Chapter 2
“No, you are not the one I was expecting to see,” Greenlee admitted, a little crisply.
“Oh, yeah well, sorry,” Jamie said but to her ears, he didn’t sound the least bit apologetic.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. “Can you let me inside?”
“Is that any of your business and yeah, I guess so. I’ve still got the keys to the palace,” he said wryly, but quietly, and without a trace of humor in his voice.
Greenlee sighed. “Where did you get them?”
“I used to live here,” Jamie answered with a simple shrug that still managed to convey to Greenlee that he was carrying the weight of the world on his broad shoulders.
“Oh?” Greenlee said. “Aidan did too for awhile. I guess there is a caretaker here looking out for the place ever since Julia died-” She broke off when she noticed the stormy, almost-dangerous look in his eyes. For godssake, what was his problem?
She noted that he appeared to have aged at least ten years since she saw him last. There were dark rings under his eyes and she wanted to recommend a natural concealer for them. He wasn’t in a jovial mood, most obviously, so she didn’t think she should press her luck.
Jamie brushed past her and went toward the front door, pausing on the stoop briefly. He looked up at the huge manor with a mixture of wariness and reverence. His hand shook a bit as he unlocked the door and slowly pushed it open to allow Greenlee to walk through.
She was struck immediately by how cold and dreary the place both looked and felt. She remembered fondly the nights the place was lit to the ceilings with crystal for one of Edmund Grey’s soirees. Soirees he had thrown in memory of his thought to be deceased wife, Maria. Later Maria turned up very much alive and ironically, it was Edmund who had later died, murdered by Ryan’s crazy ass brother, Jonathan Lavery.
“So much death …” She murmured.
“Yeah, too much,” Jamie agreed, quietly walking over to the dusty liquor cabinet and pulling open the doors. There appeared to be alcohol of every brand and from every foreign land in there. Greenlee watched as Jamie picked up a decanter of rum, pulling off the top. To her dismay and to her shock, he began to drink right from the bottle and she couldn’t help but think that he no longer seemed like the happy-go-lucky Jamie Martin she had once known - actually, more truthfully, had only been mildly acquainted with. He seemed haunted somehow, badly broken down emotionally.
He moved over to the mantle and picked up a picture. She glanced nosily at it as he dropped down onto the heavy brocade sofa. It was a picture of Jamie and Julia smiling and looking at each other adoringly, like two people deeply in love.
“So that explains it,” Greenlee said, dropping down onto the arm of the sofa opposite him.
“Explains what?” Jamie asked, finally seeming to take notice of her presence.
“Why you look the way I feel,” Greenlee said.
“What do you mean?” he asked, taking a long swig of the rum and swishing it around in his mouth before sucking it greedily down his throat in one gulp.
“You look the way I feel,” Greenlee repeated. “Unhappy. No, miserable actually … I forgot until this moment that you and Julia were together. I‘m so -”
Jamie held up a slightly shaky hand. “Don’t say it,” he said forcefully. “Don’t say you are sorry for me because for one, I don’t deserve your pity and two, it doesn’t change a damn thing.”
“No, I know,” she agreed. “I remember when my Leo died that all people did was say ‘sorry for your loss’ or ‘sorry you lost someone you loved with all your heart’. As if that was supposed to make it better. As if that would make the pain go away …” Her voice trailed off and to her horror, she realized she had tears springing to her eyes. It was beyond awkward and embarrassing sitting there crying in front of someone she barely knew. Or had never taken the time to get to know, actually. He wasn’t half-bad either, if a bit of a downer. Not that she could blame him. He had lost the love of his life. Greenlee had been there and it hurt like nothing she had ever felt before.
Thinking about everything she had lost, suddenly made her feel exhausted and weak and she must have looked that way because Jamie promptly passed her the half-empty bottle of rum. “You look like you could use it,” he said, standing then and walking out of the room.
Greenlee thought briefly about the germs Jamie must have left behind on the rim of the bottle, but took a long swig anyway.
XoXoXo
Jamie walked out the kitchen door of Wildwind, in a hurry to escape the millions of cloying memories that surrounded him. Memories of he and Julia in better times, and even worse times, but what had been important was that they had shared those memories together until he made the biggest mistake of his life and walked out on her.
“I’m sorry, Julia,” he murmured to the wind as he walked out into the quickly darkening day. He could see dark storm clouds gathering in the sky at a rapid rate and the wind seemed to have picked up in extreme speed. Still, he kept walking along the garden path until he reached the stables where he heard the animals stomping around anxiously in their stalls. He figured the sudden, dramatic shift in the weather had them all riled up.
He noticed Julia’s favorite horse, Shadow, in the corner stall and he approached the horse, reaching out to touch his long, dark mane. He nearly lost his hand in the process.
“What the hell?” he snapped as he noticed the big gash in his hand that was oozing blood that trickled down his fingertips and off to puddle on the ground.
He turned around, hoping to find a dry, preferably sterile cloth, to wrap his hand in but could not find one. He did however notice the windows begin to rattle in their very frames. Right then, one shattered as if blown apart from the outside and a sharp shard of glass burrowed in his cheek. "Dammit!” he cursed.
But that was not the least of his worries because as he looked out what had once been a window, he saw a very large cloud of dust and grime, a twister, carrying a very large plank of wood right in his direction. Before he could duck, it had smashed right into the building, splintering the very walls as if they were made of nothing more than graham crackers.
He managed to duck into the corner just in time to avoid being crushed underneath the huge plank board. He knew he had to get back to shelter but he hated to leave the animals behind. Still, as usual, he felt helpless to stop fate. He pulled himself to his feet and started running out of what was left of the stables like hell itself was on his tail - and it might as well have been.
He made it to the main house and threw open the door just as it too splintered down the middle. He ducked to the side and it landed with a crash against the opposite wall.
“What the hell is going on?” he heard Greenlee screech over the intense blowing wind and through his muddled thoughts.
She was standing in the doorway, dark blonde hair whipping around her face, and looked as panicked as he felt.
He immediately strode over to her and grabbing her by the waist, pulled her up into his arms. He then carried her towards the basement door.
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