“That’s some heavy stuff.” Ian sat forward. “Let me make sure I understand.”
Lexi nodded and leaned back into her couch, still wondering at Ian’s arrival and Tripp’s absence. She forced herself not to ask Ian when Tripp would arrive.
“So …” Ian started, “Marge and George have been dead for as long as you’ve been alive, but their granddaughter was entrusted to ensure you got the pendant. Does it have some magical power or something?”
“Aside from Tripp’s silly little pronouncement that it protects against witches … no.” Lexi shook her head. “It’s just a jewel with a lot of history that I think I also have to pass down at some point. But to whom and how, I have no idea.”
A small chuckle burst from Ian. “Those two old people were dead, but we had cookies with them … in their kitchen … right? I’m not imagining that? Please tell me I’m not going crazy.”
“Not today,” Emma said with a smirk.
“Were they some sort of apparition, then?”
“That’s what I’m guessing,” Lexi said.
“Did you tell Tripp about what happened, Ian?” Emma asked, Lexi cringing at her lack of restraint. “Where is he?”
Ian shrugged. “Back to Marge and George …” he said. “Did these two wait for you and Tripp to get together so they could … what … leave again? Disappear? Ascend to the heavens?”
Why is he avoiding the topic?
“Sounds like it,” Emma said.
“I thought they moved to Florida—you know, where all the old people go?” Ian closed one eye as if he could only process with half his mind.
Lexi laughed. “They said Alaska, actually.” She tapped her knee. “Oh!” Her eyes widened. “Have you seen the Alaskan state flag?”
Ian and Emma both shook their heads.
“It has the big dipper and the north star.” Lexi covered her mouth with her palms. “They were going home! It was their way of telling us they came from the stars and were heading back.”
“
That
is so cool,” Emma said. “This sounds like a long conversation. I’m going to get some snacks.”
“And makes a lot—no, nothing makes sense.” Ian shook his head. “What else about the book?”
“Okay. So anyway, the book is kinda of a record about their adventures,” Lexi said. “Knowing what Missy told me, I see now that they definitely kept their gifts. It also covers her looking for what she calls a ‘replacement’. I interpret that to be me, and of course, Tripp, unless we weren’t their first attempt.”
“She does say, though, Lex—” Emma returned to her spot with a bag of apple chips. “All the finders, for lack of a better word, are responsible for their replacements. So
you
have to find someone … whenever that time comes.”
“Yeah, probably.” Lexi waved the thought away, still wondering about Tripp but resigning herself to the fact he wouldn’t be joining her. Like Emma had, she picked up an apple slice.
Emma shifted forward. “You know … she doesn’t once mention doing anything on her own, or George on his.” Emma opened the journal, flipping through the pages in a seemingly random pattern. “Didn’t Marge say something about a binding factor?”
“Yeah,” Lexi said.
“You think Mara was that bond thingy Marge said you’d need?” Ian asked.
“A lot of the first entries talk about Mara, how she was their real connection despite the love they held for each other. Later, the descriptions become about their adventures together,” Lexi said.
“Do you think …” Ian hesitated. “… maybe … that you and Tripp just need a something-or-other?”
Lexi eyed her sister. As much as she wanted to talk about Marge and George and their history, she didn’t want to think about her own relationship with Tripp—especially without him around.
“Why haven’t you run to him?” Emma slid close to Ian.
“What?”
“Marge said you have to stick permanently, right? You’ve even gone on a little adventure together, but you’re sitting here—”
“Me? He’s the one not coming back! I don’t even know where he is!”
Why is Emma on Tripp’s side?
“Alright, alright. Enough of that,” Ian said. “You two want to know why I’m really here?”
“Hell, yes!” Lexi’s frustration mixed with the need for answers.
Ian’s laugh would have reached the ceiling if it could have. He laid a hand on her knee. “I’m here to make sure Emma does her job and keeps tabs on you every moment of every day until Tripp gets here. He thought a double dose would be better than one since you can’t seem to stay out of trouble without him.”
“What?” Emma jerked back. “When did I get appointed a guardian?”
“Trust me on this one. You both need me.”
“We do not—” Lexi and Emma started, but Ian held up both hands.
“How did you find Lexi, Emma?”
“Uh … well … Tripp called me.”
“What?” Lexi expected to give herself whiplash with the back and forth between Emma and Ian.
Emma slunk like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “Missy called me and asked me to call the police. After I did that, Tripp’s number popped on the screen. He could barely breathe, Lexi.” She rubbed her arms as if she had a chill. “He told me where you sorta were, said you were safe but was concerned the guy was there.”
