The Soul Summoner (The Soul Summoner Saga Book 1) (25 page)

"You should stop leaving me," I said.

"I agree," he said. "Did the meds help you last night? Was it any better this time?" 

"It was definitely better, but I still ended up puking all over Nathan," I said.

He chuckled softly. "So I heard."

"Did you also hear that he slept in my bed last night?" I asked.

His end of the line was quiet for a beat. "No," he finally said. "I asked him to stay with you, but that's not exactly what I meant."

I smiled. "Not to worry. I woke up in my blue jeans and rain coat."

"Still," he grumbled and blew out a sigh. "What are you going to do tonight?"

"It's Monday," I said. "I have dinner with my parents on Monday nights."

"Do you think your dad has had a chance to get the results of our blood test?" he asked.

"That's what I'm hoping to find out," I said.

"Well, call me as soon as you can if you find anything out. I've got to get back to work," he said.

"I promise."

I was lost in my office. Putting together announcements about road closures and the submissions deadline for the county online cook-book almost seemed insulting after discovering a human jawbone the day before. I was thankful when five o'clock came and I could head to my parents' house for dinner. I didn't feel like going. I really wanted to go home and climb back into my bed. That desire, however, was trumped by my curiosity to know if Dad had heard anything from the lab about the DNA test.

I was surprised to find Dad's car in the driveway when I got to their house. Dinner was already on the table, and Mom was filling three glasses with sweet tea when I walked in and put my purse down on the counter. "Hey," I said. "Where's Dad?"

"Upstairs," she answered as I leaned over to give her a welcoming kiss on the cheek. "He will be down in a minute."

Looking at my mother, something snagged my attention once again. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but something felt strange about her. I studied her face until she sheepishly blushed. 

She touched her cheek. "What?"

I smiled. "Nothing. Can I help with dinner?"

She shook her head and smiled. "I've got it," she replied. "How was your day?"

"Better than my night," I groaned. 

"What happened last night?" she asked.

I leaned against the counter. "Another migraine." 

She put the tea pitcher down and walked over to me. "You should've called me," she said. "Or you should've gone to the emergency room."

"Mom, I can't go to the ER every time I have a headache," I said. 

She pointed at me. "You shouldn't be alone when those things hit you. That's pretty dangerous."

I shook my head. "I wasn't alone. Detective McNamara stayed with me."

She raised her eyebrows and smiled. "Oh really?"

"Yes, but stop looking at me like that. There is nothing going on with me and Nathan," I said. 

Her smile grew and she shook her head. "I'm not so sure about that."

I rolled my eyes and laughed. To be honest, I wasn't so sure either. 

Dad appeared in the kitchen. He came over and gave me a hug. "Hi, sweetheart." 

"Hi, Daddy," I answered. "How was work?"

He smiled. "Not too bad. I left a little early today at your mother's insistence, so I'm not complaining. How are you?"

Mom squeezed my shoulder. "Your daughter had another migraine last night."

His brow wrinkled. "Really?"

I nodded. "Yes. I took the medicine though, so it wasn't as severe." 

He shook his head. "I don't like this, Sloan. I think we should schedule some more tests. Maybe it's time to meet with a neurologist."

"No, Dad," I objected. My eyes brightened. "But… speaking of tests?"

A thin smile spread across his lips and he lifted an envelope in his right hand. 

I beamed at him, but he shook his head and motioned to the table. "Let's sit so the food doesn't get cold."

The tone of his voice sounded ominous. The DNA test results were in that envelope. I just knew it.

We all sat down to three steaming plates of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, and bread. Monday night dinner was usually the only homemade meal of the week that I ever had. When I put a forkful of buttery mashed potatoes in my mouth, I regretted not paying attention more when my mother cooked.

The table was silent for a few minutes. My father looked lost in thought as he chewed his food and my mother looked nervous. I wiped my mouth and put my napkin on the table. "OK, what is going on? You guys are killing me."

