Thornton’s face went from beet red to pale white in seconds. I didn’t know what made me blurt out the words, but if I’d had any doubt that my vision hadn’t been true, the man’s reaction proved to me it was.
Thornton turned but this time couldn’t meet my eyes. “Stay away from that lot, you little shit. Both of you.”
He strode to the exit, but the wind had been knocked out of his sails. There was worry on his face now.
Trey’s face bore a look of defiance. “Well, that’s got him on the ropes.”
“Is that a good thing?” I asked. “He could snap us in two like twigs.”
“Hard to do that,” Trey replied, “when you’re behind bars. There’s no statute of limitations on murder.”
Chapter SIXTEEN
I PUSHED the curtains aside. “Do you think one of them is out there, watching our room? Thornton or Hollis?”
Trey and I were in my room at the Raven’s Rest. The television was on, although neither of us was really paying attention to the singing competition show that was on. Trey was lounging on the bed, shoes off, leaning back against the headrest, leafing through a music magazine. “I don’t know. Maybe. Can you see anything?”
“Well, no. But from here you really can’t see much of the street. They’re not in the gazebo, though! I can tell you that!”
Trey grinned at my feeble joke but didn’t look up from his magazine. “Any ghosts out there? I hear ghosts like to hang out in gazebos.”
“Nope. Quiet tonight.”
“They’re not in here, are they?” Trey’s gaze darted around the room before returning to the article he was reading.
“I don’t feel anything.”
“Good. I always feel like I’m being watched whenever I’m here. I don’t even like to pee when I’m here. I can’t help but think Coleman or one of his spooky friends is in the bathroom with me, comparing dick sizes.”
I turned from the window and examined Trey’s face, which was healing nicely. In another day or so, there would hardly be any traces of Kevin’s battering. I knew he was thankful that this would be my last night in the Raven’s Rest, but I was feeling somewhat melancholy over leaving.
To get my mind off it, I went and sat down on the edge of the bed, grabbing his right leg and shaking it. “So what ya reading?”
“Article about some young British singer. He’s mentioned that he’s only nineteen twice in this interview, like it’s something special. ‘Oh, I’m only nineteen and look what I’ve done so far!’ How the fuck old does he think Mick and Keith were when they started?”
I kept my hand on his leg. God, he was bony. “I wish you’d brought your guitar tonight. You could have played me something.”
“I am writing something new. It’s still a work in progress, though. Something about a love that lasts even when the two people involved are dead. Can’t think where I got the inspiration.” Trey tossed the magazine aside. “You’re sure Coleman doesn’t have his ghostly little eyes on us?”
“Far as I can tell, it’s just you and me in the room.”
“Good. Then come here.”
I scooted up the bed and stretched out until my body was plastered against his, my head resting in the crook of his shoulder.
Trey ran his fingers through my hair and massaged my scalp. “I’m glad you came to Banning,” he said.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Despite the ghosts and getting the fuck pounded out of me and being threatened left, right, and center, at least we’ve got this. We’ve got each other.”
I shifted around, ending up with my head on his chest. He was wearing a T-shirt—black, of course—with the logo of some band I’d never heard of on it. Catfish something. I traced the C with my finger, smiling as my touch sent a quiver through Trey’s body. The magazine got tossed to the floor. “So what do you want to do tonight?” I asked, now outlining the next letter. Just in case he didn’t get the hint, I pressed against him tighter.
“I thought maybe we could play some Monopoly,” Trey said. “Or Parcheesi. No one plays Parcheesi anymore. Used to love it as a kid.”
I smacked him lightly. “Think again.”
He was still running his fingers through my hair and gave a tuft a tiny little yank. “Or I suppose we could get naked and….”
“And?”
“Play strip Parcheesi!”
Like a snake, I slowly crawled up him until our lips could meet. My glasses seemed to be getting in the way of smooching, so they were relegated to the nightstand. Our kisses lingered, and soon I was on top of him.
