Chapter 26 No no no no no no no no
TWENTY-SIX
No no no no no no no no
Declan drove me to the gallery shortly after breakfast. As he dropped me off, I saw a text from Bracken.
Bracken: Keep to the left as you approach the deck. Notice the rocks.
Declan called goodbye and I waved while puzzling over the cryptic message. Walking down the path along the side of the gallery, I noticed a small pile of rocks and kept to their left. I made it to the gate and turned around, wondering what that had been about.
“Oh good. There you are.” I heard Bracken’s voice but didn’t see him. “Wait one moment.”
Not knowing what to expect, I waited and was treated to a doorway opening out of thin air and Bracken walking down steps to join me. He closed the invisible door and paused, muttering something about never finding it again.
“I did something I hope you won’t mind,” he began. “I had to move the RV so the work could begin on the apartment.”
I nodded, with him so far.
“If I moved it to the far side of the parking lot, though, I wouldn’t have a clear view of the water, which I’ve grown to love.” He patted his pockets. “It’s quite restful, isn’t it?”
I nodded. “It is. I was worried I’d be too far away at Declan’s place, but he made sure to have lots of windows overlooking the water.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up. “Smart man. Well, as you can see, the view from this side of the gallery is perfect.”
“Yes, of course,” I interrupted. “Park it over here.”
“The thing is, I already did.” He looked a bit sheepish as he added, “But I worried that it would block your magnificent mural, so I worked on an invisibility spell much of the night.”
At my shocked expression, he pressed on.
“It took a bit to get it to stay invisible for an extended period without compromising the wards in any way. There was also a very tense hour or so when the entire RV, including the interior, disappeared. Thankfully, I got that fixed. Inside, it is as it’s always been.
Outside, it won’t mar the look of your gallery. ”
“Bracken, that’s amazing!” I knew it was right in front of me. I’d seen him walk out of it, but instead of a huge RV, I was staring at flowering ice plants and tall seagrass.
I touched his arm. “An added bonus is that this helps protect you. The Swans can’t target you if they can’t see you.” I patted my chest. “This makes me feel better about leaving you here at night.”
He waved away my fear. “I’m perfectly safe here. It’s sweet of you to be concerned, though.”
“Oh. I had an idea.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him with me through the gate and across the deck to the back door of the gallery. Flicking my fingers, I unlocked it and took him back to the potential nursery.
The room was triangular. It wasn’t large, but I thought it would work. Glancing around, I mentally planned out where things could go.
“This is your room for readings,” Bracken said.
“It is. I only have a few clients who want to see me regularly. I haven’t been taking appointments for a while, since I’ve been so busy, which makes this mostly wasted space.”
He grinned, catching on. “Oh, I like this idea.”
“Right?” I went to the window on the parking lot side of the gallery. “We could have them turn this into a door, so you have an easy entrance to the nursery and the gallery as a whole.”
He nodded along with me.
“I was thinking a half bath here.” I pointed to the opposite corner. By the time I was done planning out loud, we saw the crew’s cars and trucks arriving. “Let’s go tell them about the changes.”
Once we were done with that, Bracken went back to his RV, his fingertips gliding through the air until he felt the break in the metal siding that meant he’d found his door. Hopefully he could get some sleep now.
After hours of working with the glass, I went in search of an electrician.
I was sure someone on the construction crew could answer my question.
I closed the door behind me, in case I needed to do more work, and lifted my sweaty head to the wind.
Declan’s idea was brilliant. I’d charmed my clothes to stay cool while I worked.
So, while my head was hot, my body felt fine.
Bud, one of the black bear shifters who worked on the crew, came back with me to help me wire the light fixture I was making for the dining room.
He stopped at the door. “Whoa. Do we have to work in here?”
“Nope,” I said. “Go next door into my studio. I’ll be there in a minute with most of the pieces.”
I brought in all the glass I thought he’d need. What I’d made today wasn’t ready to be worked with yet, which should be fine. He ran out to his truck, got some tools and supplies, and we started to put it together.
We were almost done—okay, Bud was almost done—when I saw my dad standing out on the deck.
“I need to go outside,” I told him.
He nodded, looking relieved to be getting rid of me. I was barely breathing down his neck. Did I have him working with glass tubes instead of metal? Yes, but sheesh.
