Lucky Stars (Ghosts and Reincarnation #5)(175)

“Two weeks?”

“Maybe three,” Jack stated.

“Dude,” Jensen muttered.

“After that, when we return, by all means, throw a party. Do whatever you wish. The only thing you can’t do is invite people around whom Belle isn’t completely comfortable.”

Jensen threw his hands up in the air, shouting, “Right on!”

Jack shook his head but grinned doing it.

Jensen took in his grin, dropped his hands but socked Jack in one arm and declared, “You’re all right, Jack.”

“I find your acceptance somewhat disquieting, Jensen,” Jack shared honestly but, as expected, Jensen took no offence.

Instead, he burst out laughing, turned and shouted to a woman who was nowhere near, “Rachel! Baby! Party!” and he strode swiftly from the hall.

But in the wrong direction.

Jack didn’t inform him of this.

He moved through the hall but only managed to get five more steps in before Mickey Dempsey, who was descending the stairs, captured his attention.

Jack stopped, crossed his arms on his chest and waited.

Dempsey approached him and stopped three feet away.

“Called a taxi,” he announced. “It’ll be here in a minute.”

“Safe journey back to London,” Jack replied and Dempsey nodded.

“You’ll tell Belle good-bye?” Dempsey asked and Jack noted he only wished his farewell was known to Belle, not any of the others currently under his roof.

“Of course,” Jack muttered.

Then Dempsey strangely whispered, “Killing me, mate.”

“Pardon” Jack asked.

“This is the story of the century. Fuck, the millennium.”

“Dempsey, do you honestly believe, even if you could write it, that anyone would believe it?”

Dempsey grinned. “No way in hell. Probably why all the shit that Scot spouted last night over whisky never made the papers. It happens, no one says shit because, if they did, anyone listening would think they’re ‘round the bend.”

“Precisely,” Jack agreed.

“Still pissed off I missed all the action. The end was good but the rest of it sounded phenomenal.”

“As an onlooker, perhaps. As a participant, trust me, it wasn’t that fun.”

Dempsey grinned again.

Jack held his eyes.

Then he said quietly, “Your assistance is appreciated.”

“First, you paid me. Second, I didn’t help much.”

“You helped and it was appreciated,” Jack reiterated.

Dempsey’s gaze stayed locked to Jack’s then he nodded.

“Good-bye, Mickey,” Jack said.

“Cheers, Jack,” Dempsey replied then Jack turned and watched Dempsey walk across the entryway and out the door.

When he closed it behind him, he turned and caught Olive striding down the hall toward him.

“Good,” he called, “I don’t have to find you.”

“Oh Lord, I don’t like the look on your face,” she observed.

She was going to like what he was going to say a whole lot less.

“I need to you to clear my schedule for two weeks,” he told her and her eyes bugged out. “For the week after that, maybe two, make it light in case plans change and Belle and I remain on holiday.”

“Jack Bennett,” she started, “are you telling me, on a Sunday at eleven o’clock in the morning, to clear your schedule for a holiday you’ve given me exactly six working hours on a non-working day to clear?”

“That’s what I’m telling you.”

She looked to the ceiling but told Jack, “You’ll be the death of me.”

“Cut the drama, Olive, you’d be bored stiff if I didn’t hand you a challenge and do it with frequency and increasing difficulty.”

Her eyes snapped back to his face. “Yes, but you aren’t supposed to know that.”

He ignored her statement and ordered, “Clear my schedule.”

“For two weeks?”

“Make it a month, just to be on the safe side.”

“Death of me,” she muttered.

Jack ignored that too, grinned at her then went in search of Belle.

It took him some time but he eventually found her in the eastern most turret, leaning a shoulder against the wall by the window, her eyes aimed to the view of the Cornish cliffs and sea.

He approached her on quiet feet thus she jumped and her eyes shot to his when he got close.

“Hey, honey,” she whispered and Jack moved in.

Rounding her, he fitted his front to her back and wrapped his arms around her, one at her chest, one at her ribs. He pulled her close and turned his eyes to the window.

It was late autumn. The air was chill. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The deep blue of the sea and bright blue of sky was unobstructed except for the rich browns and vibrant greens of the rocky cliffs and their grassy knolls that made up what Jack, with some experience through his wide travels, felt was the most beautiful coastline on the planet.

“Why are you up here, poppet?” Jack asked quietly after she settled into him.

“I don’t know,” she answered quietly. “I miss Myrtle and Lewis, I guess.”

“You want to be near,” he surmised and she shrugged. “Love, they’re home,” he reminded her.