“How did he know? Where was he to know that?” Lexi massaged her temple, popping her eyes wide. “Oh, my—it was real.”
“What was?” Ian and Emma said at the same time.
“When I was hiding, the guy opened the closet door. I thought for sure he could see me. I mean, I looked right in his eyes. You know how you know for sure the other person can see you?”
They both nodded.
“Well, that’s what happened, but he closed the door again like he hadn’t.” She put her hands against her chest. “I thought I’d just done a good hiding job, but—” She stopped, dropping her chin to her chest.
“But what, Lex?” Emma’s kind voice soothed.
“I heard him.” Tapping her temple, she said, “In my head. He was using his gift
through
me.” She met her sister’s stare. “He gave me his ability, lent it to me or something. Through me. How’s that possible?”
Ian smiled. “Well that’s one less mystery, at least.”
“There are still so many.” Even Lexi heard the whine.
“So, I do have one more task,” Ian said.
Lexi straightened, preparing to infuse her tone with sarcasm. “What else could you possibly have to do for us helpless women?”
Emma snorted.
“Can you use your … ability for, ah … finding people?”
“Well, shit, Ian. That is
not
a question you want to ask her,” Emma said.
25
Tripp waited outside Luna Cafe, a block from Jill’s apartment. She’d promised to meet him for lunch when he’d called and apologized. The cool breeze brought with it the smells of hot dogs from a street vendor while a fresh fruit tray on another table hinted at the delicacies the cafe offered.
He sipped his water, waiting for Jill to make her appearance, which, unless she changed her habits, would mean she’d arrive fifteen minutes after their appointed time. Tripp kept an eye out for Sloan’s spies in addition to enjoying a bit of people watching. Like at the beach, New York included a little of everyone, but the hustle that came with the location had long since worn on him.
“Tripp.”
He’d missed Jill’s approach while he watched a family try to cross the four-lane road. “Hi.” He added a kiss to her cheek as she sat, which she accepted with coldness. That too, he expected.
“I’ll have a water with lime when the server comes around.” She dropped her bag to her lap—a gesture which meant she’d bolt at the slightest inconvenience.
He signaled the waitress with two fingers, ordered when she arrived.
“What do you want?” Jill’s perfect features, beautiful but so very different than Lexi’s, reflected the hurt he’d seen at the vault but masked with a fake smile and perfect cosmetic application.
To those who didn’t know her well, they’d see nothing but a powerful woman.
“I want to apologize.”
“You already did.” Her shoulders slouched a touch. “For what again?”
“For the way things ended between us.”
She moved her bag to the side chair. “Why are you apologizing?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do.”
She nodded. “Then I accept.” When she placed her arms on the table, Tripp expected he’d get at least a few more minutes out of her company. “What are you going to do with your life now?”
He leaned forward, took her ringless hand in his. “I want to help you.”
“What?” Her brows creased.
“I want you to keep all the wedding plans you’ve made.”
“Are you out of your mind? I’m not going to marry you.”
He held on when she tried to tug her hands free.
“Let go, or I’ll scream.” She pursed her lips.
“I know you will, Jill,” he said, though he didn’t release her. “Hear me out. What is the one thing you’ve always wanted in life? In all your twenty-eight years.”
“Twenty-five, Tripp.” The little smirk told him her soft side he knew of snuck out.
“Okay. Your twenty-five years. What is it? Because I know. I figured it out. I just want to hear it from you.”
Her shoulders slouched in a child-like sulk. “It’s not important anymore.”
“Yes … it is.”
Her blue eyes reflected an intense desire to tell him. “I want a family.”
“I know.”
She straightened. “Then why did you cheat—”
“I was never unfaithful to you.” He let her hands free. “I told you at least ten times I wasn’t ready for marriage. It wasn’t you; it was me.”
She leaned back in the chair. “But—”
“No, Jill. You and I aren’t meant to be together. But I know who is supposed to be with you.”
She smiled, her gaze off to the side. “How could you possibly know that, Tripp? I thought it was you.”
“How much do you trust me?”
She laughed. “Not at all.” The pat on the hand told him otherwise.
“How many plans have you cancelled for the wedding of the century?”
She tucked her chin against her shoulder. “None.”
Knew that, too.
“I didn’t think you would.” He chuckled. “Dear old dad know that?”
“Maybe.”
“Be honest about it.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s my future got to do with this? Especially if you’re not—”
“Nothing.” Tripp waved it away. “Never mind.” If she held true to form, she’d never let the statement go without further explanation.
“Spill it.”