He smiled contentedly, although I could detect some reticence in his eyes.
“What?” I asked. “Not feeling it tonight?”
Trey rolled his eyes at the impossibility. “No, it’s not that. Certainly not you. It’s just… this room!”
“I can’t sense that Coleman is here.”
“Still. This place is creepy. Things you don’t see scratch your cheek. Lightbulbs decide to explode. God knows what’s going to happen if we start to get jiggy.”
I put on my best reassuring face. “Nothing is going to happen, other than I’m going to rock your world. Come on. What’s that you told me? Don’t let the past control the present.”
A grin slowly crossed his face. “It’s hard to say no with you squirming like that.”
I ground my pelvis against his. “You mean like this?”
Trey put his arms around me and held me tight. Jokingly, he turned his head to speak into the empty room. “Hey! Ghosts! We’re going to be busy for an hour or so, and we’d appreciate it if you’d respect our privacy!”
I laughed. “Feel better?”
“I’m feeling pretty good,” he said, kissing the tip of my nose, “all things considered.”
A thought hit my brain, and I almost told Trey that I loved him. I stopped myself, though. It was too soon. And while my feelings for Trey were strong, there was so much baggage in my emotional life. Leaving Kevin. Finding new work, a new home. Not to mention being involved in a ghostly drama.
“I love you,” Trey whispered. Our lips had barely parted.
I looked down into his face, amazed. “I was just about to say that.”
“I know.”
We kissed again, and our hands began to wander.
We didn’t play Parcheesi.
IT WAS nearly midnight when my cell phone rang. Trey and I were still naked, basking in each other’s presence, barely covered by the crisp white sheets on the bed. I think I was half-asleep when the call came, and I sat up quickly. I was sure the worry showed on my face. I knew who was calling.
Well, it didn’t take a psychic to figure it out. It was late, so it was no casual caller. Gloria was unlikely, as she would have called Trey, even if it was work related. I grabbed my phone and looked at the incoming number. It was Kevin.
My first impulse was to do what I’d done every other time he’d called. I wouldn’t answer.
“It’s jerkface, isn’t it?” Trey asked, almost amused.
“Yep.” I started to set the phone back on the table next to my glasses, but Trey restrained my hand.
“See what he wants,” he said.
“I can tell you what he wants. He wants me to run back to him with my tail tucked between my legs.”
“So this is a good time to convince him that’s never going to happen.”
I frowned. The phone trembled in my hand. Or maybe it was my hand that was trembling. “You sure?”
“Sure. You can always hang up on his sorry ass if he gets belligerent.”
I bit my lip, indecisive, but then answered the call. “Yeah,” I said, hoping I sounded tough and resourceful.
“It’s me,” Kevin said.
“I know. What do you want?”
“Look, I know you’re angry with me, but don’t hang up.” His voice was soft. There was almost a pleading quality to it. After a pause, Kevin continued. “I’m in town. In Banning. I’ve packed up some of your stuff for you.
It’s here, in my car.”
I was at a loss for words. I stuttered on my reply and had to start over. “I don’t know what to say. Where exactly are you?”
“Down in the parking lot. I don’t… look, we need to talk.”
“I’m not sure that would be a good idea.”
Improbable, but it almost sounded like Kevin was crying. “I don’t know why you left. I mean, I do but I don’t. I don’t see that we couldn’t have worked things out.” He sniffed. “Can we talk? And not on the phone. In person.”
“I can’t see you alone.” The thought terrified me.
“That guy you’re seeing. He can be there if you like.”
“His name is Trey,” I said.
Trey sat up and rubbed my shoulders in a gesture of support.
“Can I see you?”
I’d never heard such pleading in Kevin’s voice. Still, I wasn’t sure I trusted him.
“Come on in,” I said. “We can talk in the solarium. Trey will be close by, though, right in the lobby.” I glanced back to make sure Trey was agreeable to this. He nodded.
We agreed on meeting in ten minutes. I hung up with a sigh.
