The Truth of Yesterday (8 page)

     Novak let out a guffaw. “Kid, there's never been a man born yet who was professional enough to not get distracted by sex. Tell you what though, you do your job well enough, and maybe we'll work something out so that you have some free time.
Deal?”

     “Deal,” I mumbled as my face burned.

Chapter 4

     The next day, Thursday, was uneventful. Mr. Know drove to and from work without deviation from his usual schedule, my classes were boring for the most part, and I was pretty much caught up on paperwork at the office for the moment.

     I was sitting in my room later that night, supposedly studying, but Micah had come over unexpectedly and we were talking more than anything. I was sitting at my desk and Micah was sprawled across my bed.

     “I'm just not sure this is such a good idea,” Micah said uncomfortably. To my surprise, Micah hadn't been all that enthusiastic about going with me to DC. His reaction when I'd asked had been an immediate tensing up, followed quickly by a solid no. I was trying to figure out why he was so set against it now.

     “If you think I won't be able to do work with you along…”

     “It's not that,” he said.

     
“Then what?
You don't want to go with me?”

     “Don't be silly, I want to go, it's just…”

     
“Just what?
How can I understand if you don't tell me anything?”

     He took a deep breath. “I lived there the whole time I was in college. Let's just say I'm not in a hurry to go back.”

     “But that's exactly why I asked you, because you've lived there. You know the city. I don't. I've only been there a few times, and I've never been there alone. Besides, the only times I have been there was to go to the zoo or the Smithsonian or somewhere like that. I mean, I can barely figure out the Metro let alone find my way around.”

     “Look, Kill, not all of my memories from that time
are
good ones. In fact, I have some pretty unhappy associations with that place. If you were going anywhere else I'd be thrilled that you'd asked me.”

     “What kind of unhappy associations?” I asked; my curiosity suddenly piqued. I could actually see him close off, as if he were throwing up a wall between us. Obviously, I wasn't the only one with trust issues. “Ok, I can see you aren't going to tell me so I'll withdraw the question and save you the trouble.”

     “This isn't a courtroom, Killian, and you're not a lawyer,” Micah said quietly. “You can't withdraw a question and expect it to be stricken from the record. You're right though, I'm not ready to talk about it just yet. I promise I'll tell you sometime, just…not right now.”

     “Skeletons in the closet,” I whispered, remembering a conversation we'd had when we'd first started dating.

     
“What?” he asked now, not quite catching my words from across the room.

     I shook my head, “Never mind.”

     He frowned and we fell into an uneasy silence. He glanced down at his watch. “Oh hey,” he said suddenly, “Didn't you say something about a meeting you had to go to tonight?”

     I drew a blank at first, and then I remembered the gay/straight alliance. I'd mentioned it to Micah yesterday when we'd talked on the phone and he'd thought it was a great idea. It seemed like everyone thought it was a great idea; Micah, Adam, Steve,
Novak
-everyone I'd mentioned it to, in fact. I was the only one still a little uncertain about it.

     “You mean Haven?”

     “Is that the gay/straight thing on campus?”

     
“Yeah.”

     “Did you ever call that guy?”

     I'd told him about meeting Noah, but left out my attraction to him. It was just a physical attraction, after all. No sense in bringing it up. At least that was my justification. “No, I never called him,” I said.

     “Well, call him now. See if they are meeting tonight.”

     “You just want to get rid of me so I won't sulk about the fact that you're keeping secrets from me.”

     “I'm not trying to get rid of you and I'm not keeping secrets. I'm just not ready to talk about it.”

     “You're not ready or I'm not ready?”

     “Does it make a difference?”

     
“Maybe.”

     “Oh for…! Are you going to call that guy or not?”

     With an exaggerated sigh, I swung around to the desk and rummaged around the cluttered top for the slip of paper Noah had written his number on. I found it under the sticky bottom of a glass mug that held a thin film of something that may have once been hot chocolate. Purposefully keeping my back towards Micah, I picked up the phone and dialed the numbers. Kane and I had our own line in our bedroom so that we wouldn't tie up the main line with the computer. I listened to the phone ring in my ear. I was just about to hang up when I heard someone pick up the phone on the other end.

