Love Life & Circumstance (5 page)

He looked up in time to see Elijah Deacon emerge. The man’s mouth opened as if to speak to him, but Rhett, Jr. stepped around him and went up on tiptoe to claim the other man’s mouth in a possessive kiss. Seth’s expression closed. Point taken. Deacon belonged to the funeral attendant. He wasn’t sure how Devereux knew he was gay, but obviously he did.

When the taller man met his gaze again, Seth found himself staring. Elijah Deacon was one hell of a sexy man. He couldn’t blame Rhett, Jr. for staking his claim. Tall and powerfully built, Elijah Deacon, with his tousled blond hair and mesmerizing blue eyes had the face of an angel. Though he’d not seen the man smile, Seth knew dimples would deepen the grooves in his lean cheeks.

“Mr. Jacobs. I forgot one signature. If you’ll follow me, please.” The weight of Bethany’s death crashed back over him, breaking the spell the other man seemed to hold over him. He nodded and followed Rhett, Sr. back into the office. When he emerged, Elijah Deacon was gone.

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

After a quick trip to feed his dog, Seth sat behind the wheel of his Range Rover at the red light at Westgate Parkway and Highway 431. The thought of the baby lying in the nursery alone and orphaned preyed on his mind. As much as seeing her hurt, the little girl fought for her life. Despite the obstacles thrown at her by her mother, despite God knew what trickling through her veins, she clung to life more bravely than most adults. As long as she breathed, there was hope.

The light changed and he hit the gas. Traffic on the Circle was light and he made good time to the Medical Center. Once again, he entered through emergency and made his way to the NICU. Impatience worried his steps. Having made up his mind to see her, he itched to know more about her and her prognosis. When the elevator doors finally swished open, he practically ran down the hall. The nurse from the day before was on duty, Susan Clarity, according to her nametag.

“Her name is Hope. Bonnie Hope Jacobs. How is she?” A warm smile spread over the nurse’s face.

“I’ll add that to her charts. Your niece is still fighting. The blood you donated helped tremendously. We did a small infusion last night after you left. Her red blood cell count is up.”

“Can I hold her now?” Susan’s warm smile turned into a beaming grin.

“You’ll need scrubs and to wash up. We don’t want any germs sneaking in to cause infections.” She led him to the sinks, and pointed out the strict hand-washing regime. Seth took meticulously care to follow the instructions to the letter. When he emerged scrubbed up and nearly raw, he moved to the incubator holding the fragile little girl. Susan joined him.

“Slide your hands through the holes, let them warm up before you touch her. She likes to have her back stroked. When you feel comfortable, you can pick her up, just be very careful and support her head and neck.”

Very carefully, Seth ran his index finger down the middle of Hope’s back. A gasp caught in his throat when she shifted beneath his touch. Another stroke and the tight ball she lay in uncurled. With each trail of his finger down her spine, she relaxed until she lay in sprawl against the sterile white sheet. So tiny, yet so perfect. Ten fingers, ten toes, a small fan of eyelashes on each cheek, and the faintest bit of red fuzz on her head. Daunted, he laid his hand alongside her and realized her entire body would fit in it.

“It’s you and me against the world, baby girl. Uncle Seth is here and I’m going to make sure you get everything you need.” Gently, he slid his fingers under her slight frame and picked her up. She curled up again in the palms of his hands. For several minutes, he stood transfixed. This baby was completely dependent on him, everything she needed, he would provide. Some of the heartache eased. He wasn’t alone. He had Hope.

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

CHAPTER SEVEN

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

Numb from his meeting with police Chief Bussey, Elijah sat on the back porch of his home and swirled the large glass of amber liquor before raising it to his lips and downing the lot. Between his legs on the next step down lay what was left of his father’s effects. Chief Bussey had brought them with him to Devereux’s rather than have Elijah called in to receive them more formally. Thoughtful, but then after the fifty plus years Bussey and his father stayed best friends, the gesture hadn’t surprised Elijah much.

Another refill, and this time Elijah hoped the warmth of the bourbon would cut through the chill running through his veins. He hadn’t been able to get warm at all after the chief explained the circumstances surrounding his father’s death.  He’d been filling up on gas when an SUV trying to evade an ongoing police chase cut through the gas station. Eye witness accounts stated that instead of slowing down, the driver, a white female whose name Bussey failed to deliver, seemed to speed up and lose control, taking out Elijah’s father and catapulting a female passenger out through the windshield. She’d barely missed the pump, but the rest as they say was history.

