Throwing on a shirt, I opened the front door as he made his way across the street, Eva tucked under his arm. He had thrown on jeans and a hoodie. She was hidden underneath a thick cloak—by the looks of it, something made in Ireland. It made her seem more peculiar than normal, almost like a gypsy woman on the hunt for a fortune to deliver. No, she had a cross around her neck. Regardless, the feeling of deliverance stood strong.
The gas lantern next to the door flickered in the dark, barely enough light to see by, but enough to brighten her face in fiery strokes. For the first time I was struck by how strong her presence was, how truly similar she was to my wife.
The mist seemed to hover around her head, along with the smell of cold and cinnamon. Another female creature touched by something that I wasn't sure had a name. If it did, it was in a language that was a mystery to me.
As they moved inside, the mist seemed to float away from Eva’s cloak, and I crossed myself. Not only did Scarlett attract dangerous men, she attracted dead ones. It felt like the kind of night where they’d be creeping out of their tombs, on the search.
“Can I make coffee?” Eva asked as I turned on the lights in the kitchen.
“Help yourself,” I said, motioning around. I had no idea where anything was here.
Gabriel took a seat, following her every move with his eyes. His mouth was set in a severe line, and his feet moved in time to some unknown stressor. His bottom lip stuck out. He had caught a right hook.
I took my place on the other side, back to the marble counter, arms across my chest, feet crossed.
He glanced at me. “She has to make things when she feels out of sorts.”
“Normal,” she said, flittering around, silently opening cabinets and finding the contents she needed to make coffee.
I didn’t even realize I hummed until Gabriel mentioned it. “Our wedding song,” I said, the beat of it stuck in my head.
“I wrote it,” he said, leaning over his legs, scrubbing a hand down his face.
“For your wife?”
“No,” Eva answered, filling the reservoir of the old percolator and going for the chicory coffee on the counter. “It was destined for someone else. You and Scarlett.”
Gabriel’s eyes met mine again, dark and red-rimmed. “The songs I write for Eva come from a place hidden inside of me. This one came from outside of myself.”
“You should sing it for her, beb,” Eva said, turning the nob of the stove. Itclickedclickedbefore sending orange and red flames up in a contained fury. A homely scent percolated through the air. “Have Michael play the piano. In a bit—” she glanced at the clock “—when she practices her dance. She’ll enjoy that.” Scarlett must’ve filled her in on her usual routine.
Gabriel opened his hands. “It’s settled then.”
I grinned at him and he returned it, but something weighed on his mind.
Eva removed three mugs from the cabinet, pausing a moment to close her eyes and take a deep breath. “Is she asleep?” she asked softly.
“Yeah.”
“Did she tell you what I’m able to do?”
“Dream.”
“That’s right.”
Gabriel looked between his wife and me, his face cryptic.
She muttered something to herself, nodded to confirm whatever it was, and then poured coffee in each cup, adding this or that. Gabriel and I took ours black. She had poured plenty of milk and sweetener in hers.
I thanked her when she handed me the cup. I took a sip, but it felt like acid in the back of my throat and sat like tar in the pit of my stomach. I put it to the side.
Eva hadn’t moved. She stood and stared at me with eyes that knew too much. Her eyes were as intimidating as my wife’s. They saw worlds and visions and truths and were as deep as a fathomless pit where secrets go to hide.
She shook her head. “It’s rare that I dream of two people together, the way I dream of you and your wife. It’s even rarer that I can see the two as one.”
I knew the way I was looking at her. She didn't flinch or take a step back. If anything, she moved closer. Gabriel stood, but she put her hand up, stopping him. She said something to him in French.
Her cool hand came to my face, her other touched my arm. “You dream of her,” she said.
