Gifted Connections 01

by S M Olivier

  “I can’t speak for the world at large, but in our community here, I would say only a quarter of us do,” she stated.

  I gaped at her. “If the guys hadn’t found me then they would have lost their gifts, how often does that happen? How quickly do the bonds need to be made?”

  Jemmy frowned, and I had a feeling she was thinking about herself. She was eighteen and hadn’t met her connected yet. She had spent the last two years hoping to meet him or them. “I would say ten percent of us lose them and there’s no exact expiration date on it. I never heard anyone delaying the inevitable.”

  Remy had woken up in time to eat lunch with us. Jemmy was a master of conversation and kept the conversation light. I knew it was her way of dealing with her fears as well. She filled me in on what to expect at school. It sounded like they liked to keep their students busy.

  I colored under their praises of my simple grilled cheese and tomato soup.

  Jemmy insisted that I change before going to the school. I grudgingly took her advice and went upstairs to change into a pair of dark skinny jeans, a heather grey Henley, matching heather gray boots, and I threw on a baby blue infinity scarf to finish my look. I ran a brush through my hair, happy to see it was still pinned straight.

  When we got back downstairs, Remy informed us he was going to have a conference call with the district managers he hadn’t reached yesterday and today, before heading to his local restaurants. He told us he would be home for dinner.

  I still felt guilty that he had rushed home to check on me and found myself embracing him before leaving to tour the school. He returned my embrace without reservation, and I liked how he gave me a gentle squeeze before letting me go.

  “You are soooo lucky,” Jemmy muttered at me as we went to a detached six car garage. “Most girls would cut off their right arm to be committed to your guys for life.”

  I felt flustered. “You’re such a drama queen, and just because they are my connected doesn’t necessarily mean a level of commitment. Who knows, maybe they’ll get bored with me? If they want to explore other options, I won’t stop them. It’s not fair.”

  She laughed at me. “Oh, girl if you only knew. You keep telling yourself that!”

  We went to the administrative building first, where we met Will and got our schedules and dorm room assignments.

  “Get any practice in today?” Will asked me.

  I had to smile a little. He reminded me so much of my uncle at that moment. It almost felt normal. I had been taking care of myself for so long, I had forgotten that this was supposed to be the norm. “I did, and I completed it,” I answered him.

  “Performance on Sunday,” Jemmy announced in a high falsetto. “You are invited to attend, in the music room, before her date.”

  Will had a faint smile on his lips, but his eyes were highly curious. “A date, hmm.”

  Jemmy laughed, clearly enjoying my discomfort. “Don’t worry Pops, you know the guy. He knows the rules and he may have her home on time.”

  I blushed and attempted to push her towards the doors. “Yes, well, we should probably get going. See the school and what not. Bye Will, we will see you later.”

  “This one isn’t even dating anyone. Well, that I know of,” Jemmy called mischievously over her shoulder as I continued pushing her.

  Jemmy had taken a twisted sense of enjoyment in informing Will about my meetings with Tamara, Stacey, and Rose at breakfast that morning. Will didn’t seem so happy that the guys had put me in that situation. I spent most of the time trying to defend them while ignoring the elephant in the room.

  She was gleefully giggling as we walked over to her white convertible Volkswagen Beetle. I stopped with my hands on my hips. “Keep it up,” I smiled sweetly. “You forget there’s such thing as payback and we haven’t met your connected yet.”

  She pouted. “You’re no fun,” she muttered as we got into her car.

  It was my turn to laugh as we headed down the hill to Ella’s school first. I could feel her nervousness as we walked the halls with an administrative assistant named Courtney. As Courtney took us around the school, I got the feeling she was more interested in finding out about Jace’s and Troy’s love lives than giving us a tour. She looked slightly older than us, so I assumed she had gone to school with them.

  Jemmy must have been just as annoyed as I was because she finally said, “When I saw them last they actually started seeing some girls that they seemed really serious about.”

  Courtney stopped short as we reached one of Ella’s classroom doors. “So Jace finally called it quits with Molly?” I could hear the surprise and disappointment in her voice.

