The linguist took a long sip of the sweet liquid, letting it slide down her throat and warm her guts. Then two long arms wrapped around her, heating her from within in ways the cider never could. Soft, warm lips landed on her throat and kissed her tenderly before nudging Liv’s chin upward for better access. Her skin was slightly salty and cold from ocean spray.
Liv reached up and threaded her hand through thick, dark hair. "Mmm… That’s nice. But you’d better hurry up, my girlfriend was due here an hour ago." The lips stilled for a long, charged second, then dipped playfully, biting Liv’s throat. She squealed and laughed, but didn’t try to dislodge her phantom attacker.
"Your girlfriend is a very lucky woman." Kayla plopped down alongside Liv so that they were facing each other. "Are you sure I can’t convince you to forget about her?"
Liv looked into eyes that shone silver in the moonlight. "What girlfriend?" she mumbled dreamily.
Kayla snorted. "I’ll have to remember that." She leaned forward and brushed her lips against Liv’s, tasting the spicy tang of the cider. "Mmm. That makes me even more hungry," she growled, moving to deepen the kiss. A hand on her chest stopped her.
"Hold your horses."
Kayla froze immediately and Liv grinned, letting her know this was no rejection. "I’m glad you’re hungry," Liv said. "Because I’ve got tons of food up in our room that is getting cold." She reached up and tugged on a strand of Kayla’s gently blowing hair. "I was starting to worry."
"Sorry about that. I had an unexpected visitor about an hour after you left."
Liv’s eyebrows disappeared behind wind-blown bangs. "A ghost?"
"Hardly," Kayla scoffed. "Glen."
"Oh." Liv made a face and Kayla chuckled. "I know she’s your friend and all, Kayla. And I’ll be nice to her out of respect for that. But I gotta tell you, she didn’t impress me too much yesterday."
Kayla let out a long, slow breath. "She didn’t impress me too much either. We went to a pub tonight and I got a few questions answered about this case."
"Ahhh…" Liv nodded knowingly and traced the edge of Kayla’s wire-rimmed glasses. "You had to read."
"Oh." Kayla quickly pulled them off and clasped them in her hand. "I forgot I was still wearing them." She only needed the glasses when her eyes were strained or she was very tired. "I swear," Kayla said, her Southern accent drawing out the word, "Glen is using smaller print just so I’ll have to drag these out and—"
"You look beautiful in them." Liv gazed at her fondly.
Kayla swallowed and her cheeks burned. "I-I do?"
"Uh huh." She nodded without hesitation. "You sure do."
Liv’s youthful, easy smile made Kayla fall in love with her all over again. "C’mon." She pushed herself to her feet and extended a hand to her lover. "Let’s have dinner and I’ll tell you what I found out. I think I’m going to need your help."
Liv gathered up the blanket and thermos and let Kayla tug her to her feet.
Kayla wrapped her arm around Liv’s shoulder as they walked. "Where’d you get this?" She used blunt nails to loudly scratch the thick material beneath her fingertips. "It looks nice."
Over Liv’s sweater she wore a dark-navy jacket that fell to mid-thigh. The lining was a tartan print wool and the shell was an oiled, heavy canvas that was waterproof. "Do you know how many shops I passed on the way from Old Town to Portobello?"
"Hmm. Many." They continued to march through the packed sand. "I like it."
"Good." Liv gave Kayla self-satisfied smirk. "You have a black one waiting for you in our room."
Bemused, Kayla shook her head. "Nobody has dressed me since I was a child, Liv."
The fair-haired woman stopped and turned so that she was facing Kayla dead on. She wrapped her arms loosely around Kayla’s waist and spoke in a low, sure voice that wound its way around her partner’s heart. "Maybe nobody has loved you as much as I do." Liv pulled her close and hugged her tightly, burying her face in the crook of Kayla’s neck.
Kayla tilted her head back and caught a quick glimpse of the stars before she squeezed shut her eyes. "I love you, Liv," she offered so softly the words were nearly swept away in the breeze.
