Chapter Nineteen: Blindside
We pulled into the Delaneys’ driveway and were greeted by Mr. Delaney pacing impatiently under the porch light. That was strange. Perplexed, I turned around to look at Blair to see if we were in trouble. Her face blushed an uncomfortable bright red. “Guess we are late for dinner,” she mumbled as she rushed to collect her backpack.
Reid did not bother to put the car in park. His fingers brushed down my arm and shoulder as I grabbed my house keys from the center console and his tense expression eased. His empath abilities made words unnecessary; my shoulder was feeling better and he knew it.
What he couldn’t feel was the reason for the confused look on my face. Curious, he crossed over into my mind and saw my bewildered focus on Mr. Delaney’s presence. “I don’t need intuition to figure out Dr. West put in a special chaperone request. I’ll put a kiss goodbye on your ever-increasing tab and please don’t even try your high five move. Call me after you get back from Mr. Parks in the morning.”
I grinned, remembering my high five that stunned and surprised him. The memory was far away in my mind, as it seemed to have happened years ago. That was before I had decided whether or not to give Reid a chance. Now, life without him seemed like a different life altogether.
Mr. Delaney looked annoyed enough that he might come and extract me from the front seat if I didn’t hurry up so I opened the car door. The frosty night air raised goose bumps on my skin and I was reminded by what Reid said to me on the plane. His magnetic pull on me seemed stronger than ever and I forced him out of my mind as I realized he was reading all my memories.
“Unless you want me taking you, I mean matters, into my own hands you’d better get in before you freeze.” Reid’s eyes blazed and my eyes seemed locked on their inner flame. I heard Mr. Delaney’s throat clear and the ice clink in his martini glass as he swirled it on the porch. It snapped me out of the trance.
“Yeah. I need a parka. Or something…” I teased as I got out of the car and backed away. Reid drew a breath of frustration and shook his head.
“Whitney, tell Blair I’ll call her. She didn’t give me a chance to tell her goodbye,” Patrick said. He was ready to take my seat next to Reid and as I moved further from the car I promised Patrick his message would be delivered. I walked briskly toward the door under Mr. Delaney’s watchful gaze.
As I climbed up the pumpkin-trimmed steps of the front porch, Mr. Delaney did not take his eyes off the Range Rover. Behind me, I heard the tires crush the leaves scattering the driveway as the car obediently followed Mr. Delaney’s silent but loud directive to leave and drove away.
The house greeted me with the hearty embrace of lasagna and garlic bread wafting through the air, and my stomach seemed to lead the way forward as I headed straight for the kitchen. Mrs. Delaney looked up from tossing the salad. “Whitney, glad you are home. Where are the boys? I told Bill to invite them to dinner.”
Mrs. Delaney looked past me to see what was taking Reid and Patrick so long to appear. That was strange. The only invitation Mr. Delaney extended to Reid and Patrick was to exit the property. She added the cheese to the salad and continued, “I think I spent an extra half hour reading the ingredient labels in the grocery store to make sure Reid could eat everything. You are lucky macadamia nuts are not as invasive in American food, Whitney. That’s why I finally decided the safest route would be Italian. I hope that’s OK.”
“Italian’s a great choice. Food allergy can be more socially isolating than you would think and it means a lot when someone makes the effort to be inclusive,” I said as I helped Blair set the table. It reminded me of how carefully Reid had to navigate the tables in the cafeteria at school. He assured me that he took his personal safety seriously—he never ate anything from an exposed surface or without washing his hands first—but Mrs. Delaney was right that peanuts were everywhere…ice cream treats, granola bars, peanut butter sandwiches, cookies, candy…there was no doubt that for Reid going to the cafeteria was definitely risky.
“With awareness comes change, Whitney, and when you know better you do better. After all these years, this the first time I bought nut-free candies for Halloween. I’m sorry to admit that until I found out about you and Reid, I had never thought about all the kids who would go home from trick-or-treating and have to throw candy away. Halloween should not be a real-life nightmare for kids and their parents,” Mrs. Delaney said thoughtfully, and her support made me feel better. It gave me hope that other people would be as understanding and helpful.
