Oracle

by Amy Reece

  In the rearview mirror I saw the two children exchange a swift glance. I thought back to Megan’s torn jeans and the crazy thoughts I’d had. She had said he was ‘special,’ but how special?

  After snack time, the two disappeared into Megan’s room and I could hear her giggles while I started getting dinner ready. As I walked past her bedroom door, left partly open as I had requested, I stopped to peek inside. The children were seated on the floor with a board game between them.

  “It was Professor Plum, in the library, with the candlestick,” Kai claimed.

  Megan placed the cards in the center of the board with a groan. “How do you do that? You are so good at this game!” She flopped backward onto the floor.

  Kai laughed, a rusty sound, as if he hadn’t used it in a while. My heart went out to him while at the same time I thought I might have a pretty decent idea why he was so good at the game. I left the two of them to their game and went to change into my comfy yoga pants and a sweatshirt.

  “Mmm. That smells great,” Jack said when he came in about an hour later. He set his backpack on the table and put his arms around me from behind. “But this smells even better.” He moved my hair to the side and nuzzled my neck.

  I gave the marinara sauce a final stir and turned in his arms. “Hey, you.” I reached up on tip-toe to kiss him hello.

  “Hey back,” he murmured against my lips. “Come here.” He picked me up and set me on the counter, pushing my knees open to step between them. “Do you have any idea how many fantasies I have that involve you and this counter?”

  I laughed and pulled his face closer. “Well, we have played out a few of those.”

  “Oh, there are more where those came from. I would be happy to tell you all about them, if you like.”

  “Definitely, but later. Right now I need a really good kiss.”

  “A really good one, huh?” He smiled. “Let me see what I can do.” Then we both stopped talking. I melted into his kiss, deepening it and sinking my fingers into his thick hair. His hands found their way under my sweatshirt, smoothing over my stomach and creeping up. It was so nice to be able to kiss and not worry about trying not to go too far, as had been a constant challenge during the years we dated. Now nothing was off limits; indeed our only limitation was time and the presence of a child in the house.

  “Ugh! They always kiss!” said that child from the kitchen doorway. “Gross.”

  Jack pulled back, smiling grimly as he removed his hand from the very interesting place it had found. “Do I need to remind you that Ally and I are married, brat? Married people like to kiss.” He turned and swooped her into his arms, held her upside down, and started tickling her.

  “I’m not a brat!”

  “Yes, you are. Admit it!”

  She giggled wildly while her face turned dark red as the blood rushed to her head. “Okay, okay! I’m a brat!”

  I happened to catch a glimpse of Kai’s face when I took my eyes off the laughing siblings. There was such intense longing in his eyes that I gasped softly. He tore his gaze away from Jack and Megan and looked at me, quickly schooling his features back to normal.

  “Can Kai stay for dinner?” Megan asked as Jack turned her right side up and set her on the floor. “It smells so good, Ally! We’re starving!” She turned to Kai and said in a loud stage whisper, “She’s not a very good cook yet, but her spaghetti sauce is okay.”

  Ouch. True, but, still! “Of course he can stay, if he gets permission.”

  Before they ran off, Jack caught her and whispered something in her ear. She turned back and ran across the kitchen to hug me. “I’m sorry, Ally. You’re a good cook. I didn’t mean it.”

  I hugged her back, meeting Jack’s eyes over her head. He winked at me. “That’s okay, Meg. I know my cooking sucks most of the time.” I kissed the top of her head and sent her off to play until dinner. I turned to Jack. “Thanks for standing up for me, hon, but she’s right.”

  “No, she’s not. You’re a fine cook.” He pulled me back into his arms.

  “You are sweet, but a liar. Don’t worry. I don’t have a lot of pride wrapped up in my cooking skills.”

  “Well, you have skills in other areas, querida. Let me tell you about a few of my favorites.” He whispered some very naughty things in my ear. “You do still need some work on that last one, however. It’s a good thing I’m so willing to offer myself for practice.”

  “You’re so selfless, Jack.”

  “I know.”

