The Line That Binds Series Box Set (76 page)

I nodded and moved closer to LJ, needing her more than ever. This information only made everything more frustrating. We were still missing something.

“You’re related to Dahlia and I’m related to Charles,” LJ said simply. I nodded and she looped her arms around my middle. “Back together after all these years.”

My body shook. I tried to contain it, to be stable for her, but every nerve fought back with an internal assault. LJ’s arms cinched tighter, supporting me. I glanced over at Pop. His elbows were propped on the breakfast bar and he held his face in his hands. He was as shocked as I was. Janine had brought him here preemptively to get to my family’s line. She helped him get custody to bring me closer.

Why?

I’d been here since I was ten. If she needed me here to end the curse, seven years before her death had to be plenty of time to get that done. But it obviously wasn’t.

“What’s going on?” I heard Simone say from the front foyer.

I looked toward the door. Simone stared at all of us in the kitchen as she removed her thick winter jacket. She was dressed down, wearing jeans, a plain T-shirt, and very little makeup. I barely recognized her. Carson took hold of her arm and steered her toward the living room.
Yeah, probably not smart to walk her in the middle of this train wreck without prepping her first.

“I just don’t understand,” Pop mumbled, lifting his head and raking his hands through the papers again. “Why didn’t she just tell me?”

“Who knows,” I replied angrily. “She shouldn’t have kept any of this to herself.” I cupped LJ’s chin and leaned down to her. “She should’ve given someone all the answers so you didn’t have to go through this. I’ll keep looking, no matter what,” I whispered, kissing her lips as a few tears ran from her eyes.

“And then what?” she asked softly. “I don’t want you wasting your life. You have to promise me that you will quit when I’m too far gone.”

“No, I can’t do that. I—”

“Ben,” she cut me off. “We don’t even know. If I’m gone, there may be no coming back.”

“Don’t,” I said forcefully, slowly guiding my fingers into her hair. I took a shallow, shaky breath while the pain of it all welled in my eyes. “No.”

The doorbell rang again as LJ’s fingers wiped the tears from my face. I slid my thumbs across her cheeks to do the same for her.

“What are you doing here?” Carson’s voice came from the foyer.

LJ and I turned to see him standing with the front door opened a crack, bridging his arm between the door and its jamb.

“I told you not to come without calling. Wait… You came here high, Rina? I can’t believe this shit!”

“I came by yesterday,” Rina’s voice grew loud enough to hear. “I talked to LJ for a little while and I told her I had some things for her from Aunt Janine.”

Before I had a chance to question LJ about talking to her mom, she was out of her seat, marching toward the door. I followed, knowing this screwed-up day was about to get worse and unsure how much more LJ could take.

“You were here yesterday?” Carson asked, turning and looking at LJ as we walked up behind him. “LJ?”

LJ ducked under Carson’s arm and charged outside. “I told you at the hospital not to bother us.”

Oh shit
!

Carson and I ran down the steps after LJ as she backed a very terrified Rina out onto the lawn.

“LJ!” Carson yelled. “Stop! You’ve got to let this go.”

But Rina was the one who stopped first. She clutched a shoebox to her wool coat, breathing heavily as LJ stopped in front of her. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I know that.” She was jittery, like a mouse caught in a trap. “I’m leaving town soon.”

“Yeah, you also told me last night at the hospital that you’d quit using. Look at you now,” LJ scoffed.

“LJ,” Carson said, grabbing her arm softly. “Sweetie, let’s go back inside.” He’d heard exactly what I’d heard. Their trip to the hospital was three weeks ago, not last night.

“I was sober,” Rina said, sobbing. “I was sober until last night, after I came here to talk to you. I needed that to happen though, LJ. So, thank you. I know now that I can’t handle the stress of sobriety without help. I need help. That’s why I’m planning to check in somewhere,” she said.

Carson continued to coax LJ toward the house. I followed his lead, sliding my hand along her waist, hoping she’d come with me. Instead, she grabbed the side of her head and bent over a little, sucking air through her teeth.

A headache.

Who was it?

I glanced at Carson then back toward the house where Pop, Gavin, and Simone had gathered on the steps outside. They stared at us nervously.

