“I’ll see ya again, soon, right?”
“You can count on it,” Gabe’s voice was thick. Clearing his throat, he pushed his lips into a smile and waved.
* * * *
By the time Gemma pulled into the road Chatsworth Classic Cars resided on, she was so tense she thought she might pass out. What if it hadn’t worked? What if Mike’s Motorworld was still there? What…?
Her breath caught in her throat as she pulled to a stop outside the business. Gazing up at the sign, she felt the tears build in her eyes before she dropped her head into her hands and let her shoulders shake with emotion.
Chapter Thirty-One
St Augustine, Florida – 2011 AD
The garage was stifling hot. Slamming down the hood of the car, Harrison walked away from it in frustration and reached for his water bottle. He drank deeply then set it aside. He still felt raw with the unsettling nerves that had been eating him for over a month.
Pulling a hand through his unkempt locks, he let out a long sigh, unable to ignore the hollow aching in his chest.
“I’m taking a break!” He slumped out of the garage, all too aware that his grumpy behavior was taking its toll on everyone around him.
Bryan and his mother had been pretty patient with him, but it didn’t stop the sting of guilt. He knew he had to get over it, but he had no idea how. In spite of what everyone was telling him, time was doing nothing to fill the cramping cavity. The most depressing part was that the only real cure didn’t want him and there seemed to be nothing he could do about it.
Rubbing a hand over his forehead, he headed for the sunlight and felt his body freeze. There she was. His cure. Sitting on her Ducati, her head in her hands and her shoulders quivering with obvious tears.
The jolt of seeing Gemma whipped through his body and he didn’t know whether to feel anger or relief, joy or heartache.
What is she doing here? And why is she crying?
The urge to run forward and comfort her was at war with the urge to turn and walk back into the garage. He set both feelings aside and slowly approached her, his thoughts running with memories of the day on the beach.
* * * *
Six weeks earlier…
Harrison paced the beach as he waited for Gemma to return. The foreboding running up his spine was uncomfortable. He wriggled his back to try and eradicate the sensation.
Suddenly she was before him. He turned away in order to let her get dressed. Rocking on his heels, he shot a quick look over his shoulder and was surprised to see her walking away from him.
“Gemma!” He raced after her and reached for her arm. She flicked him off and kept walking. “Gem, what’s the matter?”
She ignored him.
“Oh, so that’s it? You’re just going to ignore me now?”
He followed her up the beach and watched in stunned silence as she mounted her bike.
“Baby, come on. We can work this out.”
She glanced up and looked straight through him before frowning and starting the engine.
“Gemma?”
She kicked up the stand and walked the bike backwards, driving off without so much as a backwards glance.
Disbelief froze his body solid. His legs finally got moving when another car appeared in the lot. He trudged back to the garage, unable to wrap his brain around what had just happened. He couldn’t believe she would write him off so easily after one little fight.
Pulling his phone from his back pocket, he found her number and pressed the green button. It rang twice before being cut off. He let out an annoyed grunt and tried again. The same thing happened. The third time he left a message asking her to call in the nicest voice possible. He also sent a text.
The walk back to the garage took a while. He was hot, sweaty and in no mood for conversation as he walked across the forecourt.
“Where have you been?” Bryan’s arms were stretched wide in question. “You can’t just take off and not tell me about it.”
Harrison walked around him and headed for his car.
“Hey!”
He ignored Bryan’s irate cuss and fired up the engine to drown out any further noise. Swivelling out of the garage, he took off north in search of answers.
He arrived in Ponte Vedra Beach a short while later. He’d sped the whole way, unable to keep his foot from wanting to push the gas pedal right through the floor. The engine rumbled as he slowed down and wound his way through the quiet streets. Gemma’s house was only a block away.
Part of him wanted to drive right through her gates and pound on her door, but something cautioned him against it. Instead he parked his car by the beach and walked the sandy way to her house. It took him twenty minutes to find the path that wove up to the back of the Hart property. He climbed the gate and walked cautiously along the stony path, hiding in the bushes edging the pool.
Resting his butt against a rock, he made sure he could see Gemma’s window and began his wait. His plan was to wait for movement then throw stones to get her attention. She couldn’t ignore him if he was at her house… right?
The day went by in slow, aching minutes. The house lay still and empty. Harrison had snuck around to check out the garage and noticed no cars were there. The house was locked up tight and secure against intruders.
Harrison continued to try Gemma’s cell phone until his battery died in protest. His stomach growled with complaint, but he ignored it. He wasn’t going anywhere until he’d sorted out this mess with Gemma.
Something must have happened across the line.
His mind ran through various scenarios until his head was pounding. The idea of Gemma breaking up with him was soul destroying. She was it. He couldn’t imagine living without her. He had to fix this. There was no other option.
It was dark by the time Gemma got home. Harrison watched her light flick on and heard the sharp slamming of a door. He waited for her silhouette to appear in the window, but it never did. The light flicked off a moment later.
