by Aimee Laine
“No, she went home.”
“Then go get her.”
Tripp shook his head, forgetting again that no one would see. “Pointless. We’re not even supposed to meet, you know. That’s part of the cosmic rule. According to everything I’ve learned, the fox and the hound never meet.”
“Fuck the rules, Tripp. You’re ‘the man’ when it comes to this kind of shit. Why do you, all of a sudden I must add, believe the girl you got the hots for won’t go for you? You succeed at everything you do.”
“That’s the problem, Ian. She will succeed at everything she does, too, but that does not mean win-win is a win. It’s a lose in our case.”
“Success is a problem? How was it going to work with Jill? And let me add, before you answer that, that I’m all for seeing where this other thing goes.”
“You know Jill doesn’t know what I can do, so she isn’t going to use it against me at every step of a relationship. She might think I’m cheating on her if I spend a night at a bar, but she’s never going to catch me doing it if I don’t want her to. Not that I would, by the way.”
“Yeah, yeah. Other girl wouldn’t catch you either,” Ian said. “That’s your gift. Uncatchable.”
“No, but she, of all people, would be able to work around it because she knows what I can do—just like I know she could find me if I wasn’t keeping my guard up. It would eat her alive—or it would me. I’d always have to be prepared on the off chance I did something she shouldn’t know about. I need breaks sometimes, you know, to just let it all hang out. I can’t spend my entire day trying not to get caught.”
“Well, when you put it like that—”
“Even the simplest thing could infect the relationship, bury and dig in until both of us go insane from not being able to make it stop. But, in Jill’s case, I’ll win whether she wants me to or not.”
“So you settle to prevent yourself a challenge? That’s not like you, Tripp. Just because this other woman could use it to her benefit … how do you know she would?”
Tripp sighed. “Can I give up a game? Can I step away from an opportunity to test my skills? Do I ever lose?”
“No,” Ian said. “No and no.”
“According to the mythology, Zeus had to send the original fox and dog to the sky as stars, remember? All because at each step, when one or the other should succeed, they failed. A never-ending game isn’t any fun. A never-ending fight isn’t either. Who wants to go that route if it will end up that way, no matter what?”
Ian snorted. “Nasty little gift you got there.”
“Two celestially-tied, must-succeed-always people means the potential for war all the time.”
“Then why didn’t you permanently tie yourself to Jill a long time ago?”
Tripp asked himself the question all the time—whether to Jill or any past woman that he’d met. “I don’t know. It never felt right.”
“And I’m guessing, somehow, this one does, and it’s going to eat at you like a festering sore because you think you can’t hack it.”
“It’s age-old, Ian. For me and … Karen … the ultimate find is each other, but it’s also too much of a challenge.”
“Jill is not ‘good enough’ for you, and you know it.” Ian’s tone took on a rare note of seriousness. “You never give up, Tripp. Ever. If ever there was a man who would best the gods in their own match, it would be you. Where’s she staying?”
Tripp leaned back against the seat. “She’s got a house a few down from us here at the beach.”
“Gimme the address, I’ll look her up. Then you’re going to get your ass over there, ’cause you will find a way through this.”
• • •
“Hello!” Emma’s voice rang through the entry. “Anyone home?” Her bag dropped to the ceramic floor with a clunk. “Lexi?”
“Yeah, over here.”
The swish of sandals against the tile disappeared. Lexi assumed Emma moved across the carpet. Rather than look, Lexi stretched out along the cushions, one arm flung across her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Emma always saw through the veils of emotion.
She kept her arm in place. “Bad night.”
“Well, I can see that. You look like shit.”
Lexi smiled. “Such nice endearing terms from my best friend and sister. Maybe I need a new one.”
After a moment of silence, the couch cushions shifted under Lexi. She peeked over the edge of her arm. Emma sat at the end—would do so like a well trained dog until she got her treat: answers.
“It’s a pointless exercise. I just need time to get over it.”
Emma patted Lexi’s ankles. “This is about that guy you met.”
Lexi nodded.
“And you caught up with him again and …”
Lexi kept mum.
“Okay, a guessing game. I’m not as good at this as you, but here goes.” The couch shifted up again. “You met up on the beach, found out he’s not only engaged but married, has two kids, is dirt poor but she’s rich as hell thus he will never leave her, drives a shoddy car and …”
Lexi imagined Emma ticked off each of her points as she said them.
“Oh, I got it! He’s unemployed, too. That covers all the major faults.”
“No. It’s worse.” Lexi continued to hide behind her arm.
The couch smooshed down again.
“Oh!” Emma’s excited response caused Lexi to jump. “The necklace! You found it!”
The light caress of Emma’s fingers against Lexi’s skin, where the pendant lay, tickled.
“I didn’t find it. It found me.”
The chain tugged at the back of her neck as Emma moved it around, twisted and spun it. “It’s beautiful. She said it was costume jewelry? Seriously? ’Cause it looks a lot more valuable than that.”
“I don’t know. I’m not a jeweler. I only took the job to try my hand at something more exciting than real estate and the occasional stolen vehicle.”
“Yeah, yeah. So what’s worse than all those things combined about the man?”
