Walking up the steps to the back door, Jade paused as she heard the intense coughing on the other side. Her heart sank a little. She had hoped that all the tea she had made Henry drink last night and the different cold medicine she bought would have worked. Opening the door, she met Henry's surprised eyes as he coughed a few more times from his plush reclining chair. The wet sounds rattled through his chest, and Jade could see that the coughing fits were sapping the man of all his strength. Rushing to the kitchen, she warmed up some tea she had premade last night. Adding some cinnamon, honey, and some lemon to it, she brought the hot concoction back over to him and waited until he settled down again.
Handing him the tea, she ignored his tired sigh as he accepted the tea he was growing to hate.
"Did you make an appointment?" Her authoritative tone held no room for excuses.
Making a face as he swallowed some tea, he let out a tired breath. "Yes, yes," he groused. "You gave me little choice. I made it for Thursday at two and…" he paused, glancing away from her guilty before taking a deep breath and looking back at her. "Gideon took my run for tonight. He is working his run and my run back to back, so he may be late for your birthday dinner tonight."
A pang of sadness tightened in her chest, but Jade pushed it away. Gideon was being sweet by taking dad's run. He knew dad needed to rest, and he also knew dad hated missing out on earning money. Leaving Henry to watch TV in peace, Jade walked through the den down the hall, passing Gideon's room and bathroom before turning into the kitchen. Sitting at the kitchen table surrounded by cookbooks, Sandra looked up with a large smile.
"Hello sweetie, how were Ebony and Taylor?"
Setting her gift bags in front of Sandra, Jade went to the sink as she recounted the morning’s events and washed her hands while Sandra gushed over Jade's gifts.
Pulling on the ruffled apron that hung in the pantry closet, Jade smiled to herself. The pink and white striped ruffle sleeved apron was ridiculous looking by itself but paired with her sneakers, t-shirt, and shorts, she knew she was a walking joke. It was probably a good thing Gideon wasn't here yet, Jade thought. Stepping into the kitchen doorway, Jade placed both fists on her hips and smiled at her mom.
"Ok, I'm ready," she announced. "What's the first step?"
*~*
Cutting into her steak, Jade took a bite chewing the barbequed meat slowly without tasting. The empty seat to her right felt like a black hole absorbing all the light from the room.
Looking across the silent table, her eyes landed on the guilty eyes of her father, staring directly back at her.
Putting down his fork, he wiped his mouth with a paper towel as he shook his head and looked down at his plate in sorrow. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart, it's all my fault."
Just before eight, she received a frustrated call from Gideon telling her he doubted if he was going to make her birthday dinner in time. Stuck in a traffic jam that was nearly ten miles long on the two-lane interstate, Gideon had sounded furious as he told her his GPS was putting him arriving home well after midnight. Hiding the disappointment in her voice, Jade had told him not to worry about it and to take his time and be careful.
"It's not your fault," she smiled at Henry. "You're in no condition to drive right now, and it’s just bad luck for the traffic jam. I'll see Gideon tomorrow, it's no big deal."
But they both knew that was a lie. Ever since they moved in together, she and Gideon had celebrated each other’s birthday with dedicated enthusiasm, never missing a minute of it. This would be the first time he wouldn't share her customary birthday dinner with her.
It's fine, she told herself as she gave both her mom and dad a happy smile, change is inevitable. She was changing. Gideon was changing. Life around them was slowly marching toward the future bringing in the subtle tides of change. She couldn’t just stand still and resist like she was inclined to do, she couldn’t stay a child forever. She would learn to accept these things: she would learn to date, learn to kiss, and maybe even learn to love change. Relaxing her shoulders, Jade did her best to throw off the mantle of disappointment by Gideon's absence as if to physically will her body to bend and sway with the unseen forces of fate that terrified her.
*~
Opening the door, Gideon didn't even give himself enough time to stay and see if it shut properly. Walking through the too-quiet house, his heart dropped into his stomach as he stepped into the living room and stopped. With only the old, nineteen-eighties curving floor lamp still on and shining over his chair, Henry pushed himself upward in the overstuffed reclining chair where he had been waiting up for him and turned to look behind him at Gideon's grim face. Guilt flashed in his eyes as he silently shook his head, telling Gideon all he needed to know in the one solemn gesture: she was asleep, and he was too late.
A volatile heat curled within his chest. Looking down at the floor, Gideon took a deep breath, forcing himself to gather control over the flames of his anger that licked at the walls of his restraint.
"I'm sorry, son," Henry's guilt-laden voice only made Gideon want to snap further. A tiny, petty part of him wanted to take his eyes off the floor and direct his no doubt scorching look at his father in blame. It was his run that caused Gideon to be late and caused him to miss out on a sacred tradition he and Jade had kept for years. But just as the toxic thought entered his head, Gideon pushed it aside. It wasn't Henry's fault, it was the imbecile who somehow wrecked out on the goddamn interstate causing him to be late by four motherfucking hours. He knew it was wrong, but Gideon had found himself hoping the piece of shit died on impact.
