Isabelle and I drove alone, again. She quietly looked out the window like the day before, but her moods were different. The grief remained; however, there were occasional bursts of contentment and happiness. She was remembering and seeming to find some peace with Ethan’s death.
When our caravan stopped for lunch, she willingly went inside the country restaurant. Like in the fighting circle, Jim took Ethan’s place beside Isabelle.
I knew by the way he grinned when he picked up the menu and began making enthusiastic noises as he read, he was up to no good. He proved it by nudging Isabelle a moment later and pointing to the menu.
“They have a one-pound burger.” He tilted his menu toward her, then started to read. “This one pound behemoth is grilled to your preference, topped with a slab of deep-fried cheddar, three jumbo onion rings, and enough bacon to grease your arteries.”
He closed the menu. “I’m getting two.”
“Jim,” Charlene said. “Just one.”
He nodded then leaned toward Isabelle. “Order the same. I’ll help you finish it.”
She actually nodded.
“Want a beer, too?” he asked hopefully.
“I don’t drink.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” he said with a grin as Michelle rolled her eyes at him.
I knew that grin too well. How many times had Jim gotten Emmitt and me in trouble at the Compound while growing up? Too many to count. He was up to something.
The waitress came around and started taking orders. The males and Winifred asked for the Behemoths.
When the waitress looked at Jim, he put his arm around Isabelle’s shoulders. Jealousy boiled behind the wall. I knew he was doing it on purpose, but that didn’t stop the surge of emotion.
“We’ll have two of the Behemoths, medium, and two beers,” he said, as if they were a pair.
The waitress made a note on her pad then looked at me. I reached over and knocked Jim’s arm from Isabelle.
“A Behemoth. Medium, please,” I said as Jim laughed.
He’s trying to lighten the mood, Grey sent me.
It didn’t matter. If he touched her again, he and I would need to go outside. However, he behaved himself as the rest of the group finished ordering.
Within a few minutes, the waitress started to bring out the drinks. When she set a beer in front of Isabelle, Isabelle asked for a water, too.
As soon as the waitress left, Isabelle pushed the beer toward Jim.
“Can’t,” he said. “I’m driving.”
“I don’t drink,” Isabelle said again.
“Maybe you should.”
“You’re not a good influence.”
He never had been. I still didn’t understand why the Elders were considering him as the next Elder.
Jim winked and nudged the beer back her way. She shook her head, but I could smell her amusement.
“If I drink, my guard slips. People get hurt when my guard slips,” she said. There was nothing new in her scent to give a hint of how she felt about that.
Jim leaned back in his chair.
“You’ve never let loose?”
“Once. I put the bar to sleep.”
“I’ll drink yours,” Bethi said, reaching across the table. She’d just sat down again with the drink in hand when Luke snagged the bottle and drained it.
“Not today,” he said, setting the empty bottle next to her plate.
“Killjoy.”
Jim sighed and absently scratched his chest.
“We should have ordered appetizers.”
Grey was right. Jim had lightened the mood. But, I didn’t trust his methods. Emmitt and I had taken the brunt of the fallout from his antics before. Still, he’d helped Isabelle just now, which made her more approachable. Grey seemed to have the same thought.
“Have you ever been to New York?” he asked Isabelle.
“No. This is the furthest I’ve ever traveled from home.”
“Are there any sights you want to see?” I asked.
“I doubt there will be time for that. Sounds like it will be a lot more hotel fun.”
I tried not to be frustrated that she’d shut down the attempted conversation so quickly. At the other end of the table, the conversation about where we’d stay continued. It reminded me that she’d successfully managed to ensure she and I would not have alone time. I looked across the table at Bethi and Luke, who were still having a stare down over the beer.
By the time the burgers arrived twenty minutes later, Isabelle’s grief was thick around us, and she ate very little. Before Jim could snag the Behemoth from her plate, I took it and set it on mine. Jim grumbled and took the remaining fries.
When the waitress came back around asking about refills, I asked for a to-go box. Isabelle glanced at me.
“You’ll be hungry later,” I said.
We left the restaurant and only managed to drive a few miles when Jim pulled into an empty tavern parking lot.
What is he doing? I sent Grey.
He says he needs to use the bathroom. There was no lie detected.
We both know he can say things without lying.
Grey didn’t respond. I gripped the steering wheel tightly and pulled in behind the rest.
“What’s going on?” Isabelle asked.
“Jim. He needs the bathroom.”
The SUV stopped, and the driver’s side door opened. I watched Jim jog toward the building, knowing this had nothing to do with a bathroom break.
When it started taking too long for him to reappear, I checked with Grey.
What is he doing?
He’s not answering. But given the length of time, I think it’s pretty obvious.
I growled and turned off the car. Isabelle glanced at me.
“Are you impatient, annoyed, or angry?”
“All of the above.”
“Why?”
“Jim’s been in there for five minutes. Grey said he’s not answering the Elders.”
“So?”
“We don’t have time for his fooling around.”
“You sound like you know Jim.”
“I grew up with him.”
“Why doesn’t someone go in to check on him?”
“Because that’s most likely what he wants.”
Isabelle shook her head and opened the door.
“Isabelle, wait.”
This was just what Jim wanted. Isabelle in a bar.
I got out and started after her, ready to run around and block her from going in. Then, I hesitated. Jim had helped in the restaurant. What if he was right again? It was the “what if” of his actions that helped keep him as an Elder in training. The Elders weren’t sure if he was a genius or had amazing dumb luck.
