Vera began to shift in her seat, her heart began to race a little. All these questions were making her nervous. She knew she shouldnât have agreed to eating with the woman.Â
The young brunette was asked these questions before and so her answer was fast, short and simple. âIâm homeschooled. My family raised me to be independent, they encourage me to travel. In fact, Iâm meeting them a few towns away from here to start our new adventure.âÂ
The words left the girlâs mouth robotically, her eyes emotionless and her tone of voice, slightly annoyed. She looked down for a moment, thinking about what it would actually be like, to have a family waiting for her to start a new adventure. To have a mother. She closed her eyes again and rubbed them, she was exaughsted.Â
Vera heard the woman explain her concerns⌠she couldnât help but look at her once she mentioned being concerned as a mother. She stayed quiet for a moment.. then looked away. âIâm fine. You donât have to be concerned. Worry about your own child.â She spoke, her voice breaking a little.Â
No one had ever worried about the girl.. as a mother. The thought of having a mother came back to mind, bringing tears to her eyes.Â
Since Vera didnât like to show emotion, her darker side came out instead. She sat up a bit more and tensed, the tears in her eyes fading away.Â
The food arrived, Veraâs eyes grew wide. It looked so good, she hadnât eaten like this in such a long time. Instantly, she picks up a fry with her hand and eats. She was starving. She didnât notice Ruby or her smile, her focus now on the food and her aching empty stomach. Finally. Food.Â
More lies. While she wanted nothing more than to use some magic and force the truth out of the girl, it would probably just send her running. She had originally thought she didnât want Vera to leave because it would put the town at risk. Then she told herself it was because she was concerned for her, but now...Regina couldnât explain her need to keep the child close, but she couldnât deny the feeling was there.
The problem was, as long as Vera continued to lie, there was nothing Regina could do for her, but even if she did talk, what could the brunette do? The more time she spent on getting to know the girl, the more risk Regina put the town in, but despite that, she couldnât let her go.
When Vera spoke of worrying about Henry not her, she heard her voice catch and Reginaâs heart twinged. She felt so strongly for this stranger, why? âIâm the mayor, I care about everyone in my town, even just those visiting. In fact, Iâd love to have your family join us here, I think they might really like this town.â She watched the girl carefully, curious to see how sheâd respond to that.
She allowed the conversation to pause with the look in Veraâs eyes, clearly the girl was beyond hungry. Regina realized she was staring and quickly looked away.
She took several bites of her own food, contemplating her next moves. She needed to find a way to talk to Emma. If the girl had a family, Emma would be able to find them. She also wanted to talk to Ruby. She could still see the lanky brunette watching the two of them with a wicked smile. It was maddening. She watched as the wolf girl turned to Granny and whispered in her ear. Now that was just rude.
