A Stroke Of Magic (15 page)

He let go of my hand. “You have something in your hair.” Then his fingers touched my hair and gently pulled. “Just a piece of lint. See?”

This action, as small as it was, brought my attraction to the surface. Warmth climbed through me, saturating my entire body in barely the time necessary to take a breath. “Thank you.”

“What are you thinking right now?”

“I’m not thinking. I can’t think.”

“I feel much the same.”

Ethan scooted his chair closer, leaned in, and before I could blink, his lips touched mine and I forgot about everything else. Every
one
else. A swirl of sensations began in the pit of my stomach, crawling up and out, until my entire body shivered with them. His hand came to my chin, and then to my cheek. The kiss deepened. We could have been sitting anywhere in the world, and I wouldn’t have known it. Because all I knew was his scent, his taste, his touch. Every part of me yearned for Ethan, and that startled me. Maybe it even scared me a little.

I pulled back. As we separated, I sighed. “Wow.”

“Wow, indeed.” He brushed my hair away from my face, kissing me softly on my forehead. His gaze moved past me, and he blinked. Then he half smiled. “How odd. Chloe has dumped her beer on Kyle’s head.”

“What?” I tried to make sense of his words, but his kiss had muddled everything. When I realized what he’d said, I leapt up and said, “I should make sure she’s okay.”

I strode toward Kyle and Chloe, trying to forget how Ethan’s kiss had made me feel. This wasn’t easy, because my lips still tasted like him, but I refocused and attempted to appraise the scene ahead of me. I should have been there the whole time. After all, Chloe had emptied her beer on Kyle for me. Well,
mostly
for me.

Chloe’s arms were crossed. Kyle was tugging at his now-wet shirt. By the time I got to them, he was pulling it up. I stopped and held my breath. Chloe stared at me, obviously waiting for my reaction because she stood in front of Kyle. It was as if everything stopped and then started again, but in slow motion.

He lifted the shirt more. I stepped closer. The slow motion sped up, and in one fast yank, his shirt was off. I tilted my head to the side. I took another step closer. My heart stopped and then dropped like a dead weight into my gut, because…Shelby had hit the bull’s-eye. The scar was in the exact right place on Kyle’s right shoulder. And from what I could tell, it was a close match. I couldn’t be sure if it was perfect without my sketchbook, but I knew it was really, really close.

Kyle Ackers. My soul mate? “No way,” I whispered. “I don’t believe it.”

Chloe spun on her heel and headed for the house. I knew without asking that she was leaving. And, for the third time that day, I didn’t blame her.

Kyle grinned. “I’d forgotten how spunky she is. I love a woman with red hair.” He winked at me and set off after Chloe.

Me? I sort of crumpled to the ground, wishing it would open up and swallow me whole. Of course, that was another wish that didn’t come true.

My fingers touched my lips. Here I was, just beginning to get to know Ethan, feeling things for him I’d never felt with anyone else, and now what? I was supposed to turn away and focus on Kyle? That was not only something I didn’t want to do, but I didn’t think it was something I
could
do. Because somehow, in the space of that very short kiss, my heart had become involved.

It was another thing I hadn’t expected.

Clutching my pencil tighter, I stared at the page in front of me. My breathing came in fast, shallow huffs. My anxiety grew. Why wasn’t this working? Maybe I wasn’t focusing hard enough. Closing my eyes, I imagined every muscle in my body relaxing.

Maybe if I’d paid more attention when I’d taken that meditation class, this wouldn’t be so difficult. I concentrated on what I wanted to happen. On what I
needed
to happen. My breathing slowed, and suddenly the slightest of tingles swept through my fingers. It was there. I could feel it.

Opening my eyes, I put pencil to paper. The tingles increased, and shivers cascaded down my spine. My fingers twitched. The pencil began to move. I told myself to remain calm, to not do anything that would interrupt what I’d worked so hard for all morning. Hell, all week. But then, for no reason that I could discern, the shivers, tingles, and magic disappeared. Bam. Gone.

