Chapter 75: 13

Given his rent was paid through the end of the month, Tyler took his time moving. Each day after work, he and Aster would go back to his place and pack up as much as their cars would carry, then take it back to Aster’s house, where they would unpack. By the end of the week, they had cleared out all his personal property from his appointment. The limited furniture he had was placed in a storage unit. He wanted to hang on to it in case things didn’t work out and he was forced to move out. Though he wanted to be with Aster, she was unpredictable, and he wasn’t feeling secure in the relationship.

Tyler knew that Aster cared for him, but there was no way for him to know if she would take one day tire of him and if she did just when it might happen. It could be a week or a lifetime. There was just no way to know.

Once he was moved in, things seemed brighter. For a month, they lived as though they were married, and Tyler enjoyed it very much. He had stayed by Aster’s side for ten uneventful days. If Dennis was looking to strike, he sure was taking his sweet time. After a while, Aster insisted nothing would happen and that he ought to go back to work. Reluctantly Tyler went to work with Darrell.

It didn’t take Tyler long to notice Darrell often worked in a tight sleeveless undershirt or topless. He claimed the heat bothered him, but Tyler always saw the homeowners (Single women, wives, and teenage daughters) gawking. One day on the drive home, Darrell confessed that he made more money when he worked topless. The women liked to look at him and would often tip him and always referred him to their friends for renovations.

“You’re a good-looking man,” Darrell said as they drove. “You should use it to your advantage.”

“Whore myself?”

“It’s harmless. They just look, they don’t touch, and it’s not like you sleep with them. You just put a smile on their face and give them something to fantasize about.” He supposed it wouldn’t hurt, and he could use the extra work if not the tips. “So, how are you settling in?”

“Well.” He said quietly.

“Why do I sense there is more to that answer?”

Tyler sighed. “I asked Aster to marry me a month ago. She turned me down.” He confessed.

“And you moved in with her anyway? Wow, I don’t know if I could stay with someone that refused to marry me. I mean, there’s no future in that.”

Didn’t he know it? Still, Tyler refused to give up on Aster.

***

Aster hugged her father hello. “You’re looking good.” She said as they took their seats at the visiting room table.

“Thank you. I’ve been spending a lot of time working out. It’s a great way to pass the time, build the body, and scare the living shit out of the right people. Nobody dares to jump the guy that can bench press six hundred pounds without a spotter.”

Aster laughed. “Showing off, are you?”

“Maybe a little.”

“Has Mackenzie come up to see you?”

“Yeah, she was here yesterday. We had an hour in the conjugal trailer. So, do you have some news for me?”

“What kind of news?” She asked.

“The kind that comes with a white dress and a pair of gold rings.”

How did he know? “No.”

“Really?” He seemed confused. “Did he chicken out?”

“No,” she didn’t want to know how even in prions, her father always knew what was going on. “He asked. I turned him down.”

Gordon leaned forward and braced his arms on the table. “Why? You seem to like him.”

“It’s marriage.”

“What’s that mean?”

“We both know marriage is ridiculous. I’m not going to further the dysfunctional cycle.”

Oh,” her father said, looking down, “I see what the problem is. This is because of me.”

“It has nothing to do with you.”

“Yes, it does.” Gordon looked up at her. “You grew up watching your mother, and I fight. Watching her hurt me. It would make sense that you would have a negative association with marriage. Aster, not every marriage is like that. I should have stood up for myself. I should have left her long before I did, and I should have taken you with me. It is my fault that your life was so violent. Please don’t limit your life because I made a mess of mine. Be happy, take chances, dare to love someone. I get it, if you never let anyone in, then you never get hurt, but you also never find happiness. I have so many regrets in life that will follow me to the grave. I don’t want that for you. Don’t live with regret simply because you are scared.”

“When did you become a psychoanalyst?” She teased.

“Just words of experience, that’s all.”

This was why Aster liked to talk to her father. He always had a way of making her see the light. He was a wise man, although you would never know it to look at him.

***

Tyler woke early to get ready for work. He and Darrel carpooled each morning. His day started early, but that was fine with him because Aster’s day started early. It gave them the opportunity to have breakfast together each morning and a little fun in the shower before they started their days. Darrell would bring his wife with him, and Katelyn would ride with Aster.

Today was no different. He tossed his lunch in the back seat of Darrell’s cap and climbed into the passenger seat. They headed into Aspin. They had a job building a three-level deck outside a large house near one of the famous ski lodges. It was hard work in the blistering summer sun. After a few hours, they returned to Darrell’s truck. He kept a cooler with bottled water in the back for jobs like this.

