“We did skip the whole dating stage, didn’t we?”
“Yeah.” She fought the urge to get lost in his eyes. “I mean, we can still come home and boink each other blind later. I want to get to know who you are now that Ryan’s not looking over our shoulders all the time to see if we’ve hooked up yet.”
“Do you really still want to go two weeks?”
She shook her head. “Heck, no.”
He looked relieved. “Good. Because I wasn’t sure how to accomplish that. I’m sorry we fought. I wasn’t trying to be an asshole. Do you forgive me?”
Kal wrapped her arms around him again. “Only if you’ll forgive me for blowing up like a crazy woman. I’m sorry. It’s just…” No, don’t want to cry again. “He’s always had this effect on me. It’s going to take me a while to quit feeling guilty when I stand up to him.”
Will’s strong arms made her forget her crazy father, forget the whole world outside of her soul mate’s warmth. “We’ll figure it out as we go, babe,” he assured her. “We’ve got each other, and that’s all that matters.”
* * * *
They popped over to Aidan’s to get her car. Will drove them to the restaurant and Kal took her time eating. She didn’t want to return to her apartment alone, but knew she had to do this by herself or she’d spend the rest of her parents’ lives avoiding them and hating them for what they did to her.
Correction, not them, her father.
All she’d ever wanted was a normal dad, one who’d listen to her, support her. She knew her father loved her, but even among preachers he was anything but normal. At least she could think about this now without worrying she’d be struck dead by lightning.
Will let her talk.
“I used to think he was smart, right? When I was really young. My daddy was the preacher, all these people looked up to him, he was their leader. I thought that was important stuff, you know? Then as I got older I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t say anything about the way I thought, and I felt like this horrible person. Who was I to question my father’s beliefs?” Kal picked at her omelet. “Fortunately, Mom wouldn’t let him put me in private school. I got to be a little normal in some ways at least.”
“Then what happened?”
She laughed. “Inherit the Wind happened. Sophomore English reading in high school.”
Will smiled. “I love that play. Always have.” He stopped short of mentioning how he, Abby, and Aidan had sat in the gallery and watched the real Scopes Monkey Trial play out, amused by all the fuss.
“Yeah, well, it really made me think. I was always one of those thinking kind of kids. I was also smart enough to keep most of my thoughts to myself. At least around my dad. I mean, really, dinosaurs were real, they existed, and not just a few thousand years ago. My dad insisted the scientists were wrong, that they got the carbon dating stuff screwed up, or they were deliberately lying to lead people to ‘the Devil’s path.’” She used finger quotes around the last three words, then laughed again. “Right to Ryan’s door. Sheesh, who knew?”
Unable to eat anything else, Kal pushed her plate away. “I just wanted a normal dad,” she softly said. “I wanted a normal dad who would do things besides go to church with me on Sundays and not yell at me for daring to voice a remotely independent thought that didn’t gel with what the Bible said. You know how they say teenagers think their parents are so stupid, then the older they get, the smarter their parents seem? Well, my Mom became brilliant. Unfortunately, I saw my dad in a true light. He’s a small-minded, bigoted man who hides behind his dogma because he’s afraid of being proven wrong. He won’t ever change his thinking. He’s inflexible and…”
She sighed again. “I love him. If you ask me if I honestly like him? The answer’s no, I don’t. I can’t stand him. There’s part of me who seriously wonders if he’s not got early dementia or something because he’s been acting especially whacky lately.”
Will knew how hard this was for her to talk about. He suspected he was the first she’d ever told. “Love him for who he is, Kal, not who you want him to be. You can love him and not like the things he does.”
Now uncomfortable, she tried to turn it around on him. “Then why don’t you and Aidan get along with Ryan anymore?”
His face hardened. “That’s different, and quit distracting me.”
“That’s my line.”
“We’ll be together for eternity. We share.” He winked.
* * * *
Will let Kal drive from the restaurant. At her apartment complex she parked several spots down from her door, out of sight.
He leaned over and kissed her. “If you need me, call me. Don’t let him drive you to tears.”
“Thank you.” He disappeared and she felt the little tug on her heart that always occurred when he left.
Love.
Madly, deeply, truly, completely.
Her father pounced as soon as she opened the door. “Where have you been, young lady?”
“Shut up.” Kal hardened her gaze and her heart. She wouldn’t let him do this to her. “I love you, Daddy, but I’m not playing this game with you anymore. I hope your luggage is packed because you’re going to a hotel right now. We can have dinner tonight, and maybe tomorrow afternoon I can show you around town. I have to work, I have a production schedule to stick to, I have an entire crew counting on me, I have responsibilities to the network, and I’m not quitting. Suck it up.”
Did she actually say that to her father? She must have, because his mouth gaped while his face turned beet red.
Her mother appeared behind him. “Oh, there you are, sweetheart. How was work?”
Still stunned into an enraged silence, her father turned as if he couldn’t believe his wife wasn’t backing him up.
“It was fine, Mom, but I’m tired and I really need to get some sleep.”
She smiled. “We’re all packed.”