Snapping the pencil in half, I threw the pieces across the room. They hit the wall with a soft
clack
and then fell to the floor. The urge to toss my sketchbook in the same direction came over me. I resisted. Because no matter how upset I was, there was no reason to behave like a spoiled child. My eyes rested on the blank page, and I swear it mocked me, inanimate object or not.

“Oh, hell with it,” I muttered. Giving in to the urge, I flung the sketchpad as hard as I could. It sailed through the air, hitting the wall with an oh-so-satisfying smack.

Yep. It made me feel better. For about three seconds.

But of course my aggravation returned. A week had passed since the cookout, and I still didn’t understand anything. Like: what would happen if I didn’t find my soul mate before my daughter was born? Even if I did, how would I know for sure I’d found the right guy? And of course, how could a man I had zero attraction for possibly be the key to my daughter’s future?

It would also be helpful to understand my magic a bit more, such as why it worked sometimes and why other times I got nothing. Sighing, I willed myself to calm down. I so wanted to talk to Chloe about it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t. She’d asked for a temporary time-out, just until things chilled out a little. I understood, but I didn’t like it.

At least I still had Grandma Verda and Elizabeth. They were coming over later to see if the three of us could figure out what I alone hadn’t been able to.

Thank God for that.

The phone rang, interrupting my thoughts. Hoping it was Chloe, I answered immediately. “Hello?”

“Alice? It’s Ethan.” My heart slammed against my chest at the sound of his voice.

“Oh! Hi. What’s up?” I tried to be cool and collected, but I probably failed. You see, I’d avoided having any personal discussions with Ethan this past week. Even so far as turning down a lunch invitation, claiming I had other plans. “Are you calling about the Kendall account? I stopped by Frosty’s again the other night, just to check out their weeknight traffic.”

“Really? And how was it?”

“Um. Busy.” I bit my lip, wishing I hadn’t brought up work.

“That’s great, but it’s not why I phoned. We’ve barely talked since the cookout. I’ve missed you.”

He missed me? Wow. Spidery tingles danced along my skin. I liked that more than I should. “Really?”

A low rumble of laughter slid through the line. “You sound surprised.”

“Not surprised, exactly. Well, okay. Yeah. Maybe a little.” God. Everything about this man made me believe I could fall for him. In a heartbeat. Part of me wanted to run full speed ahead and see what happened. The other part? It wanted to run in the other direction at warp velocity. “I’m glad you called.”

“I’m glad you answered,” he teased. I smiled wider. “I know this is last minute, and I should have asked you days ago…but are you busy this afternoon? I thought we could see a movie, maybe get some dinner afterward.”

Excitement hit fast, and I almost said yes. But then I remembered my grandmother and sister were coming over soon.
Very
soon. Disappointment fluttered in. “I’d have liked that, but I have plans today.”

“Ah. Well, I understand. Maybe another time?”

“Definitely another time. I could probably cancel…” I trailed off, thinking it over. I so wanted to go with Ethan, but I’d waited all week for this family powwow. “No, I guess I shouldn’t. Responsibilities, you know?”

“As I said, this was last minute. Let’s plan something for next weekend?”

Yay!
I couldn’t stop my heart from pounding, even though I knew this complicated everything. “Yes. Next weekend is…um…perfect.”

We talked for a few more minutes about nothing in particular, but it was still nice. I loved that he’d taken the time to call, to check in, and yeah, to ask me out. When we hung up, some of my bad mood had evaporated. Funny, how a ten-minute chat with Ethan could make that happen.

When the phone rang again, I thought maybe—just maybe—it was him calling back to see if I was busy the next day. Sadly, it wasn’t. Rather, it was my brother Scot, who claimed he wanted to know how I was feeling. But he hemmed and hawed so much that I realized there was something he wasn’t saying.

“Okay, what’s going on, Scot?” I picked up the broken pencil pieces and my sketchpad as I talked.

“What do you mean?”

“Is there something else you need?”