  It was interesting to watch Kai eat; he used his knife and fork so differently than the rest of us. He cut his spaghetti into pieces and used his knife to push it on the back of his fork before putting it in his mouth. He stopped chewing when he noticed Megan and me staring.

  “Did I do something wrong?” he asked.

  “No, no! Of course, not. I’m sorry, Kai. You have impeccable table manners, unlike the rest of us. So, where in England are you from?” I raised my eyebrows at Megan to get her to stop staring.

  “London.”

  “Oh,” I said. “When did you move to the U.S.?”

  “This summer.”

  Apparently, one and two word answers were all I was going to get. But I was nothing if not persistent. “So, why did your family move here?” A why question would require at least a couple words.

  “My father got a job here.” I could almost hear him sigh as he realized I would keep asking. “He works for Intel.”

  “Do you like it here so far?”

  He shrugged. “It’s okay, I guess.”

  I gave up. “So, what was school like today, Meg? Was it fun?”

  She had none of Kai’s reservations and entertained us for the duration of the meal with a play-by-play of her day at school. It was her job to clear the table and rinse off the plates before putting them in the dishwasher, but Kai manfully volunteered to help. Jack and I retreated to the den for a precious few minutes of peace and quiet.

  I was finishing up in the kitchen later that evening while Megan got her bath. She was good at loading the dishwasher, but I always followed up with a general wipe down of the counters and stovetop. As I rinsed the dishcloth, I noticed the small ceramic cat figurine, the one that reminded me of Wicky, was missing from the kitchen windowsill. When I asked Jack about it, he said he hadn’t moved it. I asked Megan about it when I tucked her in.

  “I don’t know where it is, Ally.” But I noticed she didn’t quite meet my eyes.

  “If you broke it or something, Megan, just tell me. It’s okay. I won’t be mad.”

  “No.” Now she met my eyes. “I didn’t break it. I promise.”

  Hmmm. She wasn’t lying about breaking it, but she knew where it was. I decided to let it rest, for now.

  ***

  “Ms. Ruiz? Can I talk to you about something?” It was one of the boys from the third period English 12 class. “It’s about the lesson you did today.”

  “Um, sure.” Crap! What was his name? Kevin? Kyle? “What did you need?” I hoped it wouldn’t take too long since I was on my way out and Jack was picking me up. He had driven my SUV so he could get new tires.

  “I could walk out with you,” he offered. “You want me to carry anything for you?”

  The way he said it, with a hopeful puppy look on his face, made me realize I needed to nip this in the bud. Sheesh! “No, thanks. I’ve got it.” I headed out the classroom door, intent on making record time to the staff parking lot. The kid—what’s his name—was obviously one of the popular, athletic type guys, and was acting a bit too flirty for my comfort level. “So, what do you need?” I asked again, trying to sound as professional as possible.

  “Oh, yeah. So I was thinking about that story, the one we read today, the um, one by Faulkner.”

  “A Rose for Emily? What about it? Did you like it?” I tried to keep the patent disbelief from my voice.

  “Yeah, it was great. I was hoping we could talk more about the interpretation?”

  Okay, sure. Whatever. I in
dulged him and we discussed the various interpretations, including Faulkner’s own, while he walked me to the parking lot. When we reached the edge of the lot, I stopped and turned to him. “You don’t need to walk me all the way to my car.”

  “No, it’s okay. I think I should.” He looked over my shoulder. “I don’t like the looks of that guy over there. I better walk you to your car.”

  I turned to see whom he was talking about and smiled as I turned back. “I’ll be fine. That’s my husband, and that’s my car.”

  “Oh. You’re married. Great.” He sounded less than thrilled. “Well, see you tomorrow.”

  I approached Jack as he leaned against the front of the SUV, hands in his jeans pockets, wearing his black leather jacket and looking every inch the bad boy I had thought he was in high school. I saw he wasn’t looking at me so much as he was watching something behind me, eyes narrowed, a rather dangerous look on his face. “Hey, you,” I said.

  “Hey back,” he said as he pulled me into his arms and lowered his head to kiss me. I was expecting a more perfunctory greeting than what I got. He opened his mouth over mine, his tongue invading, stroking mine.

