“Yeah, that’s what she gets paid for.”
She fell quiet, but I could hear her breathing softly at the other end. After a long pause I asked, “Are you still with me?”
“Aye,” she mumbled. “I’m here.”
“Would you rather not talk right now?” I asked, trying desperately to keep disappointment from invading my voice.
“No,” she replied then corrected herself. “I mean… I do want to talk. It’s just… It’s just that it’s so good to hear your voice right now.”
“Yours too,” I told her.
“What about you then?” she asked. “How are you?”
“Me? I’m fine.”
“Breugadair.”
The accusation actually made me smile. Even though she had just called me a liar, the fact that she was interjecting Gaelic into her speech meant that she was much more her old self than even she realized.
“What makes you think I’m lying?” I asked.
“I’m depressed, Rowan, I’m not stupid.”
My voice softened. “Can’t get anything past you, can I?”
“Of course not.”
“Well, you don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“Aye, you haven’t been sleeping, have you?” She wasn’t really asking, she was telling.
It was obvious that my powers of deception were more than a bit anemic lately, but then, according to my wife they always were. I decided not to even make an attempt at denying the observation.
“Not enough,” I admitted. “But, like I said, you don’t need to worry about me. You need to worry about you.”
“Worrying about you is part of what makes me who I am.”
“Same here,” I told her. “But you need to concentrate on feeling better. I’m responsible for getting you into this, and I’ll get you out of it.”
“How do you figure that you’re responsible, then?”
I closed my eyes and gave my head a slight shake. I knew immediately that I had said the wrong thing, but there was no way to take it back.
“That’s not important right now,” I told her.
“Aye, it is to me.”
I let out a cautious breath as I tried to choose my words. “Let’s just say that if I had never become involved in Ariel Tanner’s murder investigation all those years back, we’d probably be having a much more normal life. Maybe all this wouldn’t be happening.”
This wasn’t a new thought for me. It was simply one that I usually kept to myself. But, it had weighed on me for quite some time. Had I never opened the door to that other realm by insinuating myself so deeply into that first investigation, maybe the dead would be speaking to someone else instead of me. And, if that were the case, Felicity wouldn’t be sitting in the psychiatric wing of a hospital because an out of control Lwa was using her as a horse.
“Aye, Caorthann,” my wife soothed. “You had no choice. Ariel was your friend.”
“I’m supposed to be cheering you up,” I finally muttered.
“You are…” she replied, and I could actually hear the smile in her voice.
“I’m glad you think so, because I don’t feel like I am.”
“How is it down there?” she asked, switching the subject without acknowledging what I had just said.
On reflex I looked out the windows of the taxi at the piles of detritus as I spoke, “Not as bad as we saw on TV, but it’s still not good.”
“Are you keeping your wards up?”
“Yeah. I am.”
When she replied, her voice was still illuminated by the somewhat bright tone that had made me smile a moment ago. “ Cac capaill. You’re lying again. You haven’t been able to shield yourself for more than ten minutes in years. I know coven initiates who ground better than you.”
I allowed myself a grin at the comment, complete with the Gaelic profanity. Knowing Felicity as I did, I took the curse as yet another positive sign.
I felt the car slowing and looked up. We listed briefly as the driver swung the vehicle into the motel’s lot in a tight arc and then eased us up in front of the office.
“Hold on, honey,” I said into the phone as I fished out my wallet.
I did a quick mental calculation of the tip and stuffed some bills into his hand with a quick “keep the change,” then stepped out of the vehicle and started across the lot to my own car. The trip had put a dent in my traveling cash, but I wasn’t hurting yet. Still, I figured plastic was probably going to be my best choice to pay for my meals from this point on.
“Okay, I’m back,” I said after returning the phone to my ear.
“Have you been eating?” she asked, still bent on taking care of me by long distance.
I didn’t think she needed the worry, but it seemed to be giving her something to focus on. So, if it made her feel better, I wasn’t going to argue.
“Aspirin and coffee.”
“Rowan…”
“I’ll get something later. I promise.”
“Something healthy.”
“You got it. Something healthy.”
“So what are your plans today?” she pressed.
I glanced at my watch and saw that it was 10:20.
“I’m going down to the main branch of the library to check their archives. If I’m lucky I’ll be able to pick up a lead on Miranda from some of the genealogy records. I don’t know if it will do any good, even if I find something, but maybe.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be meeting up with Doctor Rieth to have a look at the cemetery?” she asked.
“That isn’t until tomorrow. She’s still in Baton Rouge right now. But, I have a map so I might go out there myself this afternoon.”
I stopped at my rental car then pulled the key out of my pocket and unlocked the door. I opened it but didn’t get in right away. I just stood there watching the traffic out on Airline Highway.
“Please don’t,” Felicity appealed.
“Why?”
“Just… I don’t know. Just don’t go alone. Please wait until tomorrow when Doctor Rieth is with you.”
“Okay,” I answered softly. “I can do that. Don’t worry.”
“Promise?”
“Yes, honey. I promise,” I said, unconsciously nodding as I spoke. “Truth is I should probably go back to the motel and grab some sleep once I’m done at the library.”
“Aye, I think you should.”
Silence fell between us. I turned to slip into the car, and my eyes caught the sight of a maid’s cart outside the door of room 7. Some of the furniture was already resting in a pile near the entrance to the open stairwell on the left.
“I’m loving you right now,” my wife finally said.
“I’m loving you too,” I replied.
“Well…” she began hesitantly. “I suppose I should let you go.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I still need to figure out how to get to the library from here.”
“Call me later? When you wake up from your nap…”
“Absolutely.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, sweetheart.”
