Yeah, let's not start that again or I'll do something I regret.
We crept down the hall to the next room down. He scratched on the door with his fingernail and Lynne immediately opened the door wearing a little pink hoodie. She opened her mouth as if to scream while she smiled, but it was silent. She bounced on her toes as she came out of the room and gripped me a tight hug.
Caleb closed her door quietly and grabbed her hand, too, shushing her as he dragged us down the hall. He took us through some heavy double doors at the other end of the hall. It was all dark, lit only by little gas sconces on the wall. I could hear them hissing as we passed.Once we were through the doors, he opened the door to some stairs. It was cold and drafty, but he urged us forward. Lynne went first and she was back to her old self; smiley, chipper, bouncy, almost annoying in her giddyness. I understood what she was going through. The assembly and all those people staring at us before had been very intimidating and now she felt free to be herself again.
When we finally reached the top of the stairs, I learned why she was so giddy. She squealed as we hit the cold air of the outside and ran to Kyle, who was waiting there for us. She jumped up into his arms and wrapped her arms and legs around him.
I laughed as I turned to Caleb. "You planned this. All this."
"Yeah."
"How?"
"I have my ways," he said playfully.
Lynne pulled away from Kyle long enough to laugh and say, "Yeah, your Uncle Kevin scared the crap out of me when he stuck his head through my door to tell me."
We laughed and Caleb took my hand once more. I sighed as I got a heavy dose of his tingly, healing touch.
"Come on, gorgeous," he whispered. "This isn't the surprise. We're just getting started."
Five
We were on some sort of balcony. The rooftops were surrounding us, connected and strange, like hilltops. Kyle pulled Lynne behind him to follow him.
"We're going on the roof?" I asked.
"Yep," Caleb answered, "and while we're on the roof, with great cell service-"
"The only cell service!" Kyle yelled.
"I thought you might want to call your dad. I'm sure he's worried. It's daytime there already."
I smiled. "Yes, I do. Thank you." He handed me his cell and I dialed the number as Caleb helped me over the small ridges of the roof. It only rang a couple of times before Dad picked up.
"Hello? Maggie?" he said without waiting for an answer.
"Dad."
"Oh, thank you, God. I've been so worried."
"I know. There isn't any cell service here in the pala…uh, in the house." I cleared my throat and tried to sound happy and at ease so he wouldn't worry more. "But we’re having fun. It's a huge, beautiful place."
"Has Caleb taken you to London yet to see the city? It's pretty remarkable from what I've heard."
"Not yet, but…" I had to catch my breath when Caleb pulled me to the top of the last ridge and stood behind me. We were overlooking the city right then, and it was breathtaking. All the lights, the buildings, the people…
"If Jim had only waited another minute to ask you that question," Caleb joked into my ear.
"Maggie? Hello?" Dad said loudly.
"Oh, sorry. Still here."
"What's going on?"
"Nothing. Just…looking at the city now. I wish you were here, Dad," I said and I meant it. "I wish you could see this."
"Me, too, kiddo." He sighed long.
"How's Bish?"
"He had an interview today. Don't know how it went yet, but I've got my fingers crossed for him."
"Me, too. I hope it works out."
"Hey, did Caleb's sister go with you?"
"Um…yeah," I answered carefully, not liking where the conversation was going.
"Just wondering. Bish is doing an awful lot of moping. I thought maybe they could have lunch or something. He needs to get out."
I sighed. Caleb put his forehead against my shoulder and groaned. Even in London we couldn't get away from the Bish\Jen drama.
"All of Caleb's family came with us, Dad, except Kyle's parents. They are leaving tomorrow…or today I guess it is. They had a couple of things to do first."
"Ok. Well, you've got a package here."
"From who?"
I heard him shaking it and crinkling paper. "It's marked Florida, but there's no return address."
"Oh." I looked at Caleb over my shoulder, who had already heard the conclusion in my mind. "It's probably from Chad, then." Caleb grimaced and crossed his arms over my chest tighter. "Just open it, Dad. It's probably just a sweatshirt from his school or something."
"I'll open it later. I'd love to talk all day, kiddo, but I've got to get to work. I miss ya."
