He watched customers come and go from the store, the rain apparently not discouraging them. He watched Mandaline as she worked, her gaze repeatedly darting to where he sat patiently waiting for there to be enough of a lull they could talk again.
The initial incident when he’d arrived and shaken hands with Mandaline had scared the crap out of him, quite frankly. He knew if he kissed her it would feel the same as in their freaky little interlude. That she’d taste the same. That her panties were pale yellow with little blue flowers sprinkled all over them.
That her body fit perfectly against his.
He’d never had a hallucination like that before. Voices? Sure, okay. Seeing things at the house? No problem.
But he’d nearly creamed his briefs. He knew if he went into the bathroom he’d likely find a wet spot inside them.
Even the thought of repeating their embrace made his cock ache and strain against his zipper.
Sachi and the other woman both finished with their clients. Once Mandaline knew they had things under control, she motioned him over without a word and led him upstairs to her apartment above the store.
“Can I get you anything to drink or eat?” she asked.
“Just some water would be nice, thank you.”
She waved him over to the sofa. A little dog approached him, tentatively at first.
He held out his hand. “Hi, Pers.”
The dog launched itself at him, practically tackling him, jumping up and hitting him squarely in the chest and excitedly whining while licking Brad’s face.
“Pers!” She hurried over with Brad’s glass of water and tried to peel the little dog off him. “I’m so sorry. He’s friendly but usually not that rude.”
“It’s okay.”
She held the dog in her arms as he whined and tried to get back to Brad. “How’d you know his name was…” She blinked and looked down at the dog. “Never mind. I know.” She set him down and he immediately returned to Brad’s lap.
She collapsed into a chair and stared at Brad. “He knows, doesn’t he?”
Brad stroked the dog’s head. “I think so.”
She stared at him for a moment. “Ellis said Julie really seemed to take a liking to you when you met her. Did that…that, did it happen between you and her, too?”
He shook his head. “No. I felt a little shock when we shook hands that day, more like a tingle, but nothing like that.”
“I felt that, a little shock, when I touched Ellis’ arm yesterday. I sometimes feel that with people, but not often. I’ve always been reluctant to develop that sense. Being an empath is enough for me to deal with. Sometimes it’s overwhelming.” She crossed her arms over her chest, her hands slowly brushing up and down her arms as if trying to ward off a chill. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
“I don’t understand.”
“This!” She threw her arms out, at him, before crossing them over her chest again. “This information. What am I supposed to do with it?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
She slumped back in her chair and stared at him for a few moments. He waited for her to speak again.
“Why did you tell me about Julie?”
“I needed to know I wasn’t crazy,” he quietly said. “I needed affirmation I wasn’t imagining her. I needed confirmation what she told me was true and not a figment of my imagination.”
“No, you’re not crazy. Not any crazier than the rest of us. You know stuff no one else knows or could know.” She studied him for another moment. “You said this started after your accident?”
He looked down at the dog as he stroked his fur. “I remember after my accident, in the ICU. I woke up, but I couldn’t speak. I had a breathing tube. A buddy of mine from…” He took a deep breath. “A guy from my platoon kept coming in to visit me. He’d sit with me half the night sometimes. Talk to me. He was never there when Ellis and Mom and Dad were there. I didn’t know how he could stay there for so long when no one else could. Nurses never seemed to pay him any attention.”
He shivered. “I found out later, once I was out of ICU, that he’d died a couple of days after my accident. Brain aneurism. That’s the last time I said anything about it. I’d told Ellis about it, but he said it was probably my imagination because of the medication they had me on, that I was usually unconscious in the ICU. But I wasn’t really. I was still aware. I know what I saw and heard.”
They both looked up as a loud crack of thunder split the air nearby. “Guess I’m getting wet going home,” he said. “Ellis has appointments today until seven in the office. I don’t want to bother him.”
“I’ll drive you.”
“You’re not scared of the crazy, brain-damaged ex-vet?”
She sadly smiled. “You’re one of the least scary people I’ve ever met.”
He loved her eyes. Today she’d pulled her long, brown hair into a ponytail low on the back of her head.
She cocked her head and studied him again. “Can’t lie, huh?”
He shrugged. “Sucks. Means I can’t even not hurt someone’s feelings. I’ve learned sometimes I can get away with playing semantic games or by saying something like, ‘Are you really sure you want my opinion?’ or, ‘I’d rather not say.’ But not always. Sometimes that just makes them want to know my answer even more.”
She crossed her legs in front of her. A smile creased her face. “I usually want a guy to buy me dinner before he tries to poke me on my desk.”
He burst out laughing. “I’m usually far more of a gentleman, and get to know a woman better, before I shove my tongue down her throat.”
“Then how about I let you buy me dinner and I’ll drive you home after? I can have a preliminary look at your house while I’m there.”
“Trying to keep me away from your desk?” he teased.
Her smile broadened. “You realize I’m going to think of that every time I sit down to do paperwork now, right?”
* * * *
Mandaline thought Brad was a total sweetheart. As she recovered from her initial shock, she warmed to the idea of maybe getting to know him better. She tried to tell herself it had nothing to do with Julie, but she knew that was a lie.
