Talent

by Annie B Matthews

  There was a heavy silence as the adults processed her words. Danny’s father was the first to speak.

  “Can you be certain?”

  “Yes.” She pictured him in her mind, the strange shock of recognition, his slow knowing smile. “And he definitely knows who and what I am.”

  Danny shifted. “What is this about?”

  His father exchanged glances with Ian. “Libby, I think we need to track down your mother.”

  Alarm shot through her and she paled. “You can do that? Why now?”

  “She would know if you have met him before.” Ian asked reasonably, his voice gentle. “If you’re right about him, then we have to assume there's a link of some kind between you.”

  More confused than afraid, Libby just shook her head. “I can’t see how. It could just be coincidence.”

  Paul met her eyes then and she knew it wasn’t.

  As they all talked around her, Libby ran through everything that had happened. She just couldn’t remember meeting him before. Why did he target her, knowing she’d be able to identify him? Mystified, Libby frowned down at the table. There had to be a reason. He had wanted her to see him, to recognize him. A feeling of dread settled heavily in her chest.

  Ian and Paul left quickly, having decided to head down to the Arms and get a lock on this man. She assumed making contact would help Paul’s tracking talent. The thought cheered her a little. After all, she reasoned, there was no point worrying at this stage. Tonight’s incident had been little more than a parlour trick, designed to catch her attention. She knew that with absolute certainty.

  “There’s not much we can do now,” Anna announced at last, breaking the silence. “Let’s not start worrying until we know more. Dinner is ready. Jack, lay the table.”

  The tension was broken and relief was sweet. Jack made quick work of laying out cutlery and plates as Danny and Anna carried the food to the table. Then Danny sat down and for a moment everyone froze. He’d chosen a seat at the furthest end of the table from Kelly. Libby flicked her gaze to her friend. She looked unconcerned but Libby could feel the hurt and anger radiating from her.

  “Pass the potatoes, Jack,” Anna spoke quickly.

  Everyone chipped in to cover the awkwardness. Libby concentrated on her food, trying to remember if she’d ever seen Danny and Kelly sit apart like this. She couldn’t. At one point she caught Kelly’s eye and sent her a sympathetic look, but the redhead just shook her head a little.

  As soon as dinner was finished, Kelly got to her feet.

  “Libby, could you just check over my lab results while you’re here?”

  They'd checked them that afternoon.

  “Sure.” Libby met Jackson’s gaze as she left the table, wishing he could let her know what was happening here. He just shrugged and she narrowed her eyes at him. One way mind-reading sucked.

  Once in Kelly’s room, Libby closed the door.

  “What’s happening?”

  Kelly exhaled loudly and Libby realized that she was near to tears.

  “You warned me,” she managed at last. “Danny is furious. Last time he was angry, this time…he hasn’t spoken to me all evening. And he’s shielded.”

  Libby put an arm around her shoulders, urged her to sit down. “Of course he’s angry. We could have gotten into serious trouble. He cares so much about you.”

  “No, this is about you. About putting you in such danger.”

  Speechless, Libby took a moment to process that. “But we didn’t know, you couldn’t have known. And I wasn’t in danger.”

  “He’s never acted this way before.” Kelly brought her hands to her face, dashed the tears away. “He’s never shut me out so completely.”

  Libby held her as she cried, wondering how long Danny was prepared to make Kelly suffer. She guessed his motivation wasn’t as simple as Kelly thought, that it might be his last ditch attempt to make Kelly think before diving head first into dangerous situations.

  “Apologize,” Libby suggested. “Apologize and tell him that next time you’ll wait for him.”

  Kelly shook her head. “He won’t believe me, because it wouldn't be true. You asked how you could make the connection work without losing yourself. I don't know. I don't know, Libby. I love him, I do. But sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in it.”

  Shocked, Libby couldn’t respond at once. She'd had no idea that their relationship was less than perfect.

  “You said communication was key.”