     “
Yo
,” a male voice practically shouted into my ear. Whoever he was, he sounded quite winded.

     “Oh, um…is Noah there?” I asked tentatively.

     “Yeah, hang on,” he panted. I wondered what I had interrupted. I heard the guy's muffled voice calling Noah. “It's for you,” he said. “Why didn't you just answer it? I had to run all the way from the shower. I thought you'd left or something.” I guess that answered my question.

     “Sorry, I was playing my guitar and I had my headphones on,” I heard someone, presumably Noah, say. A second later, his voice came on the line. “Hello?”

     “Noah? Hi. This is Killian; we met in the bookstore…”

     
“With the pride necklace, right?”

     “Yeah,” I said. I couldn't help smiling at the thought that he remembered me.

     “You're the cute little blonde. You're calling about Haven?”

     I blushed at the cute blonde remark and almost stuttered when I answered. I was suddenly glad I'd kept my back to Micah. “Yeah, are you meeting tonight?”

     “Sure are.
You thinking
about coming?”

     “Maybe,” I said uncertainly.

     “Oh come on, no maybes. Say you'll come. It's a great bunch; I think you'd like them. Are you shy?”

     
“A little.”

     “I used to be really shy too, so I understand.
How about if I meet you in from of the main doors at Wicomico Hall and we can walk in together.
That way I can introduce you.”

     He wasn't leaving me much room to back out. I gave a mental shrug and gave in. “Ok, what time?”

     “The meeting starts at eight, so how about if we meet at like quarter of in front of the doors?”

     “Ok.”

     “Great, see you then, Killian.”

     “See you then.”

     We hung up and I took a second to pull myself together before I turned back toward Micah. “I'm supposed to meet him in front of Wicomico Hall at quarter of eight,” I told him.

     He glanced at his watch again. “Then you'd better get going. It's at least a forty-five minute drive from here.”

     I nodded and stood up at the same time Micah did. He moved towards me until he was standing so close I could feel his body heat, almost touching, but not quite. I slid my arms around his waist and pulled him against me, my lips finding his. We kissed for a minute,
then
he slipped gently away.

     “I'm sorry about, well, you know,” he said softly.

     I gave him a half-smile. “You'll tell me when you're ready. Or I'm ready, whichever it is. Don't worry about it. I'll live.”

     He pulled me in for a tight hug. “I love you, Killian. Don't ever doubt that.”

     “I love you, too,” I responded, my voice muffled by his shoulder.

     He pulled back and gave me one
more quick
kiss before we walked downstairs together.

      I stuck my head into the living room where Steve was reading a book. Tonight was his night at home and he was taking full advantage of his time away from the B&B. Steve was about the same age as Adam and was just as handsome, in a darker more solid way. He had been a successful architect, but he'd given up his practice to open
Amalie's
House. Adam and Steve had been together since Adam and his wife had broken up when he came out to her. I told Steve where I was going and he sent me on my way with a wave and an absent-minded smile. He's been very distracted lately, and it occurred to me that it was possible he really was feeling weighed down by the idea that the B&B might not be a success.

     I thought about the whole situation during the drive to school. I knew Steve had sunk a sizable fortune into buying, restoring, and renovating the house, a fortune he had partially inherited and partially saved from his successful business. I also knew that except for a small safety net he'd put into CD's, almost all his money had gone into launching this thing. He was now almost completely depending on the Bed and Breakfast being a success or else he'd find himself pretty much broke. It struck me that he was probably sweating this out a lot more than I had realized.

     And of course, there was also
Amalie
. As Adam had said, she wasn't helping the situation. I sighed deeply and resolved to talk to Steve soon. If he really was as upset about the ghost as Judy and Adam had said, then maybe I'd have to think a little more seriously about going back to the house with Judy. As much as I wanted to avoid doing just that, my family was more important than my fear, and I had to admit, I was afraid.

     My further contemplation of the subject was cut short by my arrival at the school campus. In my distracted state, I had apparently been driving quite a bit over the speed limit. I was lucky no cops had been out on the highway. I was now a bit early, but I decided to head to the meeting place anyway.