by Cate, Marnie
Not wanting to be outshined, Meg piped in, “And we need to make sure we find shade every chance we can.”
“We have such smart children with us,” my father said. Both Meg and Miles basked in his praise. “Let's start heading to town. It is just a small walk and then we will be there.”
Squeezing my hand, Cole whispered, “This is only temporary. We will be home again before you know it.”
The walk seemed like we had gone miles and miles. Realistically, it probably wasn't even one mile before we reached a large wooden sign announcing that we were welcome in Great Winds. Our shoes were covered in dust and I didn't want to imagine how dirty we looked by the time we entered the main street of town.
The street had large brick buildings with creative wooden signs indicating what was being sold inside. In the center was a large round area with a water fountain that sprayed blue and green water. Walking down the street, we passed by Jerick's Coffee Corral with a picture of a man soaking in a big cup of coffee, Sam's 'Stache Shack with a smiling man with a curly mustache and other imaginative store fronts full of people. We arrived at a building built from tan brick flecked with gold. The building shimmered. My father stopped and stared proudly at the metallic green sign hanging above the door. The black lettering of the sign read Charlemagne's.
“We made it,” my father said, taking Meg and Miles by the hand. “Come on everyone. This is the best place in Great Winds.”
Chapter 19
The entrance to the business was extravagant. I felt uncomfortable by our appearance. We headed to the door, being watched by a man in a dark gray suit. Under the suit, he wore an emerald green vest with matching tie. His silver hair was combed back with not a strand out of place and his beard and mustache were short and well kept. Looking us up and down with his golden eyes, his somber face grew into a large smile as his gaze landed on my father.
“Elliott, my boy,” he said, “you have returned to us.” Eyeing us, he laughed, “And, you brought a clan.”
“I am glad to be here, Patrick,” my father, responded giving the man a strong handshake.
Patting him on the back, Patrick continued his welcome. “Come in. Come in.” With a whisper directed at my father, he said, “She missed you. She will be glad to see you have returned.”
As he shuffled us into the building, we were met with a large marble floor in the same gold tones as the brick outside. The room was circular with staircases on both sides leading to the balcony of the four floors above. The golden bannisters held lattice walls in the same color. The stairs, although covered in a dark emerald fabric, also shimmered with specks of gold. It was so lavish, I felt out of place. The small mahogany tables off to the right seated people formally dressed. Waiters catered to their needs while they ate their meals. To the left of the entrance, a long metal counter stood at least four feet high where people were being checked in by uniformed employees.
We were underdressed to be in such a fancy place. While my father was pretending to be dead, he hid here? I mourned my lost father and he had been living a luxurious lifestyle without us? This is not Starten. It was a mistake to leave home.
My father led us to the first open desk clerk and said, “Sammy, will you tell Ms. Charlemagne that I am here.”
“There is no need to tell me you are here. I felt your presence the minute you walked into the building,” a female voiced called from the staircase.
A tall woman strode down the steps like a queen. She was wearing a dark jade-colored, fitted business jacket with just enough fabric to cover her well-endowed top section. From the top of her dark auburn hair falling loosely over her shoulders, to the slender cut black capris, to the gold-strapped sandals exposing her perfectly manicured toes, she was a remarkable sight. My father beamed as he watched her walk towards us.
“You have been missed, Elliott,” she said, kissing him on the cheek. Her lips lingered longer than a friendly kiss would. Her dark burgundy lipstick left a faint mark.
Looking at my sister, she knelt down and said, “You must be Meg. Elliott neglected to tell me what a beauty you are.” Staring at the woman open mouthed, Meg was unusually silent.
“And who might you be?” she asked, as she gently touched the side of Mile's face. With the same look of admiration, he didn't speak.
Regaining her composure, Meg piped in, “He's my brother Miles.” Holding her hand up to her mouth, she directed her whisper to the woman. “Actually he is my half-brother because we have different dads but I consider him my whole brother.”
