview the next day and wanted to go home to prepare for it. When we were done tidying up the living room, we began saying our goodbyes.

"Hey, Vay? Do you mind if I hit the bathroom and grab a bottle of water before I head out?"

"Have at it. I"m going to bed… I"m beat. Oh, and lock the door on your way out, please."

"You got it. Have a good night, sis. Love you!"

Turning toward the stairs, I said, "Love you, too. Be careful on your way home."

"Okay, mom."

"Just be glad I care, brat. I"m going upstairs. Do your thing and then get home. Good luck tomorrow."

About halfway up the flight, I"d already tripped on several stairs. Holy shit. I hardly did anything today. Why the hell am I so tired? I thought.

When I reached my room, I entirely skipped my bedtime routine because I was exhausted and crawled into bed. As I laid my head down, I heard the front door close behind my sister.