Gifted Connections: Book 3

by SM Olivier

  Jemmy batted her eyelashes at him and smiled sweetly. “Did you really make me wake up to a clown sitting next to me? You know what they say about paybacks!”

  Jace began to laugh. “You deserved that one, Jax.”

  Sierra and Gavin began to laugh with Jace.

  “What did we miss?” Kade asked with a smile.

  “Jemmy’s deathly afraid of clowns−” Gavin began.

  “For a reason!” Jemmy inserted loudly. “The guys made Jaxson and I watch IT when we were younger! I had to sleep with a nightlight for months, and I still can’t go to the circus.” She shuddered dramatically.

  “She fell asleep in the SUV,” Gavin continued with a laugh. “−and Jaxson thought it would be cute to cast the illusion that I was a clown,” Gavin said wiping tears from his eyes. “She hits hard when she freaks out,” Gavin gingerly rubbed a spot on his chest.

  We all began to laugh once more.

  “What am I supposed to do when this guy starts texting me?” Jaxson asked in exasperation.

  “Sext him back?” I asked as I smirked him.

  He wasn’t amused by my answer.

  “I don’t know about this,” I said skeptically as peered down the ‘bunny’ hill. It still seemed really steep for a beginner’s slope.

  “You can do it,” Troy said encouragingly as he glided next to me.

  “Just remember pizza when you want to slow down,” Noah smiled as he glided to the other side of me.

  I looked at both of them wearily. They had volunteered to keep me company for the first few hours. It was clear to me that this family was no stranger to skiing or snowboarding. We had dropped an outrageous sum at the sporting good store. They even went as far as to buy brand new boards and skis. I had elected to rent my pair.

  I couldn’t imagine dropping that kind of cash on something I might not like. I was willing to try it out, and it looked like a lot of fun, but I didn’t want to waste the money without trying it out first. I had tried to be cheap with my apparel too, but in the end, I reluctantly took the kelly green and white outfit that Jemmy insisted I get.

  “Okay,” I took a deep breath.

  “Wait,” Troy stopped me. “First a picture,” he insisted as he pulled out his phone.

  I really needed to get better with capturing these moments. Troy, Jemmy, Jaxson, Rachel, and Noah were always on the top of their game when it came to taking pictures.

  I leaned into him and smiled at the image of the three of us. I don’t think the guys could wear anything that looked bad on them. Troy had chosen a white and black snowboarding outfit. Noah had chosen an orange and white outfit. Both of the colors they had chosen flattered their complexions and coloring.

  “We’re going to run out of room on the gallery wall,” I laughed.

  “When all this blows over, we can find a place large enough to have several gallery walls,” Noah joked.

  “Oh yeah?” I prodded back. “Where would that be? Jace’s place? Remy’s? Maybe the penthouse Troy wants?”

  Troy laughed. “I don’t think separate houses would work anymore. Maybe we can find a compromise…somewhere.”

  I smiled. I liked that idea better than flitting around several different homes.

  “Can we find a place with a beach, where winter is almost nonexistent?” Noah asked hopefully. “I always wanted to learn how to surf.”

  I laughed. “You sure dancers would want to engage in such a risky sport?” I teased.

  Noah snorted as Troy guffawed.

  “Okay, Misty,” Troy said. “No more procrastinating. Time for your maiden voyage.”

  I groaned but used my poles to get me closer to the hill. I took a deep breath in and pushed myself forward once more. I watched as the trees whizzed past me, and I had a momentary moment of panic when I felt like I was going too fast and was going to crash into a little girl who had jetted out in front of me. I swerved around her as her father yelled an apology.

  “It’s okay,” I yelled back as the orange netting at the bottom came increasingly closer.

  I did exactly as the boys told me to do to slow down; I turned my body sideways to come to a complete stop. I started laughing. I felt free. Exhilarated even. Now I knew why most of the people that decided to come out today were excited to come. It was fun. I was eager to get back up the hill and try again.

  I watched as the guys came to a smooth stop beside me. They both had snowboards and made their movements look effortless.