Gathering a handful of stones, he approached her window and threw them at the glass. They plinked off and fell to the ground unnoticed. He tried for a good fifteen minutes before being frightened off by shuffling in the downstairs rooms. Racing back to the bushes, he gazed back up at Gemma’s window and waited.
Nothing.
He spent another hour in the garden, tried once more with the stones, but had no luck. Stumbling back onto the sand, he fell to his knees and let out a loud cry. Grabbing two handfuls of hair, he yanked until his eyes watered then pounded his fists in the sand.
Why? Why is she doing this?
The question ran around his head as he sat and looked out at the ocean. His body slowly descended into numbness as the realization hit him. This might be over.
I killed us. I should never have gone to see Gabe without telling her.
He wanted to ring and apologize, but knew it was too late. The sick feeling in his abdomen said it all.
A cold ache finally made his muscles move towards his car. He didn’t know what time it was and he didn’t really care. He drove home in a slow, zombie-like fashion. His parents were waiting for him as he pulled in.
“Thank God you’re okay.” Helen wrapped her arms around his neck. “It’s three o’clock in the morning. Where have you been?”
“Ponte Vedra Beach.” His voice sounded dead.
“Did something happen with Gemma?” Bryan looked worried.
“She won’t… I don’t understand. I called, I tried, but she won’t talk to me. She’s ignoring me. I mean, we had a fight, but… it wasn’t… I don’t get it.”
“Oh sweetie.” Helen hugged him tighter. “She’ll come around, maybe she just needs a little space.”
“Something’s wrong.” Harrison pulled out of his mother’s embrace. “It feels… over.” He choked out the last word and leaned against the car.
His parents both went quiet. He looked up at their concern and shook his head. Without another word, he shuffled past them and made
for his bedroom. His hope of sleeping away the nightmare was futile. He lay on his back all night and didn’t catch a wink. The sun unmercifully rose bringing with it a new day that held no hope or promise.
Something inside him knew that it didn’t matter how many times he tried, Gemma wasn’t going to pick up her phone or answer her door. All he could do now was wait. Wait for her to come back or – his spirit sank - the impossible prospect of him to move on.
* * * *
“Gemma? What are you doing here?”
Her head jerked up at the sound of his voice. The emerald liquid of her eyes swirled with pleasure. She seemed to be drinking him in. Wiping the tears from her face, she dismounted the bike and approached him.
He frowned as he took in her puffy, black eye. Had she just been traveling?
“It worked.” Reaching up with quivering fingers, she traced his face before nearly knocking him over with a forceful embrace.
She clung like a limpet and he could do nothing but reach his arms around her if not to find his own balance. After what felt like a century, she pulled away from him and gazed up at his face with a beaming smile. Then she kissed him.
It was pure torture. The fire that danced over his skin was almost too good to deny, but he couldn’t let this go on. Grabbing her arms, he pushed her away from him and noticed her wince. He’d find out about that later.
“Gemma, what’s going on?”
“What do you mean?” Her eyes looked so innocent he felt his insides curdle.
Don’t you dare!
His eyebrows dipped with frustration and he turned away from her.
“Harrison?” She caught his arm to stop his departure, her face starting to shimmer with confusion.
“What? You want me back now?” The question snapped from his lips as he spun on her.
“I always want you. What are you talking about?”
“You broke up with me, Gemma! Remember? We had a fight, you got back from your trip and you just walked past me as if I didn’t exist. You’ve ignored all my phone calls, you… the last month has been hell!”
Gemma’s eyes were wide. He’d never yelled at her before and realized just how little pleasure he was getting from it. The anger he’d been surviving on was giving way to the aching hurt again.
She bit the inside of her cheek and winced. “But you didn’t.”
Harrison frowned. “I didn’t what?”
“Exist. You… you haven’t existed for over a month.”
The blood in his veins ran cold.
“We had a fight, I got back from my trip and you weren’t there.”
The honesty in her eyes hit him with a force so impacting he forgot to breathe.
“My parents… they made it so you… they stopped William Granger from meeting Mary and it meant you were gone.” Her voice fell to a whisper and he saw his pain reflected on her face. “I would never break up with you. I’ve just spent the last month trying to get you back.”
He believed her. The thought was so stunning and surprising, he wanted to ignore it, but how could he? Looking at her tear-streaked face he drank in the truth of her words and felt the hole in his chest instantly fill. Stepping towards her, he placed his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her in. He wrapped his arms around her and smelt her hair. His ice-cold form slowly defrosted as the fire simmered up his body.
“I thought you didn’t love me anymore,” he whispered, his voice catching.
“That’s not possible.”
He squeezed her body against his.
“I want to know everything.”
“Can we stay like this as I tell you?”
He chuckled. Giving her a final squeeze, he drew away from her then wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“Come on. Let’s go back to the beginning.”
They sat on the sand of “their” beach for over two hours. Harrison’s gaze continued to flicker to the spot where Gemma had walked straight past him upon her return. He could remember so clearly watching her drive away on her bike. The memory still hurt, but the fire licking his body was overrunning it. Not to mention the sight of two jade eyes and a pair of rosy lips that were explaining her journey in avid detail.
