chapter eight
PRESENTS AND PRESENCE
It was very early, still dark outside when I was roused, confused by the heaviness across my chest. I reached up to find an arm, his arm, draped over me. A smile spread across my face and I slowly turned on my side, careful not to wake him. While he still slept I studied his face, memorizing all its details and characteristics. The shape of the mouth, which had mystified me before, was so clearly a mimic of Roger’s. The structure of Link’s jaw line was also quite the same. This boy was a link to my past.
I leaned forward to place a chaste kiss on his perfect lips. He stirred and pulled me closer to him.
“Don’t leave,” he whispered in his sleep.
“I’m not leaving you,” I whispered back.
His eyes were a trait from his father, I thought, recalling the photo I’d seen yesterday. The blonde hair was the same shade as his mother’s had been. The nose and the hairline were clearly from his grandpa. I loved this face, I had from the moment I’d spied it at the Halloween dance. All those people that had contributed to his being were gone now, but Link was here. It was a miracle that we had found each other, a present that I would cherish.
I wiggled my way out of Link’s embrace without waking him, and quietly tiptoed across the room to the closet, shutting the door behind me. When I turned on the light, I glanced at myself in the full-length mirror, and immediately frowned at my appearance. My favorite Forties outfit was badly wrinkled, having been slept in all night. There was a slight tear in the seam at the shoulder of the shirt, the stitching now old and delicate. The skirt seemed to have made it unscathed. At least the jacket had been safely discarded and placed on the back of my desk chair before we fell asleep in each other’s arms.
A quick change of my clothes, into pajama pants and a tank top, and I was tiptoeing my way out of my bedroom. I heard Catherine softly humming a Gaelic tune in the kitchen and went downstairs to see her.
“Good morning.” I hugged her. “Can you fix the shirt I was wearing yesterday? I fell asleep with it on and it tore at the shoulder,” I explained.
“That’s good to hear,” Catherine mused.
“It’s good to hear that my shirt is ripped?”
“No, it’s good to hear you slept in your clothes. I was afraid you would be rushing into the unknown. I’m glad you are keeping a level head,” she said.
“Catherine, I’m not sure yet what it means to me, to have him. But I won’t rush into anything, physically. Emotionally, it may be too late. I think it was too late two months ago,” I half-heartedly joked.
“I think you may be right. I saw the way you look at him and the way he looks at you. I can’t say I’m entirely displeased. I’ve been waiting years for you to find someone that you can love again. It just seems appropriate that he has a connection to your past.”
“What about the mortal, immortal issue?” I asked.
“What issue?” she asked innocently.
“You know what I mean,” I pressed.
“Charity, anything can happen to anyone at any time. James could be taken away from me tomorrow. Yes, Lincoln will age and you will not. You have to ask yourself if that will become an issue for you as time passes. Only you can answer that,” Catherine responded and gave me a comforting hug.
“I’ll contemplate that later, I guess. Right now I think I’ll just take things as they come,” I said. “Is James in his lab?”
“Yes, he’s been in there all night. I think he is trying to isolate the healing compounds in our blood. He asked me for a sample a few hours ago. He’ll probably be begging you next,” she warned and gave me a wary glance.
“No way! If I fall down and scrape myself he had better be right there with a collection vial. Otherwise, no dice... I don’t do needles or scalpels,” I protested.
“Why not?” asked a voice from behind me.
“Aaah,” I squealed.
“Good morning, Lincoln,” Catherine greeted him.
“Good morning. Guess that super hearing thing’s not working too well this morning,” he chuckled at my startled expression.
“Too distracted by James’s supposed need for my blood. Like I said he’ll have to catch me doing something stupid and collect it then.” I knew it was unreasonable for me to make such a stipulation. But I’d had an irrational fear of needles since I was a kid getting shots at the doctor’s office. The self-inflicted wounds of my past provided for the other fear.
“That’s what I told him,” Catherine sang.
“No intentional bloodletting huh?” Link asked as he encircled me in his arms.
