by Char Webster
“I’m sorry you lost him.”
“I am, too.” Nick pulled her closer to him again and then, after being quiet for a moment, he asked, “Any more questions, or am I off the hook?”
“You think one question gets you off the hook?”
“A guy can try, right?” Nick winked at her. She sighed. She loved when he did that. She looked right up at him to see if he had heard her, and it didn’t appear that he did.
“You didn’t hear that, right?” she grinned.
“With a grin like that, I’m really sorry I didn’t hear it. Would you care to repeat it?”
Her grin got even bigger, and she shook her head no. “I like this new trick.”
“I’m sure you do. Just remember that if you get too emotional, it can open up without you realizing it or being able to completely control it,” Nick explained.
“Why did I start to hear things now, when the kids started out so much earlier? Is there something wrong with me?”
“That’s a good question,” Nick said gently. “There is nothing wrong with you. Our gifts are almost like our thoughts, free-flowing and changing. You didn’t grow up with anyone gifted around you, so some of your gifts stayed dormant. We are not sure why that happens.”
Nick looked at her to make sure she was accepting everything he was telling her so far and continued, “Your primary gift of feeling emotions still surfaced but was probably not as strong as it will be. It will continue to grow in strength. When our kind are in close proximity for long periods of time, our gifts tend to be stronger.”
“It’s going to get stronger?” Kate asked, getting excited.
“Yes, the more you practice, the better you will get at using its full potential,” Nick told her. “So when you met the kids and their abilities started to show, yours flowed out of you. Also, being around me and even Robert has helped too.”
“So you think that I’m helping the kids to develop theirs as well?” Kate asked.
“Yes. Our specific talents show slightly in our early teens, but usually do not get strong enough to use them until the late teens. The kids come from a strong family line, so we knew they would have strong gifts and probably get them earlier than most.”
“Yes, they are both showing really cool abilities.”
“What have you noticed?” Nick asked. He hadn’t seen the kids for a while, and the last time he was around, they didn’t show any of their gifts.
“Well, Zach blew up a few glasses on the pool patio and Alex fried a popcorn maker at the neighbor’s house.”
“Wow, really?”
“Yes. Zach can move things with his mind. When he got upset, he waved his arm and the glasses shattered. Alex can control electric current. She can hold the plug in her hand and light a lamp.”
“They both have very strong abilities. Usually families have only one or two in several generations that have gifts that powerful. We’ll have to keep an eye on things and make sure they use their gifts wisely.” Nick was shocked that both kids had such gifts.
Kate loved how Nick said they would both help the kids. That meant he would be sticking around and that he wanted her in the kids’ lives. “Yes, especially since both kids have a little bit of a mischievous streak.”
“Who do you think helped with that when they were little?” Nick said with a big grin.
She smiled widely. “I have another question.” She hesitated, not sure if she really wanted to ask or not. She grabbed his hand and felt the energy.
“Yes?” he prompted. He loved that she had grabbed his hand. Usually he initiated it.
She pulled up their joined hands and took a deep breath. “I feel a sort of tingling energy surge through me when I touch you. Do you feel that?”
He looked directly into her eyes and said, “Yes.”
“Have you ever felt that before?”
“You mean with anyone else?” he clarified. She nodded. She hated to think that he had felt this with anyone else.
“No. I’ve never felt this with anyone else,” Nick told her. “Is that all that happens when I touch you?” He cupped her face with his free hand.
“That’s all I’m going to talk about right now,” Kate told him. He was staring into her eyes and she knew he could tell that her heart was racing. “Why does that happen? What causes it?”
“I will let it slide for now,” he told her. “I’m not 100% sure, but I think it has something to do with both our gifts. Almost all our talents are tied in some way to our emotions. They can fluctuate depending on how we are feeling. I know you have noticed that when I get emotional it is harder for me to hide my thoughts and feelings.”
She nodded, and he continued, “I can control and direct energy and you affect emotions. I think our powers together create a kind of surge through both of us.” She knew what he wasn’t saying out loud, that they are emotionally connected to each other.
He pulled her into his side again, “Any more questions?”
“Hmm, yes, but I think we need to get a s’more.” And she needed to put a little bit of space between them. Her heart was still racing and she wanted him to kiss her again.
“Sounds like a plan,” Nick said, and helped her off the couch. “We need to get some before Zach eats them all.”
They headed outside and spent some time with the four teens around the fire pit until it got late and everyone decided to call it a night.
Kate walked Nick to the front porch and turned to give him a hug, but he had other plans. He pulled her into his arms and crushed his lips to hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back enthusiastically. His arms roamed her back and she played with his hair.
After a few minutes, Nick pulled away and rested his head against her forehead. “I have wanted to do that all night,” he told her breathlessly.
“I have wanted you to do that all night,” Kate admitted. “Good night, Nick.”
