Protected by Stone (A Paranormal Romance Novel) (4 page)

Scrubbing one foot on my opposite ankle, I gave a knowing nod. “I see, right.” The old man squinted at me, like he was struggling to see. Sweat was gathering between my shoulder blades. “I'm not lost. I'm looking for my grandmother's house.”

“Ah,” he said, chin bobbing sagely. “So you are here for a reason.”

“I... guess so, yeah.”
I am, right? Why does it sound so weird when he says it.

Turning in place, he faced me fully and extended a thin set of fingers. I couldn't help but notice he was missing his pinky. “Name's Dirk. Welcome to Barrow Village, Miss...?”

Not wasting a second, worried he already thought I was out of sorts, I shook his hand. The skin was almost lacquered. “Farra, just call me Farra.”

“Farra,” he mused, giving my palm a gentle squeeze. “That's a nice name. Well, if you've got business here, I won't keep you.” He turned away, his hair glinting like frost under his hat. Oddly, it made me think of Grault.

Reaching out, I resisted the urge to grab his shoulder. The idea of wandering around in a dark village without knowing where I was going didn't appeal to me. “Oh, wait!”

Dirk did just that, tossing a curious look over his shoulder. We were the only ones left on the platform. “Hm? Something you need, Miss?”

Hesitating in the face of his question, it only took the distant squeak of some animal in the woods surrounding us to get me talking. “I don't actually know where I'm going. It's my first time to Barrow, so, uh, if you could maybe point me in the right direction...”

Dirk chuckled, not unkindly. I noticed he was dragging a large suitcase with him, the wheels bumping on the rough wood as he took a few steps. “Not a problem, you only had to ask. Come on, we'll make a stop at my place first, if that's alright?”

“That's fine,” I said, tightness vanishing from my neck. “Completely fine.” Following him around the station, I was grateful to be away from those dark trees.

In the light of the lamps hanging around, Barrow Village felt ominous. Yet, as I walked with Dirk across the soft grass or the flat cobble, passing quiet homes with their glowing windows... the feeling changed for the better.

I've never been to such a small town. Is this where my mother grew up?

Dirk's suitcase caught against the ground, the rocks grinding. He grunted, yanking it as if it were a stubborn mule. “Here,” I said quickly, bending down to kick the bits of grit free from the wheels.

That time, when he gave a pull, it rolled forward. “Thanks muchly,” he sighed, looking me up and down. “This suitcase is showing her time, I suppose.”

“Let me help,” I said, motioning for the handle. Dirk flashed me a quick grin, tugging the luggage back down the walkway. “Nope. No need.” My pride would have been more pricked if he hadn't gestured to a tall building beside us. “We're here, my home sweet home.”

Lifting my head, I squinted at the two-story house. It was a pretty beige, thick bushes of some kind of yellow flower on either side of the door. The sign hanging over it was small, I almost missed it.

“Dr. Colton?” I asked, peering at his gentle smile, then the sign, then back again. “You're a doctor?”

“Indeed,” he nodded, fiddling with the lock. The metal clinked, the door swinging inward. “But please, just keep calling me Dirk.”

Pushing my dark hair from my eyes, I took careful steps into the building. It was black, a long hallway that crammed around on all sides. Dirk switched on the lights, washing the place into life.

At the end of the passage, I was relieved to see a room with both a staircase in the corner and another door across the way. Knowing it was bigger inside only helped so much, though. The hallway around me was too tight, my skull started to pound.

Oh, wow, it's... this is kind of...

“Are you okay?” he asked, reaching out to touch my elbow. I saw him moving, but I still twitched under the contact. “It's alright,” he whispered soothingly, “I'm a doctor, remember?”

Licking my lower lip, I wiped my soaked palms on my shirt. “Sorry, sorry. I'm fine, really, I just, you know... tight spaces.”

“Claustrophobic, I take it.” He didn't ask.

Wordless, I gave a tiny nod. Dirk set his suitcase down, shutting the front door. The noise of it, gentle as he was, set my blood surging. “Here, Farra, this way.” He guided me forward, making me finish the walk on shaking knees. The inner room was crowded with shelves of books, charts on the mahogany walls.

Hurrying through, I wasn't entirely comforted by the still low ceiling. But the walls were further away, the place emptier.

