If it had only stopped there, but the migraines had soon followed along with terrible bouts of insomnia. She’d stood by helplessly as he’d tried to block the voices out. She’d seen the strain in his eyes, watched achingly as bit by bit the happy-go-lucky Jake she’d fallen in love with slowly disappeared, crushed under the weight of all those voices.
When her dear friend, Callie Atlass, who was in actual fact the Goddess Calypso, had invited them to her home island of Barbados for the summer Roni had jumped at the chance. After the cataclysmic events of the past year she needed to unplug, and she knew Jake did too.
They’d stepped off the plane to find Callie waiting for them, but she’d taken one look at Jake and changed all her plans. Knowing Jake wasn’t going to find any peace and solace in the middle of a busy tourist island, she’d whisked them even further away to a small private island in the South Pacific, where there were no other guests, only a few discreet members of staff to care for them.
She wasn’t sure who, or even what they were, all she knew was that Jake couldn’t hear their thoughts, something for which she was profoundly grateful. Callie had taken them both in hand from day one. She had spent hours teaching Jake how to block his gift and how to focus it. They’d made regular day trips to nearby populated islands for him to practice his newfound skills but always returning to the peace and solitude of their island for him to rest.
The shadows beneath his eyes slowly began to disappear and he began to fill out again from the unhealthy amount of weight he’d lost. There wasn’t a gym on their island paradise and so he began to run every morning on the beach, with the added bonus of Callie teaching him yoga, although he’d made Roni swear she wouldn’t tell anyone.
One thing Roni had never quite understood was how she was immune to Jake’s mind reading ability. With the exception of those early weeks when Jake had first discovered his strange talent and he’d inadvertently picked up on Roni’s attraction to him, he’d been unable to read her thoughts. Likewise, the only other two people she knew to be immune were their friends Olivia and Theo.
She could understand why they were different. Olivia was an incredibly powerful witch and the Guardian of some of the most powerful forces of the Hell dimensions. Theo was a man out of time and a powerful seer in his own right.
But she was just so normal, she couldn’t understand it. She had no magical ability, she wasn’t from a family of magical descent. There was no reason why he shouldn’t be able to read her like everyone else, although she had to admit she was grateful for it even if she didn’t understand it. After all, no relationship, even one as strong as hers and Jakes, could survive with that kind of imbalance. It was a partnership of equals, not one where she was constantly worrying he would pick up every stray and random thought in her head.
‘You’re staring again,’ Jake smiled, his eyes still closed as the sun beat down on his face.
‘I can’t help it,’ she smiled, ‘you’re so pretty.’
He laughed and turned toward her, peeking one eye open.
His appreciative gaze skimmed over her trim body encased in a deep blue bikini, his lips curving as he reached out and traced the little bat shaped tattoo at her hip, her one and only teenage rebellion.
‘What?’ she asked curiously.
‘Just thinking about how much I want you naked.’
She laughed, ‘you had me naked an hour ago.’
‘Just trying to make the most of our last day as we’re heading home tomorrow.’
‘You worried about it?’ she asked seriously.
He shook his head.
‘No, I’m feeling good for the first time in months,’ he replied. ‘I really needed this.’
‘I know,’ she agreed softly, ‘I was worried about you.’
‘No need, no more migraines,’ he ran his hand over his rippled abs, and grinned when Roni’s gaze followed the trail, ‘and I’m back to being buff.’
‘You were always buff, you were just a skinny buff for a while. Now you’re back to being buff, buff.’
‘Buff, buff?’ Jake laughed shaking his head in amusement, ‘I love the way your mind works.’
‘Just admit it,’ Roni smiled warmly, ‘you like the yoga.’
‘I admit to nothing,’ he shook his head, ‘and remember you promised not to say anything. Tommy would never let me hear the end of it.’
‘Well,’ she replied slowly, ‘it depends. What’s in it for me?’
She yelped in surprise when he jumped up and pulled her off her sun bed, tossing her easily over one shoulder and running down toward the crystal water as she shrieked in delight.
