For Always Page 6

  "Where is your brother?" I was worried he would be home soon.

  "He's workin' at the marina. So you're safe until about 10:00 or so. He's older, so he works more than I do. I'm still allowed a little bit of a life."

  We swam, laid out in the sun, and swam some more, until we were tired, burnt, and shriveled. We walked down the yard to the dock and sat on it a while so that we could watch the boats go by while we dried off. We talked about anything and everything and still had more to talk about.

  "It’s gettin’ pretty late. You ready to head home? You need to get plenty of rest for your big day tomorrow," she teased me.

  "It is a big day. I'm nervous."

  "There ain't no need to be. It's like gettin' paid to hang out and talk to boys, which there are a lot of at the marina—cute ones."

  This job was looking better and better every day.

  Beth wanted to take me home instead of Grandmama having to come get me, so I grabbed my stuff and threw it in her back seat. She had a cute, little purple Volkswagen Bug that was decked out as girly as could be. A flower was wrapped around the antenna, flowers hung from her mirror; she had seat and steering wheel covers that matched her car, as well as decals on her back window. I could tell it was her pride and joy. It made me want a car.

  We were hungry, so we decided to eat at the marina before she took me home. "Employees, which includes you now, eat free," Beth said as she winked at me. "Free makes it taste better."

  "I'm down with free," I agreed.

  We pulled into the marina and headed inside. She stood at the front looking around for an empty table. "There's one on the deck. Is that okay?"

  "Sure." I followed her out to a table that was on the edge of the patio. "I didn't get a menu, so what do you recommend?"

  She leaned back and rubbed her chin like she was thinking really hard. "Hmm, I think an order of him and a side of his friend would be pretty good," she said with a big smile as she pointed to two guys on the sidewalk leading to the boat slips.

  "You're impossible"—I laughed—"to disagree with." When I looked back at the boys, they were looking at us and one waved. I turned and looked at Beth with big eyes. She was waving, too. And of course, here came the guys toward us. "Do you do this often?"

  She looked at me, smiling innocently. "Do I do what often?"

  "Do you even know them?" I asked, impressed at her boldness.

  “Not yet," she smirked. As they got closer, she said, "Oh, I think I do know one of them," and rolled her eyes.

  The guys smiled as they approached us, talking quietly, probably calling dibs.

  "Hey, girls. What's up?" One guy asked confidently, standing next to the deck. We were higher than them, so they had to look up at us.

  My phone went off, letting me know I had a text. Do u care if they join us? It was Beth. I laughed and shook my head at her. They were cute, so I didn't care one bit.

  "Why don't y'all join us? We ain't ordered yet," she said sweetly as she leaned over the rail toward them.

  "Don't mind if we do," the same guy said as he started to climb onto the deck. He was already sitting down by the time the other one climbed up. "I'm Chad, by the way, and this is Hunter." Chad seemed to be a little on the cocky side, which I didn't find too appealing. He had light brown hair and his eyes were an aqua color, which I assumed was from contacts. He looked toward me and said, "I've not seen you before. Do you live around here?"

  Before I could answer, the waitress came and took our drink orders. When she walked away, I noticed that Chad was still looking at me, waiting for me to answer his question. "I just moved here a couple of weeks ago." I looked at Hunter, trying to include him since Chad wasn't going to. "I like it here a lot better than Nashville."

  "My name is Beth," she said toward Hunter. She must not like Chad, either. "And this is Malyn."

  Chad, for once, looked at Beth instead of me. "You look familiar. Do you go to Jefferson?"

  "Yeah, I'm gonna be a Junior."

  "Maybe that's where I know you from. I graduated this year. Getting ready to go to ETSU."

  Beth looked at Hunter and asked, "Did you graduate, too?"

  "Yeah, from Sevier County. Do you ever come up that way? Go to Pigeon Forge or anything? Maybe we could hang out some if you do." Finally Hunter was making his move, which seemed to make Beth happy.

  The waitress returned with our drinks and we all ordered. We talked until our food came, which luckily didn't take long. As we ate, all I could think about was how I wished Chad was Beau. I'd much rather be sitting here looking into his baby blues instead of Chad's fake ones. I couldn't wait to get home all of a sudden.