He motioned for me to sit in one of the two chairs. I almost fell into it. “Sorry,” I mumbled, hanging my head down between my knees. “Sorry, really sorry. That shouldn't have been so bad, I think I'm just hungry and tired from traveling.”

I heard a soft rustling noise from the other side of the room, like Dirk was digging through paper. He nudged me once, then again until I lifted my eyes. That sweet, lined face warmed me.
I wonder how old he is? Forties, fifties?
The sight of the red lollipop shoved my curiosity aside.

I saw my fingers trembling as I took the treat, blushed at my own weakness. “Thanks. I'll be fine, really, I just need a minute.”

“No rush needed on my part, darlin'.” He pulled up the other chair, sitting across from me. “You always had it bad like that?”

The candy was a burst of flavor, bringing me down and helping me stabilize. “Far as I can remember, yeah.”
I'm not about to tell him all of... that. I don't even know him.

He studied me, reminding me instantly of the visits to my childhood doctor. I had to rub my eyes to convince myself it
wasn't
the same guy.
He has that same comfortable aura around him.

Lifting my gaze, I scanned the room, narrowing in on the staircase. “Do you live here, alone?”
Oh gosh, was that rude to ask?

“I get a lot of visitors.” When he stood, he groaned ever briefly. It made me think about how late it was, and apparently reminded us both of the reason I was here. “So,” he said, thumbs hooking in his belt loops, “where exactly does your grandmother live?”

“I'm actually not entirely sure,” I admitted, digging into my pocket for the letter. I didn't pull it out, just touched it. “There was no address on the envelope.”
Or I threw it away without noticing, one of those things.

Amazingly, he didn't appear too shocked. “It's alright, Farra. Place like this, it's small enough that we all know each other to some extent or another.” Moving to the far wall, Dirk squinted at a chart I couldn't make out. “What's her name?”

“Well, she sort of... her name
was
Tessa, but she died recently.” I didn't expect much of a reaction. Seeing Dirk twist around, gawking at me with blatant surprise set the hairs on my arms prickling.

“You're
Tessa's
kin?” He was standing still, one hand pressed to his chest like he was holding himself together. He fumbled into a pocket, pulling out thin glasses.

The lollipop felt heavy in my grip. “I'm her granddaughter—I mean, I guess I am, that's still debatable I suppose—yeah. Uh, are you okay? What's wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing,” he said, smoothing his face into something more calm. It didn't matter, though. I'd seen how he'd looked at me. Something about me, or my grandmother, had scared him. “I didn't know she had a granddaughter.”

“I didn't know
I
had family,” I said with a shrug. “That's kind of why I'm here. Just trying to figure out all of this.”

Dirk sat back in the chair, watching me like an owl. “You didn't know? Oh, Farra...” His sympathy didn't settle my unease. Thin fingers rubbed over his pants, erasing the wrinkles. “You have my condolences.”

About Tessa passing, or about not knowing about being her kin?
I wondered nervously. “Um, thanks. I really do need to go to her house, though.”
Grault implied it was very urgent.
Thinking about the stranger made me wonder, not for the first time, where he even was. “If you could just show me the way, or even point me in the right direction?”

He was already shaking his head. “The place you want to go, it's too far out of the way to travel to in the dark.”

“Too far?”

“Much too far,” he said, his tone flat and without argument. “But,” he went on, his smile reaching his eyes, “I promise I'll take you there myself in the morning.”

“What will I do until then?” I asked, frustrated by having to put my journey off further.

Dirk arched an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth tugging like he might laugh. “I imagine you'll sleep. Farra, you look exhausted.”

Gingerly, I touched my cheeks, felt my sore neck.
He's right, I haven't slept very well since Grault woke me. The train hardly counts for much.

“How about this,” he said, wandering towards the door across the way. “You go use my shower, clean up, and then spend the night here. I'll even make you breakfast, if you want.”

The idea of a shower, of actual sleep, was making me more drained. Covering my mouth, I stifled a yawn. “It sounds amazing, but...”

“Hm?”

Darting a glance away, I bit my tongue. My question felt too vulnerable to ask, yet it was halfway out of my mouth before I considered stopping it. “Why are you being so nice to me? We just met, what's the reasoning?”

Then he did laugh, the lines on his face growing deeper with his amusement. Again, it lacked any sense of cruelty. Dirk didn't seem capable of such an awful thing. “I guess I just like helping people. Comes with the job, I suppose.”

