King 02 - Breathless (24 page)

“It’s not a problem. Do you have the address?”

“Here.” Marly handed me a slip of white paper. “It’s the Brooks’, over in the old section of town. If you’ve been to Craig’s house, it’s not far from there.”

The Brooks. I felt a tiny shiver of dread travel down my spine, and I could hear Ms. Lacusta’s voice telling me that there were no coincidences. I was heading to Rafe Brooks’ house.

Marly must have been anxious for me to get those plants out to the house, because she didn’t notice how quiet I suddenly became. I made the drive to the far side of King without any incident, and if my memory was a little hazy on exactly which house it was, I knew where to go when I spotted the familiar green Sawood trucks parked in the long driveway.

No one was in the front, though, so I hoisted one pot onto my hip and walked awkwardly through the side yard toward the back. I could hear voices, both spoken and thought, coming from that area.

“Tasmyn! Hey, you’re a lifesaver.” Luke appeared at my side, brushing aside the leaves of the plant to grin at me. “Here, let me take that. Are you parked in the front?”

“Yes, behind your truck,” I answered. I followed Luke back the way I had come, although he veered off toward the front porch, where he deposited the first pot. He insisted on moving them from the car himself since he claimed they were too heavy for me, although I suspected strongly that he was more worried about the possibility of me dropping his plants. I perched on one of the steps and stayed out of the way.

A few of the guys from the nursery came around to the front of the house and began loading rakes and shovels back into the truck. I watched them absently until a strong foreboding feeling crashed over me. I tuned my head slightly to see the front door open, and Rafe stepped onto the porch.

He saw me at once, and I could hear his thoughts perfectly.
Tasmyn! What’s she doing here? Why didn’t anyone tell me she was… oh. She’s probably with the landscapers. Like she’d ever come just to see me anyway.

I pushed aside any sense of feeling sorry for Rafe as he approached me.

“Hey! I didn’t know you were working here today.” He stood towering above me, and I had to crane my neck and shield my eyes with my hands to see his face.

“I wasn’t. I made a delivery.” I pointed toward the peace lilies, which were nearly all on the porch by now.

“Ah.” Rafe nodded, following my gesture. “Pretty. Your boyfriend’s family does good work. My grandparents are really pleased.”

“I’m glad. They’re having a party? Tonight?”

Rafe sighed, and I felt the reluctance. “Yeah. Big charity thing. I have to make an appearance, that’s why I’m wearing this.” He patted the tie at his neck. “I hate it. But my grandparents insist.”

“I hope you have a good time,” I said, meaning it sincerely.

He studied me briefly, and then offered me his hand. “Do you want to see the side gardens? They’re all set up for the party now, and it’s kind of cool. You can check out all the landscaping.”

Truth to be told, I didn’t care much about that aspect of Sawood’s business, but I didn’t want to be rude. I cast a look around for Luke and saw him engrossed in a conversation with two of the other workers. I made a quick decision.

“Okay. I can’t be long, though.” I allowed Rafe to help me to my feet and followed him up to the front door. We went through the large foyer, with its dark wood and high ceiling, into a sitting room. Stuffed sofas and chairs were scattered here and there, and there was an air of opulence and ease. Rafe moved unhesitatingly to the glass doors that formed one entire wall and led me onto a stone patio.

“The gardens are right down here,” he told me, and as we stepped down from the patio, I understood what he meant. Tables were set up all over the green expanse of lawn, and fountains splashed merrily here and there. I could see strings of lights hung on the trees and bushes; it wasn’t dark enough to appreciate them now, but I knew they would look perfect at dusk.

“Oh,” I breathed. “You’re right. It’s lovely. What a beautiful spot for a party.” I turned to smile up at Rafe, but when I saw his eyes, my smile faded. He was staring down at me intently, broodingly. What I heard him thinking both alarmed and irritated me.

I could do it again. I could kiss her here… no one would see. And then I could make it as though it didn’t happen. But I want her to remember. I want her to know.

I narrowed my eyes. “Rafe, what are you doing?”

Instantly he assumed the appearance of innocence. “What are you talking about? I’m showing you the gardens.”

“That’s not what I mean, and it’s not what you were thinking about.” I kept my voice low and even. I could play this without telling Rafe my own truth, but I sensed that I was going to have to share something if I wanted to know what he was capable of doing. I didn’t intend to give away anything until I had to, though. I wondered if I could convince him it was woman’s intuition.

“That’s it, isn’t it?” Excitement tinged his voice. “That’s what you can do. I knew there was something. You read minds.”

I pressed my lips together and didn’t answer. I guessed he wasn’t going to buy women’s intuition after all.

“I knew, when I first met you,” Rafe continued. “I could tell there was something. My grandmother says lots of King people can do that, can sense some kind of power in another carnie family. She always can. But I never did, until you.”

“I am
not
from a carnie family!” I exclaimed, provoked into response. “I only moved here last year. I told you that.”

“But then how…?” His voice trailed off, and I could hear his mind speculating.

“Why don’t you tell me a little something about yourself, and then maybe I’ll have something to say?” I suggested.

“What do you want to know? I’m an open book.” He smiled guilelessly and spread out his hands, shrugging.

“For starters, that day I drove you home. What did you do? And remember, I’ll know if you lie to me.”

He paused and then raised his shoulders again, this time in a gesture of defeat. “Okay. I kissed you.”

“You
what
?” Even though I had suspected as much, hearing him say it out loud made me angry all over again.

