by T. L. Haddix
He patted her knee then stood. “You can name a kid after me or something as a thanks. Come on. Let’s head inside before the sun comes up, pretend we got some sleep at least.”
“It’s either that or start cooking breakfast now.” She followed him to the path that split off toward her apartment. “Thanks, Colin. I appreciate the talk more than I can tell you.”
“So do I.” He ruffled her hair. “Night. See you in a couple of hours.”
“Yep. Good night.”
By the time she reached her bed, her eyelids were starting to droop. It was nearly four o’clock in the morning, and she had to be up in three hours. She practically fell onto her pillow with a yawn, grateful to snuggle into the warm covers after having been out in the cool night.
Soon, maybe, she’d be snuggling up to Warren instead. Colin was right. It was time for her to suck it up and tell the man how she felt. With any luck, her cousin was also right about Warren’s feelings for her.
“I’ll find out tomorrow,” she promised herself in a whisper. “And then we’ll go on as we’re meant to be.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Noah Campbell was a bit anxious. He was a little concerned about how the message he was on his way to deliver would be received, let alone how he was going to work up to delivering it.
“He’ll be fine,” the cute brunette walking beside him said. “I’ve been trying to talk to him, but he thinks he’s imagining things. I appreciate you doing this.”
A fine shiver washed over Noah’s left side as he brushed arms with Jessie. “We’ll see how he takes it. Grandpa said it would go well enough. I hope he’s right.”
“He is.”
She faded away into nothing as they reached the barn Ainsley had directed him to, but Noah could still feel her presence nearby. He rubbed his arm absently as he stepped inside, looking for Warren. Following the low murmur of voices to a stall near the far door, he found his target. Sadie and Sean were with him, and they were looking at a young horse.
“Hey, kids. Warren.”
“Noah!” Sadie caught his hand and squeezed his arm. “When did you get here? Is Sophie with you?”
Noah smiled and tapped the end of her nose. “Just now. She’s up at the house.”
“Excuse me. I have to go see her.” She dashed off with a wave over her shoulder.
“So what’s this guy’s story?” Noah asked as the horse moved as close to the edge of the stall as he could, sniffing curiously in Noah’s direction. He obliged the yearling by stepping closer and holding out his hand.
“He has a splint, so he’s on house arrest.” Warren grinned. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
Noah nodded, a ridiculously pleased smile forming as he thought about Sophie’s growing belly and how overjoyed they both were. “They are, finally. Thanks.”
“I’m off,” Sean said. “See you guys around. Thanks for the tour, Warren.”
“Anytime.” Warren watched him leave, then looked back at Noah. “You okay? You look uncomfortable.”
Noah rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it. Do you have a minute?”
“Sure. Should we walk or sit or what?”
“Walking’s good.” He waited until they were between two of the barns to speak. “So I’m told you know that my family is a little out of the ordinary.”
Warren chuckled. “Even without your all’s paranormal tendencies, you’re not what I’d consider ordinary. But yeah, I’m familiar with the secrets.”
“Maybe not all of them. Did you know I’m a medium?”
“Come again?”
“I’m a medium. I guess that’s one ability you didn’t know about,” he said as Warren stared at him incredulously.
“No, somehow no one ever mentioned that one.” Warren gave a short whistle. “That has to be… disconcerting.”
“Sometimes, but I’m mostly used to it now.” They were close to one of the paddocks, and Noah walked over to the fence to greet a pretty Appaloosa. “I uh, I don’t really know how else to say this, so I’ll just get it over with. I have a message for you.”
Warren’s face was guarded, carefully blank as he came alongside Noah. “I don’t know if I want to hear this.”
“I’m sorry. I know this is painful, and I hate this part of the ability the most, but it’s something I have to do. They won’t let me rest until I do, and so long as the message isn’t destructive, I’m obliged to pass it along.” He scratched the horse’s jaw underneath her ear. “You are under firm instructions, and I’m quoting here so please don’t punch me, to stop being a ninnyhammer. Also, you’re too stubborn for your own good sometimes, and if you don’t get back in the water soon, you’ll find yourself getting a good, hard push from beyond if she has to gather up everyone on the other side to do it. There. I hope that makes sense.”
Noah blew out a hard breath, relieved to have finally gotten the message out, as Jessie had been after him for a week now to deliver it. He watched Warren carefully to see what his reaction would be.
Hands clasping the top rail of the fence so hard his knuckles were white, Warren stared at the ground, his throat working as he swallowed. “Ninnyhammer, huh? I’d forgotten she used that word all the time. Goddamn it, Noah. I need a minute.” He stalked down the fencerow, not stopping for a good distance.
Noah spoke soothingly to the horse, who took three hasty steps back when Jessie appeared.
“How do you think that went?” he asked her.
She shrugged, her hair moving as if lifted by a gentle breeze even though the air around Noah was still. “As well as could be expected. He’ll be okay, I hope. If he just goes to Lily, it will all work out.”