“Not really. I…I was wondering how last weekend went. With Chloe and Kyle.” The stress in his voice should have tipped me off. It didn’t.

“Interesting. A little weird. Why?”

“Weird how? Did…uh…something happen with Chloe?” When I didn’t answer, he exhaled. Loudly. “Is Chloe dating him again?”

And that was when I got it. “You like her, don’t you?”

He cleared his throat, as if something thorny was stuck in it. “Like Chloe? Of course I like her.”

“Come on, bro—you know what I mean.” Why hadn’t I seen this before?

“It’s not like I’m in love with her or anything. I just want to make sure she doesn’t get hurt again.”

“Oh, Scot. She thinks of you like a brother.”

“It’s not like it’s a huge deal. Look, I need to go. Do me a favor and make sure she’s okay. Please?”

After promising I would, we hung up. Was Chloe the reason Scot had never gotten serious with anyone? Maybe, but I hoped not. She’d put him in the family category a long time ago, and I didn’t think that status was likely to change.

I was still mulling it over when my sister and grandmother arrived. We took our positions in the living room and I caught them up to speed on the cookout happenings. When I finished speaking, I could almost see the wheels turning in Grandma Verda’s head.

“There has to be a reason you haven’t been able to use your magic while drawing,” she said. “We’re missing something.”

“I know. But I don’t know what.”

“Never mind that for now.” My sister grabbed my sketchpad and flipped to the page of the beach drawing. “How closely does Kyle’s scar match this one?”

I brought the image of Kyle’s shoulder back to mind. “I don’t know. It’s really close, but it’s not like I took a picture.”

“Maybe you should have,” Grandma Verda pointed out. “Because then you might not be so worried. And why didn’t you dump something on Ethan’s head? It would’ve been easy!”

“It didn’t seem the appropriate thing to do. That’s why.” This wasn’t the complete truth. To be honest, I wasn’t ready to see his shoulder. Because if he didn’t have a scar, I’d have to turn away. And that was something I wasn’t ready to contemplate.

“It might not be Kyle
or
Ethan. You’ve thought of that, haven’t you?” my sister asked. “It could be someone else entirely. I thought the plan was determining if Ethan or Kyle
could
be your soul mate, and then going from there.”

“Which is why you should have gotten Ethan’s shirt off,” said Grandma.

“Okay, Grandma. I think you’ve made your point.”

“I’m just saying…”

I held my hands up. “So what am I going to do?”

“Well. Since the magic doesn’t seem to be working, it’s time to be more practical. You need to be out there meeting other men. Just in case. I have the perfect idea too.” Coming from my grandmother, that didn’t exactly fill me with confidence.

“I thought you were sure Ethan was the man.”

She leaned forward, her pale blue eyes serious. “I still think he’s a likely candidate, but you need to expand your horizons. There’re a lot of men in this world to choose from.”

“She’s right. As much as I hate to admit it.” Elizabeth chewed on her bottom lip. “Maybe you should do one of those online dating things! In your profile, just write down that scars turn you on. I bet you’d get tons of responses!”

Before I could voice how very much I disliked that idea, Chloe showed up. When I let her in, the first thing she did was hug me. Stupidly, I assumed this meant everything was okay between us. So I hugged her back. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too. But that’s not why I came over.” She pulled away. When she saw my grandmother and sister hanging out in the living room, she frowned. “Let’s go to your bedroom to talk. There are some things I need to say, and I’d rather do it privately.”

Rather than argue, I followed her to my room. “So, why are you here?”

She pulled herself up straight and focused on me. “I don’t understand why you haven’t called Kyle—or even Shelby, so she can set up a date. Or something. This is driving me crazy, Alice. I need to know,” she blurted.

Oh, no.
“Have you fallen for him again? This is the guy who completely broke your heart!” I reminded her.

Unshed tears glistened in her eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe. And I know you don’t understand it.”

“Then explain it.”

“He was just there, Alice. No matter what crappy thing happened, he was there.” She blinked. “Remember the summer before our senior year? Your family went on that month-long vacation to Europe?”

