Page 29 of Stronger Than Blood
“Mick, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard wonderful things.”
I looked at Rory, who was blushing, and I couldn’t help but smile. “Well, thank you. What brings you to these parts?” I asked.
The woman studied me a moment before replying, “Well,you, I think.”
“Me?” I asked and stepped back, shocked.
She nodded. “Things are changing in Rory’s and my lives, and I believe I had a vision with you in it. Besides, I’ve been getting to know your uncle while helping Rory out.”
I swallowed hard—was she talking to my dead uncle? No, that was unlikely. I decided to ignore her comment and deal with it later.
I looked at her clothes, which I had to assume were very expensive, and wondered if she was really helping. Of course, she caught my observation and laughed. “I’m helping him with moral support. I don’t actually clean out trash any longer.”
Of course, now that I looked closer and saw the manicured nails, I knew for a fact that was true.
“I’m not sure what to say about the visions or communing with my dead uncle thing. That’s a little over my head, but welcome.”
She turned toward the back of the room and smiled. “Your uncle says you should plan to come back here this afternoon. If Rory keeps up at the pace he’s going, you’ll want to see what he uncovers.”
This wasn’t something I could ignore. Was she really talking to my uncle? I looked around warily. I loved my Uncle Eddie. I wasn’t as close to him as I am to his sister, my granny, but he was a nice old man. I swallowed hard, but decided even if he was haunting the place, he wouldn’t be as bad as the asshole back at Granny Ida’s place.
“Oh,” I said and nodded. “Okay, well, I’m going to go, then,” I said. It was just too much for me. For a moment I wondered if I should leave them alone in the store, but truth be told, the worst they could do would be to burn the place down. Despite her or anyone else’s statement to the contrary, I doubted anything would be worth keeping.
I shook her hand and waved at Rory, still not willing to touch him again, especially in front of the strange and unsettling woman, then rushed out of the store to see Granny before going to my apartment and, hopefully, getting some rest.
Granny was in a bad mood; she hated the home, and apparently, one of her school nemeses had a great-granddaughter working there, which made her angrier. Of course, I knew that wasn’t the real reason. She just didn’t want to be in a nursing home, and I wished I could help get her out.
Frustrated about the day in general, I went to my apartment and lay down. I figured sleep would hit me fast. Usually, when I was that tired, I barely had time to lie down before sleep took me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get my mind off all the changes going on.
Brenda’s dilemma over my working for her. Rory and his strange mentor, who said she was communing with my long-dead uncle. Then Granny being upset. I felt like I was losing control of everything.
When I finally fell asleep, I tossed and turned, not getting into the kind of deep sleep that I’d read you needed to get proper rest. I got up to use the bathroom around noon and was just about to go back to bed when I felt a cold chill prickle across my skin.
“Fuck,” I whispered because I recognized that feeling. Why the hell was it here and not back at the damned farm?”
As the familiar feeling of darkness slipping in around the edges of my vision began to encircle me, I had to grab the wall to steady myself. The room itself grew colder, and I quickly decided to forego sleep and instead rushed into my bedroom, threw on some clothes, and dashed out of the apartment before I’d even brushed my teeth. If that woman, Madam Bellamy, could communicate with ghosts, for real, maybe she could help me figure it out ’cause I sure as hell wasn’t going to be okay with that SOB showing up at my apartment.The fuck with that!
Chapter nineteen
Rory
Mick came into the building just as I was about to toss the last bit of trash into the dumpster. I’d already filled it to the brim, so until the people who traded them out came, we were done with work for the day. “Hey, I didn’t expect you back so soon,” I said. When Mick didn’t respond, I grew concerned. “Mick, are you okay?”
Mick shook his head. “Is your friend still here?”
“Madam Bellamy?” I asked, and when he nodded, I replied. “No, she went back to the hotel to... well, to go over some research I did on your family and, um, I asked if she could help you with, you know… your unwanted visitor. I didn’t mean to step on your toes, but that guy was a monster.” He nodded, but the color had leached from his face. “Mick, you’re concerning me. Why don’t you come over to the hotel with me, and you can talk to her while I get cleaned up.”
He didn’t resist but followed me out of the building. “Do you want to leave your truck here?” I asked. “I walked over.”
“Yeah, I could use the fresh air,” he said, and we walked toward the hotel. Church had clearly let out because people wereall over the square even though everything except the restaurant was closed.
Mick was friendly but distant as people waved, and although it was clear more than a few wanted to stop and talk, he walked diligently toward the hotel. I didn’t know Mick very well, but I hadn’t seen him like that before. Usually, he went out of his way to be friendly. More than a few townsfolk noticed the odd behavior and looked at me like they thought I might be the problem.
Although none of them gave me the stink eye, I could all but feel their protectiveness. They certainly did love Mick, and that made me like the place even more. It was clear that Mick was out, and I had more than a little interest in him that way. People weren’t showing signs of being upset by it, as much as I felt that if I had upset him, more than a few might stand between us to protect him.
Cool, I thought. Even in Memphis, which had a very large gay community, I’d never felt like anyone cared about us like these people did him.
We got to the hotel, and I led Mick up to Madam’s room and knocked on the door, which she immediately opened. She would, of course, have known we were headed up to her room.
