We all went through the line of chicken pot pie dishes and casseroles and then made our way to the patio. Caleb and I sat and I just looked at everyone. I got smiles and glances. They were happy. They were proud to have me in their family. It was surreal.
I saw Bish coming out the sliding glass door with a plate piled high, along with dad and Peter. I waved to him to come sit with us.
“Maggie!” I heard and saw Maria bounding past him towards us. I stood and received a very enthusiastic hug from her. “Maggie. My goodness, you sure know how to scare people.”
I laughed and so did Caleb.
“Did your mom teach you to say that?” he asked.
“Yep. She’s been worried like a crazy person.”
Then I saw her coming. Bish, Peter and dad had taken a seat around out table and I saw Bish do a subtle double take of Jen as she came to hug me and Caleb.
Who is that creature?
I had to press my lips together at his thought and also give her props for looking pretty great. Her dress was flowy and blue, her hair was down, she looked awesome.
“Maggie,” she crooned. “Oh, it’s so good to see you.”
“You too. Jen, this is my brother, Bish. And my dad, Jim. This is Jen, Caleb’s sister.”
She smiled at dad and shook his hand and then turned to Bish. He stood and they just kind of stared at each other for a few seconds.
“Hi,” she finally said and cleared her throat and sat down beside Caleb without shaking Bish’s hand. “Nice to meet you,” she said softly and was thinking that he had the kindest, most focused eyes she’d ever seen.
I though it was comical that she didn’t even think once how hot he looked or about how muscley he was.
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” he said, not having taken his eyes off her yet.
I looked at Caleb to see if he saw. And oh yeah, he saw. He scowled at his sister and glanced down at his dad. His dad frowned but shrugged at him.
I understood the no dating rule. It had a purpose but my brother didn’t date. Ever. Even in high school, he’d been very focused on his work and withdrawn. He’d even been shy and had no idea the reactions girls had to him. He thought he was a burden to our family though grateful we’d taken him in. He wanted to work hard and earn his keep and get a good job. He’d never been on a date since I’d known him.
The way he was looking at Jen was something I’d never seen on him before. He thought she was sweet looking and pretty. He had to physically keep his eyes from drifting down to her bare shoulders, which he liked, a lot.
I was blushing just listening to his thoughts. She eventually smiled shyly and pulled her hair to one side of her neck, looking over at Caleb.
“So, you’re leaving tonight?”
“Yep. Our flight’s in three hours,” Caleb answered as he leaned back in his chair. “In fact, we need to get going pretty soon and pack.”
His hand found my leg under the table and he squeezed my knee.
“Where are you going?” Bish asked and glanced between me and Caleb. “You’re going somewhere the day after you were kidnapped? Alone with him?” he said and I didn’t have to be a mind reader to see that he disapproved.
“Not alone,” I threw in.
“Bish,” Peter explained. “The ones who took Maggie aren’t in police custody. We want to send them away for a while, for their safety, to make sure that these men don’t try again. Someone will go with them.”
It took about ten minutes of back and forth with Peter and dad to get Bish to settle down about the ‘men’ who took me not being under arrest are still out there after what they did. He was furious. Finally he calmed down enough but kept looking over at me and biting his thumb nail. In his mind he wanted to snatch me and run with me. He thought something fishy was going on. Everybody was a little too calm and collected about it all.
First, no one cared when I almost fainted, now this? He couldn’t figure it out but he didn’t like it. He went to put his arm around me and his hand ran into Caleb’s arm, already around my shoulder. He glared at him. Saved me or not, he was liking Caleb less by the minute.
Then I could hear Peter’s thoughts. He was thinking about Jen, worrying really. He hoped he wouldn’t have a problem with her and Bish but wanted her to be happy at the same time which was conflicted.
I could also hear Rachel somewhere upset because she had broken a glass in the kitchen and Maria was looking at a butterfly and dad was worrying about me leaving and Jen was back to thinking about Bish, how sweet he was to be so worried about me.
Then an uncle was wanting seconds but his wife was reminding him of his cholesterol. A cousin was shooing an annoying fly and flitting thoughts of dinner through her mind. Another uncle was looking at Caleb and hoping his son would be just as lucky.
Caleb was worried about me, feeling the wave of overwhelm coming, but couldn’t fully stop the onslaught in my head even when he touched my hand with his. It lessened but the voices all around me seemed to compile and compress in my head in an annoying haze of fog and thickness that was almost painful in it’s uncomfortable-ness.
I covered my face with my hands and took a deep breath as Caleb rubbed my back.
“You ok?” Bish asked. “You feel faint again?”
“No,” I muttered.
“No, you’re not ok, or no you don’t feel faint?
“Either one.”
“Maggie,” Peter called from across the table. I peeked up at him. “Calm down, ok? Don’t let it upset you. It’s worse when you’re upset. Just block it all out. It’ll get easier, I promise.”
“What? What’s going on?” Bish said angrily.
