by Rayns, Lisa
He smiled and kissed my forehead. “You see? You say you can’t possibly love me but yet you don’t want to see me go. Is that not part of love, Elizabeth?”
I stared at him, realizing that he just confessed his love in the middle of a furniture store. What did I ever do to deserve that? And why me?
“It’s always been you, Elizabeth.”
Startled, I jumped back from him. “That might take some time to get used to.”
The sales lady who had been showing us furniture for most of the day returned too soon. She looked excitedly at Draven, her eyes bright and attentive. “Is everything all right? Is there anything else I can help you with today?”
“No, thank you,” Draven said. “We were just leaving.”
“All right. Have a great day! I know I will.”
When she walked away, I wondered if I’d missed a joke. “What did that mean?”
“I’m not sure. She said something about a commission earlier.”
I giggled. “Oh, she was being sarcastic because we didn’t buy anything?”
“Maybe.”
I stopped outside the store and leaned into his chest, stringing my arms through his. “So you love me?”
“Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m positive.”
“You’d like, bet money on it?”
“Millions.” He appeared sincere.
“You’d take me to a movie then?”
“Your blood sugar’s getting low,” he said seriously. “I think you should eat something first.”
“Oh, right.” How odd. I hadn’t eaten all day, but I hadn’t thought about it either. “How do you know my blood sugar’s getting low?”
He sighed but irritation echoed in his voice, “Because you haven’t eaten all day.”
“Oh, right. Why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Why do you look irritated sometimes when I ask little questions?”
“I’m sorry. It’s not directed at you.” He took my face in his hands and rubbed his thumbs across my temples until I nearly lost my senses. “It’s just that I can’t tell you everything yet.”
I gasped when he dropped his hands. I could barely see straight from the state of things behind my eyes, and I had to concentrate to keep up with the conversation. “Why not?”
“Because, you’re not ready,” he said decisively as he walked toward the car.
His movements affected me worse than his words. After holding me so possessively, the abrupt walking away left me feeling tattered and angry. “I’m not a baby,” I scoffed.
When he turned to me, his lips curved up. “Oh trust me, that I know.”
The look in his eyes created an intense longing that interrupted my thoughts and sparked ideas as to where the night might lead. Content once again, I jumped into the car.
The signboard in the restaurant read, seat yourself, so I picked a private booth in the far corner. I no longer cared that I wasn’t ready as he’d said. What I did care about was enjoying every second with him because I still had the feeling he might disappear at any given time. He stared into my eyes until our food arrived and while I ate. He didn’t touch his own food.
“So how’s your blood sugar?” I asked, glancing up from my pasta.
He chuckled, despite his irritation. “I ate before we left.”
I didn’t believe him, considering the contents of my refrigerator, but I let it go when his jaw clenched. “Why did you disappear the other morning?”
“Forgive me, but it was necessary at the time.”
When the waitress reached across him to clear our plates, I realized how pale he was. Her dark tan made his face seem almost white. I’d never noticed it before. Then it occurred to me that I’d never seen him on a sunny day.
“Are…are you allergic to the sun?” I asked when the waitress finally left. “Is that why you disappeared? Is that why you didn’t come when I wished for you?”
He hesitated before he nodded and looked down at the table as if he feared my reaction to the news.
My fingers went to my mouth. “I’m sorry. You should have told me. I never would have wished for you the other morning.”
“As I’ve said, I don’t want to frighten you.”
“You don’t. Are you still taking me to a movie?”
“Anything you want, Elizabeth.”
I didn’t even know the name of the movie we went to but it fulfilled my expectations of two full whole hours of leaning against him and feeling his body next to mine. I held his hand in the car on the way home too but lightening flashed across the black night sky, revealing apprehension on his face. I didn’t want to know why. I didn’t want anything to spoil our wonderful evening.
“I must know that you love me, Elizabeth.”
I wanted to tell him I did, but I couldn’t betray my belief that love took more time. “You said we needed to take things slowly.”
“Two years ago. We’re running out of time now.”
“Don’t,” I begged. “Let’s not do this tonight.”
He hesitantly agreed.
When he opened my car door and led me onto the front porch, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He lowered his lips to mine and kissed me until my body filled with heat. I responded by kissing him harder. My fingers reacted on their own, digging through his clothing until they found his cool flesh. I felt hot; I couldn’t get enough of him.
“That’s lust,” he said, gently pushing my shoulders away. “I want you to know if you love me. Good night, Elizabeth.”
I stared at him. “Aren’t you staying?” When he took a step backward, I caved hard. “I do. I love you. Please, don’t go.”
He smiled. “That’s desperation, which isn’t bad either, but you need to know how you feel when I’m not standing right in front of you. If you decide you love me, I won’t ever leave you again unless you tell me to.”
I took a breath. “And you’re not kidding? This isn’t a joke, right? You really mean ever?”
“Ever.”
I smiled, trying to hide the fact that I missed him already. “When will you be back?”
“Very soon. I have some business to attend to.” He kissed me long enough to make me light-headed, and then he was gone.
I stared at the car, wondering how he’d disappeared so fast. The only kind of being that could do that would be…
A ghost.