Mr. Delaney came into the kitchen and Mrs. Delaney asked him if Reid and Patrick were ready for dinner. He innocently responded, “Oh, did you mean to invite them tonight? I thought you meant next weekend. Sorry, hon, they left.” Mr. Delaney shrugged with feigned innocence. The shrug was over the top and made his cover-up more obvious.
Blair rolled her eyes at me, confirming that neither one of us bought his excuse. Dr. West had asked them to change their dinner plans but I didn’t know why. My instinct warned me that it was to potentially prevent a blindside and that thought made me uneasy.
At dinner, Blair peppered Eileen with questions about what we missed over the weekend and I concentrated on my lasagna and trying to sort out Dr. West’s motivations. My ears perked up once Eileen started to recap the Zeta Talent Auction. I felt the familiar rev of my fight or flight instinct. There was something more to find out about this event and I could feel my senses sharpening.
“It is always held before the big Zeta Halloween Bash. You girls better be getting your costumes ready for that this Friday night. It is going to be huge and Zeta rented out the old Grist Mill,” Eileen carried on. I had forgotten that the auction was last Saturday while we were in Africa. This Zeta fundraiser involved pledges hocking a benign talent like car washing or cookie baking to the highest bidder—usually the bidder was a boyfriend or a wannabe boyfriend—and went to their social fund for one of the holiday balls.
“Oh! Whitney, you’ll be interested to know that the highlight of the auction was Karen Eubanks, if you can believe it,” Eileen said. She pointed a finger toward her open mouth as if she was going to make herself throw up and Mrs. Delaney batted her antics down with a napkin.
We all laughed and Eileen regrouped. “Her talent was a locker clean-out and reorganization. What would you guys bid for that?”
I was too wary to answer. I heard Bob Barker’s voice from The Price Is Right shouting, “It’s three hundred dollars!” in my head but that was too absurd. Great, these painkillers must be messing with me.
“Five dollars?” Blair tossed out. She looked over at me, waiting for me to offer my guess. I remained silent because I didn’t trust my voice.
Eileen accepted Blair’s attempt as enough and she blurted out, “Try three HUNDRED. That was the OPENING bid by Jeb Gillis. Jeb Gillis of all people! Gary only paid fifty dollars for my week’s worth of math tutoring and Holly got ten dollars to make some custom Gramercy tie-dye shirts.” The information shook me like an earthquake and I concentrated on creating a mask of false calm on my face.
Blair’s eyes widened with shock as she looked at me across the table. She too remembered that was the amount on the ATM receipt in Reid’s backpack and that it was Jeb Gillis’s phone number that was scribbled on the back. Blair’s ability to memorize the school directory at a glance had come in handier than I could have anticipated and it left little doubt in our minds where Jeb Gillis got his bankroll.
Eileen relished the stunned look on Blair’s face. She leaned into the table and told us, “The kicker is that Jeb told Gary he doesn’t even like Karen! I mean, come on! Does he think we are idiots? That is major crush cashola.”
Blair and Eileen discussed the paltry merits of Jeb Gillis while inside I felt like I was shattered and crumbling. While we were in Africa, risking our lives, Reid was taking care of Karen. I had to face the fact this was my own fault. I had plenty of opportunities to ask Reid about Karen and I let them all slip past me because I
didn’t want to know if this was the answer. Denial was a form of negligence and I had not protected myself. Stupid! I scolded myself.
“Eileen, Whitney knows about the Cloccans so I am not revealing too much by telling her that Zeta has quite a few Cloccans in their sorority and, since that is the case, has anyone thought that maybe someone asked Jeb to do it?” Blair tried to casually mention while Eileen gushed information. Blair adeptly revealed that there was a Zeta and Cloccan connection and that someone had put Jeb up to bidding on Karen to protect her from getting bid on by anyone else. Once again, Reid’s face came into my mind. It was impossible to ignore he had done it.
My flight instinct was getting hard to control. I wanted to escape the house and get fresh air. Mr. Parks’ house wasn’t far and Dr. West was staying there; two people who seemed to have all the answers. I started to formulate how I could leave.
