5

Unable to sleep, in spite of the busy day on the construction site and the fact it was 1 AM, Josh changed into running gear and headed out. He did a three-mile circuit of the town, before returning home and hitting the shower. Flopping onto the bed, he grabbed his phone. He knew his father would still be awake, even without taking the time difference into account. He dialed slowly, not bothering with the direct line. This was far more fun.

“White House. How may I direct your call?”

He grinned. “This is Josiah Wilson. Can I speak to Dad please?” He had very few things he found pleasurable left now, but this was one of them.

“One moment, Mr. Wilson.”

Josh drummed his fingers on the mattress beside him as he waited. Then he held the phone away from his ear as his father’s booming voice yelled down the phone.

“Josiah, where on earth are you?”

“I’m in Wales, Dad, in some unpronounceable town beginning with B. I’m holding down two jobs, volunteer firefighter and full-time stone mason. Which you already know because the Secret Service guys told you. I ran into them the other day and had a conversation with them.”

His father snorted. “Did you really think you could run away?”

Josh bit his tongue. “I’m not running away—at least not from you and Mom. Or Matt. And it isn’t like I’m here illegally or I sneaked in. I’m a British citizen here on my British passport. It’s just…”

His father’s voice softened. “We miss you. And you know we only have your best interests at heart. You’ve been through a terrible ordeal. We all have, but it was harder on you than the rest of us.”

Josh bit back the automatic reply. His father hadn’t been there. He had no idea what it was like to stand there as the world ended around him in a swirling vortex. He sucked in a deep breath. “I miss you both too, but I couldn’t stay. I need to get my head around what happened, and, well, you don’t need any more bad publicity. There’s been enough of that without me making it any worse.”

“It comes with the job. No president is loved for the whole of his term.”

“How’s Mom?”

“Good days and bad days. Today isn’t so good. She’s sleeping, otherwise I’d put her on.”

Josh looked at his watch. “It’s only eight in the evening where you are.”

His father’s silence spoke volumes and guilt flooded Josh.

It was his fault his mother was like this. His fault her parents had died. His fault all those other people had died. They’d come to hear him preach.

And now they were dead.

He had all those deaths laying squarely on his conscience.

But beyond him, the fault was God’s.

His father sighed. “Your mom is really worried about your state of mind and…” Josh could almost see his father pick up the baseball from the desk and toss it in the air, catching it.

“She doesn’t need to worry. I’m doing fine.” Josh rubbed the back of his neck. “Give Mom my love and tell her I called. If she wants to speak to me, she’s got my cell phone number. I also have my laptop, so she can use the video chat feature.”

“You know your mom and computers don’t exactly get along.”

“So have her call. Or trace where I am and call the landline. They do actually still have them here, rather than just cell phones.” He yawned. “I need to sleep. Night, Dad.” He hung up and turned his handset off. He shoved it into the docking station to charge up overnight.

He flicked off the light and stared up at the ceiling. Moonlight came through the window, casting shadows onto the plaster above him.

If he wanted to keep any kind of friendship with Jess, he was going to have to tell her the truth. At least part of it and swear her to secrecy.

Because otherwise it’d be all over town and he’d have to leave. And he didn’t want that.

For all its strangeness, the weird unpronounceable names, and the lilting incomprehensible language, he liked it here and felt more at home in Wales than he had anywhere in years.

****

Jess passed the building site on her way to a house call and her gaze immediately shot to a tall, shirtless stone mason, harnessed up as he worked on one of the gargoyles.

Her heart began to race and her cheeks heated. Anyone would think she was infatuated with him. Which was silly. She hardly knew him. But she’d like to. If he was staying.

She paused by the huge sign post in the street that pointed the way to the waterfalls along with the distances to them. Swallow Falls were five kilometers away and Conwy only three, whereas the others listed, Niagara, Victoria and Angel were thousands of kilometers away.

Three tourists stood taking pictures of the sign post, and she offered to take one of them all standing underneath it. They gratefully took her up on the offer. When she’d finished, Josh was standing beside her. “Morning,” she said.

“Hi. How are you?”

“I’m OK.” She tilted her head. “You, on the other hand, don’t look so good.”

“Didn’t sleep,” he said. “Too many nightmares and yes, I did take the pills you gave me.” He winked. “Don’t suppose you have any meds that block dreams, do you?”

Jess rolled her eyes. “No, I do not. And I wouldn’t give them to you if I did, look you. They’re not safe. Especially when I don’t have your full medical records. Your best bet would be—”

“Counseling,” he finished with a sigh. “What is it with all you docs and counseling? Talking solves nothing.”

“Have you tried it?”

“No and I’m not going to.” He opened a bottle of water and chugged half of it down without pausing for breath. He wiped the back of his hand over his mouth. “That’s better. I meant to ask you. The Swallow Falls on that sign…are they the ones in the picture in the house?”

She nodded. “The Welsh name for them is Rhaeadr Ewynnol and the literal translation into English is Foaming Water. They assume some English person heard y wennol—swallow, rather than weynnol—foaming, and they’ve been translated as Swallow Falls ever since. You should go and see them sometime. They are amazing—breathtaking almost. If you loved Snowdon, you’ll love these too. Before I forget, Da rang. He said they’ll be away for another week. They’re coming home via the Lake District. I have a second cousin twice removed or something who lives up there. Anyway, Mam hasn’t seen her in years, so they’re staying there a few days.”

Bryony came over and tugged his hand. “Hello,” she signed.

Josh smiled. “Hello. How are you?” he replied, again speaking and signing at the same time.

“OK. Mam said to thank you for looking after me last night when I hurt my foot.”

“It’s no trouble.”

Jess looked at him. “Why do you speak when you sign?”

“Like we said last night, she may not be deaf at all, but it’s just habit to do so. Matt lip reads really well because we all sign and speak so everyone can join in the conversation at once.”

“How did he lose his hearing?”

“He was born deaf.”

“How many years between you?” Jess asked curiously.

“About fifteen minutes. We’re identical twins. Just I can hear and he can’t.” He looked back at Bryony. “Why aren’t you in school?”

“School finished for the year two weeks ago. I’m out playing.”

“Of course, the school dates are different this side of the pond. Well, either way, you can’t play here,” he said. “It’s too dangerous.” His pager went off and he sighed. “This is getting to be beyond a joke. That’s the fourth call in as many days. The lads at the firehouse are beginning to think I’m a bad influence. We’ve been called out almost every day in the two and a half weeks since I arrived.”

“I’ll take Bryony home. Her mam’s my next patient anyway.” She watched as he ran into the office and then over to his car. There was something going on with him, just under the surface and she just wished she knew what. Josh certainly was a man of mystery.

Bryony looked up at her. “Home?” she signed.

Jess nodded. “Yes. Come on.”

Five minutes later, she stood in the hallway while Angharad told Bryony off for wandering into town on her own. Then Angharad flopped into a chair and sighed.

Jess opened her bag. “She’s a handful, that one.”

“I just wish I knew what to do.” Angharad paused. “Josh spoke to Sam last night. He seems to think that she isn’t deaf at all, just pretending to keep Dafyd alive somehow.”

Jess tilted her head and squinted at the blood pressure machine. “Really? Let me do those tests and find out then. Because if that is the case, we can go down the counseling route and help her that way.”

“OK. Organize the tests.”

She smiled. “I’ll refer her to the audiology department as soon as I get back to the surgery. You should hear in a week or so.” She paused. “No pun intended.”