Chapter Six
The rain poured down when he left, after two days of just us. Precious time becomes more precious when you are parted from the love of your life. I wished I could tell him how I felt.
I watched as Ben walked to the waiting black car. And I watched as the black car travelled down the long road, becoming smaller and smaller until it was but a speck on the horizon, and then disappeared out of sight. My lavender rose heart wilted with Ben gone—its sun, its source of life.
I turned and walked back to Gran’s house then, closing the front door behind me with a faint click. I stopped at the brass door knob on the right; the drawing room—the room with the secret.
A vacuum of air sucked through the keyhole and cooled my skin where it dared to overlap with the personal space of the shaft.
Open the door! I thought I heard it whispered in my mind—the battle of my will. Somehow the whisper floated in the air and whirled around me before it sent a shiver down my spine.
I dropped my hand from the door knob. I couldn’t confront the secret yet.
I grabbed my car keys, closed the front door and left Gran’s house. Being alone with the secret had become unbearable again now that Ben had gone.
I returned at dusk after the rain had stopped. It had left the smell of freshly cut grass, flowers and earth.
And he sat there.
Nic.
His legs were parted slightly and he rested his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped together in front of his lips.
‘Nic,’ I said, and frowned at him. Why he was here? I hadn’t killed any plants … yet.
‘Cate,’ he responded, and moved his hands away from his lips. ‘Unfinished business…’ he said, answering my unasked question and searching my eyes with his, the dark blue colour dancing in the early nightglow. There was no doubt he was gorgeous.
My orange rose heart of fascination appeared, but changed to a gardenia of secret admiration. My life force was infused with a hint of fruit, honey, coconut and sweet balsam. I tried to change it to a daisy of innocence. I took a deep breath. ‘Being?’ I questioned.
‘Tell me what is in the room that unsettles you so much,’ he said as he brought his hands back to his beautifully shaped mouth and ran a finger back and forth over his bottom lip.
I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to go into details with him. And ... he shouldn’t be here.
‘You know I felt it when I entered the house, Cate … tell me what it is … I’m here to help you.’
I looked at him then. ‘What do you feel? Describe it to me.’
He ran his hand through his dark hair and rubbed the back of his neck before he closed his eyes—an incredible sense of peace radiated from him.
He opened his eyes and looked into mine with a depth of being. ‘I feel … I feel … a low vibration, like an energy humming from the room. I feel … a vacuum of air drawing me to the room, calling me, daring me to enter. I feel … that you need to go in there to bring peace over the house,’ he said with words chosen with precision.
I reached out and touched Nic’s arm, feeling his warmth beneath my fingers. A tear rolled down my cheek and dripped onto the step in front of me.
He placed his hand over mine and looked into my eyes. ‘I’m here to help you.’
I wiped away my tear trail with a quick hand and nodded my head at him, then sat beside him in silence on the step. I looked out towards the sky that had just kissed the sun goodnight, painting the celestial sphere with a dusky purple, tinged grey sky glow.
Who was this man who had been sent to me?
I rested my head on the side of his shoulder. I felt entirely comfortable in his presence, like I had known him for a lifetime, kindred spirits. We sat together in silence whilst the darkness took over, revealing its treasure trove of glittering stars.
Nic reached for my hand then and held it with a controlled tenderness that filled me with courage. He stood up and looked down at me, encouraging me onto my feet.
I stood and looked into his eyes for a moment, pulling on his strength of being before I walked to the front door and unlocked it. I turned and faced Nic before I slowly pushed the door open. Nic moved past me with an assertive step and waited in the hallway, halfway to the drawing room door.
I closed the front door and stood before him in an uncomfortable silence.
He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear and looked into my eyes. ‘Ready?’ he asked, his voice low and patient.
I stretched my hands, then fisted them by my side before I took a deep breath, trying to quell the abundant nerves in my stomach that started to make me feel nauseous. ‘No,’ I whispered.
Nic looked to the wall and then back to me. His lips were held in a hard line. ‘Yes, is what you need to say … yes,’ he whispered as he put his warm hands on either side of my face looking beyond my eyes and into my soul, touching it with his.
‘Yes,’ I whispered back to him.
‘Good,’ he replied, then kissed my forehead, his soft lips sending a warmth throughout me. I concentrated my mind on a daisy flower of innocence, trying to suffocate the orange rose heart that was there.
Ben was my lavender rose heart—love at first sight. Two roses couldn’t live inside my heart, could they?
Nic took my hand in his and led me to the drawing room door. He paused and looked at me before he lifted his hand to the brass door knob, then nodded once as if asking for permission to open it.
I frowned and shook my head in desperation. ‘No, Nic!’ I said more forcefully than I intended, then whispered, ‘not now. Not when it’s dark, not now—’ I held in my need to burst into uncontrollable tears.
He dropped his hand from the door knob and wrapped his arms around me, holding me in a tight hug that I craved. ‘Tomorrow, then,’ he whispered into my ear, his voice soothing my being.
‘Tomorrow,’ I breathed back to him, bathing in the protection he offered me.