Love Everlastin' Book 3 (12 page)

Gracefully, like the petals
of a flower unfurling to the rays of the sun, the stranger lowered
herself to a sitting position, partially facing him. She, too, sat
cross-legged, her delicate hands resting atop her knees. He'd never
met a woman whose hair nearly touched the floor, or whose eyes were
a brighter blue than the bluest sky. The silken strands framed a
heart-shaped face that bore an innocence he'd never before
encountered, not even in a child. He couldn't think of an adjective
that fittingly described her. Lovely fell short. Beautiful seemed
somehow harsh. His thoughts raced through a list until a word
glared across his mindscreen.

Enchanting.

Yes, she was
enchanting.

"Hello."

He thought he glimpsed a
ghost of a smile in her eyes, but he wasn't sure. Perhaps he was
merely being hopeful.

Sighing, he snuggled deeper
into the quilt. "Thank you."

Could she hear what he was
saying? He decided to cast a bit of bait to test her
reaction.

"Ou' there...in the snow...I
was forced to battle a monster. It insulted ma mother and, being a
mon o' principle, I was left no choice but to defend her
honor."

Nothing. She didn't smile or
blink. Just stared at him.

"Do you have a
name?"

Nothing.

"How abou' if I call you
Tinkerbell? Helen O’ Troy? Lassie? Tweety Bird?"

Deliah.

The name didn't come from
her thoughts, but it came to him nonetheless.

"Deliah? Is tha’ your
name?"

She remained silent and
still, content to watch him.

"Deliah," he repeated and
smiled. "It suits you."

He stiffened when she
unexpectedly took one corner of the quilt and dabbed at the wetness
on his brow. When she settled back, she questioningly arched an
eyebrow at him.

"Why am I nervous?" he
asked, pretending to know her thoughts. "Well-ah, I'm no'. No'
really. All right, I am. You have me as timid as a schoolboy
plundering through puberty. Why is tha', Deliah?"

Silence stretched between
them for what seemed a long time. Winston was aware of his own
shallow breathing. He felt oddly at peace, as if he were in the
comforting embrace of sleep. A deep sleep without nightmares, only
nurturing escape from the cruel reality of his existence. He
wondered what it would be like to hold her dry form in his arms and
run his chin across her hair.

His eyelids grew heavy and
he sighed contentedly.

He thought about the garden
in the other dimension, and the woman who claimed to be the house.
A sleepy smile formed on his lips, and he felt himself floating
away from the fire in the hearth, floating through the air and
coming to rest upon the decadent softness of the mattress. He
imagined himself snuggling up to a warm and shapely form, spooning
himself against softness graced with subtle scents of flower
gardens.

Winston drifted deeper and
deeper into healing sleep, unaware that Deliah had led him to the
bed and now lay on her side in front of him, his damp arms wrapped
possessively about her.

She stared off into space
with a look of pure contentment on her face, her eyes mirroring a
spring garden which then only existed in her mind.

Moments slipped by.
Diaphanous flowers and birds and butterflies materialized. A floral
scented breeze, warmed by a psychically-projected springtime sun,
passed throughout the room, causing the heavy drapes to gently
flutter and sway.

When at last she closed her
eyes, the room had been completely transformed into a sanctuary of
peace and beauty and security. No one could intrude. Nothing could
disturb them until he was ready to awaken.

Unknowingly, Winston slept
wrapped around his one salvation.

* * *

Kevin gave another fierce
tug of the navy blue sweater and finally pulled it free of Kahl's
grip. He scowled at his five-year-old brother, daring the redheaded
Kahl to defy his wishes again. While his two older brothers
silently challenged each other's role as leader of this latest
"plan", Alby was content to lean against the doorjamb and
observe.

