Charade (Heven and Hell #2)(33)
Author: Cambria Hebert

“Did you get the cream?” Gran asked me. I looked at her for some back-up about taking Mom to the doctor. Her aura was smooth and unruffled. It was like she wasn’t worried at all.

“It’s right here.” I held out the tube.

“Here. I’ll put some on you,” Gran said, uncapping it to smooth a thick layer of the stuff over the burn. Mom didn’t even wince.

I did. I looked at Henry who was watching the scene with mild interest. He saw my stare and looked fully at me. “What do you think, Henry? Think Mom should get looked at?” It was almost a challenge.

He smiled. “I think if your mother says she’s all right, then she probably is.”

Mom beamed up at Henry, her aura not even displaying the slightest bit of pain. “I’m just fine. Let’s not ruin the afternoon with this. Shall we eat?”

I seemed to be outnumbered. I looked at Sam and he shrugged.

“At least let me wrap the burn,” I tried, not ready to give up.

“That would be wonderful. But let me keep this ice on it while we eat; then you can wrap it.”

I stopped arguing. She really didn’t seem to be in any pain. Her aura was clear and auras didn’t lie. So I let it go.

Everyone took a spot around the table, but I was slower to sit down. My stomach still revolted at the thought of food, but I couldn’t avoid at least sitting with everyone. To my utter dismay, the only empty spot at the table was right next to Cole. Rather than allow Sam to slide in next to him, I hurried over and Sam sat down on my other side, frowning. Inside I winced, thinking that it probably didn’t look too good when I hurried to sit next to Cole.

Gran said a short blessing and everyone dug in. I couldn’t help but notice the apprising looks she was giving Cole and I. Was Gran trying to set me up with Cole? No. She couldn’t be. She loved Sam, and I knew it. I saw it in her aura. Yet, there was love in her aura too every time she looked at Cole. I prepared myself for a long dinner, but it ended up not being as uncomfortable as I thought.

Henry was a captivating storyteller. He possessed a magnetism that drew you in when he spoke, and all throughout dinner, he told us stories about the places he had traveled to and the people that he had met. I found myself unable to relax, but at least the pressure in my skull was easing. Because of Henry’s talent for speaking, no one seemed to notice that all I did was push the food from one side of my plate to the other. Finally, I gave up even making it look like I was eating and looked up, brushing away a fly that was swarming around the table. My mother was clearly happy, staring at Henry with a sort of awe in her eyes. I just couldn’t believe that her arm didn’t bother her at all.

Not long after eating, my mother announced that they needed to be going. I had to make an effort to seem disappointed. It made me feel guilty, and I insisted on applying more burn cream to her nasty-looking burn and wrapping it lightly in some gauze. That burn was going to turn into one nasty blister. After I had her all bandaged up, Sam and I walked Mom and Henry to his car while I tried one last time to convince her to get her arm looked at. She still insisted she was fine. I tucked the burn cream into her purse and kissed her cheek. “I’ll call you later,” I promised before Henry ushered her into a very black sedan with very dark tinted windows.

“Heven, promise me that we will see each other again before you go off to Italy,” Mom said before Henry could close the door.

I was still a little shocked that she was so willing to let me go after months and months of her insisting that I go to a Bible camp to exorcise the evil out of me.

“Sure, Mom. I’ll come by next week and we can have lunch together.”

“Great. I had a great time today. I love you.”

I swallowed past the lump suddenly in my throat. “I love you too, Mom.”

She said a short, but nice, goodbye to Sam, and then Henry shut the door. The tint was so dark that she disappeared from view. On his way around to the driver’s side he touched my hand and said, “Thanks for the wonderful day.”

Red beady eyes swam before me. My lungs squeezed. I swayed a little on my feet. Sam was there, his body coming up against mine. Henry looked at me with concern in his eyes. “Are you all right?”

I forced a smile. “I’m great. Just a little headache is all.”

“Well, get some sleep tonight. I’m sure you’ll feel better in the morning.”

“I will. Thanks.”

We watched until they were out of sight, and then I turned to lay my head on Sam’s chest. The sound of his heartbeat made me feel stronger.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on with you?”

“It’s nothing,” I insisted. “I just got a little dizzy.”

“Yeah, and your mind is just playing tricks on you,” he muttered.

Gran stuck her head out the back door. “Heven, could you come in here please?” Her aura was flaring nervous energy.

Something is going on with Gran. I told Sam.

She does seem a little preoccupied.

Inside, Cole was sitting at the table in the kitchen with a plate of cookies in front of him. Gran was standing at the sink washing dishes.

“Let me help you,” I said, going over to the sink.

She waved me away and picked up a towel to dry her hands. “Sit down. There’s something I need to tell you.”

“What?” I plopped into a chair next to Sam and across from Cole.

Gran patted her pocket before saying, “I debated on whether or not to say anything, but I think you both have a right to know.”

I didn’t understand who or what she was talking about. “Me and Sam?”

“No, you and Cole.”

Cole and I looked at one another. He shrugged.

“I don’t understand,” I said.

Gran nodded. “When you first came here, Cole, I am sure that you thought I acted a little strange.”

He shook his head. “I wasn’t really myself the other night.” His cheeks turned pink with embarrassment.

“Don’t think anything of it,” Gran replied and patted her pocket before continuing. “It’s because you remind me of someone. Two people actually.”

“Who?” Cole asked.

“My late husband and son.”

My heart stuttered. I groped for Sam’s hand beneath the table.

“About seventeen years ago, my son Jason met and married your mother, Heven. But what you don’t know, what no one knows, is that before he met her, he was involved with someone else.” Gran looked at Cole.