by Jill Sanders
“I think Xtina called it an entity,” Jess stated.
“Same thing.” Jacob glared at her.
Just what was between the pair was beyond him, but he was starting to get a headache and wanted to go upstairs and check on Xtina.
“Look!” Jessie shouted, causing him to jump. Her eyes moved up to his. “Byron.”
“Byron?” he asked, then remembered the name she’d changed the night of Xtina’s parents’ funeral. “Byron?” He pulled the yearbook out of Jessie’s hand and looked down at the image of his parents, Xtina’s parents, and another couple, a blonde woman with silver blue eyes and a young man, a lot taller than his own father.
Underneath the photo it said Byron Garrett.
“Who is Byron Garrett?”
“I don’t know.” Jessie frowned over his shoulder.
“Who the hell cares,” Jacob added, causing Jessie to frown at him.
“Listen, I’m kind of beat.” His eyes moved to the ceiling where he could hear the shower running upstairs. “I’d like to go check on Xtina.”
Jacob nodded. “How about we meet later this week?” he asked Mike.
“I’ll come into the station.” There were a few other things he wanted to talk to Jacob about and he figured he’d make it professional instead of personal.
Jacob nodded, then glanced over at Jessie. “Night.”
Jessie waited a few minutes. “I’ll leave this here.” She set the yearbook down on the table and then glanced over at the door.
“I’m sure he’s gone by now,” Mike supplied
Jessie rolled her eyes. “The man is arrogant.” Mike’s eyebrows rose. “Long story. Night. Tell Xtina I’ll call her tomorrow.”
He nodded, then watched her leave. He looked down at Rose, who had been sitting by his side for a while. “I suppose you want out.” He glanced at her empty food and water bowl. The dog had quickly wolfed down a large bowl of food as they had talked. Walking over, he opened the back door, then refilled her water bowl. When he heard a small scratching noise from the back door, he opened it and Rose walked in. She took a few laps of water, then made her way towards the stairs.
He locked the doors, then climbed up the stairs to join Xtina.
When he walked in the bedroom, she was just coming out of the shower.
“Did everyone leave?” she asked. Her coloring was back. She had a soft white robe wrapped around her as she used a towel to dry her hair.
“Yes.” He walked over and wrapped his arms around her. “You okay?”
She nodded into his shoulder. “Much better.” He felt her shiver just before her arms wrapped around her. “She’s angry. She’s never been angry before.”
“At us?” he asked, moving her back a step so he could see her eyes.
“No.” She slowly shook her head. “I don’t think so. It was more at… the circumstance.” She sighed. “How about some ice cream?” she asked out of the blue.
“Maybe later. I’m going to head in and shower.” He felt the layer of dirt and grime from climbing inside the silo suddenly. Not to mention the sore muscles from all the tension of the day.
“Shower.” She smiled. “Then we can enjoy some dessert.” She leaned up and kissed him quickly, then escaped his arms and disappeared out the door.
He peeled off his clothes, tossed them in the hamper, and climbed into the hot shower. When he stuck his head under the water, images of today passed through his mind.
What did the silo have to do with the woman? What debt needed to be paid? Was it something to do with their parents?
There was no doubt in his mind that the three couples had known one another. After all, they were all in the same high school together.
He groaned when he realized it was time he called his parents. He groaned even louder when he realized that if he mentioned Jacob, they would probably move their visit up.
When he climbed out of the shower, he could hear Xtina and Rose downstairs and picked up his cell phone to make one of the most awkward phone calls of his life.
His father answered on the third ring.
“Hey, son, we were just talking about our trip out there.” His father sounded excited. “We haven’t been back since our twentieth reunion a few years ago.”
“Dad, can you put Mom on too?” he asked. His father’s voice was now tinged with worry.
“Sure, is something wrong?”
“Just put me on speaker.” He held his breath as he heard his father moving the phone around.
“I’m here, Michael.” His mother’s voice sounded close. “What’s going on? You haven’t heard from Ethan, have you?”
“No. But I have to ask you…” He took a deep breath. “Did you guys have a baby boy before us?”
The line was silent.
“Mom? Dad?” He checked his phone to make sure the connection was still good.
“What’s this all about?” It was his father who asked.
“Just answer, yes or no.”
“Michael.” He could tell his mother was crying and knew then that it was true.
“Why?” he asked, his heart breaking slightly.
“We…” his mother started, but then his father broke in.
“We were young.” He took the phone off speaker and he could hear his father comforting his mother. “We were too young. Back then… our parents thought it was best if we gave the baby up for adoption.”
“Did you know he was raised in Hidden Creek?”
“No.” His father’s voice sounded sad. “We didn’t know anything about the adoption family. Our parents took care of everything.” He sighed, then spoke to his mother. “Why are you bringing this up now?”
“Because I’ve met him.” He wondered if he should tell his parents everything. “I live in the same town.” He hadn’t realized that his voice had risen, until Xtina’s hand rested on his shoulder softly.
Closing his eyes, he took a few breaths. “Jacob is on the police force here.” He turned slightly as Xtina sat next to him on the bed.