“No!” I wrinkled my face in disgust. “What are you doing awake? It’s only five thirty,” I asked.
“You left me,” he answered, his face sober.
“I didn’t leave. I came downstairs,” I justified.
“You left,” he insisted.
“I’m sorry. Good morning.” I leaned into his embrace, resting my head on his chest.
“Good morning,” he echoed as he kissed the top of my head. “What are you doing fully awake at five thirty on a Saturday?” he asked, confused.
“Our internal clocks run a little... differently,” Catherine explained
“I’m sure there are quite a few different things that I’ll have to get used to,” he yawned.
“A few,” I answered vaguely.
“How about food? That’s all still the same, right? I’m starving. We never ate dinner last night,” he said.
“Oh you’re right, and yes, food is pretty much the same. Except for the death by starvation part. We just get weak,” I answered.
“I’ll just take that as – yes, I’m hungry too. May I be so bold as to open this refrigerator and see what I can make for our breakfast?”
“Yes, please be so bold.” I smiled.
“I’m going up to my study, to read. Have fun you two,” Catherine excused herself and made her way upstairs.
I blew her a kiss as I sat on the stool by the kitchen counter and watched as Link surveyed our fridge. He looked adorable with his bare feet, his wrinkled t-shirt, and slept-in jeans. His tousled hair simply added to the appeal.
“How about an omelet, with cheese, ham... What else you got? ... mushroom, tomato, onion, you name it,” he asked over his shoulder.
“All of the above, except onions. Yuck!” I wrinkled my face in distaste.
“So, the lady doesn’t like onions,” he noted.
“No, the lady hates onions,” I clarified.
“Got it, no onions,” He smiled, as he transferred items from the fridge to the counter.
“Let me help you,” I said, as I got up from the stool.
“No, no, I’m making breakfast for us. You stay put,” he ordered.
So, I sat and proceeded to point out where all the kitchen tools and pans were kept. A few minutes later, he sat down beside me and placed a plate, containing a huge overflowing omelet bubbling with cheese, on the counter between us. He handed me a fork and we both dug in.
“Wow! That is heavenly. You make a good omelet,” I said after swallowing the first bite.
“I’ve got powers.” He shrugged.
“Awesome powers,” I agreed.
“What should we do today?”
“Since you are a self proclaimed excellent shopper and Christmas is, what, like two weeks away...” I trailed off as I took another bite.
“Christmas shopping?” he asked.
“Would that be alright with you? I haven’t got anything for James or Catherine and I want to get a little something for my friends at school too. Would that bore you?”
“I’d be spending the day with you. I have nothing to complain about.”
“Thank you!” I smiled at his response and leaned forward to place a kiss on his nose.
“Do you want to walk around town or go somewhere else?”
“Oooh! I hadn’t thought about that, where else could we go?” I loved the thought of being alon
e with him, somewhere away from here.
“Montrose isn’t too far,” he offered.
“Let’s do it,” I beamed.
“Whatever the lady wants,” he said and smiled my brilliant smile.
“The lady wants to be with you,” I stated matter-of-factly.
He wrapped his arms around me and, at that moment, there was no other place I would rather be.
After we finished our breakfast, I ran upstairs to get myself ready to go out. Link had headed off to his apartment to do the same. I hated to let him walk out the door, but decided I could spare him for an hour. When I was finished getting ready, I found Catherine and told her my plans for the day. With keys in hand, I dashed down the stairs and outside to my SUV. My need to be with Link was a magnetic pull, stronger than anything I had ever imagined.
The drive to his apartment seemed excruciatingly long. As I turned into the parking lot, my heartbeat quickened and a wide smile automatically appeared on my face. Link was standing at the entrance, waiting for me. He hopped in the passenger seat, after I unlocked the doors, and leaned over to place a frosty kiss on my lips.
“Ooh, your lips are cold,” I pretended to shiver.
“I thought you’d never get here,” he poured, with fake exasperation.
“Poor baby, have you been waiting long? I am a girl remember. We take longer to get ready,” I reminded him as I started our drive out of town.
