Seasons of Love (Witches of Warren County)

by Summer Donnelly

  Amber smiled. “Maybe I’ll do that. It would be nice to get to know people.”

  Brandi and Tracy approached the table. “Hey, Brandi,” Tabby greeted.

  Brandi ignored her cousin. “Are you dating Nathan Light?” she asked Amber.

  Everyone at the table turned to stare at Amber. “Uh, no,” she said. “We have sewing class together.”

  “Is that Billy Light’s brother?” January asked.

  “Yes,” Kel said. He frowned. “I think. The Lights all stick together and mostly have sons. It’s hard to keep track sometimes.”

  Tabby’s eyes flared a bright blue and she glared at her cousin. “Brandi this is not the time or place.”

  “Oh, I think it is,” Brandi said with a superior sniff. “I think if you want to do well in this school, you don’t make friends with any of the Light boys. None of them are any better than they have to be.”

  “Billy isn’t nice,” January said. “He used to give Kel a hard time, but I’ve never heard anything about Nate.”

  Everyone turned to Tabby. “I’ve never had a problem with Nate when he comes into the diner. If he’s nice to Amber, I don’t see why you should warn her off.”

  Brandi and Tracy exchanged a long look. “We’re going hiking along the Appalachian Trail on Saturday,” Brandi said. “Would you like to join us?”

  Amber looked around the table but Brandi and Tracy only seemed to be looking at her. “Uh, yeah, sure. Let me ask my brother and I’ll let you know tomorrow, okay?”

  Brandi and Tracy waved to everyone else and walked back to their own table. Tabby stared after her cousin with a frown. “Be careful,” Tabby warned once they were out of earshot. “I don’t trust Tracy and Brandi hasn’t been herself since they became friends last year.”

  “I’m always careful,” Amber said. She reached out to place her hand over Tabby’s. “But thank you for worrying about me.”

  “You live with your brother?” January asked.

  Amber nodded. “Yeah, my folks were in a car accident when I was three. My brothers and I were split up. They were eleven. I was raised in foster care in Denville. As soon as my brothers were old enough, they tried to get custody. There was a lot they had to do, but finally went through and here I am.”

  She didn’t want to tell them about the fights she’d had with her brothers. How Jeremy seemed to resent her. Yell at her. No, it was easier by far to just pretend they were one loving, happy family.

  “I’m sorry,” January said. “My mom died four years ago. I’m just glad I have my dad.”

  “Your really hot dad,” Tabby said.

  “No. Ear bleach. Stop it,” January said, lifting her hands to block out Tabby’s peal of laughter.

  <<<>>>

  Nate

  Nate sat on his bed and looked at the ballpoint pen he’d lifted from Amber’s backpack. He glanced to make sure the door was locked, and reached for the nondescript pen.

  Instantly, he was swept away. She’d last used it when taking a spelling test and he felt her frustration in taking a test as a new kid. She hadn’t had the chance to study. He smiled at the words she had gotten wrong. He traveled back through the pen’s memories. Tabby Evans’s phone number. A grocery list. A job application for a summer job at Land of Imagination.

  He put the pen down and frowned at his reflection over the mirror. Psychometry was a strange gift and he often felt guilty when he used it. Stalkerish.

  It was also unpredictable because you never knew what someone had just done with the object. He shuddered, thinking of some of the violence he’d inadvertently picked up on if he handled something old. Or when he realized his parents.... No. Stop that, he ordered himself. He definitely wasn’t going to think about that.

  Luckily, he could mostly control it. Guns sometimes overpowered him, but he was learning to control that, too. His uncle had an antique weapon verification business. Nate thought that would be an interesting way to use his gift, but he couldn’t work for him if guns and knives still overwhelmed him.

  Nate stood to look out the window of his second-floor bedroom as he waited for Amber to come by. He was hoping to understand her better, but the pen hadn’t given off much information. He was acutely aware that the old house had seen better days. Paint chipped from all the corners and the roof leaked over his mom’s china cabinet. His stupid brother Billy was in the yard setting up a game of RC carts. He was hoping Billy wouldn’t be home when Amber came by. Billy could be a little rough around the edges and Amber seemed like a nice girl.

