Chapter Twenty-Eight
“What did you need to talk about?” Kyle asked. He sat at the picnic table, while I stretched out on the lounge, still feeling Renn’s presence. “You know I’ll do whatever I can for you.”
“Even if it involves Renn?”
Kyle let out mouthful of air. “Against my better judgement.”
A breeze whistled through the large tree drooping into our backyard from the neighbor’s side of the fence. The branches wrapped long spindly fingers around the telephone wire.
Where to begin? I wanted Kyle to believe me, but it was such an absurd story. Kyle was similar to my dad, a solid guy who only believed in what he could see for himself.
Without giving it any more thought, I blurted out the most important fact.
“Renn is different from us, you’re right.” I bit on the inside of my cheek and prayed for the best. “He’s a time traveler.”
Kyle burst out laughing. His cackling carried around the backyard, bringing every bird in a ten-mile radius to the overhead phone wires. “I’m sorry, Jess. Say that again.”
“Kyle, I’m serious.”
“And I’m from the planet Mars.”
An overwhelming feeling of despair washed over me. I needed him to believe me. The tears rose up like champagne foam, bubbling out of me. My shoulders heaved.
Kyle moved over to the end of my lounge. “I’m sorry. I’ll listen.” He suppressed a smile.
“It is crazy, I know. And I shouldn’t love him, but I do. Like you wouldn’t believe.” I picked at a tear in the lounge chair. “Isn’t that what you want? To fall in love so completely? I wanted that with David. And I know you’re trying with Heather. But if it’s really love, I don’t think you have to try. It just is.” I wiped the snot off my nose with the back of my hand. “Maybe I just believe him because I want to, but he makes sense.”
And then I told him everything. About how the fabric would heat up and how Arlianna stole it from me. The disc. My parents. Natasha. He kept nodding and rolling his eyes. There were jokes waiting to roll off his tongue, but every time he started to talk, I held up a finger. I ended with Law # 25.
“And that’s what I need you for.”
“There’s actually a rule stating high-energy people can’t time travel?” A smirk crept onto his face.
I nodded my head “I can’t stay inside all the time. Who can possibly do that?”
“Jess. Listen to yourself. It sounds like make-believe. And besides, we’ve been sitting out here on your porch for over an hour and nothing’s happened. And we’re not even touching.”
The despair I felt grew roots inside my heart. “It’s only been a short time. Renn might not even be home yet.”
“Call him. You said he has a cell phone now.”
“It won’t work if he’s not in this time.” I reached into my pocket for my phone, wishing I still had the fabric. I opened the call icon to my favorites and pressed Renn’s name. As I expected, it went to a generic voice stating no message had been set up yet.
“He’s gone,” I said.
“That doesn’t prove he’s a time traveler.”
I flopped back on the lounge. “It doesn’t prove he isn’t one, either.”
“Now we’re talking about the tree in the forest situation,” Kyle said. “I vote for it still makes a sound and he’s not a time traveler.”
My phone dinged, the sound going straight to my heart. But it was Lilly checking in and asking me to come help her pack in the morning.
“We miss you at work,” Kyle said.
“I know what you’re doing. Changing the subject, talking about small stuff like after David, but this is different.”
I closed my eyes. Renn’s smile danced behind my eyelids. I felt his lips against mine. His breath on my cheeks. The tenderness of his fingers as he played with my hair. A tear leaked out the corner of my eye.
“Jess.” Kyle’s voice held the compassion I craved from him. “I can’t go everywhere with you, and I doubt Heather will understand. But I’m here for you.”