This was the fifth meeting
amongst the brothers, concerning the plan. As before, they were in
Kevin’s room, sitting in front of the open closet, their collected
devices hidden within the shadows. Kahl had originally thought up
the plan, which concerned what he considered to be the lack of
security measures. He'd impressed his older brother with the term
and his idea of how to better their odds of defeating the chances
of another boogeyman man from ever getting into the house again.
However, being the oldest and confident that he alone was
adult-wise enough to organize the scheme, Kevin was quick to take
over.

Alby was used to the power
play between his brothers. Aunt Laura had once called him her
little passivist. Whatever that meant. Probably that he was the
quieter of the three, he reasoned. Let his brothers slug and shout
at each other. Alby wasn't partial to being sent to his room for a
nap. Aunt Laura's term of time-out was not his favorite.

Besides, Alby had more
important things weighing on his mind, like...why wouldn't his toys
play with him anymore? The only reason he was even participating in
the plan was because Kevin had threatened to pour honey in his hair
while he slept. That was right up there with time-out, time for
bed, and what are you hiding?. Words worthy of his attention. What
are you hiding? told him he looked guilty about something, which
always resulted in time-out even if he hadn't done anything to
deserve it.

"We gotta have at least two
more," Kevin stated, smugly patting the sweater balled atop his
lap. "Then we should have enough."

Kahl's stormy hazel-eyed
glare remained riveted on Kevin’s face. He was always peeved about
being the middle boy. Never quite as adult as Kevin, nor as
adorable as Alby. "Then you get 'em. I about got caught snatching
that one."

With a shrug of
indifference, Kevin said, "Okay. I can get two at one
time."

"Fine, then you do just
that. I'm bloody tired of sneaking around, anyway."

"Fine. I will." Kevin
glanced at Alby. He was about to suggest Alby take his turn at
nabbing at least one of the adult sweaters, but thought better of
it. Alby was so short, it would take him forever to yank one off a
hanger. Instead, he issued to the youngest sibling, "You can stand
watch."

Alby's dark eyebrows jutted
upward. "Huh?"

"You gotta do your share,"
Kahl said.

"Huh?"

"One more huh and I'm going
to thump you," Kevin threatened, then sighed when Alby's lower lip
stuck out in a pout. "Okay, so I won't thump you. You don't want us
to get caught, do you?"

Alby had to think about this
for a moment. "Naw."

Kevin grinned triumphantly.
"Okay, so let's unravel this sucker."

"Kev?"

Kevin’s gaze searched Alby's
thoughtful expression.

"What if we do get caught?
Aunt Laura's gonna be awful mad at us."

Kevin and Kahl exchanged a
conspiratorial look before Kevin grinned assuredly at Alby. "Think
how happy she's gonna be when we trap us another boogeyman. Alby,
you don't want him getting into the house, do you?"

It wasn't so much that
Kevin’s questions frightened Alby, but rather the eerie tone in
which his brother had spoken. Alby gulped then lightly bit into his
lower lip as he shook his head.

The last boogeyman had
turned out to be a boogeywoman, and she had taken Beth and Lachlan
away from them. At least, that's how he perceived the events of
last Christmas Eve.

"Oh, lawd," Kahl groaned,
casting Alby a look of disgust. "He's gonna start bawling
again."

"Not," Alby
sniffed.

"What's wrong now?" Kevin
asked him.

"Dunno."

"You gotta know what's got
you sulking like a squished worm!"

Kahl giggled, but Alby only
became more despondent. "I miss Lannie and Beth."

Kahl immediately grew
solemn, but Kevin gave an exasperated roll of his blue eyes. "There
ain’t nothing we can do about that, right?"

His brother nodded in unison
with him. "Okay, so don't let it bug you. Hey!" Kevin’s eyes lit up
with devilish amusement.

"How about if I share a
secret with you guys? Promise not to tell?"

"Promise," Kahl said
quickly, and crossed his heart.

It took Alby a moment longer
to nod his agreement.

"Okay." Kevin bent over his
folded legs, leaning closer to his brothers. "I saw the naked lady
sneak into Winnie's room. I think they're doing the
bump."