  “It is. He's a stubborn jackass.” She sniffed, rubbing the tears off her cheeks. “He's protective. It's not his fault. There's this whole thing with his mother. And he does try. He tries, but it's not enough. It's not enough for me that this is all I've known, all I'll ever know.”

  Out of her depth, Libby struggled with what to say. She'd had no idea Kelly felt this way. She could understand it though.

  “You need to talk to him, tell him what's going on,” she said at last. “You mind readers just assume you already know, but I think there's a lot that's lost in translation. You can apologise for scaring him. Tell him that it’s probably better that we do take them along next time. There's truth in that. Plus, then they’ll know that they can’t fare much better than we did. What difference would it have made to me, had they been there?”

  Kelly let out a watery laugh. “You have a point.”

  She blew her nose, took a few steady breaths.

  “Communication is key,” Libby reminded her helpfully.

  Laughing a little, Kelly nodded. “I’ve heard that.”

  It struck Libby a little strange to pass Danny on the stairs, knowing that Kelly had asked to see him through telepathy. Cheaper than texting, she mused, trying not to notice his hard expression.

  She hurried back into the kitchen. Clearly reading her intention, Jackson was already getting to his feet and reaching for his keys. Weird, but convenient. Would she ever get used to this?

  On a frown, she turned to his mum. “Anna, I’m going to head home. Thanks for dinner.”

  Anna’s lips quirked a little. “Anytime, Libby. Hopefully next time will be less dramatic.”

  Jackson rolled his eyes and gestured for her to follow him out into the hall.

  “I have to drive you back now, then?”

  “I think sooner would be better.” She leaned into him, breathed in the familiar scent. It was comforting. “Is it wrong to try and interfere in their row?”

  “Yes. Leave them to it. Stay with me.”

  Laughing, she drew back. “I don’t think so, Romeo.”

  “If you were here, I wouldn’t need to worry about you.”

  It wasn’t easy to ignore the softening in her heart. “You don’t need to worry.”

  “But I will.” He leaned down to kiss her with a thoroughness that had her head reeling.

  “Okay. You can worry if it makes you feel better,” she conceded when he released her, pleased when he grinned in response. “It’s getting late.”

  “I know.” Jackson sighed and took her coat off the hook. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  In the dark, someone was following her. She couldn’t see him, but she could sense him. The sick excitement had fear freezing the blood in her veins and she quickened her pace. Where was Jack? He was supposed to be there. He’d promised he’d be there.

  The shadow kept up with her, step for step. When the smoke started curling around her feet, acrid and thick, she started to run.

  Run then, run as fast as you can.

  She awoke panting, a cold sweat a film on her skin. Confused, she stared blankly around the dim room.

  She was in bed.

  Frowning down at herself, she saw that she was still dressed under the duvet. No wonder she’d had bad dreams; she was roasting hot. Not to mention all the crazy she’d been dealing with over the last few weeks.

  If Paul and Ian had found out anything new about the man Libby had seen, they hadn't shared it. They hadn't mentioned finding her mother
again, either. They had, however, spent the last couple of evenings playing pool at the Arms, but that was all she knew. She had felt in turns frustrated and blissful in her ignorance.

  She took a moment to steady herself before climbing out of bed. Making her way downstairs, she heard voices in the kitchen and hurried towards them.

  The room was brightly lit, warm with the scent of dinner and laughter. She had no idea what Jackson and her dad found so funny and, right at that moment, she didn’t care. The relief at finding them both there was immense.

  Jackson must have read something from her, as he shot to his feet.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she smiled a little at him in reassurance. “Just a crazy dream. Are you staying for dinner?”

  He had driven her home on the bike again, a blast of fun and freedom that they'd both needed. She’d been so tired that they’d just vegged out in front of the TV. Evidently she’d fallen asleep at some stage. She didn’t want to think how he’d managed to carry her upstairs.