  Too nice of a girl for him and he knew it. But still. The promise of her smile drew him like a moth to a flame. Only time would tell if the flame would burn too brightly for him.

  A navy-blue SUV pulled into the driveway and paused in front of the front door. Nate watched as her brother drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. The look on her brother’s face plunged him into a cold vat of embarrassment.

  “Mom,” he called out as he left his room. “Amber is here. Do you have those ribbon samples for her?”

  His mom came out of the kitchen. “They’re all in the sewing room. Do you have to shout all the time?” she grumbled. He paused to brush a kiss against her cheek as he passed on his way to the door.

  Nate went downstairs to open the door to find both Amber and her brother on the porch.

  “Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Jared asked.

  “Tabby said it would be fine,” she assured her brother. She turned as she realized they were being watched and swallowed. “Oh, hey Nate. You said two o’clock, right?”

  Nate’s gaze darted between Tabby and her very reluctant brother. “Hey, I’m Nate,” he said, offering his hand.

  “Jared Colletti.”

  “Would you like to come in? My brother is setting up RC carts in the back yard. It’s kinda’ stupid but a lot of fun.”

  “What’s RC carts?” Amber asked as Nate let them in.

  “It’s like a real-life action game. He’s got a couple of radio controlled cars and they set up these huge tracks. I think he got an order of fireworks in so there might even be explosions.”

  “Nathan,” his mother scolded. “Why didn’t you tell me we had guests?”

  Nate opened his mouth but shut it as he realized his mother was teasing. Amber smiled at him and Nate rolled his eyes as if to say parents—what can you do?

  “I’m Claire Light,” she said. “Nate, why don’t you take Jared outside and show him your brother’s track set up. I’ll take Amber to the sewing room.”

  Nate panicked as he realized his plan to spend a few minutes alone with Amber had been completely thwarted by his own mother.

  “Fireworks?” Jared asked.

  Claire’s eyes grew wide. “Oh don’t tell me that brother of yours got roman candles again.” She stormed out of the living room and through the kitchen. “William Aloysius Light,” she yelled.

  Nate cringed. “Ooh, he got middle named.”

  “How much trouble does that put him in?” Jared asked.

  “Enough that he’s probably going to beat the crap out of me after she goes to bed.”

  Jared snorted. “Brothers are great, aren’t they?”

  Amber turned to her brother. “Did you and Jeremy get into fights?”

  Jared laughed. “Never,” he said. “Germ is younger than I am. Do you really think he’d win anything he started?”

  “He’s younger but meaner,” Amber said.

  “Bigger and smarter win every time.”

  “Can I get you something to drink,” Nate asked, remembering his manners.

  “I’m fine,” Jared said. He took the seat Nate offered and pulled out his phone to scroll through his messages. “You guys go get your ribbon or whatever. I’ll wait.”

  Nate took her hand and showed her his mom’s sewing room. Amber blushed but didn’t shrug off his hand. She turned her wrist so their fingers intertwined. They exchanged a look and Nate felt his heart beat a little faster in his chest.

/>   They were actually holding hands.

  “This was originally my grandmother’s room,” he said, bowing his head in shy awkwardness. He opened the door and Amber gasped at the sheer amount of fabric in the room.

  “This is like going into a fabric store,” she gushed. Her free hand traced over a rainbow of calico prints.

  “Yeah, she’s been a quilter for a long time,” he said. Their fingers parted as he reached up for a box of ribbons. “I thought this would be good. Or maybe this one,” he said.

  He watched with pleasure as she hummed in appreciation of all the colors and textures in the box. “I think you’re right,” she said with a laugh after looking through the entire box. Her brown eyes were lit with pleasure and Nate found himself wanting to see her smile more often.

  “I’m glad you moved to Harper’s Mill,” he said.

  Amber reached out and touched his hand. “Me, too.”

  Nate looked up and saw Jared watching them through the open door. Nate swallowed and felt his skin grow hot with awareness.

  “I was wondering, maybe, if you’d like to go see a movie Friday night?” he finally asked.

  “Oh. In Stroudsburg?”