“At least this may give me some closure,” I said. Maybe I was being overly optimistic.
Trey continued to attempt to ease my tense muscles. “I’ll be right there,” he promised.
I smiled, glad my face was turned so he couldn’t see. I liked that Trey felt like he was my protector, and in a way, he was. He certainly gave me strength. But we all knew that physically he was no match for Kevin.
I put my hand on his. It was warm and, yes, strong.
Maybe I was selling Trey short. Love could bring out hidden depths. Just look at what his love has brought out in you, I told myself.
KEVIN WAS wearing a basketball jersey, his favorite, even though it was getting a little faded and the number, twenty, was beginning to peel away. His jacket, one I’d given him for Christmas, was crumpled on the chair next to him. Appropriate, I thought.
He was sitting in the solarium, his back to the wall, looking at the doorway anticipating my arrival. There were only two lamps lit, so the room was dim, but even in that light I could see his puffy red eyes. He was rubbing his arm nervously when I came in. Kevin had quite a few tattoos, and prophetically, where he was rubbing was one, the word Veritas in fancy lettering.
Veritas. Truth. Yes, it was time for a little truth between us.
He forced a smile and half rose when he saw me. “Hey,” he said. Settling down again, he added, “I was afraid you wouldn’t show.”
I sat opposite him in a creaky wicker chair, making sure Trey could see me from his perch near the front desk. He was chatting with Lonnie, but his eyes never left the solarium’s doorway.
“I nearly didn’t,” I admitted. “I had a panic attack while putting my shirt on. Trey calmed me down. Sorry I’m late.”
An awkward silence fell between us. Kevin sat forward, wringing his hands. “So you and he are….”
There was no animosity in the statement, so I answered. “He’s very special to me.”
Kevin nodded. God, he looked sad. “I’m sorry I….” He made a light fist, to indicate the fight. “He’s okay, isn’t he?”
“He’s good.”
Kevin examined my face. “And you?”
I touched my lip. “Hardly even swollen now.”
Shaking his head, Kevin said, “I’ve got a bad temper. I know that. It was just seeing you with him….” He realized his voice had started to rise, so he stopped himself. He swallowed hard and then asked, “Why did you leave?”
“You know why.”
“I wouldn’t be asking if I did.”
A faint prickling came over the hairs on the back of my neck, and I had the feeling that Kevin and I were no longer the sole occupants of the room. Had Coleman joined us? One of the other spirits that roamed the halls of the Raven’s Rest? Or was it just my imagination? Still, I felt that I was being watched over. It emboldened me, enabling me to continue the conversation.
“We had a toxic relationship,” I said. Matter-of-fact tone. No accusations. We were past that. “You were controlling. I allowed you to control me. It got out of hand. I was becoming lost. I didn’t know who I was anymore. I had to leave so that I could be me again.”
Kevin let that sink in. “We could have worked on it, though. You didn’t give me a chance.”
“I gave you hundreds. You just didn’t see them, or listen to me.”
A spark almost caught fire in his eyes. “If you’d have made sense, I would have—” Kevin bit his lip, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I guess I can’t help it.”
“No, you can’t. It’s partially my fault. I let it go on too long. And for that, I’m sorry.”
“I never hit you,” Kevin said. “Not until the other day.”
“No,” I admitted. “But your words and actions caused more bruises than your fists might have done. Kevin, I grew to feel that I was worthless. That I was nothing. That you didn’t deserve an idiot like me.”
For half a second I thought he was going to say that he didn’t. But he surprised me by smiling deprecatingly. “The other way around, I think.”
Another silence fell. I could hear crickets outside, and the croak of frogs. Hundreds of things came into my head to say, but I quelled them all. Instead I looked at him sitting there, contrite, and for the first time in months I didn’t hate him.
“You need to trim your beard,” I said.
Kevin chuckled, feeling the scruff on his chin. “Yeah, I guess I do.” He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. He looked into my eyes. I wondered what he saw there. “I still love you, you know.”