They played like children, splashing amongst the waves, swimming through the clear warm water amongst manta rays and shoals of brightly colored fish. Then they lay out on the sand and watched as the sun began to dip low on the horizon, igniting the glittering ocean with streaks of purple and pink.
Jake watched Roni with an indulgent smile playing on his lips, as she leaned back in her seat, the brightly colored sarong she wore catching and dancing on the night breeze. A vivid dark pink flower was tucked into her hair above her ear.
‘What?’ she smiled as she placed another piece of mango into her mouth and chewed slowly.
‘You really are beautiful you know,’ he murmured.
‘Shut up,’ she laughed, her cheeks flushing pink. ‘How much of that wine have you had?’
‘At least a bottle and a half,’ he joked.
Although she still wasn’t comfortable with compliments she’d come a long way from the frumpy, slightly nerdy assistant curator lacking in confidence, that he’d first met over a year and a half ago. Oh, she was still nerdy, only he found it as hot as hell that she could hold a conversation about comic books as easily as an intelligent and professional conversation about history.
When he’d first met her, all intelligence and wild bushy hair, she’d reminded him of an adult version of Hermione Granger, one who dressed like a middle-aged woman. Now, his gaze once again trailed over her appreciatively. She was so comfortable in her own skin, sitting in front of him in nothing but a skimpy bikini and sarong. Her long, toned legs rested comfortably on a vacant chair as she leaned back and picked at an exotic bowl of fruit. Her bright blue eyes watched him from a make-up free face. The deep golden tan she’d acquired from their time on the island had revealed an adorable dusting of freckles across her nose, which he’d never noticed before.
‘You both look relaxed and well rested,’ a lilting island accent startled them from their thoughts.
Roni looked up and smiled warmly.
‘Callie,’ she greeted the beautiful cocoa skinned Goddess, ‘I was wondering if you would be back.’
‘I wouldn’t let you leave without saying goodbye,’ she sank elegantly into one of the vacant seats and reached out to pluck a slice of melon from the serving dish.
She’d given them some space. After the first few weeks of helping Jake she’d left them on their own, sensing they needed the time together.
‘Calypso,’ Jake spoke quietly, his voice filled with respect and gratitude, ‘I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done. If you hadn’t helped me when you did…’
‘Jake,’ Callie smiled fondly, ‘you do not give yourself enough credit. You are so much stronger than you think. A lesser man would have crumbled under the weight of such an ability…such a responsibility, but you, you would have figured it out eventually.’
‘Figured what out?’
‘How to control it before it controlled you,’ Callie replied. ‘Yes, I helped, but I really just helped you to skip a few steps and get to the end result sooner.’
‘Why?’
‘Why?’ she quirked an eyebrow.
‘I don’t mean to sound ungrateful and I’m not,’ he replied, ‘I’m just…’
‘Curious by nature?’’ she laughed, ‘yes, I am aware of this fact also. However, in answer to your question, I did it
for her.’
Her gaze tracked over to Roni, who frowned in confusion.
‘Me? Why?’
‘A question for another time,’ Callie waved absently, ‘but perhaps I should amend my answer. I didn’t only do it for her, I find after our time together Jake that I am reasonably fond of you and… I think you may find your particular ability will be useful before long.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Another question for another time,’ she replied vaguely, ‘I have a better question.’
She turned to Roni, her gaze deep and penetrating.
‘Why did you move to Mercy?’
‘Because Renata offered me a job,’ Roni replied in confusion. ‘It’s not exactly a secret, it was a good job, a good step on the career ladder. With that kind of experience under my belt I could move to one of the larger, more prestigious museums in New York.’
‘You still want to leave Mercy?’ Jake suddenly frowned.
‘No,’ Roni shook her head, ‘I’m not planning to. Then again, I wasn’t planning on Renata dying and leaving me in charge. I’d expected to be an assistant curator for at least the next three to five years.’
