Hidden Deep (27 page)

As the manager walked away, I turned to Nox, beaming. He held up his open hand for a high five, which I delivered with enthusiasm.

“You did it,” he said.

“Well, actually, I think you did it.”

“Nah—I just made a suggestion. You were the one who was brave enough to come in here and ask in the first place.”

“Well, thanks anyway. It was nice of you.”

He swatted the air as if the matter deserved no further consideration. “No problem. Friends don’t let friends flame out on their first big business deal, right?”

“Right. I guess. So… you’re grocery shopping now?” I asked, having difficulty forming a mental image of Nox Knight pushing a cart through the dairy aisle.

“Yeah—running short on a few things.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t wait around. I have to get my grandma’s car back to her so she can make it to her oil-painting class at the senior center. How will you get home?”

“I’ll walk. It’s not far from here.”

“Okay. Well, I guess I’ll see you later then.”

“Yep—I’ll pick you up in a couple hours.”

It wasn’t until I was almost home that I remembered why the idea of Nox food shopping had seemed so strange to me—he had told me he ate every meal at The Skillet.
Maybe he’s learning to cook for himself?

Maybe he’d made up an excuse to come along and help me for some reason.

Grandma Neena was sitting at the kitchen table when I got home. In front of her on the tabletop lay the distinctively carved copper cylinder Lad had given me. She picked it up and rolled it between her hands, looking at me, but not saying a word. I glanced around the kitchen at all the wide-open cabinet doors and drawers, their contents spread across the countertops. Grandma had been busy.

She’d apparently discovered the bottle in its hiding place on the highest shelf behind the canned vegetables none of us really liked. Beets. Brussels Sprouts. Wax Beans. Was it possible she’d been specifically looking for it?

“Hi,” I said cautiously. “What’ve you been doing?”

“I think the question, Ryann, is what have
you
been doing?”

My heart went into overdrive. I didn’t know what was going on, but the question unnerved me. I tried to interpret her knowing expression, to gauge how much information she already had. No point getting myself into more trouble than necessary.

Maybe for some bizarre reason she thought I’d shoplifted the flask. Maybe she thought it contained alcohol. But that wouldn’t explain why she’d dismantled the kitchen looking for it in the first place.

“What do you mean?” I bluffed.

“Ryann… I know what this is. Now I want to know where you got it.”

Impossible. Yet the look on her face assured me Grandma Neena really did know.
But how?
My shocked response came out in a strangled whisper.

“A boy gave it to me… as a present.”

“A boy? Where? When did you meet him? While we were gone?”

“Don’t tell Mom.”

“I won’t make any such promise, although I certainly won’t be telling your momma
all
the details, and I think you know why.” She looked at me pointedly, her tone deadly serious.

My head was swimming.
What
was going on? Grandma waited, staring at me with the sharp blue gaze I’d known all my life—there would be no b-s-ing her.

I swallowed hard. “I met him in the woods shortly after we moved in with you. A few days later I was out walking and came upon a dead doe. I was almost attacked by a pair of coyotes, and…” I stopped.

“Go on.” She never let the expression on her face change.

“…and Lad saved me. I saw him again after that. And again. I stayed here over the weekend to spend time with him.”

“And you were with him the whole time we were gone?” Her expression was still neutral, but I expected a severe blessing-out any minute now.

“It wasn’t anything bad. I swear nothing happened. Well, a lot of stuff happened, but not the kind of stuff you’re thinking.”

“I believe you, Ryann because I know the kind of person you are. And… I’m pretty certain I know the kind of person
he
is.” She raised her eyebrow meaningfully.

It was obvious she knew more than I would’ve ever dreamed, and the whole truth would be coming out right here at the kitchen table.

“I tasted it.” Grandma ran her fingers lightly over the carvings on the surface of the tube. “Quite nostalgic.”

My heart pounded. I could hardly breathe as I waited for her to continue.

“I noticed the flavor as soon as I tried your tea this morning. I didn’t know how, but I had no doubt you’d put saol water in it.”

I was stunned. “How… how do you know about saol water?” My mind cast about for possible explanations. “Have you met… you know… one of them?”

“One of whom, Ryann?” Grandma Neena’s eyes sparked with a challenge and a gleam I’d never seen in them before.

Random images and bits of conversations flashed through my mind—Grandma’s wild ringlets, the loom worker in Altum, the old men reminiscing at The Skillet, the fact that she never talked about her childhood or where she was from, the fact she’d never remarried in spite of being widowed and uncommonly beautiful at age twenty-two, her reluctance to leave this much-too-large house in the middle of the woods. Her woods. Her home. The home of… her people.

I momentarily forgot how to inhale and exhale. “You
are
one of them—aren’t you?”

“We need to talk, sweetheart.”

I wasn’t the only one in the family capable of a mighty understatement. My heartbeat had climbed up into my throat, and I made my way to a kitchen chair before my shaking legs could give way.

“How? How is this possible? How did this happen?”

Grandma Neena set the copper container aside and reached across the table to pull my hand inside of her soft, unwrinkled ones.

“There’s no need to be afraid or upset, Ryann. I’m not sure how much you’ve seen or heard, but obviously this boy you met has told you something about us. You two must be close for him to have given you this saol water. Frankly, that concerns me. But before I ask you to tell me any more about him, I’ll explain some things about myself to you.”

I nodded mutely.

“You’re right. I am…” she paused a long time before continuing. “I am one of the people of the trees, of Altum, of the Elves.” Grandma Neena exhaled with a tense laugh and wiped the underside of her chin with the back of one hand. “Ahh, mercy. It feels strange to say. I haven’t talked of such things for so long now, it doesn’t even seem real to me anymore. But, it’s the truth of my past. You understand why I couldn’t give you a real answer when you asked me about my childhood home the other day.”