  Nate shook his head. “No, Ray’s in town is having a James Dean weekend. How does Rebel Without a Cause sound?”

  She spared a glance at her brother before nodding. “I’d like that. Can you pick me up?”

  Amber gave him her home address and Nate, again, became acutely aware they lived in two separate realities. He lived in what generally accounted as the slums of Harper’s Mill and she lived in a new development the town council had only approved two years ago.

  <<<>>>

  Nate was just getting off work at the diner on Saturday, when the Colletti brothers breeched the walls. A double set of six plus feet of anger charged though the doors, their eyes darting around as they sought their prey.

  They stood, two fully mature tigers in the foyer of The Breakfast Club, looking for a gazelle to eat. Belatedly, Nate realized he was probably the gazelle they were looking for.

  Emma Nguyen, the owner of diner, rushed to intercept the slaughter. “Jared. Jeremy,” she called, her voice rising with terror.

  “Where is Amber?” Jared asked as they stalked closer, fists clenched as though any wrong word or move by Nate would result in his death.

  Tabby whistled softly as she wiped down the counter top. “Jeeze, and I thought January’s dad was hot,” she muttered.

  Emma rolled her eyes. “Not helping, Tabitha.”

  Nate licked his lips. “I haven’t seen Amber since last night,” he said, his eyes darting to Emma’s. He didn’t want her hurt by the two brothers seething and pacing in front of him like wild animals. “We saw a movie in town and I got her home by curfew. I walked her to the door.” Nate winced that his voice broke over the word door, but he’d be lying if he said the Colletti twins weren’t intimidating.

  The brother who must be Jeremy charged, but was held back by Jared. “She got in,” Jared said. “But she was gone first thing this morning to go hiking along the Appalachian Trail.”

  Tabby gasped.

  Emma’s blue eyes narrowed. “What’s going on?”

  “It wasn’t me,” Nate said, lifting both hands in supplication.

  Tabby put down her washcloth and came closer. “Brandi and Tracy were going to take her hiking. I think by Camp No-Be.”

  Emma took in the rain lashing against the windows of her diner, the worried fury of the Colletti brothers, and Nate’s look of disbelief. “Get Aunt Gemma on the phone. Now,” Emma ordered.

  “Can you see anything?” Nate asked, his grey eyes wide with worry.

  “No,” Emma said. “You know that’s not how my gift works.”

  Nate grunted. “What good are our any of our stupid gifts if they don’t work the way we want them to?”

  “What gifts?” Jeremy asked.

  “Aunt Gem says Brandi is in tears in her room and won’t come out. Uncle Charles is getting tools to take the door off the hinges and will drag her here by any means necessary,” Tabby reported.

  “Have you called the police yet?” Emma was already lifting her cell phone up. “Hey, Del, this is Emma Nguyen. Oh, not so good, thanks. Yeah, could you send police to the diner? We have a local that went missing up on the Trail.”

  Nate turned Tabby. “Tell your aunt to have Brandi bring something she took up to the Trail. If you guys can’t see her, maybe I can figure it out.”

  Jared’s whistle pierced the air and stopped people in their tracks. “What the hell is going on,” he demanded, his voice a click shy of a bellow.

  Jeremy’s arms folded across the wide expanse of his chest as he backed his twin up. “Tell us,” he said, far more an order than a request. “Now.”

  Nate swallowed as fear rose in him. He was certain that at any minute, he’d be torn limb from limb. “How long have you lived in the Mill?”

  “About two years,” Jared said.

  “Long enough to know that sometimes, weird things happen here, right?”

  Jared and Jeremy exchanged a cautious look. “Maybe.”

  “This is one of those things,” Nate said, feeling as though he’d finally won a round. “I will explain everything when we get Amber home.”

  An hour later, a tearful Brandi was propelled into the diner by her irate parents. Anger and frustration filled the diner. Emma had officially closed them down but they were still full of concerned residents.

  Brandi sat, sullen and petulant. “Where is she?” Jared demanded, but Brandi remained stubbornly quiet.

  She gasped with outrage when her father took her phone out of her hand and slid it across the table towards Nate.

