Authors: Beth Trissel
So
, what was he to do about fair Julia?
Nothing
, he reminded himself.
He snatched
up the pillow
and
flung it at the wall, narrowly missing
the
framed portrait
of Grandmo
ther
Nora.
Why did he
still
have her
hanging there
, anyway?
Likely
the same reason
wallpaper
patterned
with fat pink
roses plastered the upstairs.
H
e’d made few alterations to the apartment since moving
in
here
two months ago
.
If people di
dn’t already think him queer
, they would after checking
out
the
meadow of
bloss
oms, ‘
froo
froo
’
curtains, and mauve upholstery
sporting
lace doilies
.
Hell,
even
hi
s comforter was pink
.
Hurling
a second pillow
, he
knocked the portrait to the carpet
with a satisfying thud.
H
e
still
had four
plump missiles left
to go and a dozen decorative
cushions on the end of his bed
.
Grandmother
Nora was
pillow mad
.
“William?”
Will sat up, listening
hard.
He really must be going round the bend.
He glanced at the clock
––
midnight.
No one would be asking for him at
t
his hour, unless
––
“William?
A
re you awake?”
It was as much o
f a sob as a question and came
from
just outside his bedroom door.
“Julia?”
“Yes
.
P
lease let me in.
”
“Coming.
” He sprang o
ut of bed and snagged a pair of
gray
sweats
, pulling them on as he stumbled
for th
e door.
He groped for the knob
and swung it open.
Julia stood
trembling
in the hall
illuminated by the
light he’d left on at the landing
.
Her
eyes
were
red and
puffy
,
hair
disheveled
with bits of grass stuck in the tumbled lengths
, feet
bare
and dirty
; s
he must’
ve slipped on the wet lawn a
s she ran to the house. H
er legs and dress
were muddy and grass-stained.
S
he
clasped
sodden tissues
in one hand,
bedraggled lilies
in the
other
.
Pollen from the orange pistols
smeared
her tear-stained face
and her dress.
“Julia, what on earth?”
“Did you give me these
?” she gasped.
“Yes.
I won’t do it again if it upsets you.”
She
flung herself at him
.
“I’m sorry.
I know you have rules
––
I’m probably
breaking one
being here
now
––
but I saw him. I saw Cole.
He gave me
a lily and said to watch out.
H
e’s going to
die all over again if I can’t stop it.”
This time Wi
ll didn’t hold Julia lightly, but
fastened his arms around her.
She trembled all over.
Holding her more tightly, he clutched her to his bare chest.
“
Cole
can’t die twice.
It was a dream
.
That’s all.”
“No.
It was so real, as if I were
with him.
He picked up the pearl button from my glove and kissed my fingers.
”
Will wondered if his damnable cousin had kissed an
ything else.
It was absurd to be jealous of a man dead
for two centuries, but he was. Oh, how he was.
He fought for control over this fiery emotion and reasoned gently.
“D
reams seem real
, Julia
.
And you’re more connected to
the past
than anyone I’ve ever known.”
Unnervingly so, and he had no rational explanation for it.
Trying to think, he pressed hi
s lips to the top of her head.
“
You
have a heightened awareness of people and places
, a sort of sixth sense
. I’m sure that’s all it is.”
She heaved a shuddering br
eath.
“Maybe I’m from the past
somehow
...with Cole.
”
“You’re here right now with me, aren’t yo
u?
I gave you the
lilies, sweetheart
, and I’m telling you not to cry
.”
“Did you just call me sweetheart, Will?”
“Did you just call me Will?
”
“It’s your name, isn’t it?” she asked in a strangled voice.
“A long time ago
, a schoolboy
name.
I’d say we could both do with a
stiff
drink.
But first, a
warm
bath.
You’re a mess.
”
She lifte
d incredulous
eyes.
“You’re going
to bathe me
?”
He wished. “No.
Usher you in that direction.”
