Harkham's Choice (Harkham's Series Book 2)

by Chanse Lowell

  Mari turned her focus back to Jeremiah.

  Amelia went behind her desk and came back with a plastic container full of metal pieces.

  She handed it to Jeremiah. He set it in his lap and clapped.

  The lid flew off, and he began working with some of the different, odd, metal shapes.

  “Jeremiah loves talking to people, but he has to keep his hands busy while he’s doing it or he can get too aggressive. He’s been known to bite and pull hair if he feels he’s not receiving their full undivided attention. Sometimes he has . . . misunderstandings. So, he knows when he comes here, I’ll have a new set of metal ring brain teaser puzzles for him,” Amelia explained.

  “But you said he was only going to be in here with us for five minutes,” Mari pointed out.

  “Oh, he’ll be done way before that,” Amelia said, “so you better talk quick. Anything you want to ask him that you think might be pertinent to your situation with Adam would be good.”

  “Where do I start? He’s a little kid—Adam’s a man.” Mari watched in fascination as he solved each one systematically, and within a matter of seconds.

  “Maybe ask him how his family deals with him—what he hopes his future will be like?” Amelia suggested.

  Mari took a few cautious steps forward. “Hi, Jeremiah, I’m Mari. I’m planning to marry Dr. Harkham’s case number one. He’s super smart like you, and he’s wonderful, always surprising me all the time with how loving he is.” Mari’s hand reached out, and she ran her hand across his head.

  He looked up at her and smiled for a fraction of a second with a look of trust in his eyes and then went back to his metal puzzle in his hands.

  “He’s nice. I’ve met Adam before. He likes it when I talk to him about my trains.” Jeremiah flipped his head back a few times in a row. It was clear he had a little tick. Either that, or his bangs were bugging him pretty badly.

  She wasn’t sure which, since he had one of those overgrown bowl haircuts that were so popular for a while when she was a little kid.

  “I’d love to hear about your trains sometime. Can you tell me right now, though, what happens when you get upset?” she asked, her voice gentle.

  “I don’t know, I can’t ever remember. It’s like I’m nothing.” He grabbed greedily at the next puzzle and shifted it around. It was entirely too easy for him because with a few flips of his fingers, it was solved. “My mom says I ram my head into stuff, and she has to hold me down. One time I threw myself into a pool, and I almost drowned.”

  “Do you see or hear numbers in your head?” she asked, petting his hair. It seemed wrong not to touch him.

  “No. I hear and see dinosaur sounds. I like trains and dinosaurs. I study them. Ask me anything about the Utahraptor, or the Deinonychus, or the Archaeopteryx. That last one is where birds come from. Or you can even ask about the La Brea tar pits. I saw those once. They smelled like slimy, black yuck-tasting food, but they were still great.”

  “You’re brilliant,” Mari said in awe.

  “Don’t interrupt me. I won’t like you if you do it again,” he said, his fingers flexing, then curling. He set the box down. “I have a lot to say. I think you know that now.” She nodded, so he went on. “Can you finish your questions fast, because I’m done with the puzzles.”

  “Will you stay and talk to me some more if I hold your hand?” she asked.

  “No. But I can do that if I can sit in your lap and snuggle with you,” he offered.

  She nodded. He hopped up out of the chair. As soon as she sat down, he was on her lap, purring like a little kitten.

  “You’re kind of like a human version of a Maiasaura. Those are peaceful mommy dinosaurs, and they take good care of their young, making sturdy, happy nests for their eggs and babies to live in.” He sniffed her. “You smell like a flower, though. The good kind.”

  He rubbed his finger repeatedly on the bottom button of her shirt.

  “Well, thank you. I try to smell good for myself and for Adam. I think he likes the way I smell, too.”

  “I can see why,” Jeremiah said, looking up into her eyes for a second.

  “Can I ask you another question?”

  “Yes, smell good while you do it, okay?”

  She chuckled. “I’ll try.” She smiled with a sigh, and then asked, “What’s the best thing your mom ever did to calm you down when you’ve gotten upset?”

