by SM Olivier
Tink: Have you heard from Lincoln?
I grimaced, hoping I wouldn’t have to talk about him again.
Blake: No.
Tink: He’ll come around.
Blake: I won’t hold my breath.
Tink: Mark my words.
I laughed and shook my head. “That was Anna,” I explained to the guys. “She wanted to know if Lincoln contacted me yet.”
“Did he?” Remy asked with a frown.
I laughed wryly. “Nope. Don’t you think I would have told you if he had?”
“Well, we do know how private you liked to be when we were making our connections,” Noah teased.
I mock-glared at him. “Talking about conversations and sharing details on intimacies are two completely different things. If he contacted me, I would let you guys know. It’s just as important for you guys as it is for me.”
“I want to see you in this and this,” Jaxson stated, apparently done with the conversation as he held up a scarlet red dress that looked like it would fit Ella better than me and a long white and powder blue fairy/ seductress dress.
I looked at the red dress dubiously but then reminded myself that we would be leaving soon for our weekend getaway to his playoff game. We were bound to go out for dinner sometime that weekend, so I could wear it for him.
“Put them in my closet,” I stated with an indulgent smile. I pulled out some extra hangers.
“I choose these,” Remy said gruffly as he handed me some clothing. I was surprised that he involved himself in adding to my wardrobe. Other than giving me his clothes to wear, he never seemed to suggest anything.
I smiled to myself and added the clothing to my drawer. He had only one questionable dress in his choices, but I still added it to my closet.
I started grabbing clothing I thought the other girls could pull off better than me.
Jace grabbed me by the waist at one point and dragged me down to the couch. “I don’t think you have much of a say in your wardrobe anymore,” he teased. I looked up, and sure enough, the guys were all going through my clothing and separating them as well. My shoes were kept in boxes and being placed in my closet.
“True,” I murmured with a smile as I leaned back into him.
“We need to get you a shoe rack,” Drake stated as he turned from my closet.
My new closet wasn’t a walk in, but it was definitely spacious. Since I had a limited wardrobe, it had only been about a quarter full; now it was quickly filling up.
A knock sounded on the apartment door, and Jaxson hopped up from the edge of my bed where he had been putting hangers in my clothing. “I’ll get it.”
He rushed out and came back moments later with Pops. Pops’ eyes widened as he looked at my room. It looked like we’d ransacked a department store.
“Well, I see you got some shopping done,” he said in amusement. “Are you sure Jemmy didn’t go with you guys?”
I laughed. “Believe it or not, the majority of this came from one of the clients.”
“The one you took a bullet for?” he asked with a smirk as he looked me over. I could see him looking at Drake, Noah, and Jaxson with the same scrutiny.
“The one and the same,” I said wryly.
“How’s everyone feeling?” Will asked, leaning against the doorjamb.
I looked at the guys. “Today’s a good day.” None of us had complained about anything so far.
“Lincoln Hudgens?” Pops asked in near bemusement.
I nodded. “He has our mark.” I knew where the conversation was going, and I shrugged. “He has my number, and I said my piece, so the proverbial ball is in his court.”
Will nodded. “I’m sure you did your best. He’ll come around.”
“Hopefully sooner than later.” I hesitantly looked over at the guys. I really was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I didn’t want Lincoln Hudgens in my life, and I definitely didn’t want to make a connection with him, but I also didn’t want us to lose our gifts and continue this downward spiral that was messing with our health.
“Well, I just came to check on you guys. The children will be out of school soon, so I’m sure they’ll be by shortly. Megan wants to know if you want to have dinner at our place tonight?” Will asked.
“That’ll be great,” Jace answered without even conferring with us.
Given a choice between the DFAC (even with all the innovative changes Drake had made to it) and a quieter family setting, we would be choosing dinner over there. After the week we had, I’m sure Megan realized our need to avoid the usual grind for a little while.
We had just got back from the West Coast, so we had to adjust to the time change, and even though the jet was luxurious, we all were still in a state of high-strung anticipation and anxiety.
