Page 34 of Goldilocks (Salt and Starlight #2)
Large oaks and hawthorns dominated the land around Connor’s house, and the air smelled as much of forest as ocean. A sleep-weary Trevor opened the front door, lodging a considerable measure of guilt into Sam’s gut. Sam could have waited an hour or two, but he didn’t want Eric or Ivan to be lingering at Sam’s door, wondering why Roan wouldn’t come out. And he felt bad for Roan being trapped too. He could tell his skin was bothering him. He needed the ocean more than Sam needed to be polite. It was early morning still, half six, and clearly Trevor had just rolled out of bed. His hair was a bed-head mess, his shorts and T-shirt rumbled and creased. Sam had wanted to call Connor, but he didn’t know where his phone was, and then he’d wanted to knock on Connor’s window, but he didn’t know which window was his.
“Morning, Sam.” His large body filled the doorway, but despite his hulking build, Trevor never used his size to intimidate. His body in a doorway never meant a barrier.
“Sorry for dropping by so early,” Sam said. He’d considered waking Eric or Ivan for one of their phones, but he didn’t know anyone’s number by heart.
“Come in. How are you feeling?” Trevor stepped aside, making room for Sam to enter the house. Light diffused through pale green curtains, illuminating a large living room in an early morning glow. “The boys told me what happened yesterday.”
“I’m feeling better, thanks to Adonis. I was just hoping to grab Connor for a bit,” Sam explained. “Roan needs help getting back to the ocean. Is he here?”
Trevor nodded. “Why don’t you make tea for yourself? I’ll wake him.”
Sam went to the kitchen. It overlooked the ocean, and the wooden dock that jutted into the sea. It was a dock that hadn’t gotten planning permission before being built, but with Connor’s new windfall of cash, he didn’t seem to care what anyone had to say about anything. At the end of the dock in the deepest water was Connor’s yacht, halfway down was his biological dad Ben’s old work boat, and opposite that was Sam’s small fishing boat.
Someone approached from behind so quietly it was only the disturbed air that alerted Sam to their presence.
Sam turned to see Jasper stepping into the kitchen. He inclined his head toward Sam in acknowledgement.
“Good morning,” Sam said. Jasper wore the clothes he’d left the other world in. A white shirt with sleeves of cinched ties, brown leather trousers and shining back boots, a black sword belt with the golden-studded hilt of the weapon sticking up. Jasper’s hair was tied in a brown band, the ponytail resting on his shoulder while his hands were clasped at his back. His tail swished lazily through the air.
“I’m sorry for abandoning you here. I didn’t mean to just ditch you like that.”
Jasper nodded, then he spoke softly and accented. “How are you recovering?” If someone Sam had met twice had hired him for a job, brought him to another world and then abandoned him to run off and do something else, he was confident he would handle the situation with far less grace.
“Good,” Sam answered Jasper’s question. “Adonis healed me yesterday.” Sam remembered now why Roan had pulled a displeased face in the hospital; he didn’t think much of Adonis’s healing abilities.
“Merfolk are skilled in many ways,” Jasper said. There was an uneasiness to him. An edge of tension. “I have been patrolling here, and I will search your home when you wish me to.”
“Have you been given a bed to sleep in?”
“He has,” Connor said through a yawn as he walked into the kitchen. He wore long pyjama bottoms with nothing on his torso, and his waves were a wild, tangled mess up top. He rubbed the back of his neck as he ambled to the nearest kitchen chair and sat with a sigh. “Are you making tea?”
After one look at Connor’s eyes slitted against the light, Sam asked, “Do you want a cup?”
“Please.” Connor sank into his chair as if he wished to become part of it. “How are you feeling? Want another round from Adonis?”
“No, thank you. I’m well enough,” Sam said. “If the memories about what happened were going to come back, they would have already, and this” – he gestured to his bandaged brow – “is better off staying. I have check-ups. I don’t want to stand out.” Sam made tea and brought three cups to the table.
Connor pulled one of the mugs toward himself and picked up a second cup and put it in front of the chair nearest to Jasper. “Sit. Try that and see if you like it. You put any sugar in his?”
“A spoonful.” Sam eyed up Jasper with his sword and his uncomfortable expression.
