by Sarra Cannon
“I still don’t know for sure that it’s her,” I said. “There are a few things that are suspicious. It’s not matching up. I might have been wrong about her.”
Dad grew silent for a long moment, and when he finally spoke, his voice was a whisper.
“It has to be her,” he said. “I know you told me not to say anything, but Elisha was so angry with Amber, I thought that if I could give him good news, he would go easy on her.”
I clenched my teeth, anger taking on a life of its own in my chest.
“You told him I found her? How could you do that?” I asked. “If it’s not really her, he’ll punish us all. You know that. How could you take that kind of risk?”
“I’m sorry, but you sounded so sure last night,” he said. “Amber’s been in trouble so many times, I thought he was going to really hurt her this time, Slade. You didn’t see the look in his eyes.”
“And what do you think he’ll do to all of us if I’m wrong?”
Dad sighed. “Let’s just pray you’re not wrong,” he said. “You have to come through for us, Slade. You’re our only hope. We’re running out of time here, son. Get her and bring her back here.”
“I’ll do what I can, Dad,” I said. “But when I tell you not to talk to Elisha about what’s going on here, I need to be able to trust you. If we can’t trust each other right now, we’re all going to end up dead anyway, and I think you know that better than I do.”
“I do,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
“I have to go. If you see Amber, tell her I’m thinking of her. Tell her I’ll be home soon, okay? I’m going to get us all out of here, Dad.”
“I love you, Slade.”
“I love you, too, Dad.”
I hung up and sat down on the edge of the bed, defeated.
I didn’t want to hurt Anna, but it was out of my hands now.
I had just run out of options.
Ten
Anna
By the time I got home, Gran was already in the kitchen cooking dinner. The entire house smelled of roasted broccoli and pasta sauce.
“Is that you, Anna?” Gran called out.
“It’s me,” I said. I put my bag down in the foyer and walked back toward the kitchen. “Sorry I’m so late. Eva found a new place, and she wanted to show me around.”
“Eva’s moving out?” she asked with a frown. “I’m sure Rachel will be disappointed. They seemed to be getting along really well.”
“She and Nik are finally getting a place of their own.”
I grabbed the spoon off the counter and dipped it into the pasta sauce, tasting Gran’s famous secret mix of spices and herbs.
She smacked my hand and grabbed the spoon. “You’ll ruin your appetite,” she said. “Besides, it’s not ready yet.”
“Why is it you’re always making this sauce on days when I’m not home to watch?” I asked. “I’m twenty-one now. Old enough to learn the family’s secret recipes.”
“Child, you’ve been learning our secret spells and recipes since you were just a tiny little thing,” she said.
“Yes, but never the spaghetti sauce,” I said with a wink.
“No one knows my sauce recipe,” she said, shooing me away. “My mother taught it to me just before she passed, and I’ll choose one of my daughters to pass it along to when the time comes.”
“Or grand-daughters?” I asked.
She tried to hide a smile. “We’ll see, girl. Now, take the veggies out of the oven for me, please,” she said. “And I want to know why you missed your deliveries this afternoon. That's not like you.”
“I didn’t miss them,” I said. “I just got a backup.”
She gave me a look that clearly said she was not accepting my explanation that easily. I sighed. I might as well tell her the truth, or she’d pester me until bedtime.
“I met someone,” I said, trying to make my voice sound as casual as possible.
She nearly dropped the spoon into the large pot of sauce.
“Here in Willow Harbor?” she asked. “Someone new?”
“Someone visiting town,” I said as I set the table. “Is anyone joining us for dinner?”
“Laura’s bringing the kids over, and I think Sandra might stop by with the girls,” she said.
That meant at least seven total for dinner, and if I knew this family, probably more like ten. I smiled. I loved unexpected family dinners. They were always so full of life and laughter.
I grabbed more plates and silverware from the cupboard and swept my hand over the table to elongate it. Gran had cast a spell on this old oak table years ago that allowed us to change the size of it to meet the demands of this growing family with just a simple wave of the hand.
“A visitor?” she asked. “How did you meet him?”
I frowned. I didn’t want to tell her I’d met him at some secret night club. She wouldn’t take that well, but I didn’t like to lie to her either.
I sighed. Telling the truth was always easier, so I just let it tumble out.
“The other night for my birthday, Lucy took me out to the place called The Veil,” I said.
“The dance club?” she asked.
I lifted my hands. “Did everyone else in this town know about it but me?”
She laughed. “It’s been around for ages,” she said. “Anton, an old friend of mine runs it, though I’m sure he’s looking better than I am these days. He’s a vampire, you know. I think you’ve met him a time or two. He used to take me dancing there when I was your age.”
I opened my eyes so wide, they nearly popped out of my head.
I simply could not imagine Gran dancing in that club with a hot vampire. My mind was completely blown.
“I used to know how to have fun, too,” she said, laughing. “Now, tell me about this guy.”