“But why aren’t you with them?” Then the thought occurred to me that maybe in a way she still was. “Wait—do you go back to Altum sometimes?”

Grandma Neena’s eyes became moist, and her hand patted mine. “No, honey, I’m not welcome there anymore. I would dearly love to see my old home again, but… I made my choice long, long ago. You see, when I was a girl, a year or two older than you in fact, I did something quite unforgivable among my people. I fell in love with the wrong person. I had a bit of the wanderlust, and I used to love to explore and venture as close to the human settlements as I could without being caught. One day I got careless, and I did get caught, by a young man who was out hunting in these woods. He spotted me and called out to me. Instead of escaping as quickly as possible, like I should have, I went to him. He was exotic, and so handsome. It was curiosity, I guess… fascination.”

“My grandfather.”

“Yes. Benjamin was as taken with me as I was with him. He tried to talk to me, and of course I couldn’t understand him, but he kept coming back to that spot day after day. I did, too. I couldn’t help myself. Eventually we learned to communicate with each other. Our desire to know each other kept growing. Finally, when I turned eighteen, I had to make a decision. I was promised to be married to a young man of my own kind. He was a fine person—quite a catch really—and I did care for him. But it wasn’t the same as how I felt for Ben. I’m ashamed to say I took the cowardly way out. Instead of telling that young man face-to-face of my choice, I ran away and married your grandfather.”

“Did your fiancé ever find out what happened to you?”

“Oh yes. He came looking for me. When he found me here, he was crushed. And so angry. I’m afraid I broke his heart.” She looked as if she was living that anguished moment all over again.

“So then you pretended to be a human? You chose an average human life over life in Altum?”

“There hasn’t been anything average about it. I’ve had an incredible life. Not too many people can say they’ve lived in two entirely different worlds.”

“But you lost your husband so soon—after all you gave up for him. Didn’t you ever wonder if you made the wrong choice?”

“Benjamin and I didn’t get to have a long life together as we planned. But I did have true love in my lifetime. And I had your mother, so a part of Ben is with me always. And I have you.” She smiled and squeezed my hands.

“What about your other family? Your Elven one?”

Grandma Neena’s face looked more troubled than I’d ever seen her as she mentally went back in time. “Yes… that was hard. I know I hurt them, and I shamed them. They were of some social standing there, you see. I never had the chance to apologize to them. I did try to go back once to explain, but…”

She paused for such a long time I thought she’d finished. I began to ask another question, but she picked up her story again softly. “Hopefully they were able to go on with their lives in spite of the scandalous thing I did and didn’t suffer too much in the eyes of society there. I don’t know—young love is a powerful force. I was mostly feeling at the time, not thinking about all of the things that would come after.”

There was something I could definitely relate to. Sometimes common sense just wasn’t happening. It occurred to me that maybe I wasn’t the first one to share Grandma’s secret.

“Does Mom know?”

“Lord no. And don’t you think about going and telling her, missy. I promised myself the consequences of my choice would be entirely on my shoulders. I may have broken my engagement, but I would never betray my people. I’ve never told a single soul. Even Ben never knew. He accepted I had a past I could never speak of, and he loved me in spite of it, bless his heart. Now, speaking of secrets, you have some explaining to do yourself.”

In spite of my tremendous shock over Grandma Neena’s revelation, I was starting to feel light… happy. Maybe it was the relief of finally being able to unburden myself and discuss the amazing things that had been happening in my life. It all seemed somewhat less crazy now.

“I’ve been there,” I whispered, though no one was around to hear.

“You have? To Altum? Oh my goodness. So
that’s
what you were doing while we were gone.”

I told Grandma it had been Lad I’d met in the woods as a child.

“I always suspected it was one of us.” She nodded and gestured for me to continue.

I explained how Lad had saved me twice—once from coyotes and then from the drunken hunters—and how that had led to his being shot and to my unplanned visit to his underground home.

“Mercy me, right now I miss my home more than I have in decades. I wish I could see it just once more.”

“Well, you never know… it could happen.”

“No, what’s done is done,” Grandma said with a faraway look in her eyes. “So, tell me about this Lad.”

I couldn’t suppress my smile. The chance to talk about him was such a relief. “He’s incredible. Amazing.”

“Oh dear…”

“What?”

“Well, I may have fallen in love with a human, but that doesn’t mean you need to go falling in love with an Elven boy.”

“Who said anything about love?”

“Ryann…” She shook her head at me, a lifetime of wisdom behind the gesture. “Honey, I know you don’t want to hear this, but you really need to stay away from Lad and let things run their natural course.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. As much as I loved my grandma, she was being astoundingly hypocritical. “Why? You didn’t.”

“And that’s exactly how I know what I’m talking about.”

“But I thought you had no regrets!”

“No, I said I’ve had a good life. But it’s a tough row to hoe, Ryann. You have no idea what you could be letting yourself in for. Ben and I loved each other, but it wasn’t easy. Combining two separate lives into one is hard enough. It can be even tougher when people come from different ethnic backgrounds and cultures, or two different religions. But you and Lad come from two different worlds. Benjamin’s early death was devastating, but it also prevented our having to deal with a lot of the repercussions. If he had lived, all the secrets and background issues might have eventually torn us apart.”

Of course I was aware of the potential problems. It was all I’d been able to think about since coming home from Altum. But I wanted it to be
my
decision.

“You said it was all worth it.”

“For me. And maybe it’s worth it for
you,
honey. You’re young, and if you try it and things don’t work out, you can move on with your life and be fine. But what about Lad? Did he tell you how it is for our people? Have you considered all he would have to give up if you two continue on this path?”