The Line That Binds (17 page)

“I’m not sure why, but I find that hard to believe.” She removed the tissue from her nose. The bleeding had stopped. “You mentioned physical trauma with your nosebleeds. Is it something that happens often?” she asked, changing the subject back.

“Nosebleeds? No.”

“The trauma, I mean.”

“Usually nothing serious.”

“You told me it wasn’t a fight that broke your jaw, so what was it?”

“An accident. My friend, Spaz, has a piece-of-shit bike that he likes to run hard. The chain broke while he was riding one of the turns out back. He clipped me and I flipped.”

“Didn’t your helmet do its job?”

I grinned. “That would be an excellent example of my douche qualities.”

“You weren’t wearing your helmet?” She shook her head gingerly. Her headache was still bothersome enough to visibly restrict the movement. “I would file that under idiotic, not in the douche category.”

I shuffled my boots along the dirt floor. “I’m not sure that’s any better, but okay. I’ll take the idiot card.”

“It’s much better, trust me. At least you only hurt yourself.” She stared at my mouth for a moment. “Your mouth looks good. I mean … it looks better than it did last week.”

I wasn’t sure where all of this was leading, but I really didn’t care. I was having a hard time caring about anything else. I’d known her a week and she already called me an idiot for riding without a helmet. She was genuinely concerned. It’d been a while since a girl was genuinely concerned for me, aside from Izzy anyway. Emily definitely didn’t give a shit, and my other interludes never wanted to take things further. I couldn’t blame them. I wasn’t exactly asking for more than a quick throw-down during their mom’s third wedding, their little cousin’s bat mitzvah, or their best friend’s birthday party either.

She blushed after her accidental admission about my mouth, which instantly made me regret my no-helmet idiocy. Those pink cheeks pushed my mind somewhere that she’d clearly just visited herself. I couldn’t stop imagining how pink her cheeks would get if my jaw wasn’t jacked up, then I could show her how good my mouth really was.

I smiled at her slip and my thoughts. “I get the arch bar removed Monday then I go to the dentist. Now that I can open it wider, they want to go in and torture my mouth clean.” I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth while looking at hers. Thinking of her lips against mine almost set me off. I took a deep breath, stood up, and moved to the barn’s water cooler to get us both a drink. I wanted to pick it up by the handles and dump the whole thing over my head to keep focused. I needed to know if her symptoms were curse related, not if her lips tasted as sweet as her smile looked.

“Well, that’s good. Not the torture part, of course. I hope everything goes okay though. Thanks,” she said when I handed her a cup of water. She took a sip and scanned the barn with her eyes.

“You’re welcome,” I responded, studying her. She wore baggier jeans today with a racer tank top that pressed tightly against her chest. It was similar to the one she was wearing in bed earlier, only it was baby blue instead of gray. The design curved far over her shoulders, showing a lot of skin and making me imagine everything underneath. I took a sip of cold water and another deep breath. “So your dad got a job?”

“Yeah,” she replied with a nod. “He’s really excited about it. He said they weren’t even hiring, but they wanted him to start as soon as possible. He went in this morning.”

“Where is it?” It could’ve been coincidental. I wanted it to be, but the timing was too perfect, considering it was what she’d wished for yesterday.

“The animal shelter close to town. I have no idea why they wanted him. He’s never worked with animals.”

“That’s odd,” I agreed. “Spaz used to work there. He got fired last year for being a dumbass.”

“What did he do?”

“Let’s just say no animals were injured during his stupidity.”

“Okay,” she laughed. I liked the sound, and the way it brightened her face.

“How are you feeling?”

She reached her hand up to the side of her head. “It’s dull now, like last night. I’m sure it’ll go away as soon as I take something.”

“Your head was bothering you last night?”

“That’s why I was in bed until noon. I didn’t sleep well,” she replied.

“Do you get headaches a lot?” I asked, trying to sound as casual as I could.