But Liv didn’t really need to hear them to know exactly what had been said. She gently kissed Kayla’s throat and removed the remnants of a tiny, hot tear that had made its way down from the cheek above it. Waves of emotion were pouring off Kayla and Liv simply held on for the ride. "I love you too."
She allowed Kayla a moment to pull herself together before she backed away slightly and took her hand. "C’mon, let’s go eat. We’ve got mysteries to solve tomorrow."
Kayla twined their fingers together and they resumed their walk.
Yeah, we sure do.
K
AYLA AND LIV HAD managed to get up in time to enjoy breakfast. Sort of. The night before, Kayla had made arrangements to have a tray set outside their room at 7am sharp, begrudgingly conceding to Mrs. Thicke that they would probably be eating cold food by the time they got to it. But to Kayla’s surprise, she had awoken early and refreshed and hungry. So here they were, sitting in bed together, drinking sweet tea and eating buttered toast, hair disheveled, sheets pooled around the waists of buck-naked bodies, with papers scattered all around them.
"Is there any more milk?" Liv mumbled around a big bite. She wiped the crumbs from the corners of her mouth with index finger and thumb and then reached for the small pitcher that Kayla was absently passing her. "Thanks."
"Hmm?" Kayla didn’t look up from what she was reading.
A mischievous smile curled Liv’s lips. "I said I’m sleeping with Mrs. Thicke. I hope you don’t mind."
"That’s nice." Kayla patted Liv’s thigh and left her hand there.
"I thought so," the blonde woman agreed cheerfully, taking another sip of tea. "Kayla?"
Nothing.
Liv poked at the hand on her leg. "Earth to Kayla."
"Mmm?"
Liv quirked an eyebrow. "Mrs. Thicke and I roll each other in butter then sugar and cinnamon, then lick it off. Everyday."
Still no reaction.
"On the beach in front of the entire world," she continued blithely. Liv fluffed the pillows behind her back with one hand. "She’s a wild woman with amazing stamina. You’d never know that she was a hundred and eleven."
Kayla nodded again. "That’s ni—WHAT?" Her head snapped up and she tore her glasses from her face. "Mrs. Thicke?"
The combination of shock, bewilderment and disgust painted so clearly on Kayla’s face was priceless, and Liv burst out laughing.
"Eww!"
"Well, hello." Liv grinned impishly. "Nice to have you back."
"Bu—bu—you—but—" Kayla scrubbed her face with her hands, purposely ignoring Liv’s saucy wink.
"Heh." Liv was exceedingly pleased with herself. "Now that I’ve got your attention, care to share what’s so interesting in those files? I don’t have the mind-reading thing down pat yet, you know."
"Sorry," she grumbled a little sheepishly.
Liv kissed her cheek softly. "S’okay, honey. You just tend to get a little… um…" she quickly searched her mind for a diplomatic way to say anal retentive, "you get so
focused
on one thing that you tune everything else out." She settled herself back against her pillows again. "So what’s up?"
I do not do that.
"Sugar and cinnamon, huh?" Kayla grinned. "Can we—?"
Liv arched an eyebrow and rattled the file in Kayla’s hand. "You’re doing it again."
"Oh." The brunette made a face. "Okay. Fine. It seems that Mr. Keith’s maid, Mrs. Jane MacPherson, has worked for him since the late 1950s. Her husband also worked for Mr. Keith until 1987, when the husband died of a heart attack. They found his body a few paces from his bedroom in the middle of the night. Jane stated that he had gotten up to investigate a strange noise."
Liv’s eyes widened.
Kayla curled her fingers around Liv’s and squeezed gently. "He died before he could explain what happened." She gave her lover a sympathetic look. "He probably just had a nightmare, Liv. There’s nothing to show any connection between that and what’s going on now."
Liv nodded, not entirely convinced.
Next time we go back we’re staying—
"—together," came the reassuring answer to her unspoken statement.
Liv let out a relieved breath. They locked eyes and each gave a quick nod of acknowledgement. It was a promise.
Kayla glanced back at the file. "A few months before his death, the MacPhersons adopted a seven-old-girl they named Mary."