‘Are you sure that is the real reason you came to Mercy?’ Callie asked.
‘I’m not sure what you mean,’ Roni shook her head.
Callie smiled enigmatically, standing slowly.
‘You think it was random chance that you were chosen?’ she stared at Roni. ‘You think it was a coincidence that your name happened to cross her desk when there were other, more qualified candidates?’
‘What are you saying?’ Roni frowned.
‘You did not end up in Mercy by accident,’ Callie told her, ‘someone wanted you there.’
‘Who?’
‘The question is not who,’ she replied, ‘but why.’
‘Okay…why then?’ Roni asked suspiciously.
‘When you figure it out,’ Callie smiled, ‘we’ll speak again.’
Both Jake and Roni sat in bafflement as Calypso turned and walked away, watching as she disappeared from the circle of light cast by the lit bamboo braziers and into the dancing shadows along the sand. They could just about make out her silhouette, as she approached the crashing waves and the ocean seemed to part for her, rising up like a curtain of water. She walked forward, calmly disappearing as the waves crashed over her.
Jake shook his head. He’d seen some weird shit over the past year and a half, most of the time he still had a hard time convincing himself this was now his reality. He looked up at Roni who was frowning as she absently chewed her finger nail.
‘Come on,’ he stood and held out his hand, ‘let’s take a walk.’
Silently she rose and took his hand. Following him down onto the cool sand, they walked barefoot along the water’s edge.
‘You never said you wanted to go to New York,’ Jake finally broke the silence.
‘I guess not,’ she shrugged, ‘it seems like so long ago.’
‘But was that always your dream?’ he asked, ‘to live in New York and curate one of the museums there?’
‘Yes,’ she sighed, ‘I visited several times as a child. My parents thought it was educational for my brothers and I. Our family vacations were never to the beach or, god forbid, Disneyland. They were to cities of culture; Paris, London, Rome…’
‘You’ve been to Rome?’
She nodded.
‘It was torture for my brothers,’ she snorted lightly, ‘but I loved it. I absorbed anything to do with history, much to my mother’s dismay. She wanted me to be cultured, able to hold an intelligent conversation in social circles, to marry well, not to become obsessed with being an historian.’
‘The wife of a lawyer or a doctor?’
‘Something like that,’ Roni replied. ‘She was training me to be the perfect wife, just like she was. I guess I saw New York as an escape, away from Boston.’
He didn’t say anything, but he knew she meant not just away from Boston but away from her mom.
‘Do you still want to move to New York?’ he stopped abruptly and turned to face her.
‘I don’t know,’ she frowned, ‘I thought I did, but then I came to Mercy and everything happened so fast. I…I guess I haven’t really thought about anything long term.’
‘What about us?’ his free hand slipped into his pocket, his fingers closing around a small square box.
‘What are you asking Jake?’ she tilted her head as she stared at him in the pale moonlight, not entirely sure where his head was at.
‘I…’ he gripped the box tighter.
‘What is it Jake?’ she asked softly.
‘You once told me back in the beginning that I shouldn’t assume anything, that you didn’t want marriage and kids. That the world was too scary.’
‘Well to be fair, at the time there was a supernatural creature on the loose, who was devouring human souls,’ she laughed lightly.
‘True,’ he nodded. ‘Do you still feel that way?’
‘Honestly?’ she blew out a breath as she turned to look out at the crashing waves, ‘I don’t know. Every time I think I’ve got my head around being in Mercy, something else happens that shakes me to my bones. I thought I knew who I was, where I was and why, and now? Now Callie has me thinking something completely different. I don’t know if I’m brave enough to bring a child into this world, I don’t know if I’ll ever be, not knowing what I know.’
Jake relaxed his grip on the box.
‘Jake,’ she cupped his face with her hands, ‘I don’t know where your head’s at right now. I don’t know where my head is at right now, but what I do know is, I love you and I’m happy. I don’t want things to change.’
Jake let go of the box and pulled his hand from his pocket.
