This was too short a visit. Hailey’s heart ached. She wanted to chat about Uncle Pix and the pub and and and everything! Her brain screamed, but still her words failed, and Uncle Dale released her hand.
Now he was walking away, and she just stood there, paralyzed. This was so stupid. He could spare another ten minutes. Finally, and with great effort, she lurched after him, but she stopped and he stopped when Asher emerged from the shadows.
Without a word, Uncle Dale bowed his head and handed Asher the burlap sack. Then he looked back at Hailey and nodded, and both he and Asher walked outside.
Hailey back-handed Giselle’s arm. “What was all that?”
Giselle stared at the door, shaking her head. “Some things should stay buried.”
Chapter forty
An Invitation to Dinner
"Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo." - H. G. Wells
“Just don’t drink the Kool-Aid,” was Giselle’s advice when Hailey told her about dinner with Cobon. That and wear sneakers—in case she needed to run.
Hailey folded that into her larger strategy, which was to push the whole affair out of her mind and focus on anything and everything else. The pettier the better.
Asher arrived right on time as usual, looking forty shades of hot as usual, but wearing a rather unusual, troubled, slightly guilty expression when Hailey invited him in. He kissed her cheek and then took her hand in his, slowly bringing it to his mouth and gently grazing his lips across her knuckles.
Her breath hitched.
Such a small gesture, and yet it sent a buzzing, tickling comfort down her arm through her heart and all the way into her stomach.
She looked up at him. It felt good, safe in Asher’s presence—most of the time—and he wanted her to be with him. It was never a secret; and he’d never humiliated her for enjoying his attention. He always wanted her next to him.
Except when he wants you dead,her subconscious reminded.Fin never wanted you dead…Well, maybe he did now.
She dropped her gaze, pressing her lips together as she caged another wayward synapse.
When she lifted her eyes, she could see that Asher was itching to tell her something, and she hoped it was something about Uncle Dale’s bag.
“What is it, Asher?” she asked after he led her out.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said to me yesterday. About laughing.”
Hailey straightened up.Really?She was desperate to hear more, but Fin’s stupid voice rang inside her head.You can’t have love without laughter.She hit her mental mute button.
“In fact, it turns out, it’s one of the reasons I search for Kiya.” He shook his head, looking baffled. “She embraced her…emotions.” He said the word carefully and without disgust, which made Hailey raise her eyebrows. “You see, she wasn’t mad, yet she laughed and loved.” He looked down at her with confusion and—what was that? Pleading?—etched in his eyes. “I wish to be like that, and I regret destroying her.”
“Maybe she avoided insanity,becauseshe embraced her emotions.”
“I arrived at the same conclusion.”
That explained the passionate kissing. Her heart fluttered, and she couldn’t stop her smile. When she looked up at Asher, he was smiling too.
It was sweet. For the first time, he actually seemed…young, almost carefree. Without the weight of the Aether on his shoulders, he looked like just another college student.
“So, where are we going?” she asked.
“Pittsburgh.”
Pittsburgh?And Uncle Pix was in Ireland, dammit.
“How are we getting there?” It was already after noon. No way they’d make dinner on the East Coast. “You’re not gonna throw me, are you?”
Asher flashed a fragile smile. “We’ll melt.”
