Dark Passing (The Ella Reynolds Series) (2 page)

A few hours and many outfit changes later, there was another knock on my door. This one I expected. My mouth went dry and my palms got clammy. It wasn’t like I’d never seen the guy. I may not have agreed to officially go out with Gabriel since I got back, but we’d had dinner together nearly every night when he showed up with takeout. This was different, though. This had expectations, implied romance. I opened the door, trying not to cringe. Gabriel entered, brushing snow off his shoulders.

“It’s really coming down,” he said. His short dark hair looked freshly trimmed, and his lean face was shaven. His aftershave tickled my nose with its familiar scent. A half smile lifted the edge of his mouth. “You look beautiful.”

I tried to find something to do with my hands. “So it’s snowing? Maybe we should stay in.”

Gabriel laughed. “You’re not getting out of this that easily. Just breathe, El. There’s no reason to be nervous.” He ran his hands down the sleeves of my charcoal-gray dress and looked me straight in the eyes. “If you go out more, they’ll get used to seeing you.”

Leave it to Gabriel to go right to the heart of the matter. Perhaps I wasn’t as nervous about going out with him as I was about just going out in general. The town of Montgomery was a lot nicer to me now the truth was out, but they still gawked, whispered behind my back. I considered selling and leaving several times a day, but something always held me back. I always convinced myself to wait just one more week. “I know you’re right—but that’s not the only thing I’m nervous about, smarty pants.”

He continued rubbing his hands up and down my arms in a soothing manner. Surprisingly, I didn’t want to pull away. “What else makes you nervous? The weather? I’m an excellent driver.”

I laughed, breaking some of the tension surrounding me. “This is our first date.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Well, our first real date since—” My hands fluttered around, indicating the whole house and all the trouble we’d gone through.

He gave me a wry look. “True, but that wasn’t from lack of trying.”

“Everything’s finally good again. I’m happy, you’re happy, the house is happy. I don’t want to do anything to upset the balance. I don’t want things to change.”

Gabriel leaned his head back in understanding. “Well, we’ll have to work on that because I do want things to change,” he said slowly, holding my gaze.

“See! One date and you already have expectations.”

Gabriel brushed his lips across my forehead. “I’ve had expectations for a lot longer than this, and you know that.” He took a step back and glanced at his watch. “Now stop overthinking and get your coat.”

I found my black wool coat in the closet and let Gabriel help me put it on, then wrapped a scarf around my neck and slipped on my gloves.

“Careful on the stairs,” he said, as he took my hand to help me down. “Remind me to salt them later.”

Without Gabriel, I wouldn’t be alive right now, and that fact scared me more than any ghost ever could. I wanted us to stay in stasis so he would always be there when I needed him, and he’d never let me down. But there were also times I wanted to grab him and kiss him to see where all of this could go, to see if we could make a life together.

Halfway to the car, I tugged on his hand. He turned to me. I tried to blink the snow out of my eyelashes as I looked up at him for a second. Then I rose up on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his. His nose was cold against my cheek.

“What was that for?” he asked, pulling away ever so slightly, his arms around my waist.

“Thank you for never giving up on me and for wanting to do things like salt my porch steps.”

An easy smile spread across his handsome face. “Is that all it takes to get you to kiss me? Hell, you have a leaky faucet? I can fix that too. And in the spring I’ll clean the gutters. And—“ He continued to list off household chores he’d happily do, until I laughed and kissed him again, warmth spreading through my body despite the icy wind.

“You can trust me, you know? I won’t hurt you,” he said softly in my ear.

The implied “like he did” deflated me. I worked hard to move past Danny, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t scarred from the experience. Danny would’ve said he’d never hurt me too, and look how that turned out. I was left to pick up the pieces of my life, alone. I couldn’t go through that again.

“We’re going to freeze to death.” I gave an exaggerated shiver for effect, hoping for an easy escape from an uncomfortable conversation. Gabriel didn’t look fooled, but he led me the rest of the way to his car.

At the restaurant, our dimly lit table was next to a large window where I could see the snow drifting down from the sky in swirling patterns. We were nearly the only people out in this weather, but the view was lovely. Mesmerized by the white flakes, I was startled when the waitress asked if we were ready to order. I glanced down quickly at the menu, but Gabriel told her we needed another minute.

“You’re awfully quiet.” He took a casual sip of his water and studied me. “Did I completely freak you out?”

“No—and yes. I was watching the snow, not really thinking about anything, believe it or not.”

He looked out the window and watched winter dance through the air. “It’s peaceful, isn’t it?”

I nodded and finally perused the menu.

“Have you thought any more about selling the house?”

I decided on the chicken with balsamic glaze and root vegetables before answering. “Every day.”

“But you haven’t listed it.”

“Not yet.” Nor was I going to. For better or worse, that house had become home.

“Do you want to stay? Even with all the memories and everything that happened?”

“It’s been quiet, nothing too weird since I got back.” I didn’t feel the need to mention this afternoon, not yet. “I still get nervous any time someone’s at the door or the phone rings, but stuff like that I can deal with.”

“Ella, honestly, just get out of that house and move on with your life. What’s keeping you there?”

“Men.” I smiled at him sweetly, and the waitress came over to take our order. When she left, he cocked an eyebrow and waited for an explanation. “Danny loved that stupid house, Grant is still in that stupid house, and there’s you.”

“Setting aside the fact that you believe Grant is haunting you. How am I keeping you in the house?” The poor guy looked genuinely confused.

“If I sell, where would I go?” I shrugged. “Back to the city.”

A smile eased across his face. “You’re staying to give us a chance.”

“If you were normal, you wouldn’t want me, and my decision would be a lot less complicated.”

