Runes (Paranormal Romance, YA,) (26 page)

***

An hour later, we sat in the hospital’s parking lot, sipping our lattes and listening to the radio. My ring tone started. Mom. I pressed the green button and brought the phone to my ear. “Did you get my message about tonight?”

“Yes, I did. Don’t worry about it. I’ll bring you guys something to eat for dinner.”

I grinned. “You’re the best, Mom.”

She chuckled. “I’ll see you tonight.”

I turned off my cell just as a song ended. “Is that Taylor’s latest hit?”

Cora stared at me blankly. “I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention. What time is it?”

“Three forty-five. You’re worried about this Debbie girl for nothing, you know. Keith’s crazy about you.”

“Then why hasn’t he asked me to the dance?”

“Maybe he just assumed you’d go together or he’s waiting for you to ask him.”

She widened her eyes. “That’s dumb. Men always do the asking.”

“You asked him out,” I reminded her.

Cora grinned. “That’s ‘cause he was taking forever when it was obvious he liked me.” She sighed. “I could go with you guys, but I hate being a third wheel. Oh, let’s go get this over with. Debbie can have him for all I care.”

We threw our paper cups in the bin by the entrance then stepped through the sliding, circular automatic doors. The ladies behind the desk at the physical therapy entrance were nice, but Keith frowned when he saw Cora. Maybe she had a reason to worry.

“What?” Cora asked with attitude.

“My mother’s here.” Keith glanced over his shoulder and hustled us away from the desk.

Cora frowned. “So what? She knows we’re dating.”

“Yes, but she doesn’t approve of my girlfriends coming to my place of work.”

“Girlfriends? Just how many—”

Keith pulled her toward him and shut her up with a kiss. “I’ll come to your place tonight. There’s something I need to ask you. Right now, I have to introduce Raine to Debbie then go back to work before my mother finds out I’m gone. She’s big on work ethics. Get it?”

Cora grinned. “Got it.”

“Good.” He planted another kiss on her lips. “This way.”

He led us down a set of stairs and along a hallway to a door. He opened it to reveal an office with several workstations, but only one was occupied by a heavy-set, middle-aged woman. She waved to us. I elbowed Cora, who grinned.

“Debbie, this is Lorraine Cooper, the friend I told you about, and her friend Cora. Girls, this is Deborah Keegan,” Keith said when we stopped by the woman’s desk. “Thanks for agreeing to help them, Debbie.” He squeezed her shoulder and turned to Cora. “See you tonight.”

Debbie didn’t wait for him to leave the room before she tapped on the keyboard then glanced at me. “What’s your social security number?”

I recited the nine-digit number and waited with anticipation as she typed. She glanced at me. “Just the names of the nurses?”

“Yes.”

She tilted the screen away from us as a page popped on the screen. She scrolled down, clicked, and scrolled some more, then picked up a pen, scribbled something on a piece of paper, and handed it to me. “Anything else?”

“No, thank you.” I studied the names—Gabrielle Guillaume, Kayla Jemison, and Sally Mullin. I wanted to ask her if they’d retired, but I doubted she would appreciate it. From her cold demeanor, it was obvious she was only helping us because of Keith.

We were by the door when I whispered, “I wish I could ask her if they still worked here.”

“Go ahead and do it,” Cora said.

I glanced at Debbie from the corner of my eye. “I don’t know. She didn’t seem thrilled to be helping us.”

“Oh, whatever. Are they all retired?” Cora asked, turning to face Debbie.

The woman looked up and scowled. “Excuse me?”

“The nurses,” Cora said. “Are they retired, dead, or still around?”

Debbie sighed. “There’s a Gabby Guillaume upstairs at the Women’s Center,” she said. “But I don’t know if it’s the same nurse.”

We were grinning as we left the basement and headed for the elevator. I couldn’t believe I was actually going to talk to one of the nurses who had taken care of me. “Thanks for asking her.”

Cora shrugged. “Are you excited?”

