by K. B. Draper
“You do, do you?” Ruby responded as she openly assessed Kanyon’s hands splayed on her desk. She smiled in approval. “She was right.”
Kanyon gave Ruby an inquisitive look, uncomfortable with Ruby’s sudden fascination. She pulled her hands back, giving them her own inspection. Her knuckles were a little raw from all the extra training with Dodge, but otherwise they looked normal. Self-conscious, she crossed her arms, hiding her hands in her armpits. “Who was right?”
“No one,” Ruby replied with a laugh to her voice. “Sorry. So, you’re here at this ungodly hour because you want a job?”
“Yes. You don’t have to pay me anything. I just want to work here for a little while.”
Ruby played coy. “Well, I do need a new lawn guy. Do you know the difference between perennials and annuals? And do you have an aversion to fish poop? I need the water fountain cleaned and I was thinking about a rock garden–”
“Okay, Auntie Random, back to me. I was thinking of a different job.”
“Pool girl, cabana boy? I’m in need of a cabana boy. I’m getting older and it’d be nice for someone to bring me a warm towel when I get out of the bath.” She slapped her hand down on the desk. “Okay it’s settled. You can be my cabana boy. I bathe every evening around nine. Towels are in the closet. Be here by eight forty-five, that’ll give you time to set my special soaps and night creams out and get my towel warming.” Ruby was thoroughly enjoying her act as a crazy old lady and making Kanyon suffer. As she prolonged their conversation for her own amusement, she watched Kanyon’s train of emotions; humility, need, confusion, frustration, a little horror, and then finally … recognition.
Kanyon was not amused. “Very funny.”
“What? Cabana boy isn’t the job you’re looking for?”
“Ahhh, no. And as delightful as that job offer sounds, I was hoping for more field work, less night creams, and definitely less potential for nudity.” She thought of Daylen, okay she was way flexible on the less potential for nudity requirement. “I was kind of hoping to, you know ...” She ran her hands through her hair.
“Work as my personal pastry chef? Lingerie consultant?” Ruby couldn’t help but goad Kanyon, forcing her to admit what she desired.
“No. Geez. I want to work with Daylen, help her with some cases or whatever, for a little bit. Just until I find another TV role or something.”
“I see. And what does Daylen have to say about this?” she asked even though she already knew Daylen’s opinion on the subject was very clear.
Kanyon hesitated. “Well, I can’t say we’ve really talked specifics. I might’ve mentioned it a while back, just in a vague general sense, and she didn’t say. Well, not exactly. I was kind of hoping she’ll warm up to the idea. Eventually.”
“I see. Let me get this straight, you want to work with Daylen and she doesn’t want you to,” she held up a hand as she saw Kanyon open her mouth to protest, “exactly. So, you came to me to convince her? Or override her?”
“Either of those options would work for me,” Kanyon mumbled.
“Why?” Ruby asked with all playful harassment aside now.
Kanyon thought for a minute. Probably not a good idea to tell a potential employer you keep having these reoccurring dreams where a rather pushy and persistent spirit-like woman keeps telling you that you need to protect Daylen, and then when you’re awake the feelings are overwhelming, and plus you have a small sneaking suspicion that you might be in love with potential employer’s niece. “I have some making up to do,” Kanyon finally responded.
Ruby smiled as she watched Kanyon’s aura change to golden and red lights pulsing with power with the emotions rushing through her. She’s started to accept the callings of the Guardian and is discovering her feelings for Daylen. She’d have to thank their mutual friend later.
“Okay,” Ruby said simply.
“Okay?” Kanyon questioned. She’d been prepared to barter, argue, and even beg if it needed to come to that.
“Yep. Welcome to the family.” Ruby stood and walked around her desk to hug Kanyon.
“Sweet. Hmmm, so just one question?” Kanyon asked while in Ruby’s embrace. “Is the Bentley a company car for employees to drive or …”
Ruby released Kanyon, holding her at arm’s length. “Don’t push it.”
“Alright, great. Well, thanks. And since I can’t get the earlier images out of my head, I’m going out right now to buy you one of those nice towel warmer rack things from Bed Bath & Beyond as a thank you gift.”