“I like a challenging woman.”

I shook my head. “So how was work?”

“Boring.”

“They still have you strapped to a desk?”

He gave a long-suffering sigh. “Yes.”

“How’s the arm?”

“It’s getting there.” He unconsciously flexed his fingers on the arm. It had taken multiple surgeries to get mobile again. “How was your day?”

“Fine. I had a visitor.”

He’d been about to take another drink; the glass paused halfway to his lips. “The living, breathing kind?”

Gabriel still had issues accepting that ghosts and Grant were real, but at least he didn’t tease me about it endlessly like Danny had. “Uh-huh.”

“Who was it? Is Mr. Sexton bothering you again?”

“No. He’s staying away. It was a woman who wants me to write a book about her daughter’s murder.”

Gabriel’s eyebrows knitted together. “She just showed up at your door.” His voice was flat, but the glint in his eyes made my stomach jump. “Jesus Christ, Ella. This is why you have to leave that damn house. I’m not saying leave Montgomery—I don’t want that—just get a place that’s not so identifiable as yours. You could have fans camping out in your yard or trying to break inside.”

I struggled not to roll my eyes. “You have greatly overestimated my fame.” I took a sip of water. “She said her daughter was a fan of mine, but I think she chose me because I’d understand.”

“Understand what?”

“What she’s going through. You should’ve seen her. It was like looking at myself in a mirror a year ago. The woman’s at the end of her rope.”

“What happened to her daughter?”

I gave him the rundown of what I knew, which wasn’t much.

He shook his head. “I heard about that case. It’s over in Jackson, about 60 miles west of here. It’s certainly strange, but it doesn’t concern you.”

“I know, but that doesn’t make it any less intriguing.”

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “You aren’t actually considering this?”

“I am.”

“No.” He shook his head emphatically. “You said yourself you’re in a good place right now. Why risk that, Ms. I-don’t-like-change?”

“She needs help. If you hadn’t helped me, I’d be dead right now. But you stayed and got me through the hardest time of my life. Maybe I could do the same for her.”

“It’s not your job to help her. Don’t get caught up in another murder, El.”

It was my turn to narrow my eyes. “So you only helped me because it was your job.”

“That was different.”

“It’s not different. I told her I’d think about it, and I will. I’m going to Jackson tomorrow to see if I can get a copy of the police file. Maybe something will click.”

Gabriel stared at the ceiling and took several deep breaths before he looked back at me with a small triumphant smile. “You can’t drive.”

As if I could be thwarted by such a small insignificant detail. I shrugged. “Lloyd will take me.”

“The taxi driver?”

 I nodded, not seeing the problem.

“You can’t drive around with a 90-year-old cab driver.”

“He’s 85, tops.”

Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’d like to go on record now. This is a bad idea. I’m not getting involved.”

I was eating cereal and scanning the newspaper the next morning, mentally planning my day. I needed to call Lloyd and see if he would drive me. The snow the night before was relentless, and I had no idea how the roads between Montgomery and Jackson would be. Gabriel’s negative attitude about my potential project didn’t deter me at all. I respected his opinion and knew he was protecting me, but I needed to do this. Mrs. Nelson’s eyes and gaunt face haunted me. If writing this book could help her the way Gabriel had helped me, could I really say no? I bit my lip, as nerves twisted in my stomach. The answer was,
yes,
I could say no. I had been through enough. I didn’t owe anyone anything.

“Shit,” I said, and got up to retrieve some antacid.

I’ll just check things out. When I see there’s nothing I can do that the police haven’t already done, I’ll tell Jennifer I’m sorry, but I can’t help her.
I nodded to myself. It was a good plan.

Four sharp, official knocks sounded at the front door. I smiled and headed for the entrance. Only one person knocked like that. I snapped the all the locks back, undid the handle lock, and ushered Gabriel inside.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Good morning to you, too.” He kissed my cheek and lingered for just a second. He smelled like soap and warmth. “Are you still going to Jackson today?”

“If Lloyd will take me.” We walked toward the kitchen.

He shook his head. “Lloyd doesn’t have to take you.”

My insides warmed and a ridiculously large smile took over my face. “Really?”

“Well, if I can’t talk sense into you, at least I can be there to keep you out of trouble. Besides, it’s worth it just to see you smile like that.” Gabriel got himself a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter next to me. “So what do we know?”

“Only what I told you last night.” My hand hovered over a drawer containing my spare set of house keys. I’d intended to do this for a while, but always chickened out. I swallowed against the dryness in my throat.

“You didn’t do any more research?” he asked. “I figured you’d Google the hell out of it. I know I did.”

I shook my head, fingers curling around the drawer’s handle. “Remember the garbage the so-called ‘news sources’ printed about me? I think it’s best if I draw my own conclusions.”

Gabriel sipped his coffee. His intense brown eyes took in everything, lingering on my hand on the drawer. “So what’s your plan?”

I let go of the drawer. It still wasn’t time. Not yet. “Well, I’d like to stop by the police station to see if I can get a copy of Mary Nelson’s file. Then I want to drive from the boyfriend’s house to the mother’s house and also go to where the car was found. That’s pretty much it for now…” I spooned shredded wheat and dried cranberries into my mouth and waited. I’d never ask for his input, but was sure he’d give it anyway. He was the detective, after all.

“Sounds like a good start. You probably want to see how the day shapes up before you add to it.” He took another thoughtful swallow of coffee. “But before I take you anywhere, I need you to promise something.”

“What?” I knew his offer of help was too good to be true. There was always a catch.

“If at any time, no matter what’s happening in the case, you feel yourself slipping or old memories come back, you talk to me about it. No bottling things up. I’ve been through too much with you to watch it all slip away.”