by Jillian Neal
“Ok, see you tonight. Bye.” Emily hit ‘end’ and handed the phone back to Rainer.
“Wanna go to Dough Boys and get a few slices of pizza, then we can eat at Buoy’s tonight with Logan and Adeline?”
“Sure.” He smiled. It sounded like the perfect afternoon at the beach.
Astonished by how quickly Governor Haydenshire had worked, Rainer noted two Virginia Beach Gifted police officers make a second loop around Laskin road. Governor Haydenshire had called in the infantry. Rainer stood from the couch and brushed a kiss across Emily’s cheek. He made sure he had his phone and wallet before they headed to the boardwalk.
Adeline
“Everything ok with Adeline?” Rainer opened the door, and waited while Emily turned the key in the lock. They proceeded peacefully to his car.
Emily waved as the officers circling the block nodded to her. They would be following them to the boardwalk.
“No,” Emily lamented as soon as she buckled her seat belt.
“What else happened?” Rainer tried not to panic.
Emily shook her head. “Well, apparently her mom freaked when Adeline threw that shield last night, and then...” she shuddered. His stomach twisted uncomfortably; he could feel her disgust.
“What happened, baby?”
“Her mom got all mad because when the...guys,” she stumbled on the last word.
“Let’s go with ‘sick bastards’,” Rainer offered, and Emily nodded her agreement.
“When they ran after her, I guess they never paid or whatever. So Logan took Patrick and Connor back to the apartment this morning to get all of Adeline’s stuff. Of course they made Adeline stay with Mom and Dad.”
Rainer nodded.
“Anyway, her mom threw all of her clothes and her stuff in the dumpster before she got arrested. So she has nothing. No clothes, none of the stuff Logan’s ever given her, nothing.” Tears fell down Emily’s face as Rainer’s heart ached. “Even all of her books.”
Rainer could only think of a handful of times he’d ever seen Adeline without a book. She read avidly. It was her escape. He recalled that when Logan was trying to ease Adeline into being more comfortable with him buying things for her, he would frequently give her secondhand books. He took them to her almost every weekend, like some guys give their girlfriends flowers. She was more comfortable with him giving her the used books than buying her new ones. She treasured each and every book Logan provided her, like he’d given her gold. Eventually Logan had purchased newer editions of a few of her favorites. He’d even taken her to book signings of her favorite authors.
“Sweetheart, that’s awful.” He felt horrible as he thought of her most treasured gifts from Logan in a dumpster.
Emily nodded as her chin trembled. It broke Rainer’s heart.
“Anyway, Adeline said Logan put her in one of his shirts when he took her to bed last night. He stayed up and held her all night. He kept her casted so she could sleep.” She looked extremely proud of her older brother.
“Yeah, he’s the best,” Rainer agreed with her sentiment.
“Yeah, so’s his best friend,” she vowed, though he adamantly disagreed.
“So, Mom’s insisting on taking her shopping before they leave for here, but you know she won’t let Mom get her much,” Emily lamented, and an idea immediately came to Rainer.
“Hey, Em, why don’t I just give you my bank card, and you take her shopping when she gets here or tomorrow, if it’s too late.”
“Rainer, that’s so sweet.”
A broad grin spread across her beautiful face.
“No, that’s what’s right,” he insisted.
That is what his father would have done. That is what he wanted to do with all of the money. He wanted to help people, and maybe spoil Emily, when she’d let him. He could feel his dad there with him in that moment and he sincerely hoped he would be proud.
On the Boardwalk
Rainer pulled into one of the parking lots off of the boardwalk, and helped Emily out of the car. She seemed to float beside him. She held his hand as they proceeded down the well-worn planks that made up the vast Virginia Beach Boardwalk.
It was idyllic. Carts with ice cream, pretzels, and cotton candy were being pedaled along the oceanfront. Children scrambled for balloon animals from a clown. The salty ocean air permeated the space around them.