“Whoa. You know about the Cloccans? That is a pretty serious secret to keep. Who told you?” Eileen shot Blair a threatening stare.
Blair was about to protest Eileen’s expression of accusation when Mrs. Delaney intervened. “Eileen, Blair did nothing wrong and, after all these years, you should know you can trust Whitney.”
“It must have been Reid. I swear Golden Boy gets away with everything. No offense, Whitney. I’m fine with you knowing we are Cloccan.”
The phone rang and Blair sprung out of her seat to get the kitchen phone. “Expecting someone?” Eileen called after her. “A certain Patrick, perhaps?”
I could hear Blair answering with her best casual hello and I followed after her to offer to let her take the call up in her room. Blair smiled in agreement and handed me the receiver.
“Hey, Patrick. Blair’s going upstairs so hold on a sec,” I said as I started to load up the dishwasher. At the same time, the doorbell rang and I could hear Gary, Eileen’s boyfriend, talking to Mr. and Mrs. Delaney. Suddenly, the house was a whirlwind of activity.
“Is there a party going on over there that we weren’t invited to?” Patrick joked through the phone line. “I can hear Gary. How come he gets to hang out and not us?”
“No. No party. We just finished dinner and Gary and Eileen are going to do some math tutoring at the library,” I explained. Then Blair picked up the phone in her room and I said goodbye.
Mrs. Delaney came into the kitchen and told me to go upstairs with Blair. She wanted to talk to Mr. Delaney alone while they cleaned up dinner. I definitely didn’t want to be around for that conversation and it reminded me that in fact, I didn’t want to be here at all. I snuck upstairs and left Blair a note in her bathroom telling her that I went to Mr. Parks’ and I would meet her there in the morning. I grabbed a hoodie, running shoes, and pants from Eileen’s closet. Everyone was busy and this was the best time to slip out.
Too late, I recognized Mr. Parks’ Trans Am parked down the street. I was about to turn around when he called my name and turned on the car. Immediately, I used my best mental defense to close off my mind, my cinnabar shield, so he could not discover how frustrated I felt that my life seemed not my own. I wanted to sort through my thoughts and feeling privately before Mr. Parks expertly crossed through my third eye.
“Reg suggested I save you the trip. He saw your future moments ago and knew you wanted to see me. He is on his way to South Carolina. Reid’s Cloccan grandfather died and it is important for Reg to show himself very much alive and in charge of Sunrise at this service. Of course, we knew this on the plane but Reid’s family wanted to be able to tell him. You understand,” Mr. Parks said evenly as we drove back to his house.
“I thought it was because there might have been a blindside. I guess I was so self-absorbed that I thought Dr. West did it to protect me. That was my first reaction for some reason.” I calmed down a fraction now that I knew their reason for changing the dinner plans. My head was throbbing and I was too angry with Reid to feel much empathy for his loss.
“You were a factor as well. No one has gotten enough sleep and Reg seems to believe not enough sleep makes for risky decision-making. Such as wearing dark clothing and running alone at night.” Mr. Parks kept his eyes on the road. I raised my hand in quiet acknowledgment at my guilt and his teachable moment. “Cloccans without sleep sometimes can be even more unpredictable and because Reid is also an empath…well, Reg thought you were at a significant disadvantage. This does not sit well with Reg since those from the Albus Clan cannot foresee the choices of Cloccans,” Mr. Parks continued.
“What do you mean?” I needed a briefing on the Cloccans. There seemed to be a lot I didn’t know and it was causing me a significant disservice.
“Cloccans are protected more than other groups from precognitives. They have something called a Cloccan Block that they can put on certain people, subjects, or objects. It is a kind of force field that is similar to what you and I would think of as an insurance policy. They are the keepers of many valuable natural treasures. Some Cloccan blocks are so powerful that only certain members of the tribe can unlock them through infrasound.”
The time Reid brought down the swing rope and used a Cloccan call in Africa repeated in my mind. Blair had looked at him in surprise because she heard him make a sound she was not expecting. He answered her by putting a finger to his lips. I needed to ask her about that tomorrow. The questions in my mind were piling up. First, I wanted to figure out what was going on with Karen Eubanks. Mr. Parks had explained a good reason why I could never figure her out.