"I know, me, too. I promise to call when I can."
"Ok. Love you, baby girl."
"Love ya, Dad."
The click told me he was gone and I turned in Caleb's arms. "Thank you for letting me call him. Very thoughtful of you."
"I try." He turned me back to face the city. "If it were daytime, this would look exactly like the painting in your room. This is where it was painted."
"How do you know that?"
"Because Gran painted it," he whispered.
"Gran paints?"
"Mmhmm." He nuzzled my neck. "You like it?"
"It's more beautiful than it should be allowed to be," I said truthfully.
"Good answer." Kyle and Lynne started heading on the other side. Caleb nodded his head for us to go, too. "I know that today sucked," he started. "I have no idea what's going to happen. So, I wanted you to see a little bit of the palace, my favorite parts, before they start all their proper Visionary stuff tomorrow."
"Your favorite part is the roof?"
"No, but this is," he answered and genuinely smiled. I looked ahead to see a huge greenhouse. Lynne and Kyle were already going inside.We made our way slowly, languidly. I just wanted to enjoy Caleb for as long as possible. I had a feeling that this night was going to fly by.
When we entered the walkway for the greenhouse I looked around at what Caleb had deemed as his favorite spot. And I immediately knew why. There were roses everywhere. Everywhere! The pathway was lit with little solar lights and littered with stones of every color and shape, pounded into the ground for a smooth walk. The roses were planted, potted, hung and sprouting everywhere. It was gorgeous.
We made our way into the doors and I covered my mouth to stifle some girly squeal that would have escaped. The whole West wall was covered in yellow roses, floor to ceiling, of all size and type.
It's like it was made for you, huh?
I nodded without turning to him. "It's beautiful. It's…I've never seen so many in my life."
"I thought of this place, when I saw in your mind that yellow roses were your favorite. I couldn't wait to bring you here." He plucked a small one from the bush and turned me to him. He put it to my nose and I smelled and exhaled. I smiled as he put it behind my ear.
He nodded his head for me to follow him, even though he took my hand and demanded that I come.
Lynne and Kyle were laughing and throwing limestone pebbles at each other. Kyle came and put his arm around my shoulder. "How you holding up, Mags?"
"I'm fine."
"Such a liar," he joked. "It'll get better. It has to, right?"
"Not necessarily. That saying doesn't really hold much water with me anymore."
"Yeah," he agreed in a groan. "I guess not."
"How are you doing, Lynne?" I asked as we all sat down in a grassy area in the middle. Kyle went to the wall and pulled a cord, and kept pulling until the skylight opened up. Without the city lights skewing the view, the sky was pitch black, speckled with stars. I heard Lynne's gasp and knew she forgot all about answering me.
I felt Caleb pull me back to lie against him, my head against his chest. Kyle came over and we all just lay there together and looked up at the sky. It looked the same as it did from my house, or the lake Caleb took me to, or the beach. Same sky, but may as well have been a different world.
"We used to sneak up here all the time when the ball gowns and fake champagne got to be too much for us," Kyle explained and laughed. I looked over to see him stroking his fingers down Lynne's arm. "We'd lie and say we had to go to the bathroom. We'd be gone for hours and no one even cared or noticed."
"Yeah, you weren't so cute back then. No one noticed you were gone," Caleb goaded.
"Shut up. I was plenty cute. I had just as many girls following me around as you did."
"Hardly," Caleb scoffed.
"Eew," I butted in. "I don't think I need to hear this."
"I second that," Lynne agreed. "I saw them all scoping you out while we were down there. It's bad enough to have to watch it, I don't want to hear it, too."
"Ok," Kyle said to her quickly. "Done. Zipped." He made a zipper of his lips and grinned at her.
"So what's going to happen tomorrow?" I asked. "Is it going to be on repeat all week? Just fighting and standing around?"
"No," Kyle answered. "They always have different events planned for every day. Things will be a little different, because you're here, but I'm sure they have plenty planned to keep us busy."
"Is your room charmed, too?" Caleb asked him.
"Charmed?" Kyle said confused. "What do you…oh, seriously? Wow, cheap shot."