  “You did great!” Noah exclaimed.

  “What did you think?” Troy asked with a smile.

  “Thanks.” I smiled feeling happy over Noah’s praise. “I love it!” I admitted to Troy. “Let’s go again.”

  They both laughed. “Okay, five more times, then you have to try the next hill,” Noah insisted.

  “But no rush,” Troy quickly added.

  “Okay,” I said as I began to moved towards the ski lifts. I didn’t know if five more times would give me the confidence to go on the next one, but I knew I would want to test my abilities further eventually.

  I sighed as I leaned back into the couch. I leaned into Jace’s chest as I took a sip of my hot chocolate.

  “This is amazing,” I smiled as the rich, smooth, sweet liquid hit my tongue. It had to be the best cup of hot chocolate I ever had. “Did you get the same thing?”

  Jace chuckled as he draped his arm on the back of the couch and took my hand with his. “I did. Coffee sounded good, but the sign boasted about having the best hot chocolate so I thought we should give it a try.”

  “Good choice,” I commended him.

  After hours on the slope, we chose to warm up in the lodge. All the others were still out there, reluctant to take a break.

  “If you’re done, we can always go back to the cabin and slip into that hot tub,” Jace said suggestively as his thumb made lazy circles on my palm.

  “Mmm,” I sighed as I closed my eyes. “That sounds amazing right now, but I promised Jaxson I will go on the blue…square.” I said hesitantly. I didn’t know that much about skiing. I had heard about the bunny slope, the green, blue square, black diamond, and double black diamond. I think.

  Jace smiled and nodded. “You’re picking it up rather well. You’re a natural.”

  “You have to say that, you’re my connected,” I teased him as I slipped one of my ice-cold hands under his thick sweater.

  He hissed out when my cold hand made contact with his bare skin. “Blake,” he said in protest but still rubbed my hand with his own.

  “I want to see you go down the double black diamond,” I smiled as I leaned into him once more. “I think Kade idolized Jaxson briefly until he saw you go down the slope. When did you learn how to ski?”

  He tensed for a moment before he sighed. “Alison and Aunt Megan were skiing as soon as they learned how to walk,” he said quietly, and I realized he was talking about his mom when he referenced Alison. “They loved skiing, and when I was about three they would take me skiing, too. We always had a family trip to a skiing resort until the institute was founded. Dad started to take us again when I was eleven or so.”

  “Was it always bad between your parents?” I asked hesitantly. “Between your parents and Aunt?”

  He shook his head. “No. I remember when they were happy once. The first time I realized that ‘parents’ fought was when I was five or six. Jaxson was maybe two or three. He doesn’t remember it, but it was Aunt Megan that really took care of us. She was the one who read us bed time stories and tucked us in at night. She kissed our ‘boo boos’.

  “She had just got done putting Jax down, and I was thirsty, so I wanted to get a drink. Mom was downstairs drinking wine with Dad, Horatio, and Greg. Mom started laying into Megan about coddling us too much. She told her we were boys and shouldn’t be ‘babied’ too much.

  “Dad didn’t say anything, and Horatio only encouraged my mother. He supported my mother’s beliefs. They didn’t think boys should be treated softly, especially potent
ially gifted boys.

  “Megan rarely stood up to her or them. Alison and Aunt Megan were once best friends. They were more than sisters. She stood up to them that night. She told them she would never stop loving us the way we needed her to.

  “The argument came up again another day. I was supposed to be outside playing. Megan thought we were too young to be playing outdoors by ourselves. Alison told her when she had children she could make those decisions. That was the first time I saw Aunt Megan cry.

  “She wanted children, but she was unable to have them. I honestly think that was one of the reasons why dad hired people like Cora to find out if they could find a solution to it. Dad was in love with Alison but he loved Megan. Sometimes I wondered if Alison used her gifts on Dad, and if that’s why he was so blind to how she treated him and her own sister.”

  I went to ask him what gift she had when he pulled me in closer.