  Then, out of the blue, my seat shook and I thought the whole patio was collapsing. "What's going on here?" Someone had jumped up onto the railing beside us.

  "Jace, you 'bout made me choke on my food!"

  So this was the brother. Not bad…not bad at all. He climbed over the rail and sat down on it right above me. "You all better not be hitting on my sister," he said to the guys.

  "That's where I know you from! I've been to your house," Chad said, looking at Beth as if it were a bad thing. I wish he would just get up and let Jace sit down.

  "Hitting on my sister. What's gotten into you?" Jace teased him.

  "Well, I think Hunter here's the one hitting on your sister. I had my eyes on other things," he said as he looked at me.

  Other things? I mean, really, I'm sitting right here. I rolled my eyes at him. I think Jace saw me, because he smirked.

  "Jace, this is Malyn. Malyn, my brother, Jace."

  "So you're the one my mom was telling me about."

  "Well, that depends on what she said."

  "Mainly that you were going to be helping out here. She told me to help you if you needed it until you got used to things."

  "Then, yes, I'm the one." I smiled, turning my attention back to my plate and taking a bite of my fish.

  "Well, I'm glad you're here. Sorry about the riffraff, though," he said as he kicked Chad's chair.

  "Hey, watch it, Stone. You don't want none of this," Chad retorted, flexing his arms. He was a big guy, I had to admit.

  Jace laughed. "Put the guns away, no firearms on the premises…not even your little cap guns," Jace shot back.

  "Yeah, I got your little—"

  "Are you about ready, Beth?" I interrupted.

  "Sure"—she looked at Hunter—"as soon as me and Hunter here exchange numbers." She smiled at him and got a pen out of her purse and snatched up a napkin to write on.

  She was fun to watch. I could never say that to a guy that I just met. That thought made me realize that Chad was probably waiting on me to give him mine, too. Not gonna happen. I quickly stood up and grabbed my purse. "Nice to meet you two," I told Chad and Hunter. Chad stood up, too.

  Then Jace jumped down off the railing and stood next to me. "I'll walk you out," he told me. "Later, fellas," he said as he shot them a wicked grin. We didn't say anything to each other until we got through the restaurant and walked outside. "I hope it's okay, me walking you out. I just know that Chad can be a jerk sometimes."

  "Yes, that's more than okay. I really didn't want to give him my number, or have to tell him no if he asked."

  "Oh, he would've asked. He usually doesn't have to, though—they get shoved in his pocket first. So you probably just made him like you even more." He winked and acted like he was flirting as he said, "Hard to get."

  I couldn't help but laugh. Jace was cute. He had a handsome face that was still a bit boyish at the same time. He was really tall and rather thin, but with a sporty build. And he had Beth's beautiful emerald eyes. His hair was cut short and looked like it was highlighted by the sun.

  "So, what's the age difference between you and Beth?"

  "Two years. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

  "No, only child." We had finally reached Beth's car. We waited quietly for a minute, not saying much. "You don't have to wait. Surely Chad won't come out here.
That would be stalkerish."

  Jace laughed as he leaned up against her car. "I don't mind." He looked at me like he was gonna say something else, but didn't. Then he dropped his eyes back down at his shoes.

  I walked over and leaned against her car next to him, crossing my arms, sighing impatiently.

  "I can take you home…if you want," he said, never looking at me. "She may be a while."

  I didn't know what to say. Part of me wanted to ride with him, but part of me didn't. "Um…it doesn't matter. I’ll have to call my Grandmother and make sure it's okay…and we'd have to let Beth know." My stomach started to churn my supper.

  "Well, you call your Grandmother and I'll call Beth." He got his phone out of his pocket and started dialing.

  My phone felt like it weighed ten pounds. I heard Jace talking to Beth before Grandmama picked up.

  "Hello?"

  "Hey, I'm calling to see if it's okay if Beth's brother, Jace, brings me home."

  She was quiet for a minute. "Do ya really want him to?" She was so good at reading me.

  "I honestly don't know. I think, but I'm not sure." I was vague enough that Jace didn't know what I was talking about.

