Greeting, and welcome to 7th Chapter of All Lost Things. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing. The word fairy was with me on this one, it came very easily. I love hearing from you and welcome your feedback. Check out the site, it changes weekly. http://bleedinghearts.nav.to Email: Aterovis@aol.com
Chapter 7
Chaos greeted me as I walked through the front door of our house that evening. The sounds of pot and pans banging around came from the direction of the kitchen, where I deduced that Adam must be cooking. Steve was struggling to add the extra leaf to our antique (and very stubborn) dining table. Kane was busily vacuuming and over all this, the radio was loudly blaring country music.
I rushed over to help Steve with the table. "What's going on?" I asked as I tugged on my end. It slowly slid grudgingly open far enough to accommodate the leaf.
"We're having company," Steve grunted as he dropped the leaf into place. "Push," he ordered.
"So I gathered," I gave the table a shove and it slid back together. "Of the last minute variety I assume. Do I get to know who it is or do I have to wait until the arrive?"
"Judy and Jake. It was Adam's idea."
My stomach did a funny little flutter at the mention of Jake's name but I tried to just ignore it. I thought that Steve sounded a little disgruntled by our eleventh-hour guests, but then again I may have been reading too much into it. e
I wondered into the kitchen and decided I wasn't just imagining things. Adam was wearing a very grim expression as he attacked a large bowl of salad as if the greens had offended him.
"What did that lettuce do to you?" I asked lightly. He jumped and looked up.
"Killian," he said, as if surprised to see me.
"Yeah, I live here, remember?"
"I didn't hear you come in."
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Are you ok?"
"Me? Yeah, why do you ask?"
"Well, with you roughing the roughage and all..."
"I'm fine, just a little stressed with having to throw together a dinner at the last minute like this."
"I thought it was your idea."
"Who said that?"
"Steve."
Adam rolled his eyes, "He would. Technically I invited them, but you know Judy. She called here fully intending to eat here tonight. She dropped hints until I invited her and then she was all, 'oh we couldn't, too much work, blah blah blah,' but of course she accepted."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No, not really. Thanks though, Kill. It's not as bad as I'm making it out to be; I'm just blowing off steam. The chicken breasts are in the oven, the risotto is almost done, I've ravaged the romaine enough and we have plenty of desserts around. All I have to do is mix up the vinaigrette and I'm all done. Besides, you're a working stiff now. You go on and relax until dinner."
"I don't do anything except sit behind a desk all day. The most strenuous thing I do is answer the phone. Although I did get to do some research today at the newspaper."
"That's different. Is it for one of Mr. Novak's cases?"
"He hates to be called mister. And not exactly, but that's a long story."
"Which I want to hear in full, just not right now."
"Ok," I said, trying to hide my relief. I wasn't quite ready for Adam to know that I was getting involved in another murder investigation. I made my exit while I could and took the stairs two at a time up to my room. I was checking my email, nothing but get-rich-quick offers and penis enlargement advertisements, when Kane came in.
"Heya, Kill," he said as he pulled his stained, raggedy t-shirt over his head, "Dad said I hafta change."
"No wonder, you look like some street kid in that nasty shirt."
"Hey, you know it's my favorite. It was Seth's. What should I wear?"
"Clothes."
"Come on, you're the gay guy. You're supposed to be good at fashion stuff."
"Give me a break!"
"I'm just kidding," he said with a grin. He pulled a short-sleeved knit shirt out of my dresser and held it up. "I know how you are about stereotypes. Can I wear this?"
"Just don't get anything on it."
"I'll try. Are you and Asher still on the outs?"
"Yeah, why?" I said warily.
"Are you going to start something up with Jake again?"
"What?"
"You two had something going on once, before Asher, right?"
"That's ancient history, Kane."
"Hmmm, a bit touchy aren't you? Maybe you protest too much?"
"Don't misquote Shakespeare at me," I said a trifle grumpily.
"Fine, I think thou dost protest too much. That better? Anyway, the only reason I asked is because I met this really nice guy today at the library and I think he might be gay."
"Ok, first off, I do not need you fixing me up. I am perfectly capable of finding my own dates if and when I decide I'm ready to date. Second, what makes you so sure he's gay? Did he talk with a lisp and have a limp wrist?"
"Now who's throwing around stereotypes?"
"I was making a point."