“Jacob?” He heard his mother repeat the name. “How…” Suddenly the phone was put back on speaker. “How do you know it’s him?”
“Because…” He looked over at Xtina and thought for a brief moment of explaining everything to them, but then shook his head. “Because we look alike,” he lied slightly. Only slightly, since it was sort of true, most of it. The fact that Jacob was almost a spitting image of his father, he kept to himself.
The line was silent for a while.
“We’re heading down there first thing in the morning,” his father said.
“Fine.” He reached for Xtina’s hand and felt her tense at his touch, so he dropped her hand and looked over at her. Her face had gone pale again. “Dad, I have to go.”
“We’ll see you around noon,” he answered, then broke the connection.
“What?” he asked, turning to her after he tossed his phone down.
“They had no choice.” He watched a tear slide down her face. “Their parents…” She shook her head. “I didn’t see it before.” She wrapped her arms around him. “They were forced to give him up.” More tears slid down her face. “They wanted him as much as they wanted you.” Her eyes moved to him. “Don’t hate them. They’re suffering as much as you are.”
He held her close as he took it all in. He had a brother. Another one. A big brother. He’d been the oldest sibling for as long as he could remember. Even though Ethan and he were twins, he’d always thought of himself as the big brother.
But now, everything had changed. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t been raised side by side with the man, he was family. Period.
He glanced towards the phone and thought about texting Ethan, but he knew that his brother was too deep in his mission to have a phone on him. Besides, he didn’t know when he’d see him or hear from him again and he didn’t want that to be the first news to reach him after spending weeks out of touch.
He fell backwards, taking Xtina with him until
she settled on his chest.
“How about that ice cream?” she asked, nodding towards the tray of dessert on the nightstand.
“Yeah.” He brushed his hands through her hair. “I suppose I could go for something sweet.” He leaned down and placed his lips over hers softly. “After.” He trailed his mouth over her face, kissing her eyes closed.
He needed the slowness, the softness of her to heal all the hurt that had built up inside him. Remembering seeing her pale, shaking with fear, made him go slower, made his hands and fingers gentler as he moved over her pale skin.
Looking into those sea green eyes of hers, knowing that they saw more than he could ever imagine, made him take his time pleasing her. He wanted to show her how he felt, since he knew she couldn’t sense it from him.
So many emotions had swelled up inside him that when they lay naked and intertwined, he allowed the words to slip from his lips as he entered her slowly.
Chapter Sixteen
They needed to talk about so much. She rolled over, feeling her entire body still vibrating from everything Mike had just done to her.
“I think the ice cream melted.”
“It’s probably a puddle after all the heat we just generated,” he joked back and she was glad he’d chosen to play it easy.
His hand settled on her bare back and she closed her eyes, wanting to hold on to that moment forever.
“Mike.” She turned, looking down at him. His dark lashes were resting on his cheeks. When his eyes slid open, she knew they would have to talk about what he’d said.
“I…” She shook her head. “I can’t allow myself to love.” She felt the stab in her heart. “It’s not in my cards.” She stood up and watched his hand drop away from her.
“What do you mean?” His face went blank as he sat up slightly, resting back against the headboard.
“Love isn’t for people like me.” She reached down and picked up the robe he’d tossed onto the ground after he’d slowly peeled it from her earlier. She wrapped the softness around her, then hugged herself to try and get warm. Glancing over, she noticed that the apple pie and ice cream still looked good enough to eat. “Here.” She handed him a bowl. “Let’s enjoy this before it melts.” She took her own bowl and sat next to him.
“You can’t avoid this forever,” he said after shoveling a bite of pie into his mouth.
“I know.” She kept her eyes glued to the bowl of dessert. “Just not tonight.” She felt her energy levels fade further.
His hand reached out for hers. “I’ll give you tonight.” He took her hand up to his mouth and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles, sending warmth and pain throughout her entire body.
That night, her dreams were full of images of pain, sorrow, loneliness, and love. She knew in her heart that none of it was her own, but images left over from her experience from the previous day.
When she woke, the bed was empty and the sheets were cold. When she looked around, she saw the note on her nightstand.
I have some work to do on my house before my folks come today. Can you come over for dinner? I’d like you to meet them. See you around six… I know you don’t want to hear it, but I love you. M
She tucked the note close to her heart as she sat down on the bed and tears rolled down her cheeks.
Love. She’d never believed she’d be allowed to have it. To feel it. To enjoy it. All her life she’d hidden from it. No, it had hidden from her. There had been a few times she’d believed she’d fallen in love. Joe. Billy. She sighed at all the disappointments she’d experienced over the years. How she’d tried to give them everything she had, only to come up short.
Was Mike different? Could she trust her own heart this time? He was different in many ways. For one, he was the only person she couldn’t read. When she looked into his eyes, she could only see what he was thinking through her own eyes.
She likened the feeling to being blind, only seeing the world through sounds and feeling around in the dark. She wasn’t used to it. But, she realized, it didn’t scare her so much with Mike.