“His name is Slade. I literally bumped into him and ended up dumping a drink down his shirt in true Anna fashion.”
Gran reached out and pinched my cheeks, smiling.
“I’m glad to see you excited about him, but I don’t like the fact that he’s an outsider. Why is he in Willow Harbor?”
“I don’t know all the details,” I said. “But we’re going out on a date tomorrow night, so I’ll be sure to run a background check and hire a police escort.”
I sighed. Everyone was worried about me when all I wanted was to be excited and carefree.
“This isn’t something to joke about, Anna,” she said, turning to face me with a serious expression on her face. “You have to be careful with strangers. I’ve told you that a million times.”
Chills ran down my spine. Now was the time to ask her about my mother again. She couldn’t keep hiding the truth from me.
“And why is that, Gran?” I asked, stepping closer to her. “Why do I, in particular, have to be careful with strangers?”
She shook her head and turned to stir the pot.
“Don’t shrug this off,” I said. “You never act this concerned when one of my cousins meets a new guy. Just last year, Ellen met that guy who was here working on the construction project for the new building downtown, and you had nothing but wonderful things to say about him. What’s so different about me?”
“I don’t want to talk about this now,” she said, her lips pressed tightly together. “The others will be here soon, and I don’t want them to think we’ve been arguing.”
“Is that what we’re doing?” I asked “Because all I’m doing is asking you a simple question.”
“There’s nothing simple about what you’re asking me,” Gran said, dropping the spoon and turning toward me, our eyes meeting. “You know full well what’s different about your situation.”
“Full well? Seriously? Because all you’ve ever told me is that my mother died trying to protect me,” I said, careful to push back tears that threatened to rush to the surface. “All I know is that she left town when she was about my age and never made it home. That’s all. When are you going to tell me the truth about where she went?
About what really happened to her? When are you going to tell me what this is?”
I lifted the edge of my t-shirt to reveal the mark that had been magically burned into my skin when I was just an infant. A circle with a sword inside, beams of light radiating from the blade.
Gran closed her eyes and looked away. She placed a hand over her mouth, and her shoulders shook as she began to cry.
All the confidence and determination in my voice fell away as I stepped toward her and wrapped my arms around her.
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” I said softly. “But it’s time I knew the truth. You aren’t going to be able to keep me safely tucked away in your house like I was a child forever. I’m all grown up now, Gran. I deserve to know the truth, because if there really is some kind of danger in who I am or what happened to my mother, the only way I’m going to be able to protect myself is if I know what I’m looking for.”
She shook her head and reached back to squeeze my hand. After a few moments, she turned around and pulled me into a hug.
“I would love nothing more than to keep you safe here with me forever,” she said. She pulled away and tucked a curl behind my ear. “Sometimes I still see you as that tiny little child, so scared and in need of my protection. But you are grown up now, aren’t you? I’m not sure I realized it until this very moment.”
“I haven’t been a child for a very long time, Gran.”
“I know, Anna. I guess I just thought if I ignored the fact you were growing into a beautiful, capable young woman, then it wouldn’t be true,” she said. She studied my face, and I knew the words she would speak before she even opened her mouth. “You really are so much like her, you know? You look more and more like my Maura with every passing day.”
“I know, Gran.” I took her hand and kissed her palm, then held it against my cheek. “And I know you somehow feel responsible for what happened to her. I know you feel like you failed to protect her the way you should have, but keeping the truth from me forever isn’t going to bring her back. And neither is hiding me away in this town. I need to know.”
Her lips parted, and for the first time in my life, I thought she was actually going to tell me the truth of what happened to my mother all those years ago.
Instead, the back door opened, and my cousins and their children rushed inside. The littlest of the girls threw her arms around my legs and giggled.
“Aunt Anna, Mom said you would make us some of your special cupcakes if we were good tonight,” Georgia said, her eyes wide and bright. “Will you?”
I pushed my disappointment deep down inside and put on a smile for the sweet girls who meant so much to me.
“Of course, I will,” I said.
The girls cheered and twirled around the kitchen chanting.
Gran and I exchanged a look.
Whatever she’d been about to tell me would have to wait, but I hoped she knew that I wouldn’t be able to wait much longer.
Eleven
Slade
I woke the next morning to the scent of freshly-baked cinnamon rolls and coffee.
I sat up, looking around the room to see if Mrs. Finnygood had come in to deliver breakfast, but my door was still locked tightly.
Someone knocked, and I quickly got up and slid my jeans over my boxers before answering.
“Good morning, sleepy-head,” Mrs. Finnygood said. Her eyes widened at the sight of my bare chest, and I had to keep myself from laughing.
She held a tray full of food. The elusive cinnamon rolls that made my stomach rumble.
“Good morning,” I said. “What’s the occasion?”