Julie had always gently chided Mandaline about her proclamations she was giving up on love. They’d known each other since high school, and Julie’s shoulder had absorbed more than her fair share of tears throughout the years over Mandaline’s rocky and sketchy love life. Even though she’d known Julie didn’t approve of or like her ex-husband, Carl, she’d loved her friend for choosing to be supportive and available.
And when she’d finally given up and ended the marriage, and suffered through the vicious divorce her ex-in-laws financed against her, Julie had been there to help her pick up the pieces.
Keep your heart open. Believe. That had been Julie’s final message to her that afternoon, while the storm raged and halfway across the county her body was already cooling.
Had she meant about love? About Brad’s message to her? About all of it?
She didn’t know. But grieving hurt. It gave her comfort to focus on something else for a while.
Kim and Anna had both arrived to read for customers and help out in the shop. When Mandaline went downstairs to talk to Sachi about leaving, Sachi waved her hands at her. “Shoo. Get out of here. We’ve got it under control.”
“Are you sure?”
Sachi let out a sarcastic laugh, her brilliant blue eyes flashing with good humor. “Um, sending you out to dinner with a hunky dude? Duh. Get the hell out of here already.”
“Thanks.” She hugged her before dashing upstairs to change clothes and fetch Brad. She wanted to put on jeans and comfortable shoes for exploring their house.
And, yes, to put on a fresh pair of panties.
She drove them to a small, family-owned pizza parlor on the north side of town. They made it inside during a brief break in the rain and she was pleasantly surprised when he held the door open for her.
> “So is this a date?” she playfully asked after they were seated and had placed their drink orders.
She loved how his cheeks filled with color. “I haven’t been on a date in a long time. I guess it’s a date. If you want it to be.”
“Ellis told me about that woman. The one who dumped you.”
He nodded but didn’t look up from his menu. “I’m my own worst enemy now, I guess.”
She reached across the table and touched his hand. No sexiness, but he looked up and met her gaze. “I’d like it to be a date. But let’s become friends and get to know each other, at the very least before I let you bend me over my desk again.”
He snickered. “That was…wow.”
“Wow is one word for it. I’ve had odd stuff happen to me before, but never anything like that.”
He lowered his voice. “Do you think…Julie?”
“Ask her.”
She watched as his attention turned inward. After a moment, he looked frustrated. “She’s not talking to me now.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want to be a third wheel.” She released his hand and sat back, smiling at his amused expression. “Let’s talk more about the house, though. Is there anything else you haven’t told Ellis that you’d like to tell me?”
He looked down and nodded. “Yeah.”
The waitress returned for their orders. Once they were alone again, he looked her in the eye. “I’m a little scared.”
Tendrils of disquiet wound through her. “Why?”
“It’s like it wears on me. Like after a while I feel…dark.”
Maybe being alone with him wasn’t such a good idea after all, cutie or not. “How so?”
“Not like I want to hurt anyone,” he quickly said, apparently reading her sudden unease. “Just…depressed. Sad. I don’t know how to describe it. I feel like there’s something watching me while I work. Whatever it is, I feel it most in the attic while I’m working.”
“Do you feel it now?”
He shook his head. “No. Not at all. It’s like I leave the house and a pall lifts.”
“You didn’t feel this until you were actually living at the house?”
“No.” He took a sip of his iced tea. “Maybe Ellis is right. Maybe it’s a new symptom. There’s a lot they don’t understand about TBIs. The brain’s still a mystery in a lot of ways.”
That didn’t feel right to her, though. Yes, she’d already sensed the duality of Bradley’s nature, the more “there” side of him like what she felt now while talking with him, and the other side of him that felt more ethereal, like he had a foot in an unseen realm.
Which, apparently, he did, if he could talk to Julie. “He mentioned you also have PTSD.”
“Yeah.” He let out a sad laugh. “That used to be a lot worse before the accident, believe it or not. It’s like the accident added a permanent mute button to some things.”
“Like lying.”
“Yeah. I mean, I still get jumpy sometimes. I don’t like gunfire. I can’t watch shows or news footage of combat. Before the accident I used to feel like I always had to look over my shoulder, be hypervigilant everywhere I went. I don’t feel that anymore. It’s…weird.”
“Do you miss not being able to practice law?”
He’d picked up the paper sleeve from his straw and systematically started folding it accordion style. “Sometimes. I liked it. Remember that show Boston Legal? We both wanted to be Alan Shore.” He laughed. “Fight the good fight, right the wrongs, and get the hot chicks all while making money and being smart-asses.” His smile turned sad. “We were so naïve.”
“Ellis really seems devoted to you.”
“He is. I don’t know what I would have done without him and Mom and Dad. His mom and dad, but I call them Mom and Dad.”
“It’s not any of my business, but it seems to me he carries a lot of guilt that’s not his to carry.”
“I know. I’ve told him that a bunch of times, but he refuses to see it like that.” He let out a sigh. “It makes him happier to take care of me, so I let him.”