"I've been around enough gay guys to know one when I see one. Besides, he was hitting on me, not real obviously or anything but definitely flirting. And no, I wasn't imagining it. And then," he paused dramatically before delivering his final argument, "he gave me his phone number before he left."
"Oh," I said, feeling properly chastised. I turned back to the computer and started reading an article about Madonna.
"Aren't you going to ask me if he was cute?" Kane asked after a minute.
"It doesn't matter since I'm not about to call him. Besides, you're straight, how would you know?"
"I'm straight, not blind. I still know if a guy is hot or not. I'm just not attracted to him if he is."
I shrugged and kept reading. I lasted a full thirty seconds before my curiosity overcame me. "Well, was he cute?" I demanded, carefully keeping my eyes on the screen.
"Well, I am only straight," his voice dripped with sarcasm, "but I'd have to say he was a major hottie."
I struggled for another half a minute before asking, "How major?"
"You know that guy from Cruel Intentions?"
I spun around, "Ryan Philippe?"
"Yeah, that's him. Well he didn't look anything like him."
I laughed out loud as Kane collapsed into a fit of giggles.
"Good one. You made the whole thing up, didn't you?" I said.
"No, he's for real, honest. I just couldn't resist. He's got brown hair and eyes, cute in an all-American sort of way. Actually he looked a little like that guy in your favorite movie."
"Beautiful Thing?"
"No, that other one, with Rachel from friends."
"Oh, The Object of My Affection."
"Yeah, that one."
"You mean Paul Rudd?"
"If you say so. His name is Micah."
"That's a nice name."
"He seemed like a nice guy. He overheard me asking the librarian about where to find books on local history. He said that he'd just finished a great book on the subject."
"Since when have you cared about local history?"
"I don't. It was for Steve. He's doing some sort of research about this house he's so obsessed with. Anyway, Micah showed me the book he was talking about and a few others. Wasn't that nice of him?"
"A regular boy scout," I said dryly, "And how old was this font of knowledge and goodwill? 50? 60? 70?"
"I'd guess in his early 20's. He's a reporter. That's why he knew all that stuff. He was doing research for an article."
"Oh. Well I'm still not calling a complete stranger. And you don't even know for sure that he's gay. He might have just given you his number as a professional courtesy; you know, in case you had more questions."
"Get real. My gaydar is probably better than yours. I could introduce you."
"Forget it, Kane. I'm not going on a blind date with some stranger you just met in the library. Do you really think I'm that desperate?"
"You're still hung up on Asher aren't you?"
"For the love of...where did that come from?"
"If you're not ready to date just say so."
"Has everyone lost their freakin' minds around here?"
The phone started ringing at the moment and Kane scooped it up. I gratefully escaped back to the computer.
"Speak of the devil," Kane said as he dropped the phone into my lap.
I looked up questioningly, but he walked out of the room without a backwards glance.
"Hello?" I said, half expecting to hear the mysterious Micah on the other end.
"Killian?" It was Asher.
"Oh, hi."
"Don't sound so excited," he said.
"I was just...never mind. What's up?"
"You said you'd call me."
"No, I said we would talk."
"Well, now we're talking. What's going on?"
"You're lucky. Novak agreed to help out in his spare time. I think he's just curious about the case."
"Great! When do we start?"
"We started today. We did some research and stuff. We won't be doing much more until Monday."
"Monday? We have to move faster than that! Caleb's in jail!"
"I thought he was fifteen."
"Well, it's juvie jail, but still."
"Look, we have to do this on Novak's time. He's doing us, no, you, a favor by doing this at all."
"We don't have to wait on him for everything. You could meet me tomorrow and we could go visit Caleb. I had him add you to his visitor's list. It's not like he has that many. Don't you want to meet him?"
I started to argue but once again my curiosity won out. "What time?" I said with a sigh.
"How about 11?"
"Fine," I said, "I have to go. Judy and Jake are coming over for dinner."
"I know. They're staying here while they get moved into their apartment. It's a full house."
"I bet. I have to go help Adam now." A small fib but I was eager to get off the phone before I got drawn into anything else.
"Ok, see you tomorrow."
I hung up and I decided to go down and see if there was something I could do so it wouldn't be a total lie. As I stood up I noticed a cream-colored business card lying next to the keyboard.