  “She has the gift of seduction. She can make a happily married man cheat on his wife of thirty years if she chose to. She had a way of making men, and sometimes women, fall in love with her.

  “When I caught her in bed with Horatio, I wondered if she had used her gift on him. Later when I was older, I knew they both went into their relationship with wide open eyes.”

  I wanted to tell him how horrible his mother was but I knew that’s not what he needed. He already knew that. “If she is your father’s connection, then how do they still have their gifts? How are they still so strong?”

  Jace laughed dryly. “Dad is. He’s the nucleus, and now that he and Aunt Megan are back together again, they both are gaining in strength once more, but Alison is weak. When we ran into her, I could feel it. In the past if she tried to use her gift on Jaxson, he wouldn’t have been able to resist her, especially since he still harbors emotions for her.”

  “Have you told Jaxson all this?” I gasped. “And when did your Aunt and Dad get back together again.”

  Jace smirked. “They’re still hiding it but I noticed Megan slip out of his room early one morning. Aunt Megan also needs to remember I’m an empath and learned about her barriers once more.” He winced and then frowned. “I don’t know if I should completely shatter the illusion Jax has about her. He thinks he really loved her. He’s confusing the emotions he felt when Aunt Megan left with the feelings he had when we left Alison.

  “The main reason Aunt Megan had to leave was because of him. Jaxson started calling him mom and Alison flipped. Alison began to make her so miserable. She had to leave or she was going to tear her so down that Megan would have had nothing left.”

  I looked up at him and caressed his face. “You know, before I met you and before I knew about all of us, Jax and I talked. A lot. We never told each other our names, and he didn’t like talking about Alison, but he did talk about you and your dad. He always called you the protective one.

  “Jaxson jokes a lot. He even seems immature at times, but underneath all that joking and pranking, he really is stronger than you and Pops give him credit for. He started playing football because of you, but he chose running and lifting weights after practice on his own. No one told him to do that. He did it.

  “He’s not Drake when it comes to school, but he still carries a high GPA. It was his decision to study agriculture science as a back up plan. No one told him to have a back up plan just in case he doesn’t make it to the NFL. He did that on his own.

  “I know you love him, Jace, and I know you want to protect him, but he’s a man now, too. He deserves to know the truth. He should be able to deal with all this with facts and not assumptions and false memories.”

  He sighed and kissed the top of my head. “Why do you have to shatter all my previous beliefs?”

  I gave him a cheeky smile. “Because no matter how much you love taking care of us, and no matter how much you think you need to watch out for us all the time, you need to realize that you have six other people that love you and wouldn’t mind sharing the burden with you. It’s okay to pause, take a deep breath, and let go sometimes.

  “A wise man once told me, even amazing, strong, and independent people should know when to ask for help. It’s not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of wisdom and strength.”

  Jace stared at me for a moment. “Are you one of them?”

  I looked at him in confusion. “One of what?”

  “One of those people that love me,” he gently prodded.

  I blushed and ducked my head. “Yes,” I finally admitted. I knew I loved them all but I didn’t ever want to be the first one to utter the words. I didn’t want them to think I was pushing them for more or that I expected more from them.

  He gently grasped my chin and gave me a long lingering kiss. “I love you, too. I’ve been waiting for you to be ready, and every time I came close to confessing my love for you, it didn’t seem to be the right time or place.”

  I grinned. “Oh yeah, like when?”

  He chuckled and pulled me onto his lap, not caring that the lodge wasn’t exactly empty and we were surrounded by people. “I think I was infatuated with you the first time we played together, but I felt so conflicted. You were my student. It felt wrong.

  “I knew I was in love with you when you sang Lost Boys on the stage at We 7. I knew I was lucky to have found a connection that fit so well with me, with all of us. Your compassion, brilliance, talent, and the way you know how to complete all of us was a bonus. But that night when you sang to us, after all you had been through, I could see your soul and I knew together we had found Neverland.”

  I felt the tears burn the back of my eyes. I leaned in to kiss him with all the passion pent up inside of me.

