“The Rio Grande cuts through here,” Simon commented. “I guess that’s why the town was founded in the first place.”
I couldn’t see the river, but I did notice more cottonwoods, and assumed they must be following the water. Otherwise, Española didn’t appear to have much to recommend it — unlike the parts of Santa Fe I’d seen so far, this smaller town was full of strip malls and national chains, and really didn’t look that much different from parts of Cottonwood or Flagstaff or even Phoenix.
There was one upside to the commercialization, though. We could shop here and get pretty much whatever we wanted.
Simon pulled into the parking lot of a large Walmart, and we both got out. The air here was even warmer than in Tesuque, mild and playful. Immediately I said, “Let me get out of this jacket.”
“Sure,” he replied, and waited while I tugged off my suede jacket and laid it on my seat.
Since we were only there to get one thing, it didn’t take too long to pick out a no-frills phone for me and select a separate card with phone minutes so I wouldn’t have to sign up for a plan. The whole time, though, I couldn’t help shooting surreptitious glances at the other shoppers, trying my best to see if any of them were also witch-kind. But apparently Simon was right, and no Castillos lived in this part of New Mexico…or if they did, they weren’t shopping at the local Walmart that morning.
“You’re sure you don’t want to get anything else?” Simon asked quietly as we headed for the checkout lines.
Since I had my luggage and toiletries, I had pretty much everything I might need. All right, my clothing choices might start to get a bit limited if this whole thing dragged on for more than a week, but I figured I’d make do. And besides….
A flush touched my cheeks. Apparently Simon noticed, because he asked, “What is it?”
“Oh, nothing,” I replied. By that point we’d gotten to an “express” checkout line, although even that seemed to move about as quickly as a half-frozen stream in March. While the other people standing there didn’t seem as though they could care less about my opinions, I still would rather I wasn’t overheard. It would sound impossibly snobby to tell him I really didn’t want to buy my clothes at Walmart, but that was what had passed through my mind. Most of my clothes came from cute boutiques in Jerome and Prescott and Flagstaff, or from department stores like Dillard’s or Macy’s. But if I tried to tell Simon that, I knew he’d think I was being a ridiculous snob.
He shot me a puzzled glance, but then shrugged and appeared to let it go. A pang went through me as I watched him pay for my phone and its accompanying minutes, but I knew better than to offer to purchase those items myself. I wouldn’t put it past my parents to be tracking my bank accounts, even though I’d left them a message letting them know I was all right. For now, I had to let Simon handle this sort of thing. At least now I knew he was a de la Paz and not the starving college student he’d originally told me he was, and so I figured he could afford to manage the logistics. Even so, I vowed to pay him back as soon as I could.
We headed back to Tesuque. I knew as soon as we arrived at the house, I’d need to call my parents. And although I’d already called them the night before and told them I was okay, I still experienced a tremor of unease at the thought of talking to them. They were not going to be happy with my decision to stay here and learn how to use my magic with Simon. I knew they would pressure me to come back to Arizona, and I didn’t want to do that. Twenty-one years of my life spent there, and I’d never shown a single sign of having any kind of magical ability. Three days here, and I was talking to ghosts and teleporting. My decision seemed obvious enough to me, although I doubted they’d see it that way.
All this ruminating made me realize that they’d never responded to my message from the night before. Or rather, Simon hadn’t mentioned hearing from them, since I’d made the call from his phone. Once we were on the road again, I asked, “Did my parents ever call back?”
“They couldn’t have,” he replied as he pointed the SUV south and eastward. “The caller ID on this phone is blocked. They would have gotten the message, but they wouldn’t have been able to respond.”
“Oh.” I supposed I should have thought of that, should have realized Simon wouldn’t have allowed me to make the call if they could easily trace it back to him. The whole point was to fly low and avoid the radar. He hadn’t come out and said it point blank, but I knew he didn’t want me to give them any information about him. Of course I wouldn’t; my clan was on good terms with the de la Pazes, and if I let too much slip, I knew it wouldn’t take too long before someone in the other witch family figured out exactly who I was holed up with.
“It’ll be fine,” he said. “We’ll be home soon enough, and you can use your new phone to call your parents.”
“And then they’ll have this number, and they’ll be pestering me day and night to come home to Arizona.”
He flashed me a quick sideways glance before looking back at the road before us. “You really think they’ll do that?”
“Oh, probably. I mean, I understand why they would be concerned. And frankly, they’re going to want me to get the hell out of Castillo territory.” I let out a sigh and turned to gaze out the window for a moment. Now we were turning back onto the highway that would lead us into Tesuque, leaving Española behind. “Which means I’ll just have to stand my ground.”
“You’re an adult,” Simon said reasonably. “They can’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”
On the surface, this was true enough. It wasn’t as though I was my sister Emily, the prima-in-waiting, who was bound to Jerome and our clan, who couldn’t just up and leave if she got a wild hair about suddenly wanting to see the world. Yes, I had clan loyalty to consider, but it wasn’t quite the same thing. On the other hand, even if I wasn’t the prima-in-waiting, I was still the prima’s daughter. I had certain responsibilities, even if I would never lead the clan.