“Not really. After this one though, I can honestly say I sympathize with people who have migraines. I’m not sure what’s normal, but they’re painful enough to make my ears ring.” Her eyes shifted to the floor, lost in her own statement.

“That does sound painful,” I agreed.

After another moment, her eyes returned to me. “What about you? Any headaches?” she asked, watching me as she took another drink.

“Not many that matter,” I replied vaguely, then decided to change the subject. “You never said whether you are interested in the history of this place or not.”

“It’s intriguing. I’m a bit ashamed, actually. I should know more about my family. I wish I did.”

“Have you found anything interesting inside Janine’s house? Besides the paintings, that is.” This was the information I needed the most. They’d been here a week already and she hadn’t mentioned anything besides the paintings to me.

“I haven’t looked, but I’ve been meaning to tear the basement apart. There’s bound to be something buried in all that junk.”

I ran my hand along the desk and relaxed into my chair. Her eyes tracked my movements. She seemed interested enough for me to press my luck. “If you find anything, would you tell me? I want to know more about this place too, especially since I’ll own part of it soon. Actually, would you mind if I helped you?”

She smirked and messed with her bandaged hand. “I guess you could come help me clean the basement.”

“Whoa!” I said, holding my hands up. “Let’s not get carried away. I didn’t say anything about cleaning.”

“What? You said you wanted to help,” she teased.

“Sure, help look for stuff.” I dropped my hands back to my legs and shrugged.

“Well, I said I was going to tear the place apart so naturally that’s what I thought you were volunteering for.”

“Definitely
not
what I meant.”

“That’s okay. I’ll just do it myself and
maybe
I’ll let you know what I find.”

I grunted and tipped my chin to the sky as I rolled my eyes. “Fine, I’ll help clean.”

“Wow. You really don’t like to clean, do you? I’d hate to see your room.”

“Since you’re getting personal, I can tell you that I
definitely
wouldn’t mind if you saw my room,” I said suggestively.

Her mouth dropped open for a second.

“That way you could clean it for me,” I added.

She swung at me, landing a smack against my thigh. “You’re a perv.”

“Maybe a little,” I admitted with a grin.

Despite the flirting, I needed to figure out what the hell was going on. And getting into her house was the only way to find the missing pieces. That was still the goal. “So you’ll let me search your downstairs?” I lifted my brows.

“Okay, funny guy.”

“Too much? Okay, seriously. I would love to help you clean the basement. It would be awesome if we found more things about The Underground Railroad or more about your family’s history.”

“This place’s association with The Underground Railroad is pretty amazing. Knowing it played a role in helping people gain their freedom is simply incredible. It’s nice to know some of my ancestors were generous and courageous. I’d love to learn more about that.” Her eyes widened. “Do you think they had hiding spots? I know Gavin searched the house for stuff last week. He was pretty excited about the dumbwaiter. Don’t tell him I told you, but he got stuck in it on Tuesday.”

I laughed. “Really? That’s a hilarious! I won’t say anything, promise.”

“He’d kill me.” Her lips tipped up in an easy grin.

“I know for a fact there are other hiding spots,” I admitted.

“Really? Do tell.”

“Tell what?” Gavin asked stepping around the corner of the barn.

With my back facing Gavin, I held my finger up to my lips so she wouldn’t disclose our secret. If Gavin had already found something, he would’ve said something. Knowing this new info would surely send him on a scavenger hunt and I didn’t want him searching for the tunnel from their end. There was a chance that the portion I failed to get through years ago was blocked for a reason, possibly involving the curse. And I sure as hell didn’t want either of them stumbling over something that important without me.

She winked in acknowledgement as Gavin made his way over, handing her two pills.

“What were you going to tell her?” Gavin asked.

“I was going to tell LJ that I almost got stuck in a dumb waiter job once. I managed to get out of it, though.”

LJ sputtered on the water she used to take the pills, nearly choking. She had to spit the excess onto the floor. Luckily, the pills stayed down.

“Are you okay, LJ?” Gavin asked.