It was soothing; he felt peace settle on him, and he felt it as it flowed from Emily. He’d been to the boardwalk with her dozens of times, and she was always so happy here. After Cal had been killed, and she’d gotten out of the hospital, she’d begged him to bring her to the beach, but he’d left her instead. Rainer felt the sharp, stabbing regret sear through him yet again.
They made their way to Dough Boys, and stepped inside. They took a booth near the back; the parlor was crowded.
Rainer ordered them a large pepperoni, sausage, onion, and bell pepper pizza; Emily’s favorite. She beamed at him and scooted closer in the booth.
An idea came to him suddenly, but it would be nearly impossible, and he’d need a lot of help. His mind began flying rapidly. Their pizza arrived, and she dug in. Her eyes rolled dramatically as she took her first bite. Rainer chuckled at her exuberance.
“This is delicious! Seriously, Dough Boy’s pizza is the best ever!”
As he consumed five pieces quickly, Rainer realized he’d been starving. Emily giggled as he picked up another.
“It’s like coming here with Logan.”
When the pan was emptied, Rainer paid the bill, and they proceeded back to the boardwalk.
After consuming a massive amount of protein, he could think a little clearer. His idea began to take shape, if he could get all the pieces to fall into place perfectly. Rainer decided to go for it, and he executed the first step on his long list.
He slowed his pace near Indigo’s, a costume jewelry and purse shop off of the boardwalk, and tried to hide his excited grin over his plan. It was Emily’s favorite shop. She loved the eclectic one-of-a-kind pieces, and as most everything in the store was under thirty dollars, her father would generally let her get whatever she wanted when they visited.
She was eyeing an emerald-green-and-navy- blue scarf on one of the racks out on the boardwalk, beside the open front doors. He winked at her and handed her one of the bankcards he’d received the day before.
“Go get it, and whatever else you want,” he urged as she shook her head and rolled her eyes.
“I’m gonna run to the restroom. You’ll be ok for a minute?” he asked, glanced around, and made sure there were no photographers ready to pounce once he left. She nodded and leaned up to kiss his jaw.
“I promise; I really only want the scarf.”
He shook his head and tenderly cupped his hand under her chin.
“Emily, get whatever you want...please.”
He caught the eye of one of the Gifted officers who had been following them discreetly. Rainer knew he would step in if anyone else got too close. He gestured his head to a store down the boardwalk a few yards away, which had a public restroom.
The officer nodded and followed Emily into the store. As soon as he was certain she was distracted, Rainer pulled his cell phone from his pocket and sprinted into the surfboard souvenir shop. Excitement and nerves coursed through him as he made the first call.
He returned several minutes later; she was waiting on him outside the shop. He must’ve been gone longer than he thought. He grimaced and picked up his pace.
“What took you so long?” Emily quizzed.
“Uh,” he paused, “Logan called; they’re fixing to leave.”
“Good, but you know the great thing about cell phones is that you can walk and talk.”
“Right, got distracted in the surf shop, I guess,” he lied. His heart was hammering nervously from his phone call. She nodded and studied him. She’d picked up on his tension immediately. Keeping anything from Emily, even for a few hours, was nearly impossible. He moved her further down the wa
lk, and she seemed to relax as they strolled. They came in sight of the amusement park and her face lit in delight.
“Oh, can we ride the Ferris Wheel tonight?”
He hid his smirk.
“Of course; don’t we always?”
She nodded and looked ecstatic. He was suddenly overwhelmed again. His heart swelled at how the little things always made her the happiest. Emily loved the boardwalk Ferris Wheel. They had a whole routine whenever they rode. Though Logan and Connor had harassed him about it for the past seven years or so, Rainer loved it just as much as she did.
“Did you get the scarf?” he quizzed and took the Indigo’s bag from her hand. He’d just realized she was carrying it.
“Oh gosh, I didn’t give you back the card,” she panicked.
“Em, it’s fine, you keep it.”
“I don’t want to,” she shook her head.
“Baby,” he pulled her to one of the large statues on the boardwalk with umbrella-covered picnic tables surrounding it.