Tears welled in Elijah’s eyes, and he bit them back with a mouthful of liquor. Since arriving home, it had been one visitor after another, every one of them an old friend, or one of his daddy’s parishioners. Each one had their own story to tell about Pastor Chamberlain Deacon. Elijah had listened respectfully and graciously thanked each visitor and friend for their kind thoughts and food.

The men who worked for his father were by far the worst, Bubba and Chad, along with Big Dave, Tiny, Earl and their wives had been with Deacon & Son since day one. Elijah couldn’t bear to see the depth of hurt in their eyes; his daddy had been a friend to every one of them. Elijah’s own voice broke when he said goodbye to them. He’d closed the firm for the next few days, and was relieved when Bubba offered to phone around to their customers and let them know some jobs would be delayed.

When the house Elijah had built stood quiet once more, he’d made his way outside and sat listening to the sound of the rain. He’d built his home within Headland’s wooded boundaries, hoping for the peacefulness of the countryside. His father had loved it when Elijah showed him the plans and helped, along with the rest of the guys on the weekends until it was done.

Everywhere he looked there was a piece of his father, a memory, stained into the soul of his home to be engrained forever into the wood.  Another bourbon and Elijah picked up the small bag of effects. He didn’t bother to wipe away the tears as he slipped his mama’s and his daddy’s wedding rings onto the heavy gold chain holding his cross. His chest tightened around an outbreak of sobs, and Elijah buried his head in his arms and cried.

He didn’t know how long he sat out there, but by the time he’d dried his eyes, the rain had turned heavier. Lightning cracked overhead, and Elijah screamed his own rage into the night. “Why? Who in the name of God would crash into him that way? He ain’t ever hurt anybody?”

“Her name is Carrie Floyd, and her best friend was Bethany Jacobs…” Elijah reeled at the broken sounding voice. The glass he held dropped from his hands as he rose to his feet and glared at the man dripping puddles on his bottom step.

“Who the fuck are you? And what the hell are you doing wandering around here this time of night, boy? Ya damn lucky I ain’t filled you full of buckshot.” Elijah squinted against another sky splitting streak of lightening that highlighted the male standing before him.

“My name’s Seth, Seth Jacobs. I’m the twin, was the twin brother of Bethany Jacobs, the girl that was thrown through the windshield of the car that killed your dad.”

It felt like every bit of oxygen had been sucked from his lungs. The wind that had been building around them suddenly died out to leave behind a heavy mantle of awkward silence. Elijah just stared. The guy was soaked through and looked like he’d been in a train wreck. As much as Elijah wanted to punch the guy’s lights out to release some of the anger swirling through him, there was something lost about the look in the man’s eyes that pulled on Elijah’s heartstrings. It was pain, the same hollow ache that lodged where his heart had once been.

Elijah hadn’t even realized he’d held out his hand until the cold grip of flesh squeezed it then quickly released. “You’re the guy from the hospital, the one I keep seeing?” Elijah questioned him. The stranger nodded before moving up another few steps until he stood directly under the soft glowing light.

God the guy was beautiful, even though he was dripping wet. Guilt reared its ugly head and Elijah felt awful.
Was it wrong of him to be so distracted by someone when his dad was barely cold?
Still, no matter how bad he felt, Elijah had been brought up to be caring and at best polite.

“I’m Elijah, my dad was Pastor Deacon, please come in and dry off while I pour us both a drink.” Elijah didn’t wait to hear if the man replied, he opened the door and stepped inside. He sensed the man behind him and smiled back over his shoulder. “Bathroom’s through the hall, last door on the left. You’ll find some clean towels and probably a pair of clean sweats. You can throw your things in the dryer if you want; they’ll not take long to dry. Don’t want ya drippin’ shit all over my floor. Is bourbon ok with you? I ain’t none too keen on beer.”

Elijah watched Seth Jacobs disappear down the hall then crossed the fireplace. He loved a fire, even in the heat of July. His friends called him crazy when he cranked his AC to its lowest point just so he could build a fire. The flames comforted him and on this night, he’d needed them. Easily, he threw a few more kindling logs onto the open fireplace and filled the caddy hanging above it with a fine blend of bourbon. He loved the warm scent that filled the expanse of his living room. Once he’d snagged a couple of clean glasses from the kitchen, Elijah sat in front of the crackling flames and waited for Seth to show that gorgeous face of his and darn well explain what the fuck he was doing there.

