Avoiding Zoe, doing his best to prevent himself from seeing how happy she was with her consort Evan?
Perhaps. Possibly a coward’s move, but it seemed to make the situation easier for everyone.
“Then maybe it’s best if you did tell everyone to stay close to home, at least for now,” Levi said. “Given the situation, I don’t think anyone could blame you. Just until we can get all this figured out.”
Her eyes met his, troubled, haunted. “But when will that be? We’re facing something that none of us has ever dealt with before. On top of that, we’re all relatively new at this. I mean, I’ve been prima for almost five years now, and Connor has been head of his clan for about the same. But Luz has only been prima for three years. The ones who came before us — my Great-Aunt Ruby was prima for more than fifty years, and I think Maya de la Paz was the head witch of her clan for nearly the same length of time. They knew what they were doing, while we — ”
Levi couldn’t help but be moved by her obvious distress — and worried as well. Yes, Angela was young, but in the eighteen months that he’d known her, he’d seen how she appeared to be confident enough in her position, a strong woman who also had a strong man at her side. Now, though, he was witnessing the first cracks in that façade, the worry that she wasn’t equipped to handle the crisis that had been dropped in her lap.
“We will figure it out together,” he said quietly. “As we discussed at our meeting yesterday, together the three Arizona clans are very strong. Joaquin Escobar will think twice about taking us on. I am certain of that.”
Angela gave him a tired smile, but the doubt was still clear in her eyes. “I hope you’re right, Levi. Goddess, do I hope you’re right.”
4
Although Levi hadn’t specified an exact time for their lunch date, Hayley figured it must be sometime around noon, and made sure to be ready with time to spare. Actually, to be honest, she was ready by nine-thirty, since Brandon was already up and out the door before eight o’clock even rolled around.
Well, if nothing else, that gave her plenty of time to stew over what to wear, although she also didn’t want to seem as if she was trying too hard. From what she’d been able to tell, Jerome was even more casual than Payson, although the vibe here seemed to be more latter-day hippie/bohemian rather than ranch hand.
In the end, she decided on her favorite pair of jeans, some flats, and a drawstring top in a blue that nearly matched her eyes. Loose waves in her hair from her biggest curling iron, and just enough makeup to make her look finished but not “done,” so to speak. Even so, as she surveyed herself in the mirror, she wondered if she should have put on that second coat of mascara, or whether she should’ve gone with clear lip gloss instead of the faintly pearlescent pink she wore now.
And then she told herself to stop obsessing, because she still didn’t have any clear sign that this lunch was anything except a friendly gesture on Levi’s part. For all she knew, the prima had told him to be nice to her because her brother was too preoccupied to play the part of tour guide, and Levi was handy because he just happened to live next door.
Still, she couldn’t keep her heart from beating faster as she heard a knock at the door. Don’t blow this, she told herself, then turned the knob.
Oh, good Goddess, was he gorgeous. It wasn’t as though he looked as if he’d gone to any particular effort — he wore faded jeans and a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and had a dusting of dark gold stubble across his cheeks and chin — but he was still the best-looking guy she’d ever seen in her life.
“Hi,” she said. Oh, definitely brilliant.
“Hello, Hayley,” he replied, in the charmingly serious way he had. “Are you ready for lunch?”
“Absolutely.” She grabbed her purse from where it sat on the table by the door, then came out onto the landing and locked the flat’s door behind her. Sort of a pointless gesture when you thought about it, since any witch or warlock could get in without a key, and she kind of doubted any of the tourists milling around on the street would bother to walk up two flights of stairs in what was — on its exterior anyway — a slightly shabby building, but better safe than sorry.
Levi led her down the stairs and then to the rear of the building. Parked next to her hand-me-down Nissan Rogue SUV was a big Ford pickup, older but meticulously maintained. After opening the passenger-side door of the truck for her, Levi went around to the driver’s seat and got in, then backed out. Once he’d expertly inserted the truck into the traffic on Main Street, fairly thick even though it was a Thursday and summer vacation was still weeks off, Hayley felt as though it was safe to ask, “So where are we going for lunch?”
“A little café down in Old Town Cottonwood called the Red Rooster. They have sandwiches, things like that.” He cast a quick look over at her, as if attempting to gauge her reaction. “Is that all right?”
“Sounds great.” To be perfectly honest, she really didn’t much care what they served, as long as she got to be out somewhere with Levi. “I drove through Old Town on my way up the mountain. It looked cute.”
“Yes, they’ve done a lot to restore the old buildings, get businesses and restaurants and wine tasting rooms in there.”
Wine tasting rooms. Now, that sounded like fun. Did she dare suggest that she and Levi go wine tasting after they were finished with lunch? Probably better to wait and see how the meal went first. And besides, it wasn’t as if they had to do every single thing today. She was going to be living here for…
…well, she honestly didn’t know how long she’d be in Jerome. A few days ago, such an uncertain prospect would have made her anxious. Now, with the notion that she might get to spend a good chunk of that time with Levi dancing in her head, thoughts of such a future only sent a little thrill of anticipation through her.