“Oh yeah.” Scared, too. I wasn’t sure what to expect.

We followed the signs to the double doors of the Women’s Center. Inside was a spacious, spa-like waiting room with soft background music, comfortable furniture with fluffy pillows, and ottomans. I shivered. Someone must have cranked up the air conditioner because the temperature in the room was cooler than outside. Through the glass walls, I could see women lounging in beds, some with their babies. A young nurse who reminded me of Marj from the swim team sat behind the large, circular nurses’ station. She wore fashionable blue floral scrubs, and her braids were in a bun. We approached her.

 
“Hi. We’re looking for Gabby Guillaume.”

She frowned, her eyes volleying between Cora and me. “I’m Gabby. How can I help you?”

Cora and I exchanged a glance. She was too young to have taken care of me seventeen years ago. “I think someone made a mistake. We’re looking for Gabrielle Guillaume who worked here seventeen years ago?”

The nurse frowned. “That was my aunt. I’m named after her. What is this about?”

I explained about my birth and wanting to thank her aunt. The nurse’s expression changed as I spoke, from confusion to surprise then finally wariness.

“Ooh, that’s sweet,” another nurse overheard us and said. She was short and curvy and had a kind smile. A third nurse had her back to us and was busy punching the keyboard.

“She’s thinking of nominating her for an award,” Cora said.

“The Daisy Award,” I explained.

Nurse Guillaume smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “She would have loved that, but my aunt is retired now and moved back to Louisiana. If you leave your number, I can give it to her and explain what you want. If she wants to talk to you, she’ll give you a call.”

“That would be great. Thank you.” I scribbled my cell number and name on the piece of paper. “Um, you don’t happen to know Kayla Jemison and Sally Mullin, do you? They worked here with her.”

Nurse Guillaume shook her head. “That was before my time, but Aunt Gabby might know. I’ll ask her if she knows how to contact the other two.”

“Thank you.” We left the Women’s Center and entered the elevator, but I couldn’t get rid of a weird feeling about the nurse. “Do you think she reacted kind of weird?”

Cora frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but she seemed almost reluctant to help us.”

We headed to the parking lot, but just before the car started, I thought I heard a motorcycle engine roar to life. I looked around, but there was no biker. Not that I expected to catch a glimpse of Torin. He probably used rune magic to move at a super speed.

***

Eirik was talking to Torin when we arrived at my house. While Eirik crossed over to our place, my eyes connected with Torin’s. There was a flash of something in his eyes. Anger? Grim determination? I wasn’t sure.

 
“Hey, what took you guys?” Eirik slipped his arms around my waist and kissed my temple.

Aware of both Torin and Cora watching us, I closed my eyes and tried to savor the feel of Eirik. I’d always loved the way he smelled. Now I craved a different scent. I imagined different arms holding me, different lips kissing me. My senses leaped at my thoughts and guilt followed.

Eirik turned me around, cupped my face, and kissed me. He angled his head and deepened the contact. I welcomed the invasion of his tongue and clung to him, desperately using him to erase Torin from my mind. It didn’t work. My body knew he was just a substitute. Instead of passion, I found comfort. Instead of heat, I got warmth.

Eirik eased off the kiss and looked over my shoulder. I knew then that he’d kissed me to warn Torin off or prove something. “Let’s go inside.”

Cora disappeared with Torin while Eirik and I walked to my house. Once I finished explaining our visit at the hospital, we worked on uploading the photographs onto his computer and cropping them. When Cora finally joined us, she was quiet. Too quiet.

“You okay?” I asked, but she just shrugged.

While the two of them finished with the slideshow, I worked on the eulogy.

“I’m home,” Mom called a while later. The scent of fresh pizza reached us before she popped her head into my room. “Pizza, drinks, and wings for my hardworking crew.”

Eirik jumped up, took the box, and kissed her cheek. “Thanks, Mrs. C. I was starving.”

“You’re growing,” she teased him then gave me the bottle of soda and plastic cups.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“How’s it going?” she asked.

