by J M Thomas
“Actually, I could use some youth and vigor myself, bringing in sacks from the truck to the feed room,” Dad piped up.
Here it comes, I thought.
Aeron volunteered before Dad could make the suggestion, straightening to his full height. “I’ll lend a ‘and.”
“Right this way.” Dad led the brief procession out to run whatever grueling gauntlet of tasks he’d prepared for whichever boyfriend I brought home.
“Hey, ma…” I made my way back into the kitchen, the sound of competitive green bean snapping championships trailing behind me in my wake.
“Yeah?” It was a blue ribbon strawberry rhubarb pie, that distinct lemon and berry sweetness and tartness filling the kitchen as she set the hot dish gently on the stovetop to rest until the liquid set up.
My mouth watered. “First off, that smells amazing. Second, when any of the boys brings home a girl, what kind of feats of greatness will you make her do, since Aeron’s having to stack fifty-pound feed sacks?” I leaned on the countertop, making myself a nuisance stirring the crockpot’s contents unnecessarily.
“I dunno. Maybe you can help me think of something.” Mom wore a good-natured smile. “Don’t worry, Celeste. He looks like he can handle himself. Your dad just wants to see what he’s made of.”
“Yeah, but he literally just got his cast off a broken leg. He only got off lifting restrictions last week.” And a few other things... “I’m afraid he’ll overdo it in some weird sense of needing to be macho for my sake.” I hovered over the pie, taking in the scent as steam wafted across the kitchen.
“Oh shush, no man ever tried to be macho for a woman. They do it for each other. We’re just the excuse so we can be roped into their silliness.” Mom waved a potholder with a dismissive flop, pulling her apron off again. “Now, as soon as those green beans are done, we can toss them in a skillet with some herbs and butter.”
“I’ll go check on them,” I said, already halfway to the living room. “I put the twins to work.”
She raised her voice just loud enough to be heard by the twins. “‘Bout time somebody got those lazy bums helping out around here!”
I didn’t have to go far. They were already triumphantly bringing in their bowls of beans, vigorously arguing about who’d snapped the most.
Chapter 35 – One Fate
After about an hour spent catching up with Mom, I started to get nervous for Aeron and Dad. They’d barely been introduced, and they were getting an awful lot of quality time together. That could either be a great thing or a terrible thing. My mind started spinning up scenarios as to what on Earth they could be having a hen party about.
I stirred the crockpot for about the fifth time. “Mom… what exactly was Dad planning with Aeron?”
“I think he’d stored up some chores so they could have a nice, long talk. Stall mucking, feed carrying, that sorta thing.” She flashed me a smile that somehow managed to be both mischievous and reassuring at the same time. Then she peeked out the tiny window over the kitchen sink where her hands worked at a trouble spot on a frying pan. “Here comes your father now.”
“What, without Aeron?” I scrunched my eyebrows, then joined her at the window.
“He didn’t eat him. I swear, I feed your father three square.” She gave my shoulder a little nudge.
Dad came through the door like he was on a mission to Mars and liftoff’d been announced. I barely managed to catch hold of his arm on his way up the carpeted stairs.
“Well?” I asked.
“Well what?” He answered me, screwing his face into an inscrutable mask the more I tried to read his expression.
“Dad!” I tugged on his arm. “Go on, how do you like him?”
“Good man,” Dad said, his lips still twitching.
“And?” I squinted, turning loose.
“And here he comes up the walk now. You should go show him the farm—you remember where everything is, right?” Dad gently shoved me back, his sun-leathered expression cracking into a good-natured smile.
I turned my attention to the door in time for Aeron’s signature tap on the wood. Releasing my father, I pivoted on my heel to answer the door, feigning a casual distaste as I cracked the door open. “I’m sorry, who are you?”
Aeron put his eyes up to mine through the crack, so close our noses bumped. “Pizza delivery, miss. I believe you ordered extra spicy meat.”
“Stop!” I laughed, shoving his face back with a gentle push as I opened the door. He was sweating profusely enough that his shirt had darkened a bit, and he’d already shed his newly-mended jacket somewhere, a surefire sign he was feeling comfortable and safe here. “Wanna go see everything?”
