Beyond Your Touch by Pat Esden Read Free Book Online

minute. First we need to get out of here.”
    I drove back under the darkness of the shade trees, past the mailbox, and onto the road.
    â€œWas she home?” Chase nudged.
    â€œShe’s—She wasn’t home. The maid or maybe she was a housekeeper . . .” My mind staggered and I gripped the steering wheel super tight, struggling to find the right words. Finally I just spat it out: “Your mom’s at a place called Beach Rose House. It’s a facility for people with mental issues.”
    â€œThat sucks,” Selena said.
    Chase let out a long breath. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, husky with emotion. “How long has she been there?”
    â€œI don’t know. I didn’t find out anything else, not really.” I glanced at him. His face didn’t hold any anger.
    His eyes grew sad, but a faint smile touched his lips. “Thank you for doing that. I couldn’t have ever walked up to that door.”
    If Selena hadn’t been with us, I’d have pulled over to the side of the road and wrapped my arms around him, told him that his mother’s condition wasn’t his fault and that her issues had started before his conception and even before Malphic had slithered into her dreams and life. They had begun with her choice in husbands.
    â€œWe could find out where Beach Rose House is and try to see your mom sometime,” I suggested.
    He closed his eyes. “Maybe, sometime.”
    * * *
    When the three of us got back to Moonhill and pulled into the garage, we found Tibbs inside, tinkering on one of the ATVs. Tibbs and his mother, Laura, were the only nonfamily members besides Chase who lived on the estate. Tibbs was a lanky, ginger-haired guy. And, despite being almost twenty-three, he stumbled over his tongue like a lovesick teenager whenever Selena spoke to him. However, he and I got along like old friends.
    â€œYou know where Kate is?” I asked him as I got out of the Mercedes. I bit my lip and nodded at the ATV he was working on. It was the one I’d used this morning. “I didn’t screw it up, did I?”
    Tibbs laughed. “Nothing’s wrong. Just changing the oil.” He shoved his camo-colored cap in his hip pocket and smoothed back his hair. “By the way, Chase, would you mind taking my patrol shift tonight? I’ve got something to do in town.”
    â€œNo problem,” Chase said.
    Selena lifted an eyebrow at Tibbs. “Got a heavy date?”
    He went bright red, right up to the tips of his ears. “Um—no.” He looked at me. “You and Chase didn’t have plans for tonight, did you?”
    â€œNot really,” I said. Swallowing my disappointment, I headed into the office and flung the Mercedes’s key ring onto the pegboard with all the other sets. I’d hoped Chase and I could get together tonight. After all, it wouldn’t be long before he went to the realm. What if something happened to him? What if he didn’t—?
    I squeezed my eyes shut, putting an end to that train of thought. Nothing bad was going to happen to him or Dad or Mom. They’d all be fine. They’d come back from the djinn realm. Mom and Dad would rebuild their life together, and Chase and I . . . I scrunched my eyes even tighter. It was impossible, downright stupid, to daydream about the far distant future—my future—with everything so precariously on edge.
    Taking a long, slow breath, I forced my mind away from the future and back to the recent past, to the first time Chase and I had spent an entire night together, to the good stuff, not the nightmare part.
    Tibbs had been on duty and everyone else had left for the marina in Port St. Claire where the family kept a boat. Chase and I were supposed to meet up with them and go for a sunset cruise and dinner, but I’d texted Dad and pretended I had menstrual cramps as an excuse to stay home. After that, I’d grabbed a bottle of sparkling wine