  Jemmy waved an airy hand. “They’ve been on the outs for a while now, now can we see Ella’s classroom?”

  Courtney seemed to remember her job as she took us into Ella’s first room. They had created a unique learning environment for the primary school. They had a small student-teacher ratio and didn’t require the students to sit behind a desk for most of the day. They tried to balance the academics with physical activity and the arts. Their primary focus in Ella’s school was to find Ella’s areas of interest. Some of the children never became creatively inclined or even physically inclined, but they were encouraged to at least try to stimulate that area of the brain and give their bodies the required amount of stimulation to help them expel any excess energy.

  As Courtney showed us the rest of the school, I could see Ella’s growing excitement. She was looking forward to Monday. We met her academics teacher, Trudy, and I immediately liked her.

  “She has the ability to retain anything she sees or reads,” Jemmy informed me.

  “It comes in handy with all my students,” Trudy said with a smile, but then looked at me shrewdly. “It’s been a long time since William Bell took anyone into the fold. I imagine you have a powerful gift.”

  I shrugged a bit self-conscious. “So, I’ve been told.”

  I think she was hoping I would divulge more, but I didn’t want to go into further details.

  She must have realized this as she turned and introduced Ella to some of her classmates. “I’ll make sure I keep an eye on her. If her sister is powerful, I’m sure her gift will manifest as well. Jace and Jaxson Bell manifested quiet young. It’s possible.” She said quietly to me as we left her classroom.

  I was unwilling to let her know I wasn’t technically her sister, but her cousin, and I didn’t let her know my gifts had manifested early as well.

  The rest of the day passed uneventfully as we toured the rest of the school and the dorms. I didn’t think it would take long for Ella to want to move into the dorms. I wasn’t thrilled about living in the dorms, with someone I’ve never met, but at least she seemed neat.

  Chapter 14

  Jax: Are you coming to my game?

  Me: I wasn’t aware you had a game. :-P

  Jax: It starts at six. ;)

  I was helping Drake as he started cooking dinner that night. He was making steak, a chopped house salad, and baked potatoes. My mouth salivated. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a steak.

  “Are we going to Jax’s game tonight?” I asked as I went back to washing the romaine lettuce.

  Drake still seemed hesitant around me and I hated feeling his unease. I had a sense he was just as confused as I was; like he didn’t know where to go from here. He blushed as he looked at me. “We normally do if it’s a home game. Do you mind if Rose comes?”

  I felt a mixture of feelings in that moment. After what he had told me last night, I didn’t know why he was still with her. After our kiss and his confession, I thought he would start taking steps to break it off with her. I felt selfish in that moment. I really had no right to have any expectations of him. I couldn’t push him. I couldn’t allow him to know how much it bothered me that he was still with someone that would treat him so poorly. Whether she was doing it behind his back or not.

  I reached out to him as he trimmed the edges of some asparagus and gently r
ubbed his shoulders. “I don’t mind.” At his skeptical look, I continued. “Honestly. I understand you have been with her for so long and that she will always mean something to you.”

  He looked like he wanted to say something to me; a myriad of emotions crossing his face.

  I physically felt his desire, sorrow, and uncertainty.

  I reached up and grabbed his face so we were looking at each other in the eye. “You have to relax,” my voice was strained as I felt his emotions times ten. “I can feel everything you’re feeling.”

  His jaw dropped. “Everything?”

  I nodded. “Everything. Is that normal?”

  He bent down and placed a sweet, exploring kiss on my lips, and as I went to open my mouth to allow him more access, we heard the door slam and the laughter of Rose, Jemmy, and Ella. He hastily stepped back and went back to cutting his asparagus.

  “I don’t think any of this is normal for us. For any of us,” he said quietly to my back, as I turned to wash the potatoes.

  “Hey, baby,” Rose skipped into the room and threw herself into Drake’s arms.

  He caught her, and I averted my eyes. I didn’t want him to think it made me feel uncomfortable, although I had an overwhelming urge to scratch her eyes out. Hurting Drake was like kicking a puppy. Who liked kicking puppies?