“Em, yesterday afternoon your dad helped me sort of spread everything around. So, it’s not like it’s all tied to that one card, and I certainly want you to think of it as yours,” he wasn’t above begging.
She bristled suddenly and reached for his hand. She was scared.
“What?” he panicked, as he looked up and down the boardwalk frantically. “What’s wrong, baby?”
A man with bulging biceps, wearing a hateful scowl, and snakes tattooed heavily from his wrists up to his neck, walked past their table. Her face paled. Rainer stood and moved to her.
“Rainer,” her voice trembled. Emily’s hands flew to her forehead as she tried to block out the terror.
He held her to his chest and pushed his shield out over her, not certain what else to do. Part of her abilities, part of what made her so empathetic, so good at helping and serving others, also made her aware of the darker side of Gifted people.
Rainer gestured his head slightly toward the man who was now making his way to one of the parking lots. She gave a slight nod.
Rainer drew a deep breath. He was never sure how to help her when she felt this. It happened so rarely.
If a Gifted person had ever used black energy, ever summoned the energy from evil, or pulled the life energy out of another Gifted person, then she could feel it. With each draw of dark energy, the soul blackened. The more often a Gifted person summoned black the stronger the effect was felt by Receivers like Emily.
Judging by her strong reaction when the man had been more than ten feet away from her, he was not a friendly guy. Unless the person summoned it in front of Rainer, though, there wasn’t much he could do.
Although Emily had never gotten sick from being near a person who had summoned black energy, Rainer knew it could be a common side-effect of having a Receiver too close to the level of hate-filled evil it would take to siphon the life energy out of a Gifted person.
“Let’s go,” he urged. She nodded, and clung to him as they walked further down the boardwalk. All talk of bank accounts and money was quickly forgotten.
By the time the sun was setting, Emily was back to her cheerful self, much to Rainer’s relief. She’d even stopped by the Top Your Bottom shop, a shop that all of the Haydenshire men found the name of to be hysterical, and she’d picked out a few bikinis for Adeline.
At seven, Rainer’s phone rang. He uttered a quick prayer and then answered.
“Hey,” he drawled. He smiled at Emily. “Thank you.” She furrowed her brow, but he pretended not to notice.
“Ok, yeah, we’ll head over there now and get a table. See you in a few.” He hung up.
“Are they almost here?” Emily trilled. Rainer nodded as excitement began to bubble in his stomach. He owed Logan big time; he must’ve flown. He was immensely thankful that the extra police Governor Haydenshire had called in hadn’t caught Logan.
Negotiations
At seven thirty, Logan and Adeline sauntered onto one of the decks of Buoy’s. They joined Rainer and Emily, who were already seated at a table on the deck.
“Adeline!” Emily squealed. She leapt to her feet and wrapped her arms around Adeline, who beamed at her. Logan and Rainer shared a quick glance as Logan slipped something into Rainer’s hand while Emily was distracted.
“I got you swimsuits,” Emily announced.
Adeline looked very uncomfortable. “You didn’t have to do that.”
Emily rolled her eyes. “Well, I don’t think you’re allowed to skinny dip here, so it’s probably good that I did,” Emily teased.
Adeline giggled and blushed slightly. The sound seemed to elate Logan.
“Rough day?” Rainer commented to Logan as the girls chatted.
“You could say that,” Logan sighed as he ordered himself a beer when the waiter returned to the table.
“My uncle still at the Pentagon?”
This made Logan laugh heartily. “Wow, was he mad!” He shook his head with a smirk. Rainer rolled his eyes. He wasn’t surprised. “Dad and Vindico were going to keep him in a holding cell until he piped down. So, he may be there until next spring.”
The waiter returned with Logan’s beer and Adeline’s water. Logan huffed. He’d missed Adeline’s order because he was chatting with Rainer.
“Would you please bring her a Dr. Pepper?” he asked the waiter. Adeline started to protest, but Logan gave her a look that had her backing down.
Logan ordered two platters of appetizers, daring anyone to object, and after the waiter had returned to the kitchen he started in.