Tripp bit back a laugh. “He’s doling out a little blackmail.”
“On who? Oh!” Her hands flew to her mouth. “No. Dammit.” She pounded her fist against the table. “I told him we broke up, but I didn’t—”
“He’s protecting his baby. But because you run to him every time there’s a problem, he takes care of it in his way.”
“I do not—”
Tripp cocked his head at her.
“But he’s my dad. He’s supposed to be on my side.” She dropped her gaze. “Well, geez, Tripp. I just went to him for a shoulder to cry on. Ever since Mom died, he’s been my rock—the only one I could rely on.”
“I know, but he’s gone off the deep end on this one. So, I think you should have a little fun with him. Pull one big-ass surprise on him.”
She narrowed her eyes, leaning forward on her elbows. “What are you talking about?”
“What if you pretended you trusted me, went ahead with the wedding plans, but didn’t tell anyone who the groom was until the very last minute?”
“That’s ridiculous.” While her tone said ‘no way’, the bat of her lashes asked ‘how?’
“I know it sounds like it.”
“I have to have a groom, Tripp. That’s pretty damn important.”
“You will.”
She crossed her hands over her heart. “I need to know who my groom—”
Tripp took her hands again. “I know. Remember when I asked you about trusting me? This is why.”
One nail tapped against the back of his hand. “So, I just plan my wedding, let the press in and walk up the aisle in my custom-made dress—which I already own by the way—to a groom I haven’t even met and trust he’s ‘the one’?” She used her manicured fingers to quote.
“Yes.”
Her hand waved above her head. “That’s asinine! How do I know you’re not just making all this up?”
“You see the woman over there?” He pointed to Isabelle, who stood at a pay phone, her back to Tripp and Jill.
“Yeah. What about her? She works for my Dad. I know she keeps an eye on me sometimes—like a bodyguard of sorts, though she’s not always around.”
“She, or her partners, have been following me. She, or one of them, shot me. They’ve sent photos of me, you and—” He hesitated to bring up Lexi’s name.
“The woman you’re attached to?” Jill’s smile grew though it started small.
“Yes.”
“You’re completely in love with her, aren’t you?”
Tripp smiled. “Yes, but I’m pretty sure she’s not liking me so much right now.” He snorted a laugh. “And your father has a hell of a lot to do with it.”
“Oh, good grief.” She twisted toward Isabelle. “She been responsible for keeping you in place on his behalf?”
Tripp nodded.
“Dammit, Dad.” Jill rummaged for her cell.
“No,” Tripp said.
She stopped. “Why?”
“You want to get back at him on my behalf? Then hold the wedding. Let him think it’s me, but give him the surprise of his life.”
The droop took hold of her posture. “But how?” She exaggerated her question with hand gestures. “How, Tripp?
How?
”
“Trust me. You know I’m really good at finding things … I can do that with people, too. Let me do this for you. I promise he’ll be ‘the one’. I’ll deliver him a week before the wedding. You just keep him under wraps.”
“This is intense, Tripp. You want to bring me a new fiancé as if he’s a tube of toothpaste, hope I fall in love, do it all a week before a worldwide wedding and not say a thing to anyone?”
“Yes.”
She eyed him with the expression of one very interested but wary woman. “There’s more to this, Tripp. What aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing. At this point, you know everything.”
Or everything you need to know.
“So, what do you think?”
“You’re totally serious?”
“Have I ever not been?”
A sip of lime water.
A tap of one nail on the tabletop.
A slight nod of her head.
“October thirtieth. Six o’clock. That gives you three weeks to deliver. You screw with me, and I will send Isabelle to hunt you down and have you castrated.” She added a sweet but serious smile as Tripp mouthed ‘ouch’ and covered his crotch. As she took another sip of her drink, her eyes lit with interest. “Need to know anything to make this happen?”
Oh, so many things.
“Nope. I have it all under control.”
Narrowed eyes accompanied another drink. “You know this is the weirdest thing you’ve ever asked of me, right?”
“Trust me, Jill. If this wasn’t ‘the way’ to make this happen, I’d never have asked.”
• • •
Lexi tapped the end of her pen on her desk. Another morning had arrived and left, but Tripp hadn’t called. She’d given up on both the questions to Emma and Ian, and the thoughts—at least the verbal ones—to avoid their constant shrugs. Lexi considered making a call herself, but with the realization she and Tripp had more than just a physical connection, she went another route.
Her attempt at meditation got no response either.
Despite her personal rule about searching for people, and the fact she couldn’t usually find Tripp, Lexi tried to pull to mind his face, but when she couldn’t, she figured he didn’t want to be found.
