Dad glanced at me. “He needed a purpose, and negotiating data packages wasn’t it.”
“Don’t go shouting that at the mall or we’ll become persona non grata,” I said.
“I just think that he needed a role model, and Sheriff Jones is a great one.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself, Dad. I was just joking.”
“I’m so glad you didn’t become a cop. I don’t think I would’ve been cool with my little girl willingly exposing herself to danger.”
“I’m not so little anymore,” I said.
His eyes got all shiny. “Don’t remind me.”
“Aw, Dad. Don’t cry. I’ll always be your little girl.”
He smiled, which creased the lines around his eyes and mouth.
When we pushed through the doors of Bee’s a moment later, Aylen hopped out from one of the booths that lined the brick wall. Over the din, she yelled, “Derek!” She swung her arms in the air. “Cat!”
“I’ll get you some chairs,” Aylen said, already shoving two people off their seats.
“There goes our quiet lunch,” Dad whispered in my ear. “You think we can pretend we didn’t see her?”
“We can try, but I’m not sure we’ll make it out in one piece,” I told him.
As we walked over to the booth, we stopped to say hello to people. Cass deposited a hefty helping of mac and cheese on one of the tables, which reminded me of the casseroles stashed in the cold chamber. I’d have to get rid of them soon or they would go bad.
When we finally reached the booth, Aylen scooted back next to one of her daughters. “We got some nachos with spinach dip for the table.” She gestured to a bowl in which only a green smear remained. Her gaze lifted to her husband’s and then returned to the bowl.
Tony blushed. “I said I’d go on a diet when we got home. We’re not home,” he mumbled.
Aylen didn’t look up from the bowl.
“Hey, Tony. Hi, girls,” Dad said, sitting down next to me.
Satyana and Shiloh didn’t react. Then again, they probably couldn’t hear Dad over the videogame soundtrack blasting from their candy-colored headphones. While Dad engaged a still red-cheeked Tony in small talk, I spoke to Aylen about her naturopath business.
“Cat, Mr. Price, what can I get you?” Cass asked, swinging by our table, balancing a round platter on her hip. She deposited melted cheese sandwiches in front of the twins and a salad in front of Aylen.
“Here, let me help you with that.” Dad grabbed an enormous platter of ribs and grilled corn glistening with butter. “Tony, I suppose this is yours.”
“Whose else would it be?” Aylen muttered.
A whole bunch of tension ensued.
“I’ll take the roast chicken,” I said.
“Me too.” Dad handed his menu back to Cass. “Thanks, honey.”
Cass smiled and bustled away.
“So when are you all heading home?” I asked.
“I booked us tickets on the six o’clock flight,” she said, spearing a green leaf. “But if you need us, we could stay longer. Or I can stay longer. Tony can take the girls home and I can stay,” she repeated so hopefully that it pained me to tell her that we didn’t need her.
“We could use an extra hand to pack Nova’s personal items. I know you already went through her closet, but there are a bunch of boxes in the attic. I wouldn’t know the first thing about what to keep and what to throw,” Dad said.
Aylen perked up. She even sat straighter and looked at Tony again, unknotting the tautness that had settled between them. She even ordered an extra bowl of spinach dip. Tony didn’t touch her peace offering. After polishing off his rack of ribs, he was probably not hungry anymore. But then he ordered an ice cream sundae when Cass came back with our roast chicken.
We ate in uncomfortable silence. At some point, Aylen lifted her napkin to blot the corners of her eyes, smudging some of her heavy black eyeliner in the process.
Dad shoveled in his food so he could get away. I sped up too.
When he was done, he placed his paper napkin on top of his neat, little pile of chicken bones, and rose. “I’m going to say hi to Bee. I’ll be right back.” I could wager a lot of money that he wouldn’t be right back. He was going to work the room until my extended family went to pack.
Swallowing one last forkful of green beans, I scooted back, my chair legs scraping the floor. “I need to go to the bathroom.” I couldn’t take another minute of the strained atmosphere. Plus, I thought they could use some time alone to talk things out.