“That is very wise, Meg,” she said. She stood up to face me. “Marina, I would know you anywhere from your father's description,” she said. Touching a curl that had fallen loose from my ponytail, she smiled. “I am so glad to finally meet you. I have heard so much about you.”
“Sadly, I know nothing of you,” I said. “With him recently returning from the dead, we haven't had much time to talk about his other life.”
Cutting me off, Cole stepped up and held out his hand, “I am Cole Sands, Mara's fiancé. It is very nice to meet you Ms.” Stopping, unsure how to address her. “I'm sorry I don't know your name.”
“Esmerelda Charlemagne,” she said. “Welcome to my little establishment.”
Stepping up, Hazel held out her hand and said, “Ms. Charlemagne, it is nice to meet you. I must confess that I have also not heard anything about you yet.”
“Oh please don't call me Ms. Charlemagne,” she said, as she kissed my grandmother on each cheek. “Everyone calls me Essie.”
A man in a hotel uniform came up behind Essie, interrupting our introductions and whispered in her ear. Saying something inaudible to the man, she turned to us. “I am so sorry. I have some business to take care of, but I would love to meet up later and get to know all of you.”
“Daniel, please escort my guests to the penthouse and get them anything they want or need,” she said to the uniformed man.
Kissing my father on the cheek, she placed a key into his hand, whispering something in his ear that made him smile. “Anything they want,” she called again to Daniel.
“Yes, Essie,” he said, turning to my father, “Welcome back, Elliott. You are a sight for sore eyes. Would you like me to take you to the penthouse or did you want to give the grand tour yourself?”
Chuckling, my father shook his hand. “If you can handle the bags, I will handle the tour. Can you also have a light lunch and some beverages sent up? We have had a long trip.”
“No problem,” he said. Taking our bags, he loaded them onto the luggage cart.
As he rolled away, he turned to my father and said, “She really has missed you, you know?”
Chapter 20
Before I had time to ponder what Essie's relationship had been with my father while he was gone from us, we were led through the hotel with my father as the tour guide.
As we climbed the green steps, my father pointed out the work that he had done on the hotel. “The lattices under the bannister were additions I made. Mara, come look here,” he said when we reached the tenth step.
Kneeling down, he pointed to a butterfly etched in the gold with the lettering Marina under it. It was so discreet that a casual passerby would not notice it. The wings of the butterfly were so detailed, evidence of the time and care he put into it.
“Every day I was away from you, Caterpillar,” he began, “I thought of the little girl I left and knew that I would return to see the magnificent butterfly you had become. I'm sorry that I was gone so long and missed so much of your life but I am here now. Please know in your heart that you were not replaced by anything or anyone in Great Winds.”
“It's beautiful.” I said wondering if all of this was done to appease his own guilt for leaving us.
When we arrived on the second floor balcony, he pointed out the engraved designs on the solid dark wood of the doors. Each entrance had a floral design with a gold number in the center. Stopping at room two hundred and two, my father stopped and picked Meg
up.
“See this Meg?” my father said, pointing to the flower design, “What do you see?”
She ran her finger over a violet with the name Meg engraved underneath. “You did this to remind you of me?” she breathed. “I have never seen anything as pretty.”
“Of course, it was for you,” he said. “I missed my beautiful baby girl, Meg Violet Stone, every day I was away.”
Taking my hand, Cole whispered, “I want to be a father like him one day.”
I whispered back, “You will.”
As we climbed the staircase to the fourth floor, he led us to a large green door. Using the key Essie had given him, he led us up a set of stairs to another entrance. When he opened this one, I held back a gasp. Hanging on the wall above the fireplace was a painting of our house in Starten.
“I didn't know you could paint, Elliott,” Cole said, inspecting the painting. “This is really detailed.”
“Essie is responsible for this work. I described it to her and she painted it,” he said. “She is really gifted.”
