Rush (Roam Series, Book Four) (17 page)

I concluded that he just loved to teach.

Moving to the thermostat to adjust the air conditioner, he shrugged off his suit jacket. I automatically reached for my sweater on the back of the couch.

“
He’s… there. I can’t wait for him to come home.”

My father pulled me into his arms, and I sighed, accepting his hug.

I remembered the January night Logan called to tell me that he’d died for the first time, listening to him describe the shock and pain of the mortar attack. I hung up and ran to pound on my father’s bedroom door. Before I could lift my knuckles to the wood, he opened the door, gathering me into his arms.

He had already known what happened; Roam’s coordinates had disappeared and reappeared on her arm.

“
He’s going to live, every time, Vi-…,
”

“
Not if they blow him to fucking bits,
” I had followed him down the stairs to the living room, pressing my face into my hands. He had smoothed my hair lovingly. “
And what if someone suspects? They’ll put him in a lab or something and dissect him to figure out-…,
”

“
War is confusing- the chaos, injury… Logan is smart, and he will protect himself and his immortality.
”

As we settled down for dinner together (West insisted that we all eat together, every single night), I moved the spaghetti around on my plate and watched Roam cut Eva’s salad into smaller pieces. West held Christopher in his arms,
checking the tick mark on the bottle to calculate how many ounces the baby had and if he needed to be burped. He was talking about going to medical school, and Roam was asking a thousand questions while Eva secretly slipped Thomas Jefferson pieces of bread under the table.

I don’t belong here.
I cleared my throat and gathered my plate and glass of iced tea, drawing all of their attentions.

“Vi?”

“I’ll be right outside,” I forced a smile, moving toward the patio. “I just need to clear my mind.”

I finished my dinner in the sunlit patio, watching the birds above the trees just off the back yard in the woods. The sun began to lower in the sky when I finally heard the back door open.

Turning toward Roam, I lifted my eyes apologetically. “I hope Dad wasn’t offended.”

“Of course he wasn’t.” She smiled, settling into a patio chair and tucking her knees under her chin. She looked younger than almost twenty, mostly because of those wide, innocent eyes. Even in the castle, when I saw her covered in that green face paint and tortured beyond my worst imagination, her
familiar eyes convinced me that she was still inside there-
somewhere
.

“Do you need some help getting Eva to bed?”

“No,” she smiled again, drawing her finger over her inner forearm. The coordinates had changed the day Christopher was born, and then not again since. “Violet, do you want to be here?”

I shrugged, turning back to the pool and patio. “I love you all. But I feel like… I’m out of place.”

Her piteous expression made me grind my teeth together. “Would it be okay if West and I took the kids down to the beach tomorrow, and you followed in two weeks?”

Have the
whole house to myself for two entire weeks?
“Yes! I could bring Thomas with me next Friday-…,”

“No, no, my dad is keeping him. I just want you to have some time. Only if you
want
that.”

I nodded,
focused on the melting ice cube in my glass. “I need that, Roam.”

“I thought so.” She nodded once, efficiently, and dropped her knees into a cross-legged position. “I want you to know… that when we were in the castle,” she took three slow, steadying breaths, and I stiffened, worried she’d faint. “Logan talked about you all the time. He missed you so much. Even when things were bad, and we didn’t know if we’d get out...,” her voice trailed off as W
est stepped out onto the patio. He leaned down to wrap his arms around her.

“Thank you for that,” I acknowledged, knowing how difficult it was for her to talk about the castle.

“They’re both sleeping,” he said, and Roam brushed at a tear and gave him a stern look.

“Please tell me you read her
Goldilocks
.”

“I gave her the choice between
Goldilocks
and
Tactical Perimeter Defense.
”

“I wonder which one she picked,”
she rolled her eyes, grinning helplessly at him.

I leaned down to hug them both. “Thanks. Both of you. I’ll take care of the house.”

“I booked us a flight for tomorrow morning.” West winked at me, and I nodded.

“Be
safe
,” I added, smiling at my father.

They were gone before I pulled myself out of bed the following morning. Even the dog had been dropped off in Madison with Mr. Camden. I contemplated calling my mother, and then decided instead to enjoy the peace and quiet with a cup of coffee on the patio.

The June sun had yet to warm the air, and I tucked the long, white sweater around my shorts and cami pajama set before settling into the chair. The picturesque backyard, the stillness of the morning, and the silence in the house all felt refreshing after what seemed like non-stop chaos over the past few weeks.
All that’s missing right now is Logan.

I thought again for a moment about going back to college, but then immediately pushed the memory of homework and paper after paper out of my mind.
No thanks.

Halfway through my coffee, the doorbell rang.

Grumbling, I climbed to my feet again. It was a Tuesday, but far too early for the mail.
UPS maybe?
I hurried through the house at the second bell, fully prepared to have major attitude with whoever was standing on the porch.

Peering through the window, I narrowed my eyes. A man stood
with his back to the door, hands tucked into his pockets of his beige cargo shorts. His broad shoulders and dark hair were clear in the morning light, and as he turned slightly, his eyes were masked by sunglasses.

“Can I help you?” I called through the glass.