“Yeah, I know. It’s just been awhile.”
“What’s awhile?” I questioned.
“The last time I waited for a girl?” He paused, waiting for an answer. I gave a quick nod. “I guess that would have to be Jade, my high school girlfriend. We broke up a few months before Grandpa died.”
“What happened?”
“I pushed her away. Grandpa was real sick toward the end and I wouldn’t allow her to help me. Emotionally, I turned myself off.”
“So she left,” I concluded.
“Technically I left first. The last few times we were together, I wasn’t really there.”
“Did you love her?”
“We were both eighteen when we started dating and were together for about a year and a half. So yes, I loved her, as much as I was capable of at the time. She deserved better.”
“Do you know where she is now?”
“I heard she got engaged six months ago or so. I’m glad she’s happy now. She really is a great girl.”
“I’m actually a little jealous,” I admitted.
“Don’t be. I’ve come to believe there is a reason for everything, a reason it didn’t work out with Jade and a reason I found my way to you,” he grasped my hand.
I beamed.
“How about you?” Link asked.
“How about me what?” I countered.
“When’s the last time you made a guy wait on you?”
“Roger,” I let the sad little word slip from my mouth and my expression clouded. “You shut yourself off emotionally for over two years. I’ve done it for several decades,” I berated myself.
“Okay... New topic... Since you brought up your age... I would love to know what you thought about each decade?”
“Seriously?” I was stunned. I had never been able to talk with anyone but Catherine and James about the past.
“We’ll start with the Fifties.”
“Okay, I loved the music and the changing fashions. Oh, and automobiles were so stylish,” I answered.
“Sixties?”
“Music, not so much, except the British invasion. The whole hippie thing was way over my head,” I admitted.
“Okay, Seventies?”
“Don’t hate me... I did enjoy disco. But polyester clothes – yuck!” I shook my head.
“Disco?” he frowned, “Eighties?” he continued
“Great music... Terrible big hair on women... and I never understood the shoulder-pads that were sewn into so many outfits. I looked like a linebacker sometimes, but you gotta go with the flow,” I sighed.
“Nineties?”
“Still liked the music... clothes started to reflect the Sixties and Seventies again so that was interesting... But technology, which started out great in the Eighties, really took off. I love gadgets and a new one was popping up every other day,” I paused. “Don’t ask me about the new century. It just started,” I finished.
“I won’t ask,” he promised, “but I’ll hope you like it as much as I do now.”
I didn’t respond to his last statement. Letting myself hope for the future was not something I was used to. I had resigned myself to a life without love and romance, without hope.
The conversation, for the rest of the drive, concentrated on our musical likes and dislikes. I shocked him with my love of the Eighties hair bands and he admitted to liking the occasional rap song. We both agreed on alternative rock, it was the perfect music to lose yourself in. Loud music with great drums and guitars could be very freeing. He surprised me with his knowledge of the Big Band Era and that discussion carried on, until we reached Montrose.
Our little shopping excursion turned out to be more of a treasure hunt. I drove the streets looking for thrift stores, antique stores, vintage shops, and used-book sellers. I dragged Link into every small shop with a storefront that captured my interest. My hunting always paid off. I found ten yards of antique French silk and fifteen yards of a delicate cotton floral fabric for Catherine. I lucked out again at a quaint little rare-books store. I found two first editions - Hawthorne and Poe. They were two of James’s favorite authors. Pleased with my finds I turned my attention to the girls at school.
We stumbled upon an antique shop that had trays and trays of authentic jewelry pieces from almost every decade. I found some stunning black and white art deco pieces from the mid Nineteen Twenties, some pretty little rhinestone Christmas pins from the Fifties, and some leather bracelets woven with beads from the Sixties. Link, the perfect shopping companion as promised, even helped me choose two leather bracelets. One each for Summer and Delilah. I was quite pleased with my purchases.
After trolling the streets of Montrose for hours we stopped for a very late lunch at one of the local diners.
“Did you get something for everyone on your list?” Link asked as we slid into a booth.
