by Jen Printy
“Sure thing.” I grin, watching Ed and Sally arm in arm.
The misunderstanding with Grady is not so easily mended. A week passes, and nothing changes. Grady is avoiding me like a plague, but every evening, he calls Leah, and every evening the two of them fight. Leah doesn’t like to talk about Grady’s disapproval. From the few details I’ve gathered, Grady doesn’t believe I’m good enough for his sister, and Leah is tired of him butting into her business. Sally’s words gnaw at me from the deep corners of my mind. I love him too much to let something so silly get in the way. I love Leah too much. But what to do? I can’t make Grady accept me, and I’m not giving her up. We’re at an impasse. The whole situation is a mess, and the separation has Leah frazzled. Her stress is hard to watch.
Despite all this, Leah and I spend as much time together as we can between work and school. Our free time is filled with motorcycle rides along the curving rocky shore, hand-in-hand walks through the city at twilight, and talking, loads of talking. She tells me how she visits her father’s grave every May first, on the anniversary of the day he was buried. She loves the Golden Oldies, but fiercely dislikes the Beatles—we agree to disagree on the subject. Leah tells me she discovered her love of painting while she was sick in the hospital. I share stories about my childhood and family, but right or wrong, I avoid my past after Lydia. Although Leah has every right to know all, I’m not ready to confess my sins. Not yet. Not with Grady gunning for me.
“I can’t believe the way he’s acting. He had no right,” Leah says and slams the clean dinner plates into my cupboard.
“Grady loves you.”
She huffs. “Well, he has a strange way of showing it.”
“You’re his little sister, and, well, that’s not exactly the situation you want to catch her in.”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with that,” she mutters. “We weren’t doing anything.” She looks as if she’s about to say more, but she bites her lower lip instead.
“I know, but if I’d caught my sister in that situation, I wouldn’t have shown that kind of restraint.” I wash the last glass and hand it to Leah.
She rolls her eyes. “It was different then.”
I shrug. “Forgive your brother. He’ll warm up to the idea of me in time. You miss him, and it bothers me that I’m the cause of it.”
“You’re not. He is.”
“Please.” I urge.
“I’ll think about it. That’s all I can promise right now.”
“All right,” I say. “Soon, though.”
“But he’s so damn stubborn when he thinks he’s right. How am I going to convince him he’s being a complete idiot?”
“Give him time.”
“But he’s leaving for England in a little over a week. How is he gonna see how happy you make me from a zillion miles away?”
I entwine our fingers, squeezing her hand, and kiss the top of her head. “We’ll figure something out.”
She nods. But we have no other ideas, so the conversation ends.
Two days later, Leah calls me at work. Her strained voice triggers my concern.
“So, what’s going on?” I ask.
“First, promise me you’ll still come. It’s important to me.”
I groan. She just played the it’s-important-to-me card. This is going to be a doozy. “What are you up to?”
“Only a party.”
“All right. When?”
“Tonight.”
“Hmm.” The wheels in my head spin, trying to figure out where she’s going before she takes me there.
“I’m just inviting a few friends, like Tom, Rachel…”
Ah, there it is. “Who else is on the guest list?”
Leah hesitates. “Grady.”
“I realize you know your brother much better than I, but do you think this is a good idea?”
“I do.” Belief and determination are clear in her voice. “Tom thinks Grady should just get over himself. Rachel’s always been on our side.”
“So you’re planning an ambush?” I ask.
“An intervention.”
I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Okay, I’m in. If it gets ugly, I’ll leave.”
“No.”
“Only to defuse the situation,” I say. “Then maybe Rachel and Tom will have more success.”
Sounding reluctant, Leah agrees.
Although Leah’s hopes are high, I have no expectation that this venture will go well. The closer dinnertime comes, the more I dread the approaching evening. In most of the scenarios I play out in my head, I end up being punched, and Leah ends up in tears. I find myself agreeing with Tom. Grady needs to get his head out of his own behind and see what he’s doing to his sister. Furthermore, the tension between Leah and her brother has distracted me from much more important matters—Artagan and his preoccupation with my girlfriend. His motives seem more complex than he let on, and this fact worries me.
