Sapphire Sun

by Suzi Davis

“Don’t call her a ‘thing’, Grace, she’s a car,” David corrected.

  “It’s a she?”

  “Of course,” Sebastian replied, grinning like a boy with a brand new toy. “And don’t worry, the front seat is permanently yours—David, you’re in the back.”

  “But shotgun rules—”

  “The driver can override the rules at anytime,” I cut in.

  David frowned. “You never said that before.”

  “I’m saying it now.” The smile on my face did nothing to soften the hard look in his eyes. Obviously, someone didn’t like losing. I fought the urge to stick out my tongue.

  “You shouldn’t have taught him the game if you didn’t want to play, Grace,” Sebastian teased. His soft laughter was muffled as he jumped into the driver’s seat.

  I reached for the passenger door and heaved it open, gallantly flipping forward the seat and gesturing for David to climb into the back of the car.

  “Sorry,” I offered with a shrug. “But I’m not riding in the back.”

  David slowly moved forward, his eyes fixed on mine. Nervous butterflies suddenly fluttered in my stomach.

  “Don’t apologize. I don’t like to play by the rules either,” he murmured in a low voice as he carefully moved around me, smoothly sliding into the backseat.

  “Are you going to pout back there for the whole ride?” Sebastian teased as he turned the engine on. I quickly hopped in and closed my door, ready to get this show on the road.

  “Shut up,” David responded, lightly smacking Sebastian in the back of the head. Sebastian laughed.

  “David hates not getting what he wants,” he told me knowingly, which earned him another smack from David.

  “Just shut up and drive, Caldwood,” David instructed, though his voice sounded amused.

  The boys continued to banter back and forth during the short drive from the Jensons’ to my mother’s. She was still living in the enormous semi-mansion in the ritzy Beach Drive neighborhood along the ocean. After my father had left her for another woman (Dahlia, his young and kind legal assistant with whom he’d been having an affair) my mother had tried to sell the house but since she couldn’t get the price she wanted for it, she had settled for just buying my father out of the title and redecorating. “A fresh start,” she had called it. The house still felt the same to me, cold and empty. It wasn’t a home, or not mine anyway.

  “I’ll walk you to the door,” Sebastian offered as we idled at the large, iron gates at the end of the driveway. Before Sebastian could reach for the intercom box, the gates began to smoothly slide apart, someone was always watching.

  “Thanks. I’m sure my mother will want to say ‘hi’ to you.” Surprisingly, it was true. A year ago, I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams that my mother would one day be enthusiastically greeting Sebastian Caldwood at her door and begging him to come inside. Recently though, she had somehow discovered that Sebastian had his own money, money that easily rivaled her own. Now she couldn’t wait to officially make him her new son-in-law and she was all smiles and batted eyelashes whenever Sebastian was around.

  “I’d like to meet your mother as well,” David announced unexpectedly. I frowned, uncertain if that was a good idea.

  Sebastian pulled the car up to the house, the engine rumbling loudly enough that I was certain the house windows must be shaking. We both turned in our seats so that we could see David sitting behind us.

  “You’ve made the woman out to be quite the legend,” he explained. “My curiosity simply won’t be satisfied until I’ve met her.”

  Sebastian accepted this explanation easily enough with a quick shrug.

  I quietly groaned. I wasn’t sure exactly why, but I had a feeling that this was not a good idea. I couldn’t think of a valid reason to object so I tried my best to follow Sebastian’s casual lead as the three of us made our way up to the main entrance of my former home.

  David hung back on the bottom step as Sebastian and I approached the double front doors and Sebastian rang the bell. There was only a brief pause before the door slowly opened, I had the feeling whoever opened it had been waiting on the other side.

  “Good morning, Ms. Grace,” Ellen greeted me in her clipped tones. She gave a slight nod and tight smile to Sebastian. “Your mother has been waiting for you. She’ll be pleased to know you’ve now arrived.”