Since I didn’t really need to go, I washed my hands and checked my reflection. The little bit of mascara I’d applied looked clumpy. I tried to scratch some of it off, but instead, I yanked out one of my lashes. “Ouch.”
When I was seven, Mom had told me that wishes made on eyelashes always came true. She said that it was because you were giving Mother Earth a piece of yourself, which was the sincerest offering. I’d asked her if nail clippings were also considered offerings—because then I would have had a bunch of wishes—but she’d said no. Only what involuntarily falls away from your body. Baby teeth counted. I’d wished on all the ones I hadn’t swallowed.
The eyelash stuck to my thumb hadn’t fallen out voluntarily, so I flicked it into the sink where it stuck to the white porcelain before slithering down like a minuscule snail leaving an inky trail.
I’d believed wishes came true as a kid, but not anymore. If wishes came true, then Mom would still be here, because one of my wishes had been that I would be happy forever. How could I be happy without her? Before tears could spring into my eyes, I walked out of the bathroom, bumping into a girl with blonde hair down to her waist. I did a double-take as the door swung shut behind me. There was something familiar about her, but what? I spotted Cass filling a pitcher with water behind the bar and traipsed over to her.
“Did you see who walked in here?” she asked, voice lilting with excitement.
“Was she in school with us?” I asked.
Cass snorted. “I wish.”
I swung my gaze back toward the bathroom, but the girl was inside, and besides blonde hair and a pointy nose, I couldn’t recollect what she looked like. “Well, are you going to tell me who it is?”
“Really? You don’t recognize her?”
“No, I don’t. Tell me already,” I said.
“Lily Wood.”
“Lil—” Oh. “Oh!”
“I can’t believe we have a celebrity in the house.” She blew on her bangs. “Do you think I should ask her for her autograph? Or maybe she’ll pose on a picture with me?”
“Is she here alone?”
“Nope. She came with that cute medical examiner. The one who—I should learn to shut up. Sorry.”
Cruz had his back to me. “Is her brother here too?” I scanned the room, but couldn’t see him.
“Would I be standing here, talking with you if he were?”
“Hey, Cass, did you go to the well to get my water?” Mr. Hamilton asked, grumpy as always. He lifted his tweed cap, smoothed his thinning white hair, and then put the hat back on.
“Coming,” Cass said.
My coat was still draped over the chair. If I went to retrieve it, Aylen would rope me into the quiet argument she and Tony were having. Or Cruz would spot me. Since neither option suited me, I sat on one of the burgundy leather bar stools to wait for Dad to finish his conversation with his musician friend. What was his name? As I attempted to conjure it up, a hand settled over my shoulder. I twirled around, dislodging Cruz’s hand in the process.
“Did you come back to introduce me to your fiancée?” I asked sourly.
CHAPTER 14 – LILY
“I don’t want to meet her,” I said.
“Why not?”
“Because,” I muttered.
“That’s not an answer, Catori.”
“Are you trying to torture me?” I whispered.
“You’ll like her.”
“I’m not looking
to make a friend. I don’t need friends. I have plenty here,” I said, gesturing toward Blake and Cass. “And if she’s anything like her brother—”
“She’s nothing like Ace. Nothing,” he said, somewhat protectively.
Lily stepped out of the bathroom then, long hair swishing around her bare shoulders. Who wore a sleeveless turtleneck in winter? When her gaze landed on Cruz’s unoccupied chair, color drained from her face, but then she saw him, and her composure returned. Shoulders squared, she walked back to her table, the heels of her black suede boots clicking with each step. They came up over her knee and looked exorbitantly expensive and uncomfortable, but really pretty. I bet her closet was chock-full of pretty and pricey stuff.
When she sat, she pulled her hair out from behind her ear and let it drape around her face. Maybe it was her unexpected shyness, or maybe it was because Cruz wouldn’t let it go, but I ended up sighing and accepting to meet her. I felt gazes on me as I trailed Cruz through the restaurant, particularly Blake’s. He was glowering, elbows rigidly planted on the counter of the kitchen hole. I focused on the back of Cruz’s leather jacket to avoid my friend’s glare.