Cold skin, disappeared, reappeared, didn’t need a car. He’d told me he wasn’t but what else could he be? I let the thought go, preferring to linger on the memory of his kiss. That was so much better.
When my eyes fell from the car, I noticed immediately that my surroundings were different. The railing no longer leaned outward, and a fresh coat of white paint covered the tall posts. I turned toward the house, finding it gray with black trim. I panicked, thinking he’d brought me to the wrong house, but the old vehicles near the yard light verified the address.
Warily, I opened the new screen door and stepped inside smelling disinfectant and fresh paint. Flipping on the lights, I gasped. No dust or dirt remained. Instead, the wood had been shined back to life. Fresh white paint covered the newly repaired walls, and the furnishings that I’d picked out while shopping filled the rooms. I walked through the house in awe.
Two black leather sofas lined the walls, facing each other in the living room and a flat screen TV hung on the mantel. The kitchen held new cupboards, a table and chairs, and all new black appliances. Beds, dressers, Persian rugs filled the once empty bedrooms, and an office on the main floor came complete with a desk, chairs, and several bookcases. Decorations and beautiful wall hangings made my house look like a model home.
I ran to the porch where I’d last seen Draven but the sound of a coyote howling in the distance stopped me.
“Do they frighten you?”
“A little,” I admitted. “Did you do this to my house?”
“Yes.”
“Why…how?”
<
br /> “I wanted you to be comfortable. Do you like it?”
“Very much. Thank you.” I walked around slowly, trying to catch him even though his voice didn’t seem to come from any direction at all. With a swift movement, I sprang around the side of the house, finding no one.
“You’re tired. You should sleep now.”
“Please, just one more question,” I begged.
“Granted.”
“Do you listen to my thoughts all the time?”
He laughed that sweet melodious laugh. “No. When you make a wish, I hear you directly, like you’re talking to me, but otherwise I try not to listen unless I sense that you’re upset.”
“How do you sense that?”
“That’s your second question.” His words were barely a whisper yet I could hear him perfectly.
I had a million more questions but I kept my promise. “Goodnight, Draven.”
“Goodnight, Elizabeth.”
I’d just stepped into the house when a floorboard creaked above me. Was he up there? Running toward it, I took the steps two at a time until I made it to the attic door.
“Elizzz-a-beth…”
At the ghostly, feminine voice, I pulled my hand away from the handle. “Hello? Is somebody in there?”
It was possible, after all. If Draven had people working in the house all day, someone could have easily snuck into the attic and fallen asleep while taking a break. But how odd.
“Elizzz-a-beth…” the voice called gently again.
I gulped. Then again, how would a lazy worker know my name? I took a deep breath and reached for the handle, fighting to keep my hands steady. My fingers merely brushed the cold metal and the door swung open on its own.
I shrunk back and took another deep breath, telling myself that it was just the wind.
“Elizzz-a-beth…”
“Hello?” I called, slowly stepping up the stairs and into the room. No one. The construction workers hadn’t touched the attic either, and the copy of Wuthering Heights remained in the open window. “I am losing my mind,” I grumbled.
“Wear me… Listen to my story…”
I threw myself backward, causing my head to slam into the plaster. I lost my footing and crumbled onto the floor. It was silent after that, which was good. Because if that box had said one more thing I would have jumped in my car and kept driving until I hit Portland. When I made it to my feet, I stared at the box, squinting, daring it to talk.
I took extra time to recover, reassuring myself with the fact that at least it was only a ghost item and not a ghost. Was that better? The box read: Lissa Longcamp, Commissioned 1990, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The earrings inside matched the necklace and bracelet. I put them on expecting something painful, but when there was nothing, I felt almost hopeful. Maybe this one didn’t die.
“What do you mean? Are you all right?”
I cringed at the interruption. I never thought I’d feel irritated to hear Draven’s voice. “Go away. I’m reading.”
He chuckled. “Goodnight, Elizabeth.”
“Goodnight.”
I waited a few minutes before I settled into the bed. “All right, Lissa Longcamp, let’s hear what you’ve got to say.”
A girl, who wore a smile from ear to ear, danced in place in the middle of a crowded concert hall. Loud, heavy metal music pulsed as her short punk hairdo bobbed to the beat. When the guitar solo started to play, she stopped moving, and her face went blank. A moment later, she turned to see Draven standing ten feet away.
He watched her but when she spotted him, he looked away, pretending to enjoy the music. She shoved her way through the crowd and went straight to him, taking his hand. “I’ve been waiting for you,” she said. Ignoring his surprise, she put her arms around his neck and kissed him.
The scene closed and reopened with her alone in a bedroom, staring at the “camera” as if she were waiting for it to turn on. After a minute, she put on a large witches hat and pointed to her head like she was playing charades. She pushed out with her hands, and the camera backed away to reveal the three pieces of matching jewelry that lay on the bed. She pulled out a wand and made a circling gesture over each one, and then she looked at the camera again and pointed to her head.
Next, she walked straight up to the camera until her face was only inches away. “Watch for the signs, Elizabeth. You must watch for the signs!”