  “Hi, Blake,” Rose smiled sweetly as she turned, wrapping Drake’s arms around her waist.

  I attempted a smile. “Hi.”

  If she noticed my shortness, she didn’t let on. “Are you ready for tonight’s game? It’s like a holiday in this house.”

  I looked at her blankly. “Erm, sure.”

  Jemmy laughed with astonishment. “Don’t tell me Jax didn’t tell you that this is the Championship game?! That boy loves talking about himself, but he didn’t tell you how big this game is? Not that it really matters, he already has three schools vying for him.”

  I brushed the bake potatoes with melted butter and sprinkled sea salt on them. “Well, he did tell me about the playoff games a few weeks ago, but I honestly don’t know much about football.”

  Rose looked at me with narrowed eyes. “I thought you just met this family? I wasn’t aware you had been talking to Jax already.” She sent Drake an accusing look like she thought he had been lying to her.

  That was rich, coming from her! “Well, I’ve known Mr. Jace, I mean Jace, for over a year now. He told me about his brother. He was very proud of him.” I thought quickly.

  “So Jace was your teacher?” she asked.

  I nodded, putting the potatoes in the oven. “Yup. Drake, what did you want me to do with these strawberries?”

  Rose seemed somewhat mollified as she jumped up on the counter, pulling Drake’s mouth down to hers.

  I had to look away and tell myself I had no right to feel jealous. If I was going into this with an open mind and unselfish motives, the guys should be free to explore any relationships. They shouldn’t have to feel bound to me.

  Drake gave me a pained expression before giving her a brief kiss. “Can you slice up some strawberries? Very thin,” he explained. “They’re soaking over there. Jax’s favorite dessert is fresh strawberry cake.”

  Something softened within me, he was so sweet in so many ways. Which only made me all the more pissed at Rose. She didn’t deserve him.

  Jemmy made a gagging noise. “Your bromance with the guys can be sickening at times,” she said as she popped a walnut in her mouth.

  “Well, I,” Rose said smiling up at him, “think it’s so thoughtful. That’s why I fell in love with him.

  I had to stop myself from scoffing at her.

  Jemmy made more gagging noises.

  “Are you in culinary art classes?” I asked Drake desperately trying to change the subject.

  He gave me a small smile, his anxiety abating. “No, child psychology.”

  “There’s no money in cooking and the hours suck,” Rose said as she texted on her phone. “We decided this field would be great for us. Maybe eventually open our own practice together.”

  I stopped slicing the strawberries and frowned. I wondered if he really wanted to be a psychologist. I mean, he definitely had a calming quality about him and a welcoming presence, but I saw how much he enjoyed cooking.

  “He could have become an executive chef,” Jemmy explained. “Remington offered to let him become his business partner at his restaurants. Heck, he already created most of the recipes, and they are a huge hit.”

  Rose shrugged, not bothering to look up from her phone. I wondered who she was texting so much. I had a sneaking suspicion that it was the guy Drake suspected she was cheating on him with. “Well…” she drawled out. “That doesn’t work for us. He can cook for me when we get home from a normal nine to five job.”

  Jemmy exchanged a look with me. “Assuming he doesn’t find his connected.”

  Rose let out a short laugh, “Jemmy, I love you, dear. You know that, but sometimes I don’t know why you like to push people’s buttons just to see what their reactions are. Some may argue that your mother abandoning you made you feel like you must irrationally lash out at other people. Drake’s almost twenty-one years old. If his connected hasn’t found him yet, she probably never will.”

  The condescending, arrogant tone she used on Jemmy made me want to punch her in her smug face.

  Jemmy looked like she was seconds from smashing the smaller woman’s face in, but then a cruel smile spread across her face. “I don’t need your psychoanalyzing bullshit. If he doesn’t find her, he can lose his gifts, but you don’t care, do you? You’re what, a two or a three? You were never chosen. He’s an eight. Believe it or not, he has a brain and can make decisions on his own and have desires of his own.”

  “Please, Jemmy and Rose,” Drake said in a pained voiced. “Not right now.”

