The Steve Williams Series Boxed Set

by J. E. Taylor

  “Thank you.” He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Jenny’s lucky to have a friend like you. Most of the women I know would blab it all over the place.”

  Tracy smiled. “Thanks.” She headed into the kitchen.

  Steve followed and took a detour to the laundry room, tossing the clothes into the dryer and stepping out. “Mind if I grab a soda?”

  “Not at all.” Tracy pointed to the refrigerator, dropping the knife in the sink. She carried the sandwich out and grabbed a beer from the bar. The two of them stepped back onto the balcony at the same time.

  Jennifer smiled with relief. For the first time in close to seven years, being with Bill had been awkward. Their conversation was stunted, and his leer definitely disturbing.

  Steve put the soda on the table between the lounge chairs and took a seat. “I put the laundry in the dryer.”

  Jennifer slid out of the hot tub, accepting the soda from his outstretched hand and taking the seat next to him.

  Tracy joined Bill in the hot tub.

  “Are you doing all right?”

  Jennifer nodded glancing in the direction of Tracy and Bill. She glanced back at Steve. “Do you have any more classes today?”

  Steve nodded. “But I’m going to miss them.”

  “They’re here now. I’ll be just fine.”

  “We can watch out for her,” Bill piped in.

  Steve shook his head. “I’ll pass,” he said. “You didn’t see how bad she looked when I got here. I’d just as soon stay to make sure she’s all right. But I appreciate the offer,” he said. “Besides, my clothes aren’t done yet and I don’t think they’d approve of me coming into class like this.”

  Jennifer sighed. “I really don’t need looking after.”

  “Yes, you do. You were barely breathing when you called me.”

  Jennifer glared at him. “I’m not a child.”

  “I never said you were. I’m not doing this for you Jen—I’m doing it for me.”

  “Don’t give him a hard time, Jen. He just wants to help,” Tracy said, flipping off the jets to the hot tub and climbing out with Bill.

  Bill looked at his watch. “I’ve got class in a little while, so I’m gonna head out,” he said, and disappeared.

  Tracy followed him inside.

  Jennifer and Steve exchanged a look.

  “What?” Steve said softly.

  “Nothing,” Jennifer said, glancing inside as Bill kissed Tracy goodbye at the door. She wondered if her discomfort was a side effect of what Steve had insinuated earlier or if Steve was actually right.

  “Feel like going for a ride once our clothes are dry?”

  “Sure. Where?”

  Steve shrugged. “Just out.”

  Tracy came out onto the balcony. “What are you doing for the rest of the day?”

  “I figured we’d get out of here for a while.” Steve answered.

  “Where are we going?” Tracy asked. She didn’t have any more classes today.

  “I figured I’d take Jennifer over to the shore for the day, a walk on the beach, and maybe a little dinner,” Steve replied with a shrug. “You’re welcome to come with us.”

  “I’m supposed to meet Billy for dinner.”

  Steve smiled at her and winked. “Maybe a few stores,” he added, and she understood.

  “Well, maybe.” She looked between the two.

  “The clothes aren’t dry yet though,” Jennifer said.

  “We can swing by the frat house so I can change,” Steve said. “You can let Bill know you won’t be there for dinner.” Steve addressed Tracy and she nodded.

  Jennifer’s face went white and her breath began to hitch. The balcony dissolved, becoming the desolate cove once again.

  Dusk settled over the water, elongating the already malevolent shadows.

  Kids no more than sixteen or seventeen, preoccupied with tearing each other’s clothing off, stumbled into the clearing, kissing and pawing at each other.

  Neither one saw the beast rise out of the water, but Jennifer did.

  “Run.” The word came out in a rush of an exhale; her lungs screaming in protest at letting the last of the breath go.

  The kids didn’t notice until it was upon them. The screams cut off as soon as they began.

  “Jenny!” Steve yelled, shaking her gently.

  Her eyes refocused on him, darting between Tracy and Steve, her breath coming in tortured hitches in her chest.