"Micah Gerber," it read, "Journalist." His phone number and email address were printed beneath that. For a crazy moment I thought about sending this guy and email, but I quickly shook it off and ran downstairs.
I was setting a basket of rolls on the table when I heard voices in the hallway. Apparently Judy and Jake had arrived. My stomach did a triple somersault before settling into what felt like jumping jacks.
I couldn't make myself go out to greet them so I waited for them to come to me. I didn't have to wait long since dinner was ready. Judy and Jake came into the room, led by Steve with Adam and Kane trailing behind. Jake stopped cold when he saw me standing there. He looked better than I remembered. He'd grown up since I saw him last; he now looked several inches taller than me. His hair had darkened to a light brown with blonde highlights and his skin was a warm golden tan, making his bright blue eyes look even brighter. He was, in a word, beautiful. He grinned and his teeth flashed white. I smiled back uncertainly. No one in the room missed the exchange but thankfully everyone had the grace not to mention it.
We settled into our places around the table and somehow it maneuvered so that Jake and I were sitting side by side. I was beginning to feel like things had been orchestrated to throw us together. I didn't much like the feeling.
Adam left the room and came back with the bowl of salad and after a brief blessing we all dug in. Conversation was light; we mostly talked about Judy and Jake's recent move, her new business, and the house that Steve was buying. I noticed that every time the subject of the house came up that Adam didn't have much to say. Or maybe I was just making mountains out of molehills.
Steve filled us in on his latest research on the house, "The real estate agent thought that the house was built in the 1830's, but if it was then she had some of her research wrong. She said that Captain Marnien built it for his young bride, Amalie. The Captain was quite a local celebrity, a bit of an eccentric, and he did apparently build the house, probably later than the 1830's. He didn't marry Amalie until 1859. He was lost as sea about a year later. It was in all the local newspapers at the time, even made the Baltimore papers. Amalie died a few years later and according to one book that was really about historic homes on the Lower Shore. I haven't been able to find her death notice yet, but it's all very interesting. Apparently even though she was a young, beautiful and very rich widow, Amalie didn't socialize at all after the loss of the Captain. She hardly ever left the house in fact."
"If he didn't build the house in the 1830's why did that lady tell you that?" Kane asked.
"Trying to make it sound like more of a deal?" Jake said with studied disinterest.
"What the difference between 20 years when it's already that old?" I said.
"Maybe she just had some incorrect information. Or maybe she just remembered wrong. She did have it all memorized," Steve pointed out.
"Well, I for one can't wait to see this treasure," Judy said, "And I understand it has it's own resident ghost; Amalie I presume?"
"So the legend goes," Steve said with a child-like grin
"I don't believe in ghosts," Kane said firmly.
"Some things exist whether you believe in them or not," Judy said with a small smile.
An awkward silence fell over the table until it got to me. I was never one to stand a pregnant pause. "I know what I want to do now. Like with my life."
Everyone turned to look at me and I wondered if I was blushing. "And what would that be?" Adam asked.
"Well I'll have letters behind my name."
"M.D.?" guessed Adam.
"PhD?" offered Steve.
"DOA?" Kane smirked.
Judy just smiled and Jake just looked slightly disinterested.
"PI," I said.
It fell like a brick. Only Judy's expression remained the same. Adam's eyes widened and his fork stopped in midair. Steve frowned. Kane looked as if he was struggling to keep from laughing out loud and Jake looked interested for the first time that night.
"You want to be a detective?" Adam said carefully.
"Killian Kendall, PI," Kane said with a snicker.
I threw him a dirty look and answered Adam, "Yeah, like Novak. He said that if I work with him three years I could get my license. I'd be like an apprentice."
"It sounds kind of dangerous," Steve said.
"Not really. He said most of his cases are really boring; mostly research and stuff, like I was doing today."
"Are you going to drop out of school?" Adam asked.
"He hasn't started yet, how can he drop out?" Kane pointed out.
"No, I would just take classes that would help make me a better investigator; journalism, photography, stuff like that."
"Well I think it's a marvelous decision," Judy interjected. Adam and Steve threw her a matching pair of scowls.
"Thank you, Judy," I said deliberately. "It's nice to know someone supports me."
"It's not that I don't support you," Adam said, "I just want to make sure you know what you're getting into."
"This is what I really want to do."
"You're mother is going to kill me," he muttered.