His overwhelming need to stay physically connected to her was being mirrored by her every move. As soon as he shifted, she would re-adjust her body so they could stay as in touch as possible. He stroked her hair while she cried about her argument with her parents, he held her hand as she spoke about Gabe and he wrapped her in a hug as she talked about her journey back to Canon City and what she thought of Coyote.
“And you got shot?”
Gemma nodded.
“On the shoulder.”
Gemma’s head tipped to the side. “How’d you know that?”
“I saw you wince before. Let me see it.”
“It’s probably healed.”
He could sense Gemma trying to make light of the wound as she pulled her shirt to the side and let it drop from her shoulder. He leaned close to examine it, peeling back the butterfly stitches once he’d ascertained that the skin had sealed.
He ran his fingertip over the remaining scar, followed by his lips. He heard a satisfied sigh slip from Gemma’s mouth. His lips formed a slow smile. Without another word, he let them creep over her shoulder and up her neck, finally finding her mouth. Pulling her close, he ran his hands up her back and felt his skin ignite. Six weeks apart… they had a lot of fire chasing to catch up on.
Chapter Thirty-Two
St Augustine, Florida – 2011 AD
They floated back to the garage three hours after leaving. Bryan was not impressed, but quickly forgave them when he noticed that he wasn’t going to have to deal with a surly teenager anymore.
Wrapping Gemma in a firm embrace he whispered, “Welcome back,” in her ear. Plonking her on the ground, he quickly ordered her to help Rosie finish waxing the Corvette that was being picked up that afternoon.
Rosie was ecstatic to see Gemma back, blathering on about how painful the last few weeks had been with Mr. Grumpus. Gemma smiled as she listened, trying to ignore the unwarranted guilt. He hadn’t been the only one to suffer, but she still felt bad that her parents had been the cause of so much turmoil. She shivered to think what they might say when they found out Harrison existed once more. It wouldn’t take them long to figure out what she had done and she was positive the reaction was going to be lethal. After sharing her fears with Harrison, they had decided that keeping him a secret was the best idea for now. The thought of having to lie through her teeth around her parents wasn’t appealing, but she didn’t think she could handle the tsunami that would no doubt wipe her and Harrison out when she told them.
The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning cars. Harrison kept popping over to see how things were going and possibly checking that she was still there. His grin was goofy and euphoric. Gemma knew exactly how he felt.
Skipping into the garage, she leaned against the car and listened to the end of Harrison and Bryan’s conversation.
“One sec, Bryan. Hey.” He turned to Gemma, placing his hand on her hip. “Why don’t you go call Courtney while you’re waiting? It’ll make you feel better.”
“Good idea.”
Gemma stepped out into the sunshine and found Courtney’s number. She nibbled her cheek as she waited, hoping their conversation at the supermarket had never happened. Technically it shouldn’t have, but…
“Hello.” Courtney’s voice was bright and chipper.
Maybe Harrison’s right.
“Hey Court. It’s Gemma. How was Maine?”
“Gemma? Hey!” Her voice rose with surprise. “It was awesome! It would have been better if I could have taken Darren, but we’re making up for it right now.” Her voice was delicious.
Gemma was sure her face was blinding as she smiled with relief.
“I’ll let you get back to it then.”
“Thanks.” Courtney’s giggle suddenly jerked to a stop. “Hey so… how a
bout you?”
Gemma wondered at the nervy edge to her friend’s voice. “What do you mean?”
“I heard about Harrison. I should have called you, but I didn’t know what to say. I’m sorry. I’m a bad friend.”
Gemma knew what she meant. If she had been an ice queen without Harrison she would have been cold granite after a break up. Courtney probably kept well clear of her; a safe move by anyone’s calculations. As much as the knowledge stung, Gemma couldn’t hold it against her. She had brought this on herself through years of porcupine behavior.
“No, it’s okay. I would have done the same thing.” She tried to put a smile into her voice. “It’s all good though, because… well, we’re back together.”
Courtney let out a piercing squeal. “Really?”
“Yeah.” Gemma laughed and held the phone away from her ear as another shriek came down the line.
“That’s awesome! Darren, they’re back together.”
“Oh thank God!” Darren’s response was muffled, but she could hear the exasperation.
“Want to double date tonight or tomorrow or maybe on the weekend!”
Gemma giggled. “Sure. I’ll try for Friday.”
“Sounds perfect.”
“It’s not a guarantee. You know my parents and… well they don’t know about Harrison being in my life again.”
“Got it.”
Gemma knew she had an instant ally. When it came to getting around parents, Courtney was a pro.
“We’ll make it work. I can even come pick you up, make it look more legit.”
“Sounds good.”
“This is so cool!!”
Gemma could picture Courtney jumping in circles as the idea of an awkward return to school was squashed. She was about to say goodbye when her insides crumbled.
“What did you say?”
Black Blood (Time Spirit Trilogy, #2) Page 17