  “Breathe,” Steve said calmly. “Just look at me and breathe.” He kept eye contact with Jennifer. “Tracy, go get me a glass of water please.”

  Tracy immediately obeyed.

  “Two teenagers. It got them,” she wheezed after Tracy disappeared into the kitchen.

  “Breathe,” Steve demanded.

  Jennifer did as he instructed, staring into his concerned blue eyes. When Tracy returned with the water, Steve held it for Jennifer to drink.

  “Jesus, Jen,” Tracy said, setting a hand on her forehead.

  Jennifer broke eye contact with Steve to look at Tracy. She offered a slight smile and a shrug, and then looked back at Steve. Her breathing slowed to a normal pace. “I’m okay,” she finally said. She wanted to run, to get away from the apartment, to get away from Brooksfield and the nightmares plaguing her. “I need to change if we’re going to go.” She slowly stood.

  “You sure you want to go?” Steve asked.

  Jennifer nodded.

  “I got her from here,” Tracy said, escorting Jennifer back toward their rooms. As soon as she was out of Steve’s earshot, Tracy stopped Jennifer in the hall. “What did you see?”

  Jennifer shook her head. “I’m not sure.”

  “Bull. The last time you did that, you saw Tom die.” She scooted Jennifer into her room. “What did you see?” she asked again. A cold draft slipped out of the closet, making her shiver. She glanced at the open doorway and turned to see Jennifer staring with wide eyes.

  “Get Steve,” Jennifer managed to wheeze.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Tracy said and walked over, switching the light on inside. She looked back at Jennifer. “Nothing to worry about.” Jennifer made no move to come closer, still struggling for air.

  “What do you want to wear?” Tracy stepped inside.

  “I don’t know,” Jennifer said, catching her breath again.

  Tracy glanced at the clothing and pulled out another pretty spaghetti strap sundress, pale blue-green like the waters in the Caribbean. “I like this one,” she said and grabbed the matching flip-flops on the floor. As she rose, she heard a faint voice from the back of the closet.

  “Bring her to me,” it said.

  Tracy shook her head. She left the closet, closing the door behind her and smiled at Jennifer, handing her the dress and shoes. Paleness overshadowed Tracy’s face, the look of harried shock when she came out of the closet replaced with the plastic expression she presently wore. “See, nothing in your closet but the big stuffed bear that got you the other day.”

  “The closet freaked you out.”

  “It’s cold in there,” Tracy conceded. “I’ll have my Dad send someone up to look at the air-conditioning.”

  “There isn’t an air-conditioning duct, I looked.”

  “I’ll still have him send someone. There’s got to be some sort of issue. You don’t just get drafts like that from nothing.” Tracy headed out of the room.

  Pressing her back to her door, Tracy stared at the lake. She shook her head again. “No,” she said aloud, and then changed into a sundress similar to Jennifer’s. She would do everything she could to make sure Jennifer wasn’t yanked out of her life by whatever it was that wanted her.

  When Tracy came out, Jennifer was standing by Steve, twirling her car keys.

  “I think I’m going to pass so I can make dinner with Bill,” Tracy said. She didn’t want to be stuck as the third wheel.

  “You sure?” Jennifer said.

  “I’m positive, you two go, have fun and I’ll see
you later.”

  The dryer sounded in the background. “You think the clothes are dry?”

  “Go check,” Jennifer said.

  Steve disappeared. He came back a few minutes later in the clean, mostly-dry clothes. “We don’t need to stop,” he said, pulling his shirt over his head.

  “I need to make a quick stop at the mall to pick up a birthday gift for my Mom,” Steve said as the settled into his car. “I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all. I have to pick up some lotion anyway, so this is perfect,” Jennifer said.

  Steve nodded, although he would have preferred not to have her in the mall at the same time. “You can grab what you need while I pick up something for my mom and then I’ll meet you in the food court.”

  “You don’t want my help?”

  He smiled. “I’m just going to get her a charm for her bracelet, but if you want to come with me, you can. I just thought if we separated, it would be much quicker, and I could get you down into the salt air sooner.” He sent her a wink.