  “Mmmm. Jack!” I yelped and pulled back when I felt his hands curve around my bottom. “What the hell? This is where I work!”

  “Sorry.” He had the grace to look somewhat shame-faced. “Just sending a message.”

  I turned to look; Kevin/Kyle was walking away dejectedly. “Oh, Jack! You can’t think—eww! He’s one of my students!”

  “Yeah, well you didn’t have to watch him looking at your ass as you walked away.”

  “Really? That’s disgusting.”

  “No, it’s not. He’s a perfectly normal, red-blooded American boy and it’s an ass worth looking at. I just let him know you’re taken. You’re mine.”

  “Ooh, that sounds so possessive. Are you sure you can handle me?” I challenged, irritated at his possessiveness.

  “That’s what I was doing.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  We stared at each other, arms crossed, eyebrows raised, daring the other to continue.

  “I’m sorry,” he said finally. “I shouldn’t have said it like that. Forgive me?”

  I smiled. “Of course. I am yours, but you should let me say it. It comes off a bit Neanderthal when you say it.”

  He laughed and pulled me back into his arms. “Okay. I’ll let you say it from now on. For what it’s worth, you can say that I’m yours, and that I’m taken—anytime you want.”

  “I will keep that in mind. Now, don’t we need to go pick up Megan and take her to Trina’s? I was promised a date tonight. All this talk of possessiveness has put me in a mood.”

  “A mood, huh? Tell me more. What kind of mood?” he asked while nibbling on my neck.

  “Mmmm, yeah. A frisky mood.” I was losing my power to concentrate.

  “Frisky, huh? That does sound promising.” He pushed me into the car and kissed me fiercely before climbing in the driver’s side and putting the key into the ignition. He let it idle for a moment while he sat gripping the steering wheel. “Aw, screw it,” he said before hauling me into his lap.

  I had several buttons undone when my ringing cell phone saved us from a truly terrible heat-of-the-moment decision that the dark tinted windows might not have concealed. “Hello.” I crawled back to my seat, pushing my hair out of my face and trying vainly to button my shirt with one hand. Jack was banging his head lightly against the steering wheel.

  “Ally, love, it’s Grams.”

  “Hey, Grams. Um, how are you?”

  “I’m fine, dear. I need you and Jack to come for dinner tonight. Can Trina watch Megan? I need to talk to you both.” She sounded unusually flustered.

  “Grams, how about tomorrow night? We already have plans tonight.” I winced as I said it, hating to refuse my grandmother, who asked so little of me. But Jack and I needed time alone together.

  “Is there any way you could reschedule, dear? I really need you to come tonight. Fionnuala is here. She called from the airport about an hour ago, and well, she’s here. She needs to talk to you. Rather urgently, in fact.”

  Well, shit. I had some rather urgent needs of my own at the moment. “Okay. Sure, Grams. Of course. We’ll be there in about an hour.” I hung up and sat back with a groan.

  “Are you kidding me?” Jack asked with a sigh.

  “I’m so sorry, hon.”

  “No, it’s not your fault, querida. Well, let’s get this done. For the record, I had a legit date planned tonight.”

  I smiled and crawled back to give him a lingering kiss. “I believe you. Raincheck?”

  “You are killing me.” He surprised me by pulling me back suddenly for another hard, quick kiss. “We’ll get back to this discussion later.”

  Grams had ordered takeout, a testament to her flustered state: she would normally never invite guests over for takeout.

  “Ah, Ally, dear. Sure, it’s good to see you.” Fionnuala smothered me in a hug.

  “Hey, Fionnuala,” I choked out. “Great to see you too. You remember Jack, don’t you?”

  “Of course. Jack, my dear, how are you?” She practically pushed me away to grab him for a hug. “So, you two sneaked away and got married in Paris, did you? And my darling Mina married that French boy!”

  “His name is Rémy, and they’ll be here any minute,” I said, exasperated. They arrived within minutes and we all sat down for the impromptu dinner party.

  “Fionnuala, why didn’t you let us know you were coming?” I asked. “We would have loved to have you stay with us.” I saw Jack try to hide his panicked look.