I head to Leah’s dorm directly from work. She’s uncharacteristically quiet. I can sense her nervous tension from across the room. I walk up to her and wrap my arms around her, but she pulls away, which is unexpected. I struggle to not be hurt by her chilly greeting.
“It’s not you. I’m just a little stressed. This has to work.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Just sit.”
Even though I recognize the bad timing, I share my concern that an ambush is only going to make Grady defensive. It’s only a gut feeling, but my intuition is usually correct. Hell-bent on her plan, Leah doesn’t want to hear any dissent. So I sit on her bed, watching her transform the room into party central while I do some scheming of my own. I glance at the clock. There are only twenty minutes until detonation, and I’m still sitting at point of impact. I stand. “I was thinking beer might help set the party mood.”
“Tom’s bringing some,” she says without looking up as she dumps chips in plastic bowls.
Damn! “Oh, good. So you’re sure he’ll bring Grady’s favorite, right?”
“I don’t know.” She looks at me. “Why?”
“It’s just, we guys like our beer. And most of us are opinionated about which ones are the best. Unless you told Tom otherwise, he’ll probably bring his own favorite. Do you know what that is?”
“Miller, I think.”
I curl my lip and wrinkle my nose.
“Beer snob.” She lets out a sigh. “But Grady will agree.”
“I can handle it. I’ll run and get some and be back before Grady gets here. What’s his preference?”
“Geary’s Pale Ale.”
I peck her on the cheek then head out the door before giving Leah a chance to protest. Halfway down the staircase, I run into Tom and Rachel.
“Grady already whoop your ass and send you packing?” Tom asks then laughs.
I fake a smile. “No. Leah just needs me to run to the store.”
“I got the alcohol.” He holds up two six-packs of Miller Lite. “It’s lite, but hey, this one’s watching her figure,” he says, glancing at Rachel. She scowls and cuffs him across the shoulder.
I grimace. “What’s a party without beer?” Cheap, tasteless beer, kind of like your manners.
“Hell, yeah,” Tom says, continuing up the steps with Rachel trailing close behind.
Outside, I take a seat on the front steps and wait. Before long, heavy footsteps hurry down the sidewalk. Grady, his hands tucked in his jeans pockets and his head hung low, is walking straight toward me. When he gets to the stairway, he looks up and jerks back.
“I knew it,” he mutters.
“There’s an ambush waiting for you upstairs. Leah is determined to make you approve of the idea of her and me together, but you and I both know either you can or you can’t. I understand your apprehension. I just need to know what you want me to do. If you can’t, I’ll leave, and you can go upstairs to enjoy the party. If you can, we skip the ambush and go get a beer.”
“You’d leave?”
I s
mirk. “Only for the evening. Like it or not, your sister loves me, and I love her.”
Grady glowers at the sidewalk.
“What’s it going to be?”
He stares at his feet and then looks me square in the eye. “Ambush, huh?”
“Oh, yeah. She went all out. The gang’s all here.”
Grady groans and heaves a long sigh. “Beer.” He pauses. “How about the Dogfish? They’re just a couple blocks down, and they have Geary’s on tap.”
I agree and follow.
By the third drink, Grady is patting me on the back and cracking stupid one-liners, more like the man I met all those weeks ago. The conversation bounces off a number of topics before landing solidly on me.
“There’s one thing I need to know. Are you capable of hurting my sister?” he asks.
I flinch at the notion then take another swig of my beer. His gaze is intense and probing. I get the feeling he’s not talking about the incident in Leah’s apartment. How much about me has Grady figured out? I play dumb, not wanting to open that can of worms. “No, of course not.”