Jace invited Will to stay for some coffee and pastries that we had gotten at a local bakery in California. I could tell Will was reluctant to leave. He tried to hide his worry as he looked at us, but he wasn’t doing very good job of it.
“Jaxson!” We heard Alex yell from the other side of the door before he threw open the apartment door.
“Blake!” Ella called immediately after him.
They both came running into the living room wearing their school uniforms and backpacks. Ella came skidding to a halt. “Where’s the man?”
“He didn’t come back with us,” I said ruefully.
Ella blanched. “He was supposed to come back with you. He’s in trouble,” she blurted out as she dropped her backpack on the ground.
She pulled out her sketchpad. She flipped through it before landing on a page with Lincoln lying face down next to his surfboard. Half of the board was in the water, threatening to drag him back to sea. Her picture was done in such acute details I could see the pallor of his skin and the pain in his face.
I pulled out my phone and called Anna. The phone rang a few times and then went to voicemail. “Hey Tink, can you call me as soon as you can? It’s important. You need to go check on Lincoln immediately. He may be in trouble.” I said in a rush.
“I’ll call Leo,” Troy stated the moment I hung up the phone. “He’s still has a few jobs out there.”
I nodded and curled into Jace, closing my eyes. Lincoln rubbed me the wrong way, but he was my connection. Without him, life as we knew it would cease to exist.
Jace began to rub the back of my neck as he kissed the top of my head. “It’s okay, we’ll get to him in time,” Jace murmured in my ear.
“Hey Leo,” Troy spoke into his phone. “I need you to do me a favor. Immediately. I need you to go to Lincoln Hudgens’ home.” He rattled off the address. “He may be out back surfing.” He paused. “I know. I know. I’ll call Pritchard, you won’t get in trouble with the locals. Trust me.” He let out a strained laugh. “Yes, I’ll bail you out if Pritchard doesn’t intervene in time. Call me when you find him. Thanks, man.” He slid his phone into his pocket before he looked over at me. “He’s about thirty minutes away from Lincoln’s home, but he’s going there now. He’ll call me as soon as he can.”
“Let’s go, Ella, we have music lessons. Alex, I’ll walk you over to the greenhouses,” Will stated giving Jace a look full of meaning. I knew he wanted to be kept updated about the situation, but he also understood the importance of not having the children underfoot.
“Do we hafta?” Alex asked reluctantly.
Will looked at him fondly. “Yes, we ‘hafta’. I thought you couldn’t wait to check on your garden?”
“I do, but I want to know if they find the man,” Alex said mulishly.
“You’ll find out at dinner. We’re having it our place tonight. Megan’s making some fried chicken, green beans, macaroni and cheese, and biscuits,” Will cajoled him.
“Homemade mac and cheese?” Ella asked hopefully. “I don’t like the kind that comes out of the blue box anymore,” she looked over at me. “Sorry, Blake.”
I tried to laugh, knowing she thought she was offending me. She really wasn’t—I could never
afford any other kind. “I like homemade mac and cheese better, too,” I informed her with a smile.
“Me, too.” And in a rare show of affection for her these days, she gave me a hug. “Let’s go, Alex,” she said domineeringly as she marched out of the room. “Time to go.”
Alex dragged his feet, obviously still unenthusiastic about going down to the greenhouses. He looked back pleadingly at Jaxson, like he was hoping for Jaxson to speak up for him.
Jaxson chuckled the moment we heard the apartment door close. “I feel sorry for the man who ends up with Miss Sassy Pants.”
“Maybe if you guys stopped coddling her,” I teased them halfheartedly. “Megan and I are the only ones who try to put her in her place, and you guys let her get away with murder.”
“There’s no way I could ever be harsh with her,” Remy said candidly.
“She does know how to bat those pretty blue eyes,” Noah admitted ruefully.
“Her future connection is going to have enough trouble going through all of us without us spoiling her like…” Jace stated with a wry twist of his lips.
“Jemmy,” Drake said bluntly.
