Page 64 of Ghost Walk
“I told you, it’s complicated!” She shouted back. “Just wait until the memory potion kicks in, okay? You’re not going to believe me otherwise.”
He ran a hand over his face. “You’re probably right. In fact, it would be best not to discuss your ideas about time travel, a t’all. They cause my head to pound.”
“You’d prefer I lie to you?”
“I’d prefer you say things that make a damn bit of sense.”
In Grace’s opinion, she was dealing with time travel just about as well as anyone could expect. Being in Harrisonburg, when it was all sparkly and new, still kinda freaked her out. It was the year the frigging Constitution took effect, for God’s sake! Everywhere she looked there were horses and buckle shoes. It was darn unsettling. Jamie really could be a little more supportive.
“Maybe you should have thought about all thisbeforeyou showed up, wanting to ask my father for my loony hand.” She told him archly.
“Why?” He didn’t seem very concerned over the possibility of wedded bliss with a basket case. “I’ve seen enough to accept there are many things I’ve never seen. Much as it annoys me, time travel could well be one of them.”
“You’vereallyseen magic before?” He’d talked of seeing the “fay” back in Scotland, but, at the time, she’d been half-convinced he was just being his whimsical self.
Or drunk.
“I’ve seen fairies dance and mermaids swim. I’ve got a twinkle of knowing in me, lass.”
Grace wasn’t surprised that he’d believed in the supernatural even before he became a ghost. All iterations of Jamie seemed to accept that abnormal happenings were just a normal part of the world. “You’ve seen actual mermaids?”
She had always been inexplicably fascinated with mermaids. They were the one type of magical being she wished were real, but not even a Rivera had ever seen one. If they had, her crypto-taxidermist Uncle Devotion would’ve had it stuffed above the mantle by now.
“Aye. Off the coast of Jamaica, playing in the waves.” Jamie shrugged, like it was no big deal. “So I know what it feels like when you’re staring at something beyond our mortal understanding. I have that feeling when I look at you. But I donea like entertaining the idea of you slipping back to some time period that I cannot reach.”
“Technically, I’m slippingforward.”
Jamie shot her a sideways glance. “When I look at you, Iknowyou’re made of pure magic and Iknowyou’re mine. That’s my point. So, maybe you’re a mad woman and maybe you’re not… But either way, I donea feel the need to explain it. I’m certain we belong together. Now and forever. That’s all that matters to me.”
Crap.
The man always disarmed her when he said things like that. His words weren’t exactly the stuff of Hallmark cards, but it was impossible not to be touched by his faith in their bond.Grace gave up being irritated and sighed. “We belong together.” She agreed quietly. “I know that, too.”
No matter what century they were standing in, Jamie Riordan was her Partner.
He flashed her a slant-y smile, his sour mood evaporating. “So, why are we bickering about what we both already ken?” He slipped an arm around her waist, which was no doubt a graphic PDA by post-Colonial standards.
Grace let him, because he was Jamie and she’d let him get away with just about anything. “Because there are problems with our relationship that you don’t fully understand.” She informed him, ignoring the scandalized looks coming their way. “I’d explain them to you, but I already know you won’t listen.”
He sure as heck wasn’t following her instructions to get out of town. Jamie was going along with most of this, because he could feel their connection. Sure, he’d stab Ned just on general principles, but that was a long way from fully buying her crazy tale of serial killings and time travel. Until the memory potion kicked in, he was just an innocent bystander in this mission.
It was up to her to keep him safe.
“Let us go back to my ship and you can tell meallllllthe problems in graphic detail.” He suggested with a guileless expression. “I’ve also quite an interest in learning what a ‘pizza-tramp’ is. We’ll have a good long talk about all of it.”
“If we go back to your ship, I’m sure ‘talking’ will be the last thing on your mind.”
“Ah, you really do know me, lass.” His eyes traced over the Velcro closure to her tour guide costume, as if he was visualizing her naked breasts. He smirked a bit as her nipples beaded in response. “But I’ve quite a good brain in my handsome head. We’ll compromise. You come with me now and I’ll solve everything for you, before our wedding night. You have my word as a gentleman.”
No one had ever accused the man of lacking confidence. “You and Rhett Butler, right?”
His brows compressed. “Who?”
“Never mind.” Since his life depended on her investigative skills, she needed to focus on finding the killer and not Jamie’s good-natured come-ons. Just walking down the street, Grace could see people slanting him suspicious frowns. Half of Harrisonburg was already convinced of his guilt and only Lucinda had died so far. If she didn’t save Anabel and Clara, he’d be lynched all over again.
Jamie was still holding her and her free hand came over to grip his fingers protectively.
His mouth curved. “Grace,” his tone went soft, “are you trying to guard me from the good citizens of this town? There’s no need, love. I did nothing to Lucinda.”