“LJ, baby,” I said, lifting her chin lightly and staring into her broken eyes. “C’mon, let’s go back inside,” I pleaded.

She looked a million worlds away, but she let me guide her. Just as we shifted to turn, she dipped away from me and lunged back toward Rina.

“I hope you realize what this means,” LJ said, wrapping her arms around her mom and pressing her lips to her cheek. “I still love you.”

“No! LJ,” I grabbed at her arms, unlocking them from Rina and locking my own around her. “Why did you do that?” I buried my face into her neck. “I can’t lose more of you.”

“She’ll be strong enough to stay clean now,” LJ said.

“Oh, no,” Carson whispered as he realized what had happened.

I opened my eyes to Rina’s shocked face. The shoebox fell from her slack hands, spilling its contents out onto the snow.

Papers were the last to fall, sweeping through the air as Carson placed a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s get her back inside.”

“Wait,” I replied, unlocking my arms from LJ and letting Carson take her. He fished a tissue out of his pocket and pressed it to LJ’s nose.

I turned my attention back to Rina, who was bent down, tossing items back into the box. “What is this?” I asked, picking up a photocopied picture of Dahlia sticking out of the snow. “Where did you get this?” I asked more forcefully when she didn’t answer.

“Aunt Janine’s safety deposit box. I told LJ yesterday that I’d get it to her since her name was in it,” Rina said, holding up a sticky note with the words Lila Janine written in cursive.

“Shit,” I said, tearing through the papers.

Nothing.
I tossed a page.

Nothing.
I tossed another.

“Ben?” Carson asked. He was at my side suddenly, wiping snow off other papers.

“Is it true?” Rina asked, looking up to LJ. “It’s true, isn’t it? Oh, God. All this time I thought she was crazy.”

Sliding another paper aside, I spotted a solid object wrapped in beige material. I grabbed it, immediately feeling a weight similarity. My heart jolted, pounding all my hopes, all my wishes, fiercely enough to split my chest in half. “LJ,” I called.

Her hand slipped over my shoulder before she knelt beside me. Her fingers pinched the tissue to her nose as she asked, “Is that…?”

Looking into her eyes, I saw the same fear and anticipation that was pulsing through my veins. This had to be it. I ripped off the thin twine binding it and unfolded the stiff fabric.

“The last stone,” LJ said, running her hand over mine.

Feeling the inscription underneath, I flipped it over.

“One wish for life, to break the whole. The blood of my line. Their body, their soul,” I read out loud. The words invaded my mind, connecting everything that had happened inside of LJ’s house. The families. The bloodlines.

Pop stepped next to Carson, carrying LJ’s jacket. “The last stone?”

I stood up with LJ, handed Carson the stone, and took LJ’s jacket from Pop. “It’s me. Janine knew the whole time. She knew the only way to end it all was for someone from Dahlia’s line to love someone from Charles’.” After wrapping LJ’s bomber jacket over her shoulders, I pushed my fingers into her snowy hair. “Looks like I have a wish to make,” I whispered close to her lips before kissing them gently.

I ran to the barn first to grab a knife and a sledge before going to the well. My thoughts were the clearest they’d been in a long time. Nothing else mattered.

Only her.

I shoved through the path of wiry branches until the well came into view. It looked so sad in the winter, colorless, lifeless. The moss of the roof and inside the mortar cracks had dried to a dull shade of black. Even the beige stones appeared gray. Today’s snow was the only redeeming feature, blanketing it all in beauty. Small, downy flakes continued to fall as I moved closer.

Stepping up to the well’s base, I placed a hand on the top stones and peered inside. I’d been here before with wishes not meant to be granted. My mother and father never loved me enough to stop their addictions. Harper died. I’d lost them all. Even though it hurt, I know now it all happened for a reason. And here I stand again, this time knowing my wish would come true because in some weird, historical way it was destined. LJ and I were meant to be together. To end the curse. To end the heartache.

Would Dahlia be happy with this end? Would Janine? Would they be at peace knowing that LJ and I were together?

I pulled out my pocket knife and pressed the tip to my palm, digging it in a bit then slicing down. Blood seeped heavier from the deepest point then pooled before traveling down my life line. My only concern now was if it would make her whole again.
Will it give everything back?
There was only one way to find out.

Here goes.

