Everlong (15 page)

I watched Lynn’s slumped retreat but couldn’t muster up the energy to feel sorry for her. “What about me?”

She pointed to the chair where Clayton had sat the night before. I ran my fingers across the chrome trim and faux leather piping. The seat was gutted with cotton batting fluffing out of the seams. We’d duct taped it once before relegating the chair to the kitchen where it would spend the remainder of its days as a stepping stool.

“Are you going to sit down or pet it?” Emma asked.

I stepped away from the chair and the memory of its last occupant. “I don’t feel like sitting down. How about I finish up the dishes and you handle the close-out paperwork? Crunching those little numbers gives me a migraine.”

Elbow deep in suds, she shrugged. “Yeah, I can handle that. You always forget to carry the one anyway.”

I tossed her a tattered rag from the pile, which she used to dry herself on her way past. Alone in the kitchen, it was hard not to think about Clayton. How he’d soaked his shirt and then mine. Or how I’d slipped and he carried me from the kitchen. And those kisses…

“Hey.” Emma’s head poked around the corner. “Did you see where I put that bag of receipts?”

I glanced over and had to blink a few times before I saw her clearly. “Which ones did you lose this time, the dailies or weeklies?” I asked, wiping my cheek against my forearm.

She looked at me and laughed softly. “I guess it was already too late for warnings.” She crossed the room to wrap me in exactly the kind of hug I needed. “You love him, don’t you?”

“I don’t know,” I answered her honestly. “I just…hurt. I saw him a few hours ago, and I know he’s okay, or at least he will be, but I miss him. I didn’t want to leave him, and now that he’s gone…” I paused, “…I’m afraid. What if he doesn’t come back? What if he’s wrong? What if the only thing between us is heat and pheromones?”

She pulled back to look me in the eye. “You can what-if yourself to death, but that boy has loved you for half of your life already. I used to worry what would happen if Harper’s feelings for you ever did change. Clayton would have let you have his brother.” Her fingers tightened on me. “That’s how you should measure his devotion. Not by what he wants
from
you, though make no mistake—he wants it all, but what he wants
for
you. There’s nothing within his power he wouldn’t do to make you happy. That includes giving you up.” She scrunched up her nose. “Now I’ve invested far too many years hating his guts to go all soft on him now. Don’t think just because I’m being all nice and sisterly to you that I’ll cut him any slack.” She winked and went back to search for her missing papers.

I sank my hands in the warm, foamy water and scrubbed, allowing my head time to catch up to my heart.

Chapter Thirteen

Three days later, the diner buzzed with typical Sunday morning conversation, each layered voice droning until only the collective hum remained.

“Here you go, Mr. Lawrence.” I unloaded my tray. “Grilled cheese sandwich on wheat with tomato soup.”

“Thank you, Madelyn.” His eyes squinted behind Coke-bottle lenses. “You look lovely as always.”

“Why thank you very much.”

His spoon shook in my direction. “You could stand to put on a little weight, though. Elsa always had such a nice, round figure.” He scratched his chin. “They just don’t make women like her anymore.”

I offered him condolence. “You were a lucky man to have had her all those years.”

His head wobbled in a shaky bob. “Yes, I believe I was.” He filled his spoon, and I tucked my tray against my chest, leaving him to enjoy his meal.

Past the crowded tables, I headed for the kitchen with a pocketful of fresh orders for the cook. The back of a head full of blonde curls came into view as I stepped into the galley-style kitchen. Emma glanced over her shoulder and grinned.

“Business is booming today.” She tapped her wooden spoon in time with her words. “I can almost see my new Viking range. Only seven hundred dollars left to go and it’s industrial stove, here I come.”

“If we have a few more days like today, we’ll have that sucker paid for, crated and headed this way.” I passed over the tickets covered in my very best waitress scrawl, meaning only Emma could decipher them.

The small bell hung over the diner door tinkled. I glanced towards the hall and smoothed my hands down my shirt and apron.

“Expecting someone?”

“No.” Clayton had only come to the diner once in the last five years. So, yeah, I was crazy because my pulse kicked up and my palms got sweaty just thinking about him walking through that door.

Then the bell tinkled three more times in rapid succession. This time Emma’s face lit up. She had a standing date every Sunday with three gentlemen and it sounded as if they had arrived.

She killed the flame on the stove and shifted the large pot off the burner, then cleaned her hands on the towel hanging from her apron. I pulled my pad and pen out and followed her up front, right into an ambush.

“Emma! Emma! Emma!” Eager cherub-faced triplets tugged at her pants and apron.

“Well, if it isn’t the three most handsome men alive.” She fanned her face with her hand. After tweaking each button nose, she gathered them in for a tight hug, which they allowed with typical male reluctance. “It’s been too long, guys. Who said you could grow up on me?”

“Emma,” Jared sighed. “We saw you…” He turned to his brother Ben for confirmation. Ben shrugged, turning to Parker instead.

“Last Wednesday!” Parker squealed.

She slapped her forehead with the heel of her palm. “Of course. What was I thinking? How’s that leg doing today, Parker?”

