Chapter Twenty Eight

“You will.”

Those words reverberated in Mick’s head long after Henri left. One some level Mick knew that he was right. Mick picked up the photo that Henri had examined. He remembered that night so well. Beth had wanted to do something fun, so she suggested they go to the amusement park down at the pier. Mick had balked at first but quickly gave in to her pouting lower lip. Beth had been right, of course. It was fun. It had been so long since Mick had done anything that remotely resembled fun; he’d almost forgotten what it felt like. They rode the carousel, made out at the top of the ferris wheel, even rode the roller coaster. They were like any other normal couple, if only for a night. Before they left, Beth asked a random passerby to take their picture with her phone. They looked like they’d had the time of their lives.

Mick sat the picture back on the table. Beth sacrificed so much to be with him. That night at the amusement park was a stolen night of normality. The truth was they’d never be normal. Beth could have anything she wanted: a great career, a loving human husband, children. Mick’s insides clenched at the thought. She could live her life in the daylight. Instead she chose to live in the darkness with him. Mick was damned if he understood why. But he knew that he couldn’t give her up. If she wanted to spend eternity with him then he couldn’t deny her. The idea that she’d willingly sacrifice her humanity for him both awed and terrified him. It was an enormous commitment and Mick resolved that he’d spend the rest of his life making sure she didn’t regret it.

Mick’s eyes moved from the picture to the sheet music in front of him. One title caught his eye. He pulled it out of the stack and read the lyrics. It had a melancholy yet hopeful tone. It was perfect. Mick looked at the cords and groaned. He’d have a hell of a time learning it, but he was determined to try. Smiling for the first time since Henri left, Mick went to pick up his guitar. Then he glanced at his watch; it was six. Damn. Beth would be home any minute. He’d have to find another time to practice; he wanted to keep his musical tribute a secret, to surprise her. Reluctantly, Mick packed up the guitar and music and took it back to his office. He’d just settled the guitar in its hiding place when he heard the front door open.

“Mick?” Beth called.

“In here,” he called back. Mick came back into the apartment and saw Beth struggling with some grocery bags. “Need a hand with those?”

“No. I got it.”

“Of course you do.” Mick smiled as he took the bulkiest bags and carried them to the kitchen. “Good lord, Beth. What did you do? Buy every piece of produce known to man?”

Beth glared at him. “No. I wasn’t sure what Erin liked so I got a little of everything.”

“You could have called and asked, you know.”

“Yeah, well, look at it this way. You won’t have to remind me to buy fruit for the next month or so.” Beth put her bags on the counter. “Oh, I stopped by the morgue too. Guillermo says he’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Mick was busy unloading his new stock. “Huh?”

“The party?” Beth reminded him.

“Party. Right.”

Beth put some orange juice in the fridge. “Mick?”

“Yeah?”

“You do want to have your party, right?”

“Of course. It’s not like Josef would let me out of it.” He paused. “Why? Don’t you want me to have it? Because if it bothers you…”

“No! It’s not that. You’ve just seemed weird about it, that’s all. Like the idea itself bothers you.” Beth frowned at the confused look on his face. “I mean, you’ve done all this already. The bachelor party, the wedding, everything. I just thought…” Beth’s voice trailed off as she lowered her eyes to the floor.

Mick put his finger under her chin and tipped her face up. “You thought that it wouldn’t measure up to the first one.” Beth nodded. “Beth, you have to stop this. I’m marrying you. I want you. I need you, not her. Got it?”

Beth smiled sheepishly and nodded. “I know it’s silly. It’s just we’re so close. We’ve been through so much already. I keep thinking that this is all some dream. That I’ll wake up and you won’t be here.”

Mick pulled her into a hug. “I’m not going anywhere, Beth. I love you too much to leave now.”

“I love you, too, Mick.” Reluctantly, she pulled away. “OK, I’m better now. You want to help me make dinner?”

“I don’t know how much help I’ll be, Beth. I haven’t really cooked much. Ever.”

Beth smiled. “Well, neither have I. Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“You’re on.”

Together, they managed to cook dinner without burning down the apartment. Beth was putting the finishing touches on the fruit salad when Josef and Erin arrived. She missed the look of shock and anger that crossed Josef’s face as soon as he entered the apartment. Mick didn’t, however. He shook his head at Josef and nodded his head toward his office.

“Beth, why don’t you and Erin get settled in? I need to talk to Josef for a second.”

“All right. Don’t be long.”

“I won’t.” Mick finished rinsing off his hands and led Josef into his office. As soon as the door was closed, Josef began muttering furiously.

“I’ll kill that bastard. I told him not to come near you.” He looked at Mick. “Tell me you got to him first.”

“No, Henri’s still alive. He really just wanted to talk.”

“About Coraline.”

“Yeah.” They compared conversations. When they were finished, Josef let out a low whistle. “So he was really OK with you killing the love of his life?”

“I don’t know if OK is the right word. More like resigned. I don’t think we’ll be seeing him again.”

“Says you.”

“Yeah, well, I have Mr. Paranoid here watching my back,” Mick replied with a grin.

“Don’t you forget it.”

The boys returned to the apartment. Erin and Beth were already eating. They were sitting close together going over the sketches Beth had mentioned. Beth looked up. “I hope you don’t mind. We were kinda hungry.”

“Of course not.” Mick and Josef took seats across from them. A glass of blood sat in front of each of them. Josef sniffed his. “Ah, AB negative. Thanks, Beth.” He took a long swig from the glass. “So have you two ladies picked something out?”

Erin looked at Beth, who nodded. “Yeah, I think we have.” Erin handed him the sketch.

“Good. I’ll have it put together for you. Should be ready in two, three weeks tops.”

Beth blanched. “Josef, please tell me you were kidding.”

