31
“You mean with Ramsey?”
Travis grinned. “You like him, don’t you.”
Zara sensed his teasing and responded in kind. “So what if I do?”
“Hey, don’t get your jocks in a bunch. I was just making an observation.”
She liked his smile, mourned his loss and wished she could have met Trevor, gotten to know him before the fall. He evidently hadn’t been totally irredeemable. At least his brother didn’t seem to think so. She could feel the love and trust flowing off of Travis in gentle waves, knew how much he cared about his brother and that he wanted the best for him. In this, he was a lot like her own brother. He saw the good in people no matter how much bad they showed him.
Travis approached and put an arm around Zara’s shoulder. “So, are you going to give me the lowdown? What’s the story with you two?”
“You mean besides him bringing me back from the dead?”
“Yes, besides that.”
Zara shrugged, didn’t know how to describe her and Ramsey’s relationship besides him being her rescuer and her being an almost hopeless case. Wasn’t it natural to fall for your knight in shining armor, especially when he was so tall, dark and handsome? But more than these physical attributes, she sensed an intrinsic kindness in him that not even his hardened bouncer façade could conceal.
“I think he’s good for you.” Travis tossed the used paper towel into a nearby trash basket and plopped into a beanbag chair, glancing up at Zara as if waiting for her reaction.
“Why’s that?”
“First of all, he’s a little older than you, a definite plus. And, unlike most of your other friends, he’s clean and sober and seems to have his head on straight.”
Zara couldn’t deny that. Ramsey’s calm stability was one of the first things about him that she had noticed and appreciated.
She peered at Trevor’s brother as she took a seat in an adjacent beanbag chair and thought, if her possession was going to be a long-term gig and not some temporary assignment, then she really was going to have to do something about the decorating in this joint.
32
Gracie C. McKeever
The space itself was nice, what she had seen of it so far, the furniture Spartan, a cross between Salvation Army hand-me-downs and bohemian flop house with just the basic necessities that a struggling American college student might have.
Except for the surprisingly extensive and pricey wardrobe in the bedroom closet that Zara had earlier spied and the state-of-the-art computer equipment and peripherals, the place made Zara think of a pit stop, just a place where Trevor came to crash and catch a few zzz’s before rushing out in search of his next thrill.
There was no doubting the apartment could use some tasteful designing, nothing too fancy or girly, just a few pieces, some simple touches here and there to make the house a home.
“So, when are you going to see him again?” Travis asked, pushing the issue that was already at the fore of Zara’s mind.
“I’m not sure.”
“You’re not going to the club tonight are you?”
She supposed Travis would assume that since it seemed to be his brother’s M.O. Not to mention the club was where Ramsey would be.
But she did have his phone numbers and he had said call him day or night.
She just might have to take him up on his offer, right after she took care of some business with Quincy and Zack.
There was something else she needed to address with Trevor’s brother first though, something that had been bothering her since the hospital last night, she just had been too out of it to address it before now. “Travis, what did Mom and Dad say about my being in the hospital?” What she really wanted to ask was why didn’t they call or come by to see their son.
Travis frowned. “You know how they are.” He stood and headed for the door, pausing to throw over his shoulder, “I’ll catch up with you later.”
Zara let the cryptic response slide for the time being, walked Travis to the door, and said her farewells. She had other more important things on her plate to address today.
Bouncer’s Folly: Zara’s Bois 3
33
Travis sat behind the wheel of his car for several long minutes after he left Trevor’s apartment. He tried without much success to come to terms with the loss of his brother because the young man he had just left upstairs was
not
Trevor Carmichael.
He couldn’t explain it, didn’t know how he knew, but something about his brother was off, something that led Travis to believe that Trevor really had died in the restroom of
Zara’s
just as he had first suspected.
Problem was what was he supposed to do with this knowledge now that he knew? There was no way he could prove something like that. It was all a gut feeling. On the outside, it was Trevor, but the inside? Whatever, or whoever, was inside his brother’s body now, it was someone who had issues in his life too, someone who understood the nature of Trevor’s issues enough to seem like the genuine article.
