Chapter Thirty #2
Callum waddles us across the floor and I laugh as he collides with my coffee table, sending books skidding to the rug. He gently lowers me to the couch and wiggles in beside me.
‘We need to talk,’ he says.
‘Though first we should kiss more, don’t you think?’
I trace a finger across the muscles of his forearm, along the weaving black ink of his tattoo, drifting slowly up and over his bicep. He moans, as I trail up the side of his neck, finger dusting the scruff on his jaw, before toying with the hair on his nape.
‘I like your priorities,’ he says after another soft moan. Then he stills my hand. ‘But we really need to talk. I spoke to the lawyer in London. It seems Western created a living will about a year ago, and made me his sole beneficiary.’
‘He’d been planning this whole thing for a year?’
‘I think he’d been planning this my entire life.’
‘I guess he thought his vision for you was a sure thing.’ Callum drops his head to his chest and sighs, and I know he’s thinking about what very nearly happened to us in that cellar. I take his hand and squeeze it tight, then press a soft kiss to his cheek.
He links his fingers through mine.
‘A trust exists for any medical care Western needs,’ he says. ‘And when he dies I get everything. The house in East Mill – which, of course, burned down, but I get the land. His apartment in the city and some money. Quite a lot of money.’
‘What will you do with it all?’
‘I’ll give the land to the town council.
Let them turn it into a park. I thought I might donate the money to Louise Garlick and her research.
I’ll sell the apartment in the city. I’m going to talk to the lawyer about getting all this in place so when Western finally fucks off, it’ll all just happen and my name won’t be involved.
There’s one other thing, too…’ He runs a hand through his hair. ‘A property in Ireland.’
‘In Ireland?’
‘Yeah… and the cherry on top, there’s more of them, Holly. More fucking Westerns. Spread out across England and Europe. The lawyer is currently reaching out to as many as he can – he has to, because of the will.’
‘I guess it makes sense there’d be more Westerns over there,’ I say. ‘We know Garrett Western returned to England after Elizabeth Howell disappeared. Who was definitely related to me, by the way.’
Callum looks down at our hands, our linked fingers squeezing each other tight. ‘So… My ancestor killed your ancestor.’
‘I feel like that’s something we probably shouldn’t overthink.’
He nods slowly. ‘Agreed. Who would have guessed checking out that old house would open this can of worms? I wish we never went.’
‘If we never went, you wouldn’t be here, sitting next to me.’
‘Well… I suppose that makes it all worth it.’ He gives me a teasing bump with his shoulder. I roll my eyes, but I bump him back. ‘Anyway,’ he says, ‘the paperwork should be through to me in a few weeks, and he’s going to keep in touch about everything else.’
‘You’re not going over there?’
‘For now, I’d feel better dealing with all of this from a safe distance.’
I sigh out the enormous ball of tension that had jammed itself in my chest. I was sure he was going to tell me he was leaving.
‘So, you don’t want to go and kick some evil British butt?’ I tease.
He laughs. ‘Absolutely I do. But I think we should steer clear of my family until I know who’s evil and who’s not. And I think you especially should steer clear.’
‘You’re not going to start being all hero-guy again, are you? Let’s remember who saved who.’
‘Oh, I remember.’ He lifts my hand to his lips with a kiss.
Though he saved me too, from myself, and from a lonely future consisting of ghosts, takeaway ph? and ravenous rats. I curl into his chest.
‘Listen,’ he says, ‘I know you didn’t sign on for this, and I know that being close to me could prove dangerous to you.
Pretty soon, other Westerns are going to know about me, if they don’t already, and I can’t be sure one of them won’t come at me again.
I hope you can see past my family, and I hope you won’t look at me differently because of them, but I get it if you do.
It’s a lot. What they were. What I might become.
But I’m hoping now that I know what I know, I’ll be able to protect us, and I’ll be ready. Knowledge is power, right?’
‘Power is power too, though, and I seem to have a fair bit of that. How do you plan to find out who’s who?’
‘I happen to be a paranormal investigator. I knew that dubious skill would come in handy one day.’ He grins, all crooked charm. ‘But I want you to think about what you might be getting into. With me. Given what we now know about who I am.’
‘I already know who you are. So, you’re going to have to get used to me being around.’
‘Holly, I’m crazy about you. I love every part of you. Even the parts that you don’t think are worthy of love. In fact, I love those parts most of all.’
I press my lips to his cheek and let them linger there, then I sit back and point at his bag. ‘I thought you were going somewhere. I thought you were leaving me.’
‘Nope. That’s my laptop and a few work things, some clothes.’
I tilt my head. ‘You’re not going to ask me for a drawer, are you?’
‘I could probably do with some hanging space too.’
‘Damn, Jefferies. You’re high maintenance.’ I dust a kiss across his still-smiling mouth. ‘I don’t care who your family is,’ I whisper. ‘I only care who you are.’
He smiles at me, a brilliant, beaming smile that I feel deep in my soul.
‘So,’ he says, ‘you still want to watch that movie? I was thinking… The Conjuring .’ His eyes twinkle.
‘Um. No.’
‘ The Exorcist ?’
‘Can you just stop it?’
‘Wait, I know – Ghostbusters !’
I grab a cushion and whack him with it. He shakes with laughter.
‘To be honest,’ I say, ‘I’m not much in the mood for a movie.’
‘Okay, what are you in the mood for?’
I glance up the hall.
‘Oh,’ he says. ‘Ms Daniels, are you trying to seduce me?’
‘Like I’d have to try.’
I stand and help to pull him off the couch. He grabs his bag and slings it over his shoulder.
‘There’d better be more condoms in there,’ I say.
‘Why do you think it’s this heavy?’
I laugh and take his hand. ‘But you can’t keep me up all night this time. I have a job tomorrow. I’ve got some real ghostbusting to do.’
‘Wait.’ He spins me around and tugs me to him. ‘Do you need backup?’
I frown. ‘Of course I don’t need backup.’ Then I look up into his eyes, vibrant green, filled with kindness, humour and mischief, a perfect reflection of who he is, and I smile. ‘I don’t need backup, but I’d like it.’