Riptide [Kismet Cove] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (22 page)

Jess knew this wasn’t going to be an easy visit, though she was still unclear as to exactly why Rory’s father was going to object to her relationship with his son and Evan.
I suppose I’m going to find out soon enough.

As if sensing her thoughts, Evan turned and pressed a kiss to her temple and his arms tightened around her waist as he held her in his lap. When this ordeal was over with, she really needed to talk to the guys about returning her little rental car and buying something more practical, preferably a vehicle all three of them could fit into without her winding up in someone’s lap.

As Rory slowed the truck down Jess couldn’t help but gawk at the massive log house that rose up into view.

“That’s where your parents live?”

“That’s the traditional home of the colony leader and his family,” Rory confirmed as he drove up the circular driveway and parked just outside the front door.

“Wow,” Jess muttered. “And here I thought all log cabins were supposed to be rustic.” The house was situated on a bluff overlooking Kismet Cove, nestled into the edge of the rainforest so that it was sheltered from the worst of the wind. The moment the door opened she could hear the wind whistling between the boughs of the evergreen trees and making even the largest of them creak as they swayed. Evan handed her down to Rory, and then climbed down out of the truck to join them. They both took one of her hands as they made the short walk to the doorway.

Jess’s heart was beating faster and she could have sworn she could hear mocking laughter being carried on the wind that swept around them.
Now I’m imagining thing things, great.
A shiver chased up the back of her neck and she squeezed her fingers tighter around Rory and Evan’s hands. Both of them looked down at her, and she took comfort in the adoration that was so evident in their gazes.

“Ready, sweetheart?” Evan asked and then dropped a kiss to her cheek as he whispered in her ear, “Remember, we’re the rocks. Rory and his father are the storm.”

Jess nodded. “Let’s get this over with.”

Rory raised his hand to knock and then stopped, turning to kiss her thoroughly. “I love you. That’s all you need to remember tonight.”

“I love you both,” she told them and then quickly smoothed her hands over her top. It was the same one she’d worn the night she’d made them their thank you dinner, and she’d hoped it would bring her some of that same luck today.

Rory knocked and the door was opened almost instantly. Standing there was a woman only an inch or so taller than Jess, and Jess knew right away that this had to be Rory’s mother. She’d given her son his stunning smile.

Rory opened his mouth to make introductions when his mother got an odd look on her face and grabbed Jess by the shoulders and then dragged her into her arms for a hug that nearly squeezed the breath from Jess’s lungs.

“Mara?” she queried and there was shock in her tone. “Mara, it’s me, Emma. How can you still look so young?”

Grief welled up inside Jess and she clung to Emma in confusion. How could this stranger know her mother’s name? What was happening?

Emma gripped Jess tightly for a moment longer and then seemed to find her composure and released her, taking a step back. “I’m so sorry, dear. Of course you can’t be Mara. But the resemblance is uncanny. Tell me, who are you and how is it you’re involved with my boys?”

Rory and Evan just stood in the hall and stared, both of them clearly as confused as Jess was.

“I’m Jess. M-Mara was my mother. Mara Silk. Did you know her?”

“Your mother? Of course! You look just like her, but I’m sure you knew that. Same beautiful hair, same eyes, you could be her twin! I haven’t seen her since we were girls, but there was a time I was your mother’s closest friend. How is she? Where has she been? I’ve never stopped thinking about her and wondering if she’d come home.”

“She…she died,” Jess blurted out. “Six months ago. I grew up in Toronto. She never said anything about living out here, only that this is where she met my father.”

“Mom, slow down.” Rory slipped an arm around Jess’s shoulders, supporting her. “Jess’s dad just signed over their family cabin to her a few weeks ago. Jess has come out here for the winter to finish writing her book and get away for a while. Are you saying you knew her mother?”

“Knew her? We were best friends. She was the only daughter of Jack and Alicia
Silk
, Rory. Mara disappeared one night after things got a bit…heated at home. That was during your grandfather’s time.” Jess glanced up at Rory and watched his eyes widen as if suddenly understood some great secret she wasn’t privy to.

“Holy shit, bro. I told you she was a true mate!” Evan whooped and slapped Rory on the back.

