by Kristie Cook
“What the fuck was that, and where the hell are we?” Jeric demanded as he patted himself down while eyeing me, as though making sure we were each in one piece.
“It … it worked,” I said breathlessly as I looked around. We were in a rundown industrial area with empty warehouses on each side of us. One gray wall displayed in faded red lettering “Juneau Shipping.”
“Looks like Alaska,” I said with awe. “Score one for my intuition.”
“What?” Jeric threw his hands in the air. They landed on his hips. “Damn it, Leni, what did you do?”
I looked down at the Book still in my hands. “It brought us here.”
He glanced at the Book, at me, then back down, now glaring at it. “No way. This is not happening.”
“Look around you, Jeric. It’s definitely happening.”
“It’s not real.”
I reached over and pinched him hard.
“Ow!” He yanked his arm away.
“It’s real,” I said, and I began walking down the alley toward a road about a block away.
“Where do you think you’re going?” He caught up to me and stepped in front of me, blocking my way. He jabbed a finger at the Book. “That thing needs to take us back. Right now. And how—”
“It was a guess. A theory. Something that popped in my mind, and I knew I needed to try, so I believed as hard as I could. The warehouse might be a portal, like Jacey’s apartment building had been, or maybe not. Maybe the Book doesn’t need a portal. I don’t know how it all works, but … here we are.” I stepped around him and headed for the road.
“Babe, what are you doing?”
“I know why we’re here, Jeric. Why we came to this place.” I continued walking. His footsteps crunched on the road behind me as he caught up. “I’ve been thinking about them all morning.”
He must have made the connection, because the next thing he said was, “Oh, hell, no, Leni. You can’t do this. It’s against the rules. You can’t see them.”
“I have to. There’s a reason we’re here. In this place. There’s something I have to do. If I’m right, it won’t take long, and if I’m wrong, well, we’ll have other things to worry about.”
His hand landed on my shoulder, stopping me again. “No. Absolutely not.”
I turned around and looked him in the eyes. “You have to trust me, Jeric. You have to.”
Our eyes locked, and we stood there in a standoff … until I shivered. His features twisted.
“Shit, babe. Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously.” I spun around, knowing he wouldn’t stop me again. He knew our calling and roles for each other. I had to give him props for actually following my instinct this time without an argument and need to fully consider every possible aspect of the situation.
We made it to the road where people walked on the sidewalk with us, coming and going from the businesses lining the street. Several shot strange looks our way, both of us dressed for Florida, not Alaska, in short sleeves, shorts, and flip-flops. A sign down the street showed the temperature as forty-six. Freezing to me. I rubbed my hands up and down my arms as we came to a corner and stopped to look around. I was about to pull my phone out of my pocket to look at a map, when my eyes landed on exactly what I was looking for: the state capitol building was practically right in front of us, only a block to our right. It was a weekday and the beginning of the workday here, and my father should either be in that building or on his way.
We rounded the corner, and I crashed right into someone. When I looked up to apologize, I gasped audibly.
Tall and thin, with lighter skin than mine smudged with age spots and dark brown eyes surrounded by wrinkles, she looked like she’d aged twenty years since I’d seen her—last Christmas. I thought I’d never see her again. My mother stood right in front of me.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice laced with the edge I knew meant that she was not sorry at all. She stepped to her right to move around me. No recognition of me in the slightest.
“Ma—Mrs. Drago?” I said, catching her forearm with my hand. She looked down at it, then back at me.
“Do I know you?” Her tone was as sharp as ever.
“Um …” My throat stuck to itself, making it difficult to talk or swallow or even breathe. I’d already been through this once, had basically accepted it. I thought I had, anyway. The pain of my own mother not recognizing me wracked through me again, nonetheless, making my chest tighten around my heart and lungs. Always her dutiful daughter, though, I swallowed down the tears and smiled. “Not really. I know your husband, though.”
She sniffed. “You mean my ex. Or soon to be anyway. If you’re looking for him, I just left him and his assistant at The Oxfire, a restaurant one block that way.”
She pointed in the direction we’d been headed, then without another word, stalked off.
“Are you okay?” Jeric asked, his voice low as he wrapped his arms around me.
My body trembled, but I didn’t know if it was from the renewed shock or simply the cold air. My soul had felt nothing from hers. No connection beyond the one we’d had of parent and child in this lifetime.
“I need to be sure about him, too,” I said. I broke away from his embrace and strode down the street toward the restaurant.
I didn’t need to walk inside. My father waltzed through the doors with a blonde hanging on his arm. She leaned up on her toes and whispered something in his ear, making them both laugh. I didn’t miss the little nibble she gave his lobe before pulling away. My stomach clenched. The way my mother had said “assistant” with a nastiness only I could detect made sense. He and the woman glanced at us, giving us the standard look for being dressed inappropriately, but no indication of recognition. And he wasn’t the only one who’d known me since I was a child. The voluptuous blonde had been my father’s assistant for as long as I could remember.
“Excuse us,” my father said as he looked me in the eye for a brief moment, before pushing past us, leading the way for his mistress.
