Chapter 4-1
2020 Words
Harry stepped through his front door to find his eldest daughter at the far end of their galley-style kitchen, sitting at the table with headphones on while she typed on her laptop. The instant he saw her, a surge of anxiety flared up inside him. The two of them had been fighting a lot lately, and though he tried to avoid any confrontations, somehow the tension just kept building. Every conversation was a minefield.
Melissa grimaced, rubbing her eyes with the back of one fist. “You had a meeting with Jena,” she said, sliding the headphones back to let them rest on her neck. “And you didn"t tell me even though she asked me to be a part of this.”
Harry closed his eyes, breathing deeply through his nose. “No, I didn"t,” he said, striding through the kitchen. “Because I"m not going to call you every time my boss asks me to stop by her office.”
The girl looked up at him with dark eyes that smoldered, trying to burn a hole in his head with her stare. She must have learned that particular trick from her mother. “I"m the one who told you about the Key.”
“You mean the Key that doesn"t exist?”
Melissa went beet red, hanging her head to avoid looking at him. Tears glistened on her cheeks. “Of course you don"t think it exists,” she whispered. “If I"m the one who says it, it must be wrong.”
Harry looked up at the ceiling with his mouth agape, blinking several times. “We really don"t have time for this,” he said, approaching the table. “Melissa, I just talked to your guidance counselor. She says you haven"t responded to any of the schools that have accepted your application.”
“Because I"m not going.”
He sat down across from her, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. The look of fatherly disapproval he tried to project was probably no match for her stare, but he tried. “You could have a great future.”
She met his gaze with an expression that he could only call regal, and somehow, the tears only made her seem stronger. “The future I want is up on Station Twelve,” she said. “You just won"t let me go.”
“I can"t stop you.”
“Good. I"m glad you realize that.”
“But I"d be lying if I said that I approved of your decision. Melissa, if you become a Justice Keeper, it will cut your life in half.”
“I can accept that.”
Harry looked up at her, blinking tears out of his eyes. “I cannot accept it!” he all but shouted. “I"m not thrilled about the idea of outliving my own child, and you"re too young to make such a permanent decision.”
IMelissa got up with a sigh.
Turning away from him, she stomped into the dining room and then up the stairs to her bedroom. Well, it seemed that was the end of their discussion for the time being. On some level, Harry knew the girl had a point – much as it pained him to admit it – and he was willing to concede that Melissa had a right to make her own choice.
This particular choice, however, was one that she could never take back. At times he wondered how the Leyrians could force such a decision on people who were barely old enough to vote. Anna was sixteen when she Bonded her Nassai. Most people changed careers several times before they found the right fit, and the Leyrians expected children to make a lifelong decision.
sixteenHe"d read about Keepers who had left the profession to pursue other opportunities. The Nassai were willing to experience human life in all its forms, but that didn"t change the fact that once you bonded a Nassai, twenty-five became middle-aged.
What was wrong with him?
He had always insisted that he would be the kind of dad who respected his kids" choices regardless of what they were – the ones that weren"t classified as stupid teenage stunts, anyway – but here he was, lecturing his daughter. Twenty years of progressive attitudes down the drain because he couldn"t let go. He sat their chastising himself for the better part of half an hour.
The front door swung open to admit the very last person he wanted to see. His ex-wife stepped into the foyer, dressed in black pants and a white shirt that she left untucked. Della was still beautiful to him even after everything she had put him through.
Long blonde hair fell over her shoulders in waves, framing a pretty face with just a few fine lines. “Harry,” she said with a nod. “I get the impression that you"re not exactly pleased to see me.”
Baring his teeth in an ugly snarl, Harry lowered his eyes to stare into his lap. “Don"t you ever knock before entering someone"s home.”
“Not when I"m invited.”
“Invited?”
Half a moment later, he heard footsteps on the stairs, and then Melissa came into the kitchen with a gym-bag slung over her shoulder. “I"m staying with Mom for a couple days,” she said, pacing through the narrow aisle between the cupboards.
Harry opened his mouth to protest but decided against it. Convincing his daughter that he didn"t intend to micromanage her life would require him to let her make decisions he didn"t like. “All right,” he said. “Have a good time.”
Melissa left without another word.
When she was gone, his ex stood there with arms folded, frowning at him. “You still haven"t learned, have you?” she asked in frosty tones. “You still have to be the white knight even when no one wants you to be.”
“I don"t need a lecture from you,” Harry said, sinking into his chair. “In fact, I"m willing to bet you don"t even understand the first thing about this situation.”