"Don't worry about it," Gideon mumbled as he took a step forward to stand beside his father's chair. Leaning in, he gave the man a hug before stepping back. Reflexively his eyes landed on the door down the darkened hallway. No light peeked beneath the door's edge, no movement and no noise; she was asleep.
Turning, Gideon headed to his own room. The crinkle of tissue paper coming from his hand with each step in his hand served as an audible reminder of the night's failure. Setting the slightly wrinkled gift bag on his dresser, Gideon rubbed the back of his neck as he stared off into the distance. Was she angry? The thought didn’t get to finish in his mind before he blew out an exasperated breath as an answer. Fuck yes, she was going to be angry. Hell, he would be angry if she missed his birthday.
Stripping off all his clothes, Gideon crossed the short distance from his room to his bathroom without an ounce of shame. He knew no one would be coming back there, and Henry was most likely already settling down in bed after waiting up just for him. In the shower, he ran the soapy cloth across his chest and let his mind turn back to Jade. This would be the first time ever he missed her birthday—and the feeling did not sit right with him.
*~
Turning restlessly in her bed, Jade opened her eyes, giving up her fruitless pursuit of sleep. Anger, sadness, and frustration kept pinging around the inside of her brain like a pinball machine. Her arms and legs felt jumpy while her heart felt like it was beating much too fast for someone who was recently trying to go to sleep.
Annoyed, she flipped back the covers and cut a glance to her clock by her bed, three-o-clock in the morning. Knowing there was no chance of falling back to sleep, she stood up and opened the curtains to her window. With a little bit of moonlight, she was able to find a pair of jean shorts lying on the floor by the bed and slipped them on. Going to her window, Jade unlatched it and pulled it open. Going through the house simply wasn't an option. Between her squeaky door hinge and both her father's and Gideon's light sleeping, she could hardly make any move in the house without one of them finding out about it.
Slipping out onto the cool grass, Jade let out the breath she had been holding. Going the opposite direction to avoid passing Gideon's window, she walked carefully around the house, guided only by moonlight and memory until she was standing in front of the pond.
*~
Gideon's long powerful strides ate the distance between him and his destination with ease
. Sounds of frogs droned low in the distance while the sad chirps of unmated mockingbirds soldiered on diligently through the darkness. Reaching the pond, his chest expanded as he sucked in a sharp, relieved breath and let it out through his nose. The green and white fiberglass boat drifted languidly on the placid water laying his fears to rest. Moments before, he had been lying in bed when his eyes snapped open. Maybe he heard something, maybe it was just his sixth sense when it came to Jade, or maybe it was his body acting on his subconscious desires, Gideon wasn't sure, but something told him to go to her. But when he found himself at her window staring into an empty room, a dark, twisting poisonous thought spread through his mind. What if she snuck out to be with that boy she went on a date with? Nightmarish imaginings filled his head of his Jade, sneaking down the road to meet a parked car. Smiles and laughter would drift quietly through the air as the boy drove her off into the night.
Squatting down, Gideon grabbed the metal corded cable and closed his eyes as he stood, pulling the cable partially out of the water. She was not gone, she was here, and all thoughts of tearing apart Stardust Cove until he found her vanished. Opening his eyes with a calm determination, Gideon began silently pulling the boat back towards the dock.
The feel of the boat lurching beneath her caused Jade to jump. Pushing herself up onto her elbows, she watched with wide-eyed shock as Gideon stood barefoot on the dock, muscling in the boat by hand. Hand over hand, she watched as his biceps bunched and knotted as he pulled the soggy cable towards him, silently bringing in the boat until the edge of the boat bumped against the dock. Standing like the Colossus of Rhodes, Gideon looked down at her with a hard unreadable face as he braced one foot then the next into the boat on either side of her legs. With perfect balance, he let go of the cable allowing the boat to drift slowly away from the dock as he came down on top of her.
Her heart skipped a beat as she felt him settle his weight on top of her briefly before shifting and lying down at her side. Without a word, she made room for his bulky frame in her boat until they were tightly pressed together. The waterproof mattress Sandra had made for her at the bottom of the boat comforted them from the hard bottom. Laying partially on his chest, tucked under his arm, Jade could feel her heart constrict with unknown pain as she let herself wilt into the heat of his body. She wanted to cry. She was so happy to see him while at the same time, it almost hurt to be this close to him. Why was that?
"Happy birthday," his voice rumbled through her body.
Turning deeper into his chest, she brought one hand up and laid it on his chest. "I thought…I wouldn't get to see you until tomorrow morning."
"Well, technically it is tomorrow morning," he said dryly as his fingers toyed with a strand of her curls. "But I tried, I really did."
Guilt washed over her in a tidal wave. All the anger and self-pity she felt earlier felt so stupid. It wasn't the end of the world that he was a few hours late, it wasn't his fault. Burying her face into his chest, she let the tears fall into the soft fabric of his t-shirt.