“I’ve seen enough,” I choked out to Jeric, and I ran for the alley by the warehouse since we couldn’t just disappear from the middle of a busy sidewalk. I didn’t think about minding my unnatural speed, though, and probably ran faster than I should have. As soon as we reached the same place we’d appeared, I grabbed Jeric’s arm and wrapped it around me. I didn’t know if he needed to be touching me or the Book or what, but it worked last time. I pressed my finger against the phoenix on the Book cover and believed.
The colorful, translucent bird surrounded us again, then black, then white, then my camper.
Jeric immediately drew me into a hug. “I’m sorry, babe. I don’t know why you thought that would be a good idea. I mean, the teleporting or whatever we did was pretty cool, but going to see your parents, Leni? Why would you want to do that? You had to have known—”
“It’s okay. I’m okay. It was something I needed to do.” I stepped away from him, swiped at my moist cheeks, dragged in a jagged breath, and then straightened my back. “Now I know my instincts aren’t completely broken. I was right about my daddy and that woman. Had the feeling since I was little. And that means I need to trust myself … my intuition.”
Jeric’s fingers slid under my chin and lifted it. His gaze swept over my face, as though studying it. “What do you mean, babe?”
“I know what we need to do now.” I only hoped I could convince everyone involved to believe in me just as strongly.
Chapter 21
What a difference a night makes. And a bouquet of flowers and lots of begging and pleading for forgiveness.
As I drove back to Orlando with Mason following me, I basked in the memory of the dramatic scene in my bedroom this morning. I especially enjoyed the part where he’d begged me. He’d actually fallen to his knees with hi
s hands clasped in front of him, his stunning eyes darkened with sorrow and regret.
“It was an accident,” he’d repeated, as he had in his phone messages. “I still never should have swung, I know that now, but I honestly didn’t mean to touch you. My anger was out of control, I know, and I won’t make any excuses. Please believe me. I love you, Bex. I care for other people, making them better. How could I ever mean to hurt you, the one I love most?”
Sincerity had filled his tone and eyes. I’d pretty much already decided last night that he hadn’t meant for his knuckles to connect with my jaw. But I enjoyed watching him squirm and beg for my mercy maybe a little too much.
“I’ll make up for it, I promise,” he’d continued as I sat on the edge of the bed silently. “Anything I can do for you. Just believe me that I love you. I sat with your mom all night long, partly hoping you’d show up, but also because I could when not even you or your sister can. I made sure she was okay and taken care of. I talked to her about you—we believe unconscious patients can hear us. I told her how you’d turned out to be an amazing young woman she could be proud of and that I’d always take care of you.”
His eyes had shone with tears by then, making my own eyes fill.
“You know what put her in that bed in the first place, right?” I asked quietly. “Drugs and alcohol. Drunks don’t exactly have a great track record with me, and you’d been drinking last night.”
“I promise I never will again.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t expect that, Mason. Don’t make stupid promises. But if you’re an angry drunk—”
“But I’m not! Not usually. My day—” He stopped and pushed his hands through his hair, then shook his head slowly. “I said I wasn’t going to make any excuses, and I’m not. I’m sorry, Bex. I sincerely am. I let my anger get out of hand, and I swung at the pork chop, but my judgment was off and you were closer than I thought. I know it’s all my fault. I can’t tell you enough how sorry I am.”
“It’s not just that,” I’d said. “I’d been at the hospital, thinking my mama was going to die. And you expected me to serve you? The things you said?”
He blew out a heavy sigh. His shoulders sagged, and his chin dropped to his chest. His eyes rose to look up at me through his lashes. “I know, I know. I was cruel. You didn’t deserve any of that. Your smaller than me and so fragile and—”
“I’m not fragile,” I said firmly. “I’m a pretty tough cookie. But, really, Mason. You’re a doctor. You’ve got to understand what I’m going through.”
He lifted his head and placed his hands on my knees. “You’re right. With everything. I was an inconsiderate ass worried only about myself and the shit I was going through with losing a patient, and never stopped to think that your day had been just as bad.”
“Wait. You lost a patient yesterday?”
He nodded, and now I felt like the ass. He’d even told me he’d had a bad day, and had I ever stopped to ask him about it? No, I’d been as self-absorbed as I’d blamed him for being. With Grams and likely Mama soon, I had experience on the family side of losing someone, where you feel helpless and at everyone’s mercy. I’d imagined before how hard it would be for a doctor to tell their patients’ next of kin that they hadn’t made it, but this morning I thought harder about being the one who couldn’t save the person. Being the one who may have done all they could, but that still hadn’t been enough. Being the one who everyone expected to make it all better, but you failed.
The tears spilt, and I fell off the bed to my knees in front of Mason and threw my arms around him.
“I’m so sorry,” I’d said into his shoulder as he hugged me back, pulling me tightly against him.
“You have nothing to be sorry about.”
“I wasn’t much better, Mason. I do need to be sorry, and I am.”
His hand cupped the back of my head and smoothed my hair down my back. “No, no. Last night was all my fault. I let things get out of control.”
I pulled back and looked at him. “Mason. I threw raw pork chops at you.”
