Meadow's Keep (The Gatekeepers Series) (16 page)

“Jasmine, I want to start this by emphasizing that what I’m about to say probably has no
correlation to Bill. It’s just an observation.” She waited for Jasmine’s nod before continuing. She could see Jasmine steel herself for the worst, whatever it was.

“When
I saw Ian last year, his aura had a violet glow.” She quickly held up her hand when she saw the furrow in Jasmine’s brow. However, he was also surrounded by the Gulatega. That could have had an effect. There could be many reasons for the color. We are different from most people. Maybe when we are sick, it probably shows up. I don’t know a whole lot about that sort of thing. You should check with Bask when you go to Atlanta.”

Eryk could feel Jasmine’s hand tremble in his and he held tight.

“It didn’t look like the other colors. It was almost a hue overlaying them,” Jasmine said.

“You saw his aura
?” Morgan and Dorian asked at the same time.

“Yes, when I was holding Eryk’s hand.
” She felt uneasy all of a sudden, “Dory, don’t you?”

“Even when I
’m touching Morgan, I can’t see auras. Just what did you see?"

They seemed to be leaning in toward her.
She swallowed hard, feeling even more freakish. She concentrated on Bill, hoping what she said might help. Seeing him helpless like that scared her to death. He’d always been reclusive with everyone it seemed, except her. She was his little girl. Since she’d arrived this time, he’d seemed more standoffish. She’d thought he didn’t want her worrying.

Jasmine
tried to remember. “Well, his aura was close to his body and had breaks in it. The colors looked dull. Since I’ve never seen an aura before, I’m not sure what they are supposed to look like.”

Morgan
looked at Eryk and stood. He grinned and closed his eyes, knowing when he opened them, Jasmine would see Morgan’s aura. When he opened his eyes, Jasmine was the one who spoke.

“Oh my God! You
’re so vibrant.” She looked at Morgan’s belly. “They’re so bright. More shine than color, like starlight.” Then she looked at Dorian. “Damn,” she laughed. “Even your aura is hunky.” She leaned back and turned to Eryk and held tight when he tried to pull away. “I just want to see how alike or different your auras are.” She let her eyes move up and down his body, then swung back to look at Dorian.

“Remember,” Morgan interrupted,
“Eryk just boosted Bill. His aura may appear weak.” She closed and opened her eyes. Eryk’s aura had returned to normal. She sighed in relief.

“Eryk’s has more colors
and his spikes shoot out farther, but there’s a similar rhythm to the pulse.” Jasmine blinked, let go of Eryk’s hand and fell forward, resting her head on her hand.

“You okay?” Eryk ran his hand up and down her back.

“Yeah. I got dizzy. Kinda queasy.”

Morgan spoke. “
You’ll be okay in a moment.” She moved to the sink and dampened a dishtowel under cold water. “Here, put this against the back of her neck.” She handed the towel to Eryk, who folded it and laid it against her slender neck, letting his fingers trail across her skin.

Jasmine
let the coolness of the cloth and the slight sizzle from Eryk’s touch travel from her neck down her back.

“It did the same thing to me the first time. You
’ll probably need to eat something.”

Jasmine raised her head with a twinkle in her black eyes. “Your answer to everything lately is to eat
something.”

Morgan patted her belly. “I won’t deny that, but it
’s true. Eryk is more than likely still starving.” She nodded to the man who’d just finished off the last biscuit. “Any expenditure of energy seems to need refueling.” She opened the commercial size refrigerator and brought out a truffle bowl. Dorian got up and passed out bowls and spoons. “Eat up, guilt free. It’s a yogurt, bran, nut, and fruit compote.” Morgan heaped the parfait into bowls and passed them around.

Jasmine made a face
as she took the proffered bowl. “I’ve never been a big fan of yogurt.” She sniffed at it.

“Just try it. I promise, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it.” Morgan took a large spoonful. “And I won’t mention how good it is for you.”

Jasmine dipped the edge of her spoon in, pulling out a thin coating, and watched Eryk shovel another spoonful into his mouth. She let her tongue touch the back of the spoon.

She
heard Eryk cough and looked up to see his focus riveted on her mouth. Unable to resist, she ran her tongue over the back of her spoon, watching the spoon in Eryk’s hand dangle before hitting the table, splattering yogurt.

“
Hey. It’s not so bad.” She tried to keep a straight face.

“All right. I think I have enough information.” Mike Yancy
, who’d been making copious notes, said and rose.

Jasmine’s eyes widened.
Busy teasing Eryk, she’d forgotten Dr. Yancy was on the other side of her. She felt the blood rush to her face and slunk down in the chair.

Mike leaned
over, patted her on the shoulder, and said in a soft voice, “It’s okay. I was young once myself.”

Jasmine groaned
while everyone laughed.

Dorian followed Mike to the door
, where they stood talking quietly.

“One of your tricks
is
super-hearing,” Jasmine said under her breath to Eryk and nodded toward the door.

“I try not to eavesdrop,” he whispered back. “Besides, they
’re talking about Morgan.”

“Gotcha.”

Dorian came back to the table all smiles, bent, and planted a kiss atop Morgan’s head. “The clinic is all set for the babies’ arrival. Mike says he’s going to swing by the Inn once more and check on Bill before he heads back.”

He turned back to Eryk and Jasmine, “What are you
r plans? You’re welcome to hang around.”

Jasmine spoke up. “Actually, I want to go over to the
Flair for a little while.”

“And I really need to talk to my people. I left them in a bit of a lurch.”
Eryk rose, checked his phone. “How about I call you later?” He directed the question to Jasmine.

“
When is your next show?” Morgan asked.

“Honestly, I’m not sure. That’s one of the things I need to check
on. “I would love for you two to come.”