  Ellen stepped back and held the door open wider. She moved with a surprising grace considering her stocky frame. I had initially been surprised that my mother had hired her, Ellen appeared to be the polar opposite of my mother. But after spending more time around her I could see that there was a quiet elegance to Ellen’s proud stance and a cultured dignity to her manner. She stared down her large nose at me now, her dark brows pulled down slightly as if she could read my thoughts.

  “Sebastian! Grace!” my mother called out as she appeared at the top of the winding staircase. She quickly descended, gliding towards the front doors with her arms outstretched. She clasped my hands briefly, as much of an affectionate greeting as I could ever really expect from her and she even went so far as to lightly touch Sebastian’s arm. “What a pleasant surprise. I didn’t realize you were joining us, Sebastian. Grace you should have told me! Now come inside, there’s no need to hover on the doorstep like unwanted solicitors.”

  My mother’s fingers squeezed tightly into my wrist as she led me inside, luckily my feet were already moving or I would have been dragged.

  “Sebastian’s not staying, Mother, he has other business.”

  “Yes, sorry, Ms. Chattam.” Sebastian bowed his head apologetically. I gave a silent sigh of relief that he had remembered to use her maiden name. Even though she was quite smitten with Sebastian now that she knew he had money, she had already proven how unforgiving she would be to those who referred to her as Mrs. Stevenson. That was the main reason why she had replaced all of her staff with new ones since my father had left.

  “I’m sure your business can wait, Sebastian. It can’t be nearly as important as spending some quality time with your bride-to-be and future mother-in-law.” My mother’s thin lips attempted a smile as she spoke, her whole expression looking tight and strained. There was a determined gleam to her sharp hazel eyes as she waited expectantly for Sebastian to step inside. I wanted to groan at the awkwardness of it all but instead I opened my mouth to object.

  “I’m afraid Sebastian has already promised to assist me in several important matters this morning.” David spoke before I had the chance. He moved forward into my mother’s view, climbing to the top step. My mother’s eyebrows lifted at his drawling, bored tone, her lips parting slightly in surprise. “Allow me to introduce myself since Grace has obviously forgotten to do so. I’m David, Sebastian’s roommate and I’ll also be his Best Man.”

  “David?” my mother repeated, looking unexpectedly shaken. Her eyes were wide and her face had paled. Sebastian threw me a quick puzzled look but I had no idea what was going on. “What are you doing here? Is Walter with you?”

  “Walter? Who’s Walter?”

  For some reason, hearing Walter’s name spoken in David’s cool, confident voice sent icy chills down my spine. Walter’s demonic, bloodthirsty face from my nightmares flashed before my eyes, causing me to visibly flinch. Only Sebastian appeared to notice, my mother’s eyes were locked with David’s and Ellen had discreetly disappeared.

  “Your uncle,” my mother replied snippily, regaining some of her usual composure. “He is your uncle, isn’t he?”

  There was an awkward pause, my mother’s eyes looking to each of our faces expectantly.

  “David is a friend of mine, recently moved here from Europe. He was in the explosion with Grace and I, in Greece. He suffers the same memory loss as we do,” Sebastian slowly explained.

  “He doesn’t remember his family,” I joined in.

  “Thank you, both,” David frowned at us, “but I can speak for myself. Now, tell me more of this supposed uncle.”

  My mothe
r arched her eyebrow at his expectant tone, her thin lips pressing together firmly. David’s jaw flexed, his teeth clenching tightly together.

  “Please,” he added reluctantly. Sebastian quickly turned away, hiding a smile. I was staring at my mother, just as intrigued as David to hear what she was about to say.

  “Your uncle, Walter Crestwell, worked for me. He was an invaluable employee, performing chauffeur and butler duties and managing our household staff. I quite enjoyed his company until he abruptly quit my services last summer and moved away to God knows where! It wasn’t long after Grace and Sebastian left for their trip that he moved on. I was completely abandoned by all those close to me—it was a terrible time.” Her expression twisted sourly as she remembered.

  “How do you know he’s my uncle? Did he speak of me?” David pressed, his gray eyes challenging. He stepped closer, crossing the threshold, his eyes never wavering from my mother’s for a second. A flush began creeping across her cheeks as she stared into David’s eyes. He could be quite intimidating when he chose to be, so tall and handsome, confident and always in charge. My mother licked her lips and smoothed her short, platinum blonde hair. The gesture was completely unnecessary.