“Sure, after I get a glass of water from this generous angel.” He turned to my mom, who already held out a glass filled with cool water from the tap. “See, it ain’t for want of good example you treat me like this. It’s ‘er favver in ‘er, amiright, mum?” The words were barely out of his mouth when he tipped the glass back and took a long series of swallows.
“Aww, I don’t know about that.” Mom laughed bashfully. “Celeste, I see you’ve found somebody who can take you to that honeymoon in Scotland you always dreamed of.”
Aeron nearly choked on his water. He barely managed to recover in time, a drip spilling down his chin. He wiped it away with a rough swipe from one hand, holding up a finger. “What’s this about ‘oneymoonin’ in Scotland? You like men in kilts, is ‘at it?”
I waved both hands in front of me as my mother’s face reddened with barely-contained laughter.
As if the chance to pester me summoned them from their crypts, my brothers—all three of them, which had to be some kind of record—managed to all gather around the kitchen table.
“Oh yeah,” Garret rolled his eyes. “We’ve not had to watch stupid classical romance shows at all since you’ve been gone. It’s been all Dad’s war documentaries and Mom’s old chick flicks.”
“What, like you haven’t watched your fair share of picks for family movie night!” Mom looked almost genuinely offended. “You guys outnumber us three to two! I’ve watched every anime they’ve ever made!”
“Wait… I’m still needin’ to clear this up…” Aeron put a fist on his hip. “You like Scots? Your mum ‘ere finks I’m Scottish?”
“Mom…” I was certain my face was bright red. “He’s from London.”
“And that’s in…” She made a funny face, like she was searching for where in the world London could be. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught her casting a little wink at Aeron.
“You’re playing!” I pointed my finger at her in mock outrage. “You know! You can’t not know!”
“Aww, but all of a sudden you’re so interested in geography, Celeste,” Garret butted in.
“You all hush.” I made an encompassing gesture with my index finger. “Aeron, farm tour. Peanut gallery, go hull some peas or something with all that energy. Mom…” I stopped shy of bossing my mother around, instead giving her a peck on the cheek before grabbing my shoes and prancing out the door.
He was still laughing his jovial “heehee” when he shut the door he’d been holding open for me. I could’ve sworn I heard more cackling from inside as well, but the cool breeze and warm sun was already working on my mood. “Laugh it up. You know I’m gonna ask you what my dad said and did as soon as we’re out of earshot of the three stooges back there, so don’t you even start.”
He couldn’t hide his chuckles any more than I could hide my smile. “‘E’s a good fella, your dad. We got on just fine.”
I handed Aeron a pair of mud boots to slip on instead of his motorcycle-riding ones. Then I grabbed my mom’s from the rack we kept in the garage for the farm shoes, depositing my sandals in their place to trade off when we got back. “And? I swear, I had to prod him just as much as you, you stubborn bunch of… men.”
Aeron took a few practice steps around the yard, his heels making squeaking noises as he worked them into the boots. “I dinnae ken
what it ess you’re talkin’ aboot. Troy talkin’ Sco’ish.”
“Uggh.” I gave my eyes a playful roll, then made to march ahead of him.
He caught my cheek in his hand, stopping me for a kiss. At first it was a gentle kiss, then it was a passionate one. My hand snaked around the back of his head to bury my fingers in his hair as I returned his intensity.
From the kitchen door, a sudden burst of applause echoed as six teenaged boy hands clapped their approval for our technique.
“Oh, shut up!” I waved them off, then slipped my hand in Aeron’s and we made our way down to the paddock.
“To be ‘onest wiv you, I’m a bit jealous.” Aeron squinted at the sun as we passed through the barn on our way to the chicken coop. “All this, it’s my idea of paradise. Family what loves you, bunch o’ kids, livin’ simple. I’m worried you seemed so inclined to escape this for my kind of living. Why not go back?”
I pointed up the road. “On our way here, we passed where my high school sweetheart was gored to death. Those mountains back there you can see off in the distance? They aren’t my mountains. They’re the mountains where somebody hurt my best friend, so bad she decided life wasn’t worth living anymore.” I swallowed hard. “Every week, it seems, either something goes to slaughter, a chick dies, something.”