Clapping his hands together, he said, “Let's get cleaned up and then come back for a bit of lunch. Follow me. Rooms are this way.”
The rooms each had a large king size bed with a fluffy white comforter and green pillows. The bedside tables each had brass lamps with dark green shades. The bathroom was almost as large as the room with a round bathtub with a glass walled shower pressed against it.
“I am going to take a bath. Did you want to use the bathroom first,” I questioned.
Winking, Cole left the room saying, “All yours. Just don't get lost in here.”
Examining the fancy bottles on the ledge above the bathtub, I settled for a rose scented bubble bath and poured a generous amount into the running water. Climbing into the tub, I slipped into the warm water. Calling Water, I washed my hair with a citrus smelling shampoo and conditioner. Instead of running more hot water when I felt chilled, I called Fire to heat the water.
Coming here to hide from Snowystra made no sense. We should have stayed in our home. I had let my father's fear drag us away from all that we knew. To do what? We could not hide from a goddess. She would not leave us alone. This was a mistake. My mother hadn't been able to fight her and she was strong.
Longing to stop my thoughts, I sunk under the bubbles closing my eyes. My moment of solitude was interrupted. One of the small bottles of shampoo fell into the water. As I came up, I found Cole staring at me.
“You scared me,” I said. Covered in suds, I felt concealed enough to carry on a conversation with him.
“You have been here for a bit. Everyone is eager to eat,” Cole said, holding out a large bath towel to me.
Stepping out of the bath onto the padded rug, my eyes locked with Cole's. He had always been a gentleman and never averted his eyes in moments like these. Something felt different this time. His eyes were ice blue again, the same cloudy color that they had been after Snowystra had put her touch on him.
Cole held the towel tighter as I tried to take it from him and let his eyes scan my body. Feeling embarrassed, I tugged the towel harder, yanking it out of his hand.
“Thank you,” I said, quickly wrapping the towel around me.
As I tried to walk past him, he put his arm around my waist and murmured in my ear, “You are lovely. Why hurry off?”
A chill ran through me as he began to kiss my shoulder, the person in front of me did not sound like or act like the Cole I knew. Pushing him away, I said, “Sorry. We are late. My fault.”
As I quickly left, I turned to see that Cole had stripped his clothes off. “You are welcome to stay and watch, Mara,” he said, laughing as I left.
Shaken, I hurriedly dressed and braided my hair to the sounds of Cole whistling. What was happening to Cole? Was it my fault for always tempting him? Maybe I was over-reacting? Cole was just being flirty. Wasn't he?
There was a light knock on the door and I opened it to find Hazel. She was wearing a colorful skirt and a flowing, white gypsy shirt. Her gray hair was in a loose fishtail braid. The silver necklace around her neck held a round lilac colored stone.
Reaching out, I touched the necklace, “Was this from your ring?” I questioned.
Nodding, she took my hand and examined my ring. “What color was your ring when you took the promise?” she asked.
“Blue,” I said, not giving her any more information. Still feeling shaky from my interaction with Cole, I needed to talk to someone that I could trust. “Where is my father?”
“He is with Essie,” she said, gripping my hand tighter. “What is wrong, Mara?”
“Nothing,” I started to lie. Either because of the intensity of her stare or the panic I was feeling over the change that I felt in Cole, I decided to trust her.
“Not here,” I said, glancing at the door to my room.
“Okay, come with me,” she said, leading me down the hallway.
Chapter 21
Hazel's room was at the other side of the penthouse. Her room was much like the room that Cole and I were sharing. Instead of the green accent colors, this room had red pillows and lampshades. There was also a painting on the wall of a ranch style house with a desert background.
Sitting down on one of the chairs, I began to explain everything that happened. As I talked, I watched her closely, waiting for her judgement. I was not married and I slept in the same bed with Cole every night. She had walked in on us in an intimate moment. Would she judge me and tell me that it was my fault…that Cole was only a man? None of my fears came to light. The woman before me—my grandmother, who was so much like the grandmother I had lost, listened with no judgement.
