Phantom Lessons, Book #2
Copyright© 2023 by Lynn Donovan
Chapter 11
Paul unlocked Samantha’s door and entered her apartment. “Sam?”
“In here.” She called from the kitchen.
“What’re you doing? Should you be up like this?” Paul hurried beside her.
“I’m fine. Did you get my text?” She pulled a ceramic dish from the microwave with brown oven mitts.
Paul sighed. “I haven’t ... I didn’t check my texts?”
Sam glared at him. That wasn’t normal. “Why not?”
He gingerly touched the top of the saran wrap to determine is the chicken and wild rice was heated through. “I had a talk with Lucas Hart about Tyler Adcock.”
“What’d you say?” Sam took down six plates and set them on the pass-through bar above her sink.
“I told him he had to fire Tyler. His behavior is going to get us sued, not to mention our reputation will be dinged. If people here in Phantom Horse start talking about the idiotic behavior of our team, no one’s gonna invite us to do an investigation.” He glared at the stack of plates. “We’ll be ruined.”
“So, what did Lucas say?” She gathered flatware for six and laid it next to the plates. Then put another dish in the microwave and started it heating.
“Who’s coming over?” Paul’s eyebrows pulled together.
“Thus the text you didn’t read.” She smiled and continued warming dishes from her refrigerator.
Paul stared at her and lifted his phone. “Lucas said ... Oh, your folks ... but six?”
“Lex and Mysti will probably be here, too.”
“Ah.” He put his phone back in his pants pocket.
“Lucas said—what?”
“Oh. Lucas said ... a lot of stuff. He’s an idiot. He thinks he needs to check into the situation. His ego got bruised, I guess, with me telling him to fire Tyler like I did. I guess I could have handled it different. I was just too wound up, finding Tyler on the job like nothing had happened.
“Tyler’s out of jail?” Sam’s eyes went feral.
“Babe, you’re safe. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Sure, but I thought Trent would keep him a little longer.”
Paul shrugged. She and he worked in the kitchen in silence for a while. Paul’s phone kept vibrating in his pocket. He wanted to ignore it, but he needed to answer his crew at least. “I-I need to answer these.” He pulled his phone and walked into the living room to sit on the couch.
“These? What do you mean these?”
Paul’s worried eyes lifted to meet hers. “My crew. I told everybody Lucas and I have some issues to work out and I walked off the job.”
“You what!” Sam moved around the partition to enter the living room. “Are you sure that’s wise?”
Paul jammed his fingers into his hair. “I’m not sure about anything right now.”
Sam’s eyebrows rose high on her forehead. “What does that mean? Are you regretting being with me?”
“No!” Paul nearly stood. “I didn’t mean it like that. Just ... just let me answer these and I’ll help you finish getting lunch ready.”
Sam stared at him as he thumbed replies to his crew. Was he having regrets?
----
Sam’s doorbell rang and her family spilled through the door. “We brought chicken!” her dad called as he crossed the threshold.
“Lex and I brought salad and rolls from Leanne.” Mysti followed Dad.
“Dad! Mysti!” Sam whined. “I told you I was providing lunch, Potluck. Didn’t you read my text? I’ve got enough here to feed the National Guard and Paul’s investigation team.”
Paul forced a sardonic smile.
Mysti stared at Paul. She cocked her head to one side. “You need ... something.” She closed her eyes and moved her hands around Paul’s head. Never touching his skin.
He looked at Sam with the question in his eyes.
Sam smiled.
Mysti sighed. “You need some rosemary and lavender tea.” She clapped her hands in a brushing stroke and leapt toward the kitchen. “I’ll make it.” She opened Sam’s fridge and took out a plastic bag from Gladstone Groceries full of fresh herbs. When had that been delivered? She filled a kettle and set it on the stove. Then she pulled down a large mug and started crushing the herbs in a mortar. “Do you have any mint tea, Sammy?”
Sammy nodded, pointing at a drawer. “It’s in there somewhere.”
Mysti lifted boxes from the drawer until the found what she wanted. “Ah. Here it is. How old is this?”
“Dunno, check the expiration date.” Sam sat beside Paul.
“Hmm. Well it’s all we got for now, but I’ll bring you some fresh.” She tore the package open and poured the tea leaves into the mortar and crushed everything together with the pestle. Soon the kettle hissed and Mysti poured it into a teapot. She lowered a tea infuser into the water and put the teapot lid on to let it steep.
Mom and Dad filled their plates while Mysti made her concoction. Lex and Sam also got their food and sat at the four-person table to eat. Paul remained on the couch, still answering questions from his crew. Dad glared at him, but Sam widened her eyes and shook her head to signal for him to leave Paul alone.
Finally, Mysti brought Paul a mug of steaming tea and ordered him to drink every last drop. Paul absently sipped the tea while he thumbed messages on his phone.
At last, he was done and downed the last bit of tea. “Thank you, Mysti. I do feel better. How’d you know what I needed?”
Mysti beamed. “It’s a gift.” She and Lex exchanged a look. Only married couples were able to communicate that way. It made Paul smile. He wanted a relationship like that.
----
Mysti filled two plates. She handed one to Paul and sat in the chair next to him. “Eat. Mysti’s orders.”
The family laughed. “You better listen.” Henry mumbled through the food in his mouth.
Sam cleared her throat. “So, Dad...”
An uncomfortable tension suddenly filled the atmosphere. Mysti sighed. Sam sipped her ice water and set the cup down. “You said something about a bad heart when you picked me up at the hospital. Want to elaborate on that?”
Henry wiped his mouth slowly with the napkin from his lap. He glared at Emily and drew in a deep breath. “Yeah, well...” Dad scratched his ear, as if something was inside he couldn’t quite reach with his index finger.
“I went to the doc the other day. And there’s nothing to worry about.”
Mysti and Sam chimed in. “Dad!”
Emily swatted her husband. “Henry, be honest.”
Henry sighed. “Oh all right. I’m a heart attack looking for a place to happen.”
“What!” both girls replied simultaneously, again.
Emily shook her head. “What your father means is he has blockage in several arteries and the docs want to do some catheterizations to see how bad it might be and maybe a bypass to clear the way. He’s a healthy and fit man for his age.”
Henry frowned at her and muttered, “For my age? I’m sound as an ox.”
“And ... is expected to recover quickly.” Emily glared at her husband. “If he doesn’t have this done, then he’s a walking heart attack looking for a place to happen.” Emily laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and patted him graciously.
Mysti cocked her head to one side. “So, you’re gonna have the procedures, right?”
Henry stared at his empty plate.
“Dad?” Sam leaned toward him. Her eyes filled with tears. “Dad! You’ve gotta do it. I need you here. I need you to wal—” She glanced at Paul. “I need you to be strong and healthy for all kinds of future events.”
Henry slowly lifted his heads. “What kind of future events?”
Sam felt the heat fill her face. She shrugged one shoulder. “Dunno.” Her eyes darted to Paul. “Things and stuff.”
“Well, I, for one.” Mysti spoke up. “Need you here to help me raise my babies.”
Sam, Emily, and Henry said, “Are you pregnant?”
“No!” Mysti giggled. “But I will be, someday.”
Lex grinned. “Mysti, that wasn’t fair.”