“Stop being so paranoid, Bish,” I muttered tersely. I felt someone raking their hand through my hair and looked up to Caleb. I blew a breath and tried to clear my head. It was hazy and full but when I stopped and breathed through it, it helped. Caleb’s fingers grazed my cheek and the rim of my ear, pulling the too-tight feeling from me with his touch. “Thanks.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered to me. “I know it sucks.”
“It’s ok,” I whispered back and smiled at him. “I’ll be fine.”
“Alright, kids, you need to get going. Gotta pack and all before you go,” dad said, thinking he could divert Bish. “We’ve got to get to the cell phone store too, Maggie so let’s go.”
“Ok,” I answered and turned back to Caleb.
“We’ll come pick you up in an hour,” he stated. “That’ll give us plenty of time to get to the airport. Just bring one bag and we’ll buy anything else we need when we’re there, ok? I have no idea how long we’ll be in California.”
“I don’t need you to buy-”
“Maggie,” he scolded. “It’s fine, let me do this. I’m not worried about the money, I’m worried about you.”
He kissed me softly and I ignored the grunt behind us. Then he stood and pulled me up from my seat.
“You guys get going and we’ll pick you in an hour or so. Jim, you’re coming with us to the airport right?”
Dad nodded.
“Ok, let’s go,” dad said and stood, along with Bish.
Our movement was noticed and everyone wanted to say goodbye. Maria ran to Caleb and me, hugging us both.
“Who are you?” she asked Bish sweetly.
“This is my brother, Bish. Bish, this is Maria, Jen’s daughter.”
“She has a daughter,” he asked softly and looked at Maria in awe as she took his hand and shook it. He laughed and smiled. “Nice to meet you, Maria.”
“Thanks,” Maria said and skipped off.
Jen was behind us and laughed, rolling her eyes.
“She’s something else,” she said and hugged me. “Maria will miss you for sure. I’m glad you’re alright. Be careful, ok?” She pulled back to look at me sternly and I read in her mind what she meant. “Careful,” she reiterated.
“I understand,” I said and gave her a wry smile that said what my mouth couldn’t in front of eve
ryone else- no sex. “We’ll be careful.”
“I’ve gotta go too,” she turned to Caleb “so I won’t see you before you go. You be careful too.” She grabbed Caleb in a big hug around his neck and whispered in his ear but I could hear in her mind. “I’m glad you finally got everything right again. I’ve been so worried about you two.”
He looked sadly at her, knowing she would never have this.
“Thanks, Jen. Keep mom from going nuts, huh?”
“Yep. Love ya.”
“Love ya.”
She turned to Bish.
“Maybe we’ll see you around again.”
Translation in her mind-
I really wish things were different.
She glanced at me knowing I’d heard her thoughts and smiled a little bashfully.
“Maybe, I’m supposed to head back to New York, so...” Translation in his mind-
Wow. I wish I could stay here and figure out what’s going on around here. Especially with this one.
His eyes were locked on hers and I knew I needed to help him, by removing him. He finally gets all gooey eyed over a girl and it’s the one he can’t have.
“Come on, Bish. We gotta go,” I hurried and felt like a peeping tom for eavesdropping on our families all night.
“Ok. Nice to meet you, Jen,” he said as we turned, him shoving his hands in his pockets.
“You too, Bish,” she gave a little wave.
I pulled his arm and we said goodbye to everyone else. When Gran came I swore I saw a smile on Bish’s face.
“Bish, you come and see me anytime. You’re family now,” she crooned and hugged him.
He raised an eyebrow at me over her shoulder.
“Family?”
“Course!” She pulled back and hugged me next. “Bye, pretty girl. Keep my boy out of trouble, hear?”
“Yes, ma’am. Bye.”
“Don’t you worry about your father now. You two get everything settled with you, I’ve got my eye on Jim.”
“Thank you,” I said and meant it. We made our way out to Bish’s car and he climbed in none to gently, slamming his door. I looked up at Caleb. “This ride will be fun. I’ve never seen him so paranoid before.”
“He’s just worried about you.”
“I know but we can’t afford for him to worried can we? I’m not so sure he’d accept the idea of my being an Ace like my dad did, even if we could tell him.”
He smiled and pulled me to him.
“Everything will be fine. We’ll wind up telling him or we won’t. He’s going back to New York anyway. Being away from it all will help, I’m sure.”
“You’re probably right. So you don’t know who’s coming with us?”
“Not yet. All the older ones they want here, my dad, my uncles, because of their abilities. They either need to use it or want them here in case dad finds something and they have to attack the Watson’s.”
“Attack,” I whispered under my breath.
“One more good reason we won’t be here. Don’t worry about it.” He pulled my face up. “You gonna be ok with Bish and all?”
I nodded just as dad came across the lawn.
“Let’s get going, baby girl,” he said and climbed in the back of Bish’s car.
“Your dad will be a good buffer,” Caleb said and smiled. “See you in a bit. Are you excited? I mean, I know it’s not good circumstances but... I’m pretty happy to be going away with you.”
I smiled too thinking about it.
“Me too. I’ve never even been out of Tennessee.”
“What? How’s that possible?” he mused.