“Take a look.” Cora turned the laptop and tapped a key. The slides showed pictures of Kate with other swimmers—in the pool swimming, at meets, doing team cheer, at parties and dinners my coach loved to have before meets, and around town during fundraising gigs for the team.

Mom smiled and patted Cora’s shoulder. “That was beautiful. I’m sure Kate’s parents will appreciate all the hard work you guys put into it.”

“Yeah, I wish I could say the same about my eulogy,” I mumbled. I had half a page written, and it sounded pathetic.

“You’re giving a eulogy?” Mom asked, not masking her surprise.

I sighed. “Yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking when I volunteered.”

 
“I’m sure it will come to you, sweetie.” Mom squeezed my shoulder and disappeared downstairs.

Thirty minutes later, I threw the pencil down. “I need help, people. Desperately.”

Cora scrunched her face. “Don’t look at me. I didn’t know her.”

“You urged me to volunteer, you traitor,” I retorted.

“Since when do you listen to me?”

“Since always.” I threw a pillow at her, and she blocked it with her greasy hands. “Eew, you got pizza sauce on my pillow.”

“Serves you right for throwing it.” She kicked the pillow out of the way and glanced at Eirik. “Are you going to help or just demolish the food like a starved ex-convict?”

Eirik licked his fingers then reached for another chicken wing. “I don’t talk when I eat.”

“Grrr-ross,” Cora said, watching him suck the flesh off the bones.

He smacked his lips and winked at her then glanced my way. “Maybe you should just say a line or two and let the slideshow speak for you, Raine.”

“We’ll see.” I jumped up. “Anyone want anything else? I’m going downstairs to talk to Mom. She’s good with people and always knows what to say.”

“About everything,” Cora said.

“And everyone,” Eirik added.

Laughing, I headed downstairs. I reached the bottom and froze. Mom wasn’t alone. A familiar voice mingled with her softer voice, and my heart leaped. Torin.

As though aware of my presence, Torin looked up and stood. I swallowed, my senses soaking him as though I hadn’t seen him earlier. I walked toward them, my heart racing so hard I felt lightheaded.

“Did you finish your eulogy, sweetie?” Mom asked.

“No, I need help. Kate wasn’t very outgoing, so we know next to nothing about her,” I said absentmindedly, my eyes not leaving Torin’s. I wanted to look away, but couldn’t. His eyes held me spellbound. He watched me as though every expression on my face was of utter importance to him. “I didn’t know you two had met,” I added, my voice breathless.

 
“Your mother and I met a few days ago,” he said, cocking his eyebrows. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Why should I?” My face grew warm, the conversation we’d had in the closet at school flashing in my head.

“Torin wants to know if it’s okay for him to throw a party tomorrow night for the swim team. Isn’t that thoughtful of him to ask all the neighbors first?” Mom said.

“Just being neighborly, Mrs. Cooper.”

I dragged my eyes from Torin and glanced at Mom. She wore an innocent grin, which didn’t fool me one little bit. I couldn’t help but wonder why she hadn’t told me the two of them had met. Taking a deep breath to calm my pounding heart, I focused on their conversation. “Have you spoken with Mr. Peterson yet?”

Torin chuckled. “Yeah, he’s a funny guy. He said it was no problem at all, that we should have parties around here more often.”

“Really?”

“Really. We met the day I arrived and hit it off.” He grinned. “We share a passion for unique mailboxes.”

I giggled.

Torin grinned back. “I came over to personally invite you to my party, Freckles.”

“Me? I, uh...” Did he just call me Freckles in front of my mother?

He bowed stiffly and proper like an English gentleman. “Please. It will be an honor to have you there.”

“I, uh, okay. I’ll be there. I mean, we’ll be there.” A chuckle drew my attention to Mom, and I blushed. I had completely forgotten her presence.

“It’s been a pleasure talking to you again, Mrs. Cooper,” Torin said. “I better head home. I’ve a lot to do between now and tomorrow.”