  “No, dad wants me back at home.” He frowned, all concern. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m fine.” Libby turned to her father, who was paying an inordinate amount of attention to the pasta sauce he was stirring on the hob. “Sorry dad, I meant to cook something. Guess the weekend finally caught up with me.”

  “I don’t expect you to get dinner every night, sweetheart.” He patted her arm. “You look tired. Is everything okay?”

  Oddly, that question was directed at Jackson. Her father hadn’t asked, but he’d obviously picked up on her preoccupation over the last few days. Did he think she and Jackson were arguing? Libby was just too tired to read him and take a guess.

  “We’ve a lot of deadlines coming up.” Jackson gestured towards the textbooks scattered over the kitchen table. He’d clearly been working while she slept. “Libby must have at least two essays due in the same week.”

  Libby raised her eyebrows at that, but he didn’t react. She supposed it wasn’t a complete lie, as they did have a few deadlines coming up. It was as good excuse as any to explain why she’d been up in her room so late, unable to sleep. He knew her well.

  “Anyway, I’d better get going.” He grabbed the books from the kitchen table and shoved them in his backpack. “Thanks for the drink, Eric.”

  “See you soon, Jackson.”

  Libby followed him out to the hallway. “How are you going with the essays?”

  “It helps having a nerdy girlfriend who actually wants to study.” He teased, catching her hand in his. “Bad dream?”

  She realized that he was worried about the guy from the pub.

  “No, not that.” She shook her head, careful to keep the images out of her head. “It was…nothing. I’m fine.”

  “Okay.” He didn’t believe her, but didn’t push. He did know her well. “I’m sorry I can’t stay.”

  She smiled. “I’m sorry I slept all afternoon. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Oh, I almost forgot.” He stopped with the car door open. “Tom called. He said he'll try again later.”

  That made her smile. “Oh great, we haven't talked for ages. Drive carefully.”

  Once he’d taken off, she shut the door and headed back to the kitchen.

  “You know, I’m impressed.” Her dad smiled as he placed the bowls of pasta on the table. “I came home to find Jackson sitting here studying. He said you’d fallen asleep and that he thought he’d better wait here until I got home. He’s a good boy.”

  “Uh-huh.” Trying not to meet his eye, Libby sat at the table and tucked into dinner.

  Her lack of response didn’t deter him.

  “Even more appealing is his refusal to let you have a go driving that motorcycle.”

  “He told you that?” That explains why they were laughing when she came in. Pulling a face, she turned back to her dinner. “Figures.”

  “It’s serious, then?”

  “Dad, really?” She looked up to see that he was as embarrassed as she was. “Okay, yes. It’s serious.”

  “He strikes me as the careful sort. And he obviously thinks a great deal of you.”

  “You mean he’s over protective.” She sighed. “Can we move on?”

  “Libby.” She was forced to meet his gaze. Eric looked so serious that for a moment she feared he was about to have The Talk. Horror made her throat tighten.

  Funnily enough, her appetite all but vanished. “So how was work?”

  “Good.” He sent her a knowing look. The diversion wasn’t going to work. “Sweetheart, aren’t you a little young to be getting so serious about a boy you've known such a short time?”

  Libby took her time answering. She had to tread carefully here as it was clear that he was genuinely concerned about her. Yet how could she explain? Jackson was going to be in her life for a long time and her dad needed to get used to the idea.

  “Not really,” she replied at last. “When you know, you know. Isn’t that what you always said about mum?”

  He huffed out a breath, not pleased to have his words turned against him. “Well, we were older.”

  “You were only twenty one,” she pointed out. “That’s only four years older. And mum was not even twenty.”

  His lips twitched. “You’re telling me that Jackson is the One?”

  “Tell me about mum.” She set down her knife and fork, evading the question for now at least. “When you met her.”

  Eric smiled, leaning back in the chair as though settling in. “You know the story as well as we do. I was working at a bar.”

  “The Liberty Bell,” she added, rolling her eyes. She still had no idea why they thought naming her after a bar was a good idea, whether they'd met there or not.