“I can guard,” Jasper said, his voice confused. His gaze shifted from Connor and away, as if he had trouble meeting his eyes.
Connor looked like he was used to long-tailed people getting shifty when he looked right at them. “Sit,” Connor repeated. “And relax. Dad will fuss over you if you stay standing there.”
Jasper slowly lowered into the chair, looking supremely uncomfortable. Sam suspected he thought Connor was higher up on the pecking order than him and that they shouldn’t be sitting at the same table.
The ticking clock above the door caught Sam’s eye. The morning was bearing on, and he didn’t know how early Eric and Ivan got up in the mornings. “Roan is having trouble shifting back. Can you come over?”
Trevor entered the room as Sam asked, and he pulled the door shut behind him. He’d changed out of his pyjamas and tidied his hair.
“Course, yeah,” Connor said.
“I’ll help,” Trevor offered. “Although I might need to go wake up Nick too if we need to carry him all the way to someone’s car…” He trailed off doubtfully. Roan was a fraction of the size Adonis was when shifted, but that didn’t mean he would be easily lifted. Sam seriously doubted Roan’s pride would allow them to carry him like that.
“He’ll be able to shift back. He just needs Connor around,” Sam said, his own voice uncertain.
Trevor blinked. And expressionless, he said, “I see.”
Connor tilted back his head to peer at Trevor’s face. “Don’t be so weird about it, Dad.”
Trevor walked behind Connor’s chair, squeezing his shoulder as he passed, and continued on toward the cupboard, where he picked out a cup for himself. “I’m only ‘Dad’ when you’re half asleep or in trouble.”
“In trouble?” Connor snorted. “I’m the best-behaved kid you have.”
“You’re not wrong there,” Trevor agreed. “I couldn’t believe it when Laurence came back with Jasper. It wasn’t until later that we got the truth about him trying to go through The Tear with the windsurf, and we only got that because his school called about him missing the day without notice.”
“He’s grounded,” Connor explained for Sam’s benefit. “Strictly no ocean for him, so don’t let him on board your boat even if he begs. And the worms are in trouble too, for aiding and abetting. I’m still deciding on their punishment. I think I’ll let Adonis free against them, see how they like it when he’s allowed to chase them to the ends of the earth for a few weeks.”
Sam cleared his throat. “Sorry for bringing him along. I didn’t want to leave him out there on the windsurf.” He hadn’t even gotten the chance to tell them about it.
“Don’t be sorry. I am very grateful that you picked him up.” Trevor sounded painfully genuine. “I don’t want to even think about what would have happened if you hadn’t come along.”
Laurence probably wouldn’t have come to any harm, not with Bee and Dew with him. But…he wouldn’t have gotten through The Tear on a windsurf. Not with the choppy waves and rushing gales that came blistering out of nowhere. What if an errant breeze dragged him straight to the edge? What if he touched it? The mermen would probably be fine if they did the same, so would they even think it was dangerous and try to stop it?
Sam recalled the stressed look that had been on Laurence’s face when he’d instilled in him the danger of what he’d been trying, and he thought of the wonder that eclipsed that stress the moment he’d caught sight of the settlement across the bay. “I don’t think I’ve done you any favours,” Sam admitted. “He wants to see that world.”
Trevor poured himself a cup of tea. “I know,” he said.
Connor’s grey eyes slid to Trevor, assessing. His emotions were hidden, masked, but Trevor looked up, and immediately his expression softened as he met Connor’s eyes. “None of that,” Trevor rebuked him mildly. “I’ve known since Laurence was small that he was going to get out there and see the world. And I’ve known since he was born that I was going to worry about it whether he’s in another country or…another world. I’d do him no favours at all trying to tie him down.” Trevor sipped his tea. “That being said, he’s grounded till he’s eighteen.”
“He earned that fair and square,” Connor agreed.
Sam had a feeling that Bee and Dew were going to sorely regret conspiring with Laurence behind his family’s back.
“Sam, why don’t you tell me about Goldilocks’s place? I heard a bit from Laurence before he decided not to talk to anyone until he’s ungrounded,” Trevor said in a good-natured tone. “I’ll make you boys breakfast for the road.”
Connor stood, taking his mug with him. “I’ll just let Adonis know I’m going so he doesn’t cause a fuss.”