Travis shook his head and tapped his forehead against the steering wheel several times, frustrated and wondering if he was going crazy. It wouldn’t be the first time Trevor had pushed him to the end of his rope.
Maybe that was the clue to finding out whose soul or consciousness or whatever, now inhabited Trevor’s body. Who else at
Zara’s
had a recently deceased, equally exasperating relative who felt like his time on earth wasn’t quite finished? And how did he go about questioning someone about this? It wasn’t as if he really believed this supernatural reincarnation stuff like Trevor did. Sure he’d heard the rumors going around about
Zara’s
being haunted. Most club-hopping youth in the five-boroughs knew how the young woman behind the club’s name had taken a header down an elevator shaft just before the place had been renovated and opened for business. But despite all this and the sometimes supernatural bond he shared with his brother didn’t mean
Travis
actually bought into the whole haunted club theory.
34
Gracie C. McKeever
The dead young woman had been a twin!
Nah, that couldn’t be it, could it? But in a twisted sort of way, it made sense that Trevor, his gay, man-loving brother, would be possessed—or reincarnated, Travis still wasn’t sure how this worked—by a female.
He wondered if Ramsey could give him some guidance, maybe an in with the proprietors of
Zara’s
. Or, even better, maybe he knew something more about the haunted-club legends himself and could tell Travis what he needed to know.
Who was the person that Trevor had mentioned when he woke up in the hospital? He’d asked for someone named Zack and Ramsey had filled in with Zack Benjamin.
Trevor had intimated then that Zack was his brother, hadn’t been
pretending
not to know Travis. He really didn’t.
When Travis lifted his head, he saw Trevor leaving his building in a hurry.
He let his brother get a couple of blocks away before he started his car and decided to follow him. Maybe he could find out what was going on directly from the source.
* * * *
“Haven’t you caused enough trouble already?”
Zara had to remind herself that Zack wasn’t addressing his troublemaking sister as much as he was addressing the trouble-maker who had OD’d in his lover’s club last night and brought all sorts of untold trouble on Quincy’s
head.
“I need to speak with you, Zack, you and Quincy.”
“Look, no amount of apology is going to get you off of the shit list, so you might as well make plans to party somewhere else. You’ve gotten too many chances already from what I’ve heard and to tell you the truth I didn’t know Ramsey was such a softy.”
She automatically came to Ramsey’s defense, figured even if he was responsible for letting Trevor into the club, he had good reason. “It wasn’t Ramsey’s fault.”
“Just go away, okay?”
Bouncer’s Folly: Zara’s Bois 3
35
Zara managed to get her foot between the door and the jamb before Zack could slam the door in her face and got a world full of hurt for her trouble. “Ow! Are you trying to break my foot, creep?”
Zack froze with his hand on the doorknob. “Zara?”
God, what a relief! She wouldn’t have to explain things after all.
“What the hell are you doing in…in that body?”
Or maybe she would have to explain. “Can you just let me in so we can talk, please?”
Zack opened the door and gave her a wide berth, gaping as she limped by him and stood in the middle of the room waiting for him to close the door. “All right already, enough with the staring. I haven’t grown another head I’m just…” Zara trailed off when she realized that, technically, she had grown another head. It was just in her pants.
Zack closed the door and came to stand in front of her. “Still the same old Zara, I see.”
He grinned and put his arms around her, holding tight for several silent moments as she returned his hug. When he pulled away, he caught her by the shoulders, as if holding on to her kept him grounded and sane. “I don’t know how you managed this, but I’m glad to see you. I missed you.”
“I missed you too. You don’t know how much.”
Zack hooked an arm through hers and led her over to the sofa where they both sat down and for the next full minute he just stared at her in awe before speaking. “God, I have so many questions.”
“Join the club.”
“So, where have you been since you…you know, left me?”
Without warning, tears sprang to her eyes and she threw her arms around Zack again. “I’m so sorry for what I did to you, Zack. I never, never meant to hurt you the way I did.”