  “She kissed me. It was small and on my forehead, but it made the roaring animals stop. It was like she told them to leave, and they listened. Maybe they thought she was a Giganotosaurus. They’re really big and the boss of ‘em all.”

  Mari’s eyes grew wide. “That’s it? Just a peck on the head?”

  He nodded, tugged at the button and grunted like he was upset it was sticking to her shirt.

  “Did she get hurt when she did it?” Her voice was like a cloud passing through—innocuous and a bit of fluffy stuff.

  “Yeah. It was bad of me. I hit her on accident, but she said it was worth it because I calmed down right away, and it didn’t take her hours to talk me out of where I was,” he said, still yanking on that button. “Is there anything else you want to know?”

  “I’m sure there will be down the road—but no more that I can think of right now. Would it be okay if I come over sometime and have some ice cream with you, if you’re allowed to have sugar?”

  “I’m not allowed, but on my birthday, my mom makes me ice cream with agave nectar. It’s really good.” He slipped off her lap, stared at the button once more like it flew straight out of the tar pits and joined them here for his excavation and study.

  She popped it off, handed it to him and resisted mussing his hair. He was nearly as adorable as Adam.

  “I’m going to glue this to my favorite train. It’ll help me remember you.” He smiled and kept his eyes on the new treasure in his palm.

  “Why is it important to remember me? You barely met me.” Mari stared at him in wonder.

  “Because . . .” he shrugged with his left shoulder “. . . Adam told me one day I’d find a girl I’d want to marry, and she’d love me how I am. He found you, and it helps me remember I’ll find my own Mari—the girl who smells like flowers and acts like nice mommy dinosaurs.”

  He went to the door, opened it without saying goodbye to Amelia, but blew Mari a kiss before disappearing.

  “My Lord,” Mari said through a sigh.

  “I know. See why I love my job so much?” Amelia replied.

  Mari understood completely. How much room was there left in her heart? It seemed Adam had taken it over, but little Jeremiah squeezed his way in and demanded to have a corner as well.

  It was exhausting, but so worth it.

  “I do.” Mari nodded. “I did want to tell you, though—If his parents haven’t bought him a dog or some sort of docile pet, they might want to think about it . . . Adam’s been so attached to Choppy and doing even better than ever with that little dog around.”

  “I’ll make sure I pass that on to Jeremiah’s parents.”

  “Good.” Mari couldn’t help but beam at her. Everything simply felt good being in here. There was so much to say, but Mari had a feeling Dr. Harkham was already on top of everything since she was always a step ahead.

  “Now . . . Tell me of your wedding plans,” Dr. Harkham began their private session. “I wanna hear all about it, since I was already told about the fantastic invitation you created. I was beyond impressed you made them yourself.”

  Mari sighed as her heart filled with warmth and sunshine. “There’s not much to tell, but I’m hoping you’ll attend.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it.” Amelia folded her hands and placed them over her right knee with her right leg crossed over her left.

  Mari knew it was true. Dr. Harkham was almost as much a part of the Latham family as she was. One big, mish-mashed, misshapen family that worked well somehow. Maybe she was the dinosaur and Amelia the train to their family’s collection they’d been missing? Everybod
y needed more of those—especially when they smelled like flowers and were as fabulous as Dr. Harkham, smiling and welcoming to everyone who came through her doors.

  “And we wouldn’t dare have a wedding without you,” Mari said. “That would be a bigger slap in the face to his dad than us running away and eloping in Vegas.”

  Dr. Harkham laughed and her eyes twinkled.

  Yep—that sneaky woman knew everything. Even the things she shouldn’t.

  Chapter 15

  The months moved steadily by. Graduation was looming, and Adam kept trying to contact his mother.

  There was never a reply. He grew kind of whiny and petulant a few days before.

  Progress in finding Samara was just as bad. Her boyfriend Daniel contacted them a few times about her, but nothing ever resulted from the information he gave them. Samara never showed up.

  Mari worried Adam would have a number episode with all this stress, but he never did.

  He kept Choppy at his side all the time when he was home, until it was time for bed.

  Mari actually welcomed him being distracted with his pet. She was making wedding plans like mad, even though it was going to be a really simple affair in their backyard.