We stared at each other for a moment before we both laughed. “Yeah, that was disgusting. Did I mention I took a scalding shower before going to the hospital?”
“I’m sorry,” I said again. “I let things get out of control, too.”
He pulled me back against him. “I will take all the blame. I thought I’d lost you forever because of my asshole ways. And I can’t lose you, Bex. Now that I know what life’s like with you, I can’t imagine it without you.”
Tears threatened to fall again as I recalled those words. Nobody, not even Ty, had ever said anything like that to me. And I could hear in his voice, feel in his body as his heart pounded against my chest the conviction that he believed what he said without a doubt. So here I was, driving back to Orlando with a heart full of love and hope. We’d made it through our first fight, and I thought, if anything, we might have loved each other more now than before. And that was a good sign.
As I rolled the car to a stop at the bottom of the exit ramp near home, my phone rang. Leni.
“Hey, girl, what’s up?” I answered cheerfully.
“You sound happy.” She sounded surprised.
“Yeah, everything’s great. I mean, Mama’s back in the hospital, in ICU even, but Mason thinks she’ll pull through. At least for now. I’m on my way there.”
“So you’re back in Orlando? Jeric said he saw your car this morning.”
“Um, yeah, I drove down last night for a couple of things I forgot.” I wasn’t about to tell her the truth. Now that Mason and I had made up, nobody needed to have their noses in our business. “I needed to get back here this morning, so sorry I didn’t stop by to say hey.”
“That’s okay. Um … Brock and Asia and Jeric and I are talking about coming down there. Can we meet up for drinks tonight?”
“Actually, if Mama’s doing okay, Mason’s taking me out to a nice dinner.” One of his promises to make up for last night.
“Oh, too bad. I’d, uh … we’d hoped to see you guys. We’ll be there a few days, though, so maybe tomorrow? I at least need a coffee or something with my girl.”
“Sure. Sounds good.” Once we hung up, I wondered if she’d really sounded off or if that was my imagination. I still thought the girl was a little odd, even though I’d come to like that about her. But sometimes she seemed even more so than usual. Like today. I worried about her, wondering if something was wrong. Maybe wanting to go out for drinks or coffee was an excuse to talk about something she needed to get off her chest.
I pulled into the hospital parking lot and shifted mental gears. Mason said he’d needed to go home and shower and take care of stuff before he came to the hospital, but I’d come straight here. If Mama was still doing okay and they didn’t need anything from me, I’d go home and shower later to get ready for our date. I spent a few hours in the family room with Sissy, each of us taking turns to see Mama when they allowed, but she slept the entire time. Her condition hadn’t worsened, but Dr. Munthe came by to let us know he couldn’t yet make a decision about the surgery. By the time I headed home, Mason had never showed.
When I walked in the door and into our bedroom, though, I forgot to be mad at him. A gorgeous, fancy black dress lay on the bed, the tags still on it, and good night, it took me a week of tips back home to earn that much money.
“I love it,” I told Mason as soon as he answered his phone.
“I can’t wait to see it on you. Sorry I didn’t get to your mom before you left. I had a couple other patients to see. I’m about to see her now, though, then I’ll be home.”
I took a long, luxurious shower, scrubbing and polishing every inch of my skin and removing every unwanted hair. I painted my toenails and applied my makeup carefully, following the online tutorials to create the smoky-eye look. I watched anothe
r video and tugged and twisted my hair into an up-do with half of my hair piled on my head and the rest falling in ringlets down my back. After wiggling into the body-hugging dress and strapping on my favorite platform heels, I inhaled deeply, and then stepped in front of the full-length mirror.
My eyes went directly to the dress, which couldn’t have fit more perfectly if it’d been custom sewn for me. A sleeveless number with a plunging yet tasteful neckline, the swanky material pooled around my boobs, then tightened at the waistline, hugging every curve down to a few inches above my knees. Sexy as hell, but still classy. As I turned and twisted, loving how it fit my body, the light bounced off small, sparkly pieces woven into the fabric. Damn, the dress looked hot on me.
I checked out my hair and face next and loved how the black dress set off the red of my hair and made my blue eyes pop. My gaze quickly traveled down to my feet, approving the shape of my legs in those heels. I grinned widely and nearly squealed with giddiness for the night. That first time we’d gone out to the upscale steak house, I hadn’t been prepared. This time I was and looking at my reflection, I appeared to belong in a fancy restaurant or even a club house as much as any high falutin’ debutante.
But then my eyes couldn’t help zeroing in on the tattoos on my arms and collarbone, displayed in all their glory. Or the zirconia stud in the right side of my nose, or the hoops along the ridge of my ear. My makeup suddenly looked caked on and my hair ridiculous. The dress was still beautiful, but who I was fooling? This so was not me.
My shoulders fell, my mood tumbling after. With a sigh, I bent over to undo my shoes. I couldn’t go out in public like this.
“Holy shit, Bex,” Mason said from the bedroom door, his voice filled with an awe I’d never heard before. I stood up and looked over my shoulder at him. “I thought that dress would look good on you, but I had no idea …”
I tried to give him a smile. He narrowed his eyes.
