Endless by Tawdra Kandle

Caroline rarely mentioned
her only son other than telling me how much his premature death had
affected Rafe. I knew he had the same ability that Rafe did, the
power to manipulate the perception of time.
    “Yes. Kenneth didn’t tell me at the time; he
only mentioned it in passing years later, when Carruthers was
courting one of our cousins.”
    “What did he say about them?” I tried to
picture Rafe’s father, but my mind stubbornly refused to move from
the image of Rafe himself, standing in the school parking lot next
to my car, with that impossible smile on his face. . .the wind
began to whip again. The palm branches bent ominously, and I
focused on tamping down the power.
    “Not much. He just told me that someone had
contacted him during his first year in college. That seems to be
their modus operandi, doesn’t it? He wasn’t interested. He told
them he had family support and plenty of opportunity for doing
good. Apparently they backed off and never bothered him again. The
same happened with our cousin.”
    “Oh.” What Caroline said matched Cathryn’s
report about King, too. “So you don’t know more than that.”
    “Well. . .” Caroline hesitated. “I did do a
little research on my own, after hearing Kenneth’s story. They are
fairly secretive, which is not surprising considering the nature of
their business, but I was able to find a few people willing to
talk. I didn’t learn anything particularly troubling. As they say,
their mission is to connect people who possess extraordinary
abilities with those in need of that sort of help.”
    “But. . .” I prompted. There had to be more
that she wasn’t saying.
    “But. . .it seems to me that this is a
situation fraught with potential peril. The very idea that a
company has records naming people like us is alarming. And then
there is the question of profit. Although the recruiters don’t
mention it, Carruthers has to be a money-making venture on some
level. They expend too much energy in recruiting, and they have a
beautiful property just a little north of where you are.
    “Think about it, Tasmyn. There they are, in
the midst of all those colleges and universities, but still off the
beaten track. There is little to no accountability; they are listed
as a consulting firm.”
    “So you think I should stay away from
Carruthers?”
    Caroline laughed. “Tasmyn, you’ve been
through more in the past two years than most people survive in a
lifetime. I would never presume to tell you what you should or
should not do. I’m just sharing my thoughts with you, which I
assumed was your reason for calling.”
    I sighed. I did miss Caroline Brooks and her
acute no-nonsense approach. It was a shame she would never be my
grandmother-in-law, but I was glad to keep her as a friend.
    “It was. Thank you, Mrs. Brooks. I appreciate
you telling me what you know.”
    “Always my pleasure, Tasmyn. I’m very happy
that you’re doing well up there, but I must say that I miss you.
It’s very quiet around here these days.”
    The back of my neck prickled, but I couldn’t
stop myself from asking anyway. “Quiet? Isn’t–is Rafe not at home?
Did he go away to college after all?” During our brief time
together, Rafe and I hadn’t talked about the future. I knew he had
applied and been accepted to several colleges; although he didn’t
like to make a big deal about it, he really was incredibly
intelligent. But when I’d mentioned going to school, he always said
that he wasn’t sure college was for him.
    “He did not, no.” Caroline’s voice was
suddenly guarded. “He delayed admission for a year.”
    “Oh.” The silence between us was heavy.
    “Tasmyn, I understand that on some level, you
still care for Rafe. And if that is true, I would ask you to stay
away from him. Please don’t ask me about him. I enjoy the
friendship that you and I share, and I would hate to have that
complicated by my loyalty to my grandson. You followed your heart.
But Rafe’s is broken,