Still, he didn’t call.
Neither did she.
The chime from the front door had her head popping up. Neither she nor Emma had appointments.
Tripp?
Voices trailed off and heightened as if the person who walked in claimed some sort of popularity. Rather than sit and wait for him, Lexi headed to the lobby.
Lexi entered to Ian and Emma wafting their hands over steaming food—no doubt brought by their guest. She plastered on her happy face even while her inner spirit plummeted to her feet.
“Hey, Janey.”
The scent of chicken, rice and a hint of sugar made its way up to her.
“Brought you some goodies today.”
“That was sweet of you.”
Janine opened the top of another dish, revealing steak in a sauce similar to the one Tripp ordered when they ate together in her restaurant. “I also brought you these.” She held out a box.
Lexi smiled at two of her favorite raspberries. “Wow. This is a serious treat. What brings this on?”
“I just wanted to thank you for the Missy introduction.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Emma said behind a mouthful of food.
“Oh, yeah, I did. She put me in contact with a restaurateur in D.C. who wants to feature a few of
my
dishes in his kitchen.”
Lexi bit into one of the two bite-sized desserts. “That’s awesome. I mean it. Oh, god, these are amazing.”
Janine giggled with excitement. “I know. And, I’m making those—” She pointed to Lexi’s box. “—for a wedding on October thirtieth. A woman called me from New York about it.”
Lexi’s heart slung back up from her feet, smacked her in the face and exploded. She masked the inner turmoil and emotional pain by stuffing her mouth with the second dessert.
I pushed him away.
Missy probably suggested Janine for the wedding and passed the information on to Jill. Lexi fixed the smile to her face. “That’s just … um … superb. I am beyond speechless and excited for you.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you, Lexi. I mean it.”
“Aw. You’re so sweet. Everything you’ve done has been based on hard work and a strong business sense … and one fantastic menu.”
“You still like these two dishes? I was thinking about using them for the samples for that chef in D.C.”
Lexi nodded. “Oh, yeah. They’re my favorites. I’d totally use them.”
“Well, I’ll leave you guys to your work. Thanks for the input, and enjoy lunch. I brought enough for you all to have some of each.”
Lexi didn’t have the nerve to tell Janine she could barely eat.
The office phone trilled, and Lexi went to answer it until Emma beat her to it.
“Wise Women, this is Emma Shepherd, how can I help you?”
Her sister’s sweet voice resonated professionalism and interest. While Emma didn’t have the same gift as Lexi, she worked a figurative magic in other ways.
“Hey, Lex.” Emma cupped a hand over the mouthpiece. “C’mere.”
Lexi shuffled to Emma’s computer.
“Check these out. New drawings.”
Missy sent sketches almost every day—updates on her ideas and thoughts. Dropping to Emma’s chair, Lexi studied the first image as Emma trudged away.
The design Missy had sent of the kitchen reflected the hand-drawn art she’d made while she’d been in Rune. Lexi clicked to the living room—a complement of colors, furniture, light and wonder. The master bedroom mixed masculine with feminine in a way to suggest the two could live in a symbiotic manner.
Her newest ideas came in the form of a nursery and another of an office. Lexi laughed at the idea Missy would build those into her models, but since she knew Tripp better than any other, Lexi accepted it.
Missy even sent a landscape design with a path of lights leading to and from the barn and another to a beautiful white gazebo. The designs suited the property. It brought life to an otherwise drab two stories of unused home.
Every bit of Lexi’s heart remained with that house. The thought Tripp owned it, that eventually some other woman would have her hands in it, burned.
At her sigh, Emma put a hand on Lexi’s back.
“It’s not over, Lex.”
“What’s not?”
That he has my house and the designs are just what I want? Or that he’s gone back to Jill, and that’s why he hasn’t called?
She backed away from Emma and stalked to her office. “I’m so stupid! I should have given up sooner. Should have run away from him that day on the beach. Dammit.” She slammed her fist against the desk. “There was never an ‘us’, and yet here I am thinking there was something real.”
She needed time to let her emotions separate from her body, and Ian and Emma’s babysitting had extended far too long.
Her Mini, clean and ready for a road trip, sat in the parking lot.
She grabbed her keys and her bag, listened for Ian and Emma gabbing in the front and slipped out the back.
• • •
One train ride, three planes and four rental cars later, Tripp found himself a few miles from Rune. He’d begged Ian to keep his return a secret, wanting to surprise Lexi. What had turned into two days, reached into four, and his idea of ‘surprise’ had become ‘I hope she doesn’t hate me.’