Della wore a tight expression that he had seen far too many times when they were married. “Melissa wants to be a Justice Keeper,” she said, stepping into the kitchen. “You don"t like it.”
“It"ll cut her life in half.”
Tossing her head back, Della grinned up at the ceiling with such malicious glee. “Oh, poor Harry!” she mocked. “Did it ever occur to you that how someone lives their life might be more important than how many years they have?”
“Spoken like a-”
“Middle-aged woman?” she asked, cutting him off. “Believe me, I"m well aware of the limited time I have remaining, and my position is the same. Harry, you could die in a car wreck tomorrow. No one knows how much time they have. So if it turns out that you only have three years left, wouldn"t you rather spend them doing something meaningful?”
She left him to chew on that.
His faint reflection in a mug of black coffee rippled as he blew on its surface, steam rising up to fill his nostrils with a delicious scent. Sadly, he couldn"t bring himself to take a sip. Alcohol wasn"t the only thing that Nassai disliked; caffeine was an issue as well. He could drink it – and sometimes he did – but too much would irritate Summer.
Jack remembered what it was like to enjoy a cup of coffee. In the past few years, he had consumed many, trying to recapture that feeling. It never worked. It wasn"t as though Summer protested his dietary choices – she was quite content to let him live his own life in his own body – but his taste buds had changed. His body craved different food. More fresh vegetables, less sugary crap. He figured that was a good thing.
Perched on a bar stool, he watched a man in a white shirt move through the space behind the counter and select a bottle of whiskey from a shelf that was lined with every type of liquor he could imagine.
In his mind"s eye, he saw the rest of this little pub, a moderately sized room with wooden tables spaced out on the floor and booths along the back wall. The clack-clack of billiard balls colliding filled his ears.
clack-clack“Are you just going to sit here?”
Jack looked up with lips pursed, blinking several times. “Is there something else I should be doing?” he asked with more exasperation than he intended. “You two have had your heads together all night.”
Ben stood beside him with elbows planted on the counter, his forehead pressed to the knuckles of laced fingers. “Darrel"s just worried,” he said. “He"s not comfortable with the idea of me accompanying you on this trip.”
A yawn stretched Jack"s mouth, one that he stifled with his fist. “You"ll be gone for a couple weeks at most,” he said, swiveling on his stool. “Seems to me that your boyfriend is a little clingy.”
Ben looked over his shoulder with a hard frown. “Maybe,” he conceded with a nod. “But Darrel"s got a lot on his mind right now, and he really needs my support.”
“What"s bothering him?”
The other man stood up straight and folded his arms, directing a fierce scowl into the mirror behind the counter. “Darrel"s family,” he said softly. “They"ve stopped talking to him now that he"s openly dating me.”
Jack winced, slapping a palm against his forehead. “Dude, I"m so sorry,” he managed at last. “I need to learn to keep my big mouth shut.”
“It"s fine.”
“No, it"s not.”
Before he could say another word, the front door swung open to admit one very distraught-looking Darrel. The man shuffled back into the bar with his hands shaking, refusing to look up.
Ben was on his feet in an instant and rushing across the room to meet his boyfriend. Faster than you could blink, they were wrapped in a tight hug. Jack still felt a little guilty about his comment.
How easy it was for him to forget the struggles that men like Darrel would have to endure. No one ever snubbed him for his relationship choices. Oh his mother might get a little overprotective, but Jack could date the most horrid, abusive b***h on the planet, and his family would always accept him. Even his ultra-conservative father wouldn"t kick up a fuss. But Darrel? The loneliness must be awful.
A wave of sadness crashed over him, and it took a moment for him to recognize it as one of Summer"s emotions. Nassai shared everything with each other. Loneliness was the most terrifying concept they had ever encountered. In fact, they had not known that such a thing could exist until their first encounter with humanity. At the moment, Darrel was probably as frightened of loneliness as any Nassai.
No, Jack thought. If the guy needs a friend, he"ll have one. Hell, he"ll have a whole freaking lot of them.
No,If the guy needs a friend, he"ll have one. Hell, he"ll have a whole freaking lot of them.
The hug was warm and gentle, and for a very long moment, Ben was tempted to just collapse against his boyfriend"s chest and let all his concerns drain away. But this wasn"t about him. Tonight, he had to be the strong one. “You"re gonna be all right,” he whispered over and over.
The other man smiled, his cheeks flushed to a deep crimson. He bowed his head. “I know,” Darrel whispered. “And I"m sorry I"ve been such a mess. Dad actually unfriended me on Facebook.”
- Writer