A lightbulb went off for Noah. “Ah, okay. Lily… that all makes sense now.” He knew Molly had been worried about their cousin, and she’d said a few things that made him aware Lily was having trouble with a romance, but he’d been so wrapped up with the news of Sophie’s pregnancy, he’d not sought out details.
“I’m going to go,” Jessie told him as Warren turned and slowly started back toward them. “I’ll check in from time to time, but I think I can move on now. He’ll be okay.”
She disappeared in a whirlwind, a cheerful, infectious laugh swirling around her before it faded.
Warren stopped dead a few feet away, his face pale. “I heard—did you… Noah?”
“Yeah.”
“So I’ve really been hearing her through the years?”
“At least some of the time, yes. She doesn’t stalk you or anything like that. She has kept an eye on you though.” Noah gave him a sad smile. “Last week, she came to me and said that she was going to have to knock your head into a wall to get you to show some sense. It was time for you to move on with things, and if you didn’t wise up soon, you might miss the boat. Again, her words, not mine.”
“I was not expecting this,” Warren told him gruffly. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how to react. She’s supposed to be gone, completely gone. I’m not sure I’m comforted by knowing she isn’t. Have you seen her before last week?”
“No. That was the first time.” Noah sighed. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. I don’t want you to think she’s pining away in the ever-after for you, or that she’s tied to this world with a heavy, burdensome string or something. That does happen, and it’s usually ugly and mean and dark when it does. Not always, but most of the time. Jessie… she’s all bubbly light and happiness. I’ll bet she was an absolute hellion.”
Warren laughed, but the sound was rough. “Oh, she was, absolutely. A little spitfire, but so damned cheerful about it, you’d forgive her anything.” He rubbed his eyes. “I’d already made up my mind about these things you mentioned, but knowing she’s pushing for it… I guess it feels like a benediction of sorts. So I guess I should say thanks, though I’m still a bit freaked out, if
you want me to be honest.”
Noah’s laugh was rueful and short. “Most people are.”
But Warren held his hand out to shake Noah’s, and his clasp was firm and strong. “Did you guys stop on the way in to see Easton?” Warren inclined his head toward the barn, and they started walking.
“We did. God almighty, Warren, he’s so badly hurt. But Colin was there, and they were sniping at each other like they normally do, and I have to hope that Easton will be okay. From what he said, the doctors are pleased with how he’s doing, but they’re not sure about his hand.”
“Easton knows about that? He didn’t yesterday,” he explained when Noah sent him a worried frown.
“He does now. He got pretty quiet when he talked about it, and he didn’t say much. What he did talk about was Lily and a chicken.” Noah coughed into his hand. “I hear you might be taking a trip to Italy soon.”
Warren grinned. “I did promise him we’d go get the baby she traded for the chicken, but since they ate the chicken, I don’t know how much luck we’ll have getting the baby back.”
They both laughed, and Noah figured at least some of their amusement was nerves. “I’d best head back up. I don’t like leaving Sophie alone for long, and yes, I know I’m being ridiculous and overprotective. Will you be up for Sunday dinner?”
“Not today, I don’t think. I need a little time to absorb our conversation. If anyone asks, can you make my excuses?”
“It’s the least I can do. If you have any questions, get up with me. Even if I’m back home in Hazard, I’ll be there if you need to talk.”
“I appreciate that. Thank you.”
As Noah walked back to the house, his cousin Moira, who’d been his companion since he was little, showed up beside him.
“That went pretty well, you know,” she said in a smug tone. “He needed that, and so did Jessie. She worries about him.” While she looked like a little girl, Moira would have been closing in on retirement if she were still alive.
“I’m not surprised you know her,” he told her. “I can imagine the two of you getting into all kinds of trouble over there on your side of things.”
She winked at him. “Don’t you know it. See you around!”
He shook his head, feeling most of the rest of his worry fade away. “I’m sure you will.”
Reaching the door, he looked back over his shoulder at the elaborate kitchen garden that sat between the house and the lawn and the stables beyond, and he smiled. Warren would be a good match for Lily, and Noah hoped he’d helped remove at least one obstacle that might stand in their way. He’d always gotten along well with the man, and he thought a lot of Lily. Plus, he wasn’t Owen and Sarah Campbell’s grandson for nothing. He loved a good wedding, and if he could help push things along in that direction, all the better for it.
Chapter Thirty-Six
After Noah left, Warren made a beeline for his truck, stopping by the quarantine barn briefly to tell Ralphie, the head groom, he was out for the day. He was absolutely beside himself by the time he made it home, torn between laughter and tears. Once there, he went straight to his office, to the wide bookshelf that covered one entire wall. There, hidden behind the framed pictures of his family that lined the front of the middle of the shelf, sat his favorite picture of Jessie.
Taken when she was five months along and really starting to pop out, her smile was sunny and warm and full of love. He’d caught her in a beam of pure sunshine, snapping the picture just as she turned to look at him, hands on the baby bump. She’d been so damned proud of that belly. They both had, really. It was hard to believe that less than a month after the picture was taken, she was gone.
With hands that shook, he pulled out the frame, staring at her image as a thousand emotions raced through him. “Damn it all to hell and back, Jess. Why’d you come back now?”