Lexi dropped her arm, stared into the depths of her sister’s eyes. “You don’t care about my work life anymore? Just this Tripp, guy?”
Emma nodded. “Men. It’s always about the men.”
“He gave me back the pendant.”
Emma’s brows drew together. “How’d he get it?”
“I don’t know exactly. He somehow slipped it back around my neck tonight, too, and I didn’t feel a damn thing.”
Emma waved a hand in the air. “That’s kinda freaky. The only person that could pull a sleight of hand on you is—” Her eyes grew wide. A hand slapped to her mouth. “Oh, my—”
“Therein lies the problem.”
“You actually found him? I thought that wasn’t supposed to be possible?” She stood, paced to the kitchen counter and back. “Do you know what this means?” Soft footsteps made their way across the carpet.
Of course I do. That’s why I’m lying here in a funk.
“Lex, this is awesome! This is—” Emma’s hands wagged in the air, slapped the legs of her pants and went still. “This means you’ve broken the cycle, right? If you guys have actually met, then there is no game, no challenge, no—”
Lexi sat upright, shaking her head. “No, Em. That’s not what it means. Think through it a little more.”
Instead of an ‘aha’, Emma knelt at Lexi’s feet. “You’re looking at this all wrong.” She laid a hand on Lexi’s knee. “Every previous guy in your life screwed you over, right?”
“If I had the energy, I’d pull your hair and stick gum all through it,” Lexi said.
“Hear me out.”
Lexi waved her forward.
“Zeus created the paradox because he was trying to be nice to two separate people. It backfired, big time. What if this is your chance to break the never-ending cycle? What if you were meant to have all those bad past relationships so the right one could be the ultimate find?”
“It’s not
possible—”
Emma shook her head. “You don’t know that. Not for sure, anyway. Just because the mythological versions of yourselves didn’t cut it doesn’t mean you won’t. Stories are stories for a reason, Lex. For all we know, that’s all they were.”
“Emma.” Lexi’s mom-tone rivaled their mother’s.
“Let’s presume there were others like you two. For all you know, each person could have passed by the other but never met. Like shooting stars in the night that no one sees.” She patted Lexi’s knee. “You have a chance to do what previous pairs didn’t.”
“He’s got people in his life, Em. I even told him to go marry his girl so he’d walk away. He did. He didn’t come after me—”
“Did you go after him?” Her voice turned accusatory. “You’re here fighting against an instinct. Stop living in logic and theory, and take a chance in this very real but illogical world. Move forward. It’s like your gift. You imagine where something is, and you can find it. Can you find him? Have you tried?”
“I don’t search for people, Em. You know that. I’m not going to change my mind.” Had he been her visual blind spot in her attempts to locate the pendant? “I’m pretty sure I couldn’t see him anyway since he can hide from me.”
Emma’s grin shot out. “Let’s find out.” She bounced on the couch.
“I won’t search for peop—”
“Just do it!” The shrill came out a command.
Rather than fight her sister, Lexi closed her eyes, brought Tripp’s face to mind—the hoop, the star, his dark hair, rugged cheeks, brilliant blue eyes. The image faded into the recesses of her mind. She saw him on a pier, elbows on knees, a cell phone to his ear. She backed out from it and found his beach house.
Her body wavered as she opened her eyes again.
“You okay? Did you find him?” Emma wrapped her arms around Lexi’s shoulders.
Waves of nausea took hold of her stomach. “I don’t … search for people.” She breathed deep. “It’s useless—a never-ending chase, with no victor, no loser, only futility and, eventually, bitter animosity and pain.”
“Love lost, Lexi, love lost.”
“Been there, done that. Remember? And as everyone with a lost love says, that quote is the worst combination of words ever put together … in any language.” Lexi dropped her head to her knees. “I don’t even know him, Em. He could use his gift in a way I would never condone. I mean, I’m damn sure he swiped my pendant in the first place.”
“So what? He gave it back. He was probably showing off. You know … manufacturing a reason to see you again. The part of life where you get to know people, and learn whether you like them or not, is important. You can’t make a decision based on the whims of Zeus. Hell, he doesn’t even exist anymore.”
“Then neither should the conundrum.”
“The stars themselves aren’t even permanent, they just last a really long time. We can’t change those because we can’t control them. This is different. Don’t let a silly little assumption force you to look away. You actually found each other. If you are right for each other, then you deserve as much happiness as the next girl.”
“This bites, Em.”
She ran a hand over Lexi’s hair. “Do you want to learn more about him?”
Lexi nodded.
“Then let’s go upstairs, get you cleaned up and invite him over.”
“I don’t know how to get in touch with him.”
“Pshaw.” Air wafted over Lexi’s head from Emma’s motion. “You found him once. You can do it again.”
“I don’t do—” Lexi stopped at Emma’s glare.
“Then find his beach house.”
5
Tripp stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. “You have it all. Anything you want. But you’ve settled. Right? Yes. You have. Never settle. Break the damn cycle.”
• • •
Lexi stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. “He’s got a fiancée. You’re breaking up a relationship. You’ll be the other woman. It won’t last.”
