Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
Phineas wasn’t sure he heard the man correctly. “Sorry, you’re my…what?”
“Mais, my sincere apologies for springing it on you like this, but if you’re Phineas Lafontaine, I’m your brother.”
Only Finn and the late Mr. Clague knew his last name. Phineas’ late father had warned Phineas not to use it because they could be tracked down by the people who had been chasing them. No one except Finn and Mr. Clague ever knew his last name.
Bureaucrats did and it was on his land title for the swamp.
His surname was definitely on a need-to-know basis. The fact that this stranger, this other gill man knew his last name was a bit unsettling.
It’s a coincidence. Maybe it’s a common name.
Except, there weren’t any other gill men this far north that he knew of, and this was Phineas’ first time seeing another monster of his kind since his parents died. Still, this Pierre claimed to be his brother? His parents never mentioned anything about another child.
They died when you were young. Maybe they were going to tell you?
And all he could think about was that torn photograph that his mother clung to and cherished. Then again, there was another little voice in his head reminding him not to trust anybody.
Before the Great Revelation, there had been a monster purge in the south. Gill men were chased out of the bayous.
It was a dark time.
That’s all Phineas knew.
A couple of southerners had, after the Great Revelation, found his parents and killed them when they’d been in Tallowfield. Those murderers were thankfully rotting in prison and things had changed for the most part.
Here, in Harmony Glen, Phineas was safe.
“I don’t have a brother.”
“You do, and it’s me,” Pierre stated calmly.
“Maybe I should go,” Pearl said.
“No,” Phineas said. “No. I want you to stay. Please.” And he did.
Pearl was someone he trusted and he really needed that support right now.
This was all too much. Part of him had always longed for family, because when his parents were killed, he was left alone.
If it hadn’t been for the Clagues…well, he didn’t want to think about what would’ve happened to him.
Then there was a piece of his brain telling him this was too good to be true.
A brother?
It was like something out of a fairy tale, and Phineas was having a hard time believing in happily ever afters when he couldn’t even tell the woman he loved that he loved her.
“Okay,” Pearl responded, and then slipped her small, delicate hand in his, giving it a squeeze. “I’m here for you.”
Pierre smiled. “You have such a beautiful cher, Phineas. You are a lucky man.”
“Cher?” Pearl asked.
“Amour? Girlfriend,” Pierre explained. “Sorry, I’m from Louisiana, and Cajun.”
Pink flushed Pearl’s cheeks. “Oh. Yes.”
His heart skipped a beat because she didn’t correct Pierre or deny it, which made him feel good. Although, he was having a hard time processing that because he was still trying to figure out how to deal with all this news.
“My parents weren’t Cajun,” Phineas said.
“Ah, there is an explanation for that as well,” Pierre said. “I would really like a chance to talk to you about it.”
“I think…I think we all need to find somewhere quiet and talk about this,” Pearl interjected, which he was glad for because he was feeling overwhelmed.
“Oui. I agree,” Pierre said and then glanced at the watch on his wrist. “I do have somewhere to be. Would it be okay if we met for dinner? All three of us.”
“I have a job to do at three. I’m not sure how long it would take,” Phineas said.
“Is seven okay?” Pearl asked.
“Seven is parfait,” Pierre said, nodding, his yellow eyes twinkling. “There’s a nice little bistro at the corner called Coat.”
“There is?” Pearl asked in wonder.
“Well, there will be. It’s not open yet, but I know the owner and he can accommodate us. Would you like to meet there and then we can talk?”
“I suppose.” What was he going to do, say no?
“Bon. I’m glad I ran into you. I’ve been…I’ve been looking for you for a long time.” Pierre tore his gaze from Phineas, and then bowed slightly at Pearl. “A pleasure, cher.”
Phineas watched Pierre quickly walk away, his mind still racing.
“I wonder where he’s staying,” he whispered.
“Room with a Tomb,” Pearl answered.
His eyes widened. “How do you know?”
“I saw him earlier when I stopped by to give Sven something. Actually, at first glance, I thought it was you, and then I saw his scar and realized it wasn’t. It took me by surprise how familiar he seemed.”
“Yes,” Phineas agreed. “It took me by surprise as well.”
“How are you feeling?”
“I don’t know.” Phineas realized he was still holding her hand and then remembered that Pierre referred to her as his girlfriend, but she hadn’t corrected him. And neither did he because he really wanted Pearl to be his cher. “Thanks for staying with me.”
