Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
There was no need for words.
She didn’t thrust up or try to take over. She was with him every step of the way.
Nothing was ever going to come between them. Nothing.
Chapter Seven
“You’re back again. What do I have to do to keep you kids out of my area?” Lucinda asked. She waved some kind of talisman at him, or it might have been a hand-stitched doll.
Dex frowned. “First of all, this is the very first time I sought you out. If you remember, you came to find me, to give me that dire warning of two paths.”
“Tomato, tomartoe,” she said. “What do you want? You certainly haven’t stumbled here.”
Dex glanced around at the forest. The truth was, he didn’t exactly know where he’d been heading, but clearly, he did have a direction in mind and it was to come to Lucinda.
“The last time you came to see me, you said there were two futures for me and Casey.”
Lucinda snorted. “Only two, sweet boy, trust me, there are more than two maps for everyone, and it gets real confusing.”
Now Dex frowned. “You came to warn me, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember that, but you see, there are so many ways of interpreting the future. It is all dependent on whether you go left or right, or stay on the right path, or go back. This is why looking into the future is no guarantee. Someone can change. That is the pesky thing about human beings, they tend to change their mind.”
“We’re not humans. We’re wolves.”
Again, she snorted. “But you are still human, and you have choices. You can always choose to do the right or wrong thing. It depends on your mood and what exactly is the right or wrong thing. Am I making myself clear right now, because I feel like I am saying the same thing over and over again?”
“Are you purposely talking in riddles?”
“Oh, my, how does your father even put up with you? This is why I will not date, as I don’t want the risk of having children.” Lucinda took a deep breath, spun in a circle one way, and then the other. “We all have choices. Just like your good friend Buddy made the choice to hurt Casey. His path had three directions that day. One was to hurt her, the other was to not hurt her, and the other was to walk away.”
Dex frowned. “Isn’t not hurt her and walk away kind of the same thing?”
“Yes and no. They have the exact same outcome. Casey wouldn’t have been hurt, and you wouldn’t have hurt Buddy. Do you see?”
He nodded. “Then why are they different outcomes?”
“He could have not hurt her, in the way that she was aware of his presence and the fact he didn’t do anything. Walking away would mean no one knew he had that choice in the first place.”
“But all three had different outcomes?” he asked.
“Yes, all three of them.”
“So that means you saw me hurt Buddy?”
Lucinda wrinkled her nose.
“What?” he asked.
“I saw you hurt Buddy, then I saw you kill him, and then I saw you walk away.”
“That was never going to happen,” Dex said.
“Exactly, it was never going to happen, but that doesn’t mean it is not a possibility.” She shrugged. “It all balances itself out, but I don’t think you’re here to talk about what might have, or could have happened.” She wrinkled her nose. “I confuse myself at times.”
“So does that mean Casey and I can change things?”
“You do realize that no future is set until you make choices.”
Dex was really starting to feel a headache coming on. He now understood why his father had a nice, tall mug of coffee, and it always took him a few hours to deal with Lucinda.
“None of this makes sense.”
“Nothing would happen if we all stood still.” She suddenly jumped, lifted her arms out, and her eyes went wide, as she became still. “See, nothing happens, no choice is made, other than to stand still. No path is chosen. When life throws you the chance to go to A, B, C, or even D, that is when the future changes, but it is always happening.” She sighed. “Wow, I am getting thirsty.”
Dex blew out a breath. “I don’t know what any of this means.”
“It means a lot of stuff, and not a lot of stuff.” Lucinda shrugged. “You think you have it rough, try living inside my world.”
“Can you turn it off?” he asked. “Seeing the future. Wouldn’t that make your life easier?”
Lucinda laughed. “Of course, but tell me, where is the fun in that?” She blew out a raspberry. “Just because something is a pain in the ass and often not worth our time, doesn’t mean we should get rid of it. I like it. It’s like watching a movie that is always changing the ending. Come on, that has got to be a lot better than watching the same old movies, where you always know the ending.” She shrugged. “It is awesome.”