  “That’s not fair,” she said, her voice shaking. “She was fine when we left her. At her house.”

  “Look outside,” Nate shouted. “It’s cold and wet and you left her out on the damn Appalachian Trail. There are mountain lions, bobcats, and bears out here. If you had returned Amber to her brothers’ house, she would be there safe and sound.” Nate’s grey eyes flashed with impotent fury. His fingers clenched with rage but all he had was his gift.

  He stared at the phone for a moment before picking it up. A shock went through him and it was all he could do to remain seated.

  Brandi tried to pull the phone out of Nate’s hands but his grip was ironclad. He closed his eyes as he scrolled through the visions of the day like they were an app in his mind. He just had to find the time frame he needed.

  “This was earlier in the day,” Nate said. “While the sun was out. You knocked her own bottle out of her hands.”

  “Why did you do that?” Tabby asked, disillusioned with her own cousin. “Amber is a nice girl. She just got here.”

  “We were just having a little fun at the new girl’s expense is all. Some hazing.”

  Nate opened his eyes and looked at Officer Winters. “She’s near the Mt. Tammany trail.”

  Winters nodded curtly and left to alert the parks department to begin the search.

  Nate turned his gaze to Brandi. “You left her. Alone and afraid.”

  “Don’t hate me,” Brandi said to her family, her control slipping. “Amber slipped and we didn’t know what to do.”

  “Do you understand how I work, Brandi,” Nate demanded. “I can see you deciding to push her down into the ravine near Sunfish Pond. I can hear your thoughts. You didn’t intend to send her over a cliff, but you did want her to learn her place. You thought she was dead and decided to leave her.”

  Jeremy gripped the table. His fear was palpable. Thick. Roiling like an ocean during a hurricane. “Is our sister dead?”

  Jared came up behind his twin and held his shoulder.

  “I don’t know,” Nate confessed. “All I can hear are Brandi’s thoughts. They thought it would be funny to send the new girl home with a little scuffed up. Maybe a bruise or two. Keep her in line. After all, who would want to see a new girl in the school play?” Nate paused. �
��Seriously, Brandi? Mr. D puts everyone who wants to perform in the damn play. All you had to do was try out.”

  Brandi held herself in a little ball and cried. “We didn’t mean to hurt her. Just have a little fun at her expense.”

  Nate handed the phone back to Brandi’s parents. “Let’s go. I know where they pushed her. She should be near the pond.”

  Jared’s eyes opened wide with shock. He pulled Emma aside. “What’s going on?” he asked. “What is he doing?”

  Emma opened her mouth to speak. Paused. “Nate has a special gift,” she finally said. “He can object read.”

  Jared frowned in confusion. “Psychometry is a myth,” he said.

  “So is precognition,” Emma said. “And yet, you’re standing in front of one.”

  <<<>>>

  Amber swore, if she ever got out of this wet, ugly mess she was going to demand her brothers move her somewhere civilized. A town with more concrete than coyotes. She was a tough brat from the foster care system. She’d seen some pretty crazy shit.

  So, the fact that she’d just been duped by two country twits really pissed her off.

  She wiped the rain from her face and groaned when it simply got just as wet. Darkness had fallen, mosquitos were biting, and she was hungry.

  She’d taken a drink from the bottle Brandi had offered when they hit the summit. She had to admit, the view of the Kittatinny Valley in full spring bloom had been breathtaking. Trees were bright green and the air was fresh with wild lilacs.

  She was handing the water bottle back to Tracy when she’d been shoved from behind. She found herself rolling ass over teakettle down the embankment and hurtling towards a rock covered brook. After that, things had gotten fuzzy. She figured she must have passed out when her head hit a rock, but she must have been lucid for a few minutes because she heard Brandi and Tracy arguing. One of the girls screamed something about Amber being dead. Amber wanted to open her mouth to tell them to shut up but then their voices drifted off.

  After that, blessed silence.

  She woke to rain pelting her face and a headache that threatened to split her skull. She sat up and tried to assess the situation. She felt for her phone but couldn’t find it. Fantastic. She was lost without a phone, food, or water. She was hurt with a possible concussion. And she was alone.