Grady turns to his drink, but his tone grows solemn. “The thing is, I’ve never seen Leah so happy. She’s always seemed like she’s been looking for something. As if she was waiting for something or someone to show up, so she could start living her life. After she met you, the waiting stopped. Do you believe in that fate crap?”
“Unlike Neo, I do.” Fate seems to be the only reasonable explanation for what’s happened.
“Me, too, I guess.”
“You’re a romantic! Does Leah know that?” I chuckle.
“No, and you better not tell her. I’ll deny, deny, deny.”
“Knowing Leah, she knows.”
Grady nods and then peers at the clock behind the bar. “Speaking of my sister, she’s going to be mad at both of us, you know?”
“Yes, I should give her a call.” I slip my phone out of my pocket.
“One more beer first. For courage.”
I agree and shove the phone away, postponing the inevitable. After another two beers, the time comes to accept the consequences. I retrieve my phone again and dial.
“Hello,” Leah answers, her voice rushed.
I keep my tone light. “Hi, love.”
“Jack! Where are you? I was worried.”
“I’m fine. I had to try a plan of my own. I’m sorry I worried you.”
“Tonight was a bust. Grady never showed. He completely blew me off—”
“Grady’s here, with me.”
“What do you mean, he’s with you?”
“We’re having a beer.”
“Okay?” Her voice is thick with tension. “How’s that going?”
“Fine, I think.” I glance at Grady. “We’re good?”
He shrugs and then gives a quick nod, taking another sip of beer.
“Grady agrees.”
“Let me get this straight. You left without a word, talked my brother into getting a beer, and now everything’s hunky-dory.”
I’m not sure if this is heading toward praise or anger. Right now, her reaction seems to be leaning toward the latter. My explanation sounds so much worse when Leah says it than it did when the words were forming in my head.
“So it would seem,” I say sheepishly.
The pause is long, leaving me fidgeting on my stool. “So the way into Grady’s good graces is beer,” she finally says. “Huh, why didn’t I know that?”
“It’s a guy thing.”
She laughs. “Well, I’ll thank you properly when you get here.”
I smile and slip the phone into my pocket. “Phew, that went better than expected. Let’s go see your sister.”
Grady picks up a pint of Lobster Mash ice cream as a peace offering, and we walk to Leah’s. At the door, Grady presents his gift in a flourish of pageantry and kneeling. All the stress has disappeared from her face, leaving her expression bright and content. Inside, she snatches three spoons sitting out on top of the dresser.
Grady scrutinizes the plastic ware. “Am I that predictable?”
Leah shrugs. “You screw up, you feel bad, you bring me ice cream. It’s kinda our thing.”
“I feel gypped,” he says. “What do I get when you screw up?”
“On that rare occasion, an apology.” She grins and hands out the spoons. “Now shut up and dig in before your admission of guilt melts.”
Grady takes a step back, putting his hands in the air. “Have at. I’ve done my penance.”
“Fine. More for me.” She digs out a big spoonful of vanilla and pale-pink chunks. “Jack?”
I open my mouth, and a burst of salty and sweet greets my tongue. However, the chewy, crystalline texture of the lobster is the flavor’s prominent downfall.
“What do you think?” Leah asks.
“Awful, right?” Grady chimes.
“Not bad.”
“But not good,” he mumbles with a smirk.
By the time Grady heads home, the fences are mended, and any harsh words between him and his sister forgotten. I’m not so sure he’s completely sold on the idea of me as Leah’s boyfriend, but we’ve made strides in the right direction. I relax, sprawled out on Leah’s bed, pleased with myself and how the evening went.
“So what exactly did you tell him?” Leah asks, tracing kisses up my neck.
Heat surges, and I find my words through an amorous haze. “Same things I told you at first.”
Leah props herself up on her elbow. “You lied to him?”
“Well, yeah. What did you think I was going to do? Tell him the truth?”
“I know. I know. He’d probably lock me away in a tower somewhere.”