She took a sip of her tea. When she set it down in a different spot, she drew shapes in the ring of condensation left behind. “Julie and I were close. Maybe not quite as close as you two are, apparently, but she hung by me through thick and thin. She never told me ‘I told you so’ when I messed up with my relationship choices. She was always there to pick up the pieces for me.”
“I just do what Ellis tells me to do and everyone’s happier that way.”
“Are you happier?”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” He put down the scrap of paper. “Ellis was meant to be an attorney. He’s happiest when his world behaves and is laid out in neat, labeled, categorized niches. When all’s as it should be. The only reason he’s tolerating me taking my time with the house is because I suspect if I asked him to walk naked down US 41 with clown paint on his face, he would.” He let out a sigh. “I wouldn’t, of course. Sometimes I just get frustrated that he’s put his life on hold for me.”
“On hold?”
“Permanent hold. I am his life.”
“Maybe he’s in love with you.”
He laughed. “No, he’s straight as an arrow, believe me.” His smile faded. “I don’t mean to come off like I’m bad-mouthing him, either. Please don’t think that. I love him.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t. It’s obvious the two of you love each other very much.”
“Mom says we’re a couple of odd ducks. I guess she’s right. She just doesn’t know how right she is.”
“Do they know what’s going on? With the house, I mean. With how you feel.”
“He told them when we went down last week. I helped him board up their house and we stayed there for the weekend before I went to the VA Monday morning.”
“The doctors found nothing wrong, huh?”
He smirked. “They said there’s nothing more wrong with me than was already wrong with me. Medically, at least.” He picked up the paper again, this time shredding it into tiny pieces.
They had a good dinner. He was sweet, charming, funny…and thought his house was haunted.
Oh, and he seemed able to channel the spirit of her murdered best friend.
It was after six when he paid the bill and they headed for her car. The sun hung low in the sky, fighting to shine through scattered clouds remaining from the afternoon rainstorms, but there was still at least an hour of daylight left.
He gave her directions to their house. They lived on a rural, quiet, two-lane road west of US 41. Surrounded by properties of several acres each, the area felt peaceful. Large, old oaks and tall slash pines blended to create deep shade. The rain had stopped, leaving everything green and dripping wet in the fading light while steam slowly drifted up from the ground and pavement.
Their house was situated in the middle of their property without a lot of cleared space around it.
“There’s a backyard,” he said as he directed her to park next to the side door. “A small one. That’s all I care to mow besides here, where we park. I wouldn’t mind getting a couple of goats eventually to help keep some of the brush down. The whole property is fenced in. We don’t have a gate up, but it wouldn’t take much to put one up.” He led her to the door. “Let me get the alarm turned off first.”
He disappeared inside.
Her first impression of the house was one of love and caring. The new roof was the first thing she noticed, along with a fresh coat of paint in light blue, a cheery color, inviting. The trim was painted in a pale, light green, somewhere between mint and spring grass.
In fact, the whole house felt inviting. Warm.
Loved.
He reappeared a moment later with a smile. “There. Didn’t set it off. That’s one thing Ellis always teases me about. It doesn’t like me much sometimes.” He escorted her into the kitchen. “Sorry about the mess. It’s a work in progress.”
It was that. Not even messy, just…under construction. The cabin
ets had been ripped out and the walls refinished to bare, unpainted drywall and electrical fixtures, but that was it. The floor, old linoleum that had seen better days, was clean.
“We ripped out the plaster and lathe to put in insulation and do the wiring and plumbing. It had knob and tube everywhere. And lots of old newspapers and other stuff jammed in the walls all over the place for their version of insulation. I haven’t decided how to finish the kitchen yet.”
She turned around, looking up.
Nothing.
“I’ll be honest with you, Brad. Right now, I’m not feeling anything.”
He looked a little disappointed. “But you’ll still come back with equipment?”
She gave him a reassuring smile. “Of course. Don’t worry. I’m not giving up on you. I haven’t even seen the rest of the house yet.”
He led her through the downstairs. The different rooms lay in various states of construction and completion. Upstairs, he opened one bedroom door and turned on the light. “This is my room. We finished our two bedrooms and a bathroom. I’m taking my time with the rest. I want it to look right.”
She followed him inside. Neat and tidy, he’d painted the walls a different shade of light blue than coated the outside of the house. The trim work, including crown molding, had been painted white. A deep, walk-in closet occupied one corner.
“Surprisingly enough, the large closets were already here. I don’t know if the original builder put them in or they were added later by someone else. I didn’t have to do anything to them except paint and install closet organizers to make them more functional.”
“It’s very nice.”
He looked crestfallen. “Still nothing, huh?”
She placed a hand on his arm to reassure him and felt that feeling again, as if her clit had been lit up like a supernova. His eyes widened as she stared up at him. She needed to feel his cock inside her right then, an overwhelming craving the likes of which she’d never felt before.
She dropped her purse and grabbed his other arm, dragging him over to his bed where she fell back on it, pulling him with her.
She wrapped her legs around his hips. “Please!”
His lips crushed down on hers and—