by Lena North
Then I heard a strange grinding sound, and when I turned, I got why Wilder thought I’d be angry. She’d been right to guess that I would be.
My parents beat up pick-up truck came up the driveway, pulling their small, old caravan along.
Mom jumped out of the car before Dad had even turned off the engine and rushed toward me. I braced, knowing she’d hug me, although she was taller than me, so she put her arms around my neck rather than around my ribcage. I patted her back a few times before backing out of the embrace.
“Hey, Mom,” I said casually, and added innocently, “I didn’t know you were coming, are you passing through on your way somewhere?”
“Jinx…” she said, looking at me with wide eyes. “Wilder was right, you have lost a lot of weight.”
“Hey, Dad,” I said to my father, ignoring her comment.
“Hey, sweetie,” he replied and patted my shoulder awkwardly.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Wilder called and said you were sick, of course we’d come as soon as we could,” Mom wailed.
I turned toward Wilder, trying to remain calm even though I felt like screaming. She’d called my parents on me as if I was a small child and that hurt. I decided to deal with her later and that my first priority was to move my parents along.
“Mom,” I said, making the word into a long sigh and rolling my eyes. Then I laughed indulgently. “I am not sick. I’ve lost some weight, that’s all.”
She opened her mouth, but I didn’t let her speak.
“I’m getting too old to be single, and I figured losing some weight would make it easier for me to find a boyfriend,” I said with what I hoped was the right mix of embarrassment and humor. “Maybe I took it a bit too far, but I’m working on gaining some again,” I added.
“Oh,” Mom said uncertainly.
“Really, Mom. No need to worry about me,” I assured her.
“Oh,” she repeated, and continued determinedly, “Well, that’s good then. But now that we’re here we can spend some time with you. It’s been too long since we were together.”
Crap. I did not want to have to handle my parents on top of everything.
“Oh, Mom,” I said quickly, and took a deep breath, bracing for the reaction I’d get. “Now is not a very good time. My condo was broken into last night, and I’ll need some time to get that back in order.”
It was an effort, but I smiled calmly through my parents’ flurry of questions. Hawker walked down from the porch and added some details. Wilder remained on the bottom step, looking at me but not saying anything.
“I would have thought you were on your way to…” I trailed off because even though we spoke sometimes and emailed quite frequently, I couldn’t for the life of me remember what country fair they could possibly be on their way to.
“Equestrian equinox festivities,” my father said.
My mouth fell open, and I wondered if he was serious. They were going to some spring festival for horses? Or a festival with horses? I shook my head a little and tried to focus on my parents and ignore the images I got in my head of my mom and dad on some crazy spring fest. Mickey suddenly started coughing, although I suspected he’d also imagined my parents frolicking around with a bunch of happy ponies, so it was likely to cover up laughter.
“Fantastic,” I said. “Maybe you could stop by on your way back instead?”
Mom looked at Dad, and I exhaled with relief because I could see that she was eager to go. Dad protested, but not much and there was relief on his face too. He wouldn’t have to fight his wife yet again to remain in the city because of their odd daughter.
They declined to stay for the afternoon and soon enough their pick-up disappeared down the road. I waved and smiled, knowing that my parents weren’t looking back. They never did.
Then I turned toward Wilder.
“You called my damned parents?” I whispered hoarsely.
“Ji –”
I cut her off immediately.
“You called my parents,” I stated, and this time it wasn’t a question.
“Something is wrong, and I don't know what it is but you need help,” she said, and I could see that she was getting angry too, but if it was out of guilt or because I didn’t appreciate her efforts, I didn’t know. “They’re your parents. They should help you,” she added.
“You do not know what you're talking about,” I said.
“Ji –”
I cut her off again.
“I know you were trying to help, but I don’t need it. Not that kind of help anyway,” I snapped, and went on immediately, “I promised you six months, and you'll get that because when I give my word, I keep it. I can’t be here, though. I think it would be best if I work from Marshes for a while. They could use some help finalizing the building and installing security. After that, it anyway makes sense that I’m there to work on the crystal.”
Hawker made a huffing sound, but I ignored his potential objections and turned toward Mac.
“Call whoever it is you know down there and arrange for a place where I can sleep. I’ll pack up and leave now, so I’ll be there in four hours.”
I held his eyes until he nodded and when he pulled out his phone and walked away, I let my eyes sweep over the people surrounding me. I knew that they only wanted to help me, but it mostly made me feel cornered, and I knew that there was no way to sort myself out in Prosper or at Double H. If I stayed, I’d forever be the uncomfortable, unpleasant genius who everyone admired but no one really liked.
My eyes stopped when they reached Wilder.
“I’ll call when I can, Wilder. Okay?”
“Okay,” she whispered, and added in a small voice, “I’m sorry, Jinx.”
“Yeah, me too,” I sighed and turned, moving toward the lab to get my jacket and purse.
“Here,” a deep voice rumbled next to me.
Olly handed me my things and put a hand on the small of my back, steering me to my car.