“I think so. It was a pretty short list. I’m used to Christmas shopping for James and Catherine, but I have never included mortal girlfriends. It seems strange,” I admitted.
“That is very sad you know. You should have allowed yourself a friend or two over the years.”
“It all seemed so pointless. We’ve always moved on, at a moment’s notice. The longest we have ever stayed in one city is ten years.”
“Ten years is a long time to be someone’s friend,” he said.
“But what is the point,” I exhaled, “when eventually I’ll have to disappear. I cannot keep a mortal friend forever. It doesn’t matter anyway. I have Catherine and James,” I finished.
“You have me,” he said as he reached across the table to hold my hand.
“You’re right. For now, I have you,” I agreed. “Your presence is a present to me. It was a gift to find you.”
“I feel the same way,” he assured me.
“We can be each other’s Christmas present this year!” I suggested.
“I like it,” he said with a smile.
“Can I take yer order?” A red headed waitress with a sassy smile appeared. Pinned to her white lapel was a nametag that read FLO. That had to be a joke.
“I’ll have the chicken pot pie and a diet soda with lemon,” I answered. I tried to mirror her smile.
“I’ll have the same but with an iced tea,” Link added.
“Be back with yer drinks in a moment,” she sang as she sashayed away.
“FLO?” I mouthed to Link. When she was out of earshot I let a giggle escape my lips.
“What?” He looked completely lost. “From those commercials?”
“No. Forget it, before your time,” I muttered.
I would always have to remember that I was with a much younger man, a “boy” as Catherine had called him.
“What?” he insisted.
“FLO, in a diner. It’s from a TV show...,” I prompted. “It even took place in Arizona,” I added, but he was still clueless. “Forget it. It’s just something I used to watch on television, a few years before you were born. When we get back to my house, I’ll see if I can pull up some old clips of the show on the Internet,” I explained.
As I said the words I realized that I would have to learn to get over the age difference and not let it bother me so much. Catherine was older than James and it had never been an issue for them.
“I’ll hold you to that.” He smiled my brilliant smile and I immediately brightened.
FLO brought our drinks a moment later, and our food a few minutes after that. I immediately broke into the flaky crust of the pot pie, letting the steam escape. Then I tore off a piece from the edge, dunked it into the creamy gravy, and popped it into my mouth.
“Mmmm,” I sighed, savoring the taste. “I love pot pie.”
“That good, huh?” he chuckled.
“Yes, try it,” I urged.
I watched as he broke into his pot pie and smiled as he took his first bite.
“It’s good,” he mumbled through a mouthful of food.
Within seconds we were both attending to the serious task - of chowing down. Talking was kept to a minimum as I took pleasure in the flavor and aroma of each bite. I let myself flash back to family dinners at my grandparents’ house – my grandmother teaching me how to roll out pie dough, my grandfather proudly showing off his new radio. These were memories that I usually kept filed away. It shocked me how much the various shields, that I had spent years building up, were involuntarily lowered when I was with Link.
I let my senses go into overdrive, not wanting to reel them in. I let myself breathe in the countless aromas that swirled around the air. My tongue was busy dissecting the ingredients of the dish in front of me. My ears started to pick-up conversations from all the surrounding booths. It was overkill. I usually kept this kind of sensory overload at bay, but today I set it free.
Link paused from his meal as he watched me sit up a little straighter, close my eyes, and breathe in deeply. “What are you doing?” he asked.
“Taking it all in,” I answered. “... all the fragrances, tastes, and sounds,” I continued. “The women in the booth behind us are sharing a pot roast and discussing little Johnny, who lost his first tooth yesterday. The couple in the booth by the door, are having soup and salad and arguing about the need for a new car. There is an old woman somewhere in here that is sipping coffee and talking aloud to no one, about the cost of dry goods these days,” I paused.
“You can pick-up all that?” he questioned. His eyes grew wide with surprise.
“I told you there was a lot you didn’t know about me.” I shrugged.