‘We should probably get some sleep,’ he replied quietly, ‘we’ve got an early flight tomorrow.’
2.
Roni yawned slowly as she poured herself a coffee. Smoothing down her pencil skirt and tucking her blouse neatly into the waist, she stepped into her tall skinny heels. After quite a while spent trying to learn to walk in the damn things, she was now rarely without them. She’d discovered there was something powerfully feminine about balancing in the slim elegant shoes.
Lifting her cup to her lips she turned her other wrist to gaze at her watch. It was still early, and despite the jet lag she found she was itching to get back to the museum. She’d made sure everything was in place for it to run smoothly in her absence and okay, she may have checked in a time or two, just in case, but she’d missed the place. It wasn’t just the museum though, in a few short weeks they would be launching the town’s first ever festival of magic and she couldn’t wait. The project had been her baby from day one; she was excited to be part of what she hoped would become an annual tradition and equally nervous that something would go wrong. After all, this was Mercy and if there was one thing she’d learned in the year and a half she’d lived there, it was that anything could happen.
‘Jake,’ she called out, ‘do you want a coffee?’
Hearing no reply, she headed across the room to the bedroom, as the shower in the adjacent bathroom shut off. Before she could repeat her question there was a knock at the door. Glancing down at her watch in confusion she wandered through the apartment, thinking it was a little early for anyone to be stopping by.
She stopped in front of the peephole and leaned in to take a look. Jolting back in surprise, she blinked as the impatient knock came again. She glanced through the peephole once more, just to make sure her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her, before finally opening the door.
‘Mother?’ Roni greeted her, her voice filled with wary surprise and a hint of panic. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Aren’t you going to invite me in?’ Cynthia Mason stared at her daughter.
Roni immediately stepped back out of habit, allowing her mother to pass.
Cynthia stepped into the
apartment, sniffing slightly at the scent of the coffee. Glancing around the small tidy apartment, her mouth twitched slightly in distaste, the only outward sign of emotion.
‘Close the door Veronica,’ she ordered as Roni stood, staring at her.
Closing the door behind her, Roni moved further into the room.
‘Mother?’ she frowned in confusion, ‘why are you here? Is something wrong? Is Dad okay? Is…’
‘Your father and your brothers are all fine,’ she cut her off, her eyes narrowing as she took in her only daughter. Her penetrating gaze started at the glossy swing of her chin length bob, moving to her silk blouse and tight pencil skirt, and all the way to the impractical heels she wore.
‘What on earth are you wearing Veronica?’ she asked in disapproval.
‘My work clothes Mother,’ Roni frowned, immediately experiencing that sinking feeling in her chest, the one she’d lived with her whole life, that is until she’d come to Mercy.
‘I certainly hope you don’t go out dressed like that,’ she sniffed. ‘You look like one of those secretaries that always get caught having an affair with their boss.’
Roni’s back stiffened, she was pretty sure her mother wasn’t aware she’d just called her a whore. There again, maybe she did, Roni wasn’t really sure anymore.
‘Well fortunately I am the boss,’ she replied coolly.
Cynthia sniffed.
‘A caretaker maybe, for a roomful of dusty old artefacts,’ she glanced around the room again. ‘It’s hardly taxing, is it?’
Roni found her jaw clenching uncomfortably.
Suddenly her mother turned and let out an ear-piercing scream.
‘Roni do you know where my spare…’
Roni glanced over as Jake wandered into the room. He was shirtless, wearing only his pants and checking his gun.
‘GET OUT!’ her mother shrieked. ‘GET OUT BEFORE I CALL THE POLICE!’
‘Mother,’ Roni frowned, ‘calm down. He is the police.’
‘Mother?’ Jake quirked a brow at Roni, ‘this is your mom?’
‘Mother,’ she turned to her mom who was staring at Jake, clutching her chest as if she were having palpitations, her eyes wide. ‘This is Jake Gilbert. Jake, this is my mother Cynthia Mason.’
A Little Town Called Mercy Page 18
