“A ride? Aren’t we taking a plane?” she asked.
“Uh, sort of,” he smirked. “Trust me.” She stared at him, backing up a bit as she looked up, up and up at his handsome face.
“I don’t know why, but I do. I trust you, River.”
“Well, that’s a good start,” he smiled. “Come on. Let’s get you packed.”
It was no surprise to River that Priscilla’s home was much different than Celine’s. A small, modest townhome with homey touches that immediately made him feel at ease.
“You like fresh flowers,” he smiled staring at the vases of flowers around the room.
“I do,” she grinned. “I tend to buy them just for myself. That’s probably silly to a man but I don’t have anyone to send me flowers any longer.”
“But you did?” he asked.
“No. I mean, yes. My father. He died of a stroke almost three years ago. He was an agent as well. A great one,” she smiled walking around the room putting items into her suitcase. “I would get flowers at least once a month with a note that said, ‘just because’. It was so sweet and they always seemed to show up when I needed them the most.”
“And your mom?” he asked.
“Mom left us when I was seven. She was an opera singer and wanted to travel Europe. I’m guessing she did,” she said sadly.
“Did you inherit her singing talent?” he smiled.
“Not even a little,” laughed Priscilla. “I can’t carry a tune in a bucket and that’s the truth. She would send things now and then. She sent me that carnival mask from Vienna and those ballet shoes were from some famous dancer that was part of an opera that she did.
“I didn’t understand any of it when I was a kid but I learned as I got older that she struggled with mental health. I think she actually did us a favor by leaving. Dad said he believed she wasn’t even pursuing her dream but just wandering around Europe.”
“That’s sad,” said River, frowning at her.
“It is and isn’t. If that’s what she was doing, she did it to protect me and dad. I’d like to believe that’s the story,” she said. “What about you? Family?”
“More than you can imagine,” he laughed, shaking his head. “I’m a triplet. Identical.”
“Wh-what?” she gasped. “There are two more? Just like you?”
“Yes,” he laughed, “but don’t get any ideas. I saw you first.”
“Oh, I would never, I swear,” she started. River held up a hand, just chuckling. “I just, well, I can’t believe there are two more men that look just like you walking around on earth.”
“Honey, there are several men that look identical to me. My grandfather was a triplet, my father was a triplet, and now I’m a triplet with three sets of triplet cousins.”
“You’re messing with me,” she smirked. “Now you’re just screwing with me.”
“I promise, I would never. My brothers, Quinn and Finnegan, we call him Finn, are SEALs as well. All three of us are between six-three and six-six, two-twenty, give or take a few pounds, blue eyes, blonde hair.”
“I hate to even whisper it but Celine would have loved that,” she frowned. She put the last item in her suitcase and closed the lid, zipping it. Taking a seat on the bench at the end of the bed, she stared down at her clasped hands.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know,” she said shaking her head. “My instinct is to track down who killed my friend but it felt like Todd was pushing me away. Am I imagining that?”
River thought about lying to her but just couldn’t make himself do it.
“He did seem willing to let us leave quickly and in fact told you to take some time off. I don’t know him as well as you do but do you trust him?”
“I do. I think I do,” she said exhaling. River took the seat beside her, taking one of her hands in his own. “Your hands are very big.”
“Yours are very small,” he whispered. He leaned over, kissing her softly on the lips. The soft mewling noise coming from her lit a fire inside River that was about to explode in embarrassment.