“Adeline, please...please,” he pleaded. “For me, just for the next few days, let me buy you stuff; it would make me feel so much better. Sweetheart, I don’t want to fight with you about this anymore. You’re my girlfriend; I love you. Let me take care of you.”
Emily and Rainer looked out over the ocean, and watched the sun dip into the water as they tried hard not to intrude.
Adeline’s cheeks burned crimson as she blinked back tears. Logan stood and took her hand. He guided her away from the crowd of tables, out towards the ocean, so they could talk.
The waiter returned, and Rainer informed him they wouldn’t be ordering for a while. Several minutes later, Adeline and Logan returned and appeared to have reached some conclusion. Adeline looked more at peace than Rainer had ever seen her, and Logan looked quite terrified.
Logan seemed to physically shake himself from his torment, and began consuming the appetizers like he hadn’t eaten in a week. After making his sixth trip back to their table, the waiter seemed pleased that they were finally ready to order.
Adeline shocked Rainer as Logan gave her a challenging, almost defiant look. She drew a deep breath and ordered more than a side salad. She ordered one of the most expensive pasta dishes, loaded with seafood that Emily had been urging her to try. Logan looked like she’d just made his entire year. She beamed at him as her cheeks colored again. She stared at Logan, like she couldn’t quite understand the depths of his love for her. It was a distinctly intimate confusion. Rainer glanced away, and winked at Emily as she grinned at him sweetly.
It was almost nine when they left Buoy’s and headed back down the boardwalk.
“Let’s go ride the Ferris Wheel,” Emily chanted. Logan and Rainer exchanged a quick glance. Rainer was astonished at how one meal seemed to have soothed Adeline.
She’d inhaled the large platter of pasta, and she already looked better. Her face held a healthy glow, and her eyes lit more readily when Logan took her hand.
“Let’s get ice cream first,” Logan urged. Rainer tried not to lament that. He smiled and nodded his agreement.
“Ok,” Emily agreed.
They moved to a nearby ice cream cart and each ordered a small cone. Rainer added sprinkles to Emily’s, because she loved them, and then he paid quickly, before anyone else could offer. Emily giggled and licked the strawberry ice cream, and Rainer watched her, thoroughly enthralled.
They proceeded towards the amusement par
k. Logan slowed up, and let the girls get a little ahead of them. “Uh, ok, I’m trying not to freak.”
Rainer slowed his gait again. The girls were chatting happily and didn’t seem to notice.
“What’s wrong?” Rainer quizzed. His deep concern perforated his tone. Logan looked pale. The girls stopped outside of a women’s clothing shop.
“You care if we go in for a few minutes?” Emily quizzed. Logan and Rainer insisted that the girls go. They seated themselves on the bench along the boardwalk, just outside the store.
“Logan, what is wrong? You’re not upset about...” Rainer stammered.
“Huh?” Logan’s brow furrowed, and Rainer slapped his hand on his pocket. “Oh, no man, it’s fine, really.” He looked distracted and panicked.
“Ok, so what is it?”
Logan let his eyes close.
“Will you tell me what happened last night? Please, I’m begging you. I don’t know how to do this,” he looked utterly petrified. “I’m sorry,” Logan offered before Rainer could respond. “I know it’s none of my business, and I swear I really don’t want to know about you and Em, but I’m gonna screw this up. I don’t know what I’m doing, and this is what she wants. This is why she’s in there letting my sister buy her clothes, and that’s how I got her to actually eat something that cost more than three bucks.”
“Ok, calm down,” was Rainer’s first instruction, but it appeared fall on deaf ears.
“Look at her,” Logan gestured to the store. The girls were flipping through a rack of sundresses near the front.
“She’s so beautiful and sweet, and why does she want to do this now? I mean, last night, she almost got....” he halted abruptly. He looked like he was going to be sick.
“Logan,” Rainer spoke firmly. Several people along the walk turned to glare, but Rainer couldn’t have cared less. “Calm down.”
Logan nodded, though his face was still tinged green. A million thoughts raced through Rainer’s head; he didn’t know where to begin. He decided to wing it, and he drew a deep breath.