  “Well, my dear, Mina’s husband isn’t the only one who has been investigating Luc Séverin.”

  “Fionnuala! My husband has a name,” Mina scolded.

  “Well, I’m sure I’m sorry,” Fionnuala exclaimed. “Maybe if he hadn’t whisked you away without so much as a ‘by your leave,’ I would remember his name.” She sniffed, her displeasure apparent.

  I saw Rémy take Mina’s hand and shake his head slightly, an amused look on his face. Mina rolled her eyes.

  “So, what did you discover?” I asked impatiently.

  “We have good reason to believe Luc is here in the United States. I thought you should know.”

  I gulped. Great. If he was in the U.S., he could easily be in Albuquerque. Why wouldn’t he be, after all? The one thing he wanted was to control me. We had hoped to escape by staging a fake ascension, but had apparently only bought ourselves some time.

  We spent the rest of the meal discussing what this could possibly mean and what, if anything, we could do about it. I lost my appetite the second Luc was mentioned, but pushed the food around on my plate in an attempt to fool my grandmother and husband. As I listened to the others hash and re-hash the situation, I found myself moving through an array of emotions: numb disbelief was first, then fear, and finally anger; burning, searing fury that churned the acid in my stomach. I was seriously pissed off. I was so completely done with this whole situation!

  I could tell when Rémy picked up on my mood and thoughts. “Well, we can’t solve anything tonight,” he said. “I suggest we all go home and carry on as normal until we know more.”

  Jack took my hand as we walked to our car. “You okay, babe? What can I do? It’s still early. Do you want to go see a movie or something? We could go grab something to eat afterward, since you didn’t eat much.” So he had noticed. He always noticed.

  “You know what I want?”

  “Anything. Name it,” he promised.

  We reached the SUV and I backed him against the driver’s door, stepped as close as I possibly could and pulled his face down to mine. “What I want more than anything else is to go home and finish what we started earlier. Please, Jack. I don’t want to think about Luc anymore tonight. Please.”

  “Of course.” He kissed me. “Let’s go.”

  ***

  The heavenly fragrance
of coffee woke me the following morning. Since Jack’s arm was still draped over me, I knew Rémy must be here.

  “Why haven’t we changed the locks?” Jack grumbled against my hair.

  “I have no idea.” I kissed him softly and sat up. “Go back to sleep. I’ll get rid of him.” I found some yoga pants and a t-shirt and padded into the kitchen where I poured myself a cup of the delicious coffee he always managed to produce.

  “Good morning, cherié.” He looked up from his iPad. “Late night?”

  I shrugged. “Not really. We got home pretty early.”

  “Well, since I followed a trail of discarded clothing from the front door, I just assumed…” He let his statement trail off suggestively.

  “Shut up, Rémy,” I said without much rancor, although I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks. “What do you want? I assume there is a valid reason for your presence?”

  “I came to invite you and Jack for breakfast. Mina is making French toast and I think we all need to discuss Fionnuala’s news.”

  Jack appeared in the kitchen, wearing jeans but no shirt. I handed him a cup of coffee before I sat down across from Rémy. “Are you up for breakfast with Mina and Rémy, hon?”

  “Hmmm.” He sipped his coffee and cleared his throat. “Sure, if you want. Are we talking about Luc?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. It’s probably a good idea.”

  “Okay,” said Jack. “On one condition: we eat first and then talk. I know you won’t be able to eat if we try to talk about Luc during breakfast.”

  “Deal.” I smiled.

  We let ourselves into their kitchen fifteen minutes later. Mina was turning pieces of bread in a skillet while Rémy sliced fruit into a bowl.

  “Come in. There’s fresh orange juice on the table.” He placed the fruit bowl between us and crossed to the stove, where he put his arms around Mina from behind and nuzzled her neck, making her giggle. He started whispering naughty things to her in French and I could see her blush from where I sat.

  I rolled my eyes at Jack. “Can we get on with this?”

  “But of course, cherié,” Rémy said, laughing. He took the platter of French toast from Mina and set it on the table. “Bon appetit.”