Well, one of those primary responsibilities had been to get safely married to Rafael Castillo, and that hadn’t turned out so well. Maybe the most important thing was for me to develop my powers so I could have something to offer the McAllister and Wilcox clans besides an advantageous marriage to a prominent member of a neighboring witch family.
“It’s not that easy,” I said, and let out a sigh.
Simon shifted in his seat and even began to lift one hand off the steering wheel, as if he intended to reach over and give me a reassuring touch. Apparently he decided that wasn’t such a good idea, because after a brief hesitation, his fingers wrapped themselves around the steering wheel even more firmly. “I know you think you owe them something,” he said. “But it seems as though you’ve done everything they asked of you. It’s not your fault that this thing with Rafe Castillo fell apart. Don’t you think you deserve to do something for yourself?”
“I am,” I replied firmly. “Otherwise, I would never have come here with you. I would’ve hauled me and my wedding dress off to Albuquerque to catch the first flight back to Phoenix.”
He chuckled. “And that would have been something to see. I get it. I can only imagine my parents’ reaction if they knew I was here with you, in another clan’s territory, rather than off taking pictures of stars in the desert.”
“What’re they like?” I asked curiously. Simon had said very little about his family, except to let me know he was part of the de la Paz clan.
A small lift of his shoulders. “What are anyone’s parents like? I’m an only child, so they’re protective. And it’s hard to break away, to start making a life on your own. I knew I had to do that, though. And you need to do the same thing.”
“I will,” I said. Feeling more than a little daring, I reached over and touched the back of his hand, even though I knew he had stopped himself from doing much the same thing to me only a few minutes earlier. He didn’t lift his hand from the steering wheel, but I saw the way a small shiver went through him as my fingers brushed against his skin. �
�Because you’ll be helping me.”
I sat at the table in the kitchen and stared at my newly unpacked phone. Simon was over at the refrigerator, pouring us both glasses of water. At last he spoke. “It’s not going to make the call for you, you know.”
Yes, I did know. Oh, some phones were sophisticated enough that they did have the ability to carry on brief preprogrammed conversations, but this wasn’t that kind of phone. I’d have to do the heavy lifting here.
Problem was, now that the time had come, I didn’t have any idea what to say. Each dialogue I rehearsed in my head sounded progressively more ridiculous.
Simon came over to the table and set a glass of water next to me. When he spoke, his tone was gentle. “You need to get it over with. Just remember that they can’t compel you to do anything. And if they’re as awesome as you say they are — ”
“They are,” I cut in. “They’re great.”
“Then they’ll understand. No one who loves you could possibly expect you to have stayed with Rafe Castillo, not after what he did.”
My gaze flicked up toward Simon, but all I saw in his face was concern. His tone hadn’t changed when he uttered the word “loves,” which meant…what? I didn’t really expect him to be in love with me, not when we still barely knew one another, but the attraction was there, whether or not he wanted to admit it right now.
Which was good. I needed to get my magic sorted out, and maybe then I could decide how I felt about Simon. I should be thanking him for showing so much forbearance.
And I needed to get this over with.
“You’re right,” I said. “I’m just being a coward.”
“You’re not a coward, Miranda.” His voice was firm. “Don’t ever think that about yourself. I’ll be down the hall in the family room if you need me for anything.”
“Thanks. But I think I’ll be okay.”
He offered me a reassuring smile. “I know you will.”
After that he headed down the hallway. A moment later, I heard the TV come on, although not blaringly loud. Just enough to provide some cover so he wouldn’t have to listen to my conversation come echoing through the corridor.
All right. I made myself pick up the phone, and then I went to the keypad and typed in the number for my mother’s cell phone. In general, it was easier to call her than my father, just because he was often out in the garage or in the yard working, whereas my mother ended to have the phone right with her in case she was needed for clan business, or simply to be on call for babysitting duties.
Her phone rang. And rang. And rang. Just when I was sure it would roll over to voicemail as it had the night before, the call connected.
“Hello?”
Her tone was completely neutral, which I’d been expecting. She didn’t know the number I was calling from. I supposed I should be glad that she’d picked up at all, rather than letting the call go to voicemail.
“Mom, it’s Miranda.” There. I sounded much calmer and steadier than I’d thought I would. Maybe all the turmoil and stress of the past few days had actually been beneficial, had helped to toughen me up a bit.
“Miranda! Where are you? We got your message last night, but there was no caller I.D., so we had no idea how to get hold of you.”
“I’m still in New Mexico.” I paused, trying to think of the best way to phrase what I needed to say. “I’m with a friend.”
“Yes, you said that. What friend? Where? And what happened with Rafe?”
I decided to respond to all those questions in reverse order. “He — I’m not sure exactly what happened, Mom, except he called the whole thing off while I was standing at the altar.”
“He what?” Her voice practically vibrated with shock and anger.
