The Apple Tree (11 page)

Peter’s neighbors, a young couple named Wiley and Margaret, lost both their children to the illness. Word spread that the children were left lying in the back room. Their parents refused to bury them.

Peter and his father knocked on the door of the simple two room house to see if they could help. Wiley answered the door. Puffy blue skin surrounded his bloodshot eyes. His arms hung lifeless by his side. A putrid smell drifted out of the house. Peter and his father pulled out their handkerchiefs to cover their noses.

“
Wiley, let us help you carry the children out,” Peter’s father said, his voice kind and full of sympathy.

Wiley’s mouth set in a hard line. “No, they stay here with us. They’ll be scared without us. They’re only children.”

“
You can’t keep them here, they’ll rot. They’ll bring more disease.”

“
Let disease come. Let it take me.” Wiley started to shut the door.

Peter stuck his foot inside. “We’ve all lost someone we love. Let us help you.”

Wiley reached his arm behind the door frame. He pulled out a rifle and pointed it toward them. “Leave us alone!”

“
Put the gun down, Wiley,” Peter’s father said. “We only want to help.”

The rifle fired. A booming sound filled the air and Peter dropped to the dusty ground. A searing pain strained his chest, followed by numbing warmness. “Clara,” he whispered. “I’m coming for you.” He closed his eyes, waiting for blackness to take over.

Instead of the comfort of death, the pain returned, covering his entire body at first, but shrinking toward a smaller point in his chest.

He opened his eyes.

His father leaned over him, tears running down his cheeks. His hands cradled his head. “Oh, God! Don’t take both my sons.”

Peter groaned. The scorching pain disappeared, but achiness now engulfed his body. He lifted a shaky hand and placed it on his chest. A thick red stain covered his waistcoat and a hole had been torn through the gray material. He sat up and ripped his clothes open. The skin across his ribcage looked completely normal. There was no hole. He had healed.

Peter replaced the Bible and closed the drawer, clenching his teeth. Levi knew what had caused their loved ones illness, and then their immortality and he knew how to make it happen again. The selfish ass had made his friend immortal in the nineteen-forties. What gave him the right to keep it hidden from them?

His gaze swept across the room and landed on the bookcase. A laptop sat on the top shelf. He pulled it down, carried it to the kitchen table and opened the screen. A photo of Aldo came into view. That stupid dog again.

The sound of a vehicle crunching down the gravel driveway caught his attention. He glanced out the window. Levi was home.

L
evi turned the corner of his driveway and groaned when he saw Peter’s car parked outside. Did he really have to deal with this again? He glanced around the front of the house. When he didn’t see Peter anywhere, his heart rate spiked. Was he wandering around the property?

He parked his truck just as the house door swung open and Peter sauntered out onto the covered porch.

Levi gritted his teeth at the realization that Peter had been inside his home.

“
I guess you caught me.” Peter held up his hands. “I was digging around in your stuff.” He raised his eyebrows, a smug grin on his face.

Levi walked up the steps and narrowed his eyes, then pulled back his arm and punched Peter in the nose.

Peter stumbled back with a grunt, clutching his face. “Dammit, Levi. That hurt!” When he stood, his nose was crooked and blood dripped from one nostril. He stepped forward. “I came by to tell you I met Bianca,” he said, enunciating every syllable of her name.

Levi dropped his arms. “What did you say?”

“
You heard me. I met Bianca. Actually, I took her out. We got close.” He winked.

“
She has nothing to do with this.” Levi’s voice shook.

“
Oh, but she does.” Peter’s nose snapped itself into a perfectly straight line again. “I suggest you take the money my father’s offering you.”

Levi took another step forward, pointing at Peter. “If I tell you about the curse, people will die. Do you understand that?”

Peter sighed and lifted his hands. “He just wants to study it. My father has access to the best scientists in the world. If he can separate the illness and leave just the healing powers, lives will be saved.”

“
And how will he study it? With tests. Tests where people die. Think of Clara. Someone else’s Clara could die.”

Peter took a long slow breath and his eyes narrowed. “I haven’t told my father about Bianca yet, but I suggest you reconsider our offer. Because I will soon.” He stomped down the steps to his car, climbed inside and revved the engine.

Levi clutched the wooden porch beam as Peter sped down the driveway. If Peter was talking to Bianca, he couldn’t let his past insecurities get in the way. He needed to apologize to her so he could stay close, to keep her safe.

“
Why didn’t you kiss him?!” Kate shrieked. They stood in the kitchen at Papa’s, spreading toppings on an order. “I would have jumped him the minute he knocked on my door.”

Bianca sighed. She wouldn’t have to explain this to Stephanie. Stephanie had been her friend since kindergarten. She only met Kate a few months ago when she’d been hired. Finally she answered. “I have trust issues.”

