Authors: Josh Aterovis
“Hello?” I said, half expecting to hear the mysterious Micah on the other end.
“Killian?”
It was Asher.
“Oh, hi.”
“Don't sound so excited,” he said.
“I was just…never mind. What's up?”
“You said you'd call me.”
“No, I said we would talk.”
“Well, now we're talking. What's going on?”
“You're lucky. Novak agreed to help out in his spare time. I think he's just curious about the case.”
“Great! When do we start?”
“
We
started today. We did some research and stuff. We won't be doing much more until Monday.”
“Monday?
We have to move faster than that! Caleb's in jail!”
“I thought he was fifteen.”
“Well, it's
juvie
jail, but still.”
“Look, we have to do this on Novak's time. He's doing us, no, you, a favor by doing this at all.”
“We don't have to wait on him for everything. You could meet me tomorrow and we could go visit Caleb. I had him add you to his visitor's list. It's not like he has that many. Don't you want to meet him?”
I started to argue but once again, my curiosity won out. “What time?” I said with a sigh.
“How about 11?”
“Fine,” I said, “I have to go. Judy and Jake are coming over for dinner.”
“I know. They're staying here while they get moved into their house. It's a full house.”
“I bet. I have to go help Adam now.” A small fib but I was eager to get off the phone before I got drawn into anything else.
“Ok, see you tomorrow.”
I hung up and decided to go down and see if there was something I could do so it wouldn't be a total lie. As I stood up I noticed a cream-colored business card lying next to the keyboard.
“Micah Gerber,” it read, “Journalist.” His phone number and email address were printed beneath that. For a crazy moment, I thought about sending the guy an email, but I quickly shook it off and ran downstairs.
I was setting a basket of rolls on the table when I heard voices in the hallway. Apparently Judy and Jake had arrived. My stomach did a triple somersault before settling into what felt like jumping jacks.
I couldn't make myself go out to greet them so I waited for them to come to me. I didn't have to wait long since dinner was ready. Judy and Jake came into the room, led by Steve with Adam and Kane trailing behind. Jake stopped cold when he saw me standing there. He looked better than I remembered. He'd grown up since I saw him last; he now looked several inches taller than me. His hair had darkened to a light brown with blonde highlights and his skin was a warm golden tan, making his bright blue eyes look even brighter. He was, in a word, beautiful. He grinned and his teeth flashed white. I smiled back uncertainly. No one in the room missed the exchange but thankfully everyone had the grace not to mention it.
We settled into our places around the table and somehow it was maneuvered so that Jake and I were sitting side by side. I was beginning to feel like things had been orchestrated to throw us together. I didn't much like the feeling.
Adam left the room and returned with the bowl of salad. After a brief blessing, we all dug in. Conversation was light; we mostly talked about Judy and Jake's recent move, her new business, and the house that Steve was buying. I noticed that every time the subject of the house came up that Adam didn't have much to say. Or maybe I was just making mountains out of molehills.
Steve filled us in on his latest research on the house, “From what I've been able to find, everything
Marnien
did build it for his young bride,
Amalie
. The Captain was quite a local celebrity, a bit of an eccentric. There's a whole little booklet about him that was published in the 1940's because he was apparently very influential in the area. That's the book that
Amalie
in it. He married
Amalie
in 1846 and they moved into the original house while the new one was being built. They had one child but he died before he was a year old which was very common then. Captain
Marnien
was thought lost at sea in 1851. It was in all the local newspapers at the time, even made the
Baltimore
papers. It was considered quite a tragedy. Apparently, his ship was lost in a storm, but he was rescued by a nearby fishing boat. When he made it back, he returned to the house to find
Amalie
dead. Now this is all from newspaper accounts and one brief, flowery mention in another book that I'm not sure is very accurate, but they suggested that she died of a broken heart when she believed that the Captain was dead. It makes you wonder if maybe she really committed suicide or something. Either way, the Captain lived alone in relative seclusion after that until he died in 1860.”
“And the unhappy spirit that supposedly haunts the house is this
Amalie
?” Judy asked.
“So the legend goes,” Steve said with a child-like grin
“I don't believe in ghosts,” Kane said firmly.
“Some things exist whether you believe in them or not,” Judy said with a small smile.
An awkward silence fell over the table until it got to me. I was never one to stand a pregnant pause. “I know what I want to do now; like with my life I mean,” I announced suddenly.
Everyone turned to look at me and I wondered if I was blushing. “And what would that be?” Adam asked.
“Well I'll have letters behind my name.”
“M.D.?” guessed Adam.
“PhD?” offered Steve.
“DOA?”
Kane smirked.
Judy just smiled and Jake just looked slightly disinterested.
“PI,” I said.
It fell like a brick. Only Judy's expression remained the same. Adam's eyes widened and his fork stopped in midair. Steve frowned. Kane looked as if he was struggling to keep from laughing out loud and Jake looked interested for the first time that night.
“You want to be a detective?” Adam said carefully.
“Killian
Kendall
, PI,” Kane said with a snicker.
I threw him a dirty look and answered Adam, “Yeah, like Novak. He said that if I work with him three years I could get my license. I'd be like an apprentice.”