I stopped walking, and watched Isabelle go inside.
What’s going on? Grey sent me.
Isabelle wants to see what’s keeping Jim. We both know how this is going to end after his comments about the beer.
Why didn’t you stop her?
Because I don’t know what to do to help her. What if he’s right? Her only friend, only family, just died. What if she does need this?
Behind me, doors opened. I turned to see Winifred walking toward me.
“Jim is a troublemaker,” she said with a scowl.
“He is,” I agreed.
“Stay here.”
She pushed her way into the bar, and I waited. Grey joined me.
“Think there will be anything left of him?”
“Probably.”
Winifred had a soft spot for Jim. It was the only explanation for his continued existence after the time he stole Winifred’s car to go meet girls after just getting his license. It wasn’t long after that Emmitt and Jim had moved to the States with Winifred, and Jim had started his training.
The others got out of the vehicles and came our way.
“What’s going on?” Thomas asked.
“Jim,” Grey said. Just that one word had Thomas shaking his head.
Winifred walked out of the bar just then.
“We all need a break,” she said. “We’ll stay for a few hours as long as Gabby says it’s clear.”
“Seriously?” Bethi said before she shoved her way toward the door and disappeared inside.
“It is clear,” Gabby said, moving to follow Bethi.
As the door opened, we heard Bethi squeal.
“Bollocks,” Luke mumbled, following the rest.
“Like drinking much?” I heard Isabelle ask.
“Nah, I like annoying Luke,” Bethi answered.
Grey winked at me, and we went inside.
Jim, on the receiving end of a censuring look from Charlene, stood near the bar. I still wasn’t sure if I was going to regret not stopping Isabelle or thank Jim by the end of the night. He’d at least picked a quiet place. The bar was empty except for us and the bartender.
Isabelle grinned at Bethi as Luke covered Bethi’s mouth with his hand to prevent her from taking a shot.
“She’s seventeen,” Luke said, scowling at Isabelle, who didn’t look even slightly concerned.
“Wow, Bethi. Your dad looks really young.” She sounded so much like her old self.
I watched Bethi take Isabelle’s hand and drag her toward the jukebox. They called Michelle and Gabby over to help. Charlene stayed back and asked for a glass of wine.
“It’s my Thanksgiving glass,” she said to Thomas. “I didn’t get one.” He kissed her temple and told her Christmas would be better.
My kind didn’t mind celebrating the human holidays. It meant more food. But, I wondered what they meant to Isabelle. Would she want to celebrate Christmas? Would she be done grieving Ethan by then? Would we be done with the Urbat by then? Since the holiday was only a few weeks away, I doubted it.
Isabelle laughed at something Bethi said. It was good to hear.
Something brushed at my mind, and I frowned and focused on the room. A moment later, I felt it again. A small pull at the emotions behind my wall. Barely noticeable, but there. No one else seemed affected though.
I studied Isabelle. Was she doing it on purpose to help everyone relax? She’d helped Bethi before. This could be the same.
I felt another tug. A moment later, Isabelle turned away from the jukebox and ambled over by me. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes slightly glassy. How much had she drunk while with Jim? I inhaled slowly and could smell the slight tang of alcohol on her.
She took one of the shots near my elbow and held it out to me.
“Want one?”
“No,” I said, meeting her gaze. “If I drink, my guard slips. People get hurt when my guard slips.”
She didn’t get angry at hearing her own words. That wasn’t a good thing.
“Fine.” She tossed back the shot and grimaced. “Ew. What was that?”
I took the shot from her hand, sniffed it, and shook my head. It was alcohol, but not a kind I’d ever tried.
“I heard Jim say they’re all different.”
“Really?” She considered the shots again. “That makes this kind of fun.”
She picked up another shot, but before she could drink it, Bethi ran up and drank it.
“Daddy’s going to put you in a time out,” Isabelle said, looking back at Luke.
“Just remember your promise,” Luke said. “She’s sleeping with you tonight.”
That did get a reaction out of Isabelle. She wrinkled her nose. Perhaps she had been pulling to relax everyone.
“No puking,” she said.
Bethi laughed. “Come dance.”
Luke moved to stand beside me, and we watched them pull Gabby and Michelle to the clear area before the jukebox.
“She’s everything to me. Even a pain in my tail,” Luke said with a chuckle. Then he sobered. “I’m so worried about doing the wrong thing, I sometimes miss doing the right thing.”
“And what’s the right thing?” I asked.
“Listening. Not stopping her from having fun. They’re all going through hell. Gabby’s not sleeping because she blames herself for not seeing the Urbat coming sooner. Michelle is dying inside worrying about her brothers. Bethi’s dying in her dreams. And your girl’s…well, she’s in pain, too. All we can do is be there for them.”
Bethi waved for Luke to join them, and I focused on Isabelle. If I’d thought her moves tempting when we sparred, they were nothing to how she danced. Her punches and kicks were graceful and fluid. The way she swayed and turned to the music was nothing short of seductive.
Time slipped away as she mesmerized me. The room grew hot, and my breathing short. I wanted to touch her. To hold her in my arms and feel the way she moved.
After a while, she stopped dancing and walked my way. I ached for her, and to hide it, I kept my eyes on the group.
She grabbed two of the shots remaining and downed one after the other.
“Ugh! Keep me away from exposed flames.”
She turned to face the room and leaned on the bar beside me.
“Why aren’t you out there?”
I tucked my hands into my pockets to hide the tremble that had started at that question and turned to look at her.
“Are you inviting me?”