My dad was sitting on the bench outside the hot shop door. “Hello, daughter. How are you feeling today?” He patted the seat beside him.
“Hey, Pops.” I sat and looked up at him, grinning at his look of consternation. He clearly wasn’t sure if he should protest this new moniker. “I’m okay. I’ve been working in the hot shop.”
Nodding, he touched my cheek, and the heat and sweat disappeared. “I said I would teach you how to experience your visions more safely.”
“Yes, please,” I said, sitting up straight. “Last night, I had a black eye that took forever to fade.” His expression turned outraged, so I plowed on. “I tried to pull myself away, to see it from above like you said, but it didn’t work.”
Jaw clenched, he stared out at the ocean. “If I hadn’t been forbidden from training you, I could have taught you this long ago.”
I took one of his huge hands into both of my gloved ones. “I’m glad we know each other now. All my life, I’ve wondered about my father. Now, I get to sit on my deck, talking with my dad. You’ll never understand what an incredible gift that is for me.”
Turning, he met my gaze. “I understand quite well.” He scratched his jaw with his free hand. “I should do this the proper way, but my gifted daughter bearing bruises has me impatient. So.” He looked down at my hands and the gloves disappeared.
He took both my hands in both of his. “Ah, I see.”
I felt a charge run through my body before a bright light flashed in my head.
“You’ve spent so many years fighting the visions, you created a kind of mental wall. It’s a wall you sometimes get trapped on the other side of. I’ve made your wall more porous.”
I’m sure I had a horrified look on my face because he patted my hand. “Now, now,” he said. “Nothing to worry about. My daughter is gifted and will soon learn to ignore the thoughts of others.”
That made me flinch. “Wait. Will I hear thoughts again without touching people?” I felt the tears well up in my eyes. “I worked so hard for so long to block them. I don’t want to hear people’s thoughts. It’s too much to take on.”
“You don’t take them on,” he said. “You don’t acknowledge them. I told you before. It’s like being in a crowded restaurant. You need to retrain your brain to treat the thoughts like white noise. It’s there. If you wanted to listen, you could, but it stays relegated to background noise.”
I knew this was a gift, that he thought of it as a gift. For me, though, it was punishment. I saw my whole horrible childhood rushing back to pummel me once more.
He stood abruptly and walked to the railing. “I am not punishing you! I am trying to keep you from being hurt in visions. Will it be hard at first? Probably, but this is how we learn and become stronger.”
Drowning in despair, I nodded. I’d spent so many years alone in my room, hiding from the voices, and now they were back.
My life had finally changed once I’d learned to block them out.
I had friends. Hell, I’d opened a gallery that was regularly filled with people.
Now, it would all be torture again. I felt the tears drop as I stared into my lap.
My head pounded. Oh, Goddess, I’d forgotten about all the headaches that used to plague me. I heard grumbling in the studio and knew Bud was pissed off about working on the light fixture when he had construction work to do. Damn it.
I stood and went to the studio back door. Opening it, I heard the unspoken complaints even louder. “Bud?” I waved him out. “Sorry. I know you have your own work to do. Never mind about this. I’ll figure it out later.”
“I’ve almost got it,” he rumbled. “The housing doesn’t fit cleanly in this cover you’ve made. I don’t want to break the glass, so I’m bending the metal.” His tone was polite, but I heard the frustration underneath, the annoyance at having to work with such delicate materials.
Years of working to block ugly thoughts had been ripped away. My chest hurt. I waved him out again. “Don’t worry about it. It’s my problem. I’ll do it or I won’t. Either way, it’s on me. Thank you anyway.”
He stared at me a moment, his brow furrowed. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. I can do this.” He sounded concerned, and maybe he was, but he was mostly worried that I’d complain to Kenji about this and he’d lose his job. He needed this job.
I closed my eyes, trying to erect that wall again, but it didn’t work. “I’m not feeling well,” I told him. “It would be better if you went back to the construction job. Thank you for everything you’ve done here.”
“Oh, okay.” He stood and walked past me out the door.
He was happy to get back to what he was supposed to be doing, but also thought I was kind of hot.
Too bad I was hooked up with the Alpha. It was hard to tell in the overalls, but it looked like I had great tits.
He wasn’t looking to piss off a werewolf. Still…
I closed the door after him, flicked my fingers to bring down the metal shutters along the back of the building, and slowly trudged up the stairs to my old bedroom to cry.