“You’ve got open wounds?” he asked as I opened the door to throw my things on the passenger seat.
“What?” I asked.
“Don’t act stupid,” he muttered. “I’ve hurt my ribs more than once. You move like you’ve cracked two or maybe three on your left side,” he said calmly. Then he tossed a small jar on top of my things and added, “Put some of that on your bruises, but be careful if you have open wounds, it stings like hell. Wrap it up tightly and take it easy for a couple of weeks and you’ll be fine.”
Then he turned to walk away, and I stared at his huge back.
“Olly,” I called out.
“Yeah?”
He stopped, and half turned back my way. His face was blank, but his eyes were warm and kind.
“Thanks for bringing lunch,” I whispered.
“Yeah,” he repeated, and added quietly, “Don’t be mad at her for caring.”
Before I could get a word out, he walked away.
I got into my car and drove toward my condo to pack up what I’d need for an unexpected and extended stay in the small village called Marshes.
***
I drove up to the beam that blocked entrance into the village and prepared to get out of the car when a man stepped out from a small house next to the gates and raised his hand.
“Hey there, Miss Sweetwater,” he shouted.
I didn’t think that they’d be involved in the biochemical community, nano-electronic community, medical community or any of the other scientific communities where they always seemed to know who I was before introductions, so I guessed Mac had done his thing and warned them that I was coming.
“Hello,” I replied politely.
“We don’t usually drive within the village. If you have a lot of luggage, I can help you carry it to Mrs. C’s house.”
I was about to tell him that I would manage when I stopped myself. This was my chance, I realized. My chance to change, and to allow myself to accept help when I needed it. My chest also hurt with ever
y breath I took so there was no way I’d manage to carry my three bags all the way on my own.
“I have a few bags, so if you’d be kind enough to help me, I’d appreciate it,” I said and smiled sweetly, which wasn’t as hard as I’d thought it would be because the man smiled back at me, kindly and without judging.
“Sure thing, Miss Sweetwater,” he said. “You can park your car over there,” he said and pointed to a low building to the side, “Use number four, it’s Mrs. C’s, but she has no car, so it’s empty.”
I drove into the garage and tried to unload my three bags. I would have had to make at least two tours to get my things to wherever I was boarding, I realized.
“I’ll take these,” the man said and grabbed the two biggest bags, leaving me with a small leather duffel bag and my laptop case.
“Okay, thanks,” I murmured, bent slowly to not jar my ribs and picked up the leather bag.
“You’ve hurt yourself?” the man asked immediately.
“Bruised my ribs a little,” I replied and started walking.
He immediately pulled the leather bag out of my hand and looked at the laptop case.
“Are you okay to carry that one?” he asked.
I swallowed and nodded, mentally kicking myself for getting mushy about his small act of kindness. It wasn’t like everyone in my life had been horrible toward me. Then I followed the man into Marshes, frantically trying to come up with something to say. I was uneasy about letting someone else carrying my equipment, but there was no need to offend him, so I didn’t say anything about it.
“Please call me Jinx,” I murmured instead.
“Jinx?” he asked with a frown.
“My whole name is long, and kind of strange, so that’s what people usually call me,” I found myself admitting.
“Really? What are you called then?”
I took a deep breath, hoping that the friendly look on his face wouldn’t turn speculative and sly.
“Jiminella Nixée Sweetwater,” I said succinctly.
The man promptly started laughing.
Wow, I thought. I’d worried that my reputation had preceded me, and that was clearly not the case. Maybe my head was getting a little too big for my own good? Or maybe I’d moved in the wrong circles back in Prosper. That’d be something I had to think about, I decided.
“Your parents must be interesting, Jinx,” he said. “My parents are much more mundane, and they call me Tony.”
Even though it hurt, I started laughing, and while we walked, I shared a few things about my parents, their caravan, and my father’s erotic wood sculptures. Tony laughed some more, and so did I. Even if I’d guessed a million times how that day would end, there was no way I would have come up with a scenario where I walked along a cobblestone path through a small village by the sea, joking with a man I’d never met before.
“Here we are,” he said and knocked on the door to a rather big house on a side street to what had seemed to be the main square. As the door opened, he continued, “Mrs. Fratinelli will be happy to have some company in the house.”
I turned to the old lady standing in the door, and I’d never met her before, but I recognized her features and the name. She was the mother of Wilder’s late stepfather, Paolo Fratinelli.
“I’ll get back home now, Jinx. It was nice meeting you, and I’ll see you around, I’m sure,” Tony said as he exited the house after depositing my bags inside. “I’m playing pool with my brother tonight, and I’ll tell him to be nice to you,” he added with a wink.
“Brother?” I asked.
“Oh, you didn’t know? My brother is Daniele. He’s heading the building crew at your house, so you’ll meet him tomorrow.”
I remembered being introduced to someone who would do the construction, but it had been a brief meeting, so I only had a vague memory of a blonde man with calm, intelligent eyes.