I awoke with a start and immediately replaced the earrings in their box. Lissa knowing my name and talking directly to me was downright freaky! Not that anything else in my life had been normal since Draven started giving me jewelry.
I stumbled down the stairs to my new office and typed the story out, feeling confused. The message, though apparently well thought out, wasn’t clear. I didn’t know what she was trying to tell me. What sort of a sign was I supposed to watch for? Was it some kind of warning? Could she be trying to save my life?
Shaking my head, I tried to unclutter my clogged mind, but that worked as well as trying to get out of a locked cage without a key. It was the first jewelry dream that hadn’t ended in death, which was refreshing but I needed to know what happened to her. Instinctually, I tried to look her up online but realized that I didn’t have the internet yet. It would have to wait.
A loud, blaring noise in the yard pulled me away from my desk and outside. The owner of the horn got out of his truck and walked toward me with huge eyes and an agape mouth. “Wow! I saw all those trucks pull in here yesterday but I’d never have guessed they’d get it all done.”
“It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?”
“I bet that cost you a pretty penny,” he said, crossing his arms over his bright red polo shirt.
I looked away uncomfortably. “I suppose it did.”
“Well, how’d your first two nights go?”
“Fine,” I returned, giving him a bright smile. “What brings you here so early, Tommy?”
“Oh, well…” he said, looking down at the ground. He dug his sneaker into the ground like a shy child. “My dad wanted me to spend the day on a tractor but I told him I’d promised to help you get settled. I hope that’s all right. It’s gonna be a long summer if he keeps trying to work me to death.”
I laughed restlessly. “Actually, it’s perfect timing.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I need to go to town. I want to fix up the yard so I can take some pictures for my mom, and I have a feeling I’m going to need a ton of gravel to fill those craters in the driveway. I don’t think Hecate can carry too much of that.”
“Hecate?”
“Oh, my car. That’s her name.”
He let out a low chuckle. “Did you name the house too?”
“Not yet.”
“Well, keep me posted.” His words reminded me that I needed to message my mom. “When do you want to leave? Watertown probably has the best prices around here. They have a Menards.”
“I just need to shower and text my mom. Is fifteen minutes okay?”
“Sure.”
Hi Mom. Things r gr8. No net yet, will have 2 settle 4 txt 4 a while. xoxoxo. Bye.
Once showered, I dressed in a blue T-shirt and jeans and found Tommy in the garage, playing with an old BB gun.
He looked through the scope, a large grin on his face. “I was wondering where I’d left this. It’s been missing for over five years. We used to play cowboys and bank robbers over here when my cousins came to visit.”
Somehow, I easily pictured him as a playful child. “What side were you on?”
Tommy smiled proudly. “Well, I was a bank robber, of course.” His exaggerated eye roll made me laugh. “Do you shoot?”
“What? Guns?”
His smirk almost covered up his laugh. “Yeah, guns. A rifle? Or a pistol?”
“Oh, no.”
“You want to learn? We could go shooting sometime.”
“Maybe,” I replied uneasily. I wasn’t sure how I felt about using a firearm. Being from the city, guns had always scare
d me. From the diner alone, I’d heard countless stories about gunpoint muggings, and in the back of my mind, I always feared being held up.
****
Inside the hardware store, Tommy came to life. He asked the salesman all the right questions and brought up things I hadn’t even thought of yet. He knew everything about lawn mowers, tools, and even convinced me to purchase a ladder, just in case. Several bags of gravel, a picnic table, a porch swing, and dozens of colorful flowers later, we had the truck packed full. He let me pay for his gas, and then he stopped at a recycling and wrecking company on the way out of town. They agreed to pick up the junk cars in my yard by the end of the day.
“You know you’ll never get through your yard with that little mower,” he said as his truck bounced across my driveway and backed up to the garage.
“Hmm, are you saying I should have gotten that machete?”
He laughed and slipped his arm across the top of the seat where it touched my shoulder. “I’ll bring over the tractor tomorrow after those cars are gone. It shouldn’t take more than a few swipes around the house, and you’ll be able to mow the rest by hand.”
“That’d be really great. I’ll pay you, of course.”
“Fine.”
His smile seemed a little too meaningful so I jumped out of the cab, not ready to find out where his hospitality was headed. Pulling and dragging, I started unloading the truck. He followed suit, lifting the heavy objects and setting them in the garage effortlessly.
When the bed of the truck was empty, he approached me again. “Listen, I’m leaving this fall but I’m not gone yet.”
What could I do? I smiled like an idiot, my expression saying all but “whatever do you mean?”
“I like you, Elizabeth.”
“I like you too, Tommy. You’ve been very nice and I appreciate it.” Polite and friendly was all I had the patience for. He was a kid, after all. Good looking, yes, nice body, yes, but still a kid––and he wasn’t Draven.
“So, do you wanna go out sometime?”
“I’m sorry, Tommy, but I have a boyfriend. He’s thinking about moving here soon.”
“Oh.” He looked down at the ground again, making circles on the cement floor. “We’re still gonna go shooting though, right?”