  “Well, you came to visit him last Christmas, didn’t you? And your uncle certainly went out of his way to make you feel welcome—not that you showed any appreciation. I couldn’t believe how indulgent Walter was to you, answering your every beck and call. Why, you even came here one day and took him away from his duties because you ‘needed him’ for something. That was the only day of work Walter ever missed during the thirteen months he was under my employment. And I never heard you say ‘thank you’ to him once! Why, I tell you, if Grace were to ever treat me in—”

  “Where did my uncle live? Where did he move to? Did he say anything about where I was from? Or any of our other family members?” David demanded, moving another step closer to my mother. She appeared to wilt beneath the intensity of his glare, losing some of her ferocity.

  “I… I don’t know. He once had an apartment in Victoria but after Grace’s father moved out, Walter moved into one of the guest rooms and took up residence here—just as a friend, of course. He never told me anything else about you or your family; he avoided the topic quite astutely so I never pressed. I’m not one to pry, you see. Gossip is quite unbecoming of a lady.” My mother flashed me a brief look, never missing an opportunity to either chastise or lecture me.

  “Where does my uncle live now?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Tell me,” David growled, his tone implying a threat.

  “I don’t know,” my mother insisted, the flush to her cheeks deepening. “I woke up one morning last summer to find all of his things were gone. I tried to phone him but his number had been disconnected and I haven’t seen or heard anything from him since. He just up and disappeared, completely abandoning me without the courtesy of an apology or even an explanation.”

  David stared at her for several long seconds then abruptly stepped back. He flashed my mother his most charming smile, the intensity that had driven him moments before abruptly forgotten.

  “Thank you. I shall try to find out more about this uncle of mine and will let you know if I’m able to contact him. It was a pleasure meeting you but I’m afraid we’ve now made ourselves late. Sebastian?”

  Sebastian was obviously distracted, staring at the floor with a troubled frown.

  “Sebastian?” I echoed, gently touching his arm. When he didn’t immediately respond, a flash of fear jolted through me, followed by an overwhelming and frightening sense of déjà vu. I sighed with relief when he blinked and then looked up, clouds of gray swirling in his dark eyes with just a hint of blue.

  “Yes, sorry. David’s right, we should get going. I apologize again, Ms. Chattam, that I can’t stay today.” Sebastian turned to me, smoothly stepping forward and quickly kissing my cheek. “I’ll be back soon,” he whispered in my ear before he pulled back.

  I tried my best to smile and wave as Sebastian and David got into the Challenger and the engine rumbled to life. There was an eerie numbness spreading from inside of me, a haunting sense of danger and unease. It felt like too much of a coincidence that I had just dreamt of Walter last night and then learnt of his disappearance and his connection to David today… but what did it mean? And why was it, that as soon as my mother had said Walter had disappeared, I knew deep down in my heart with a cold and deadly certainty, that Walter was never coming back, that no one would ever see him again? Was it just from that strange dream I’d had or was there something more to it than just that?

  “Come in, Grace,” my mother’s sharp voice commanded from behind me. “There’s no need to continue staring after Sebastian like a sad puppy dog.”

  “I wasn’t staring,” I corrected her politely, holding my head high as I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. “I was just lost in thought for a moment.”

  “I suppose it’s really for the best that Sebastian couldn’t join us this morning,” my mother continued on as if I hadn’t spoken. She began striding away from the front door, her black heels clicking against the polished marble floor. “We have a lot of wedding plans to discuss and Sebastian would only get in the way. Have you set a date yet dear?”

  I hurried after her, silently hoping that the morning would go by quickly. I was already counting the minutes until Sebastian’s return.

  “I don’t think we need to start planning anything just yet, Mother. We were planning on having a long engagement…”

  “Nonsense! I’ll see you married next spring, as soon as the gardens are in full enough bloom to do some outdoor portraits. Susanna needs an exact date though before she can get much further into the plans.”

  “Susanna?”