“True mate? You three?” Emma beamed and glanced down, finally spotting the elegant pendant Jess was wearing. “Oh that’s wonderful! Your father is going to be thrilled. Thrilled! Why didn’t you tell us earlier?”

“We didn’t know, mom.” Rory started to explain but then Emma was babbling and Jess was struggling to understand what the hell was going on. True mate? One of us? Why hadn’t her mother told her she had grown up here?

“…Imagine you two finding a true mate, and one of the missing bloodlines at that. You can’t know how hard it’s been for us selkies since your mother left, Jess. She wasn’t the only one to run, you know. We all lost friends back then, and now here you are, back and going to be bonded to my boys!”

Jess found herself caught up in another hug. “So tell me, do you look like your mother in your seal form? She was always considered one of the most beautiful selkie women around. Did she tell you that?”

“Selkies? My mother was a selkie? That’s insane! They’re just myths! Ancient legends and folklore!” Jess stumbled backward out of Emma’s arms, her head spinning.
Are they all crazy?

Evan caught her and tried to draw her into his arms, but Jess was too overwhelmed to let him. She spun away from him and backed up until she was plastered against the wall and she could see all three of them. “You’re saying that you’re all selkies? Seals?”

“Of course dear, just like you are.” Emma gave her a puzzled look and Jess realized that the kindly woman believed every word she’d said.

“Mom, stop it! She doesn’t know who she is!” Rory roared, his voice reverberating down the hall.

“Don’t you dare yell at your mother that way! I taught you better than that!” An older version of Rory stormed down the hall toward them, as fierce and wild as his son.

“Not now, dad!” Rory turned to Jess and she could see the fear and worry in his eyes. “Jess, it’s going to be okay, please. Just trust us, okay?”

Tears blinded her and Jess just shook her head again and wailed as confusion and hurt tore her heart in two. This couldn’t be happening. This had to be a nightmare.

There was a crash and the floor shook, and through her tears Jess could see that Rory’s father had thrown her lover up against the wall. “You will not take that tone with me, boy, now or ever! Now what the hell is going on here and why were you yelling at your mother!”

“She’s Mara’s daughter…”

“Dad, let me go or so help me…”

“She doesn’t know who she is…”

The voices were a jumble of noise and Jess couldn’t take it anymore. She bolted deeper into the house, needing to find someplace quiet where she could think and be alone for a minute. The hall ended and she found herself in a bright and cheerful kitchen with a tile floor so smooth she nearly lost her footing as she came careening into the room.

“I see Darius and Rory are off to a fine start.” A man’s voice came from nearby and Jess squeaked in shock as she spun around to see who else was here.

“Whoa! You’re going to wind up flat on your ass on the floor, and then the boys are going to blame me for scaring you, though I’d say they were doing a damn fine job of it already.” A kind smile and red hair registered in Jess’s mind and she realized she had just met Rory’s second father, Torin.

“Hi,” she managed weakly and reached up to dash the tears from her cheeks with an unsteady hand. “I don’t think I can stay here. Please, can you tell me how to get back to the truck without them seeing me?”

Torin looked thoughtful and then sighed. “They really screwed up this time, didn’t they?” He jerked his head down the hallway to where a cacophony of raised voices was still easily heard. “And they say redheads are the ones with the nasty tempers. Not in this household. I’ll tell you how to get back to the truck, but you need to promise me something.” His gaze dropped to the pendant at her throat. “Don’t you run far, all right? If you love them enough to wear that, then you love them enough to give them a chance to make up for whatever idiotic thing they’ve all managed to do this time.”

Jess nodded. “I promise I won’t go far. I just can’t stay here.”

“Fair enough.” His eyes narrowed and then widened. “Oh hell, I think I can guess what at least part of the problem is. You’re a Silk. You look just like your mom, and your uncle, too, though I must say you’re a far sight prettier.”

“I—I have an uncle?” Jess’s head was starting to ache from all the new information she’d been bombarded with in the past five minutes.

“You have an uncle, and grandparents…and you don’t know anything about any of this, do you? Well, fuck the proverbial duck, no wonder you’re upset. All right, you’re coming with me, and I think we both need a drink.” He winked at her. “I’m going to get my ass kicked for this, but if anyone says anything, you just tell them I went with you to make sure you didn’t do anything rash. Deal?”