I nodded. “You’ll get over me.”
“I doubt it.” Never had I seem him so sorrowful. Then he shook off his mood, something he’d always been a master at, and sat up. “So. You’re going to stay here. Not come home with me.”
It wasn’t a question, but I said, “My home is here now. I get my new apartment tomorrow. I’m working at the cafe, and I—”
“Do you still love me?” There was pleading in his face and voice. “At least tell me you don’t hate me.”
“I don’t,” I said honestly. “If you’d have asked me even an hour ago, my answer might have been different. But I don’t. And I’ll always have strong feelings for you. Always. But we can’t be together.”
“And this Trey guy?” Kevin’s gaze drifted over to the doorway, and I was sure he and Trey were looking daggers at each other. I pretended not to notice.
Over a minute went by. It seemed like an hour. Finally Kevin said, “I packed some of your clothes. Figured if you were staying here, you might need some of them. Packed up a box of your books as well. Just some things to tide you over. Maybe sometime you can come up to Rockford and get the rest. I’ll behave myself. I promise. You can even bring Trey with you. For protection.” The last was said dripping with irony.
I decided to let it pass. After all, Kevin was being uncharacteristically reasonable. So much so that I said honestly, “I’m glad we had this talk.”
“Me too.”
I felt the urge to go over and hug him, but I was afraid that might be sending the wrong signals, so I settled for leaning forward and touching him, oh so briefly, on the knee. “I was sure this was going to end up in a yelling match.” With him ending up calling me stupid and too dumb to know what was good for me. As usual.
“I guess maybe I should go and apologize to this Trey guy. Unless you think that would be a bad idea.”
“No, I think it would be fine.” I stole a glance over to the front desk area. Trey was still in conversation with Lonnie. I smiled, seeing him standing as erect as possible and his shoulders squared, ready to rush in if Kevin so much as raised his voice at me.
Right now, it felt great, Trey feeling like he had to protect me. It added to the strength I was finding within myself. But eventually he was going to have to learn, as I was, that I had to stan
d on my own two feet.
As we left the solarium, though, I looked back for some reason. There, by one of the windows, was Coleman Hollis. Ethereal, barely there, but I could see him, gazing out at the night.
He looked worried.
Chapter SEVENTEEN
“OKAY, THAT was weird.”
Kevin had driven away more than twenty minutes ago, but Trey still couldn’t stop talking about him. Maybe he had worked up so much adrenaline, expecting another fight, that now he had to work off some steam. Trey had accepted Kevin’s apology with grace, although it was obvious that the two would never be friends.
The three of us had bundled the boxes (and a hamper full of clothes) from Kevin’s vehicle into mine. Tomorrow I’d take them to my new place. Little was said, other than observations about how cold it was getting and me filling Kevin in on my new job. He did make a few sarcastic remarks, but overall he had been on his best behavior.
“He’s not all bad,” I said, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace. Trey had turned on the gas, so a tiny fire was helping to ease the chill in our bones. “I’m really proud of him, in a way. He didn’t yell at me once.”
“That’s because there were other people around,” Trey said.
He may have been right. Still, I felt it was an accomplishment on Kevin’s part. There had been days when being in a public place wouldn’t have fazed him in the least. Trey was pacing, walking from the window to the bed and then to the other chair by the fire. He looked like he was thinking about sitting but then resumed his journey around the room, moving like a nervous cat.
“I think he’d been crying,” I said, gazing at the fire. “Kevin never cried. And he was… well, contrite. I think me leaving was good for both of us.”
“If you say so. Just don’t be surprised if he calls you in a day or two and he’s back to his old ways.”
“Would you sit? You’re making me nervous.”
Trey stopped. I was pretty sure he was surprised to find that he’d been roaming the room. Standing by the bed, he made a motion as if he was feeling the air, as if it was a tangible thing. “There’s something here. Like you can feel a storm brewing.”
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