  His pain was so deep I could feel it. I gasped as I clutched my chest. There was a tightness. The knife clattered to the floor as the pain brought me to my knees. I desperately sought to get air into my lungs as I could feel all his hidden emotions. His mother abandoning him. His feeling of responsibility that Jemmy had been abandoned as well. His need to please the people that meant something to him. His inability to let go of those who hurt him, thinking they deserved the unconditional love he longed for.

  “Blake!” Drake called out in panic. His panic making the pain worse.

  “What the hell happened?!” Remy came rushing into the room, kneeling beside me. “Breathe, baby, breathe.”

  “Is she having an asthma attack?” Rose asked, concern in her voice.

  Remy gathered me in his arms as I saw the darkness gathering around the edges of my vision. “Drake follow me,” Remy bit out. “You two stay here!”

  “Jax,” I called desperately in my mind, “please tell Drake to relax. I can’t, I can’t breathe.”

  “Relax, honey, relax,” he urged me.

  As Remy slammed the study door closed behind us, I heard the ringing of Drake’s phone.

  “Yeah,” Drake said in a short tone I didn’t think he was capable of.

  “Shit!” It was the first time I ever heard him curse. “Okay, man, okay. Thanks.”

  “Who was that?” Remy asked as he sat down with me cradled in his arms. “What did he want?”

  I could see Drake close his eyes as he breathed in deeply and blew out. He did it several times before the tightness started to abate, and my vision began to clear once more. He took a few more deep breaths and opened his eyes to meet mine.

  “I’m sorry,” Drake whispered. “I forgot.”

  “Forgot what?” Remy nearly shouted.

  I sat up in his arms and wrapped my arms around his neck, burrowing closer to him. “It’s not his fault, he didn’t mean to,” I said quietly.

  “When we connected,” Drake sat down on the other side of us and put his hand on my back and gently rubbed it, “something else happened. She told me this afternoon that she could feel what I was feeling. Rose and Jemmy started fighti
ng, and I must have had strong feelings. I didn’t realize she could feel it that acutely. Jax told me she called out to him and told me to calm down.”

  I felt pleasantly warm in Remy’s arms, and I liked feeling Drake’s gentle touch. I started to giggle to myself as Remy let out a curse. I couldn’t help it. A week ago, if you would have told me I would find comfort in anyone’s touch, I would have called you a liar. Today, I found myself enjoying it. I didn’t know if it was because we were fated to be together or I had forgotten how nice it was to be touched by men that didn’t want to hurt me.

  Remy stayed in the study to talk to Jace and Troy, while I went back out to help Drake finish dinner and make sure it was ready by the time Noah and Will came home. Jemmy had made herself scarce when she saw I was okay and Rose quietly sulked at the island, still on her phone. I helped Drake with the cake and decided I might like to learn how to bake. In the past, all the baking I did came from Dunkin Hines and Betty Crocker.

  Dinner was a bit tense, but it helped that Noah was around; he regaled us with some of the crazy stories he heard in medical school. Will kept casting me glances, but it wasn’t the time or place to ask him the questions we wanted answers too. We didn’t have the time to pick Will’s brain after dinner because we had to go to the game.

  We had to drag Ella away from the television for dinner. We didn’t have cable at home, so she was being introduced to a whole new world of animated characters. She was only mollified when Jemmy encouraged her to ask Drake for swimming lessons.

  “I can do that,” Drake agreed. “We’ll have you jumping off the diving board in no time,” he smiled at her.

  “After dinner?” Ella asked excitedly.

  “We have Jax’s game tonight,” I gently reminded her.

  “Aww,” she groaned as she stuck her fork into her potato with a vengeance.

  “Tomorrow,” Drake promised her.

  She brightened up.

  “We need to hurry if we want to get good seats,” Will said as he glanced down at his watch.

  We quickly finished our food and Drake put the finishing touches on the cake before we headed out the door. I made a few thermoses of hot chocolate and Jemmy made a couple thermoses of coffee, slipping some Baileys in it when she didn’t think anyone was watching.