He smiled, removing his sunglasses. I gripped the handle and held my breath, my heart quickening and skipping beats as I fumbled for the lock. Throwing open the door, I reached for him, searching his blue eyes while tracing his shaven jaw.

“
Logan?
”

The Logan of 1955 stood before me, slightly younger and so surreal on West’s front porch.
He gently caught my wrists in his hands, one eyebrow lifting.

Startled, I took a step backwards,
pulling my hands away and finally gathering my senses.
This can’t be Logan! Logan is in Afghanistan! What in the hell is wrong with you?

“I don’t believe we’ve met,” the stranger
confirmed, noticing my sudden change in demeanor. “Cole Mathison.” He extended his hand, and I took another step backward. His accent was southern, his drawl slowing his words down measurably.

“I… I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

“Right. Logan,” he repeated. “A friend of yours?”

“My fiancé.”

“You thought I… was your fiancé?”

This conversation is way too personal, and you have no idea who this is. Run.

“How can I help you, Mr. Mathison?”

I s
tepped back into the doorway, and he took a non-threatening step back.

“I’m looking for someone, Miss…?”

“Who are you looking for?”
I can close this door and turn the deadbolt while he’s talking- maybe he won’t have time to attack me-…

“I can tell you’re uncomfortable. If I get in my car and close the door, will you give me a minute of your time?”

Nodding immediately, he sighed and tipped his head in agreement, slipping his sunglasses back over his eyes. He kept his palms open by his face. “Okay, my hands are up.”

“No, wait.”
There could be a weapon in the car.
“Can you just tell me who you’re looking for?”

He froze on the step, turning slightly. “Roam
Camden?”

Roam?
I watched his shaded gaze drop to my arm, and then back to my eyes.

The coordinates.
I tried my best to nonchalantly push my sleeves up, revealing my blank skin. “I’m sorry, I don’t know who that is.”

“Wait, I have a photo.” He pressed a couple buttons on his phone before holding the screen up. Roam’s Princeton ID photo filled the screen.

Oh my God.

Think. Fast.
“Hmn. She looks familiar… I may have gone to school with her.”

“She went to Madison High School,” he encouraged. “This is listed as her last known address.”
His deep voice prodded me to go on.

“Why are you looking for her?” I asked,
now fully in the doorway. I knew West kept a gun in the cabinet above the refrigerator, but I wasn’t tall enough to get to it without a chair.

“Her brother is a friend of mine.”

My eyes must have screamed
Roam doesn’t have a brother.
His lips clamped together as I tried to slam the door.

“
Wait
,” his palm slapped the wood as his foot lodged in the doorway. I cursed myself for even
opening
the door.

“
Get out of here.
”

“I’m not trying to hurt her.”

“Then what do you want with her?”

He continued to prop the door open with his sandaled foot, and he pulled his sunglasses away once more. “I’m trying to save her life.”

I stared in his blue eyes, close enough now to see the flecks of green around the pupils.
Exactly like Logan’s in 1955.
“All the ‘handsome hero’ positions have been filled. Walk away.”

“
I think,” his eyes swept over me, and when they finally reached my face again, an amused grin touched his lips. “That you’re just like me.”

“I’m going to call the police if you don’t get off this porch, get into your little car, and
drive
.”

“What’s your name?”
His southern accent was disarming, but I managed to keep my guard firmly in place.

“None of your goddamn business.”

“O-
kay
.” His eyes surveyed the empty living room behind me, and I pushed at the door again, growling as he held it steadily open. “You have kids?”

The toys in the living room.
I thought of my little sister and infant brother, anger detonating deep in my chest. “No.”

“Are you
an immortal?”

I know my jaw went slack, and my mouth dried up like the Sahara. He pushed the door again, and this time it gave way into the living room.

“Are
you?
”

“
Let’s just assume we’re both immortal. You can’t kill me, I can’t kill you. I have no intention of hurting you. I just need some answers.”

I tightened the sweater around my waist, wishing West had stayed one more day but so thankful that the children were safe. “What
… do you want to know?”

I should be afraid of
him. Why am I not?
He looked so much like the man I’d fallen in love with at the cottage in 1955 that I could barely pull my eyes off of his face. He sighed deeply, gesturing to the kitchen. “Can I have a cup of coffee?”

“Are you fucking
kidding
me?” I gaped at him. “No,
asshole
. Ask your questions and get the hell out of here.”

His lips curled into a grin, and he actually laughed. “Charming.”
He gestured to the kitchen chair, and I waived at it sarcastically.
Have a seat, threatening stranger who just forced entry into my home.
When his eyes moved to the mantle over the fireplace, my chest fell.

Their pictures.

“He found her.” Cole stood, walking to the fireplace. I backed to the refrigerator, knowing Eva’s stool would give me just enough height to get to the gun. “And they have a girl… and a boy.”

“What do you know?” I demanded, watching him reach for
their wedding picture.

“I know
that if he found her, and they’ve touched, then her life is in danger.”

My phone began ringing from the back porch, and I broke into a run. Panicked, I glanced over my shoulder, relieved to find him ignoring me and standing at the fire place. My thumb fumbled with the touch screen.
West
.

“Dad?”

Christopher’s cries in the background filled my ears. “Hey Vi- just wanted to let you know that we-…,”