Page 36 of The Spirit Key
I turned to Tim. “She’s coming.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing.”
It probably wouldn’t help to tell him I was playing it by ear, so I said nothing at all.
Tim’s gaze strayed to the house as we waited. “I can still feel him.”
“So can I. From what I saw, I think he remembers going to sleep, but not dying. He saw Rachel crying, and he’s sure he did something so awful that his parents left him, and he keeps hoping they’ll come back for him.”
Tim seemed dubious. He kept glancing from the house to the road, then to me.
“I had to do this. I’m sorry if you don’t agree, but there’s no way I can ignore him now.”
He hung his head. “I know. I can feel the overwhelming despair, and it makes me want to help him too. I just… I don’t want you hurt.”
“No guarantees in life, remember? And if we can help Burton, maybe we can figure out your problem too.”
His head popped up. “You think we can do something about it?”
“I know we can.” I didn’t really but wanted to give him hope. “He’s not about to have my man.”
He opened his mouth to say something but stopped when a car approached us.
“She’s here.”
The car pulled up to the curb, and the people inside sat there for several minutes. Gavin was gesturing wildly and glaring at me and Tim. Rachel seemed to be pleading with him. Finally, the car doors opened, and I got my first look at Gavin. He was a bruiser. It was easy to see where Burton had gotten his looks. Gavin had flame-red hair and deep green eyes. He towered over Rachel, and his glare told me that I had to say something before he took us apart.
“Daddy! Mommy!” Burton appeared on the sidewalk and rushed toward them. When he got to where we stood, he stopped and turned his sad gaze on me. “Why won’t they answer me? Do they hate me?”
I wanted to reach out and comfort him, but instead I stood in front of him and stared into his eyes. “No, they don’t. I promise, we’ll fix this.”
“This is bullshit!” Gavin clutched Rachel’s arm and dragged her toward the car. He glanced back over his shoulder. “Get away from us or I swear to God, I’ll rip your heads off.”
Tim’s gaze shot in my direction. It was now or never.
“Burton’s hurting. He thinks he did something that made you hate him because you left him alone.”
“My son is dead, and you’re a bastard for doing this.”
“Yes, Burton is dead, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t need his parents right now.”
That brought Gavin up short. The rage was still there, but also a sadness.
Rachel turned, and Gavin wrapped his arms around her. She was stunning, and I could feel the love they had for each other. “Please, can’t you just leave us alone?”
“To be honest, I wish I could.” I stepped closer to Tim, who put an arm over my shoulder. “But I can’t ignore Burton’s sadness. He’s so lost, and he’s not sure what he should do.”
“You can’t believe this shit, Rach.”
“I don’t.” Her tone showed her doubt. “But what if…. What if Burton does need us? I can’t walk away from that. He’s our son.”
Gavin huffed a breath, but his gaze softened when he looked at Rachel. “Okay.” When he lifted his head, those green eyes flashed. “Say what you have to.”
“Please tell them not to hate me. I’m sorry for whatever I did.”
“Burton says please don’t hate him, and I’m supposed to let you know he’s sorry for whatever he did.”
A deep rumble rolled out of Gavin. “He’s playing us.”