The sound of Seth clearing his throat broke Elijah from his reverie, and he looked up to where the man stood looking down at him with eyes like molten pools of melted chocolate that reflected the dance of the flickering flames. He felt guilt stricken for thinking about Seth’s looks, but the guy was just so damned stunning it was cruel. Seth wasn’t just handsome; he was beautiful, far too beautiful for words, which was why Elijah found himself staring, mouth slightly open and completely lost for words.

“I ummm…I hope you don’t mind, but the rain soaked through everything.” Seth’s voice broke through the rampant train of Elijah’s thoughts. He gulped, loudly, as Seth took the seat opposite and stared into the flames. Elijah wished to God time would stand still, because shit, the guy was hot, and not from the fire that bathed over the surface of his flesh.

Dressed in nothing but a pair of Elijah’s running sweats, Seth Jacobs was a sight to behold. He had that V frame build down pat, with broad leanly muscled shoulders that tapered off into a slender well ripped torso. Elijah licked his lips as his eyes smoldered over the smattering of dark hair that peppered Seth’s lightly tanned chest. It ran down past his navel in a trail that disappeared below the oh-so-very-low waist line of his sweats. Jesus H. Christ! It had to be the amount of alcohol he’d consumed that threw his inhibitions to the wind, but Elijah wanted to run his lips down that pleasure trail and let his tongue play over all that warm exposed flesh.

“Dayyum.”

“Excuse me, what did you say?” Seth’s question brought a rush of heat to Elijah’s cheeks, and he turned to look away. “I said damn, I haven’t been able to get warm all day. Crazy I know as it’s July.” He said the only thing he could think of and stood to pile more logs onto the fire.

“Could be because the air’s set on forty below,” Seth teased, and then his smile faltered. “But, yeah, I know what you mean. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so empty. It’s a twin thing I think. Bethie was the only family I had.” Seth’s voice wavered slightly and Elijah could almost feel the burden of the man’s grief and guilt.

But then, anger threatened to break Elijah’s cool exterior, and he ground his teeth hard. He couldn’t hold back the spite in his words as he took the two glasses from the mantle and filled them with the warming liquor. “It’s a shame she didn’t take more after her brother then isn’t it. Why? What in God’s name happened in that car to cause this?” Elijah wanted to hit something, wanted answers. But as angry as he was, he knew it wasn’t Seth’s fault. The guy looked as torn up about this as Elijah felt inside. “Shit! This is fixin’ to be one hell of a sorry assed mess.” Elijah exhaled as he handed Seth a drink and seated himself beside the fireplace to stoke up the flames.

“I don’t mean to intrude on your grief. I was driving around aimlessly. I couldn’t face going home to the silence. I saw your name on the mailbox and I wanted to…I’m so sorry this happened to you and your family. I wish I knew what was going through Beth’s head. All I know is that Carrie was driving and that they were both high and drunk, they tried to out run the cops, lost control of the truck and now my sister is dead.” Seth’s voice cracked on the last word, but Elijah couldn’t look at him. He wasn’t the only one left alone in all this.

“My dad was all I had left.” He took a long swallow of his drink and let the bite sting the back of his throat as tears filled his eyes. “Yesterday was the twenty-fifth anniversary of my mother’s death, I was supposed to meet him at the cemetery, but he was running late because the cops had shut down the Circle. He rang me just as he pulled into O’Malley’s gas station to fill up. I knew something was wrong when he failed to turn up. Now, I have a double anniversary to look forward to, due to your sister and her stupid drunken friend.” Elijah all but whispered the last words as he fought back the tears.

“I’m sorry Mr. Deacon, this was stupid of me. I shouldn’t have come. I just needed to see you, tell you how sorry I am. I’ll leave you in peace.”  Seth placed his now empty glass on the huge stone hearth and stood up to leave. Elijah sat there, eyes filling with tears as he stared into the flames.

“You’ll scare the wildlife walkin’ about half naked like that. Stay, have another drink and wait till your clothes dry.” 
Stay, please, please stay.
Elijah couldn’t help it. As much as his brain was screaming at him to kick Seth out on his ass, his heart screamed back at him twice as loud. Truth was; he didn’t want to be alone. Sure, he could phone Rhett, have him come over and end up skunk assed drunk, but Rhett wasn’t what he wanted.
And Seth was?
He mentally asked himself as he looked up at the confused looking man.