Aeron looked troubled. “And you fink you can escape deaf wiv me? Wiv a battle necro?”
“No, it’s not like that…” I shook my head. “Forget it.”
“I need to know, Lessie. It’s important for the bit what comes next.” Aeron squeezed my hand as we came to a stop in front of a brooding mother hen. A tiny peeping chick poked its head out from beneath her feathers like it’d gotten turned around by accident.
“It’s just… over here, if I try to bring light and life into things, I just get swept into this cycle. There’s always something else to do, a stall to muck, a crop to bring in. Then you blink and find years have gone by, and you’re still in the same rut, just making enough to get by and do it again next year.”
I circled the toe of my boot in the dirt. “Then I go out there, and when I put my back into my art, my work makes a difference outside these hundred-fifty acres. It impacts people, bringing them together. Death isn’t a reminder that I’m wasting my life anymore, Aeron.” I glanced up at him. “It’s just a reminder that my time is precious.”
“Well.” He wrapped his strong arm around my shoulders and gave me a light squeeze. “If you need reminding that you’re precious, you know where to go, orright?”
“Yes.” I tucked my head into his shoulder, a smile creeping up my lips.
“‘Ere’s a spirit ‘ere.” He flicked his gaze over toward the house suddenly, then pointed at it with his chin. “One of your family, yeah?”
I perked up. “What do you mean?”
“You lot lost someone.” He said it so simply, like it was a matter of clear fact, not a question.
“How could you tell?” I asked, impressed. “Ghost in the attic or something?”
“Nah, love. It’s ‘overin’ over your mum mostly, but when it gets ‘eavy, she goes transferrin’ it off ‘er shoulders onto you.” Aeron’s hand waved to demonstrate. “Sharin’ the burden of the memory, yeah?”
“You read that?” My eyes widened in surprise, even as I rested against his embrace. “Are we… haunted?”
Aeron’s laugh echoed in his chest beneath my ear. “No readin’, just noticin’.” He shrugged. “From a professional standpoint, I’d say leave it as is. It’s a weight, to be sure, the burden of grief. But your mum, she’s ‘oldin’ up well, and passin’ it around a bit gives the ‘ole family summin’ to bring ‘em togevver.”
“I won’t mention it, then.” A frown weighed on the edges of my lips. “Still, I’m a little bit surprised that it’s the first thing you noticed about my family, besides that my dad likes to pester the newcomers.”
Aeron cleared his throat. “About your dad...”
I popped my head up again, sliding out of his grip as I intertwined my fingers with his. “Yes?”
“I’ve gotten orders again, Lessie. I ‘ave a few more weeks recovery, then it’s back to London to train up for the next assignment. I asked ‘im ‘ow ‘e’d feel if I took you wiv me, show you around.” He inclined his head. “Maybe ‘ave you present your server fing to the Ministry blokes an’ get someone on ‘at code.”
I burst into a wide grin. “And here I was thinking you’d asked him for my hand.”
A look of sheer terror passed across Aeron’s face. “Woah, Lessie, we’ve known each ovver ‘ow long?”
I pulled free of his embrace, stretching our intertwined hands to the full length of our arms. He pulled me into a twirl, then a low dip. “Yeah, but you should’ve seen your face.”
“I’ve ‘alf a mind to throw you in wiv the chickens.” A twinkle in his eye matched his smirk as he held me aloft as if he’d drop me at any second.
I wouldn’t put it past him. “That’s a load off my mind, then,” I said as he righted me again, my shoes sliding in the straw.
“Look, it’s not like I mind the idea. But…” His eyes seemed to search every corner of the horizon for an answer he couldn’t quite draw out of himself.
I squeezed his hand. “But what?”
Aeron swallowed hard. “You remember ol’ Sian back in Wachenta, yeah? All that shit about unpackin’ the flat?”
“There’s a moment I’d rather not have brought up in regard to you and me.” Narrowing my eyes, I gave Aeron a look. “You think there’s more we need to go through together before we make that kind of commitment?”