"I'm so childish," she whispered. "I went to bed after dinner when I could've waited…I was angry. I just wanted you with me." His arm that was partially wrapped around her tightened, bringing her closer until she was more of laying on his chest than next to it. "I'm worried, Gideon," she said after some time. Closing her eyes, she continued. "Dad's cough has gotten worse. I made him make an appointment, but…" she was scared she finished mentally, not having the courage to finish the sentence.
"I know," Gideon spoke, his tone grave.
Unspoken words floated between them, but neither one said anything. They knew. They both knew the other was afraid, and they both knew nothing they could say would help. Quietly, they laid there nestled at the bottom of the boat and stared up at the night sky. Hundreds of stars winked and glittered above them as they held each other and hoped for the best.
Chapter 6
Sitting up against the mountain of pillows stacked against his headboard, Henry gave Gideon a weary look before succumbing to another fit of coughs.
Thinner than Gideon had ever seen the man, Henry laid his head back against the pillows and closed his eyes in exhaustion. Four months ago, they had all thought the trip to the doctor's office would have turned out routine. A prescription of some antibiotics and done. Hell, worst-case scenario, maybe a diagnosis of pneumonia—but never this. Years of smoking in his youth had come back for its payment. Despite stopping once he and Sandra decided to adopt and turn to a new chapter in their life, the effects still lingered in the shadows hiding and waiting until it was ready to spring out when everyone least expected it.
The proclamation of lung cancer swept through their once sunny household like a hurricane leaving them wrecked and forever changed.
"Go get your sister," Henry rasped. "I need to talk to you both about something."
Nodding, Gideon pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted Jade.
Still on her summer break from her Junior year, Jade used nearly every minute of her day alternating between taking care of their father and mother. While the news of cancer had hit both he and Jade hard, it was nothing like how it hit Sandra. The first week, her response was understandable, lots of tears and stretches of pale silence staring out the window. But slowly, she seemed to change in a way no one was quite prepared for. It was as if without anyone truly realizing it, Sandra had been much closer to her mental edge, and the news just pushed her over that edge.
Every day she woke up cheerier than the last. It was as if she alone had gone back in time and nothing at all ever happened. She seemingly ignored the fact that Henry was wasting away beside her each day and spoke to him as if all was well. She inquired about possible loads he would take that day and where to. She would even lightly scold him for not going down to the bar on Friday and Saturday nights like he used to, even going so far as to tell him that "if he kept this up, he wouldn't have any friends left." Tired and at the end of his rope, Gideon had nearly lost his composure at that time. He was beyond tired of not talking about the elephant in the room when it came to her sanity. He wanted to walk up to her and shake her and shout the facts at her, but he didn't. Swallowing his frustration, Gideon had looked past Sandra's too-bright eyes and found Jade's watery gaze staring beseechingly back at him. Holding his tongue, Gideon simply held fast to his anger, completely ignoring his mother's mental breakdown, and worked with Jade to navigate around it.
The door to the bedroom opened. About to step one foot forward, they could all hear Sandra's muffled voice from the living room ask Jade a question causing her to pause after a second, Jade answered. "Yes, I will take it out of the oven when it's ready, momma," she called back and paused. "Do you want red yarn or blue?" Receiving her answer, Jade gave Henry an apologetic look as she stepped in and closed the door.
Gideon felt his chest tighten as he noticed the strain in Jade's expression. She was tired. Between the two of them, they had been working nonstop keeping Henry and Sandra cared for. Cooking, cleaning, running errands, making doctor's calls, and sometimes Jade taking Henry to appointments Gideon himself couldn’t get to, they were stretched thin.
When was the last time he had seen her smile or laugh with him? Nearly two months ago, he thought with a ghost of a smirk. When they both realized Gideon was going to have to take over Henry's weekly runs in the new rig, and it forced them to make the decision for her to learn stick-shift so she could drive Henry's pick-up. Having taken driver's education at school last year, Jade had only ever learned how to drive an automatic. Using Henry's old forest-green pick-up, Gideon had sat beside her for nearly three hours, sometimes laughing sometimes poking fun as Jade begrudgingly learned to work the clutch and the gearshift. Once comfortable enough, she was able to run the errands Sandra no longer seemed able to run as well as take Henry to his many appointments.
"Sit down, Jade," Henry patted the empty side of the bed to his right.
Gideon sat in a chair on Henry's left and watched as Jade couldn
’t resist reaching over to straighten one of Henry's many pillows.
"I want you both to listen to me very carefully," he said, his tone serious.
Gideon shifted to the edge of his seat. Instinctively, he wanted to bounce his knee with the growing tension suddenly filling the room. There was something abruptly stark in Henry's expression, something that sat like a lead weight in Gideon's stomach. Glancing over to Jade, he felt that tension reach into his chest as he noted her worried expression and her hands clasped in her lap. They were so tightly wound as if all of the leftover fear and worry were being funneled to her hands. If Gideon could reach her from across the bed, he would take them in his hands just to break the death grip, but instead, all he could do was sit there and wait for whatever Henry wanted to say.
A Love So Wrong: A Forbidden Romance Page 6