Josef wanted to torture her just a tad longer but the look of horror on her face was too much. He grinned. “Relax. This wedding will go off without a hitch.” Beth still didn’t look convinced. “As scheduled.”

Beth let out a sigh of relief. “Don’t ever do that again.”

Erin chuckled. “Beth, I think we all know that isn’t possible.” She grinned mischievously at Josef.

They spent the rest of dinner being happily grilled by an inquisitive Beth. So much history sat at one table; she wanted to take full advantage of it. Josef, in particular, had some fascinating stories. During dessert, Beth practically spat out her fruit salad over one unbelievable tale.

“Wait, so you’re telling me that Abraham Lincoln knew about vampires?” Beth asked as she caught her breath.

Josef smiled indulgently. “You shouldn’t believe everything you read, Beth.”

“I’m beginning to see that.”

Beth recovered from her laughter and looked around the table. “Everyone finished?” The other three nodded. “Erin and Josef, Mick and I will clean up. We’ll join you in the living room in a minute.”

A few minutes later Mick and Beth rejoined their guests in the living room. They sat together on the couch; Josef and Erin sat across from them in the armchairs.

Erin cleared her throat. “Is Maddie’s hope chest around here somewhere? There’s something I wanted to see.”

Mick stood. “It’s in my office. I’ll get it.” About two seconds later, Mick returned with the box. Josef glared at him. “Show off.” Mick just grinned as he sat the box in front of Erin and resumed his place next to Beth.

Erin, meanwhile, began digging through her sister’s possessions and pulling things out. She was clearly looking for something specific. Erin’s face brightened as she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a square jewelry box and held it out to Mick. “Look familiar?”

Mick looked at it; he frowned. “Not really.”

“Well, that’s understandable. You were only a few hours old at the time. Here, open it up.”

Mick took the box and opened it. His eyes widened. “Oh my god.”

“Looks familiar now, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, how did you get it?”

“It was in the box when Maddie gave it to me. I thought Beth should have it.”

“What is it?” Beth asked. Mick handed her the box. In it, she saw what looked to be a silver necklace with a Celtic pendant. The pendant was a series of Celtic knots in the shape of a square. “It’s beautiful.”

“Andy gave that to my sister the night Mick was born. The symbol there means eternity. I think Maddie intended to pass it on to Mick’s choice of wife.”

Beth’s brow furrowed. “So why didn’t – “

Mick interrupted before Beth could finish. “My parents never met her, remember? They weren’t at the wedding and I couldn’t see them after…” his voice trailed off.

“Oh, right.” Beth looked at Erin. “Are you sure I should have this?”

Erin smiled. “I can think of no one better.” Erin turned to Mick. “Why don’t you put it on her?”

“Wait, it’s silver. He can’t,” Beth said.

“Beth, it’s not silver. It’s white gold.” Mick gave her a half smile and took the box. Beth pulled her hair up to allow Mick to place the necklace on her neck. When he finished, Beth let her hair down and ran to the mirror. Tears came to her eyes as she saw Maddie’s necklace grace her neck. She looked at Erin. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, my dear. So is that everything? Your dress is new, the necklace is old…”

Mick realized where Erin was going with this. “I think she just needs the borrowed and blue parts.”

Josef rolled his eyes. “Are you serious? You do realize that it’s a superstition, right?”

Erin swatted his arm. “Josef, stop that. This is Mick and Beth’s day, not yours.”

Josef still didn’t look convinced. “Well, her eyes are blue. Does that count?”

It was Beth’s turn to glare at Josef. “Josef! I can’t believe you just said that!”

“What? They’re yours. They’re blue. What’s the big deal?”

“Clearly you don’t know anything about weddings,” Mick observed.

“Apparently. So where are we gonna find something borrowed and blue then?” Josef asked.

Erin turned to Josef. “Don’t you have something Beth could borrow?”

Josef laughed. “Me? You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I was hoping that you could put your sarcasm away for two minutes. Obviously, I was wrong,” Erin said crossly.

Mick laughed to himself. Watching Josef and Erin squabble was like watching an old married couple. They were adorable. Of course, if Josef ever knew what Mick was thinking he’d find his head mounted on Josef’s wall. So he kept his thoughts to himself.

“Erin, don’t you have something Beth could borrow?”

Erin gave Josef one last glare before she answered her nephew. “Let me think.” She paused; then smiled. “I think I do. How do you feel about sapphire studs, my dear?”

Beth grinned. “Two birds, one stone. I like it.”

Josef stood. “Great, that’s settled then. Mick, I think we’ll be going now. I’ll come by and pick you up around eight tomorrow night.”

“I can drive, Josef.”

“Mick, no one drives to their own bachelor party. Especially when it’s not a surprise.”

Mick sighed. “Fine.”

“Josef, could I talk to you for a second? Alone?” Beth asked.

Josef looked quizzically at her. “Sure.”

Beth walked over to Mick’s office. Josef closed the door behind them. “If you’re just going to berate me again, you could do that in front of Mick. He’d probably get a kick out of it.”

Beth turned to face him. “No, it’s not that. It’s about Mick’s party.”

Josef looked stunned. “You have my attention.”

Beth looked shyly at the floor; then at Josef. She couldn’t believe what she was about to ask but she was determined all the same. Beth leaned up and whispered her request in Josef’s ear. She stepped away from him quickly. She’d noticed the predatory look on his face. Josef eyed her up and down before he spoke.

“Are you sure about this?” Josef asked, unable to keep the growl out of his voice.

Beth looked at him with more courage than she felt. “Yes. And don’t you go installing cameras either. I’ll stake you myself.”

Damn, there goes that idea. “Fair enough.” As Josef turned to leave the office, he thought, At least one of us will have fun tomorrow night…

To be continued…