He gave me a fierce nod. “I’ve seen fings go sideways when rushed, Lessie. It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s that we need to see ‘ow we work togevver…” His fingertip traced its way down the bridge of my nose. “...When there’s only us at stake.”
“Only us at stake.” I shook my head incredulously. “You say it like it’s such an unusual thing, a normal relationship with people who aren’t saving the city or banishing demons…”
Now it was his turn to give me a hard look.
“Spirits. Ghosts. Souls? Sorry, you could see why it might be all the same to me.” I grinned sheepishly. “You’ll have to add ‘teaching Celeste a thing or two about necromancy’ to that unpacking list.”
He at least managed to make his disapproving glower look playful. “Oh, it’s on the damn list. Believe me.”
Chapter 36 – If Bird
I was almost asleep the night before we were set to leave for the airport when a distinctive tap thumped my bedroom’s windowpane.
With a groggy stumble, I dodged the piles and rolling carts loaded down with Mom’s craft supplies and opened the double window. “What the heck, Aeron? What’s wrong? Why…”
“Shh!” He beckoned me with one hand, already climbing down Dad’s pilfered ladder to give me room. “C’mon!”
“It can’t wait until tomorrow? It’s…” I glanced at the wall clock. “After one in the morning! I have to be up at seven to get the car packed! How old are we, even, to be sneaking out my bedroom window like a couple highschoolers?”
Aeron descended the ladder a few more rungs. “I know, I know! Now c’mon!”
With a barely-suppressed groan, I followed him down the ladder. As I stepped off into the dewy thick grass, he took my hand in his and led me down the well-worn paths between pens of sleeping animals. The moonlight cast a silvery glow on our bare feet, the wet grass slipping as our footsteps crushed the blades. In the distance, an owl hooted, and we stopped to listen.
Aeron’s arm slid around my shoulders. I leaned in close to him, the humid night air and cricket song surrounding us. His breath warmed the top of my head as he kissed my hair.
“C’mon, just up a’ead.” He tugged at my hand again, already taking off down the path with his snappy, quick strides.
“I didn’t bring a blanket…”
“I said I know! We’re not goin’ for a toss, mu
ch as I’d like.” His soft chuckle rumbled through his ribs. “I’ve got summin' to show you.”
A smile spread across my face as I squeezed his hand. “Don’t know if I should be disappointed or not.”
He snickered, slowing his pace a bit so I could keep up. “Savin’ up for the ‘otel. Don’t you worry, we’re gettin’ ours. This is summin' else.”
We climbed over the fence into the cow pasture not currently in use. In the distance, the hills rolled up into almost mountains, the dark sky obscuring the peaks.
“Hey, Aeron… did you… finish? Checking on my parents and brothers?”
“I did.” He flashed a smile. “Don’t worry, I told your dad why we were out ‘ere, day one. I was careful, and none of your brovvers nor mum knew ‘ey were being tested when I did it.”
“And?” I squeezed his hand to encourage him to get on with it.
“You’re the only livin’ true blind in your immediate family. ‘Ere’s no danger to them on our account, yours nor mine.” Aeron squeezed my hand back, then cast me a quick smile. “Seems your mum was right, after all. You’re a present from the angels, Lessie.”
“Or somewhere.” I stared over the dried grass, each stalk laid in its place by the old tractor, waiting to be baled, twined, and stored in a day or two. Aeron had apparently been out here already, by the looks of a little path cleared through the hay. A bundle he’d left in the center of a mowed spot confirmed my suspicions—a blanket wrapped around something, kinda like a present.
“‘Ere it is. Your bruvvers and I ‘it it off a bit the night we first got ‘ere, ‘at little tent party, an’ we cooked up a little present for you. They’ve been ‘elpin’ me gavver a fing or two.”
I pulled back the blanket’s edges, and the sight made my breath catch. In the center of the soft gift pile sat Hailey’s jewelry box and something I hadn’t seen in over a decade… my high school boyfriend’s old hairbrush. “You mean…” I glanced up at Aeron, and he knelt next to me as I ran my hand over the little box.