  Chapter 23

  I had almost forgotten that we weren’t on vacation, that this was actually a mission. We had just got back from skiing at almost eleven o’clock at night, waiting on our pizza delivery when our doorbell rang.

  Jace got up and opened the door. One of the techies, Darren, was standing on the other side of the door.

  “Come on in,” Jace said. “We just ordered a pizza. Want some?”

  The techie seemed somewhat starstruck for a minute. Admittedly, we barely ever talked to them or hung out with them unless it was work related.

  “Sure,” he nearly stuttered out. He was the stereotypical nerd. He had glasses too big for his small narrow face and they were extremely thick. Troy called them BCG glasses, birth control glasses, when Darren wasn’t around. He was extremely skinny and barely taller than me. His complexion was pale like he had an aversion to being outdoors.

  “Is Terrance coming over?” Jemmy asked as she came out of her room wearing her pajamas.

  Marcel and Dawn laughed. “No,” Sam said with a shake of his head. “He has alternated between the fireplace and hot tub all day.”

  Terrance, along with a few others, had refused to leave the cabins today. They weren’t too keen on skiing, snowboarding, or even learning how. A few people that we went skiing with today had returned back to our place for pizza. Jaxson had popped in Couples Retreat, a compromise for the guys and girls.

  “Did you stop by for any reason?” Troy inquired as he pulled out a beer and offered Darren one.

  Darren looked further flummoxed as he eagerly accepted it. “Um, yeah,” he pushed his glasses up onto his nose. “We were able to find Randy on surveillance and traffic cams in this area. She’s definitely within a ten-mile radius of us. We were able to positively identify her on three separate occasions. She was just in town yesterday.”

  “Doing what?” Remy asked as he slid up behind me and pulled me into his chest. I hadn’t even realized I had began to hold my breath until he embraced me. It was one thing to know we were after her, but another thing entirely to know she was so close, yet so far away.

  “Grocery shopping,” Darren answered. “She probably got a week’s worth of food.”

  “So, we know that she’s able to cloak herself and buildings,” Drake stated. “Is there a possibility that we can find all the properties
within a twenty-mile radius of us? Then can we tap into the satellites and do aerial searches to confirm that the properties are still there.”

  Darren’s eyes lit up with excitement. “We can probably do that, but Paul will have to get us clearance to use the satellites. We were also thinking that we should have teams go down to town and hang out in the library, coffee shop, laundromat, and grocery store. They seem to be her normal haunts. The grocery store is a little harder to hang out in, but the book store across the street has a good view of the grocery store and has a coffee shop attached to it.”

  “I’ll create a schedule tonight and we will have teams of at least two hang out there every day. Does she have a specific time that she seems to come down?” Jace asked as he pulled out his lap top.

  “She seems to be there anywhere from ten o’clock to four o’clock when she visits town,” Darren confirmed.

  The doorbell rung once more, and Jaxson went to go answer it. The smells of the pizza wafted into us the moment the pizza guy stepped into the door. Noah went over to assist Jaxson to carry some of the boxes.

  “Thanks, dude,” Jaxson said as he handed the pizza guy the cash.

  “We’re still saying dude?” Kade laughed as he sat down at the large dining room table, eager to be first in line for a slice. I had given him forty dollars earlier for food at the lodge, and he had spent it all. His appetite was outrageous. Jaxson, Troy, and Remy reassured me that it was completely normal for a teenage boy.

  I grabbed a slice of supreme pizza and a slice of ham and pineapple. When we placed the order, some of the guys and Rachel had been horrified that we ordered pineapple on a couple of them. They believed fruit didn’t belong on pizza.

  “I’ll go down to the coffee shop every day. They should have wi-fi, and I can do my school work down there,” I stated as I took a bite of my pizza. I immediately opened my mouth and started fanning it. Hot cheese on the roof of my mouth DID NOT feel pleasant.

  “It’s hot,” Noah teased.

  “I thought it would be cooled down by now,” I protested loudly.