Her father found his voice. “We are not—”
Laura cut him off. “Yes we are, Kenneth. I told you that this morning when you woke up ranting and raving. We’re not imposing on her. It’s your own fault you did this, so I don’t want to hear any more out of you.” She hugged Kal. “Dinner tonight sounds wonderful. Can that nice young man join us?”
Kal smiled. She’d actually enjoy seeing her father attempt to spar with Will. “I think he can juggle his schedule. I’ll buy dinner.” With her father muttering dangerously in the background, but no longer openly yelling, Kal logged on to the Internet and printed information about a nearby hotel she knew was in a good neighborhood and of decent quality.
She handed the paperwork to her mother. “If you can’t get a room here, let me know, and I’ll find you someplace else. We’ll pick you up around seven.”
“That’s fine.” Laura hugged her daughter, her lips near her ear. “Good for you for standing up to him, sweetie. That was wonderful. I’m so proud of you!”
Kal hugged her tighter and fought the urge to cry. “Thanks, Mom.”
Her father wouldn’t speak to her, wouldn’t even look at her. Kal strangled her guilty urge to apologize into submission. Once they left, her mother driving their rental car, Kal turned and locked the door behind her. Then she slid down it, sobbing, her arms wrapped around her.
“Will, appareo.”
He appeared, knelt in front of her, his arms open and waiting. And there he sat with her on the floor until she cried herself out of tears.
Chapter Twenty-Two
After Kal gathered her things, Will transported them to his apartment. She spent the afternoon napping in his arms while he watched TV. He didn’t speak, didn’t feel the need to fill the space between them with meaningless words. He knew that when she needed to talk, she would.
They took a long bath together, cuddling but without making love, before leaving to pick up her parents in Will’s Lexus.
Will looked good in his pressed khaki slacks and dress shirt with a tie. “How much do you want to say about us?” he asked.
“Dating, for now. If he’s stupid enough to ask if we’ve slept together, I’ll pop him in the nose, I swear I will.” Was she really talking about her father like this?
Maybe it was about time she did.
Her parents waited in the lobby. Her mother immediately stood and hugged Kal, a broad, beaming smile on her face. “He’s very handsome,” she whispered in Kal’s ear. Then her mom hugged Will and whispered something to him that made him smile.
Her father begrudgingly stood and nodded to them, said nothing, sullenly glaring and not offering his hand to Will or hugging Kal.
The three of them didn’t let her father dampen the mood. While Kal and her mom sat in the backseat, her father sat up front with Will and didn’t speak. Will and the women kept up a lively, fun conversation. It wasn’t until they arrived at the restaurant and were seated at a table that Reverend Martin spoke.
“I’ll have you know, I don’t approve of this.”
Kal forced her face to remain neutral. She sensed he’d attack if she gave any ground. “Approve of what, Daddy? Did you want to go to another restaurant?”
Laura laughed, but her husband wasn’t amused. “You know what I mean, young lady. You’re dating this man and we know nothing about him.”
Will nodded. “That’s fair. What did you wish to know about me, Reverend Martin? I’ll be happy to answer any of your questions.”
Her father looked startled, like he’d expected a hostile response and not tacit agreement to his position. “What are your intentions with my daughter?”
“Our daughter, Kenneth,” her mother corrected, shooting her husband a stern look. Now that she’d discovered her backbone it apparently wasn’t returning to the closet anytime soon.
“Our daughter,” he corrected himself.
Will exchanged a quick look with Kal. “We haven’t discussed the future yet, if that’s what you mean. Right now we’ve only been dating for a little while. I think we need to get to know each other better before we discuss taking things to the next level.”
Kal saw her father’s eyes home in on her purity ring. “And what do you mean by that?” her father asked.
Will shrugged and put down his napkin before folding his arms on the table in front of him. Then he turned the full force of his gaze on her father. “I only have your daughter’s best interests at heart. I do not believe in rushing a relationship for instant gratification. I prefer to wait and know that one day, when the time is right, the woman I marry is the one I have decided to fully devote my heart and soul to.”
That answer apparently surprised her father. Her mother watched the exchange like a tennis match, and Kal didn’t try to distract Will.
“Why aren’t you married?” her father asked. “You expect me to believe you don’t want to have relations right now with my daughter? You’re obviously older than her.”
Uh-oh. He’d stepped in a trap Will had apparently hoped he’d trip.
Will’s expression hardened. “I’m widowed, Reverend Martin. As I’m sure you yourself are aware, when you’re married to someone, you give your heart and soul to that person. Kal is the first woman I’ve met since losing my wife that I’ve wanted to get close to, who I’ve even considered dating. I’m very patient. I’m willing to wait and see how the future unfolds. I believe true love is well worth that.”
Her father’s face flushed, this time in embarrassment. “I–I didn’t know you were widowed. I’m sorry. Kal never told us.”
“You never asked, Daddy,” Kal said, wading into the fray to help with the kill now that the quarry had been weakened and brought down. “You assumed the worst instead of trusting me. You always assume the worst.”
Will pressed the advantage. “She was brutally murdered, Reverend Martin. I spent several years emotionally unable to picture myself with anyone else and refused to consider another relationship.”
Laura Martin looked horrified. “I’m so sorry, Will. Did they catch her killer?”