They wound their way down the mountainside, through tiny Clarkdale, and on into Cottonwood. Although it seemed fairly busy here, too, Levi was able to find a parking space on the street just about a block from their destination. Hayley couldn’t help but look around from side to side, trying to take in all the cute little shops and their various wares, the restaurants…and, as promised, the tasting rooms. She had a feeling she could kill quite a few hours here with some leisurely shopping and wandering.
The café where Levi took her was small but nicely decorated, with a sort of farmhouse motif — which made sense, considering it was named the Red Rooster. And after they’d placed their order at the cash register and gotten their drinks, they were able to snag a table off in a corner, thus guaranteeing that they’d be able to talk without having to watch every word they said.
He set down their iced teas as Hayley took the seat with her back to the window. The sun coming in through the plate glass was warm but not hot, soothing and pleasant. In the background, the chatter of the other patrons of the café were also somehow relaxing, providing a nice unobtrusive hum without getting in the way of her conversation with Levi.
“Do you come here a lot?” she asked, recalling the way the girl at the cash register had smiled at Levi. Then again, it seemed as if he tended to have that effect on people.
“A few times a month. It depends on whether I have a reason to come down the hill.”
“Those odd jobs.” He lifted an eyebrow at her, and she added, “You said you did a lot of odd jobs for people in Jerome?”
“Right. Yes. And sometimes down here — there’s not enough room for everyone in Jerome itself, so the McAllisters have sort of slid down the hill into Clarkdale and Cottonwood as well.”
That made sense. Hayley knew that Jerome itself was teeny tiny, with fewer than five hundred permanent residents, about half of them witches and warlocks. The rest of them had to go somewhere. Over the years, some had moved all the way out to Payson to become part of that branch of the family, but it was more likely for them to stay closer to Jerome if they could.
“Maybe I should get a job while I’m in Jerome,” she ventured, and surprise re
gistered in Levi’s bright blue eyes.
“Really? Why?”
“Just to have something to do, I guess. I can’t exactly sit around Brandon’s apartment all day, can I?”
“I suppose not, but….” Levi stopped there, a faint frown creasing his eyebrows.
“But what?”
He took a quick glance at the restaurant’s other patrons, then seemed to decide it was safe to speak frankly. “I think Angela would prefer it if you limited your contact with outsiders. If you were working in a shop or a restaurant, it could be problematic. In fact, she wants me to watch over you, to help safeguard your talent.”
A certain sick feeling began to bubble in Hayley’s stomach, even though she hadn’t eaten anything yet, had only taken a few sips of iced tea. “So that’s why you asked me to lunch? Because the prima told you to?”
“No, of course not,” he said at once. “I’d already offered to go out to lunch, to show you around, before Angela asked me to help keep you safe.”
As quickly as it had come, the sick feeling subsided. Hayley wrapped her hands around her glass of iced tea, felt the cool condensation against the tips of her fingers. “Do you really think it’s that much of an issue?”
“I’m not sure,” Levi replied. “But Angela seems to think so, and since she’s the prima, we should trust her judgment. Considering how valuable your gift is, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Hayley was about to reply when the girl who’d taken their order at the counter approached with their sandwiches. Since this was definitely not the sort of conversation she wanted overheard, she waited until the girl had returned to her post at the cash register before saying, “I never thought I’d need a bodyguard.”
“I’m not sure that’s the right term. Just…someone to keep an eye out.”
“Have you dealt with any of them?” She didn’t bother to clarify who she meant by “them”; she was sure Levi could figure it out.
“No. It was Jack Sandoval who had most of the contact with…the others. He sent me copies of his case files, though.”
That sounded odd. Was it normal for a detective — all right, a former detective, but still — to give someone unconnected to a case sensitive information like that?
Levi must have sensed her confusion, because he said in an undertone, “We can talk about that later. Someplace else.”
She got the message. Maybe some topics were safe enough to be discussed here in public, as long as they kept their voices down, but other subjects needed to be avoided unless they were alone. Well, she was fine with that, if for no other reason than doing so would give them a reason to have to be alone together.
“Okay,” she said. “Well, Mr. Babysitter, what do you want to do after lunch? Some wine tasting?”
His eyebrows lifted slightly at the “Mr. Babysitter” epithet, but he only replied, “I’m not sure that’s a very good idea. One glass, like we had yesterday…that would probably be all right. Anything more, and we might not be sharp enough.”
Hayley didn’t bother to ask him what they needed to be “sharp” for. Clearly, he seemed to think the Escobars had rogue witches and warlocks hiding everywhere, just waiting for their chance to grab her. Or something along those lines.
“If you say so,” she remarked, and picked up half her grilled chicken sandwich. “I assume shopping is okay?”
Most guys probably would have looked less than thrilled at the prospect of spending half their afternoon trailing from shop to shop in Old Town Cottonwood, but Levi only nodded. “Shopping should be safe enough.”
