Chapter 12
Esmie had never been on a private plane before. It was a novel experience, to be sure. She wasn’t sure she’d get used to it, but she likely wouldn’t have the chance, so it was probably for the best.
As she sipped champagne, Jerome sitting across from her and looking out the window with every evidence of delight with Aaron sitting next to him, a brand new iPhone in hand, a frown of concentration on his face as he scrolled the financial pages to familiarize himself with today’s markets, she wondered what even was her life at this point.
They’d arrived at the airport to find three new iPhones waiting, three suitcases of new, modern clothes, and three wallets full of credit cards and cash.
Plus a shiny new credit card in Esmie’s name—Esmeralda Laurent, as bold as brass—which had done more than raise her eyebrows.
Apparently, it had no limit. She had no idea what to do with it, so she’d tucked it into her ankle wallet and tried to forget about it.
Chad returned from the plane’s bathroom with a sheepish grin and sat back down beside her, buckling back in.
“Not something I missed,” he confided.
“I imagine not.” She looked at him through narrowed eyes. “Okay, so run this by me again? I want to make sure I get the story straight.”
He rolled his eyes. “It’s not a story. At least, not one you have to tell.”
“Tell me.”
“Mom and Dad will put it out that we all died overseas in a tragic accident thirty-eight years ago. I’m Charles, the surprise grandson they never knew about. Jerome and Aaron are Jeremy and Aiden, my friends who also happen to be the surprise lovechildren of Jerome and Aaron.”
“Doesn’t that strain credulity? You guys don’t look thirty-eight.”
“Maybe. But is it any weirder than anything else going on in the world?”
“Probably not.”
They were quiet for a moment, then Chad chuckled softly.
“They’re looking for horses to buy. Big horses. Black ones.”
“Really?” She grinned. “That’s nice of them.”
“I told you. Only child.” He looked at her, his eyes serious. “I told them to look for four.”
Her eyebrows rose. “One for me? Oh, Chad, you don’t have to—”
“Of course I do. You’re one of us now.”
She swallowed hard and looked out the window for a moment, then shook her head and changed the subject. “Are you sure you should go back to MSU? You know you’ll have to retake all your classes. And aren’t you worried? I mean, what if someone recognizes you from back in the day?”
He looked down at his hands in his lap for a moment, then spoke quietly. “Esmie, don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m not going anywhere that you aren’t.”
She blinked, uncomprehending, then blushed to the tips of her ears.
“Chad, really. I mean, anyone would have done the same.”
He shook his head without looking at her. “No, they wouldn’t. And it’s not gratitude. It’s not even admiration.”
“Although we do admire you,” Aaron said, his expression not changing from the frown of concentration, his thumb still scrolling on his phone.
“Hm?” Jerome asked, looking as if he’d just awakened from a dream.
“Nothing,” Esmie said, her face on fire.
“Why are you blushing?”
“I’m not.”
He gestured toward her face. “All evidence to the contrary.”
Aaron spoke absently without looking away from his phone. “Chad is explaining that we all fell in love with Esmie and want to be with her forever.”
“Oh. Gotcha.” Without protesting this bon mot in any way, Jerome went back to staring dreamily out the window, watching the world fly by below.
Esmie’s mouth opened slightly and stayed that way. She looked from Jerome to Aaron and, finally, to Chad, who looked at Jerome with annoyance… but not with denial.
“What?” she finally squeaked.
Aaron finally looked up from his phone, his brow clearing. “What? What’d I say?”
Chad rolled his eyes and finally turned in his seat to look at her full on. “He’s not wrong, okay? I know we probably should have built up to it, but… maybe it’s better this way. Get it all out right from the start.”
“But… what?” she floundered, her fingers twisting together in her lap.
He reached over and touched them lightly, stilling them.
“Esmie, I’ll tell you right now that there will never be anyone else for me but you.
I can tell you that with perfect honesty.
Where else would I find someone who could free me from a literal curse without being tempted to demand something for themselves instead? ”
“That’s not—” She cut herself off, practically choking on her embarrassment. “Chad, you can’t know that. You haven’t been in the Now for almost forty years.”
“I know what I know.” His eyes warmed. “And I know what I want.”
Aaron looked at her with endearing honesty. “I was a goner for you when you stood up for me to Jerome. You didn’t know he was only kidding. Hell, you didn’t know he wouldn’t chop your head off for the audacity. But you did it anyway.”
A little silence fell between them, and she swallowed hard, trying to digest their words. Surely, she hadn’t done anything so grandiose. She’d just done what needed to be done. What anyone would have done in the same situation. Right?
Then, Aaron elbowed Jerome in the ribs. Hard.
“Ow! What?” He rubbed his ribs irritably. “What the hell, man?”
Aaron tilted his head toward Esmie, eyes widening intently.
“What?”
Chad pinched his nose with the hand that wasn’t gently touching Esmie’s. “Why do you love Esmie, Jerome?”