As we made our way across the room, Cruz glanced back at me a few times, as though checking that I was really following him. Lily looked up when we reached the table. Her eyes were cartoonishly large and gray. They shone silver in the ray of sun falling across her face. When they alighted on me, I expected them to narrow but they didn’t. She stuck out her hand. I felt obliged to shake it. She inhaled sharply when our fingers touched, and jerked her large eyes toward Cruz. I wondered if it was as painful for her as it was for me. Holding her hand was like touching a porcelain bowl that had been left too long in the microwave.
As quickly as was acceptable, I let go. “Well, it was nice to meet you. I should go now.”
Lily caught my wrist and shook her head. I stared at her fingers and she released me. Then she tipped her head toward one of the chairs.
“She’d like you to join us,” Cruz explained.
“I’d rather not. I have errands—”
“You don’t have errands,” Cruz said.
“How would you know?”
“Tell me what errands,” he said.
“I…uh. I have to pick up some groceries.”
He grinned. “I’m pretty sure the supermarket will be open this afternoon.”
“But not the post office. It closes at”—I pretended to look at my watch, which I’d forgotten to put on—“two. And it’s one-thirty.”
“Catori, sit,” Cruz said, smile still in place. “Please.”
Grumbling, I dropped into the chair opposite Lily. After a few painfully quiet seconds, I asked, “Is this your first time in Rowan?”
Lily shook her head no.
“You’ve come here before?”
She nodded.
“Why?”
She shot her gaze to Cruz.
The rose petal graves. I was certain that was the purpose of her trip. Maybe it was a mandatory class trip in faerie school…visit the graveyard where our mortal enemies lie. Did they even have a faerie school?
“Pretty boring town. I wouldn’t suggest staying too long,” I said. “I hear the weather’s supposed to get bad again tonight so you should probably leave.”
Lily didn’t say anything. She just stared at me with those doll-like eyes of hers. I heaved in a breath and tried to strike up a conversation with her again, but it was like striking a match to paper. No words flared out of her mouth. She was trying to make me uncomfortable. That was it. She knew what had happened last night in the car. Giving me the silent treatment was her punishment. She was going to stand up on her chair and wag her finger at me and proclaim I was a slut. And I wouldn’t deny it, because she’d be right.
Cruz placed his hand on my knee. I hadn’t realized I was bouncing it up and down. “Breathe,” he said.
I glued the soles of my shoes to the wooden floor. “Look, Lily, I imagine Cruz told you about last night, and that’s why you’re treating me funny, but in my defense I had no idea you two were engaged.”
I must have spoken my apology louder than I imagined because a lot of people gawked, and then glass shattered and Cass’s platter spun like a top. Blake backed away from the kitchen hole. And it wasn’t to help Cass sweep up the broken glass. He just retreated deep into the kitchen while Cass swore and dropped to her knees to pick up the broken pieces. It took a while for conversations to start up again.
I leaned forward in my chair. “Best of luck with your engagement,” I said. I attempted to stand up but Cruz’s agonizingly hot hand returned to my knee, pinning me in place.
“Can I tell her, Lily?” he asked.
“Tell me what?”
Lily nodded, her hair rippling around her pale cheeks.
“We’ve been engaged for several dec—years now. It was an arrangement between my parents and Linus. Ace is also engaged to someone of Linus’s choosing. You see, weddings for us are strategic. They’re not romantic.” He collected Lily’s hand in his. “I adore Lily, but she’s like my sister.”
Her gaze flickered up to him and then to their linked hands and her cheeks, which were pink, turned darker. Lily liked Cruz, and not as a brother. I wasn’t particularly intuitive, but it didn’t take a medium to realize this.
Dad came by our table. He shook Cruz’s hand, then turned toward Lily. “Hello, dear,” he said. “I’m Catori’s father.”
She stood up and took Dad’s extended hand. Once she released it, she placed both her hands on her heart and pressed her lips together.
“She’s offering her condolences for the passing of your wife, Mr. Price,” Cruz explained.
“Do you always talk for her?” I said.
The flushed patches on Lily’s skin joined together like puzzle pieces until her entire face was cherry-red.