Well, that was something. She wouldn’t abuse the privilege, of course. But spending a few more hours in Levi’s company could only be a good thing. Then again, if Angela wanted him to play watchdog, it really didn’t matter what they did, although recreational drinking seemed to be off the table.
What else was there to do around here? She wasn’t sure what their next destination should be, once they were done in Old Town, but she’d figure something out. The afternoon would stretch into the evening, and from the evening to…?
Something exciting. She’d make certain of it.
Levi had always thought of Cottonwood as small and quaint, but by the time Hayley had exhausted the shops there, it felt as if the whole day had gone by.
Which wasn’t exactly true. While she looked at throw pillows, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the time. Four thirty-six. They’d spent more than four hours together, so that was most of the afternoon, if not the entire day. The strange thing was that those hours had moved more quickly than he’d expected, given that shopping had never been one of his favorite pastimes.
Hayley, on the other hand, seemed to excel at it. Not that she was profligate; no, she considered every purchase carefully, didn’t simply buy things because they were new and novel and set in front of her. But she did seem to have inexhaustible energy when it came to inspecting an item, whether it was a pair of earrings or a bowl or a scarf.
When she finally announced that she was done, they went back to the truck, which — fortunately for her and her purchases — had a locking cargo box in the bed. They secured everything and climbed into the cab, and then she looked over at him and smiled.
Already Levi had learned to be wary of that smile.
“Back to Jerome, then?” he said as he turned the key in the ignition.
“We still have lots of daylight left,” she replied, her big blue eyes guileless. “Let’s go to Sedona.”
“‘Sedona’?” he repeated blankly.
“Yes, the place with the red rocks. You’ve heard of it, right?”
“Well, of course. I’ve been there several times.”
“And I never have. It should be gorgeous at this time of day, with all this warm afternoon light.”
Levi couldn’t disagree with that assertion, since he had been in Sedona in the late afternoon, and at sunset, and it was, in fact, gorgeous. However, he would have to make sure they didn’t linger, and headed back to Jerome before the sun had truly begun to set. The last thing he wanted was to be caught out in the dark. Yes, Sedona was the place where the McAllister and Wilcox territories overlapped, and so it should all be perfectly safe…but he couldn’t count on that.
These days, none of them could count on anything.
“For a few hours,” he said, and hoped he didn’t sound too grudging. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to spend the additional time with Hayley, only that he would prefer to do it in a more familiar place. “We need to be back in Jerome before sunset.”
“Oh, that’s fine,” she replied. “That’ll still give me a chance to see some of it, and we can always go back later and make a day of it. That is,” she added hastily, “if you have the time.”
For Hayley, he would make time. Besides, his responsibilities to the McAllister clan weren’t at all onerous, especially if one argued that his guardian duties with her were far more important than any of those lesser responsibilities. “I’m sure we can arrange that.”
His answer seemed to satisfy her, because she smiled slightly before shifting in her seat so she could look out the window. Right then there wasn’t a lot to see, since they were traveling along the highway that connected Cottonwood to Sedona, and this section was mostly rolling, dry scrubland until they got closer to the resort town’s world-famous red rocks.
Actually, those rocks gave him an idea….
“Perhaps we should go to Red Rock Crossing,” he said, and Hayley turned away from the window to face him.
“What’s that?”
“A state park. Oak Creek flows through it, and if you hike up a little ways, you can get a good view of Cathedral Rock. It’s quite beautiful.”
“That sounds perfect.”
Good. He would rather be with her in the relative peace and serenity of Red Rock Crossing than the bustling shops of Sedona’s uptown section. If he wished to be honest with himself, he’d had quite enough of shopping for one day. Also, he knew he
needed to talk to Hayley about who he really was, where he’d come from. The time they’d spent together so far today had shown him that she enjoyed being in his company…but would she feel the same way once she knew the truth?
No matter how that discussion turned out, it would be better to have it at the park, rather than while sharing another drink in a public place. Yes, the park was a popular tourist destination, but since the day was winding down and the park would only be open for another hour or so, he guessed that most of the people visiting there would already be gone, or would be getting ready to pack up and leave. He and Hayley should have the place mostly to themselves, especially on a weekday afternoon like this before the summer vacation season truly began.
He got off Highway 89A at Upper Red Rock Loop, then drove past the high school and along the winding roads that led to Red Rock Crossing. Hayley was quiet as she watched the ruddy-hued cliffs pass by, her expression growing slightly puzzled as they turned down what appeared to be a semi-rural road with houses on either side.
“Oak Creek goes through the flats here,” he said. “But you’ll get to see plenty more red rocks, I promise.”
“Oh, I wasn’t worried,” she said. “It’s beautiful.”
Which it was. They’d had a decent amount of early rain, and so the roadside was already studded with wildflowers in shades of pale, pale lavender and white and fresh coral. Oak trees crowded on all sides as he turned down toward the state park, then stopped at the guard shack.
The woman there, whose deep tan and laugh lines told a story of too many days spent in the hot sun, gave him a puzzled look. “We’re closing in less than an hour.”
Deep Magic Page 5