“Em-ma.” Parker groaned. “You sound just like Momma.”

“Sorry,” she said. “I forget how grown you are sometimes.” Then she looked up to their mother. “Hello, Dana.”

“Good afternoon. Madelyn, we’ll take our usual, please.”

Emma ruffled the hair of the nearest boy. “Follow Miss Maddie, guys, she’ll take good care of you while I go get your order ready.”

I led the trio plus mom to a booth in the rear of the restaurant and watched the boys pile in one on top of the other, elbowing for room as they leaned across the tabletop. Dana slipped onto the bench seat opposite them.

With their drink orders filled, I returned to the table. “I’ll be right back with some crayons and coloring books.” The boy’s hands slapped the table, eagerly staking claim to their section of workspace.

At the podium, I bent down and separated three thin booklets and three packets of crayons from the second-shelf basket. The last box’s bottom fell open, spilling the colors across the floor just as the tiny bell tinkled again.

“I’ll be right with you.” I gathered the rolling crayons.

“There’s no hurry.”

Fear straightened my spine, jerking me upright. I hit my head on the podium’s overhang, but ignored the dull ache and reached into the topmost bin filled with wrapped silverware. I fumbled a dull knife free of its napkin wrapper and faced my customer.

“Jacob, I’m sure you’ll understand when I say you aren’t welcome here anymore.”

He stepped forward and my hand tightened on the knife. Blunt it might be, but enough force would slow him down until Emma could arrive.

He took a half step back when he noticed my hands remained concealed. “I had to see you and I thought it would be safe now that, well, it’s been five days.” He coughed through his embarrassment. “I wanted to apologize. I have a problem with caffeine, I do, but I swear I’ve been doing better about drinking decaf. It’s just that times have been bad for me. I never meant for things to get so far out of hand that day.” The black-and-white tile floor held his attention. “I have issues with your family, but all of us do. With you being like you were, and the coffee, I just lost it.” He glanced up. “I had to say I’m sorry. That wasn’t me, and if you ever need to go to Harper’s grave, just call ahead and I’ll make myself scarce.” He turned to leave. “I don’t expect forgiveness, but I owed you some explanation.”

“Wait.” I half expected Emma to barrel out at any moment to separate his head from his neck. “I appreciate you coming to tell me, but you have to get help before something like this happens again. The next female might not be so lucky.”

I couldn’t say I forgave him. I didn’t, maybe never could. I couldn’t say it was okay, because it wasn’t. No matter the extenuating circumstances, he had problems, and I wasn’t looking to solve them.

He ducked his head, pushing back through the door and outside where I watched until he disappeared from sight. My hold on the knife eased. Then, on second thought, I slipped it into my apron pocket. Just in case.

I gathered the loose crayons and coloring books, carrying them back to the kids. Dana sat with her hands folded and stared at me, smiling just enough to make me nervous. “Sorry for the delay. I’ll go check on your order.”

Ducking into the kitchen, I ladled three mugs of tomato soup and grabbed wedges of grilled cheese sandwiches from a blissfully unaware Emma, then carried it all on a tray to the waiting boys.

My fingers looped through the mug handles and settled the smaller portions of soup onto the red and white checkerboard tablecloth. Choruses of “thank you” from Emma’s favorite patrons made me grin as I fished a handful of saltine packets from my apron, dropping them with a few extra napkins onto the table. “Will there be anything else, sirs?”

Three sets of baby blues glanced up, grinning as they elbowed and shoved to hoard the most crackers from one another. “No, ma’am,” they chimed in triplicate.

“Dana, are you sure I can’t get you something?”

“No, I’m just fine, thank you. I ate an early lunch with Clayton and the new arrivals.”

I exhaled slowly, counting backwards from ten and telling myself it didn’t chafe to know she’d seen him today and I hadn’t. “Great. I hope they’re settling in okay. I know the acclimation process can come as a shock.”

“Yes, today was full of surprises.”

I waited for an explanation, but she didn’t offer one.

“Well, enjoy your meal and I’ll check back in with you in a few.” I escaped to the short hall separating the kitchen from Emma’s office, needing a minute to myself. Between Dana’s annoying cryptic remarks and Jacob’s confession, I had a lot to digest and I didn’t think the Rolaids I kept for customers in my apron pocket were going to be any help.

The worn paneling gave beneath my back. I heard a sharp click and the murmur of voices seconds before the emergency-exit door popped open. The alarm didn’t sound, which was going to get Emma in serious trouble with the health inspector one day.

I squinted against the glaring light pouring in from outside. Lynn’s shoulder bumped my own, jostling me aside in her haste. Marci followed on her heels and touched a gentle hand to my arm as she passed. They both entered the kitchen with hurried steps. Neither said a word. How strange.

The door swung wide again and Clayton stepped through it. My chest tightened, wound by the convergence of relief to see him home safe and the knowledge he had come for me. I’d done a lot of thinking the last three days and had made my decision. I just didn’t know how to go about telling him what I needed him to hear.

“I need to talk to you.” He reached for my hand. “I’ve brought someone you’ll want to see.”