“What else? How about that couple near the counter.” He pointed at a young blonde woman sitting right next to her boyfriend, I presumed.
“Okay give me a second,” I said as I tried to pick their voices out of the tangle of sounds in the air. “They are going ring shopping today. He proposed last night, it was spur of the moment it seems, and today they are making it official.”
We watched the couple as they bent their heads toward each other and he held her left hand up in the air. They sat that way, gazing at the imaginary ring, for a few minutes.
“Crazy,” Link awed. “What about that man way in the back on the cell phone?”
“What about him?” I asked as I peeked over my shoulder at him.
“Can you tell what he’s talking about? Can you hear both ends of the conversation?”
“I can probably discern his end of the conversation, but I’m not sure about the one on the other end of the cell phone. I’ll try,” I said as I closed my eyes again and tried to block out all of the other voices in the room and began to concentrate on the guy in the way back.
“I’m going to move on in a few days,” I repeated his words. “No, I haven’t found any new information yet,” he said. “Yes, I’ve asked at all the major medical centers around here. Do you want me to visit every Doctor’s office in town too? Colorado is a big state you know. I’m doing my best,” he paused, listening. “I can’t hit every little town. You are out of your mind this time Zeek. I’ll drive over to Grand Junction from here. Why are you so sure they’ll be in Colorado?” the man asked.
“Because I just am Levi, so keep looking!” I heard a male voice scream through the cell phone as the man in the back held it away from his ear.
I peeked over my shoulder again and saw Flo placing a check down on the man’s table. I tried to memorize his face without being too obvious. His head was bald, and he wore small wire rimmed glasses. The eyes were a dark brown, almost black. His lips were thin and drawn into a straight line. It was obvious he was upset by the conversation, as was I. A shudder rippled through my body.
“What do you think that was about?” Link wondered aloud.
“I don’t know but it worries me, Link. He’s searching through towns in Colorado looking for ‘they,’ whoever they are, and he’s been asking questions at medical centers,” I spoke in a quiet whisper, my hands gripping the edge of the table.
“That doesn’t mean he’s looking for your family,” he tried to calm me.
“Ya’ll need anything else?” Flo popped into view.
“Nope, I think we’re finished,” Link told her.
“I’ll leave yer check then,” she drawled as she placed the green and white paper on the table.
“Flo,” I started.
“Yeah, honey,” she looked at me.
“That man walking out,” I shifted my eyes, “the one with the bald head. He looks awful familiar to me. You wouldn’t happen to know his name would you?”
“Oh, that’s the rude one. That’s what I’ve been calling him this whole last week. Been comin’ in here every day, right about this same time. Talks loudly on the phone from the moment he orders to the moment he leaves. I just heard him say he’s moving on so hopefully this was my last day having to serve him. My sister-in-law works over at the hospital and she came in here for coffee and pie yesterday after her shift. Well, she spotted him and said he was at the hospital asking questions about all the doctors. Personal questions and all. Gave her the creeps. Gives me the creeps too,” she chatted on.
“Did you ever catch his name?” I pressed.
“Leviticus Lord. Said so on his credit card. That’s a name that’ll stick in yer head. I gotta go, table three is waving at me. Have a good day,” she trailed off as she walked away.
“Leviticus Lord... Levi... k-k-keep looking in Colorado...,” I stammered, eyes wide. “Of course Zeek and Levi are Ezekiel and Leviticus, how could that not have clicked the moment I heard it? I actually had to ask, as if there were any other explanation.”
“Charity, breathe,” Link ordered.
“We need to go home, we need to tell them,” I whispered.
“From what you heard, he didn’t seem to know anything. He doesn’t know where you are and he’s clearly headed in the wrong direction. It’ll be okay. I’ll get you home and then we can tell your aunt and uncle,” he said as he stood.
Link left some money on the table and then led me to my vehicle. I gave him the keys. I was too shaky to drive. I knew I wouldn’t be concentrating enough on the road ahead of me as much as the road I might be taking once James and Catherine were given the news. The Lord brothers were near. Well, at least one of them was present.
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