  "Well, can Beth not bring ya? I can come get ya, if ya want."

  "No, Beth can, she was just talking to some people and I'm getting tired of waiting."

  "Do ya wanna ride with Jace?"

  I didn't know. Was Beau the only reason I didn't want to? Any other time I would have jumped at the chance to have a cute boy take me home. I was making this into a bigger deal than it needed to be. I had to face it; Beau was a goner and Jace was a liver.

  "Malyn?"

  "Sorry, yes."

  "Well, since I know him, it's okay. Tell him if he drives fast I'll hog-tie him to the dock. And wear your seatbelt."

  "Okay," I agreed as I laughed. "I love you."

  "Love ya, too."

  Jace was waiting for me to hang up. "What did she say?"

  "That she was gonna hog-tie you if I didn't get home safely."

  He smiled. "Beth is still talking to Hunter. She said she'd call you when she got home." He started walking to a huge black truck parked at the back of the lot. He went to the passenger side and unlocked the door, opened it, and swept his hand toward the inside. "Your chariot awaits, my lady."

  "Thank you, sir," I said as I threw my purse up into the seat. It was on the verge of being a monster truck and I practically had to jump up to get into it, which made him laugh.

  When he got in, I told him where I lived, and he knew where it was right away. "You live in that spooky old house? Ain't you scared?"

  "Of what?" I was curious to see what he would say about it.

  "Well, rumor has it that it's haunted. Everybody that's ever moved in only stayed a little while and moved right back out. I thought it was still empty."

  "Nope. And we don't plan on moving anytime soon. We love it."

  "Really? Nothing ever happened? Nothing weird?"

  I wondered what he considered weird. "No, nothing out of the ordinary," I said truthfully. I had always seen ghosts, so seeing Beau was nothing new. The only thing out of the ordinary was how I felt about him.

  "And you ain't scared living there?"

  "It looks scarier than it is. It ain't scary at all on the inside." I told him about all of the work Grandmama had done on it until we pulled into my driveway. "You'll have to come back sometime when you can come in and visit." That might get interesting.

  "Yeah, I'd like that," he said, looking back up at the house before he added, "I think."

  We both laughed and I thanked him for the ride home. I told him bye and that I may see him at work tomorrow before I turned and jumped down out of the truck. I waved as I headed inside.

  When I walked in, Grandmama was sitting on the couch watching TV with Beau sitting right beside her. They both looked at me as I sat my purse on the kitchen table.

  "Glad ya made it home safe. Did ya have fun today?"

  "Yes. I'm burnt, though." My clothes were scraping my skin when I moved.

  "There's some aloe in my bathroom."

  Beau got up and walked toward me, looking serious. I assumed he was mad at me until he said, "I missed you."

  Grandmama could hear me, so I didn't say anything, just smiled and nodded in agreement. "I'm pooped, so I'm gonna go get ready for bed," I told her. "Got to go to work in the morning," I said with fake excitement in my voice.

  "Now, Malyn, ya know I'm not makin' ya work. Ya just ain't gonna have nothin' if ya don't."

  "I know. I'm just nervous, I guess. It'll be fun working with Beth."

  "Well, don't forget the aloe," she reminded me. "G'night."

  "Goodnight," I told her as I headed upstairs and into her bathroom to get the aloe. We went through the usual routine of me getting ready while Beau waited in my room. When I was done slathering on aloe and brushing my teeth, I walked back to my room, excited to get to talk to him, which I hadn't got to do all day.

  I smiled when I walked in, watching him watch me. I turned the radio on, turned my lamp off, and laid down, keeping my shorts on this time. I turned to face him and said, "I missed you, too."

  He turned towards me. The moon was bright tonight so I was able to see him looking at me. "Did ya have fun?"

  "Yes. But I wished you were with me the whole time." I also wish I didn't feel that way, but I did.

  He was quiet, but continued to stare at me. The air became charged again, so I knew he was feeling the same way I was. He reached out and rubbed my cheek. All I felt was static, but I liked it.

  "What are we doin', Malyn?" he whispered with despair in his voice as he pulled his hand back.

  "What do you mean?"

  "This. Us. We can't be like this." His voice was still just a whisper.