“Yes it will. Stop thinking negative thoughts and stop saying them out loud.” Emma held up a pair of jeans and a halter top in a brilliant lavender against an ivory form-fitted silk blouse. “Which one you want?”
“You pick,” Lexi said.
“The purple.”
• • •
Tripp slid his suitcase off the top shelf of the closet. He rifled through drawers, tucked his shirts, pants and other items into the big box in a less than organized manner. His toiletries he stuffed in a corner.
He didn’t want to break his relationship with Jill by phone, nor in a simple note. Instead, he’d lie, tell her he accepted a last minute assignment and would call her when he found a moment.
If the woman blew him off again, he’d return, and Jill would never know.
He had nothing to lose.
At the vibration of his cell, he smiled. “Fox.”
“Lexi and Emma Shepherd. You didn’t say she had a sister.” Ian’s tone turned playful. “Anyway, they own the beach house, live in Rune, North Carolina. They’re fraternal twins, man. I could get my hands on some of th—”
“Focus, Ian.”
“Fine, fine. They own Wise Women, which is, at least on the surface, a real estate company. That’s crazy given what she can—”
Tripp laughed.
“What?”
“Think about it. If she can find whatever someone wants, or things that are lost, she can probably find the house that person will buy or the buyer of a house just by thinking about it. It’s like the best racket, ’cause you know each event takes her no time, and she rakes in the funds. Simple. Safe—”
“Boring. Wait. Why didn’t we think of that?” Ian laughed.
“It doesn’t work that way for me. I don’t find on a whim like a scratch-off lottery ticket. But if you told me that ticket was in the center of Fort Knox, I’d be able to get it for you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Damn, she could do that, too, couldn’t she?” Ian’s agreement confirmed Tripp’s own worries.
“Again … focus, Ian.”
“So you have her name. You know where she lives. Go after her!”
“Fine. Fine.”
“Alright, Tripp! Maybe this is the way to break the cycle. I take it you’re not flying home tomorrow then?”
“Probably not. So when Jill gets back to New York without me—”
“Yeah, yeah, I gotcha. Stay hidden so she doesn’t notice the daring duo is split in half.”
• • •
“Hey, Em?” Lexi applied a single coat of gloss, rubbing her lips together with each application. “I’m just going to walk over. I think the house is only about five or six away.”
Emma leaned against the frame of the bathroom door. “Okay. Then what?”
Lexi caught the quick smile. “Not yet, Em. You may be fine with first date sex, but I’m a little more conservative.”
Emma cocked her head. “Enh. Whatever. So what’re you going to do?” Emma turned her watch toward her. “It’s nearly eleven. Nothin’ ’round here is open.”
Lexi grinned. “We’re going to go and talk. If I don’t make it back by mornin’—”
“Just keep your cell with you.”
“I will.”
• • •
Tripp stepped from the house. He’d written a note, stuck it to the fridge and called Jill. Thanks to her overnight cruise with friends, he’d gone straight to voice mail.
“Phases in life are like the stars in the heavens. They blink until they disappear, and then a new one pops up.” His mother loved the phrase—had repeated it so many times, Tripp had it memorized by the time he’d reached two years old. As a kid, he thought she meant the stars in the sky, not the fact his life started off connected to a constellation derived from mythology.
Tripp hopped down the steps toward his Jaguar, suitcase in hand. He grinned as he thought through his plan. “No better or more perfect—”
“Tripp.” A deep voice called his name.
He turned toward the sound.
The shot in the arm threw him against the car door.
His head slammed into glass.
His body fell to the ground.
• • •
Lexi screamed as a pain radiated through her shoulder, down her arm and reached into her fingers. “Emma!” She slumped to the stair, pulling her arm against her. Oh, my god, I’m having a heart attack.
Emma’s hurried steps reached her a moment later. “What’s wrong?” Her voice reached a frantic pitch and speed.
Nausea consumed her as the fire in her arm burned. She pitched forward as Emma hefted her up and a second spear penetrated through her chest.
“C’mon, Lex. C’mon.”
The weight of her own head nearly took her down. “I … can’t—”
“Yes, you can. Walk. Now.”
The command bolstered her, but the heat, mixed with sharp stabs wracked her body. “I don’t—”
“Me neither, but I have an idea.”
Their ability to understand half sentences served them well.
Emma led Lexi to the couch as her muscles tried to drop with each step. The more she walked, the heavier she grew. At the edge, she collapsed. Emma lifted her legs until she lay straight along it.
“What’s—”
“Shhh. Stay here, I’ll be right back.”
“You’re—”
“Lexi, lay back down. Don’t move.”
The heaviness of Lexi’s body anchored her to the couch. She struggled with her one and only need: to breathe.
What the hell is wrong with me?
“Emma?”
No response.
“Em?”
Lexi tried to turn her head.
“E—”
• • •
An ultra-bright light shone in Tripp’s eye.
It disappeared.
The light hit him again before it, too, went dark.
Footsteps, calls of his name and the blare of sirens wrapped around his mind, but agony kept him from saying a word.
“His name is Tripp. I don’t know his last name.”
Lexi? No. Something’s … off. His body stretched out and, like the starting motion of an elevator, rose, though he himself made none of the movements.