“Of course,” she said softly.
“I’m sorry he assumed we were…that you were…”
“Why are you apologizing about that?”
His stomach knotted, his heart racing as he looked down at her, the woman he’d loved for so long, and then he glanced down at her hand, the one he was holding, and he realized she was wearing the bracelet he gave her at the end of last summer during her going-away party at Room with a Tomb.
A bracelet he’d made, but had been too shy to give her, and he’d hated that she was leaving. He understood why she had to leave Harmony Glen, but it had broken his heart just a bit, because when she was far away, he couldn’t protect her.
She glanced down where he was staring. “It’s beautiful. I never got the chance to thank you for it. I wear it every day.”
“You do?”
“I was wearing it the day my brother got married. Though under that diaphanous bridesmaid dress Mona picked out for me, it was hard to tell. Way too much tulle.”
Phineas’ heart melted. “You looked like an angel.”
“I’m not an angel though.”
You’re my angel.
“What do you mean?”
Pearl shrugged. “Everyone thinks I’m so good and caring. I mean, I try to be, but I do have selfish thoughts that don’t make me quite angelic.”
Now he was intrigued. “Oh?”
“Yes.”
Their gazes locked and he felt something stirring inside of him.
Everything else was forgotten in that moment.
All the insecurities and self-doubt, they melted away.
Gazing into her eyes, they sparkled with something more, with the same feeling he was sure was sparking deep down in the pit of his soul
“You didn’t correct Pierre when he assumed you were my girlfriend.”
“You didn’t correct him either,” she countered. Then Pearl took a step closer to him. So close he could smell her sweet scent. She always reminded him of the water lilies that bloomed at night in his swamp.
They were his favorite thing on the property.
At night, in the summer, he would sit out there and watch them bloom while fireflies danced over the water. His swamp was fairly surrounded by large cedar trees and moss. It was almost like a little enclosure of perfection during those nights.
Perfect except for one thing—she wasn’t there with him.
“Pearl, I care for you.”
Her expression softened. “I care for you too.”
“It’s just…I can’t provide for you, and I worry if I can’t provide for you, then I can’t protect you. If something were to happen to you—”
Pearl touched his lips with her finger. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
“I know what happens during the full moon, when you shift. Finn told me about the trap last year and I remember how sick you were. I lost my parents already and I can’t bear to lose you too.”
“When I bolt, I run to you,” Pearl stated.
Shock rushed through him, his pulse pounding between his ears. Pearl was running to him? “You run to me during the full moon?”
She nodded. “That’s where I go. Your swamp is outside of Harmony Glen and my unicorn runs to you, but unfortunately, I get a little lost and I’m a bit manic, I don’t always find my way, or Finn catches me before I can get too far.
The point is, I feel safe with you, Phineas.
You are my safety, and the fact that you’ve been keeping your distance from me for the last several months is killing me. ”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Pearl, I care for you very much. I just didn’t think—”
“That’s right. You didn’t.” She grinned. “I would like to date you. I know I have to go back to school at the end of the summer, but maybe this summer we can try being together?”
Phineas nodded and it felt as if he were about to float off into outer space, his heart was soaring so high. “I would like that.”
“Good, but here’s the thing, you have to arrange the first date.”
“Oh!” Now he was at a loss for what to do. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’d suggest tonight, but we’re meeting Pierre.”
“And that’s important. You figure it out and text me.
” Pearl released his hand and then stood on her tiptoes, her breath brushing his gills on his neck, making his cold blood sizzle.
She kissed him tenderly on the cheek. “I’ll see you tonight to meet with Pierre, but as for the first date, I’ll leave that to you. Just don’t leave me hanging.”
Pearl turned on her heel and slipped around the corner of Short Street.
Phineas stood there, still a bit stunned as he touched his cheek, the feel of her lips still burning against his scales. The woman he loved just told him she cared for him, she wanted to be with him.
The problem was he didn’t know a thing about dating or how to even arrange a good first date.
And then there was this situation with the other gill man proclaiming to be his brother?
It was a lot to process and he didn’t have much time to figure it out.
At three he had a job to do for Finn and then at seven he was going with Pearl to meet Pierre to get more information about his claim of being his brother.
Just when he thought it was going to be a boring day and that he was going nowhere.
Phineas scrubbed a hand over his face. He needed some help.