6
Tennyson
Fog, thick and swirling, had begun to roll in off the yet unseen ocean, giving the road an ominous look to it. No one else mentioned it, so Ten kept his mouth shut. He didn’t feel any danger surrounding the van, so it was best to let this sleeping dog lie.
“Turn right on Rockwell Avenue,” Ronan said, from the navigator’s chair. “It’s the last house.”
“I don’t see any houses. There’s so much fog. How do I know if I’ve gone too far?” Fitz asked, sounding a bit restless.
“You’ll get a real up-close and personal view of the Atlantic Ocean.” Ronan pointed. “This is it. Number 136.”
“There are only eight houses on the entire street. How the hell can this house be 136?” Fitz pulled into the driveway and shut off the engine.
“No clue. That’s one for the theologians.” Ronan snickered.
“Listen up, guys,” Fitz began. “I want the kids to stay put, while we unload the luggage and groceries.”
“My butt is asleep from sitting here for hours, Daddy,” Aurora whined from the last row.
“Mine too,” Everly agreed.
Ten didn’t need his gift to know everyone was exhausted. The simple fact that no one laughed over Aurora’s sleeping butt was a clue in itself.
“Give us ten minutes,” Fitz said, sounding tired. He hopped out of the van, followed by Ronan, who opened the sliding door.
“I’ll stay with the kids,” Ten said, as Jude, Cope, and Jace got out.
He’d seen pictures of the house from the Airbnb website, but it looked much different now.
Colonial in design, the house was faced in stone with five windows on the second floor.
On the left was a great room, which had obviously been added to the house well after it was constructed in 1720.
Ten knew there were six bedrooms, all of which were on the second floor.
Only three had en suite bathrooms. The other three bedrooms had to share a single bathroom, which he knew would complicate matters with Everly and Aurora spending more time in front of a mirror than any eight year olds should.
“This will only take a minute.” Ronan dashed to the front door of the large, grey colonial house, and fiddled with the lock mechanism. Seconds later the door was open and Fitzgibbon, laden with grocery bags rushed inside.
“Dad?” Everly asked, as she unbuckled her seat belt. She took the seat beside Ten.
“It’s only gonna be a few more minutes.” Ten snapped, which wasn’t like himself at all.
“I know, but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” Everly’s tone was quiet, as if she didn’t want the other kids to hear what she was saying.
“I’m sorry,” Ten said, matching his voice to his daughter’s. “It’s been a long day. I didn’t mean to bark at you.”
Everly patted Ten’s arm. “It’s okay. We need to go to the beach.”
“You know I don’t put my foot down very often, but there’s no way we’re going to the beach. I can’t see more than two feet in front of my face in the fog and this house is on a cliff. There’s a path and stairs that lead down to the beach, but trying to find it now would be dangerous.
“Okay, Dad.” Everly looked as if she had more to say on the subject, but she stayed silent.
“Okay, everyone, all ashore!” Ronan hurried toward the van to help the kids out. Everly and Auora were first, then Wolf and Ezra. Lizzie was asleep, so Ten had to free her from the car seat and carry her to Ronan, who took her with one arm and helped Ten out with the other.
The fog swallowed Tennyson and the others. The kids had taken off for the front door the second they were free and within a stride or two, they were lost in the fog. He could hear their voices, but couldn’t see them. Ten found he didn’t have the energy to chase after them.
“Are you okay?” Ronan asked, when they entered the house. Fog swirled into the entryway as he shut the door.
“I’m not sure.” Now that Ten was out of the fog and inside the house, he felt much different. Happy, rather than uneasy. More relaxed. In vacation mode. He gave his head a shake, as if to free his mind from the fog. “No, I’m good.”
“Are you sure? You sound confused. Or tired.” Ronan looked Ten over, looking as if he thought he would find something wrong with him.
“I’m good. Why don’t you show me the house?” The last thing Ten wanted was to examine what was going on in his head.