  Dustin grumbled about how the dog kept ripping out plants he’d put in for the wedding.

  Mari laughed and said it was fine. She really didn’t care if there were flowers or not. Adam was the only thing that mattered.

  She’d picked up his ring yesterday, and he said he’d had hers for two weeks now. He refused to even describe what it looked like.

  Last night they broke down and cut off her mom’s ring. That thing had practically become one with her skin. It refused to come off no matter what they did.

  Her mom cried when Mari told her what had to be done, but Dustin swore he’d bring it to a jeweler and have it repaired and returned to her.

  It seemed her mom was almost pining away for her dad ever since he passed away. Mari would’ve never expected that.

  “Victor’s at the door,” Zach hollered. “Should I shove him on his ass and tell him we already have a slobbering dog? It might leave his I’m-not-a-good-wiper skid marks, and the guests might be repulsed and decide not to pass over our threshold—so choose wisely, my friend.”

  “No. Let him in,” Mari said, laughing. “We want our very few wedding guests to attend.” She sighed, then said under her breath, “And God forbid another guy actually tell him to piss off. He’d die of shock if that happened.”

  “Okay, stop me if you’ve heard this one,” Vic said, barreling into the room. “Wait . . . You haven’t heard it, that’s right.” He rubbed his chin like he was deeply pondering something. “Because you guys suck when it comes to thinking anything’s funny.”

  “Nice to see you too, Victor,” Adam said, devoid of any inflection in his voice. He stroked his hand down Choppy’s back.

  “And how’s Chompie today?” Vic teased.

  Adam glared at Vic. “That’s not her name.”

  “It sure is. She told me when she lived with me. Her eyes are big and round like the holes in the middle, and those tan rings around her eyes are the bagels.”

  “I still don’t get it,” Zach said, joining them.

  Vic managed to trip him on purpose. He laughed as Zach stumbled and knocked into Mari.

  “Douche,” Zach mumbled. “He’s leaving skid marks at the door stop next time—wedding or not.” He looked at Mari.

  She barely bit back a roaring laugh.

  “The best douches are made of—” Vic began.

  “Ewwww! Shut it, Vic. Nobody wants to hear that. No vagina jokes either. Those are really sick,” Mari said.

  She shoved the laptop aside. Dammit! She was still missing a wedding dress—she was never gonna find one. She was too damn picky and almost completely broke at this point. Printing up those wedding invites and paying for the cake, food, and Adam’s ring ahead of time meant her funds had dwindled down to almost nothing.

  “Fine, but this was good information. Don’t blame me when you get a yeast infection because you don’t know how to take care of your girlie bits. If your honeymoon blows, you can’t blame it on me.” Vic sat down next to Adam and got in the dog’s face, riling her up.

  “Who’s a Chompie’s Bagel? Huh? Who?” Vic used a cartoonish voice. “Tell him your real name. Educate this dummy, and then I’ll take him out to get one so he’ll quit acting like he’s never seen them before.”

  Adam rolled his eyes. “I swear, there’s no place around here by that name.”

  “There is too. There’s one over by ASU. Look it up, smart ass.” Vic smacked at the dog’s ears, laughing when Choppy would nip at his hands after the fact.

  “If you don’t stop getting her wound up, I’m gonna make you take her home and sleep with her tonight,” Adam said. “She’s restless afterward when you do that to her.”

  “I know. I keep telling Mari I’ll take her back into my bed, but she always turns me down. Must be a yeast infection going on already, otherwise there’s no way in hell she’d turn me down.” Vic angled himself back and threw a wolfish grin Mari’s direction.

  “Is there a reason your here, besides boredom?” Mari asked. “Because Vagisil is not on the menu tonight.”

  “Yeah, you’re not the only one in love. I’ve found the guy I’m gonna spend the rest of my life with.” Vic stood tall. “So, even if you’d said yes, take me to bed, Vic”—he used a falsetto voice to impersonate her— “and swooned, I’d have to tell you you’re too late. This hot piece of ass is taken.” He hooked his thumbs into his chest, grinning all the while.

  “Finally. I can’t stand hearing about your one-night stands anymore.” Mari groaned. “It was enough to make me want to buy ear plugs and a gag bit for you so you’d shut up.”

