Eden (13 page)

Jared leaned in and kept his voice
low. “Just a few weeks, Beth. You’re one of the first to know, I
assure you.”

Beth frowned. “She’s already showing
and you’ve only known for a few weeks? I don’t believe it. You’re
only going to have a real, live baby. Why would I need to know
something so trivial? It’s not like I need to prepare at work or
anything.”

I smiled. Beth was grumbling to
herself at that point. “I should have told you earlier, Beth.
You’re right. I’m sorry.”

A grin exploded across her face, and
she rested her chin on her fist. “You’re forgiven. When can we go
shopping? Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” I didn’t mirror her
fervor, instead sensing the same overwhelming nausea I felt when
Lillian bombarded me with wedding magazines two years
earlier.

Jared took a breath. “We don’t know.
It’s still new and overwhelming to Nina, so perhaps giving her a
break from the reality of it would help the most for
now.”

“
Oh. Right. You’re right.
We can talk about all that later,” she said, waving her hand
dismissively.

We finished eating and left. A minute
later, we waited at the light—the same light Jared had honked at me
nearly scaring me to death right after we first met. Beth had
resorted to not talking at all, instead of risking saying something
she wasn’t supposed to. Chad tried distracting her with other
questions, but she only offered nods or head shakes.

Just as the light turned green, an arm
reached across me, grabbing Jared’s elbow.

“
Long time no see,” Kim
said.

Beth smiled, but Kim was obviously not
in an amiable mood.

“
I said I would call you,”
Jared said.

Kim raised an eyebrow. “I know you
did. Three days ago. I’m not waiting any longer, Jared.”

If I didn’t know of her struggle with
exhaustion, I would have thought she’d broken her nose. The
purplish skin under her eyes looked like twin bruises. The whites
of her eyes were bloodshot, and her shoulders sagged. I knew that
look all too well, and I understood her desperation.

“
I’m sorry. You’re just
going to have to.”

Kim took a step toward
him. “I don’t think you heard me. I’m. Not. Waiting.
Any
longer.”

Jared sighed, but he didn’t flinch
from her glare. “We’ve discussed this.”

“
Yes, we have. A
lot.”

A nervous giggle emanated from Beth’s
throat, and she shifted uncomfortably. “Waiting for
what?”

Jared and Kim looked at Beth, and Kim
shot an amused glare back at Jared. “Tell her.”

Jared frowned. “You’re being
unreasonable.”

“
What are we waiting for?
Again?” Beth said, her voice still unsure.

Kim crossed her arms. “My ancestors
are Crusade Knights, and I inherited the duty of watching over a
book my great-great-times-a-thousand grandfather took from a church
in Jerusalem.”

“
Is it worth a lot of
money?” Chad asked.

Beth jabbed her elbow in his
ribs.

“
Kim,” I
warned.

“
So Jerry over here is
half-angel, and he’s the only one strong enough to help me get it
back without getting myself killed. Only he’s being selfish, and
even though I helped him save Nina’s life, he’s not going to help
me take it back, now, because he got what he wanted and isn’t going
to hold up his end of the deal.”

“
Kim!” I
yelled.

Beth began laughing hysterically. “Oh,
wow! That’s a whopper!” Her Oklahoma accent came back with a
vengeance. “Where do you get this stuff, Kim?”

Kim looked to Jared, desperation in
her voice and tears in her eyes. “You need me on your side. Don’t
forget that.” She walked away, leaving Beth and the rest of us
quiet and unnerved.

Jared watched her trudge back to the
Sentra. “We’re running out of time.”

Chapter Eight

Breakthrough

The oak tree loomed over us, casting a
large shadow from the afternoon sun. The sweet summer breeze wafted
along the uncut grass, making the delicate petals of the flowering
dogwood dance with the violets. Heaven never felt quite as close as
when I was on a blanket with Jared by our oak tree, with our names
scrawled elegantly in the bark.

Bean had grown for weeks without
threat, but Jared and I weren’t fooled into thinking we would live
the entire summer without event. We enjoyed the peaceful moments
while we still had them, and that afternoon was no
different.

Jared was studying Shax’s book. He
hunched over the ugly pages, knees up. One hand held the ancient
leather apart while the other rested on my stomach. The book seemed
out of place in our quiet, beautiful afternoon.

Jared’s phone buzzed. He barely
glanced in its direction and continued reading. He did that often
when Kim called, resorting to ignoring her instead of repeating his
reasons for holding onto the book. I could relate to her misery.
Even so, it was easier to look the other way while Jared searched
for answers while he could. To admit that to myself made me feel
horrible, but it was a necessary evil. The choice to be a better
mother than a friend wasn’t really a choice at all.

A motor hummed in the distance. “You
should probably get your sneakers on,” Jared said. “Bex is
here.”

Bex was bringing firearms today. We
would add target practice to our daily sparring session. His
motorcycle came to a stop at the edge of my blanket.

I looked up at him. “That blanket is
worth more than your bike.”

Bex took off his helmet and snorted.
“Negative.”

“
Sentimental value,” Jared
said, keeping his eyes on the book.

Now fourteen, Bex’s body had filled
out. He was an inch taller than Jared, and could have been mistaken
for a man in his early twenties. Except for the childlike sweetness
that remained in his eyes and his occasional displays of
inexperience, I would never believe that he was the same person as
the eleven-year-old I had met a few years before. It was
disturbing.

I must have looked ridiculous in my
black leggings and white t-shirt with Bean balled noticeably in
front, crouching and ready in front of what looked like a
full-grown man. Bex could have wadded me up like a piece of paper
on my best day, and I knew if anyone had witnessed a pregnant woman
trading punches with someone twice her size, they would have called
the police.