  "Like what?"

  He shut his eyes and kept them shut. After a minute passed, I reached out to touch his cheek this time. I tried my best to feel him—really feel him—but I couldn't. I could only slightly feel his energy, though, which was better than nothing.

  He opened his eyes and looked at me with such sadness that not only did I see it in his eyes, but I could feel it. "This—like this. It hurts too much." I pulled my hand back like he had smacked it. "It hurt for ya to be gone all day. It hurt when ya got outta his truck. It hurts to be layin' next to ya and not be able to touch ya. It hurts to wanna be with someone that I can't be with. But it hurts even more when I realize that you feel the same way. I don't wanna hurt ya, Malyn."

  My chest felt like it was gonna cave in. He was right. We were both gonna end up hurt. But as I looked at him, I realized that a big part of me didn’t care. Tears formed without my permission.

  "I don't wanna hurt ya," he whispered again. He reached out and slowly wiped a tear that was running down my nose. "I don't know what to do. Please tell me what to do," he softly pleaded.

  I had never heard anyone sound so desperate. It's like every emotion that he had bottled up over the last century was spilling out. "Kiss me," I whispered back.

  "What?" He sounded as shocked as I was that those two words came out of my mouth.

  "Kiss me," I slowly whispered again. I don't know if it was his emotions affecting me, or my own hidden emotions coming to the surface. But all I wanted at that moment was to feel his lips on mine, even if it took every ounce of energy he had.

  He shut his eyes. "No, Malyn…I'm sorry."

  The next thing I knew he was gone. Whether he left too fast for me to see, or he just vanished, I don't know; I was crying too hard to notice. I know Beau rejected me for our own good, but it still stung. And now we had moved into an awkward place that I wasn't sure we'd be able to come out of. This entire situation was becoming hopeless.

  Chapter 8

  COMPLICATED

  Beau

  I was sittin' on the sofa in the parlor, which is where I landed when I went through the bed and the floor to get away from the situation I'd created with Malyn. I didn't know what
else to do. When I heard her tell me to kiss her, it took everything I had not to. I'd wanted to kiss her since the first day I met her.

  How could I let this happen? How could I let it get this far? I never thought Malyn would have the same feelin's for me as I did for her. I'm dead, for goodness sakes. It's not like we can live happily ever after. I can't live at all. I should've stayed away from her and not been so selfish. But to go that long with no interaction with livers, it kinda makes ya crazy. Talkin' to her and Nellie made me feel almost normal again—alive.

  I laid my head back, wishin' I could go to sleep and just escape my mind for a bit. I felt bad for leavin' Malyn like I did, but I knew if I went back up to explain that I'd end up grantin' her most recent request. So I got up and went through the wall to the back yard. The moon was shinin' bright through the trees, which made me think of her again; the way it danced on her skin and reflected off her hair. I had to get away.

  I started runnin', which I hadn't done in a while. I knew it'd be good for calmin' down this anxious feelin' I had. It took a lot outta me to go through the trees instead of goin' 'round 'em. So I decide to run the border of the property, goin' through anything that got in my way. If I lost focus, I'd be knocked backwards like a liver would be if he ran into a tree. Focusin' on trees kept my mind busy. It must've 'drained my energy', though, as Nellie calls it, ‘cause I had to stop and lay down after a while.

  I laid in the hammock until almost sunrise, then I got up and went to the other side of the property 'til Malyn left for work. I hated not wishin' her good luck on her first day, but figured it was for the best right now. I'd be talkin' to her soon enough. I just hope we can go back to how were before our feelin's got in the way. She was the only friend I had who I could actually talk to and I didn't want to lose her.

  I waited 'til Nellie left to take Malyn to work before I ventured inside. I went up to Malyn's room and sat on the edge of her bed. I looked 'round at all her stuff, which still seemed odd to see in here. This had been my room when I was alive; it just looked different now. The only thing that was in here back then was my bed, a dresser, and a writing desk. I was lucky enough, bein' the oldest, not to have to share a bedroom with my brothers. When I became of age, Pa said if I'd stay and help on the farm that he'd give me my own room. I'd planned on stayin', anyway, but I didn't mention that to him.