Their smiles dropped and they turned toward the door as they heard footsteps coming in their direction.
Daylen entered the office, head down, looking at something in a folder she was carrying. “Aunt Ru– Kanyon?” Daylen’s heart did an involuntary leap. “What,” she looked between the two women, “are you doing here?”
“Your first assignment is to break the news to Daylen without me having to call in a worker’s comp claim on either of you.” Ruby slapped Kanyon on the back, pushing her forward as she retreated to safety behind her desk.
“What’s going on here?” Daylen asked again, this time focusing on her aunt. “Did you call her?”
“Nope,” Ruby replied simply.
Daylen spun to glare at Kanyon. “Then why are you here?”
At Daylen’s glare, Kanyon second guessed the intelligence of her backdoor way into working with Daylen plan. “I’m our auntie’s new cabana boy?”
Daylen was not amused.
Kanyon turned to Ruby for some assistance, but only got a “she’s all yours” gesture. “Good news, Cagney, you’ve got a new partner.” Kanyon proclaimed with exaggerated enthusiasm.
Daylen rapidly shifted her glare back and forth between the two women as her mouth gaped wider. “Aunt Ruby what …” she pointed at Kanyon, “did you do?”
“I hired Kanyon to help around here. I’m getting older and can’t go out into the field as much and you can’t handle things all by yourself. So, I hired you a partner,” Ruby said, emphasizing the words hired and partner, knowing she had just found a way around their earlier agreement of I didn’t ask for a Guardian, I don’t need a Guardian, and I won’t let Kanyon be my Guardian.
“Don’t you think you could’ve talked to me first? I think we’ve had this conversation. I don’t want a … partner. Remember? I thought we agreed?”
Ruby pretended to think, rolling her eyes and tapping a finger to her chin. “You know, I remember talking about something, but I don’t ever remember the word partner coming up. And for the record, you agreed. I didn’t.”
Daylen glanced at Kanyon who was taking in the conversation between them with a confused look. “We still should’ve talked about this first.”
“I could’ve, but I’m still the boss and I just didn’t feel like it,” Ruby said with a smug smile.
Daylen threw up her hands in frustration. “Oh well, if you just didn’t feel like it. All is good then!” She plastered a smile on her face. “I’ll just go order a name plate for her desk.” She spun on a heel and left. God, Aunt Ruby is the most stubborn person I know. And Kanyon, damn it. She slammed the door to her office and leaned against it. Kanyon. Uggghhh … she hated that the simple sight of her sent her heart reeling. She thought she had built a thick enough wall around her heart these last couple of weeks, but obviously not, since the wall crumbled the moment she saw her again. She took a deep breath, what now? She knew there was no sense in arguing with her aunt, she’d just have to find a way out of the situation. Until then she’d have to find a way to protect Kanyon.
Kanyon watched Daylen leave and looked back at Ruby for direction. “Now what?”
“Now what? Well, I’m going to go clean out the bomb shelter and stock up on emergency rations. I might have to seek cover for a while.”
“I gather you guys have talked about her having a partner before and she wasn’t too thrilled?”
They both flinched as they heard a door slam down the hall.
&nb
sp; “Yep, can’t say she was too fond of the idea,” Ruby stated.
“Maybe I should let her cool off. Do you need help in the shelter? I have a Costco membership. I can get a year’s supply of beanie weenies, pickles, and–”
She crinkled her nose in disgust. “Ahh, no thanks. And just FYI, you’re never allowed in my bomb shelter.”
“Fine. What should I do?”
“She’s your partner, get to partnering.” Ruby nodded toward the door.
Kanyon sighed heavily and flinched again as she heard something loud get knocked to the floor. “How about potato chips? I can buy us a big bag of potato chips or one of those boxes with all the variety bags?”
“Go!” Ruby pointed.
“Right.” Kanyon inched hesitantly toward the door.
“Kanyon.”
Kanyon stopped and turned back to Ruby.
“It’s your job to protect her. Just like she’s advised you.”