  Jennifer smiled. “Fine, I’ll go do my thing and meet you in the food court.”

  At the mall, Steve stood looking at the directory with Jennifer standing at his side calculating the window of opportunity he had. It would be tight, but he smiled and tapped the shop she was heading to. “You need to head upstairs, that way,” he said and pointed to his left. “I’ll meet you in the food court,” he added and planted a quick kiss on her lips.

  He waited until she was out of sight and took off to the right, to the jewelry store three spots down on the main floor. He walked inside scanning the rings and his gaze fell on a similar set to the one he saw in Tracy’s magazine. He swallowed the nerve bundle in his throat and looked at the clerk.

  “I’d like to see that set,” he said, pointing to the pair of rings and praying his voice didn’t shake with the bundle of nerves that attacked.

  The clerk beamed and took the set out of the case and put them on the velvet holder for Steve to see. “These are exquisite. The center diamond is one carat and flawless. The clarity is a B, which is excellent. The smaller diamonds around the band total another carat, each being roughly a tenth of a carat itself all packaged in twenty four carat gold.” He smiled. “The diamonds in your band are roughly an eighth of a carat each for a total of a carat and a half. The pair is on sale today for six thousand dollars.”

  Steve nodded. “That wouldn’t happen to be a size five and a half, would it?”

  “Unfortunately, no. It will take a couple of weeks to resize the bands to that size.” The clerk took out the ring measure and measured Steve’s ring finger. “I would need to resize yours as well.”

  Steve glanced at the mall and nodded. “Fine.”

  The clerk wrote each item up and took the credit card Steve handed him.

  “You don’t happen to have student discounts on top of the sale?”

  “Not on engagement rings,” the clerk replied and scanned the card. “But with the sale you saved twenty five hundred dollars. The retail price for this set is eighty five hundred.”

  Steve whistled and signed the slip. He scribbled his cell phone number on the slip. “Let me know when it’s in.” He tucked the papers away in his wallet.

  “Thank you, Mr. Williams. I would expect them to be ready in a week or so. We’ll give you a call.”

  “Thanks.” Steve found a bench facing the food court and sat, waiting for Jennifer. His stomach rumbling with nerves and he took a deep breath. The romantic beach proposal he had envisioned would have to wait. He closed his eyes. “I must be insane,” he whispered and opened his eyes. It was way too soon for him to pop the question, yet something was driving him in that direction.

  He raised his eyes, meeting hers.

  “What’s up?” Jennifer asked, taking a seat next to him.

  “They didn’t have the charm I wanted. Looks like I’ll have to get it online.”

  Steve glanced at the bag in Jennifer’s hand and stood. “It looks like you were successful,” he said, and escorted her out to the car. He opened the door for her and rounded to his side, hoping she wouldn’t catch the bundle of nerves eating at his stomach.

  Jennifer’s head tilted and her eyebrows drew together as she regarded him.

  “What?” he said, backing the car out of the parking spot.

  Jennifer laughed lightly. “You’re too funny sometimes.”

  “What?” He smiled over at her. Oh shit, she knows.

  “You really don’t have a clue what that smile does to women, do you?”

  A measure of relief struck him and Steve rolled his eyes. “I couldn’t care less what it does to others. I’m just interested in what it does to you.” He grinned, his dimples showing clearly in his cheeks.

  “It makes me want to rip your clothes off and do naughty things to you.”

  Steve chuckled. “That’s an interesting reaction,” he said and sent a sideways glance in her direction. “I’ll have to take you up on that when we get to the beach.”

  Jennifer blushed and shifted in the seat. “Do you have any music we can listen to?”

  Steve reached behind her seat, pulling out a case of CDs and handing them to her.

  Jennifer flipped through and found a Nickleback CD. She popped it in and Far Away came crooning out of the speakers and Steve joined in, singing along as they drove through the winding roads down towards Portsmouth.

  “You can hold a tune pretty well,” she commented between choruses.

