Questing (Cosmis Connections, Book One) (7 page)

“You can’t really believe that’s a possibility.” He sounded unsure.

“I guess not.” She was remembering Brett’s words.

“Kiley, listen to me. First, I promise I will always be honest with you.”

“All right.”

“Good. Second, walking into Mr. Paul’s that first day may have been the best thing in my life so far.”

“Jordan, stop exaggerating. You just said you’d be honest.”

“I am being honest. You may not realize it yet but meeting you has had a tremendous impact on me.”

“What? No…”

“Yes, Kiley. You are one very special woman…”

“But you don’t know me.”

“Hmm. Okay so tell me everything you think I should know.”

She remained silent for a bit. “Like what?”

“Anything at all. Let’s see, start with something easy. How did you wind up at Mr. Paul’s?”

“I was a dishwasher the first day. My mom wasn’t well and I needed a job. It was a month after graduation and that was the first job I tried for.”

“Your mom wasn’t well?”

“No, she’d just had an aneurysm. They did surgery but it wrecked part of her mind. I couldn’t give her the kind of care she needed and I didn’t want her stuck in one of those county homes so I sold the house to pay for the Villa. I found the cheapest apartment I could but there wasn’t anything left after her expenses.”

“Kiley,” he said gently.

“I’m okay, Jordan. It still hurts and I miss her terribly but I don’t mind talking about her. I mean, if you really want to hear this.”

“Absolutely. I’ll listen to everything you’re willing to tell me.” He wished he were with her. He could hear the emotion in her voice. If it were up to him, he’d prefer to have this conversation with her folded in his arms. Instead, he’d have to do his best to offer support over the phone. “Please continue.”

“Okay. I was hired as the evening dishwasher and it was a total disaster. Mom’s surgery wiped out her recent memory. She was stuck in the year I was thirteen. I’d been in the habit of visiting her around the time school would have been done. That first night, I was so worried that she’d think something bad happened, that I was lost or hurt that I was a wreck. I dropped a stack of plates and knocked a tray of glasses off the counter. Henry called me into his office and I really expected to be fired after he said I had to pay for what I broke. Instead he got me to tell him why I was so jumpy when I hadn’t been during my interview.

“When I finished, he said he wished I’d told him about her up front. He explained that he was looking for a lunchtime hostess. He guessed that I could probably use some extra money so he asked if I’d come in early and help set up every day. Since the job was weekdays only and it paid almost twice as much as the dishwasher job did, I took it.

“I was so scared. I’d never tried to make idle conversation with complete strangers before. It turned out that Henry explained my situation to Dee and asked her to keep an eye on me when he was busy. He was so nice to me and patient. And he even encouraged me to call and check on my mom every day.

“For two years, she thought I was visiting her on my way home from school. I took a change of clothes to work with me so I’d look how I did in middle school. She got progressively worse and eventually gave up and died.”

“I’m sorry, Kiley. I wish I could give you a hug.”

“I do too,” she sniffled. “Anyway, Henry let me keep my hours even though I didn’t need them to stay the same. I help out at night and on weekends during vacations but usually I only work on weekdays.”

“Thank you for telling me about your mom. It means a lot to have you trust me with something so personal. Do you have any other family, other than your cousin?”

“Just Lyssa’s parents but they’re in South Carolina at the moment. My uncle is in the Marines and that’s where he’s stationed now.”

“What about your dad?” Jordan had purposely asked Dee not to tell him about Kiley’s parents.

“He’s gone too. He was a Marine like my uncle. He was in Kuwait during Desert Storm and went into a minefield in the desert to rescue a little girl.”

“God, Kiley.” Jordan didn’t know what to say to show how much he hated initiating such a painful conversation over the phone.

“Not what you expected is it?”

“Not at all. With your consistently upbeat nature, I’d never have guessed that you’ve endured so much sadness.”

“I think it’s what makes me care so much about everyone who walks into Mr. Paul’s even though I don’t really know anything about them. I feel like I want to protect all of them.”

“Including me?”

“Especially you. Now as I saying, my dad went into the minefield. He carried the girl until he was close enough to swing her to one of the other guys. He hit the mine on his next step. I think he knew somehow that it was going to happen and that’s why he threw the girl.”

“Sounds like he was a good man.”

“He was. Before he died, I had a great life. Everyone’s always saying what a bad childhood they had but mine was truly wonderful. My parents were the best. I have so many good memories.”

“Then you’re very fortunate. Did your mom know what happened?”

“No. Her memory ended when he was sent to Kuwait. I used to make up letters from him to read to her. That probably sounds bad but it actually helped me. I wrote things that I could imagine him telling us. I think it brought him back to me for just a little bit. In an odd way it gave me the chance to say goodbye.”

“I can’t begin to imagine how painful this must have been for you.”

“It was awful at the time. I admit I still cry sometimes but not like I used to. At the beginning, when Mom would ask if we’d had a letter from him, I’d go home and fall to pieces.”

“And now I brought it all up again. I’m so sorry, sweet.”

“I’m glad I told you about them. It seems right somehow. I think they both would have appr—ah—liked you.”

Had she almost said approved of him? Jordan felt as if his heart were going to burst. “I’m glad you told me too. You’re a very strong woman.”

“Thanks, Jordan but I’m just me. Your turn. Tell me about your parents.”

“Well, I’m very lucky to still have both of them. They both retired early. Mom worked as a police dispatcher which sounds more involved than it was since we lived in a small town and there wasn’t really much serious crime. There were only two full-time cops and a few part-timers. Mostly, they took care of the people who drank too much. There were some that got violent toward their families so the cops had to haul them into the little jail to sleep it off. They also chased speeders and cornered teenagers who were intent on causing some havoc. My brother, Shane, is a cop now probably because he spent so much time riding in a squad car when he was young.”