He patted and rubbed her back. “I know you didn’t mean it.”
“Do you forgive me?” She pulled away to look at him.
“I forgave you a long time ago, sis. Wait, that sounded weird.”
“I know. It takes a little getting used to. But think how
I
feel.”
“Aw c’mon. You’ve had a little practice being a guy.” He grinned and playfully punched her arm.
“Yeah. A little.”
“So, where were you? Where did your, uh—”
36
Gracie C. McKeever
“Angels. Micah and Jamaereh.”
“Yeah, them. Where did they send you?”
Wow, how did she explain the little detour she had taken before arriving here in Trevor’s body? How did she describe what it was like to die and come back?
Zara looked at her brother and could see the questions written all over his face, couldn’t blame him for wondering. She would if she was in his place, anyone would.
“I came back briefly as a, uh, I guess you could say ghost to match up a pair of
Zara’s
denizens.”
“Was it Patryk and Keir?”
“How did you know?”
Zack shrugged, looking pleased with himself. “It just seemed like your handiwork.”
Anxious, Zara asked, “Are they still together?”
“Oh yeah, they’re planning to go to Massachusetts in a few months to tie the knot.”
“And Keir’s painting? How’s that going?”
“Patryk is Keir’s agent and arranged his first showing. They just had an opening at Drea’s Gallery a few weeks ago. It was a big success.”
She felt like a mother checking up on her kids that had gone away to college and finding out that they had all become Rhodes scholars while she wasn’t looking. Tears stung her eyes again and her chest tightened as she tried to hold them back. Damn she was weepy today. But she couldn’t help herself. All her life her parents had doubted her ability to be successful at anything that didn’t involve her looks or shopping and even in these they didn’t hold out much hope for her making a living at being beautiful and indulging in high fashion.
After a while she believed her parents and learned to be exactly what they expected of her, shopping until she dropped and playing the footloose and fancy-free party girl with not a care in the world. That she had a brain and talent that went beyond coordinating a designer outfit and putting on make-up in the morning hadn’t occurred to her.
Zack and her best friend Quincy were just about the only ones who believed in her and even their confidence waned after countless failed business ventures until she conceived of
Zara’s,
of course.
Bouncer’s Folly: Zara’s Bois 3
37
Zara’s
had been her baby, her brainchild and when she went to Quincy to ask him to bankroll this latest venture, he did what everyone else, except Zack, before him had done—he’d turned her down.
After her death, Quincy found her business plan and used it to open up
Zara’s
to her exact specifications, as if he had been in her head all along.
It had been a long road from that to being in Trevor Carmichael’s body.
Zack cleared his throat and said, “Your, uh, angels put you in…this body?”
“That’s a nice way of putting it. I prefer stranded me in no man’s land.”
“Sounds like someone’s holding a grudge.”
“Wouldn’t you? First they throw me down an elevator shaft—”
“I’m not sure that’s an accurate descrip—”
“Then they bring me back to be with the man I love, but neglect to mention the catch of me being with him in my brother’s body.”
“All’s well that end’s well?”
She looked at his uncertain features and burst out laughing. No one else in the world could make her laugh and pull her out of a stinky mood like Zack. Still, she wanted to feel sorry for herself and take out her frustration on someone and Zack was available. “For you maybe.”
He reached out a hand to rub and squeeze her shoulder. “I’m sure it’s not that bad. You’re back, after all.”
“I’m not exactly sure why.”
“To play matchmaker for another deserving, but unsuspecting, couple?”
“Yeah, but who…” Zara gaped and slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand.
…Just follow your heart and you will not go wrong…
How could she be so stupid? It never occurred to her that she had been sent back this time to play matchmaker for herself! And if this were true, she needed to step very carefully with Ramsey. Who was to say he was her soul mate, the one her angels meant her to be with? She didn’t want to get all involved with the guy, only to have it turn out that she didn’t belong with him. Or worse, to have those damned angels snatch her out of Trevor’s body after she had gotten attached. They’d told her she was going home but they never said it was for good.