But he knew why. Even though he was ready to go to Lily, eager even, he’d still held some fears that he was reaching too far, too soon and that he’d read the entire situation wrong. “You knew I needed a push.”
If she’d appeared to Noah years ago and the other man had come to him then, Warren would never have let her go. He wouldn’t have been able to. But now, he was ready. And the pain that was tearing him apart convinced him of just that. This grief wasn’t the same as when he’d lost Jessie or even the loss he’d felt after he sobered up and realized he’d have to live with her being gone for the rest of his days.
No, this was the grief of knowing he’d moved on, that he didn’t wish for her to come back to him somehow. The guilty grief of having let go of what he’d felt for her, of having fallen deeply in love with someone else. He laughed as he held on to the picture and the bookcase, crying a little as well, and wondered if Lily would understand.
Finding out your late wife was still watching over you as you were coming to realize how much you loved another woman was a jolting experience, Warren was discovering. He sat on the loveseat beside the bookcase and sighed, resting his head in his hand.
“Bless it all, Jess. I guess this means I have your approval, huh? God, we were young and stupid and happy. I never thought we’d be apart on this earth, much less find ourselves happy on opposite sides of life and death. From what Noah said though, we are. I’m having a hard time getting my head around that, the idea that you’re somewhere else and there’s something after this. I’ve never really believed that before.”
He sat there for a long time, thinking about everything Noah had said, all the times in recent months he’d felt Jessie around him but had ignored the sensation, thinking he was nuts or tired or whatever. By the time he’d come to grips with this new reality, he was exhausted. Sighing hard, he laid his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes.
“At some point, I should get some food,” he murmured.
But he didn’t move for a while. Instead, he sat there and wondered if it was possible for a man like him to have the luck not just to be loved by a woman as special as Jessie, but to find such a love twice. Lily was every bit as dear to him as Jessie had been, though the women weren’t that much alike. He knew if Lily loved him half as much as he did her, he’d be one of the most blessed men on earth.
“Just as soon as I gather up some courage and finish pulling my act together here, I’m going to her.”
For a brief instant, he wondered if what Noah had done today was some kind of elaborate prank, but that thought was dismissed almost as quickly as it came.
Shaking off his uncertainty, he headed for the kitchen. He’d grab a bite to eat, take care of the grass cutting and a few other chores. By then, it would be evening, and he’d be ready to seek out Lily. With any luck, they could finally have that discussion they’d both been avoiding, and things would be settled between them once and for all.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Lily was humming along to a song that was playing in her head while she rummaged through the fridge for a snack Sunday evening. She was getting ready to spend some quality time on the deck outside the caboose, watching the stars come out. Colin was back at the main house now that he and Easton had started working things out, and the little house was once again fully hers. Given that Rachel had told everyone to go home if they needed to now that Easton was out of the woods and mostly on the road to recovery, Lily didn’t feel terribly guilty about escaping for some much-needed privacy.
She’d just decided on some crackers and chicken salad when her phone dinged. Setting the food down, she grabbed the phone, her heart tripping when she saw the text was from Warren.
What are you into? he asked.
Not much. Crackers and stuff at the caboose. You? She tapped the phone against her chin and smiled as she waited for him to respond.
After a few seconds, it came. Missing you. Mind some company?
Lily’s breath caught in her throat, and butterflies set flight in her stomach. “Oh, b
oy. I’m not ready for this,” she said into the quietness of the little house. But she wasn’t about to say no. I’d love some company. See you soon?
When he texted back that he was on his way, she let out a shaky groan. “Do I need to change clothes?” She looked down at herself. Short jogging shorts and a loose tank top. Not exactly seduction gear but comfortable. Besides, the only clothes she had with her were just as slouchy as what she had on. “I guess that’s a no.”
For an absurd moment, she wanted to call her mother and ask Ainsley what to do. But she knew it wouldn’t take long for Warren to get there, and she didn’t want to be on the phone when he arrived.
“So make your damned chicken and crackers and worry about what to do with yourself when he gets here.”
By the time he pulled up on his ATV a few minutes later, she had a platter of snacks ready. She’d added some grapes and sliced apple and even some chocolate, and was in very real danger of overdoing things.
She had to take a step back and laugh at herself as she looked at the overloaded platter. “It really does run in the family.”
Saying a quick prayer that she was strong enough to handle whatever the evening brought, she turned and met him at the door.
“Hi,” he said, his eyes warm as he smiled at her. “Are we going primitive tonight?” He tapped the antique-style LED lantern she had left beside the door as a front-porch light. Similar lights were scattered throughout the caboose.
“I didn’t want bright lights since I was planning to watch the sky. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with primitive. Hi, yourself.”
He was leaning against the doorjamb, watching her with a mysterious little smile, hands in his pockets. Handsome as sin in an old T-shirt that stretched across his shoulders and a pair of casual shorts, he was temptation itself.
Her hands itched to touch him, and in an effort to resist, Lily crossed her arms, then tilted her head, puzzled by his look. “What?”