Taking her
by the shoulder, he
guided her
down the hall
to the bathroom. Fortunately the maid had
recently
bee
n through
.
“You’ll find eve
rything you need
.
There’s
a washer/dryer in the corner.
Run your clothes through while you
wash
.
Look in the closet for a robe.
My grandmother left eno
ugh to supply a lingerie shop.
I swear she has some kind of
lace
fetish.”
Julia
walked dazedly in among
spotless pin
k porcelain
and tile
.
“You’re not sending me back to my room tonight
?”
He took the fragra
nt bouquet from her. “No. Mine.
I’ll sleep on the couch
.”
“Not right away,
” she
said
with a sniffle
.
“
Not right away.”
Lord have mercy, Will had some har
dcore comforting to do, a
nd nothing more.
He bounded back to his room
, flipped on the bedside lamp,
and laid
the lilies on the only uncluttered surface
available
––
the
top of the
wardrobe
. The maid wasn’t allowed in here and it showed.
Racing
around
, he
stu
ffed
newspapers and magazines
under the
bed. Empty soda and water bottles
quickly filled the burgeoning
trashcan.
He stripped
pillow case
s from the plump projectiles
on the floor
to use as trash bags
and emptied the rubbish
inside them
, then
stuffed the
clinking
bag
s in his closet
.
Grabbing a
T-shirt, he attacked th
e layer of dust on the dresser, chest, and end tables
then tos
sed it
in
beside his impromptu trash bags.
A barrage of grimy
socks and shorts followed and he forced the door shut.
Now for him
self
.
O
range pollen
had spread
over him like fungi
and
he was in a sweat
.
He bolted down the hall past the tempting splash o
f Julia in the tub.
Naked
.
That green-eyed
nymph was naked just beyond the
bathroom
door.
Fortunately, he wasn’t bare just now, or his hardened manhood w
ould be impossible to conceal.
And he burned to
climb in the
tub with her
.
Gritting his teeth, he charged into the compact kitchen and ran the tap. He
soaped
a clean dishcloth and washed h
is face, arms,
chest
, then rinsed
and blotted himself with a floral
tea towel
.
He paused by the cabinet for t
he brandy and two tumblers, and
raced
b
ack to his room.
A
dash
of colog
ne, fresh
University of Virginia T-shirt,
and he sat panting on the bed.
This was more tiring than his daily run
, but he and his surroundings were somewhat presentable now
; he could hardly
entertain a lady in his usual disarray.
I
t was all worth
while
when
Julia appeared in the doorway.
Her freshly blow-dried hair cascaded in a shining
spill and the
white robe
she’d chosen
floated about
her like angel’s wings.
He could still tell she’d been crying, but her face had
lost that blotchy look and she didn’t seem so stunned
.
She
drifted toward him in a fragrant cloud
of lavender
and
sat beside h
im
. “Thank you
, Will.
That was
very
soothing.
I don’t know what I’d do tonight without you.
”
“That’s
all right, Julia.
I’m glad to help.”
She stopped and gazed a
round.
“This room is awfully
pink and frilly.
Don’t y
ou
think you’re
carryi
ng that gay thing a bit
too
far?
”
He grimaced
.
“The décor
is left
over
from
my g
randmother.”
An answering smile lit her eyes
, and he was g
lad to see the humor
. “At least I’m good for a laugh,” he said.
Reaching
out tentative f
ingers, she
touched his cheek, and t
hen drew back her hand.
“You’re good for a great deal more than that.”
The tenderness
in her expression gave Will
hope, but she wa
s
so
infatuated with Cole.
Damn
him.
Could she love Will
for himself
?
Why did it matter so much?
He only knew it did.
“
Sit back
and relax.” He
sc
ooted
back
tow
ard the headboard and drew
her
beside
him
.
They
lean
ed
against the pile of pillows
.
He reached to the bedside table,
poured
half a tumbler of brandy and
han
ded it to her.
“Sip this.
”