Read Burning for You (Blackwater) for Free Online

something you want changed.”
    I sigh.  “Okay.  Let’s glaze over
that part.  I need to wrap my head around some other things.  Like this Ash
Lavanne guy.  He’s apparently the catalyst, isn’t he?”
    “It would seem that way,” Isabel
says.  “You were drawn to him.”
    “More like Betsey was drawn to his
SUV,” I remark.
    “How did you feel when you met
him?” she asks me.
    I pause.  “Like I couldn’t
breathe.  Like I was alive for the first time in my life.”
    She nods smugly.  “There you go.”

Chapter 4
     
    Isabel leaves, taking Carlton home with
her, and I decide to go for a run in the woods behind our house.  Running is
the only thing that will clear my head.  There’s too much happening in there so
it needs some major clearing.  I realize that waking up at noon, eating lunch
and going for a run is not the most productive use of my day, but it’s Sunday,
and there’s not much I can do about getting my life together on a Sunday. 
    Social Distortion is blaring
through my ear buds and as “Ball and Chain” comes on, I almost laugh.  Michael
hasn’t called, and I doubt he’d follow me here.  I feel exhilarated by the fact
that I’m free.  I mean hell, I could go hit a bar and fuck anyone I want
tonight, if I were so inclined.  The fact that I am still technically married
to the guy and that there aren’t really any pickup bars that I know of in
Blackwater are irrelevant.  Looking ridiculous, I spread my arms to the sides,
closing my eyes and enjoying the feel of the crunching leaves beneath my feet
and the cold wind whipping against my face, tossing my ponytail back away from
my head.  I make it this way for about fifteen paces when I slam directly into
something, knocking the wind right out of me. 
    I open my eyes, expecting to see a
tree on the ground, but it’s a man standing above me.  Mike Ness continues to
scream away into one of my ears, the other ear bud knocked out and resting
against my chest, making the music sound tinny and small.  I yank the remaining
ear bud out and rake my eyes over the guy who’s looking down at me, wondering
when Blackwater turned into a cabbage patch full of hot young men.
    “I’m sorry,” he says, his lips
twitching.  “Are you alright?”
    I nod and stand up, brushing my ass
off which is full of twigs and dead leaves.  From my new angle, I can get a
better look at him.  With a twist of his features, he could be either ugly or
beautiful.  He has long, very black hair that is tied up in back, but has come
loose in front and hits just at his pointed chin.  He isn’t much taller than I
am, perhaps only six feet, and I’m looking directly into his eyes which alarm me
the most.  If I’d only glanced, I’d say they were brown, but they are so light
they almost appear to be yellow, like a wolf or something inhuman.  He looks
down his very long nose at me, tightening his lips into a smile. 
    “I’m so sorry,” he says.  “I was
trying to avoid you on the path, but everywhere I tried to step, you stepped
that way too.”
    “Sorry,” I mutter, embarrassed.  “I
was having a moment.”
    “I could see that,” he says.  “I’m
sorry, I’m Gabriel Locke,” he continues, extending his hand.  I offer him my
slightly muddy one.  “Call me Gabe.”
    “Leah Holt,” I say back.  Gabe’s
eyes narrow slightly, but he continues to smile.  There is something odd about
his voice that I can’t place.  It’s not unpleasant, but he has an unusual way
of speaking that I’ve never really encountered before.  Maybe he’s not
originally from Michigan.
    “Nice to meet you, Leah,” he tells
me.  “I rarely see runners in these woods back here.  That’s why I use them.”
    “They’re fairly accessible to my
house,” I tell him. 
    “You’re Ursula’s daughter?” Gabe
asks.  “I’ve never met you before.”
    “I haven’t lived in Blackwater in
over ten years,” I say.  “I just moved back yesterday.