Maybe she trusted him more than she’d trusted Joe and Billy. She didn’t think there was any way that Mike would end up being like either of those two. Especially Billy. She felt a shiver run up her back.
She blocked thoughts of her past from her mind as she went about her business. She had a long list of things she needed to get in town and decided to make the run first thing, since she was low on coffee and Rose was begging her for some more of the treats Jessie had brought last night. She knew it probably wasn’t good for the dog to have so many, but she figured a woman could afford to indulge when she was expecting.
Her first stop, after grabbing a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll, was the vet. Rose was a little jittery walking in, but hearing Xtina’s voice seemed to soothe her down. Then she met the vet and relaxed completely. She could tell that Rose liked the woman immediately.
“I’ll give her a full checkup,” the vet, Reba, said. “If you have some other errands to run, it should take about an hour.” She ran a hand over Rose’s belly. “We’ll give her an ultrasound to make sure everything’s all good.”
“Thank you, I’ve got some grocery shopping to do. I’ll be back after.” She glanced down at her watch and marked the time and then ran a hand over Rose. “I’ll be back.”
She smiled when Rose lapped at her in acceptance.
She walked the block to the grocery store, grabbed a cart, and pulled her list from her purse.
The last time she’d been in the store, she’d passed out. She still couldn’t figure out why, other than fatigue.
Now, she was careful to keep a few feet away from others as she piled items into her cart. She picked out two dog beds, one for upstairs, the other for the kitchen area. Then came the dog food and more treats and toys. She spent more time on the pet aisle than shopping for herself.
By the time she was in line at the checkout, she was sure she was spending way too much money on the dog, but Rose was worth it.
“You’re that girl,” someone said from behind her. “Aren’t you?”
She turned and saw several women around her age looking at her. They were standing at the checkout, but didn’t have carts or baskets. Instead, they each had a magazine in their hands, like they had just grabbed it so they could talk to her.
One was a tall blonde woman who had a purse thrown over her shoulder that had probably cost as much as the taxes on her car had. The other, a smaller dark-haired woman, was wearing very impressive designer clothing and some of the tallest heels Xtina had ever seen.
“I’m sorry?” she asked, not sure what they were asking.
“The one that’s working with the police on Laura’s case,” the dark-haired woman said.
She felt her entire body stiffen and she thought for a moment about leaving all her items in the cart and just leaving.
“I’ve been advised not to speak about—” she started. It was the truth. Jacob had asked her not to talk about the case to anyone.
“Christina, correct?” the blonde said, her eyes going to the other woman’s. “That’s her. I remember she was in my biology class.”
Xtina remembered the pair now. Robin and Carly. The dynamic duo, as Xtina and Jessie used to call them. Wherever they were, trouble was bound to follow.
Instead of answering, Xtina turned around and focused on emptying her cart onto the conveyor belt.
“I heard that you accused Laura of killing her husband,” one of them said behind her. “Even after she’d been attacked herself.”
Xtina took a couple deep breaths to steady herself. She’d learned that the best way to handle people like them was to ignore them.
“You have some nerve accusing someone when you have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Xtina sped up unloading her items and tucked her purse tighter under her arm.
“We’re talking to you,” one of them said, then reached out and took Xtina by the shoulder. She hadn’t been pr
epared for the contact and when images flooded her mind, she felt her knees weaken and felt the sting of the floor as she fell forward.
Damn, she thought as she hit the ground. Not again.
She heard laughter, which shook her from the haze. Her hands and knees were burning as she looked up through her hair.
Both women stood over her, laughing down at her.
“I told you she was a freak,” Robin said, her arms crossed over her chest as Carly looked on. Both women had smiles on their faces as Xtina stood up slowly.
“Still, it’s better than what the two of you have going on.” Xtina straightened up, her shoulders going back as she felt strength building inside her.
They chuckled. “And what would that be?” Carly asked.
“Oh, I think it would be obvious.” Her eyes moved to the expensive purses and clothing. “You do know that internet fraud is a crime.” She motioned to the expensive bags that had been bought online using fake information.
“It’s still theft.” She leaned closer. “Even if you have gotten away with it for years.”
She turned and ignored the sounds of them gasping and groaning behind her.
“She can’t know about that,” she heard Carly tell Robin as they rushed out of the store.
“Are you okay, miss?” the clerk said. He was a younger man who appeared to be in high school.
“Yes, I’m fine.” She smiled and dusted her hands, only then realizing that they were slightly bleeding. “If you can, will you wait until I grab a box of bandages?”
He nodded and she rushed back down the aisles until she had a box of bandages.
“Thanks,” she said, setting the box down.
“If you want, I’ll tell the police what happened.”
She shook her head. “No need. Those two have been a pain to me since they were born.” She smiled and waved her hand. “Besides, I think they’ll be leaving me alone from here on out.”
With her knees and hands hurting, she pushed the full cart towards her car and knew she’d just taken the first steps to securing her future in Hidden Creek. No longer was she going to be afraid of the people in it. No longer was she going to hide her true self from anyone.