“Is he in the same small town?”

“No, he’s here actually. He wanted something that wasn’t as tame as our town was.”

“Are you close?”

“Pretty much. Shane’s the best big brother a guy could ask for. When I was a kid, I practically idolized him. He’s two years older than I am so growing up he seemed bigger than life. There was nothing he couldn’t do and nothing he hadn’t already tried before me. I wish we could get together more often but he does a lot of undercover stuff now so I can’t always get in touch with him.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

“I think it is. Shane doesn’t talk about that side of his job though. I suspect he still thinks I’m a little kid who needs to be sheltered from the worst of it.”

“What about your dad?”

“Dad was basically the town handyman. He took care of just about anything anyone needed. He could always fix anything. He’d paint houses or cut down a tree before it fell on a roof. He was even known to drive some of the older people to their doctor’s appointments or stop at the store if someone couldn’t get around. He still helps out when he’s needed.”

“Your family sounds terrific.”

“They are. I, however, was a constant nuisance growing up. If there was trouble to be found, I’d be in the middle of it. More often than not, Brett would get sucked right in with me but it was generally my fault. I think that’s another reason Shane is a cop. He was always dragging me out of something or reading me the riot act when he heard what I’d been up to. There were many occasions that he dealt with the problems I caused on his own instead of turning me in to our parents.

“I don’t think they were ever fooled though. Mom and Dad could see right through me. If they asked me directly if I’d done something, I never lied. I’d tell them what it was and take whatever punishment they gave out. There were lots of times when Brett was sent home and instructed to come clean with his parents. He always did too, once we’d been caught so my parents never had to call his. And they all knew I was the instigator so they were slightly less hard on Brett most of the time. Of course, they always pointed out that he knew better than to follow me but he was my best friend. He never backed down once I started something.

“You’ve seen how Brett is. Well he’s always been like that, always happy and out for fun. The few times I’ve seen him honestly angry were my fault. Shane didn’t hesitate to give him the same lecture I got. Brett took it but, on occasion, Shane would give me an extra dose. If Shane was being exceptionally hard-nosed to me, he’d jump right in the middle of it like he was trying to protect me.”

“Why did you do things if you knew you’d get caught?”

“To be honest, Kiley, I only got caught when I let myself get caught. I’d set it up so Shane would find out because I wanted his attention. I’d tried all his activities, football, basketball, baseball but it backfired. The coaches were always comparing us and I think Shane was disappointed that I didn’t measure up. Our grades were about the same. Then one day, I was rambling about nothing and Brett rearranged some words and we were onto our first scheme.

“After I saw how well it worked, I started pushing the limits. I’d come up with the basic plan. Brett would find a way to sell it and then I would talk us into or out of whatever it was. I usually avoided doing things that were too illegal but not always.”

“Illegal, Jordan?”

“Well yeah but like I said, it wasn’t really anything that bad. I mean, take the car incident for example. There was a married couple who taught at our school. When I was fifteen, I went and told the wife that her husband locked his keys in the car and had sent me to get hers for him.”

“He didn’t really send you?”

“Nope but Brett told me just how to phrase it so she’d believe me. It was hot and we were bored so we drove out to the lake for a swim. We brought the car back before school was over and had planned on slipping the keys back on her desk where we knew she kept them even though we knew I’d probably get caught but figured it would be worth it. What I didn’t count on was Shane being there, waiting with the teachers when we got back. See, he’d been trying to get them to call to report their car stolen. I’d never seen him so furious or so close to physical violence before. It was fascinating in a twisted way. Fortunately, for Brett and me, our teachers had a different idea in mind. School was over the next week and we spent the summer at their disposal. We did unlimited yard work, house painting and garage cleaning. We also had individualized unofficial summer school. Shane made a point to check in with them every week and I’m sure our parents knew about it but they never mentioned it. Now, you’d think that would have reformed most kids, right? Not me though. Brett would occasionally try to talk me out of stuff but if I was determined, he’d help with whatever.”

“Wait a minute. You stole your teachers’ car?”

“More like borrowed it. And we filled the tank for them and washed it. It’s not like they needed it for those three hours.”

“Jordan!”

“I know. You’re thinking I’m not showing any remorse. Kiley, I know we were wrong. We both did but did it anyway. Once Brett knew he couldn’t talk me out of it he coached me on what to say to talk our way out of the trouble we knew we’d be in. But it could have been much worse. We could have stolen a stranger’s car or been drinking and wrecked it.”

“You know how to steal a car?”

“Yes but I never have. I figured it would be good to know in case I ever lost my keys.”

Kiley laughed at how he made it sound so perfectly reasonable. “I’m amazed.”

“Good or bad?”

“Undecided for now. Was that summer awful?”

“No, it turned out to be great. They were both really good people. He was an English teacher and she taught math. I guess they figured out that part of why we got into trouble was that we were bored so they solved the problem by giving us things to concentrate on. And they talked to us while we worked too. We learned a lot about life that summer, not just school stuff. It’s not like they said anything much different from what our parents did but we were kids and it was easier to listen to coming from someone else.”

“So did you stay out of trouble?”

“Yes and no. We did things we shouldn’t have but we didn’t get caught.”

“Like what?”

“There was a racetrack about thirty-five miles away. We hitchhiked there every other week or so. We’d find a woman who’d been deserted by her husband and then get her to bet on the horses for us. We amassed a tidy sum by the time school started again. Shane knew we had unexplained cash but never figured out where it came from.