Stunned, how in the world does Ruby know about Isadora? “How did you … How do you know–”
“Go,” Ruby instructed, dismissing Kanyon with a wave. Kanyon just stared. She opened her mouth to ask again, but Ruby spun her chair around, turning her back, and waving a hand dismissively. “Now! Or I’ll demote you back down to cabana boy.”
Kanyon headed off in search of Daylen. For the second time, she thought there was definitely more to Ruby and her little detective agency.
Ruby smiled as Kanyon left. This is going to be so entertaining. She figured she should, at some point, have her own conversation with Kanyon about the whole Seeker and Guardian thing or on the other hand, maybe it would be better coming from Daylen. That is, if her hardheaded niece would ever accept reality and stop fighting it. She understood, but by protecting Kanyon and denying their relationship, as both Seeker and Guardian and soul mates, she was denying herself the good things, the blessings, and the happiness. She thought of Jack, though their life together had been cut short and her heart still ached for him, she treasured their time together above anything else.
She thought of the vision she had the first time she saw Kanyon and Daylen on screen together and the first time they had stood together in her office. The gold and red connecting lights were brighter than she’d ever experienced. Yes. Daylen deserves a powerful love and from what very little I could see of Kanyon’s guarded heart, she too needs and deserves what their connection has to offer. Maybe I shouldn’t have or wasn’t supposed to have said anything about the whole soul mate thing, but so what if I’ve given them and fate a little forced kick in the ass?
Kanyon cautiously opened the door to Daylen’s office. Daylen was at her desk busying herself. “Okay, so I know you’re mad, but please hear me out,” Kanyon said though Daylen didn’t acknowledge her. “Daylen, please. I didn’t mean to go around you. Okay, that’s a lie. I did. I knew you wouldn’t give me a chance so … Will you please look at me?” When Daylen made no moves to comply with her request, Kanyon moved around the desk and sat a hip on the corner next to her. “Daylen?” Kanyon placed a finger under Daylen’s chin to softly coax her head up. Daylen laid her pen down and allowed Kanyon to lift her head until their eyes met.
Kanyon took in Daylen’s raised eyebrows and the sneer on her face that loosely translated to “I’m furious, but go ahead with your lame explanation.”
“I want to help. I’ve screwed up a lot lately, but when I was helping you before it felt like I was making up for things in some weird way. So, I thought maybe I could keep helping you out for a little while.” Nervous, she dropped her hand and eyes, letting them rest more comfortably on the desk. “Daylen, after the show and the mess I made of that, then Lexi and Vance and that whole ordeal, I’ve felt numb and lost. But with you I felt alive for the first time in a long time.” If she was going to have a chance to win Daylen over, she knew she was going to have to put it all out on the line, minus the little part about Isadora told me to. “I liked working with you again. I didn’t realize how much I missed that and … even more how much I missed you. I took it for granted before, never letting you get close to me. I don’t do close well, but seeing you again and helping you, it felt different. Different in a right kind of way.” She was starting to get flustered and her words weren’t coming out like she wanted. She stared up, her vision fluttering around the room. “Being with you just feels right.” She took in a deep steadying breath. “I think, well, I just think this, me, here with you, is where I’m supposed to be right now.” She chanced a look back at Daylen. Although the admission was making her feel uncomfortable, stupid, and vulnerable she continued, “I really want to be here. I want to be with you ...” Okay, a little too real. “Uhhh … work with you. I want to work with you,” she clarified quickly.
Daylen sighed as her heart flipped in her chest. God I’m in trouble, she thought as she looked in Kanyon’s eyes and saw the need, hope, and uncertainty reflected there. So much trouble. She took in the rest of Kanyon’s face. Although the wounds and bruises were gone, a fresh ache shot through her as her eyes found a faint shadow of a scar over her eyebrow. My Guardian, my soul mate, her thoughts whispered. She sighed again and dropped her head in resignation. Damn you fate. I’m still going to figure out a way around this. I love her and I won’t let her get hurt because of me.
Daylen lifted her eyes up to meet Kanyon’s. “Fine, but on one condition.”
“What? I bring you coffee every morning? Done!”
“I won’t have you taking stupid risks and getting hurt to protect me. I can take care of myself. You don’t have to protect me.”
“I know I don’t have to.” I need to, Kanyon finished to herself.