“What would a Cloccan block feel like to a precognitive? A feeling with no picture?” I asked Mr. Parks. That was what happened with Karen Eubanks. I could never get a good read on her. There was simply a sense of darkness and potential danger.
“I am not precognitive so that is a question for Reg once he returns,” Mr. Parks honestly replied. Once again, I found myself with more questions than answers. Reid and Dr. West were gone. I needed a game plan to start making sense of my life and knew just the person to help me.
Chapter Twenty: Moment of Truth
Mr. Parks sent me into the dojo to meditate. Agitated, I kept shifting my position on the mat as my thoughts and emotions collided and battled through my head. I searched for a peaceful place of calm in my mind and could not find one. After an hour of mental struggle, I heard the dojo door open.
I was surprised to see Blair stroll in and sit next to me on the mat. I assumed she found my note and chose to ignore the part that said, “See you in the morning.” Mr. Parks was clanging around in the kitchen. The gas stove was clicking and I heard him set the teakettle on the burner. Blair crossed her legs and rested her opened-faced palms toward the ceiling as if she was late for yoga class. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath instead of giving me a conspiratorial grin. I got the message she was angry with me.
Did she run here by herself? Did she ask her parents to drive her? Either option would have annoyed Blair and would explain why she was perturbed. “How did you get here?” I whispered, breaking the silence protocol of mediation.
“I could ask you the same question. I waited for Eileen to come home and had her drop me off. You should have told me you were leaving and I would have come with you—you are not invincible, you know,” Blair responded hotly; her breathing through her nose sounded more like a dragon than a Zen breeze. She felt left out and I could see she was right. I should have talked to her. That was the root of my problem with Reid as well.
“Blair, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you behind. I wanted to give you a chance to talk with Patrick and I thought I would try and figure some things out over here before my brain exploded. My search for answers came up short, though. Reid and Dr. West both left for South Carolina.” I drew in a deep breath and blew it out. The extra oxygen was not helping the confusion in my brain. I wished Mr. Parks would have dictated a physical workout so I could have worked off my frustration and collapsed into sleep. This was agony to sit and have to sort through my thoughts.
“First of all, since you know I am C
loccan, you should also know I am bound to certain oaths of silence. I recognize you are freaked out about Karen but isn’t it obvious that she is not in your league? You should not compete against someone who is not a worthy opponent. It is a waste of your energy, and if Reid is too dumb to figure that out you should consider yourself lucky that you have freed yourself of dating an idiot,” Blair hissed with her eyes closed. I had never seen her this angry with me and I needed to find a way to repair the damage.
“I know that is true. There is some kind of disconnect between my heart and my head. I have watched how he acts around Karen and he is so annoyingly considerate and helpful toward her. It is like he wants her approval.” I managed to choke out the words even though hearing them aloud seemed to validate my worst fear.
Blair took a deep breath and I could tell she was trying not to yell at me. “Jealousy is clouding your judgment. Yes, you have seen Reid helping Karen out because she is such a disaster. It is easy to look like a hero around a chronic mess but you and Reid have a partnership built on the solid foundation of mutual respect. Strategy is your strength, Whitney, and in this case you need to apply it.” Blair’s words stung me because the truth hurt. It woke me up to the fact that I was not defining my own ground and was moving into the mental minefield of jealousy.
It went back to Tzu’s saying that “mastering others was strength but mastering yourself was true power.” This was not a problem with Karen as much as it was a problem with myself. Jealousy stems from being competitive with someone else and that is the path to unhappiness and disappointment. There will always be someone with more of something. The Way teaches to find contentment within yourself and then you will be able have the riches in life that have no measure. I had lost my way and Blair had helped me to find it.
“It is one thing to know this stuff but it helps to have some proof. I have an idea that will help show you what I mean about Karen. But you have to trust me,” Blair brokered. I knew Blair’s idea of proof would involve a stakeout and I figured this was a good peace offering. “Do me a favor and don’t do anything hasty regarding Reid until Saturday. The poor guy just lost his grandfather.”
The Light Bringer's Way Page 19