He grimly shook his head. “No. Unfortunately, they were never brought to justice.”
Her father had turned from sunburned pink to beet red. “How long were you married?”
Will took a sip of tea. Only Kal knew how truly difficult this was for him. She loved him even more for it. “Not nearly as many years as I wish we’d been,” he sadly replied.
* * * *
Miracle of miracles, her father remained relatively quiet for the rest of their meal. Kenneth Martin hated the taste of crow, hot or cold, and it took him a while to choke it down. Laura Martin more than made up for her husband’s silence and even seemed to enjoy it.
Kal knew she certainly did.
By the time they drove them back to their hotel, Kal knew her mother was nearly as in love with Will as she was. As Kal hugged her parents good-bye, her mom whispered to her again. “Don’t let him get away, honey. Please. He’s very sweet, and I think he really likes you.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t.”
Her mom hugged Will, and her father reluctantly shook hands with him. Back in Will’s car, Kal hugged him. “Thank you. You were fantastic. I know how hard that was for you.”
“Babe, I would do anything for you, no matter what, to make life easier for you. You’re all I care about. Never forget that.”
“What did my mom say to you when we picked them up?”
He smiled, his eyes playfully twinkling. “She told me she really likes me and she hoped your father wouldn’t scare me off.”
* * * *
Kenneth Martin was nobody’s fool. He hadn’t expected the revelation of Hellenboek’s widower status, but he knew very well that man had anything but the best intentions for his little girl. She was special. He’d always known that even if he didn’t really believe his wife’s assertions as to how special she was from her very conception.
He would not sit by and let this man, no matter how sad his story, ruin his daughter and taint her Heavenly future. She would marry Jeff and save that boy’s soul, pull him from the sin he suspected called him. With his very own wife smitten with this…this…
He didn’t know what to call Hellenboek. He could practically smell brimstone on him, his visceral reaction to him was so strong. He’d probably had a long line of jezebels in his past and was itching to make his daughter the next in his stable of concubines.
He rubbed his head and tried to ignore their dinner prattle. It took every ounce of his being to remain silent during their meal. The pain in his head hit him more frequently. He’d had the headaches off and on for several years, but for the past several months, they came almost daily. Both his parents had suffered from migraines, and he hoped it wasn’t the start of that phase of his life.
He really needed to get his eyes checked, probably needed new glasses. Should have gotten bifocals several years ago when they were first suggested. And now this stress wasn’t helping. Yet another reason to hate this Hellenboek fellow.
* * * *
Kal called Becky a few days later and decided if she couldn’t confess a little, she’d explode. When she finished relating parts of her tale to her friend, Becky took several minutes to quit laughing.
“You really stood up to your old man? Seriously?”
“Yeah, I know. The things we do for love, right?”
Becky gasped. “You said the L word!”
“That’s right. I did.”
Kal could hear Becky’s grin. “You’re not as good a girl as your mommy and daddy think you are, are you?”
If Kal knew Becky, her friend already knew that answer. “Well, I didn’t tell my parents everything, if that’s what you mean.” Okay, that was the truth.
“Oh please, girlfriend, tell me he’s as hunky in real life as he is on TV.”
“He is.”
Becky squealed. “Girl, I’m so happy for you! You sound like a different person, really. You don’t sound like a terrified mouse anymore. When do I get to meet The Great Brooding One?”
Kal had shared her old nickname
for Will with Becky before the change in situation. “Well, he’s not so brooding anymore, to be honest. He has a fantastically sexy smile.”
“Sexy? Did I really hear you use that word? Good lord, I think Hell just froze over.”
Kal struggled to keep her laughter in check and couldn’t. “Keep it under your hat, you’re the first to know. Yes, we are getting married. No, we haven’t set a date yet, and we haven’t told my parents. I’m still trying to get them used to the idea of me seriously dating.”
“Dang, girl, you think I’m stupid or something? How’s your boss feel about the two of you hooking up?”
Again Kal failed to hold back all of her giggles. “He knows, and he’s okay with it. He’s happy for us. He actually hoped we’d really hit it off and has given us his blessings.”
* * * *
It was a scorching hot Sunday afternoon. While it didn’t take Kal long to find the cemetery by car, it took her a while to orient herself inside. When she came with Aidan, they’d appeared on the far back side, away from the entrance.
Then she spotted the large oak tree and slowly made her way to it. She’d brought a dozen white roses with her and wanted some private time alone to pay her own respects to Abby. Will had loved Abby for so many long, lonely years. In a way Kal felt guilty that she was taking his love from her.
As she approached the large azalea bushes, Kal thought she heard a man’s low, murmuring voice. She stopped, listening.
If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear it was…
She rushed forward, trying to be quiet. When she made it to the clearing, all she saw were branches moving as if someone had just brushed against them.
As if someone had just disappeared.
A dozen fresh, white roses had been tucked into the vase next to the gravestone. There was no way they could be left over from Will’s Wednesday visit, they looked unblemished. She touched one and found it still felt chilly, as if straight from a florist’s cooler not too long before.
Good Will Ghost Hunting: Demon Seed [Good Will Ghost Hunting 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 25