“
Don’t we all.”

Bianca circled her hand over the pizza she worked on, dropping mushrooms as she went. “After my dad left, I was seventeen and hungry for love. So I jumped into bed with a guy who never called me back. The rejection so soon after my dad, I just stopped trusting guys.” Her voice sounded flat and emotionless. “I mean, I know there are good ones out there.” She shrugged. “I just like to move slowly.”

Kate scooped up a handful of pineapple. “That sucks, but I guess I get it.”

Bianca bit her lip. “Besides, doesn’t Peter seem sort of… intimidating? I mean, he’s sexy and suave but, it’s like he’s so charming… he’s trouble.”

“
Um, yeah. The good kind of trouble.” Kate nudged her with an elbow.

Bianca turned and leaned against the peach colored countertop. “There’s a good kind?”

Kate rolled her eyes. “Of course, there’s a good kind.” She glanced out the window. “Speaking of hot guys who are totally into you.” Her finger pointed at a blue truck in the parking lot. Levi climbed out and walked toward the door.

Bianca gasped. “I… I don’t want to see him. I have to go to the back.” She threw the pepperoni she held back into the container.

“
What? Why?” asked Kate.

“
I never told you. I caught him sitting outside my apartment, spying on me.”

Kate held out her hands. “Maybe he just likes you?”

“
No. It was more than that. He wore sunglasses and a hat like he’d planned the whole thing and was gathering intel. Plus, I meet him in the woods, the next day he shows up at work and then he’s also outside my home. It’s creepy.”

“
Okay, you’re right. Go in back. I’ll cover for you.” Kate waved her hand toward the door.

Bianca disappeared just as Levi entered the restaurant. She stood in back, peeking through the crack of the kitchen door and listening.

He stepped up to the front counter with a smile. Kate greeted him.

“
I’ll have a small pepperoni and green pepper.” He looked around the restaurant. “Is Bianca here?”

“
Nope, she’s not working today.” Kate almost sounded sincere.

“
Oh really? Her bike is parked out front.” He pointed through the window to the bike rack.

Kate avoided his eyes, concentrating instead on pushing the buttons on the beige cash register. “She left it here last night. Someone gave her a ride home, I think.”

“
Okay.” He paid for his order and then walked to his regular table.

Bianca cursed under her breath. Now she was stuck back here for however long it took him to eat. She leaned against the wall.

Jeremy came out of the dough room, cardboard boxes stuck on his feet.

“
Bianca, check it out. I’m a Pterodactyl.” He raised his arms in the air, spreading his fingers like claws while taking huge steps with his box shoes. “Roaaar! Roaaar!”

A polite smile forced its way across her face. What did Kate see in him? Sure, he was entertaining, but he acted like a ten year old.

She walked to the silver prep table and pretended to study the stock list when Faustino appeared.

He gave Jeremy a look and then turned to Bianca. “The stock is done. I need you to hang out in front.”

So much for staying out of sight. She took a deep breath and shoved the swinging door open. Shaking her head at Kate who stared at her in astonishment, she continued out to the seating area. It’d been a mistake to have Kate lie for her. She hadn’t thought it through. And it was cowardly to involve others in her problem instead of handling it herself.

Levi smiled when he saw her. “I knew you were here. Were you hiding from me?” He looked like he suppressed a nervous laugh.

Why did he have to be wearing such a tight shirt? It showed off every hard muscle in his chest and made her wonder what it would be like to run her hand across it. She ignored his question. “So, are you going to give me some sort of excuse for spying?”

He looked down at his palms. “I tried to think of one, but I couldn’t come up with anything plausible. I don’t want to lie to you anyway, so I’ll just tell you the truth.” He looked straight at her. “I thought you were in danger and I wanted to keep you safe.”

She huffed and threw up her hands. “Danger from what?”

His gaze dropped again. “I can’t tell you. I’m sorry.”

This made no sense. She rolled her eyes. “I’m supposed to just say it’s okay? I still have no idea why you were sitting outside my apartment except that you’re probably a huge creep.”

He flinched at her words and then took her hand. “Bianca.”

Her stomach flipped. He made her nervous in a good way, but also because she wasn’t sure about his motives.

“
I know you have no reason to believe me, but please.” His gray eyes locked with hers. “I would never hurt you, and I will never, ever spy on you again.”

She tore her hand away, avoiding his eyes and instead looked up at the gold lamps hanging above. “I liked you when we talked over lunch, but I don’t know how I feel now… after finding you watching me and then the way you acted the first time we met. I can’t figure you out and I’m not sure it’s worth trying.” She turned and walked back into the kitchen.