“Sweet dreams, Kate.” Nick stepped off the porch and wandered into the night. Kate watched him go and wondered where he lived. She just realized she had never asked him, he just showed up at random times. She had to remember to ask him the next time she saw him. He probably lived close since he always walked over. Maybe she would just have to show up at his house one time. Kate smiled, loving that idea.
~*~*~
Brooks was in his den with his wife when someone knocked on the door. He had just arranged for her to take a few of the children to their house in Colorado. Sending her there would keep her out of his way and out of his business. She had been too nosy lately.
Brooks had told everyone that he didn’t want to be bothered, especially when his wife was around. This had better be good.
He went to the door and saw an Asian man in his mid-thirties, with short black hair and dark-brown eyes. His hair was gelled at the top, and he wore extremely trendy clothes. He looked like he had walked right out of a fashion magazine.
“Not here. I will see you in my office in five minutes.”
The man nodded and turned to walk to Brooks’ office.
“Who was that, darling?” his wife asked.
“Just a business associate. Nothing for you to worry about,” Brooks told her.
“Hmm,” she said. “I didn’t know you were doing business with someone like him.”
“What do you mean?” Brook said, getting close to his wife’s face.
“You know exactly what I mean,” she said, holding her own against him. “Do not for one second think that I don’t know what is going on here. If I choose to ignore some of your business dealings, it’s just that, ignoring them. Don’t think you’re fooling anyone.”
She walked away but turned at the door. “I’m going to our Colorado home because I want to, not because you think you’re sending me away. Just remember that.” She left, smiling to herself.
Brooks sighed. She was becoming bothersome, but he couldn’t do anything about her, yet. At least she would be on the other side of the country for a while.
It was going to be a long day.
“Well, Ray?” Brooks asked.
Ray looked back over his shoulder and said, “I have the girl. There was a problem with her mother.”
“What kind of a problem?”
“You said to not hurt the girl, and we didn’t; her mother was a different story. She fought back and one of the guys was a little bit careless.”
Brooks was getting angrier by the moment. “How careless? You better tell me everything that happened and stop forcing me to ask you questions. My patience has already worn thin.”
Ray turned around fully and said, “She’s dead. It was an accident, but the girl saw it happen.”
“Do you realize how complicated you just made this for me?” Brooks said, stalking over to the man.
“Hey, you just said we couldn’t hurt the girl. You didn’t say anything about the mother. We did what you asked. She’s upstairs in the room above the garage.”
“I don’t want to hear your excuses. Get out now.”
I am surrounded by complete idiots, he thought. No one had done anything right lately. He was going to have to find some new people to deal with.
He picked up his iPad and clicked on the video camera icon. The room the girl was in had several cameras from different angles. He watched as she huddled on the bed and cried. He tucked his iPad under his arm and left his office. It was a perfect time to go see how Frank was feeling.
~*~*~
Kate took all the kids, including Eric and Emily, to the Fun Zone in the next town over. It was a combination roller rink, arcade, rock wall, and children’s climbing/jumping zone, the type of place where children have birthday parties.
The older kids took off for the rock climbing area and Kate steered Maddy to the jumping arena that was a section designed for toddlers. Maddy flung off her shoes and ran toward a huge inflated cake with light up candles. Kate laughed at her enthusiasm and bent down to collect her shoes that had been left in the middle of the walkway. She watched Maddy jump and flop down multiple times, giggling and smiling hugely. She loved that Maddy appeared to be having a ball. Kate watched with all the other parents as the little ones jumped and flopped down, and did it again.
Kate was leaning against the wall keeping an eye on Maddy when someone bumped her shoulder. At first she thought it was just one of the parents accidently knocking into her, but when she looked up, she noticed Robert smiling down at her.
Kate didn’t know how he kept finding her everywhere. “How did you find us? Are you following us?”
“It’s not what you think. I was walking out of the gym next door and I saw you guys walk in,” Robert said with a grin. “Although, if you want me to follow you, I will gladly. You have a nice rear view.” He raised his eyebrows at her.
She rolled her eyes. He was always saying something outrageous. “Say I believe you. What’s up?”
“I only want to spend some quality time with my girl.”
“I’m not your girl. And if you wanted to spend quality time with me, why did you abruptly leave the last time you came over?” she challenged.
“I figured something out that I needed to take care of,” he told her cryptically. “Does that mean you missed me?”
“I don’t know you well enough to miss you.”
He put his arm around her shoulder and said, “This is the perfect opportunity to change that. We can get to know each other right here.”
“I’m busy.”
“Yes, I can see you’re very busy standing around with the other moms.”
She chose to ignore him. Maddy was bouncing in a big circular thing that looked like a castle. She had made friends with another little girl, and they were holding hands and jumping together. They both were laughing and falling down, just to get up and do it again.