“Of course I remember; you were supposed to go with us.”

“Right, and I got sick. Pneumonia. I couldn’t go. Kyle knew how bummed I was.” She paused, as if bringing the memory back. “He planned pretend vacations for me. Every day was a new one. He’d bring these crazy decorations over and he’d tell me we were in Milan, or London, or wherever.” Lifting her chin, she focused on me. “It probably sounds silly, but it wasn’t to me.”

“I don’t think it’s silly at all.” I understood so much more now. “Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t want you to know how bummed I was.”

“He still broke your heart,” I pointed out. “He continued to make plans with you, even after he started dating Shelby.”

“You’re right. But I can’t forget that summer, or how sweet he was. So yes, I might be falling for him again, but I can’t do anything even if I have. Because if I start dating him again, only to find out he’s supposed to be with you…” She fisted her hands. “That would just be too hard. So you need to move ahead like you promised.”

Why the hell had I made that promise? “I don’t feel anything for Kyle, so how can he be the right man? And if you think he’s right for you, don’t wait for me, Chloe. Go for it.”

“I can’t. It would hurt too much later. He’s calling me every day. How can I keep saying no to him when I want to say yes? I can’t avoid him forever.” She paused while she gathered her thoughts. “This is your thing. You need to figure it out.”

“I’m trying. That’s why Grandma Verda and Elizabeth are here. To help me.”

Temper darkened her eyes. “Why can’t you use your magic to find out? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“It’s not that easy,” I reminded her. “A bunch of stuff I’ve tried hasn’t worked.”

“But why not? You’re probably doing it wrong. It seems pretty simple to me. You make a wish, and then it comes true. It can’t be
that
difficult!”

My anxiety turned into frustration. “I wish you had the magic, Chloe, so you could see how difficult it is for yourself.”

“Yeah, I wish I had it too. Because I bet I’d be able to get to the bottom of this.”

“Right. It should be a friggin’ cakewalk.” I rubbed my arms to chase away the goose bumps that had appeared. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to fight with you.”

“I don’t want to argue, either. But—” She sort of lurched forward then, and grabbed the edge of my dresser for support. Her snow white complexion sent a jolt of concern through me.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Just a little dizzy. I haven’t slept well this week.”

And that made me feel worse. “Aw, Chloe. I’m sorry. Sit down. I’ll get you some juice or something.”

“I’ll be okay.
We’ll
be okay. Just work this out. I really like Kyle, but I can’t do anything until I know my heart isn’t going to get broken again.”

“Oh, honey, regardless of what happens, there’s no guarantee of that.”

“True, but this is one thing I
can
rule out. So for both of our sakes, will you try?”

Slowly, I nodded my head. “I’ve been trying, but I’ll try harder.”

“Thank you. Let me know what happens.” She started to leave my room, but suddenly turned back. “You know how lucky you are, don’t you?”

The change of subject confused me. “Are you talking about the magic? Because it’s not as cool to me as it is to you.”

“No. Well, that too. But I’m talking about your family. Grandma Verda, your sister, your brothers—all of them. Don’t forget you have family who really care about you. Even if I wasn’t around, they’d all stand by you and help you out.”

Oh my God, this felt like a breakup talk. “Are you planning on going somewhere?”

Chloe’s eyes widened. “No! I guess…well, this past week showed me how alone I really am. I barely talk to my family.” A small laugh. “If I became pregnant, I could go until the child’s first year before any of them would even know.”

Her words broke my heart. Chloe’s parents had passed away when she was young. Her aunt had taken her and her younger sister in, but they weren’t close.

“You’re a part of my family,” I said.

She shrugged, but a sliver of sadness existed. “It’s not the same, though.”

“Well, maybe not exactly, but I love you as much as I love Elizabeth.”

“I know. But it’s still not the same.” Rubbing her hand over her eyes, she said, “I’m sorry. I’m just a little melancholy. I think I should go home and go to bed.”