“Do you know sign language, Catori?” Cruz asked.
I blinked. “She’s—She can’t—”
“Lily’s mute.”
“Mute?” I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to repeat the word. It felt like a bad word. One that should never be spoken out loud. I raised my gaze to Lily’s. “But I read that article about you, and it wasn’t mentioned.”
“Because it’s nobody’s business,” Cruz said.
Dad made some hand gestures and Lily smiled, and then she wriggled her hands, and he smiled.
“You know how to sign?” I asked my father.
“I had a friend who was deaf. So I learned a few words.” He looked at Lily who spun her hands and tapped them together.
“That means, I’m really hungry. I could eat like a cow.” Dad said.
Lily laughed. It was a strange, hiccuppy laugh. When she saw me staring, she stopped abruptly.
“I could eat a cow, not like a cow,” Cruz said, chuckling also.
“My sign language skills are a little rusty. Anyway, I didn’t want to crash your get-together. I just came by to tell Cat that I was leaving.”
“I’m ready to go,” I said, soaring out of my chair faster than the puck on a high striker. “I’ll go get my coat.”
“Will you come by later for a drink, or are you heading back to Beaver Island tonight?” I heard Dad ask just as I reached the booth.
Tony had left but Aylen was still there. She placed her hand on my arm. “That’s Lily Wood, isn’t it?” she whispered. “I didn’t want to interrupt, but I really did want to interrupt.” Her eyes moved toward Lily then back toward me.
“Go introduce yourself if you want to,” I said.
She started hyperventilating with excitement. “Satyana, Shiloh, do you want to go meet Lily Wood?” They looked up from their tablets.
“She’s here?” one of them asked, dragging her headphones down to her neck.
Aylen nodded and—unfortunately—pointed straight at Lily.
“Could you be any more obvious, Mom?” the other twin grumbled.
“Yeah, you’re embarrassing us.”
“Could you try being nice to your mom, for a change,” I said.
“Please, Cat, don’t get involved,” Aylen said.
“Don’t what? Tell them that they act like brats? That they take their mother for granted? You have no idea what I would do to get my mother back. No idea.” My voice was so low that it vibrated inside my chest.
“Don’t talk to my girls like that,” Aylen snapped, wrapping a protective arm around Shiloh’s shoulders. Or maybe it was her other devil-daughter.
I blinked.
“I’ve decided to go home with my family. They need me,” Aylen said.
“Fine.”
“I didn’t mean to—” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I raised my voice.”
“It’s fine. Have a safe trip.” I walked back over to my father. “I’m ready.”
He slung his arm around my shoulder and kissed the top of my head. “See you both later.”
Lily nodded while Cruz just sat there, observing me.
As we walked out of Bee’s Place, Dad said, “Isn’t it nice that they’re coming over? Lily is such a sweet girl, and she’s only a year younger than you. And—”
“I’m not three, Dad. I don’t need you to organize playdates for me,” I said, stepping out of his reach. “I don’t want to be friends with that girl. Or with Cruz.”
“Why not?”
“Because I just don’t,” I said after we’d stepped out of the restaurant. “Mom would have understood.”
Dad’s face whitened.
It was a mean thing to say, and I wanted to take it back, but I also wanted him to stop treating me like a little girl who didn’t know her own mind. I knew my own mind. Only too well.
I twirled around and walked up the street instead of toward the hearse. “I’ll see you at home,” I called out, my voice choked up with tears. I had no right to cry, and yet the stress from meeting Lily, Aylen’s rebuke…it made everything pour out of me.
I stuffed my hands into my pockets and walked, and walked, through the sand dunes and down a snaking forest trail. The wind licked my cheeks and the cold made my eardrums ache, and yet I kept walking. I took the trail that wound around the sand dunes and cut across the fields tended by Rowan’s oldest gardener, an eighty-something-year-old woman named Holly. We’d had a class outing to her greenhouse where she’d explained how to nurture soil to grow plants. I remembered how she’d touched a bud and it had cracked open and blossomed before my very eyes. I’d told my father about it, and he’d said it was probably a magic trick. Now I wondered if it wasn’t just magic.
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