“This is the hallway,” Ronan said, with a sweeping bow. “The central staircase leads to the second floor, where our bedchamber awaits.” He waggled his eyebrows. “To our right is the formal living room, and the conservatory is to the left.”
Ten walked to the door on the left. A gorgeous ebony grand piano sat kitty corner near the far wall.
A large stone fireplace dominated the back wall.
Deep leather armchairs dotted the room, along with a variety of instruments, an acoustic guitar, a ribboned tambourine, a set of bongos, and a weird wooden fish, which Ten thought was some kind of percussion/xylophone instrument.
“The kids are gonna have a ball in here.” Ten found himself glad he’d packed a new bottle of Advil.
Ronan snorted. “When we showed the kids the house online, they were excited too. Jude told them these things were decorations and couldn’t be played with.”
“I’m surprised it wasn’t Fitz.”
“Oh, it was Fitz too. The kids didn’t believe Jude and turned to him. Fitz told them the rules of the house forbid them from playing the instruments.”
“Did you join in?”
Ronan shook his head. “Of course not. I was the sympathetic one. The sorry-rules-are-rules adult in the room.
That made perfect sense.
“Come this way.” Ronan grabbed Ten’s hand and walked him into the kitchen, which was large and airy.
“This is amazing for such an old house.” Ten couldn’t believe how wide open the room was. It led into a grand dining room with a table and seating for twenty people. Beyond that was the great room, filled with overstuffed sofas and a large television.
“This was part of the most recent renovation. The builders took out a few walls to open the rooms up and to add on the great room. My favorite part of the reno is the deck.” Ronan took Ten’s hand and tugged him toward the large French doors, which were set between the end of the kitchen counter and the laundry room.
Ten hesitated, when Ronan opened the doors to show him outside. He wasn’t sure he wanted the fog to swirl around him again, but when he reached the double doors, it was gone. “What happened to the fog?”
“Sun burned it off?” Ronan shrugged, as if to say he was a detective, not a meteorologist. “Look at this view.” He stepped up to the deck railing and reached for Ten’s hand.
What Ten saw took his breath away. The view of the Atlantic was stunning.
He could see strides, rather than stairs, leading down the path toward the beach, which, aside from a flock of seagulls, was empty.
The water was a glittering bottle glass green, which turned to white when waves slammed against the shore. “This is amazing.”
“A million dollar view, for sure.” Ronan wrapped his arms around Ten and hugged him.
“More like a twenty million dollar view.” Ten had no idea how much a house like this on the edge of the ocean would cost, but it certainly wasn’t one paltry million dollars.
“Let me show you the bedrooms.” Ronan led a very reluctant Tennyson back into the house, where Fitz and Jace were starting dinner.
“Are you guys all settled?” Ronan asked.
“Yeah, we took the ocean-view room on the left. Jude and Cope have the one in the middle, and you two get the one on the right side. The girls have the room right next to the other bathroom and the boys are on the other side. We put your luggage in your room.”
“Thanks, Fitz, that’s really sweet.”
“You bet.” Fitz grinned. “Hurry up and settle in. We need you down here to make a salad to go with the steaks for dinner.”
“Aye-aye, Captain Fitzgibbon.” Ten snapped off a salute and headed for the stairs.
Climbing toward the second floor, Ten felt the remaining tension drain from his body.
They’d made it to the Cape with no real hassles, aside from the traffic, and he could hear the happy kids laughing and running upstairs.
When he reached the top of the stairs, Ronan guided him to the right. “This is us.” Ronan threw open the door like a model on The Price is Right. “What do you think?”
The room was done in shades of navy blue.
A king-sized bed sat in the middle of the back wall with matching nightstands.
A small sitting area near the picture window was the perfect spot for watching the sun rise.
Ten noticed the bathroom had a large walk-in shower done in blue subway tile, which matched the color of the double sinks.