“It’s possible. We never took vacations. I’ve never ridden a plane either.”
“Well, you’ll like it. It’ll be late, so we’ll sleep most of the way, anyway. I promise we’ll have a good time in California.”
I nodded and went up on my tip toes to kiss him. We hadn’t been kissing two point two seconds when Bish honked the horn. He actually honked.
I glared at him but Caleb laughed.
“He’s not liking me too much I don’t think.”
“That’s not funny. He’s being so rude. I’ve never seen him like this.”
“You’re his sister. It’s ok, he just needs time to figure me out. He’ll get it while were gone. Get going, I’ll see you in an hour.”
“Ok.”
“Oh and don’t worry about the cell phone, I got it covered.”
“Caleb-” I protested in my most whiny voice.
“See you later, gorgeous,” he said grinning as he walked backwards away from me.
As he turned away I stopped in a revelation. I realized that I never felt the stuck feeling of needing to be released from him just now, even a little. It was the first time we’d both walked away of our own free will.
Bish honked again. I rolled my eyes as I got in.
“Rude much,” I spouted and glared daggers at him.
“You’re going to see each other in like five minutes. I thought we were in a hurry to get home?”
“He was explaining the details to me about our flight. What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with me?” he said incredulously and turned onto the street.
“Now, Bish-” dad tried but to no good.
“Gee, I don’t know,” Bish kept going in his deep voice but the sarcasm was making him boom even more. “You almost faint on the porch in front of everyone and no one seems to care. You are so incredibly serious about this boy and everyone acts like you’re about to get hitched or something, even dad, and it’s weird. You’re acting funny, like you’re sick or something, but once again, everyone acts like it’s just normal and nothing’s wrong.”
“Bish. You’ve been gone a while. Things aren’t the same as when you left,” I tried to explain.
“That is very clear but that doesn’t explain anything. Something weird is going on here.” Then he jerked the wheel, righted himself and turned to look at me with wide eyes. “Oh no, are you pregnant?”
“No! I’m not pregnant,” I grumbled and wondered why everyone thinks that.
He sighed long and heavy, just like dad had done and it irked me as much as it had when dad did it.
“Well, that’s good but something is going on.”
“When do you leave?”
“Not sure, I told you. I don’t know what I’m doing. I was hoping I’d get to spend some time with you, but you’re running away with your boyfriend.”
I stayed silent. There was no point. He was thinking about punching Caleb’s jaw when he came to pick me up. I wanted to punch Bish’s jaw right then.
We pulled into the driveway and we got out. Dad went inside and I pulled Bish to a stop by his arm.
“Wait. Look.” I tucked my hair behind my ear, trying to look vulnerable and small. “Everyone thought you’d be just like this. I love Caleb, he’s different and his family is different. They are really close and everyone...likes me. Dad has come to terms with Caleb and me, you’re going to have to too.”
“Mags.” I felt him soften in his mind and his face visibly softened too. He placed his hands on the tops of my arms. “I’m sorry, ok? I came home expecting one thing and find something completely different. You’re so...different. You look different, talk different, act different. You’re different with Caleb too. I never remember you being like that with Chad.” I mentally rolled my eyes. I wish everyone would stop being so perceptive. “I’m just worried about you. It seems no one else is.”
“Believe me. I have enough people worrying about me. I want my brother back. I missed you.” I hugged him and heard his thoughts cave. He didn’t want to fight with me either. “I want you to come back and see me soon. Ok? I have no idea how long I’ll be gone but,” I shrugged. “don’t stay gone for so long.”
“Ok. I’ll try. Mags, I want to like Caleb, I do-”
“Well, you better get started because he’s it for me.”
“What? You’re so young, you can’t know t
hat. I bet you thought Chad was it for you too. Now Caleb, he may not feel the same way.”
“I know it. Please. You don’t have to like him, though if you’d give him a chance you would, but you do have to be civil. He’s here to stay.”
“Ok. I’ll try,” he repeated. “I love ya, kid.”
“I love you, too.”
“Alright, go pack.”
We walked inside and I heard his question before he asked it and I still didn’t know what to say.
“So, Caleb’s sister, Jen, seems nice. She married?”
“No.”
“Divorced.”
“Caleb’s family doesn’t get divorced.”
“What does that mean?”
“They don’t believe in it. No one has ever gotten divorced in his family.”
“Wow. That’s pretty amazing but isn’t that one more reason to be wary. What if things don’t work out with you and Caleb? You’d be the first ones to fail in the family.”
“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“No pressure, huh?” He elbowed me playfully.
I chuckled with him because it was better than anything I could think of.
“So, Jen’s not married and not divorced but she had a kid,” he mused.
“Date rape,” I blurted and he looked at me sharply. “She doesn’t date, Bish.”
“Wow. Ok. Well, I’m gonna go, uh...catch up with dad while you get packed.”
He walked away and I regretted laying it out there like that but I had to nip it in the bud. I felt terrible, flashing back to his memories of a horrible life before he met us but, I stopped them and took a deep breath.
It was for the best to stop it now. He wouldn’t see her that much, for a while anyway.