Jaxson groaned. “One Jemmy is enough.”
We went back into my room to wait for the phone calls, and I tried to finish putting away my stuff. It was over a half an hour, and no one had called us back yet. The guys had brought in their own suitcases and clothes hampers so they could begin unpacking as well.
“Hi, honey I’m home!” Jemmy yelled as she came into the room with Sierra, Dawn, and Rachel closely behind her. She squealed as she saw the clothing. “For me? For me!”
“For everyone,” I stated with a feigned smile.
“Look through the stuff over there,” Jaxson insisted. “We still need to get hangers for the outfits on the bed.”
“We?” Jemmy asked with a raised brow. “She has tons. She won’t miss a few pieces.” Jemmy rolled her eyes.
“Let’s just peruse through these,” Rachel insisted. “There’s a lot over here without us looking through that,” Rachel said with a tinge of exasperation. From Rachel’s tone of voice, Jemmy was still on this downward spiral of…willfulness.
“I really don’t think most of this will fit me.” Sierra grimaced as she held up a cute little top. Sierra was a beautiful girl and admittedly was curvier than us. She was just as active as us and was a great runner, but being tiny wasn’t in her genes. As the guys would say; she had a booty and a rack, and both weren’t going anywhere.
“Me either.” Dawn sighed dramatically as she held up a white lacy dress similar to the one I wore the night I met Anna. Dawn was tall, but she had broad shoulders for a female, and her thighs were thick from lifting. She was hot, and I wished I could get the tone she achieved, but for these clothes, once again, genetics ruled.
“Anna did say I can send the pieces back to her and she’ll adjust them,” I informed them.
“We don’t want you to go through all that,” Sierra said, smiling as she picked up a short, school-bus-yellow skirt with big black buttons. “In fact, this should work.”
“You girls can use my room to try them on,” Jace stated as my phone started ringing.
I looked down and took a deep breath in as I saw Tink’s name flash on my screen.
I picked up the phone. “Hey girl,” I said hesitantly looking over at the girls. I was really surprised Lincoln’s name hadn’t come up yet. I wasn’t ready to talk about the situation yet or again.
“He’s not at his house,” Tink said, tears thick in her voice immediately. “I went over there, and I even drove over to his…friend’s condo. He’s not answering his phone either. How do you know he’s in trouble?”
“I know about Eva,” I gently reminded her, knowing that was the ‘friend’ she was referring to. “My sister is a precog. Thanks for trying. If you hear from him, can you let me know?”
“You know I will. I’m driving around right now to see if he’s at some of his friend’s places,” Anna said, worry lacing her voice. “I hope we can stop the premonition,” she admitted quietly.
“Me, too,” I stated grimly as Troy’s phone began to ring. “Troy’s getting a call from his guy, can I call you back?”
“Yes, yes of course,” she said quickly. It was weird to hear her so grounded and focused. She sounded…normal.
“Oh, good,” Troy was saying in a relieved tone as I hung up. “He’s there now? Good. Good. We’ll call his friend to meet you there. Thanks, man.” He exhaled deeply as he hung up the phone. “Leo was contacted by Pritchard when a fan found him on a fairly secluded beach where he was passed out. They rushed him to the hospital. They’re running a test on him right now.”
“What hospital?” I asked as I began to call Anna back. Troy told me the name, and I let Anna know where to find him. I asked her to contact me when he came to.
I sighed in relief. At least he was found. I didn’t know what I would have done had something terrible happened to him.
Will and Megan’s apartment was roughly the same square footage as ours but only had five bedrooms to our seven. The living room, dining room, and kitchen separated the master bedroom from the other four bedrooms.
Will had a more stark and minimalist look to his decorating style. Megan, on the other hand, had a more country farmhouse style going on. Her touches were everywhere throughout the apartment. She even had a collection of knick-knacks scattered throughout. She apparently had a fascination with Willow Tree dolls and cows. I’m sure there was a story behind them, but I didn’t know it yet.