Of course, he's a doctor. Must be his nature.
It was enough of a reason to calm me down. Maybe I
was
naive, but... I trusted him, I did believe he meant me no harm.

“Alright,” I said, crunching down on the last of the lollipop. “Show me where the shower is, please.”

I
didn't remember dreaming.

The scent of bacon was in my nose, the ceiling above me strange. Turning my head, I spotted drawings of the human body on the walls.
That's right, I'm at Dirk's house.

Sitting up on the table in the small room, the place I knew he normally had patients sit while he asked them questions, I scratched my scalp. The place might have been creepy, doctor offices notoriously were. Somehow, Dirk had made the room feel homey. The walls with their charts, the rubber human body in the corner, it all served to remind me more of a science classroom.

Straightening my hair, then the long shirt and sweat pants I'd slept in, I inhaled deeply.
He's cooking breakfast for sure. But where?
Cracking the door, I peered into the main room. I saw no hint of Dirk at all. Then, above me, the ceiling creaked.

Glancing at the stairs, I nodded to myself.
Aha, he must have a place to cook up there.
The shower had been attached to the room I'd slept in. I hadn't wandered upstairs, or considered it, till just then.

“Hello?” I called out, taking the steps slowly. There weren't many of them, so I was worried about catching Dirk by surprise.

“Come on up, Farra!” he shouted, seconds before I poked my head into the upper room. It was wide, a giant attic. Light poured in from a few open windows, glowing on smooth wooden floors. Doctor Colton stood in a corner, bent over a tiny stove. “Morning,” he said, flashing me a grin.

“Morning,” I replied, wandering into the middle of the room. The rafters stretching above, hanging with strings of dried flowers and apples, had me turning in a circle. “This is wonderful! Look at this place, wow!”

Snorting, Dirk scraped at his frying pan. “It does the job. Hungry?”

“Starving,” I admitted, moving over to hover by the cooking eggs. In an easy motion, the doctor spooned the scrambled yolks onto two plates already stacked with crispy bacon.

Like a hungry dog, I followed him to a small table he'd set by a window. “That smells great.” Inhaling through my nose, I dropped into a chair. “Really great.”

“Thanks,” he chuckled, setting everything down. I was confused when he didn't sit. Watching him wander over to a tiny fridge, pulling out a pitcher of bright orange juice, gave me both understanding and a watering mouth.

Together we dug in, chewing away in a silence understood by hunger. Dirk ate slow, not a hint of impatience showing. I, however, had to keep myself from shoveling the delicious breakfast into my mouth.

I copied him when he dabbed at his chin with a napkin. “Good?” he asked, knowing the answer.

“Yeah, really good.” Chugging the juice, I exhaled with a grin. “A doctor and a cook, why are you living alone again?”

His chuckle was indulgent, but it lacked the normal heart he seemed to have. My shame at wondering if I'd overstepped wasn't allowed to linger. “I didn't notice it at first, not without my glasses, but you look so much like Tessa. Are you nervous at all about seeing her home for the first time today?”

“Not really,” I said, gazing out the window at the lush forest nearby. “I'm kind of... curious? Relieved, even, I guess. This news was weird.” I thought about Grault almost knocking my door down. “Really weird, actually. But it came at a good time.”

“Oh? How so?”

Poking at my empty plate, I kept staring at the world outside. The smell of the morning air was invigorating. “Mn. Maybe it's too personal, I don't know.”

“No, no,” he whispered, “don't worry. Go on, if you feel like talking about it.”

I felt the frown spread, didn't bother to try and halt it. “I've just had a run of bad luck, is all. Good things don't happen to me. I didn't even think the letter Tessa sent was real, how awful is that?” For a second, I shut my eyes, wondering if he'd speak. When he didn't, I glanced at him. “A new place to stay, a new job, it's all sort of perfect.”

“Perfect,” he repeated. The way his eyebrows lowered, his flicker of concern, it made my heart jump. “Farra, this new job, is it... is it taking over that house?”

I bobbed my head, loose hair tickling my neck. “Yeah. I'm going to become the caretaker. Though, I mean, I admit I don't know the first thing about taking care of a house, or its tenants.” Setting the fork down, I gave him a brittle smile. “I figure I'll give it a shot, and if it doesn't work, I can just sell the place. Right?”