Kahl's eyes grew larger,
while Alby muttered, "His name is Winston. He's nice."

"Winnie, Winston, close
enough," Kevin said impatiently. "He's a fast worker, huh? She must
like him a lot."

"Deliah."

"Huh?" Kevin
asked.

"Her name is Deliah." Alby
released a watery sigh and straightened away from the door jamb.
"Maybe she's not doing the bump. Maybe they're just talking. Ever
think of that?"

Kahl jiggled his head. "How
come you know her name? Aunt Aggie told me she hasn't
talked."

"Yeah," said Kevin, frowning
at Alby, who shrugged his small shoulders.

"I just know."

"Right, and I'm gonna be the
next queen," Kahl sneered.

Alby stuck out his tongue at
his brothers. "Betcha her name is Deliah."

"Whatever," Kevin testily
dismissed, and lifted the sweater into his hands. He bit onto the
wool strands along the hemline and yanked until one at last broke.
But when he lowered the bundle back onto his lap, he spat something
into his hand and held out the leveled palm for his brothers to
see.

"Oh gross!" Kahl gasped,
staring at the bloodied tooth. "That's makes two, Kev!"

Awed that his brother had
inadvertently yanked out another tooth, Alby leaned forward for a
closer inspection. "Wow. Don't it hurt?"

Kevin worked his mouth
against the metallic flavor assaulting his taste buds. "Naw, it
doesn't hurt. Just tastes gross."

"Use scissors or a knife
next time," Kahl said.

"Why? This means I get
another visit from the Tooth Fairy," Kevin beamed.

Alby shrank back, his
cherubic features shadowed with fear. "What if the boogeyman comes
instead?"

"He can have it if he pays
for it," Kevin quipped, and laughed when Kahl released a squeal of
laughter.

Alby remained sullenly quiet
while his brothers unraveled the sweater Laura had gotten Roan for
Christmas.

* * *

In the library, Roan settled
onto the sofa with a cup of steaming black coffee in one hand, a
stack of mail in the other. After taking a sip, he placed the
coffee on the end table to his right, rested his right ankle atop
his left knee, and started glancing through the letters, bills and
advertisements. He was nearly through scanning the ads when Laura
sat next to him, a coffee cup nestled between her hands.

"Anything
interesting?"

"No' yet," he grinned, and
paused just long enough to plant a kiss on her cheek. "Poor ol'
Henry had a helluva time makin’ it to the door. I've got to try to
clear a path sometime today."

"It's snowing again," she
sighed.

He moaned softly. "We'll all
get bloody crazy if we don't get away for a wee spell." He looked
into her smiling eyes and grinned. "I've a mind to go shoppin’,
lass."

Laura clamped her left hand
over her heart. "You? Roan Ingliss of a mind to spend money? You
must be getting stir crazy!"

Bobbing his head and
grinning, his gaze scanning the fronts of the envelopes again, he
said, "Aye, the walls are closin’ in on me. I'll wager there's no'
a person in all o' Crossmichael who isn't ready to kiss off this
winter. Can't say I remember one quite so harsh. We never see this
much snow in these parts."

Laura sipped her coffee, but
lowered the cup when Roan held up a long white envelope and said,
"Ah, it’s from yer parents."

He handed her the envelope,
then took her cup and placed it next to his on the table. For a
moment he observed her hesitancy to open the letter then absently
browsed through the remaining stack atop his lap. It had been
nearly three weeks since the mailman had braved a delivery to Baird
House.

At the same time Laura dryly
announced, "Terrific, they want to meet you," Roan came across an
envelope which drained the color from his face. He held it up,
studying the return address as if expecting it to prove to be a
hoax. Not even Laura's moan distracted him.

"Dammit, Roan, they're
planning to arrive next month for a week's visit. Nothing like
asking us if we want them here! Oh sure, now they're interested in
seeing their grandchildren. And my father's not happy that we're
not married yet."