“We’d love to
, but I’m afraid it depends on these guys,” Morgan laughed, answering for both of them.

“
I’ll check our schedule and see what’s going on. I’ll be in my room, if you need me. Be sure and let Teresa and Bill know that, too. I don’t want to intrude.”

“Don’t get up,” Jasmine said
to Dorian and Morgan as she stood. “I’m headed out as well. Unlocked or locked?” she asked, referring to the door.

“I have some p
rescriptions to fill, so I guess we’re open for business,” Dorian said.

Jasmine
turned the sign over before she closed the door.

The
y were by the fountain before Eryk spoke. “We really need to talk. But you know that.”

“And we will. I promise. Just not right now.” She
turned toward the shop, hurrying off before he could say anything.

A frown creased Eryk’s brow as he watched her disappear inside the Fashion
Flair. He didn’t know her that well but something was bothering her and he planned to find out what it was. For now, he’d let her do whatever it was she needed to do. But later….

****

“Morgan’s fine,” Jasmine repeated into the phone. “I know you’ve talked with her, probably five or six times since I arrived….” She made a loud sigh, hoping that Jenn would catch the hint. “She looks fine and Eryk and I promised to come babysit The Shoppe while she pops out perfect babies. So, how is Lily adjusting?” she asked, changing the topic.

“She’s doing very well.
She loves the younger kids and has been helping out in the nursery and playroom every chance she gets. She’s smart as a whip, too. Since we do the online school here, she had to test. Jasmine, she’s can easily do college work. She won’t fess up to a high school diploma since that would give us a lead, so she’s facing a GED. Didn’t seem to bother her at all. So far, she’s been pretty quiet with Dr. Browne, as well. We just need to give her some time. Oh, and she wants to know if the fashion show was a scam?”

“Tell her I’m getting the clothes from my shop, which isn’t a lie. I’ll have them shipped before I head out. I guess we’re heading up to Atlanta
the day after tomorrow. Bask wants to see us, then on to Virginia Beach, then home. I’d give it a week at the most.”

An idea
struck. “Jenn, tell Lily she’s officially my assistant, since I’m out of town, and I want her to go around the house and pick five girls, two women, and some younger kids as models. First, she has to get their permission, then she can find out sizes, and work up model sheets for each one so we can plan the wardrobe. That’ll keep her hopping until I get back.”

“That sounds great. I guess we
are
having a fashion show.” Jenn’s laughter spilled through the phone.

“Looks like. I’ll talk with you later. I’ve got a call.”

She didn’t but she didn’t want to go into detail about Eryk with Jenn. She’d fielded all the questions she could at this point and knew what was coming. She just wanted time to get her head on straight where he was concerned, before she tried to answer Jenn’s questions. Jenn had a way of getting right to the heart of the matter. Of course, that’s what made her so damn good at what she did.

Jasmine
called downstairs and set Bonnie and Claire to the task of organizing a wardrobe from the sale items and items in storage, so she wouldn’t deplete the shop’s stock. She’d been thrilled with the girls’ business savvy. They’d helped out in the store since they were younger, always wanting to hang around. Jasmine hadn’t realized just how much attention they’d been giving it. She let them know either she or Lily would be calling them back with more details about what to ship up to Virginia and where. Jenn used several shipping businesses where she regularly received goods. That way, she had total control over what deliveries came onto the grounds. Most of the time she sent someone from Safe Harbor to do the pick-up, eliminating that risk completely. Jenn had the place more secure than Fort Knox.

A light tap on the door drew her attention as she
shut off the phone. She could see Eryk standing on the landing and felt a warm thrill move through her. The smile was genuine when she opened the door.

“Wow. You look great
,” he said. He didn’t know what it was, but she glowed. He watched her as she moved back into the apartment. “You really love what you do, don’t you?”

She whipped around, a confused looked on her face.

He tapped his ear.

Jasmine let out a sigh. “Oh, yeah…that. How much did you hear
?”

“Part of a conversation with Jenn and then the girls downstairs.”

Damn it. He knew how to ruin a good mood. “I thought you didn’t eavesdrop.”

Now the energy was boun
cing off of her. He held up his hands in supplication. “I don’t. I caught the conversation right as I left the bed and breakfast.” He held up a bag. “I tried to call. It went to your voicemail and I didn’t want this to get cold.” He walked over and set the bag on the table. “It looks like Sandra has stepped up from understudy, at least for the moment, and she sent this to us.” Miffed, he walked back to the door.

He turned to her.
“Listen. For some reason, I seem to be tuned in to you. I will try to block it from now on. Sorry to bother you.” He yanked open the door.

“Stop! Please.”

Eryk felt the tension move out of her in a breath. He stopped.

“You didn’t. Not really. It just felt a little invasi
ve.” He was under her skin. Sometimes it was thrilling and sometimes it was annoying. She either wanted to rub up against him or put distance between them—a great deal of distance. Yet, she’d brought him to Ruthorford. She needed to stop being rude. Her guess was she wasn’t the only one having issues.

Eryk
stepped back around the table, took her hand, and let her to the couch. “The food can wait. Let’s talk.”

He sat next to her. “I know we don’t know each other very well. All this has happened fast—for both of us.
I don’t care what anyone says. What happens between us is just that, between us.”

Obviously, he didn’t know Ruthorford.
Jasmine looked down and toyed with the short nails of her hand, remembering when Dr. Yancy had clipped them, seeking the DNA of the man sitting next to her. It really hadn’t been very long. Her nails hadn’t even grown.

He’d stopped talking and was watching her.
When she looked up, his green eyes seemed darker. Just looking at him warmed her blood and she felt tingly and feminine and wanted to concentrate on the fact that their legs were resting against one another’s and the heat of his leg was warming hers.