“We need to help him push out the cold that has touched him. Snowystra has been stifled before and will be again,” she said with determination. “Like the magic, Miles carries in him…”
Seeing the look of surprise on my face, she chuckled, “Yes, Mara I have seen his little sparks of magic. I have been caring for him since he was a baby. As I was saying, we will need to find a way to contain the magic he is carrying until we can push it out.”
“If that can be done for Cole, can't we do the same for Miles?” I said.
“Magic you are born with cannot be removed just bound,” she said. “The magic that is running through Cole is fighting the dark magic that she has placed on him.”
“What about my father?” I said, suddenly startled at the realization. “He was in a worse state after her attack and he is fine now.”
As I started to open the door, she stopped me. “Mara, you summoned the elements for Elliott. The dark magic was removed.”
“Fine. We do the same for Cole,” I said.
“Elliott was on the brink of death. If you had not called the elements, he would have died. Cole is touched but not consumed. Requests like the one you made for my son are not done for every sickness or injury. Part of protecting the magic is not misusing it.”
“I have no idea what I am doing,” I whispered, not wanting to confess how frightened and inadequate I felt. “I have all of this magic running through me and I can barely control it. I don't know the rules. I didn't know how to use it when it was needed the most.”
“Listen to your heart, Mara,” she said with a smile. “All you can do is open your heart to the Goddess and listen.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I am glad you are here. I am doing my best to learn everything quickly. I need advice from someone that has had their magic longer.”
“Just ask when you need help,” she said. “I don't have all the answers. No one really does.”
The warmth I felt with her conflicted me, I wanted to love this woman but I felt as if it would be a betrayal to Gram.
“I know it is confusing for me to just show up. You had a Gram already,” she said, cupping my face in her hand. “Let time dictate who I will be to you and what you will call me. I will never replace Mae but know that I am here for you and love you. Replacing your grandmother would be an impossible task fo
r anyone to undertake.”
“She was the best but I don't want to close out loving anyone else. Gram would be so frustrated with me right now.” I laughed. “I hope that I won't drive you as crazy as I did her.”
Chuckling, she said, “I am sure you will do your best to drive me insane. Now let's go find everyone before there is nothing left to eat. We will figure out what to do about Cole together.”
When we entered the dining room, we found my family was already eating their lunch. Several carts behind the table held trays of meats, cheeses, vegetables and a variety of salads. There was even a cart with hot teas, coffees, sparkling water and juices. I filled a plate with food and sat down.
“Where did you disappear to?” Cole asked with a grin. Once again, Cole's eyes had returned to the sparkling blue color that I loved but I couldn't trust him completely anymore. “I went to find you and you were gone already.”
Staring at him in amazement, I began to tell him what had happened but the sound of Hazel clearing her throat halted my words. Handing me a cup of tea, she smiled. Understanding her concern, I gave her a slight nod.
“Oh, I just went to check on everyone,” I lied. I wanted to tell him that Snowystra had put some sort of spell on him but Hazel was watching me. I wanted to believe that her intentions were good but her timing seemed too perfect. She showed up just in time to save my father. She came to my door moments ago when I needed someone to talk to about Cole. Everything felt too planned. Could it all be coincidental? Was I just being paranoid? Luckily, the focus was taken off me by Essie joining us.
“Fabulous,” the cheery voice of Essie sang as she entered the room. Sitting down in the empty seat next to my father, she took a piece of cheese off his plate. “I am starving. Is everyone enjoying their lunch?”
My family soaked in her positive attitude. She was able to bring everyone into the conversation and make them feel like her attention was only on them. Miles and Meg struggled to stay in their seats and not run over to command her full attention. My father was not discreet in hiding his feelings for her. Seeing the reason, he hid away for so long infuriated me. He could have come home and fixed everything before it was too late. He stayed because of her.