“I can’t just leave.” I laughed. “Emma—”

“Has Lynn and Marci to cover for you. You need to come outside with me.”

He compressed the metal bar with his hip. Pulling me along with him, we stepped into the narrow alley running behind the store meant for deliveries and trash collections. I didn’t see anything, or more to the point, anyone.

“There’s no easy way to tell you this.”

My palms dampened. Who could he have brought? What if this was a trick to lure me away from the bustling flow of the diner’s steady lunch traffic? He was the colony leader. Maybe he couldn’t risk the social entanglement with a half Askaran.

If I made a scene, he wouldn’t want witnesses. Would he tell me our relationship was over before it began? I tried to steady my hands shaking lightly within his. Did he know how scared I was to lose him? How the thought terrified me until I’d tossed and turned each night he’d been away?

“After you left me at the inn, I received word from a legion contact posted in Askara. He’d heard from a slave in your mother’s service at First Court.”

I exhaled in a sharp rush that huffed between us. Not personal. Business. That I could handle.

His warm thumbs rubbed over my skin. “The slave reported that your mother had kept a golden cage in her private chamber for a number of years. It was always empty while he attended her, but curiosity got the better of him once and he stepped inside the cage to look around. Lines were scored into the bottom, like someone had been marking time.” Clayton glanced up, finally meeting my eyes. “Someone was being kept there.”

“That’s hardly unusual.” I hated remembering the culture I’d been born into, where cruelty was applauded and abuse commonplace. “A lot of the nobility have eccentric tastes.”

His slow motions ceased. “Yes, but he had reason to believe that I would want to know of this slave in particular.”

My mind struggled with the implications. Only one male would have drawn his personal interest. “Harper?” I forced the name past my suddenly dry lips as I waited for Clayton’s confirmation. No wonder he had left so quickly. Even wounded, the remote possibility of reuniting with his brother must have spurred him into action. “You think he’s alive?”

Clayton reached into his pocket and pulled out the braided leather bracelet Harper had been wearing the last time I’d seen him. The night he didn’t came home. I took the slight weight into my hand, turning it over and smoothing my thumb across our names. “Where did you get this?”

“Our informant found it hidden in the bottom of the cage. He recognized the names and went to find a legion contact he trusted.”

“We have to go to him.” My fist closed around the bracelet.

“No, we don’t.” Clayton palmed my shoulders. Gravel crunched beneath my shoes as he twisted me around to face the open alley. I leaned into his strength as my eyes caught on Mason escorting my guest. “It’s all right.” His fingers skated over my skin, soothing me with his warmth. “Just remember to breathe.”

Mason’s approach was hindered by the support he offered the second male’s slight frame. He stood with his eyes downcast, staring in the vicinity of my feet. His blond hair hung loose around his face with circles darkening his eyes. His skin looked gaunt and discolored, none of which I should have been able to see. His fading glamour flickered.

“I don’t understand.”

A graveled voice issued from the weakened male. “He’s brought you a gift, Maddie.” When he looked up, his full black eyes sparked instant recognition. “Unless you would have him return me?”

Hearing my name on his lips, my mouth fell open. “Harper?” I loosened my hold on Clayton. “Is that really you?” I stepped forward, hopeful, but unwilling to believe, so afraid this would be a trick of my mind and not reality.

“Who else would it be?” He shook off Mason’s hold and opened his arms to me.

I ran into them without hesitation. My hands slipped around his waist, so much leaner, thinner than I remembered. I felt his spine where my fingers met at the small of his back as bone almost punched through delicate skin and the thin flannel shirt hanging from his lean frame.

Spiced incense tickled my nose. His fragile heart beat softly beneath my ear. “I thought I’d lost you.” Hot tears spilled over my cheeks to soak his shirt with my happiness.

Harper buried his fingers in my hair and tucked me close. “I thought I was lost too.”

I took his beloved face between my palms. My thumbs dipped into the hollow planes of his cheeks. “Have you been in Askara this whole time? How did you escape?”

“The night I left you and Emma, I found Marcus and Clayton too late. Their intelligence was wrong about the location. Because of your ascendancy, there was twice the number of guards they had been told to expect. They were ambushed just outside of this realm.” A steadying breath rattled through his chest. “I helped Father carry the wounded legionaries to safety while Clayton covered our backs. When we circled around to search for survivors, an arrow sliced through Father’s wing.”

Harper’s eyes closed. “The archers took advantage of his freefall. By the time I reached him, there were dozens of shafts piercing his body, too many to safely remove. Clayton was wounded while trying to reach us. The fall knocked him unconscious, so I had the remaining legionaries carry him home while I stayed with Father. He died in my arms. And I was captured.”

“If not for me—”

“Then positive change wouldn’t have been set into motion.” His glamour flickered again, revealing an almost skeletal frame shrouded in tight, black skin. “After I took you away, Nesvia blamed your disappearance on your mother. She has planned a coup to overthrow the throne of Askara. It’s taken many years to gather the proper support, but now she has it, and won’t rest until she’s taken the crown.” His coarse voice held hope. “She plans to abolish slavery. It will be a long path to our people’s freedom, but your sister has taken the first step.”