“I told you — he dumped me.” Gathering my breath, I said, “It’s all right. I could tell things weren’t going to work out between us. He didn’t want to get married to me, and really, I didn’t want to marry him, either. We didn’t know each other.”
A brief pause. Then, “What did Genoveva have to say about all this?”
“I honestly don’t know,” I replied. “I left, so I missed all the aftermath.”
“You left,” my mother said, her tone musing. “And now you’re staying with a friend. What friend? Where?”
Obviously, she wasn’t about to let any of that go. I couldn’t even blame her, because I knew I would have been asking the same questions if I’d been in her position. However, I couldn’t give her the answers she wanted, not and be able to work with Simon. I needed to keep him safely out of it.
“I’d rather not say,” I told her. “Mostly because the Castillos don’t have any idea where I am, and I want to keep it that way. There are some…things…I need to get worked out before I even think about coming home.”
“What kind of things?” Her voice sharpened as she went on without waiting for me to reply, “Miranda, I know you must be hurt, and confused. But I really think it would be much better for you to come home.”
“No,” I said flatly. “I’m sorry, Mom. I know it’s hard for you to understand, but I’m doing this for all of us, not just me. You have to trust me. Please…trust me on this.”
A long, long pause. I held onto the cheap little phone, praying she wouldn’t keep arguing with me. I could dig my heels in and be as stubborn as the next person, but I hated having to do that to my mother. I wanted her to understand and not ask any more questions.
At last I heard a gentle sigh come through the phone’s tiny speaker. “But you’re safe.”
“Completely safe,” I replied. “I’m fine.”
“You do sound all right.” Another silence, and then she added, “Okay. That is, I’m not sure how much we could do to force you to come home, since we don’t even know where you are. But I suppose this is where I have to recognize that you’re an adult and that you need to make your own choices. Just…be careful, and when you’re ready to come home, you let us know.”
“I will,” I promised, relief rushing through me. “I honestly don’t think it will be too long. Maybe a week, or just a little more.”
“That still sounds like an awfully long time,” my mother said. “Do you need anything from us? Money? More clothes?”
I thought of Simon buying the phone for me, of the way I’d refused to get any clothes from Walmart. What I had should last me a week, especially since I could do laundry here at the house. A small pang went through me as I recalled all the shops in Santa Fe that I’d never gotten the chance to explore. No doubt I would have been able to purchase plenty there to keep me happy, but that wasn’t an option right now.
And clothes weren’t important. What mattered was the work I would be doing with Simon, and nothing else.
“I’m fine,” I said firmly. “I really don’t need anything.”
“If you’re sure….”
“I am. Tell Dad I love him, and that everything is going to be okay. I just need some time.”
“All right.” A small hesitation, and then she asked, “What should we do about the Castillos?”
“Nothing,” I replied. “I mean, if they reach out to you, then you can tell them I’m all right, but frankly, they don’t deserve to know anything other than that. But you sure as hell don’t need to call them.”
“You’re angry. I understand that. Somehow, though, we’re going to have to figure out how to repair relations between our clans.”
“Maybe,” I said, thinking I was glad I wasn’t prima and therefore didn’t have to worry about the diplomatic side of the current situation. “But I think it’s up to them to make the peace offerings, considering it was their prima’s son who caused this whole mess.”
My mother sighed again. “You’re right. Well, your father and I will handle that, one way or another.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Should I say anything else? Probably not; the longer we spoke, the more chance she might be able to get information out of me that I really didn’t want to share. “I need to go now.”
“But I can reach you at this number?”
“Yes,” I replied before adding quickly, “but only if it’s an emergency, okay? I really need some time to myself.”
“All right. Only in an emergency.”
I heard the resignation in her tone and knew she wouldn’t argue that point with me. She didn’t like it, that much I could tell, but she’d respect my boundaries. My parents had always allowed us kids to make our own choices without butting in too much — unless those choices might bring us some kind of trouble. And also, they understood that I was an adult. Now that I was apparently on my own, they had to stand back a little and let me make my own way.
“Thanks. Love you, Mom,” I said, then pushed the button to end the call.
Well, that was done, and with less damage than I’d feared. I had to hope my father wouldn’t be too upset by the arrangement my mother and I had made, and try to call me himself, but I supposed that was a risk I would have to take.
I pushed the chair where I’d been sitting away from the table and stood, then went down the hall to the TV room, where Simon was watching soccer, of all things. Well, I’d caught him watching football just the day before, so I had to assume he liked sports, although otherwise he didn’t give much indication of it.
As soon as I entered the room, though, he picked up the remote and shut off the TV. “You talked to them?”
“I talked to my mom.”
“And?”
“I think we’re good. She understands that I need this time for myself. I even got her to agree not to call unless it’s an emergency, which feels like a minor miracle. So I guess that means I’m ready.” For what, I wasn’t completely sure, but I had to trust Simon, trust that he knew what he was doing. Otherwise, I shouldn’t be here at all.
Darker Paths (The Witches of Canyon Road Book 2) Page 7