My dad reached for my mother's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "The lab rushed your test results for me and I have them."

I sat forward on the edge of my seat. "Well, what does it say?"

Dad shook his head. "I don't know. It would be illegal for me, as your father, to look at them without your permission."

I shot my hand out. "Well,
gimme
!"

He slid the envelope toward me, but pressed his fingers down to prevent me from picking it up. "Sloan, your mother and I want you to know that no matter what, you will always be our little girl, even if you do want to know who your birth family is."

I focused on their faces. My mother looked like she might melt into a puddle of tears at any second. I had been insensitive with my vague explanations of how this had all transpired. I took my hand off the envelope and pushed my plate back. "Mom, Dad, of course I've always been curious as to where I came from, but I'm not on a quest to replace you. I met Warren by accident and we had a lot of similarities and I got curious. That's all this is. I promise."

"Well," my mother began, "if he is your brother, we just want you to know that we are truly happy for you, and we will always do whatever we can to support you. Even in finding your birth family."

I smiled. "Thank you."

She seemed to relax a little. 

Dad released the envelope and I snatched it up. I tore it open and pulled out the letter inside which contained a spreadsheet full of letters and numbers that I didn't understand. The results might as well have been written in hieroglyphics. "Uh, what is this?"

"If you're looking for a green check mark or a red letter 'x' you're not going to find it." My dad was grinning. "Want me to have a look?"

I handed it to him and sat on my hands to keep them from shaking completely off of the ends of my arms. "Please."

He examined the paper for a moment. My mother was leaning toward him. He adjusted his glasses. "Well, sibling tests done without a sample from at least the mother are very difficult to determine. This is actually two different tests. One of them assumes that you have the same mother and the other assumes that you do not. You and Warren do share some of the same alleles, but both tests fall on the probable side that you are not siblings. The percentages and odds are extremely low."

"So, he's not my brother?" I asked.

Dad handed me the piece of paper. "No one can say with absolute certainty, but the DNA test says most likely not."

I sat back in my seat. My mother reached across the table and squeezed my hand. Her smile was sympathetic. "I'm sorry, honey."

I laughed. "I'm not."

She looked surprised, and she glanced from me to my father. 

"You weren't hoping that you had found your brother?" Dad asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"No." I laughed and shook my head. "I mean, it would have been nice to know that I had a brother out there and maybe finally get some answers to questions I've had all my life, but no. I was really,
really
hoping that Warren wasn't related to me."

Dad's shoulders relaxed like he had been preparing for me to have a meltdown. "Well, congratulations are in order then!"

I laughed with relief. "Do you mind if I excuse myself for a moment? I need to call Warren." 

"Go ahead, honey," Mom answered.

I grabbed my phone from my purse and carried it out onto the back porch. I looked out over the light-speckled mountains which suddenly seemed full of hope and possibilities. I dialed Warren's number.

"Hey." His voice was groggy.

"Were you sleeping?" I asked.

"A little. I came in and fell asleep on my couch right after work. It's been a rough day," he said.

"Are you ready for it to get a whole lot better?" I asked.

After a beat of silence his voice came over the line much more coherent than it had been before. "I told you I wasn't your brother." 

* * *

A blue truck was parked at my curb when I got home. Nathan looked up from his cell phone as I slowly drove by. I waved and pulled into my driveway. He was standing under the streetlight on the sidewalk when I made it around to the front. 

"Hey." I fumbled through my keyring. "What are you doing here? Coming back for another slumber party?"

He laughed and followed me up the front porch steps. "I don't know. Is that an invitation?" 

I grinned at him over my shoulder as I used my key to tumble the deadbolt. "Come on in," I said as I pushed the door open. "Have you been here long?"

He shook his head as we stepped inside. "I had just pulled up when you came home."

I turned on the light switch. "You should have called me."

He stripped off his ball cap and placed it with his keys on the table in my foyer. "I was on my way home and decided to drop by."