“Motherfucker!” Tyler heard Darrel growl as they walked along the side of his truck. Some had keyed the side of his cherry truck, leaving a message. I haven’t forgotten about you. “My truck!” He looked around as if looking for who had defaced his truck.

Tyler knew the culprit was long gone, and he knew exactly who was responsible. That fucker Dennis was following him. Aster came to mind, and Tyler felt his heart skip a beat. He had to know she was alright. He took out his phone and called her.

***

Aster and Katelyn were very carefully moving a two hundred fifty-pound wedding cake into the transport van. They had to get it to the reception hall by one before the guest arrived. They were moving extremely slowly and carefully; the cake was topsy-turvy, and twice they had almost dropped it.

Once it was in the back of the van Katelyn, drove and Aster sat in the back with the cake to keep it from being ruined during transport.

She was so involved with her work she hadn’t noticed she had forgotten her purse back at the bakery.

Oh well, it wasn’t like she would die two hours without her purse.

They drove twenty minutes to the venue, where Katelyn and Aster moved the cake to a trolly and then to the beautifully decorated hall. They moved it from the trolly to the lovely table designated for the cake. They put on the final touches, and their job was done. Time to collect their pay.

Once the wedding organizer transferred the final payment into Aster’s account, she and Katelyn left.

They decided to stop and get lunch. Since Aster had forgotten her purse, Katelyn paid. They went to the best little burger joint in town. The place had fifties memorabilia all over the walls, and all the excellently crafter burger combinations had cute little greasier names.

When they were done eating, they walked back to the van, but as they crossed the parking lot, Aster paused and looked back over her shoulder. Her wolf senses were telling her she was being watched.

Aster looked around, trying to pick the threat out among the crowd. She saw nothing. “Aster, are you coming?” Katelyn asked as she opened the van door.

Aster paused for a moment. “Yeah, I’m coming.” They drove back to the bakery. “We had a good day. I suggest we take the rest of the day off.”

“I love that idea.” Katelyn smiled.

Aster ran into the shop to fetch her things. She found her purse in the back where they kept their personal things. She picked it up and headed for her car, where Katelyn was already waiting in the passenger seat.

She drove Katelyn home first and then went into Feral to stop at the organic grocery store to pick up something for that night’s dinner. Aster walked through the small shop filling her basket and taking a few minutes to talk to Aurora, who owned the shop and another friend of hers, Lewis, who owned the adjoining butcher shop next door with a service window in the grocery store for the shopper’s convenience.

They got to talking and time slipped away from her. Eventually, they said goodbye. Aster got back in her car and drove home. As she was carrying her bags to the door of the house, her phone rang. She had no free hand to answer it, so she ignored the call. She fumbled for her keys and getting a grasp.

She unlocked the door.

Suddenly her senses were on alert once more. She turned just in time to see the creepy skinhead from the shop all those weeks ago come at her with a brick in his hand. Before she could react, he struck her hard in the side of the head, and Aster went down, blacking out.

Tyler had been calling Aster all afternoon with no luck. She wasn’t answering. Darrell tried to reassure him, saying that Aster was probably too busy. Katelyn had told him they were delivering a cake that day. Despite Darrell’s assistance, Aster was fine. Tyler was seriously concerned. By the end of the day, he was practically biting off his nails.

Darrell offered to drive Tyler home, but he wanted to go to the police department to report the vandalism. Of course, they got an incompetent rookie who didn’t have a clue how to process the forms, so the experience was long and frustrating. When they were finally on the highway to Feral, Tyler told Darrell to gun it. He couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong, and his gut rarely ever was.

As Darrell pulled up the house, both men looked alarmed. Aster’s car was in the driveway. The front door to the house was open, and bags of groceries were scattered on the ground near the door. Darrell slowed, and Tyler jumped out of the truck before it came to a complete stop.

He ran into the house screaming for Aster, and he checked every room. She was nowhere to be seen.

Tyler rushed back outside to where Darrell stood around, sniffing the air. “She’s gone. That asshole took her.”

“They haven’t been gone long,” Darrell promised.

“How do you know?”

“I can still smell her.”

“You can smell Aster?”

“Yes.”

“Like a police dog?”

Darrell offered Tyler a cocky smirk. “I’d say my sense of smell is way better than a police dog or any dog.”

“Can you track her?” Tyler asked hopefully.

“Definitely.”