“It sounds kind of dangerous,” Steve said.
“Not really. He said most of his cases are really boring; mostly research and stuff, like I was doing today.”
“Are you going to drop out of school?” Adam asked.
“He hasn't started yet, how can he drop out?” Kane pointed out.
“No, I would just take classes that would help make me a better investigator; journalism, photography, stuff like that.”
“Well I think it's a marvelous decision,” Judy interjected. Adam and Steve threw her a matching pair of scowls.
“Thank you, Judy,” I said deliberately. “It's nice to know someone supports me.”
“It's not that I don't support you,” Adam said, “I just want to make sure you know what you're getting into.”
“This is what I really want to do.”
“You're mother is going to kill me,” he muttered.
“I'll be 18 in a month, then I'll be an adult and she won't have to worry.”
“You don't stop being a parent when your child turns 18,” Steve said.
“I didn't mean to start a family argument at the dinner table,” I said pointedly.
“What? We're not family?” Judy said with a warm smile.
“I didn't say that,” I said with an answering smile.
“Jake, you have one year left of school?”
“Yeah, Kane and I are in the same grade.” He cast a slightly suggestive smile in Kane's direction. I made a mental not to remind Jake that Kane was straight. Then I decided that Kane could take care of himself and erased the note.
“It's hard to believe that my youngest son is going to be a senior this fall,” Adam moaned.
“Tell me about it,” Judy agreed, “Do I look old enough to have a son in college?”
“No you don't,” Steve assured her, “How is Dash by the way?”
“Loving every minute of life
on his own
. He's going on some sort of work exchange experience thing to
Australia
for a year starting next month. He promised to come for a visit before he leaves.”
“What kind of work will he be doing?”
“Knowing Dash, very little.
They'll have to pry him away from the beach and parties.”
“Was it good to see Jamie again?” I asked Jake.
He gave me a funny look that I couldn't quite decipher. “It's just nice to be home,” he said quietly. I looked at Judy but she didn't look back. I wondered if I had said something wrong.
“It's good to have you back,” I said to fill the silence. That got me a sexy little smile for my effort. I felt a chill run down my spine and I wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
I honestly hadn't thought about rekindling any kind of romance with Jake until Kane brought it up. Our last attempt had been a clumsy, uncertain exploration and had ended before it had even truly begun. But now I was finding that the same attractions that were there the first time were still very much present. I had to decide if I wanted to act on those feelings or do my best to ignore them. I still wasn't sure what was happening with Asher. Were we going to work things out and get back together or was that a lost cause? I needed to have a heart to heart talk with someone, and I didn't think Adam or Steve would do this time; they both had too much on their own minds. Maybe I could talk to Judy.
The conversation had moved on while I was lost in my thoughts and I suddenly found myself the focus of everyone's attention.
“Uh…what?”
I said a bit defensively.
“I asked if you've heard how Will is making out with the new baby,” Adam said.
“Oh, he sent me an email last week. I need to go see him. He said he's hardly slept at all since they brought
Darin
home, but other than that he's good. And
Darin
is good.”
“We'll have to have him and the baby over for dinner soon,” Steve suggested.
“How old is the baby?” Jake asked.
“Almost a month old,” I told him.
“Will is Asher's cousin on Aunt Deb's side, right?” he asked Judy.
“Yes.”
“I thought Asher told me he was gay.”
“He is,” I said.
“So is the baby like…adopted or what?”
“It's a long story,” I hoped he would get the hint and drop it.
“Dinner's done, how about if we take a walk and you can tell it to me.”
“I…” I started to say that I should help clean up, but Adam cut me off.
“That's a good idea. You two can catch up.”
I smiled weakly as everyone got up from the table. As I was following Jake towards the door, Judy caught my eye and seemed to be trying to tell me something. I wasn't sure what though so I just kept going.
I didn't know what to say once we were alone, so I headed in the direction of the beach.
“I missed the beach,” he said after a minute.
I thought you were living in
“
“So are you glad to be home now?”
He shrugged. “What's home? So tell me the story on Will.”
He seemed to want to change the subject, so I did. I told him the whole thing, including my limited involvement and how Will came to adopt
Darin
. When I finished he was quiet for a few minutes. The only sound was the crash of the waves rolling in.
“I missed you, Killian,” he said softly after a while. My heart skipped a beat and then sped up. I looked away. “I thought of you all the time,” he went on, “When I heard that you and Asher had
broke
up, I have to admit I was relieved.”
“Look, Jake, I don't know where you're going with this, but I don't know where Asher and I stand. I'm not really…”
He cut me off with the softest of touches, just the lightest brush of his hand against my cheek. I turned back to face him. He was so close I could smell his scent, feel the warmth from his body. “I don't know if I ever thanked you for saving my life,” he whispered. Then he leaned in ever so slightly and his lips brushed mine. Any restraint I had been holding on to washed away in the sudden rush of emotion and suddenly, I was kissing him with an intensity I hadn't felt in a long time.
Jake broke away first.
“I knew you wanted me,” he said with a self-satisfied grin.