  “Bitch, you’ve been jealous for months now. And besides—I already have a great gag bit, but it’s not for me. And it gets plenty of use.” Vic clicked his tongue and bobbed his head like he was jamming to a beat inside his head.

  “Whatever.” She got up and fished out a snack. “As long as it keeps you out of my hair and quiet, then I’m all for it.”

  “Your hair? Come on, girl—wax for your man. A bush is old school. Nobody likes that.”

  She snorted. “You’re the expert now?”

  “Of course.” Vic smacked his hands together, then rubbed them like he had a plan.

  “Mari’s mine. She does what I say when it comes to her appearance, so you can stop talking now,” Adam told Vic.

  “Yes, sir. Sorry I overstepped into Adam-land.” Vic took a bow with one hand on his abs and the other behind his back. “But now that I’m back in Vic-world, I came to hang out and tell all of you that at the end of June, my new man’s moving back east. I’m going with him. You’ll have to kiss this handsome face goodbye. Don’t ask me to remove any clothing so you can kiss anything else. That’s off limits. I have standards, you know.”

  “Goodbye,” Zach said, teasing, barking a laugh afterward. “Best one word line I’ve ever said, other than fuck—and that’s saying a lot.”

  “Oh?” Vic’s left eyebrow squeezed its way up his forehead and his lips pursed.

  Zach rolled his eyes and laughed.

  “I’ll miss you, and so will Mari,” Adam blurted. “Even if you talk too much and try to make my dog into a savage.”

  Vic’s eyes went wide, and he was speechless for all of thirty seconds. A first for him. “Thanks.”

  “I’m serious. We like you, but you do have a big mouth, so it’ll be quieter around here,” Adam added.

  Vic laughed, snatched the dog away and tossed it to the floor, then commenced to chase it around the room and make it howl.

  “Can I persuade him to move at the end of May instead?” Zach jumped up and smacked Vic in the back of the head, then wrestled him to the ground. “I’ve never met a bigger douche than you.”

  “You met Mari, right? I mean, she does live with you,” Vic said through p
anting breaths.

  Zach beat him within seconds, pinning him down so he couldn’t get up.

  “Ah—something you wanna tells us about your sexual orientation, man—’cause I use this position all the time on my conquests.” Vic smirked.

  Zach let go with a disgusted sound. “Seriously. There’s not a name for what’s wrong with you.”

  “There is. You just don’t want to say it,” Vic said, with a challenging edge to his tone.

  “I’m outta here. See ya later.” Zach waved at Mari and Adam.

  “Why do you have to annoy everyone around you?” Mari asked Vic. “This is their house, you know. Zach didn’t do anything to deserve that.”

  “If I don’t do it, who will?”

  “Uh, Satan,” she supplied, waving him over.

  “If I give you a hug, will you stop talking about my boyfriend like that?”

  “What’s your boyfriend’s name?” Adam asked, wrinkling his nose.

  “She just said it.” Vic gave her a hug, then plopped himself down into her side, right next to her seated spot.

  She set aside the bridal magazine she’d been perusing. It was fine. She hated looking at those anyway—made her crazy.

  “Satan?”

  “No—your brother. He’s crushing on me hard.” Vic patted Mari’s cheek.

  She shoved him off.

  “He’s only crushing on his girlfriend. He gets her naked lots,” Adam corrected Vic.

  “How do you know?” Vic pushed his legs under him and took her magazine away.

  “’Cause he tells me.” Adam stared at him with a blank look.

  “And I used to tell everyone around me that Mari was constantly my bitch in heat, but that wasn’t true.” He fanned himself with the magazine.

  “Yes, but you’re forgetting one thing here—Zach isn’t gay. He’s not trying to hide anything.” Mari stared at him with the same look Adam was giving him.

  “Fine. Ruin my hopes and dreams. I won’t tell you my real boyfriend’s name now.” Vic dropped the magazine and stood up.

  “No divas in this house,” Dustin said, passing by, smiling at Vic.

  “I hate that man. He’s worse than the devil, ‘cause he knows all.” Vic waved at them all and walked to the front door.