“I’d find ya.” I kiss the tip of her nose and smile. “I can see his face now. Grady, there’s been something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” My voice drops a couple octaves into my best game-show-host impersonation. “I’m a hundred-and-seventy-year-old man who will live forever, and I’m in love with your sister.”
Leah twists her face in pretend horror then laughs. “I still wish I could tell him.” She repositions herself against me so that her head is resting against my chest.
“What bothers me most is, at some point, Grady’s going to think he’s right.”
She squirms uncomfortably next to me. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not getting any older, appearance-wise anyway. I can only stay in one place for so long. Eventually, it will be easiest if Grady thinks I dumped you.” I wince. “That way, when you visit alone, I’ll be a touchy subject, and there won’t be many questions.”
“How long do we have here?”
“Seven years is usually the limit with no complications. After that, people get suspicious and start asking questions. I have to live on the fringes of society. What I am demands that of me. Can you imagine what would happen if my immortality went public? I’d be hunted down. They would attempt to figure it out, bottle it, and sell it for a million dollars a drop.” I pause. “Unfortunately, loving me comes with a high price.”
“I don’t see it that way.” She cranes her neck to brush her lips along my throat. “Maybe next time around will be easier. Maybe I’ll be born into a family of witches or mystics who believe in immortality.”
Next time? I close my eyes. “Leah—”
“I know what you’re going to say. The story you told me about that woman, Kemisi, and her long-lost love, but I’ve been thinking if I’ve remembered once, why not again?”
I shake my head to banish the thought. “I can’t think that way.”
“Why not?”
I don’t want to argue. Leah has a beautiful childlike faith, strengthened by discovering her dreams were real, but hope is still a four-letter word to me. “It’s what life’s taught me.”
“So you don’t believe there’s the slightest possibility that I’ll remember you again in my next life?”
My silence says everything I won’t. Eventually, Leah will leave, this time forever. She sees
life as a beautiful fairy tale. A belief I can’t share.
“Do you really see the world so black and white? With no color?”
I open my eyes and look down at her. “You’ll have to have faith enough for both of us.”
“I hate the idea of Grady thinking badly of you.”
“I understand. But you have to see why keeping him in the dark is for the best.”
She sighs and nods halfheartedly.
Grady is leaving for England in a few days. Though Leah’s eyes brim with tears, the firm set of her jaw and the small lift at the corner of her mouth tell me she meant it when she said she chose to stand by me. And my secret is safe with her—even from Grady.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“So what are you up to tonight?” I ask, flipping the store sign to CLOSED.
Ed grins and sticks one arm out, letting it hang in the air. The other rests on his stomach. He begins to sway, humming some old show tune. “I’m taking Sally ballroom dancing,” he says.
I raise my eyebrows. “You dance?”
“Yes. I’m old, not dead.” He huffs. “I’m taking her out for dinner, too.”
“Lou’s?” I swear I hear Ed growl as he glares at me. “Sorry. I couldn’t help myself.” I laugh.
“If you must know, I’m taking her to Fore Street.”
“Impressive. You do know you’ll have to wear a tie to go to that place?” I grab the broom and begin to sweep.
“Wow. You’re full of smartass comments today. Nice to see you in a good mood, even if it’s at my expense.” He pauses. “I have to show you something, but only if you promise to behave yourself.”
I stop mid-stroke, put my hand on my heart, and grin.
Ed rolls his eyes. He reaches under the counter and resurfaces with a small black velvet box. He opens the lid. A flicker of gold dances in the light. Tucked in white satin sits a diamond ring. From the patina and irregularity of the hand-cut gems, the ring is obviously antique and probably older than I am. The facets sparkle with crisp white flashes. “What do you think? Do you think Sally will like it?”
“It’s beautiful. I’m sure she’ll love it.”
“I can’t believe how nervous I am. This isn’t my first rodeo, so to speak. I should have done this months ago. Life’s too short to wait around when what you want is standing in front of you. Seize the day. That’s my new motto.” He snaps the lid shut and shoves the box in his pocket. “Wish me luck.”