"I'll be 18 in a month, then I'll be an adult and she won't have to worry."
"You don't stop being a parent when your child turns 18," Steve said.
"I didn't mean to start a family argument at the dinner table," I said pointedly.
"What? We're not family?" Judy said with a warm smile.
"I didn't say that," I said with an answering smile.
"Jake, you have one year left of school?"
"Yeah, Kane and I are in the same grade." He cast a slightly suggestive smile in Kane's direction. I made a mental not to remind Jake that Kane was straight.
"It's hard to believe that my youngest son is going to be a senior this fall," Adam moaned.
"Tell me about it," Judy agreed, "Do I look old enough to have a son in college?"
"No you don't," Steve assured her, "How is Dash by the way?"
"Loving every minute of life on his own. He's going on some sort of work exchange experience thing to Australia for a year starting next month. He promised to come for a visit before he leaves."
"What kind of work will he be doing?"
"Knowing Dash, very little. They'll have to pry him away from the beach and parties."
"Was it good to see Jamie again?" I asked Jake.
He gave me a funny look that I couldn't quite decipher. "It's just nice to be home," he said quietly. I looked at Judy but she didn't look back. I wondered if I had said something wrong.
"It's good to have you back," I said to fill the silence. That got me a sexy little smile for my effort. I felt a chill run down my spine and I wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
I honestly hadn't thought about rekindling any kind of romance with Jake until Kane brought it up. Our last attempt had been a clumsy, uncertain exploration and had ended before it had even truly begun. But now I was finding that the same attractions that were there the first time were still very much present. I had do decide if I wanted to act on those feelings or do my best to ignore them. I still wasn't sure what was happening with Asher. Were we going to work things out and get back together or was that a lost cause? I needed to have a heart to heart talk with someone, and I didn't think Adam or Steve would do this time; they both had too much on their own minds. Maybe I could talk to Judy.
The conversation had moved on while I was lost in my thoughts and I suddenly found myself the focus of everyone's attention.
"Uh...what?" I said a bit defensively.
"I asked if you've heard how Will is making out with the new baby," Adam said.
"Oh, he sent me an email last week. I need to go see him. He said he hasn't slept hardly at all since they brought Darin home, but other than that he's good. And Darin is good."
"We'll have to have him and the baby over for dinner soon," Steve suggested.
"How old is the baby?" Jake asked.
"Almost a month old," I told him.
"Will is Asher's cousin on Aunt Deb's side, right?" he asked Judy.
"Yes."
"I thought Asher told me he was gay."
"He is," I said.
"So is the baby like...adopted or what?"
"It's a long story," I hoped he would get the hint and drop it.
"Dinner's done, how about if we take a walk and you can tell it to me."
"I..." I started to say that I should help clean up, but Adam cut me off.
"That's a good idea. You two can catch up."
I smiled weakly as everyone got up from the table. As I was following Jake towards the door, Judy caught my eye and seemed to be trying to tell me something. I wasn't sure what though so I just kept going.
I wasn't sure what to say once we were alone, so I headed for the beach.
"I missed the beach," he said after a minute.
I thought you were living in California," I said.
"California isn't all beaches you know. Mom and Dash used to live on the coast but they moved inland just before I went out there. Besides, the west coast beach just feels different. This is home."
"You seem a lot better than when you left."
"I am a lot better. So tell me the story on Will."
So I did. I told him the whole thing, including my limited involvement and how Will came to adopt Darin. When I finished he was quiet for a few minutes. The only sound was the crash of the waves rolling in.
"I missed you, Killian," he said softly after a while. My heart skipped a beat and then sped up. I looked away. "I thought of you all the time," he went on, "When I heard that you and Asher had broke up, I have to admit I was relieved."
"Look, Jake, I don't know where you're going with this, but I don't know where Asher and I stand. I'm not really..."
He cut me off with the softest of touches, just the lightest brush of his hand against my cheek. I turned back to face him. He was so close I could smell his scent, feel the warmth from his body. "I don't know if I ever thanked you for saving my life," he whispered. Then he leaned in ever so slightly and his lips brushed mine. Any restraint I had been holding on to washed away in the sudden rush of emotion and suddenly I was kissing him with an intensity I hadn't felt in a long time.
Jake broke away first. "I knew you wanted me," he said with a self-satisfied grin. s scent, u