"You don't live anywhere near here." I smiled at him as I shrugged out of my jacket and hung it on the hook near the door. 

He winked a steel gray eye at me. "I decided to take the long way home."

I smiled and flipped on the light in the living room. "Fair enough."

He followed me to the living room. "I was surprised that you weren't home when I got here. I came by assuming you would be in your pajamas by now." 

I looked over my shoulder at him. "Well, I thought I would be too, but it's Monday and that means it's dinner night with my parents. I didn't want to cancel it because my dad had some really big news to tell me." 

"News?" he asked.

"Yeah. Warren and I had a DNA test done last week, and Dad got the results in today," I answered.

Nathan faltered a step as we walked into the living room. "Really? Can I ask what it said?"

I sat down in the corner of the sofa and tucked my legs underneath me. "We're not related."

He sank down on the edge of the seat next to me. He nodded and forced a smile. "Well, I guess I should congratulate you then."

I lowered my gaze at him. "I know you wouldn't mean it."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I want you to be happy, Sloan. And, I get why you're with him. He's got an edge that nobody can compete with."

It was really hard for me to know that my happiness was unintentionally painful for Nathan. I cared about him so much, but he was right; there wasn't anyone that could compete with the connection I had with Warren. Still, I felt Nathan deserved my apology. "Can you keep a secret?" I asked.

He raised his eyebrows in question. 

I leaned toward him. "From the moment I saw you at the sheriff's office during your oath ceremony, I had the biggest crush on you. I was so devastated when you told me you had a girlfriend that I almost cried in your car."

He laughed. "Really?"

"True story," I answered. 

He looked down at his hands. "I'm really sorry about that."

I reached over and squeezed his forearm. "I'm sorry about this now."

"I know," he replied.

I nudged him. "Different subject. Why did you come by here on your 'long way home'?" I asked. "I wasn't expecting to see you again tonight."

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I wanted to stop by to see how you were feeling and to tell you goodbye. I'm leaving in the morning and don't know how long I'll be gone."

"Raleigh?"

He nodded. "Yeah. My mom is pretty hysterical, understandably so. And, if it is Ashley then we will have to make a lot of arrangements for her body."

My stomach felt queasy thinking about the jawbone Warren had found. "How long will it take them to know for sure if it's her or not?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sure that it will at least be a few weeks," he said. "The investigation will go on for a while, but we will eventually have a burial service for her, I guess. We already had a memorial service a couple of years after she disappeared."

I groaned. "That sucks. Will you keep me updated on what's going on out there? And, certainly, let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

"Of course." He raked his fingers back through his hair. "You know, we've been through a hell of a lot together in a really short time."

I laughed. "You can say that again."

He pushed himself up off the couch and offered his hand to help me up. When he pulled me to my feet, he looked down to where his hand was wrapped around mine. "Can you keep a secret?" he asked quietly.

I smiled. "Yeah."

He tugged on my hand and stepped toward me. His free hand slipped behind my head as he brought his lips down onto mine. Nathan tasted like Skittles.

15.

WARREN SAID HE would be late on Friday, but that he was coming for the weekend. He had a meeting on Friday afternoon, and he said he would leave as soon as he was able. I was at home waiting for him that night when there was a knock at my door around nine o'clock.

It was Adrianne, wearing a party dress and enough makeup to be in a televised beauty pageant. "You haven't been answering your phone," she said.

I stepped aside to let her in. "I've been busy and didn't have time to talk."

She looked around my living room. "Where's your boy toy?"

"He's on his way. What are you doing here?"

"I had to run over to the salon because I ran out of bobby pins." She framed her hands around her formal updo. "Like my hair?"

It was spectacular, as usual. "It's gorgeous."

She pointed at me. "Since you've forgotten how to use a phone, I came by to kidnap you for this party." She looked up and down at my blue jeans and black V-neck sweater. "But you need to change."