“Fine. Get your coat, we have a ring to find. Oh, and I like my coffee black.” Daylen said, standing and grabbing the files off her desk.
“A ring?” Kanyon asked with exaggerated disappointment. “I was hoping our first case together could be a little more exciting than finding some old lady’s misplaced ring.”
“Are you complaining already?” Daylen questioned, faking annoyance.
“Nope. A lost ring. Yippee!” she cheered as she hopped off Daylen’s desk. “Our first official case; The Mystery of the Lost Ring, bahaaahaha.” At Daylen’s eye roll, she smiled. “So, Velma, where do we park the Mystery Machine?”
Daylen couldn’t help but laugh. “Velma? Really?”
Kanyon shrugged. “I was going for the smart one.”
“Oh, well in that case, Shaggy, let’s go.”
“Shaggy?” Kanyon protested.
“I was going for the one that always got in trouble.”
“I don’t always get in trouble,” she argued, following Daylen out of the room. “I’m so Fred.”
“Fine. Fred, I’m guessing that means you want to drive?”
“Duh,” she replied as she took the keys Daylen was dangling from her fingers.
Out on the highway, Kanyon finally asked, “So what’s the deal? Are we looking for a lost ring in the front yard of some old lady’s house? ‘Cause just FYI, I drive, but I don’t wield metal detectors. I have a reputation to uphold.”
“I’m very aware of your reputation and I don’t think being seen with a metal detector will hurt it much.”
It was true of course, but Kanyon shot Daylen a look anyway. Daylen laughed.
“Don’t worry, there aren’t any metal detectors needed on this gig. We’re going to stop and see someone on our way, to help with the whole protecting-your-reputation thing.”
Daylen gave Kanyon directions to a run-down apartment building. “And we’re here, why?” Kanyon looked up to take in the free-swinging fire escape, which was banging against the side of the brick building. “To visit L.A.’s number one ranked death trap?”
“My friend is one of those starving artist types.”
They made their way up to apartment 319 and Daylen knocked on the door. A few seconds later a woman, make that a girl, answered. She had blue spiked hair, a tattoo of what looked like the plant-alien
thing from Little Shop of Horrors snaking up her neck, and by Kanyon’s quick count, five visual piercings. The girl completed the look with scuffed hiking boots, a T-shirt with an old-school pic of Cujo and the slogan “Back off, I have Rabies”, a plaid skirt, ripped leggings, and a snarl, or one of her lip rings was snagged, Kanyon couldn’t quite tell.
“Oh goodie, it’s Rainbow Brite,” the girl said before she turned and walked away.
Kanyon’s laugh got extinguished by Daylen swatting an arm across her stomach. “Don’t encourage her. We just got her house broken.” Kanyon followed Daylen into the small apartment. The girl sat down at a workbench, which was built in the middle of what would normally be a living room. But instead of typical living room décor, the room looked like the main display hall of the Freaky Creatures, Aliens and Monsters, Mask, and Wax Museum.
As if she had already forgotten or didn’t care she had company, the girl picked up a sculpting knife from next to a large Medusa-like head and began to make small cuts in the sculpture resembling small intricate scales.
“What are you working on? It’s creepy and morbid, yet … really amazing.” Daylen laid her hands on the girl’s shoulders as she leaned in to take a closer look.
“It’s a mask for a job for this new Syfy show,” she answered as she flung her elbow back at Daylen. “Dang. Back it up, Nosey Spice, there’s perfectly good air over there to breathe.” She flicked her hand toward the other side of the room.
“Love you too.” Daylen kissed the top of her head and then mussed the girl’s hair before moving back.
The girl used the crook of her arm to wipe Daylen’s kiss from the top of her head. “Ugh, I thought we talked about my stance on public displays of affection?”
“We’re not in public, we’re in private and Kanyon doesn’t care.”
Ahh, Kanyon might care a little, Kanyon thought, now extremely curious as to the nature of the two’s relationship. Obviously, they were close despite the girl’s actions and words to the contrary.
“Kanyon, this little ray of sunshine is Blue,” Daylen introduced, “my very talented and very mouthy, goddaughter. Blue, this is Kanyon McKane.”