“It’s gorgeous and peaceful. I feel like I’m out to sea without a care in the world. ”
Ronan sighed.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re about to add more than one care to my world?”
“Because you’re a brilliant psychic?” Ronan guessed. “Actually, I don’t think it’s anything major, but I wanted to ask you if Everly spoke to you about Sam Bellamy?”
“The pirate?” Ten asked. Why the hell would Everly have had contact with him?
He flashed back to twenty minutes ago when Everly told him they needed to get down to the beach.
Was Sam Bellamy here? What did he want with Everly?
“Please tell me he’s not in this house with us, Ronan.
I know Fitz said he wouldn’t mind pirate ghosts, but I would. ”
Ronan took Ten’s hands and led him to the sunrise chairs near the windows. “She hasn’t mentioned Bellamy being here, but she had a vision about him at the pirate museum.”
“A vision?” Everly hadn’t mentioned anything of the kind to him. “And you’re just telling me about this now?”
“Hold on, Ten.” Ronan held his hands up, as if to say, I’m innocent. “She had a vision of herself on Whydah. She saw Bellamy and some of the other crewmen, but they couldn’t see her. There was no sign of foul weather, so it wasn’t the night of the sinking.”
Ten took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He’d nearly bitten Ronan’s head off over something as simple as a little fly-by vision. “I’m sorry for getting so upset.”
“Don’t be. I was just as upset then as you are now.
” Ronan paused, looking as if he were choosing his next words carefully.
“I think part of the reason that maybe she didn’t tell you and was reluctant to tell me is because we respond like this.
We’re angry or scared and then there’s yelling or accusations.
I don’t blame her for keeping things to herself sometimes. ”
That was complete and utter bullsh- Ten paused.
Or was it? “Everly is eight years old and she’s been seeing and interacting with spirits since she was a baby.
Her gifts have strengthened and expanded over time, so finding out she can do new things shouldn’t be a surprise to us anymore.
You’re right, we need to find a better way to come at this. ”
“I know it’s still a long way off, but she’ll be a tween in two years. She needs to know she can come to us with any problem and we’ll listen and not judge. Right now, I don’t think she can say that’s the case.” Ronan sank his head into his hands.
“You’re right. Again.” Ten chuckled.
“You said I was right twice in the last couple of minutes.” Ronan’s face lit up. “If this wasn’t such a serious discussion, I’d be dancing around the room right now. But since I’m a humble man, I’ll simply agree with you.”
“If you’re humble then I’m Bigfoot!” Ten snorted.
“Ohhhh, kinky!” Ronan’s eyes widened. “I wish you’d mentioned Bigfoot sooner and we could have borrowed the fur coat Cope inherited from his mother. Long Dong Silver loves Bigfoot!” Ronan made a heart with his hands.
“Now I’ve heard everything!” Ten laughed. He let out a roar that was a combination of Chewbacca and the T-rex from Jurassic Park.
“Ewwww!” Everly screeched from the other side of the door. “Uncle Fitz wants your dumbasses downstairs to help with dinner. I’ve gotta go wash my ears out with bleach. I’ll never unhear that.”
“How much of that conversation do you think she overheard from the hallway?” Ronan asked with a grimace.
“Enough to scar her for life.” Ten pulled Ronan out of his seat. “I love you, Long Dong. Let’s go help with dinner before Fitz and Jace stage a mutiny and we have to walk the plank.”
“Aye, Cap’n.” Ronan grabbed Ten’s hand and dragged him out of the bedroom.
Ten would find a time later to ask Everly to tell him about the vision of Sam Bellamy. While he was at it, he’d also ask her why she’d wanted to go to the beach when they’d arrived. He had a feeling it had nothing to do with going swimming or collecting sea shells.
Ronan had been absolutely right when he said they needed to chill out when Everly told them little stuff or she wouldn’t come to them later when big things cropped up. Ten vowed that would stop now. Unless, of course, Black Sam Bellamy came for a visit, then all bets were off.