Megan and Will must have had a table custom made because it was large enough to fit us all. The table legs and base were in an off-white color, and the top a weathered, dark walnut color. A long bench dominated one side of the table, and matching chairs completed the dining set. They hadn’t had it before we had left, so I assumed it just came in.
“This food looks amazing,” Drake stated as we sat down for dinner.
Even though I wasn’t that hungry, I had to agree with Drake. I never had homemade fried chicken.
“Thanks,” Megan said with a smile. “I lived down south for a while, and my roommate was a Southern girl that loved cooking. She taught me how to make some amazing dishes, but it was kind of hard tailoring some of the recipes for just me. I can make some mean greens, shrimp and grits, and chicken and waffles.”
“I would love some shrimp and grits,” Gavin said with a groan. “My Grandma was from the South, and she made amazing shrimp and grits, and her cornbread was out of this world.”
“I have a recipe for that, too,” Megan stated with a smile. “I’ll make that next time.”
“Really?” Gavin asked with a large smile. “That would be amazing.”
“I make mine with chorizo, but I’ll do a milder sausage for the children,” Megan stated.
“I like spicy things,” Kade quickly spoke up.
Megan laughed. “Then I’ll do more of the chorizo than andouille.”
“I’m sure Drake and Blake would love to take a break from family dinner nights from time to time,” Will said with tongue in cheek.
It was still so weird to me to see Will in love. He seemed so much more relaxed and softer now that Megan was back in his life. He had shown us affection from time to time, but the public displays of affection he showed Megan reminded me of a teenage boy or a young newlywed. I was happy he got his second chance.
“You know I don’t mind making that happen,” Megan stated. “I’ll take care of family dinners every other week. How does that sound?” she asked.
“We can still help,” Drake stated. “After all, we kind of have a mini army to feed, so the more hands in the kitchen, the better.”
“I can help her,” Sierra insisted. “I mainly know Puerto Rican dishes, but I don't mind learning more dishes. You guys can have a break.”
“You can teach me Puerto Rican cooking, and I’ll teach you some of the dishes I’ve learned along my travels,” Megan said with a smile.
Jemmy glared at him. “Why? You know I burn toast. If Sierra is happy being Becky Home-cky, let her. It works for us.”
I could see Jemmy was trying to act like Jaxson’s teasing hadn’t bothered her, but I could see something else was going on. She seemed defensive and appeared passive aggressive toward Sierra. I wondered if that was the reason why she was struggling lately.
Gavin and Sierra did have more things in common, but I also knew Jemmy brought out sides of Gavin that needed to be brought out. He was too severe and driven without Jemmy’s influence. She made him stop and smell the flowers.
“He’s just teasing,” Gavin said quietly as he squeezed her hand warmly. “You know he likes to get a rise out of you.”
“No!” Noah said in mock horror. “Not Jaxson. He’ll never push people’s buttons for his own amusement.”
“I’m afraid to see how he’s going to be after he gets his gift back,” Troy said with amused dryness. “I think everyone should brace themselves.”
“Don’t worry,” Jaxson said with a wicked smile. “I’ve been taking notes. I just found out something about Aunt Megan I never knew.”
“Jaxson James,” Megan said with mock severity. “So, help me, if I see one snake near me when you get your gifts back, I’ll enlist some help to get you back in the most epic way.”
“I’ll help!” Noah quickly piped up.
“Me too!” Jemmy added.
“Count me in.” Troy smiled roguishly.
Megan gave Jaxson a smug look, but he seemed undaunted by it. In truth, I felt sorry for most of them. If…when he gets his gifts back, he was going to be a terror. We had already seen what he was like when he was unable to use his gifts for an extended period of time.
“So why aren’t we talking about the elephant in the room?” Jemmy asked after she dipped her chicken into a pile of ketchup.
“What, like the fact that your taste buds have never grown up and you still dip almost all of your food in ketchup?” Troy asked dryly.
Jemmy stuck her tongue out at him. “No, like why isn’t Lincoln here?”