  “Susanna Marquesa, the wedding planner.” My mother stopped and spun on her heel, scowling at me in annoyance. “Oh please, Grace. I know you’ve heard of her! Everyone who’s anyone has had their wedding planned by Susanna Marquesa. She’s waiting in the dining room for us with her assistant to go over some of the early plans. Then Cassandra will be arriving at ten thirty to do measurements and go over our different fabric and design options.”

  My mind slowly put it all together. I felt my jaw drop. “Cassandra Battacenia? The designer from New York?’

  “Well, who else would we get to design your wedding dress? Oh Grace, you had better not slouch like that when I introduce you to Susanna or I shall positively die of embarrassment,” my mother declared. Surprisingly, she was smiling, as if she were enjoying herself. I supposed planning a wedding for her daughter to marry a wealthy young man really was right up her alley. It was all completely unnecessary considering that Sebastian and I hadn’t yet set a date and I had been hoping for something low key and informal but still… I needed the distraction. And my mother did seem genuinely excited; I didn’t want to rob her of her fun. Not to mention the fact that my mother’s involvement in our wedding plans might light a fire underneath Sebastian…

  I smiled and stood up straighter, sweeping my loosely curled hair away from my face and tucking it behind my ear.

  “Alright, let’s hear what Susanna’s got in mind.”

  I marched ahead of my mother and opened the dining room door.

  The morning flew by in a blur of papers, measurements and designs. By the end of it, I was feeling quite exhausted, especially with my lack of sleep from the night before. My mother had definitely enjoyed herself and it had been almost pleasant to be in her company for once—if I overlooked her vanity, pushiness, and dramatic egocentric flair. Still, I was more than ready to leave when I heard the distinctive rumble of Sebastian’s car approaching. I had been right before, the windows in the house did start to vibrate as Sebastian pulled into the driveway, along with the trembling crystal hanging from the entranceway chandelier.

  My mother was still going over the fine details of the design for my wedding gown with Cassandra when Sebastian arrived, so it was Ellen who sh
owed me to the door. I skipped up to Sebastian with a smile on my face, kissing his cheek sweetly as he held the passenger door of the big old, Dodge open for me.

  “You’re in a good mood,” he commented as we started driving away from my mother’s house and along Beach Drive.

  “I am,” I agreed, happily reaching for his hand on the shifter. “My mother wasn’t quite as bad as I expected today.”

  “Good.” Sebastian grinned. “I’m in a good mood too but I can’t tell you why.”

  “Why not?”

  “You’ll have to wait and see.” He smiled at me mysteriously, his eyes bright with excitement. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach.

  “Will I have to wait long?”

  “No, not at all. In fact, we’ll be there in just a few minutes.”

  “Where are we going?”

  He pressed his lips together, refusing to answer. His eyes sparkled back at me.

  I felt like a child as we drove along, Sebastian’s excitement and playfulness was infectious. Once I realized we were going to Beacon Hill Park, I couldn’t help but smile as wisps of pleasant memories drifted back to me: autumn leaves swirling, walking together hand-in-hand through the snow, the sparkling ice on the frozen duck ponds.

  “We’re having a picnic?” I guessed as we pulled into the parking lot.

  “Yes,” Sebastian agreed, not giving away anything else.

  He walked around the car to hold open my door for me, then reached behind my seat and pulled out a bulging backpack. He quickly swung it onto his back and then took my hand.

  “Come on, I want to show you something.”

  Another wave of déjà vu swept over me, his words echoing in one of the holes in my memory. There was a strange emotion building within me as we walked along the winding path beneath the towering trees. Something important was about to happen, I felt certain of it. Doubt flickered through my mind. Or else, something very important had happened here, at another time, on another day that I just couldn’t remember. It was so frustrating that I couldn’t remember.

  “This way,” Sebastian encouraged, leading me off the trail and into the surrounding trees. Not far from the path, we came to a stop at the base of an enormous, old oak. As I blinked up at the bright blue sky peeking through the leafy branches, memories sparked in my mind: the texture of the rough, brittle bark, the quiet strength of the sturdy boughs, the gentle sway of the branches up high.