  He shrugged. “Maybe a little, but it’s nothing compared to your voice,” he said. Her voice was pure and sultry at the same time. “Good choice of song.” He reached over and took her hand, squeezing it before he returned his attention to the road.

  With his surprise tabled for another week, his mind drifted back to the case and her most recent vision. He glanced in her direction, relishing the melody of her voice filling the car and decided to wait until they were closer to their destination before he would broach the subject. She deserved some relaxation, especially after the asthma attack.

  They continued the drive in silence, listening to the music. When the signs for Portsmouth appeared, he turned the volume down. “Tell me about the vision.”

  Her hand clenched in his grasp and she said, “Were there two teenagers on the missing persons list?”

  “No,” Steve answered as they pulled onto the short stretch of highway leading to the Piscataqua River Bridge that would take them into Maine.

  Jennifer paused, watching the sailboats on the water below. “Can we not talk about that right now?”

  Steve sighed and nodded. “For now,” he said and squeezed her hand. He pulled off before the tolls and took Route 1A toward York Beach.

  Jennifer grinned at the small quaint town of York and when Steve pulled out of the residential area into the view of Long Sands Beach, Jennifer gasped in awe. The two-mile strip seemed endless.

  Steve parked and shifted to neutral, cutting the engine. He slipped off his sneakers and socks and opened the ashtray, counting out quarters to feed the parking meter. Jennifer stepped onto the sidewalk, barefoot and still in awe of the view. Her eyes locked on the Nubble Light House standing at the far corner of the point. “Wow.”

  “You’ve never been here?”

  “No.” Jennifer allowed him to lead her onto the beach. “It’s pretty.”

  “It’s one of my favorite places. I love sitting on the rocks at high tide, listening to the waves sift through the pebbles when they pull back into the ocean. It’s soothing.” He walked down to the water line, holding her hand.

  The quiet intimacy they shared cast a peaceful, serene glow on Jennifer’s cheeks. “I love you,” she whispered.

  Steve smiled and squeezed her hand gently, letting silence fall between them. “I loved Peg but it was nothing like this.” He let out a light laugh. “We certainly have chemistry.” He glanced over at her. “But it is much more than that.” He kissed her hand as they passed in front of a b
eachside restaurant. “Being with you always felt right, even ten years ago when we were just kids.” He stopped and turned so he stood in front of her, bringing his hand to her cheek. “I loved waking with you in my arms and I can’t imagine a future without you in it,” he finished and kissed her. He took her hand and began to walk again without waiting for a response.

  She just walked alongside him, silent, her hand clasped in his. “I can’t either,” she said.

  Steve grinned and let the silence fill the space between them as they strolled, listening to the ocean lap the shore, enjoying the warm breeze that enveloped them with the salty smell of the sea.

  “Are you hungry yet?” he asked when they changed directions, heading back toward the car.

  “Getting there.”

  “You like lobster?”

  “Who doesn’t?”

  “I’ll take you to the place that serves the best lobster rolls in town,” he said and once they settled into the car, he drove farther down 1A to the center of York Beach, parking in front of a small street-side seafood place. He smiled and brought her inside. The place was small with old plastic booths and a few random tables with chairs, the smell of cooked lobsters hung in the air.

  With two cups of lobster bisque and two lobster rolls in hand, he grabbed napkins and spoons and led her back to the car. Navigating the one-way roads, he looped through the center of town and crossed to the peninsula that led to the Nubble Light House. Luck worked in their favor and he caught a front parking spot. He hopped out of the car with the meal and climbed down the massive rocks, finding a sheltered dry spot to sit.

  Jennifer followed and took a seat next to him.

  Steve handed her a cup, spoon and lobster roll and took his out, sliding the bag and napkins under his thigh so they wouldn’t blow away.

  “This is so peaceful.” Jennifer took her first spoonful of soup. “And this is so good.” She looked over at him.

  “I told you they had the best seafood.”

  “But the place is a dive.”

  “No, it’s not. It’s a seafood market. They recently expanded to include a little cooking besides just boiling lobster for their clients.” He smiled and took a bite of the lobster roll.