“Okay.” Jess nodded, still reeling from the realization that these people knew her mother, not to mention the fact it they all believed they were shapeshifters straight out of legend. A legend her mother had taught her about as a child…

She found herself following Torin out a back door and down a few stairs. He helped her clamber into another truck and then they were gone before she could really think about what she was doing.

“I’m Jess, by the way.”

“Torin Sheils. It’s nice to meet you, Jess, though I suspect the circumstances could have been a better for you. Now we’re clear of the chaos, would you please tell me why my blood-brother and his son were bellowing like a pair of bulls during mating season?”

“Emma thought I was my mother and uh, Rory got protective and very loud when I got upset, and then things sort of got out of hand. I didn’t even know my mother was from this area or…well anything.”

“You do look just like Mara. She is your mother, right?”

“Yes.” Jess glanced over at Torin and her heart leaped into her throat as she finally realized who and what she was speaking to. “So you’re one of them? I mean, you think you’re a selkie?”

“I don’t think I am, I know it. Born and raised.” He shot her a sideways look. “And your mother never told you about us.” It wasn’t a question, so Jess didn’t feel she needed to answer it. “You didn’t know about Rory and Evan either?”

“That they believe they’re monsters that can be summoned to sexually satisfy any lonely woman who knows to shed her tears into the ocean? No, I didn’t.”

Torin barked with laughter. “Well, I see you know at least a little bit of our mythology, anyway. But just to clarify, mated selkies are immune to that sort of summons. If they bond with you, that’s it, they’re locked in for life. And for the record, we’re not monsters. We’re just not human all of the time.”

“So you—I mean—all of you are, uh real?” Jess stammered, trying to decide if even asking that question meant she was delusional too.

“We’re very real, I promise you. I know this is a lot to take in, but you’re not crazy, and neither are we.”

Jess nodded and a scrap of memory suddenly fell into place. “So the day Evan and Rory pulled me out of the water, I didn’t imagine that a seal swam up and tried to help me?”

“If the seal was dark brown, then it was Rory. If it was more golden, that would have been Evan.” Torin was so matter-of-fact about it that Jess couldn’t help but believe him, no matter how strange it was to consider.

“Wow. So…selkies. Huh.” She hugged her purse to her chest. “This has been a very weird day.” That was when the rest of what he’d said sunk in. “You said selkies are locked in for life?” Jess turned to Torin. “But what happens if one of us wants to leave?”

“Once you’re bonded, you won’t want to leave. At least that’s what happens when one of our kind bonds to other selkies. Humans can bond, but it’s weaker for them.” He glanced over at her again, his eyes kind. “Your mother didn’t tell you any of this?”

“She never told me anything about her past, only that things had been bad at home and she’d eloped with my father to get away.”

“She married a human then?” Torin mused.

“My father was spending the summer in the cabin next door to your land. It belongs to his family. Or it did. Mom had him give it to me as part of their divorce.”

“They’re divorced? Did your mother come back with you then?”

“She died,” Jess confessed and felt tears welling up in her eyes yet again.

“Damn it, I put my foot in that, didn’t I? Sorry. I should have guessed.”

“Why would you have guessed she died?”

“Because, little one. That’s how it works. If she was bound to your father, then she couldn’t live without him. That’s one of the reasons we live in trios. If one of us dies, then the others can go on. But no bonded selkie can live on if both their mates are gone. They fade away quickly once that happens.”

Jess burst into bitter tears as yet another revelation struck her. If her mother was truly a selkie, then she had known she was going to die from the moment her father had decided to leave. She’d known, and that’s why she’d arranged everything and sent Jess back to Tofino as her dying wish.

“He killed her!” Jess howled as fresh grief tore through her. “My stupid, selfish father and his stupid midlife crisis killed her!”

“Oh hell.” Torin pulled the truck over and opened an arm, and Jess unclipped her seat belt to sob against his shoulder. “They really made a complete mess out of this, didn’t they? Your father couldn’t have known what his leaving would do. If your mother didn’t tell you, do you think she’d tell
him
? Of course she didn’t. And your mother didn’t do you any favors, either. You’ve been walking the world thinking you’re an apple when you’re really a carrot. She should have done better by you, no matter what it was that sent her running from here.”