Dark Abyss by Kaitlyn O'Connor (classic novels for teens .txt) 📕

“Maybe,” Simon growled, “but we damned well can’t tell her we did it! It would be bad enough looking like god damned fools when she lit out for land again, but if she happened to mention to the governor that we bought it for her, we’d be totally fucked.”

“Alright!” Caleb said. “I get your point.”

“It might still work,” Joshua said. “The idea was to convince her we had plenty to offer and it should still count for something that we at least thought about her not having a lab or garden anymore.”

“There is that,” Caleb said meditatively. “And, as bad as I hate it, Simon has a point, too. I don’t like the idea of looking like an idiot if it doesn’t work either. At least this way, nobody knows but us. They might suspect, but they won’t know for sure.”

“I don’t know. I think I might be too sick to care,” Joshua muttered.

“You only say that because you haven’t had a woman make a fool out of you yet.

The only thing worse than being heartbroken and flat broke is feeling like a fool on top of it,” Simon said tightly. “There aren’t many things worse than being more miserable than you’ve ever been in your life and knowing it’s a source of amusement to everybody that knows you.”

Caleb studied him for a long moment. “Believe it or not, nobody thought it was funny, Simon. I sure as hell didn’t. Any of us could’ve been in your shoes, and we all knew it. I wanted to wring that bitch’s neck. Beyond that … well, I guess you haven’t noticed there’ve been a lot of guys damned wary about the marriage market since.

Nobody pays without taking delivery first, and that means the woman accepts the change and has it performed.”

Simon studied him. “And Anna hasn’t.”

“She isn’t Roxanne, Simon. She isn’t here for money.”

“She isn’t here because she wants to be either.”

* * * *

The addition was dark as pitch and still ringing with the sound of dripping water when they descended to look it over. Anna struggled to look and sound appreciative purely out of politeness, but the fact was the place gave her the creeps. She felt like she was in some old, underground tomb. Every sound echoed eerily and sent another shiver skating down her back.

She was actually glad there wasn’t any light beyond the handheld torches the men carried. At least they couldn’t see how dismayed she was.

“It needs work, but once it’s dried out we can get it cleaned up fairly quickly.”

Caleb’s voice, which she supposed was intended to sound cheerful, sounded oddly hollow. She pasted a smile on her face when he glanced at her.

They picked their way from one room to the next, looking each over briefly before they moved on. It wasn’t until they’d made the circuit that Joshua made a comment that pierced her dismay.

“I think this would make a good room for a garden. It isn’t very large and it’ll need grow lights to grow anything down here, but there’s plenty of room to build tables to hold the plants.”

“Garden?”

“Yes,” Caleb said with a touch of surprise. “That’s the main reason we … uh …requisitioned it.”

“So I could have a garden?”

“So you wouldn’t go stir crazy before the trial was over,” Ian said, keeping his voice carefully neutral. “It might be starting up in a couple of weeks, but there’s no telling how many weeks it could drag on.”

Anna felt a thrill go through her. She looked around with a lot more enthusiasm.

“Oh, this would be plenty big enough! It’s almost as big as the greenhouse I had. And I think I saw a couple of tables in one of the other rooms that could be moved in here. All I’d really need are the lights and some trays—a little soil and seeds.”

She looked at Simon. “Are we still on water rationing?”

Something flickered in his eyes. “They aren’t up to peak, yet, but they’ve increased the rations. We shouldn’t have any trouble getting what you need.”

She beamed at him in pleasure. “This is so thoughtful! I didn’t want to complain, but I’ve missed my garden terribly! I guess you’re anxious to get your room back,” she added ruefully.

He swallowed audibly. “I don’t mind the couch.”

She chuckled. “You’re just saying that because you’re so sweet! I know it has to be miserable.”

“We’d thought you might be able to set up a little lab in the room beside it,”

Caleb interrupted, “but so far we haven’t been able to get our hands on any sort of equipment.”

Disappointment flickered through her briefly, but she dismissed it. “That’s ok. I can’t really do any research anyway.”

She glanced at Joshua a little hopefully.

He grimaced. “I haven’t forgotten. I’m still working on it.”

She sighed. “It probably didn’t make it through the explosion anyway. I’ll have to start over.”

It was daunting, but she realized there wasn’t any point in moping over it. In fact, there wasn’t time to spare to feel sorry for herself. The sooner she got started, the better.

At least, it was something she’d already figured out once. She was bound to remember a lot if not everything. It shouldn’t take nearly as long as it had the first time. “I don’t suppose there’s a lab in New Atlanta that I could use?” she asked a little hopefully when they’d returned to the main house.

The men exchanged looks she had trouble deciphering until it occurred to her that she was