“Oh, that’s what we’re doing?” He cleared his throat and intoned gravely, “Because she, my friends, is an absolute badass. She went toe to toe with the Headless Horseman, she figured out a three-hundred-year-old puzzle single-handedly, and she survived the crossing like a dozen times without losing either her mind or her grip. Badass.”
“Two hundred thirty—” Aaron started, but Jerome cut him off.
“Three hundred years, man. Rounding up.” He gestured. “She’s a goddess. How could I not love her? And she personally saved my delectable ass, so yeah.” He finally subsided a little, sitting with a bit less bravado. “Love you, lady.”
The same distressing upswell of emotion that made her cry earlier in the field tried to push up her throat again, so she looked away and out the window for a moment to get herself under control.
She didn’t know what to do with their words.
She’d never been loved before. Not by anyone besides her mom and Tavia, anyway.
And her dad, of course, but look how that had turned out.
Not the time for that.
How did she feel about them? But that caused another wave of upswell to upset her, and she spoke without looking at them, a hint of panic in her voice.
“But… that’s the problem! How… how could I ever choose between you? I’d never do that to any of you. You guys belong together. I’d just get in the way.”
She heard two clicks, two sets of thumps as knees hit the carpeted floor, and then her head jerked around as two new sets of hands touched hers over Chad’s.
She looked at the hands—two brown, two white, one tan—holding hers, then looked up at their dear faces.
Faces she could see. Faces she already knew as well as she’d known their Horseman voices.
Aaron smiled gently at her. “Remember what we said Della promised us if we brought her the Horseman’s head?”
She shook her head. A few too many things had happened since then.
Chad leaned closer, his breath warm against her ear. “She promised we’d all be hers. All of us.”
She shivered and closed her eyes.
“What kind of losers would we be if we didn’t offer the woman we actually love the same thing we so stupidly offered the girl we had a passing fancy for?” Jerome asked, a grin in his Keith David voice.
She didn’t have to see him to know. She knew the sound of a smile in his velvety-smooth voice by now.
Chad’s breath against her ear made her shiver again. “I’ll pay for your school so you don’t have to work so hard.”
She shook her head, eyes closed tight. “I don’t want that.”
Aaron tightened his fingers on hers. “I’ll buy you a house with my first stock market paycheck.”
She huffed. “Not a chance. You’re spending that on your poor mama. Your grandma, now, Aiden.”
Jerome leaned up until his lips just almost brushed hers. “I’ll get you out of all the speeding tickets you get in the fancy new car Chad buys you.”
She opened her eyes but didn’t pull away. His amber eyes were mesmerizing from this close, practically golden with dark rims.
“I don’t want a new car. I don’t want a house. I don’t want money.”
Chad’s breath teased her ear again. “What do you want, Esmie? We’ll do anything for you. You’ve done everything for us. Let us do something for you.”
Closing her eyes once again, she took a deep breath, then leaned that little breath forward and kissed Jerome.
He hmmed softly against her lips, one hand coming up to cup her head gently.
The tip of Chad’s nose lightly touched the sensitive skin just in front of her ear, tickling the little hairs there.
Aaron let go with one hand to clasp her knee, sighing with relief.
She kissed him next, not opening her eyes. He was hesitant at first, kissing only lightly, but when she didn’t pull away, he firmed his lips against hers. It was still chaste, just a kiss, a promise, sweet and simple.
Chad was last. His quiet strength seeped into her, and she felt any last reservations float away. Would she have some explaining to do with her mother and Tavia? Yes. Did she care? No. She’d find a way. She couldn’t choose between them. She couldn’t split them up.
This felt right. For the first time in a long time, she felt right.
Then, the kiss was over, and she smiled without opening her eyes, leaning her forehead against his.
“You know what I want?”
He shook his head.
“I want to change my major.” She opened her eyes to see the surprise on his face. Sure enough, his blue eyes were wide. “Not gonna lie, holding that skull was hella gross. I don’t want to do that again if I can help it.”
He chuckled, his fingers closing over hers. All their fingers closed over hers.
“So what do you want to do?”
“I think I want to be a history major.”
He smirked. She nodded.
“I have officially caught the bug.”
“Good. What do you want to do with it?”
She smirked and looked at Jerome. “I think I need to introduce you gents to a little movie called National Treasure.”
Jerome groaned. “Sounds boring.”
“Oh, it isn’t. I promise you that.”
Aaron shrugged. “I’m in. I’ll watch anything with you, Esmie.”
“It sounds like history, so you know I’m in.” Chad lifted her hand as the other two men scooted away back to their own seats, then kissed her knuckles. “I may be annoyed if they get it wrong, though. Hollywood is notorious for playing fast and loose with historical events.”
“You have no idea.” She smirked. “But you will.”
She turned her head, hand still gently held in Chad’s, and looked out the window, smiling at her faint reflection, at the expanse of blue sky beyond, at the curvature of the earth below. At the entirety of the Now around her.
“You will.”
Thank you for reading Her Horsement Three!