She looked directly at me and narrowed her eyes.

“Yeah, are you okay, LJ?” I asked with a smirk.

“I’m fine,” she responded before Gavin looked back at me. When he turned, she was free to silently scold me from behind him, scrunching her nose and sticking her tongue out. It was the cutest kind of angry I’d ever seen.

“I texted my dad and he didn’t care about me riding. When do you think I could go?”

“How can I trust you’re telling me the truth?” I asked, ignoring LJ’s last playful, murderous signals.

“I don’t know. Ask LJ. Our dad isn’t exactly the caring type.”

We both looked at LJ and she shrugged. “He’s right. I’ll vouch for him as long as he …” She tapped her finger to the side of her head, contemplating a trade. “Takes dish duty for the next month.”

“What? You’re twisted. There’s no way I’ll agree to that.” Gavin huffed.

“Okay, no sweat off my back,” she responded to him.

“I’ll tell you what,” I interrupted their little squabble. “I really can’t have you ride mine because it’s not for beginners. I’ve been riding for a long time and that 450 can surprise me sometimes. So, I’ll talk to Spaz and see if his old bike is okay for you to learn on. We’ll have to scrounge up some extra gear for you, too. But,” I said, holding my finger up when Gavin looked on the verge of throwing himself a party, “I’ve got to talk to your dad first.”

His shoulders dropped from their peaked excited position and he let out a long-winded sigh. “Dude, really? That’s not right. I’m not lying to you, I promise.”

“I believe you, but I have to protect myself and my grandfather, if you understand what I mean.” I had to protect this place, too. I wanted to trust both of them, more than I ever thought I would, but I still didn’t know them. If Gavin got hurt, they could sue the shit out of us and take this whole place. I wouldn’t be the cause of that. There was already enough to deal with without adding a lawsuit.

“You just cost me a free month out of dish detail,” LJ said to me. “He’s telling the truth and he would’ve caved.”

“You’re dreaming. It wouldn’t have happened,” Gavin responded to her then turned back to me. “So when can we do this?”

I looked at LJ. “Today’s reception may run late, there’s a wedding with a reception early tomorrow, and I’m not sure what Spaz is doing the rest of the weekend either.”

“Dad works a later shift tomorrow so you could come over and talk to him before then,” Gavin said.

He was as excited as I was when I decided to ride. Not long after I’d moved here, Pop bought me a used 85cc for my eleventh birthday. I outgrew the motor before the frame and was able to get something with more power after saving chore money. Janine was helpful with that. She’d offer me more work around the property because she knew how much I loved to ride.

“Maybe we could get some cleaning done then, too? I’ll make up for the dishes,” I said to LJ.

She smiled at my proposal. “I think we could.”

“See you tomorrow,” I said, tossing the bloody tissue into the trash by the barn door. The headache had dulled considerably after I’d taken the Tylenol. It was enough to clear the hazy thoughts and allow me to walk. “You better not chicken out.”

“I’ll be there,” Ben responded, sliding the barn doors closed after we all exited. “I’m not afraid of a few boxes.”

“Have you even seen that basement? Never mind. I won’t give you a reason to bail on me. I’ll let you find out on your own.” I laughed.

“And you’ll talk to Spaz, right?” Gavin added, making sure Ben wouldn’t forget.

“Yeah, I’ll call him later,” Ben agreed.

When we approached the side of his house, Ben’s grandfather turned the corner.

“Hey there,” he said, stunned to see us with Ben. “I was just coming to let you know to button up the activity because people are starting to arrive for the reception,” he said to Ben, then turned to Gavin and me. “I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to introduce myself. I’m Lloyd Shadows, Ben’s grandfather.” He extended his large hand to Gavin first, then to me. “I’ve heard a lot about you two.”

His hand felt like leather, with thick, rough callouses, but it was warm and gentle. “Nice to meet you,” I replied. I could only guess he’d heard about us from Aunt Janine, though I doubted it was a lot.