Thirty Nights (American Beauty #1)(115)

The phone vibrates again—Hendrix.

“Aiden,” I call out. “Hendrix is calling you.”

He nods and digs faster.

The phone stops buzzing but before I can force down another scone crumb, it vibrates again. This one freezes the air solid. Casa Solis.

I watch the number on the screen, unable to move a finger. How can I possibly answer this call? What could I say that wouldn’t be a lie or horror? They’ll know immediately from my voice that something is wrong. I can’t tell them. It would be a huge betrayal of Aiden. And another worry for the Solises.

My stomach twists so sharply that I almost deposit my breakfast in the blackberry bushes. I sense Aiden’s gaze on my face so I compose a smile and wave. He turns to his hole, digging his way to Australia.

The iPhone buzzes again. A text this time.

Hendrix: Storm! Answer!

I leap to my feet—suddenly unable to tolerate anything. Our silence, their insistence and above all, the distance from Aiden. I march across the yard, careful not to trample the wildflowers.

“The whole world wants you,” I say when I reach him. “Not that I blame them.”

His cheeks are slightly flushed—the only sign of life in the otherwise hollowed face. He drops the shovel, takes the phone without a word and reads the text. The bottomless eyes deepen. But instead of answering, he tosses the phone on the grass and starts ripping some thistles.

I put my hand gently on his arm. “Aiden, love, they’re worried about you. Maybe just a line to say you’re…busy?”

He tears a dock weed off its roots.

“Why don’t you go see them for a few days? Corbin said it might help. I’ll be okay back here.” I keep my voice calm even though the idea of not seeing him now—even for an hour—rips me apart more than any attack he could deliver on man or weed.

He takes a deep breath and finally looks at me. “I want to comb through the list of potential witnesses first.”

“Any leads?” My voice trembles.

His muscles flex—the way they would if his arms were around me. “We’ll find one.”

That burns through my composure. I launch myself into his chest, craving his…everything. Maybe he can’t resist comforting me or maybe he craves this too; whatever it is—for the first time in three days—he doesn’t push me away. He cradles me gently in his arms.

My body responds with violence. Blood rushes to my skin, heart crashes against my ribs and the shivers become vibrations. I lock all muscles in place—afraid my desperation will drive him away—and rest my head on his chest. There’s more Aiden than sandalwood. I close my eyes and inhale deeply. He shudders and his breathing picks up. Like mine.

From somewhere outside our bubble, I hear another bloody buzz. I tighten my hold on Aiden but it’s too late. The spell is broken.

He drops his arms—my skin throbs at his absence—and picks up the phone from the grass. I’m about to rip it off his hand and toss it in the blackberry bushes but Aiden’s face derails me. The V appears between his eyebrows. Aiden doesn’t frown when he sees numbers—he always remembers them. I glare at the screen. A 253 area code.

“Who’s that?” I hiss.

“Not sure.” He picks up with his usual “Aiden Hale” and darts across the yard toward the house. Without a word. Without a touch.

The chills return, and tears I didn’t know I was holding spill over. Every cell misses substance. With every hour his hands are not on me, I turn ghostly. After all, isn’t this what makes ghosts, ghosts? Inability to touch them?

*

By the time Rose City Nursery has delivered Marshall’s Douglas-fir seedling and fourteen rose bushes, the tears have stopped, even if the chills haven’t. Aiden has not resurfaced from Benson’s office—he no longer uses the library, it has been sealed shut—so I stalk him there. Gardening has worked for us before. Maybe it will help now too?

I come to a skidding stop outside the closed door, ready to pound it off its hinges, but Aiden’s voice halts my fist in the air. It’s no longer even and detached. His timbre is energized, firing commands in its usual efficient hardness. Did I really find this cadence intimidating? Now, it sounds like music.

“Yes, we know about it… I’m sorry, I have another call waiting. Goodbye… Glenda, send copies to the lawyers and Congressman Kirschner. Transfer me to Sartain now. Yes, General, Aiden Hale…will this be enough?… Well, I’m calling in that favor now… That’s all I can ask. Goodbye… Benson, finish the rest as discussed… No outs.”

A slam on a desk. Then silence.

Bloody hell! I pound on the door with both my fists. “Aiden! It’s m—”

The door wrenches open. “Elisa? Are you okay?”

I open my mouth but his face mutes my words. It’s still hollowed, but for a faint flicker of light in his eyes. Like someone has lit a candle upstairs.

“Is everything okay?” I gasp. “I heard you talking to Sartain.”

He steps aside to let me in. I don’t have enough presence of mind to look around Benson’s office. I just register a dizzying number of screens, computers and furniture. Their blurry contours disappear when Aiden closes the door and takes my hand.

“Elisa, baby, take a seat.” His voice is urgent, and beautiful. He guides me to a swivel chair but I can’t breathe. He called me baby again. And he touched me. Is that a good sign? Or bad?