  “The Liberty Bell. And this beautiful girl came up to the bar, asking if there was any chance that I could walk her out to her car.” His eyes took on a faraway look as he relived the memory. “I’m not sure I said anything at first, my mind had gone blank the moment I set eyes on her. At last I asked why. Then she told me that this guy at the bar had been watching her for the last hour and she had a bad feeling about him.”

  “And you said, ‘you’ve been in here an hour?’ ” Libby mimicked his voice, laughing.

  “I couldn’t believe it, she’d been there the whole time and I hadn’t seen her.” He shook his head ruefully. “Your mother just raised her eyebrows and waited until I mustered up some common sense. I knew the guy, he was a troublemaker for sure. We’d had him driven home by the police more than once, but he was a friend of the owner so…” Eric shrugged. “I walked her out to the car. When I asked her if I could see her again, she kissed me. It was like magic.”

  “And you asked me to marry you.”

  The voice, so familiar, had them frozen.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Francis!”

  Eric reacted first, moving across to the doorway before Libby had even processed the fact that her mother was home. Numb, she watched their fierce embrace, barely hearing her mother’s tears and her father’s low, soothing voice.

  Her mother was home.

  She’d thought about this moment often, had imagined her own relief and joy. Now the moment had arrived, she felt nothing. The shock of that held her immobile.

  “I’m sorry.” Francis sobbed the words.

  “Don’t be. Don’t be.” Her father was grinning, wiping the tears from his wife’s face. “It’s fine. We're fine. God, I missed you.”

  They hugged again and Francis laughed, clung tight. “I missed you. So much.”

  Libby stood up slowly. It felt as though her limbs were weighted, they felt too heavy as she walked up to the couple.

  “Libby.”

  She flinched as her mother reached for her, sidestepped the embrace.

  “I’ve got work to finish.” Her throat was dry. She couldn’t meet her mother’s eyes, knew that she would see pain there. It frightened her that she couldn’t care. “I’ll leave you two to
catch up.”

  She knew her mother tried to stop her, knew that Eric held her back. And she didn’t care. By the time she reached the hall she knew where she needed to be. Grabbing the car keys, she slammed out of the front door.

  The drive to Jackson's flew by. The numbness she felt seemed to ebb with every mile, but the chill of it remained. She sped up the long, dark driveway. Even as she got out of the car, Jackson was running down the steps towards her.

  “Jack.” She fell into his arms, felt the break. “Mum’s home.”

  The tears came then, hard and furious, as he held her.

  It was some time before she came back to herself. At some point Jackson had scooped her up and carried her to the steps in front of the house. They sat together, locked in the embrace that had anchored her through the fury of emotion that battered her and left her exhausted.

  “Mum’s home.”

  He nodded. “Your dad called.”

  She didn’t reply to that. There was no one else she'd have run to, after all. He smoothed her hair back from her still damp face and she shivered at the cool touch of his skin. “You’re cold. I’m sorry.”

  “I’m fine,” he gave her a squeeze. “But you should come inside. The fire’s lit.”

  Now he mentioned it, Libby felt the chill. She hadn’t taken a jacket with her in her rush to leave home and it was a cold night. He led her inside.

  There was no one around and she wondered if they’d all gone into hiding to avoid the drama. Jackson laughed as he gave her a gentle push into a seat near the fireplace.

  “Mum and dad are out. Kelly and Danny are upstairs. Arguing.”

  “Really?” She’d known that things had been strained between the couple since the weekend, but Kelly hadn’t said much. “I hoped it wasn't that serious.”

  He shrugged, dropped another log onto the fire and watched as the embers danced. “I don’t know. Kelly really upset Danny. He felt that she was being reckless and he’s seen that go wrong before.” Jackson shook his head. “I think this was the first time she’s realized that the connection needs to be taken care of. Each person has the power to hurt the other, and badly.”