Leopard 04 - Wild Fire

out there. You get seasick, Blythe.”
    “I’m trying gingerroot,” Blythe said. “Lexi says there’s nothing like it.”
    “She’d know.”
    Lexi knew everything there was to know about plants and their uses. If Lexi said gingerroot would help, then Rikki was certain it would, but Blythe was not going to sacrifice a fun day just because she feared for Rikki’s safety. Rikki’s life was the sea. She couldn’t be far from it. She had to be able to hear it at night, the soothing roll of the waves, the stormy pounding of the surf, the sounds of the seals barking at one another, the foghorns. It was all necessary in her life to keep her steady.
    Most of all, it was the water itself. The moment she touched it, pushed her hands into it, she felt different.
    There was no explanation for it. She didn’t understand it, so how could she explain to someone else that when she was in water, she was at peace, completely free in her own environment.
    “Blythe, I’ll be fine. I’m looking forward to going down.”
    “You’re spending too much time alone again,” Blythe said bluntly. “Come to the wedding. All of the others are going. Judith can find you something to wear if you’d like.”
    Rikki had a tendency to go to Judith for advice on what to wear or how to look if she was going to anything where there would be a large group of people, and Blythe obviously mentioned her on purpose in the hopes that Rikki would change her mind.
    Rikki shook her head, trying not to show a physical reaction, when her entire body shuddered at the horror of the thought of the crowd. “I can’t do that. You know I can’t. I always say the wrong thing and get people upset.”
    She had met Blythe in a grief counseling session and somehow, Rikki still didn’t know how or why, she’d blurted out her fears of being a sociopath to the others. She never talked to anyone about herself or her past, but Blythe had a way of making people feel comfortable. She was the most tolerant woman Rikki had ever known. Rikki wasn’t taking any chances of doing anything that might alienate her or any of her other sisters. And that meant staying away from the residents of Sea Haven.
    “Rikki,” Blythe said, with her uncanny ability that made Rikki think she read minds. “There is nothing wrong with you. You’re a wonderful person and you don’t embarrass us.”
    Rikki tried desperately not to squirm, wishing she was already at sea and as far from this conversation as possible. She adjusted her glasses to make certain she wasn’t staring inappropriately. Sheesh. There were so many freakin’ social rules, how did people remember them? Give her the ocean any day.
    “And you don’t need to wear your glasses around me,” Blythe added gently. “The way you look at me doesn’t bother me at all.”
    “You’re the exception, then, Blythe,” Rikki snapped, then bit down on her lip hard. It wasn’t Blythe’s fault that she was completely happy or completely sad, utterly angry or absolutely mellow. There was no in-between on the emotional scale for her, which made it a little difficult—whether Blythe wanted to admit it or not—for her to spend time with other people. Besides, everyone annoyed the hell out of her.
    “I’m different, Blythe. I’m comfortable being different, but others aren’t comfortable around me.” That was a fact Blythe couldn’t dispute. Rikki often refused to answer someone when they asked her a direct question if she didn’t feel it was their business. And anything personal wasn’t anyone’s business but hers.
    She felt her lack of response was completely appropriate, but the individual asking the question usually didn’t.
    “You hide yourself away from the world, and it isn’t good for you.”
    “It’s how I cope,” Rikki said with a small shrug. “I love being here, with you and the others, I feel safe.
    And I feel safe when I’m in the water. Otherwise . . .” She shrugged again. “Don’t worry about me. I’m staying out of trouble.”
    Blythe took a swallow of coffee and regarded her with brooding eyes. “You’re a genius, Rikki, you know that, don’t you? I’ve never met anyone like you, capable of doing the things you do. You can memorize a textbook in minutes.”
    Rikki shook her head. “I don’t memorize. I just retain everything I read. I think that’s why I seriously lack social skills. I don’t have room for the niceties. And I’m not a genius; that’s Lexi. I’m just able to