Robert was leaning against the wall next to her. She looked over and said, “I meant to ask you before, but I never got a chance. Why were you so angry at the carnival?”
He looked surprised for a second and then shrugged. “How do you know I was angry?”
“I felt your rage. You weren’t doing a very good job of hiding it.”
He turned to look directly at her. “I’m sorry if I scared you that night. I was really angry, and sometimes when I’m angry I act . . .”
She finished for him, “Like a jerk?”
“I was going to say I can act insensitively.”
“I like my word better,” she told him with a playful smile.
“I’m sure you do,” Robert said, looking sideways at her.
“Why were you so angry?”
“Do you remember the girl I told you about, who turned me into the Association to be arrested?” he asked uncomfortably.
“The girl who broke your heart?”
He sighed. “Yes. Well, she was at the carnival with her husband and baby son.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. That must have been really difficult to see.” She reached over and placed her hand on his arm to try to relieve some of his pain that she couldn’t feel, but knew was there. “Is she from this area?”
He looked over at her oddly and shook his head. “The last thing I heard was that they were living out by Lancaster, but that must have changed.”
“Hopefully she was just visiting someone and you won’t have to see her anymore.”
He laughed. “You’re assuming that I’m staying around here.”
She was surprised by that and oddly bothered. “Are you leaving?”
“Not yet, but I have nothing to tie me to this area.”
“Where would you go? What would you do?” she asked curiously. “What have you been doing since you left the Association?”
“I’ve been working with a private security firm. It allows me to take the jobs I want and refuse others,” he said vaguely. “Also, my uncle passed on and left me a great deal of money, so I can basically do whatever I want now.”
Maddy squealed and ran over to Kate. “Go on the big slide.”
Kate picked her up and hugged her little girl. “Let’s go to the big slide. Do you think you can go down such a big slide all by yourself?”
“Yes!” Maddy said, clapping her hands. “Slide with me!”
Kate laughed and said, “Okay, let’s go.”
Robert trailed behind Kate and Maddy, laughing at the girls. He needed to bring up his plans for her, but he wasn’t sure how to do it.
Kate and Maddy climbed up the stairs on the large blow-up slide. Kate got to the top and settled Maddy on her lap. “Get ready. Here we go.”
They both squealed on the way down. Robert snapped a photo of them on his phone as they came down. They really did make a perfect picture of happiness. Was he ever that happy? Yes, when he was growing up he was, but more recently, he couldn’t remember the last time he was truly happy.
Kate and Maddy slid down a few times, and then Kate led Maddy to a smaller slide that was the perfect size for little children.
Robert met Kate at the smaller slide.
“I didn’t think that you would still be here,” Kate commented.
“Trying to get rid of me?”
“Would it work if I was trying to get rid of you?”
“Not at all.”
“I didn’t think so.” Kate laughed. “So what do you want to talk about since you are still here and look like you have something to say?”
“I did want to talk to you about something.”
“Obviously.”
“You had asked me about the Division the last time we spoke.”
“Yes, you mean when you ran off?”
He ignored that. “Anyway, I wanted to answer your question,” Robert started off carefully. “The Division broke away from the Association almost 100 years ago now. They didn’t like all of t
he rules and harsh punishments the Association dishes out. They also believe that people should be a lot freer to live their lives and not have the Association dictate everything.”
“You don’t make them sound so bad, so why are the kids terrified of them?”
“We’re taught from a young age that the Division are evil people out to hurt the world. I believed it at one time, but really, they’re just a group of people who oppose a ruling party.”
“Why are you telling me this?” She had just said those words when Maddy began to cry. Kate ran over to Maddy and scooped her up in her arms.
“What happened, Mads? Are you okay?” Kate asked.
Maddy pointed her finger at a scraped up knee. Tears were coming down her face. “Alright kiddo, let’s get you all cleaned up.”
Kate carried her to the ladies’ room to clean up her scrape. Since having kids around, Kate’s purse had grown in size, and also in quantity of items. She pulled out antibiotic cream and a bandage.
When the little girl was all cleaned up and not crying anymore, Kate said, “Would an ICEE make you feel better?”
“Yes, please,” Maddy agreed and hugged Kate’s neck. They got their ICEEs and went to look for the older kids.
The teens were easy to find in the arcade because they were all competing with each other in the off-road racing game. Kate and Maddy watched them compete in a couple of races and was surprised that Alex had beaten all of them in every round. Eric, unhappy with the outcome, was increasingly more erratic with his moves, showing his frustration with coming in last each time
“Hey, guys. Let’s call it a day after this game. It’s getting late, and I promised the Bennets that I would get you all home in time for Eric and Emily to go to an afternoon party with their parents.”
There was a lot of grumbling, but they finished the race and piled into the SUV.
After they got home, Kate put Maddy down for a late nap, and Zach and Alex went looking for some other kids in the neighborhood.