“
Bex,” Jared warned
without looking up.

Bex’s nose wrinkled, irritated at
Jared’s instruction. “I know. The subtle distention of her middle
section is a constant reminder not overdo it. I won’t hurt your
messianic spawn, Nina.”

I shoved the heel of my hand into
Bex’s stomach. He barely paused, but it was still thrilling to me
that I landed it. “Someone’s been reading the List of Big Words,
again.”

Bex glanced to Jared, and then grabbed
me. He twisted me around, more forceful than usual, pulling me into
his chest. My neck fit snugly in the crook of his arm. “Okay. Now
what?”

I stepped on his foot, jabbed my elbow
into his ribs, and then threw my head back. Bex dodged, but had he
been human I would have cracked his nose.

“
Good,” he said,
nodding.

We went over the same old moves dozens
of times, and then Bex showed me a few more. They were more
offensive than defensive. Bex seemed to enjoy teaching those more,
and I certainly enjoyed learning to attack more than I liked
repeatedly attempting to free myself from an assailant.

After an hour, Jared brought the bag
of firearms over, and then handed me shooting earmuffs and safety
glasses. We walked over to a small hill, where Bex set up several
targets. He was as excited as I was, but it didn’t occur to me to
ask why.

I practiced with a handgun, a rifle,
and a shotgun. When Jared and Bex were satisfied with my aim, Bex
tied a rope to a branch of the oak tree and hung a large log from
it. He unrolled a paper target, and then taped it to the middle of
the log. He gave it a shove, and it swayed in a large arc back and
forth.

Jared handed me his sidearm. “Less
than one percent of your targets will be stationary. You need to
learn to hit a moving target.

I lifted the Glock in both of my hand
and looked down the sights.

“
Anticipation is key,”
Jared said.

I watched the log for a moment, and
then squeezed the trigger. Bex leapt back with a yowl.

I dropped the gun and covered my
mouth. “Oh, God! I’m sorry!”

Jared picked up the gun and tried not
to smile. Bex, however, was rolling on the ground, laughing
hysterically.

I glared at him. “Not funny, you
little worm! I could have given birth right here in the
grass!”

Bex immediately sobered, looking to
his older brother for confirmation.

Jared laughed. “She’s exaggerating
just a little.”

“
Again,” I said, holding
the gun in front of me once more. After six tries, I sighed with
irritation and pulled off the earmuffs, letting them fall to the
ground.

“
You’re thinking too
much,” Bex said. He pulled his gun from the waistline of his jeans
and pulled the trigger, never looking away from me. The target had
a rip in the center where the bullet made contact.

I blew my bangs from my face. “You
can’t anticipate something without thinking about it.”

Bex lifted his gun and pointed it at
me, and I mirrored his action. We were at an immediate stand
off.

Bex smiled. “Yes, you can.”

Jared palmed my arm and lowered it
slowly. “It’s called instinct. It’s in your blood, Nina. You just
need to give in to it.”

I looked at the log. “Give in to it,”
I repeated, raising my weapon.

Bex shoved the log again.

I shut out everything: the breeze; the
birds; the strands of hair that kept sticking to my lip gloss.
Everything was frozen, even my inner thoughts. My mind focused on
the target, and I was in tune with everything. I could feel the
movement of the log, the resistance of the rope as it rubbed
against the tree branch, and even the wind speed and how it would
affect the path of the bullet. I took in a deep breath and pulled
the trigger. Bex grabbed the log and it instantly
stopped.

“
Nice!” Bex
said.

The bullet had landed just a couple of
inches above Bex’s. I smiled, and Jared pulled me to his side,
kissing my hair.

After that, Bex took the spare tire
from under the rear of the Escalade and fastened a target to the
center. He walked to the top of a small hill, and I stood halfway
down. He let the tire go, and I took several shots as it rolled
down the grass to the bottom, falling on its side.

Bex sprinted to the tire and rolled it
over, offering a thumbs-up and a smile.

“
You did really well
today,” Jared said.

I nodded. “I know.”

Jared leaned down and touched each
side of my stomach with his hands. “Mommy did good today, didn’t
she Bean?” He waited a moment, and then stood. “Everything seems to
be okay. Your pulse, Bean’s pulse, blood pressure and breathing are
all normal. I don’t think Bean noticed.”

“
So we can keep
going?”

Jared nodded.

I gestured to the book under his arm.
“Did you find anything?”

Jared’s small smile faded. “Feel like
a trip to Woonsocket?”

Bex helped us load the Escalade with
our belongings, and then waved goodbye, peeling out on his
motorcycle to head home to Lillian.

Jared was quiet during the
twenty-minute drive north. His eyes were locked forward, missing
the incredible summer foliage on each side of the highway. I
allowed it to distract me while Jared silently prepared questions
for Father Francis. Poring over the same words over and over, not
knowing what to look for, had to be frustrating. I reached my hand
across the console, and almost instinctually, Jared covered my hand
with his.

Still beautiful, he wore the stress
and worry of the years since we’d met only in his eyes. He seemed
tired, and desperate, but determined.

He squeezed my hand, brought it to his
lips, then reached over to rest his hand on my stomach. He seemed
to relax, then.

“
Maybe...maybe you’re
going about this all wrong,” I said.

“
I’m all ears.”

“
What if you’re reading
the wrong book? It’s too late to stop the prophecy. What you’re
looking for is a way to get Heaven on our side, right?”

“
That’s
correct.”

“
You aren’t going to find
answers about Heaven in a book about Hell.”

Jared eyes flitted about for a moment,
considering my idea. He didn’t answer, but he acknowledged my words
with a nod. I covered his hand with mine, and let him return to his
thoughts.