“Well, don’t go looking at me,” she said, sailing past me to set the tray on the small table in one corner of my room. “You had a visitor this morning who said to leave these by your door as a surprise for when you woke up, but I wasn't about to just leave these delicious rolls in the hallway to get cold.”
“A visitor?” I asked, rubbing my eyes and yawning. I stretched my arms high over my head and stared at the plate full of food. I was suddenly starving. “What time is it?”
“Just after six,” she said.
“Six?” I asked. I had only just gotten to bed four hours ago. Normally, I might have been upset at being awakened so early, but the smell of the food on that tray was so tempting.
“I’ll leave you to enjoy your breakfast,” she said. “Sorry to disturb you, but I thought you might want to eat it fresh.”
She glanced at my bare chest again, and then quickly looked away, her cheeks blossoming bright red.
I chuckled. At least someone appreciated the work I’d been doing at the gym back home.
When Mrs. Finnygood had left the room, I sat down at the small table and picked up one of the fresh cinnamon rolls. It was still warm to the touch.
I took a bite and moaned. Oh my God, these were incredible.
I devoured the first one in seconds and took a drink of the steaming coffee. It was brewed to perfection and had a slight hint of vanilla.
There was only one person in this town who would have come over to deliver a fresh breakfast to me this morning, and even though Mrs. Finnygood had never told me who this mysterious visitor had been, I knew the answer before I picked up the small card that had been left on the tray under the plate.
I flicked open the envelope and pulled out a blue card adorned with a picture of a large coffee cup saying, “Good morning!”
I know you said you don’t normally eat breakfast, but I thought you might enjoy something this morning when you get up.
* * *
I’m looking forward to seeing you tonight!
* * *
We never discussed whether you would pick me up or just meet me here in town somewhere, so if you get a chance, stop by the food truck before I close up at two so we can make a plan.
See you later!
* * *
Xo,
Anna
* * *
P.S. I took a walk along the beach this morning and saw this shell. For some reason, it made me think of you. Consider it a way to commemorate your first trip to the sea.
Shell? I moved the plates around until I saw a small spiral shell banded with light and dark stripes that mimicked the way my power had spiraled through the water.
I held the small shell in my hand for a moment as my heart raced.
I’d never had someone take so much time to think of me or go so out of their way to deliver something special to me.
At the compound, we weren’t even allowed to celebrate birthdays or holidays. Gifts were considered vain, so I’d never gotten one before this moment.
But Anna had obviously been thinking of me as she walked the beach early this morning. She’d thought of me when she made out this card and delivered this special breakfast.
She’d even remembered that I said I wasn't normally a breakfast person. They seemed like small things, but it was the first time someone had really seen me.
She’d truly been listening to what I’d said yesterday as we walked along the beach, and my words had meant something to her. And what was even more surprising, she had no problem letting me know that I was on her mind and that she was excited about seeing me.
I couldn’t remember a single person who’d ever been excited to actually spend time with me besides my own mother.
Regret and despair gathered in the pit of my stomach.
How could I take a woman like this back to Elisha?
But how could I not?
There was no way out without someone getting hurt. Or worse.
I pushed the tray of food away, despite the fact that I had never tasted anything so heavenly.
At that moment, I had officially entered hell.
Once I’d gotten dressed and gotten over my pity party, I walked over to the town square and approached the brightly-colored food truck. I’d come just after eleven, hoping to catch her before the lunch crowd gathered, but apparently, I’d underestimated the growing popularity of her bus
iness.
It shouldn’t have been a surprise, though. If all of her food was as good as her cinnamon rolls, I couldn’t imagine wanting to eat lunch anywhere else.
I wondered if she actually baked and made all of her own food. It certainly hadn’t seemed like anything that would have been simply heated up in an oven. I would have to ask her about it later.
I stood at the back of the huge line with my hands stuffed into the pockets of my jeans. I planned to just hang around until the line died down, but every time the line moved forward, two more people showed up.
I finally sat down on a nearby picnic bench and just watched her.
Anna greeted every single customer with a huge smile, asking them something personal about their lives. It was obvious she’d known most of these people for a very long time, and they all seemed to love her.
She never once got flustered, no matter how busy she got.
In fact, she laughed and talked her way through the entire lunch rush without the slightest hint of stress.
When the line finally slowed down over an hour later, she glanced up and noticed me sitting near the old willow tree.
A genuine smile spread across her face, and she lifted a hand in a wave.
I smiled and waved back. She held up a finger, asking me to wait, and I wondered if she had any idea how long I’d been here watching her.
I felt a bit like a stalker for having studied her for so long, but time had just seemed to slip away, as if I could have been happy just to be close to her for the rest of my life.
I cleared my throat.
Where the hell had that thought come from? I didn’t need these types of distractions. Too many lives depended on me right now, and the fact that I was sitting here daydreaming about a future with this woman was completely unacceptable.
Still, the moment she walked over to me, my stomach flipped with excitement. I couldn’t help myself.