“I kissed you. I asked you to pull over to the side of the road. I told you I thought I heard something in the tire. And then when the car was stopped, I reached over, pulled you toward me and kissed you. Like this.” He put his hand alongside my cheek and leaned his face into mine.

“Rafe! Stop! No!” I pulled away and stepped out of his reach. “How could you do that? I told you about Michael. There is no way I would ever want to…” I stopped speaking abruptly. He wasn’t going to sidetrack me. “So then what happened?”

He sighed heavily. “I could tell you that you enjoyed it, that you wrapped your arms around me and begged me never to stop. But you’d know I was lying, wouldn’t you? You’d read that in my mind. So, no. You pretty much did what you did just now. You yelled at me and threatened to throw me out of the car.”

“Good. That sounds more like me.” I was relieved but still suspicious. “And then what?”

Rafe rolled his eyes at me. “Okay, okay. Then I made you think it never happened.”

I raised my eyebrows and looked at him expectantly. “And you did that... how?”

“That’s what I can do. I can manipulate your mind to alter your perception of time. In your memory, we never pulled off the road. We just kept driving, and nothing happened. But I remember.” His tone became wistful, and I was annoyed all over again.

“Rafe, that’s wrong. How can you do that?”

“I don’t know all the mechanics of how I do it. I just know that I can.”

“No.” I was exasperated, too. “I mean, how you can justify doing that? Messing with someone’s mind, with their thoughts?”

Rafe was bewildered. “What are you talking about? It’s just what I do. It’s part of me. It doesn’t hurt anyone.”

I threw up my hands, flabbergasted. “So kissing someone who doesn’t want to be kissed, and then making them forget it happened—that’s okay? Doesn’t hurt anyone?”

He was smug. “It didn’t hurt you as long as you didn’t remember it.”

I stabbed a finger in his face. “That’s where you’re wrong. I
knew
something had happened. It made me crazy.”

He was suddenly serious. “Not as crazy as it made me, remembering. I wish I could make myself forget things sometimes.”

I turned away from him. That tone in his voice, the yearning I could feel in his mind and in his mood, it made me both sad and angry. I felt sorry for him on one hand, and on the other, I really did want to smack him.

“Rafe.” I forced my voice to be even. “You have to promise me that you won’t do that again. Not under any circumstances. Are we clear?”

“Maybe,” he answered. “You promised to share with me. I came clean. It’s your turn. Am I right? Can you read minds?”

Reluctantly, I faced him again. “Yes and no. I don’t read minds. I hear them. I try not to, but it’s hard to block the thoughts sometimes. You’ve got to promise not to tell anyone. My parents would kill me if they knew I told you.”

Rafe shook his head. “Not a problem. We’ve got a mutual thing going here. You don’t rat me out, I won’t rat you out. But I don’t get why you try not to read—well, to hear minds. Sounds like a really cool thing to me.”

Before I could answer, I heard Luke. He hadn’t called me aloud, but I realized that he was on the patio above us and was looking for me.

“Look, I’ve got to go,” I told Rafe. “Maybe we can talk more about this later, but right now, Luke needs me to move my car, and you’ve got a big party about to start here.”

“You promise?” Rafe demanded. “We’ll talk about this later?”

I nodded. “Yes. And you promise you won’t mess with my mind that way again?”

He smiled and cocked one eyebrow at me. “In what way? In the kissing you way, or the time-altering way?”

“Either.” My tone was emphatic. “I’m serious, Rafe. No more manipulation. Of any kind.”

He shook his head, bemused. “All right, whatever. I promise. No more messing with your mind—or your body.”

I flushed and turned to go. But I heard one last thought from him before I was out of range.

No, I won’t kiss you again… until you ask me. And you will.

I was sitting on a bench in the courtyard at school, soaking up some sunshine and trying to shut out the annoying hum of voices in my mind. I just wanted a little privacy, but it seemed I wasn’t going to get it today.

Cara wandered over, and I pasted on a smile. We were doing a good job of covering up our mutual antipathy, for Amber’s sake if nothing else.

“Hey,” she said, her tone neutral.
I can’t even stand to look at her, thinking about her with Michael.

“Hello,” I answered, trying to ignore what she was thinking. “Want to share some of my sunshine?”

She perched on the edge of the bench, as far from me as possible. She didn’t want to be close, but she wanted to hear about Michael. I kept my expression pleasant. I wasn’t going to make this easy. She was going to have to come out and ask me.

“So… is Michael coming home again this weekend?”

I bit back a smirk. “No. He won’t be home again until Thanksgiving.”

“Oh.” Disappointment and relief mingled in that word.

“What about Dan?” I asked. “When is he coming back?”

Cara looked momentarily disoriented. “Dan—oh.” She shook her head. “I don’t know. I guess Thanksgiving, too.”

“It would be fun for everyone to get together and hang out that weekend,” I said. “Maybe out at the nursery or whatever. We could even do a hayride—”

“Yeah.” Cara cut me off. “I guess. Maybe.”

We were quiet for a moment. I felt Cara’s misery, and the depth of her loneliness reminded me of my own, in the years before Michael.

“Is—is there anyone else you’re interested in, Cara?” I ventured finally.

“Else? What do you mean, anyone else?” She was in defense mode again.

“I meant, other than Dan,” I said.

“Oh—no. I mean, Dan and I are only friends. That’s all.”

“Well then, is there someone around here you like?” I put a subtle emphasis on the words “around here”.