Liv retrieved her plate from the nightstand and slathered some marmalade on her third piece of toast. "That would have made them sort of old parents," she commented conversationally, trying
not
to think of anything frightening enough that it could induce a heart attack.
"Right. In their early fifties."
Liv was a little surprised. "I had assumed Mr. Keith was talking about a child when he mentioned the daughter who lived with his maid at Keith House."
"Me too." Kayla leaned forward and stole of bit of Liv’s toast, her white teeth neatly severing a large piece.
"Hey! You’ve got your own." Liv slapped Kayla’s bare shoulder.
"But yours tastes so good," Kayla said innocently.
Liv snorted at the double entendre but chose not to comment, knowing if she replied they wouldn’t be getting any work done for quite some time.
"The daughter still lives with her mom today. Don’t you think it’s strange that someone would still be living at home at that age?" Kayla poured more tea then took a deep drink. "Ouch! Shit. Mrs. Thicke was wrong." She peered into her mug, giving it an evil look. "That’s still hot as hell."
Liv winced and wordlessly poured a little milk into Kayla’s cup to cool the liquid. "I don’t think that’s so weird. A lot of people are still living at home in their early twenties. That’s only a few years older than Dougie and your sister Marcy," she said wistfully, her thoughts turning to the parents that she’d lost when she was only nineteen. A day didn’t go by that she didn’t wish they’d had more time to get to know each other as adults. She sighed.
"Maybe," Kayla allowed, wondering at the sad look she saw reflected in her friend’s deep green eyes. She herself had moved out of the house at seventeen, and, even though she truly loved her parents, couldn’t imagine living under their roof any longer than was necessary.
Liv pushed away thoughts of the past and tried to focus on the here and now. "Does the daughter’s story match her mom’s?"
Kayla shrugged one shoulder. "Pretty much. They both heard Mr. Keith scream. Mrs. MacPherson saw the blood first, and Mary confirmed its existence, though her mother refused to let her into the room at first. Mrs. MacPherson also recalls numerous other unusual happenings in the house that she claimed," Kayla held the file a little farther away as she read the quote without her glasses, "‘chilled my old skin colder than the bottom of a well digger’s—’"
"I’m familiar with the phrase," Liv interrupted wryly. "Do we need to talk with either one of them or will ‘jail bait’s’ interviews be enough?"
Kayla choked on her tea. "Jail—" She continued to cough and laugh, sitting forward as Liv helpfully slapped her back. "Who are you talking about?"
"You know damn well, who I’m talking about, Ghostbuster." Liv set her cup and plate on the nightstand and flopped down on the bed, flattening her pillows. "She’s twelve years old. You’re lucky you’re not in prison."
And I should be ashamed at how jealous I’m feeling
," Liv admonished herself privately.
Kayla turned amused eyes on her partner. "The woman has an M.B.A and a Ph.D. in psychology."
"Great." Liv rolled her eyes dramatically. "Another Doogie Houser."
Kayla laughed and she set the breakfast tray on the floor. She lay back down on her side facing Liv. "She’s older than you are, Liv."
"Bullshit."
Kayla feigned insult, pushing the fluffy pillow away from her head to she could see Liv better. "It’s true!"
"Uh huh."
"Dammit, Liv, she’s thirty three."
Liv reached around and gave her a sharp pinch on the ass.
"Ouch!" Kayla squirmed away from Liv’s fingers. "I swear," she laughed.
Liv stopped her attack and snuggled into Kayla’s embrace, feeling her lover’s heart racing. She squealed when Kayla shifted onto her back, taking her with her. "No way, Kayla." Liv lifted her head and eyed her lover speculatively. She blinked at the serious look on Kayla’s face. "Really?"
"Mmm… Hmm..."
The low sound rumbled through Liv, drawing an unconscious smile. She let her head drop against Kayla’s shoulder and exhaled contently. "Weird." Liv trailed her fingers along Kayla’s hip, enjoying the feel of silky-soft skin. "When is her birthday?" she finally asked quietly.
Kayla’s warm breath ruffled Liv’s hair. "How the hell should I know?"
"Oooo." Liv chuckled and rewarded Kayla’s reply with a kiss to her collarbone. "Good answer."