I flattened my palm against the well, smearing my warm blood onto the cold stone.

“I love her. She is my body and my soul. She was the breath of air when I was drowning, the flash of lightning in my blackened storm. She is the one. She is my wish.”

Sometime during my profession, I’d grabbed the sledge. I released all my pent-up anger and suppressed pain onto the well, smashing the roof and crushing several stones. After several more hits, I glanced back toward the grounds, wiping the sweat from my brow and breathing heavily. LJ stood just inside the tree line, watching me.

Needing to know if it was all over, if the curse was gone, I dropped the sledge and ran to her. She took a single step in my direction, but staggered. Her hands reached out to the side, gripping the air in search of balance. “LJ!” I called in panic, watching her head dip forward and her body go limp. She fell to her knees. Twigs snapped under her dead weight, crushing my insides and driving my feet to move even faster. Before her upper body had a chance to topple over, I dove beside her and pulled her into my lap. The side of her chest pressed against mine with a shallow intake of air. “Babe?” I skimmed a hand over her cheek and watched her eyelids flutter like she was asleep.

Her eyes slowly opened and the corners of her lips tipped up in a weak smile.

“Are you okay?” I whispered, my voice quieter than the pounding of my terrified heart.

“I just…” she paused, closing her eyelids tightly for a moment. “Everything tunneled. I was going to sit down… I guess that didn’t happen.” A breathy chuckle escaped her lips.

“You’ve been through so much. Let’s get you inside so you can rest.” I stood up with her in my arms, worried that something was still wrong, that nothing had changed.

“I love you, Ben,” she said, running a hand up around my neck and pulling my face down. Her lips met mine sweetly, proving her words.

Even though I wanted to kiss her forever, I had to break away. Getting her home to rest was far more important. “I love you, too,” I admitted.

She squirmed in my arms. “You don’t have to carry me. I can walk.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I actually feel completely fine now.”

I set her feet down and held her waist to support her. She gave me a pointed look and jumped a couple of times lightly. “See. It’s weird, but I’m fine. I’m not lightheaded at all.” Not fully convinced, I kept an arm around her waist as we walked the last few steps to the tree line. She stopped suddenly. “How do we know it’s over?”

“I’m not sure,” I replied. “Can you remember things?”

“I think so.” She pushed closer to me, sliding her hands over my chest. “I remember how we met. I remember everything about the well. Everything about my family.”

I smiled, wanting it all to be true. “And you don’t think anything’s missing?”

“Not that I can tell.”

There had to be another way to know for sure. The memories might be difficult to really identify, but what about the wishes? “Maybe I should wish for something. That might give us a more solid answer.”

She pressed her lips together and rubbed her fingers over my chest, considering the idea. “I agree. Go ahead.”

I stared into her green eyes, knowing I’d want to look into them forever, yet concerned it was too early to ask her if she wanted the same.

I wish I had the courage to propose to you.

“So?” I asked, fearing the worst, that the curse remained unbroken. “Any headaches?” I cupped my hands around her jaw.

“No headache. No voice,” she replied with a grin.

I tipped my head back and smiled to the sky, letting out a relieved breath. When I looked back down to her, I slid a thumb over her lower lip. “I don’t want to speak too soon, but I hope this means it’s over.”

“Me too,” she whispered, and closed her eyes.

I could see the relief rolling through her body as she let out a slow breath. She looked so peaceful, so calm. A second later, her eyes cracked open, joining me again.
Beautiful.
I stared at her lips, knowing I should get her home but wanting to celebrate this small sense of relief by tasting her again. Looping my arms around her, I pulled our bodies together and captured her lips. She opened to me lovingly, letting my tongue caress hers. It felt like our first kiss all over again as she arched into me, moving even closer.

“Hey, everything okay?” Gavin yelled in the distance.

I reluctantly pulled away from LJ and looked up the lawn toward her house. Everyone was standing outside, watching us, waiting. “Maybe we should go fill them in.”

“Ben,” she said, grabbing my hand before I pulled fully away. She held up my palm, traced the outside of the cut, then opened her own hand, showing the scar she’d gotten when she’d cut herself at the well. The start and the end. After interlacing our fingers, she lifted our hands to her mouth and kissed the back of mine. “What was your wish?”