“Okay, Tony. I’ll be nice to him too,” I said with a smile. “It was nice meeting you, and thanks for the help,” I said, twitching my head toward the bags.
“Not a problem,” he said, nodded at the old lady who stood silently in the door, murmured, “Mrs. C,” and walked away.
I turned to look at the old woman, and we stood there for a while, both calmly scrutinizing the other. At first glance, she seemed hard, and thoroughly unpleasant, but when I looked more carefully, I got a strange feeling that she was uncomfortable, anxious even.
“Good afternoon,” I said politely. “I’m Jinx Sweetwater.”
“I know,” she said, and added, “Come in.”
Then she turned and disappeared into the house.
I blinked. Okay then, I thought. Mrs. Fratinelli was apparently not incredibly enthusiastic about having me there. Since I’d met the asshat who'd been her son on several occasions, I wasn’t too excited about it either, but if this were what Mac had organized for me, then I’d go along with it for now. I could probably move later, perhaps even to the house where the crystal would be. That would be convenient, I thought as I walked up the steps.
When I turned around to close the door, I noticed a couple, standing at the end of the street. The man was huge, and he held his arm around the shoulders of a tall, slim girl with long black hair.
Dante and Snow.
They looked like a unit, and I envied them the closeness that was almost palpable even from a distance. Knowing that both Wilder and Mac liked the couple, I raised my hand, and the girl did the same, but the man didn’t move. His face was hard, and suddenly, he made a small grimace, as if he’d smelled something unpleasant. My gut clenched and I backed into the house quickly, closing the door with a snap and turning toward Mrs. Fratinelli with a calm, polite smile.
“Well, Mrs. Fratinelli,” I said. “You probably loved your son, which is entirely understandable, but I didn’t like him very much. If we can agree to not talk about him, I think we should be able to get along for the time I’m staying with you?”
I put it as a question that didn’t need an answer, but she replied anyway.
“You seem like a thoroughly unpleasant young woman, with an utterly ridiculous name. If we can agree to talk as little as possible about anything at all, then I agree. We’ll probably get along just fine.”
Then she walked away, waving her hand slightly to indicate that I was to follow her, so with my mouth hanging slightly open, I did.
Chapter Three
Snakebite
I sat in the sun just outside the building Wilder had bought, listening to the sounds of construction work being done both in and around the house. We’d asked them to keep the outside untouched unless it needed repairs, but the inside had been completely gutted. New walls had been put up to create a big lab and a couple of small offices, and along the back, they builders had dug out what looked like an indoor swimming pool. It wasn’t one, of course, although a few of the men still thought so. I planned to put the crystal in a titanium lined box at the bottom of the pool, and use high power pumps to circulate the water in a closed system. Another huge pool would be dug out in the backyard, some distance away from the house, and we would have a filtering system to ensure that during the times we changed the water in the inside pool we minimized the risk of letting any bi-products contaminate the environment.
“Hey, Jinx,” a calm voice said, and I turned to Daniele as he sat down next to me on the bench.
“Hey,” I replied.
I’d spent a fair amount of time with the head of the construction crew over the past week and had come to appreciate the man. He wasn’t a huge presence, and he never seemed to raise his voice, but the crew definitely respected him and followed his lead without questioning his calm orders.
“Everything is progressing according to plan,” he said as he leaned back and squinted a little in the late afternoon sun.
“I didn’t expect anything else, Daniele. I’ve seen you and your guys at work for a week now, and you’re good at what you do.”
“Thanks,” he said, hesitated, and cont
inued slowly, “I ran some searches on the net before we met with you and Mackenzie.”
I kept my face blank even though it was difficult. None of the men bothered me when I was working so I sat in a corner of the half-finished house with my laptop, making plans and working on the analysis of results Kit fed me with. The lab had been the one place where I felt like I could breathe freely. Mrs. Fratinelli did not want me in her home, that much was clear, and I couldn’t understand why she had agreed to let me rent a room. Apparently, breakfast and an evening meal were included in the surprisingly low amount I paid, and she prepared food each day but made a point of never sharing the meal with me. The plate always stood at the counter when I got back to the house in the evening, but she was usually nowhere to be seen. Sometimes I ate the food, or parts of it, but mostly I didn’t. It looked good and tasted fantastic, but she used so much chili and other hot spices that the one time I’d tried, I’d slept even less than I normally did, and spent the night curled up on my bed trying to breathe through the pain. After that, I ate what I could from the rice or potatoes that weren't covered with sauce. If I could, I washed the fish or chicken with water, and scraped the rest into the waste bin, covering it with some paper because the woman was awful, but she had made an effort, and I didn’t want to offend her more than necessary.
“Yeah?” I asked quietly, bracing for what Daniele might say.
I was a bit surprised that he hadn’t brought it up before. Daniele seemed like a very clever man, so I fully expected him to either want to discuss his latest technical invention or perhaps find a way to join the scientific circles in Prosper. I’d do what I could, I thought, but my shoulders sagged. I’d honestly believed they didn’t know who I was and that they were nice simply because we were paying their bills.