Shadows at Sunset: Sunset Trilogy ~ Book 1 (25 page)

“It’s probably not hard to be one in his line of work. He’s reminds me of an artist.”

Xander patted the top piece of bread into place on my sandwich. Ignoring my comment, he said, “We have potato chips, and what would you like to drink?”

“Water is fine, unless you have some sparkling water.”

“We do.” Xander dumped a handful of potato chips out of a big bag onto the side of the plate and slid it in front of me. “Do you want ice?”

“Yes, please.” He grabbed a bottle from the refrigerator and filled a glass with ice. After handing them to me, he started preparing his own sandwich.

“So other than working alone, why don’t you want to make jewelry like your dad?” I asked quietly.

“It’s not that I’m not interested in it or I don’t like it, because I actually do. And I realize it has afforded us a particularly nice lifestyle. But it’s about choice. I might want to go to college like a normal guy my age, but it’s not in the cards for me.”

“I’d trade places with you any day,” I admitted. “There’s a huge stack of college brochures waiting for me at home on our kitchen table.”

I bit into a potato chip as I pictured them. I couldn’t help thinking how ironic this was. Here I was avoiding the subject of college, and Xander was telling me he’d like to go when he knew he never would. “Have you sent in any applications yet?” Xander looked up from the sandwich he was stacking with turkey, ham, and cheese.

“No.” I shook my head. “I’ve been putting it off, but my parents are starting to bug me about it.”

“Aren’t you behind schedule?”

“Yeah. Brooke and Ethan have already started sending their applications in.”

“What’s stopping you?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.” I sighed, catching his eye as he finished making his sandwich and added a pile of chips to his plate.

“You don’t know? Sounds like you do.” He took a bite of his sandwich.

“Well, it’s kind of childish, but this is the only place I’ve ever lived. I don’t want to leave,” I admitted slowly. Without telling him about Dakota who was really what I didn’t want to leave, I was sure I sounded like a sheltered little girl scared to move out on her own.

“So take a year off,” Xander said after he swallowed the bite in his mouth.

“You mean don’t go to college?” I bit into my sandwich, chewing thoughtfully.

“I mean just don’t go right away. It’s not like you can’t start classes a year later. Get a job and see what it’s like to work. I knew a lot of kids back home who did that. They were pretty burned out by graduation.”

“Really?” I asked. “That’s not a bad idea. I wonder if my parents would agree to that.”

As I took another bite of my sandwich, I heard the basement door open and close. Caleb’s footsteps shuffled along the hallway floor to the kitchen. Xander and I turned our attention to the entrance as he appeared with my necklace in his hand. He nodded his head at Xander like they had some kind of unspoken language.

“Laken, this is quite a remarkable piece. It is very old, possibly dating back to biblical times.” He approached the island, holding it out to me.

I nearly choked on my sip of sparkling water. “What?” I gasped in disbelief. “How can you tell?” I reached for it and fastened it around my neck.

“There’s a tiny hallmark on the back. I sketched it on a piece of paper so that I can look it up on the internet, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that symbol before.”

“But what’s it worth, Dad?” Xander asked abruptly between bites of his sandwich.

“That’s hard to tell. The diamonds are very small, and that can take away from the value. But if it is a rare artifact with some historical significance, it could be extremely valuable. I need to do some research on it.” He looked at me. “I hope you don’t mind dear, but I also took some pictures of it.”

“No, of course not. I want to know what you find out about it.”

Caleb smiled warmly. “Good. That will give Xander an excuse to bring you back here again. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be getting back to my work. It was truly a pleasure to meet you, Laken.” Without another word, he disappeared out of the kitchen to return to his cellar workshop.

I looked down at the silver pendant hanging against my chest. It sparkled in the light. “I don’t understand how it could be that old and still be so shiny. Wouldn’t it be tarnished by now?”

Xander gazed across the island at me. “I don’t know.”

Before I realized what he was doing, he reached his hand out to touch the pendant. As he lifted it, his fingers grazed my skin and my breath caught in my throat for a quick second. He looked up from the necklace to meet my gaze as he touched me.

Suddenly, he smiled with a twinkle in his eyes. “Maybe it’s a magic necklace with special powers,” he joked. “You better hold on to it. You never know. Maybe it will keep anyone who wears it young forever.” He eased the necklace back against my chest without touching me this time.

“Yeah, right,” I scoffed, blowing off his remark and taking another bite of my half-eaten sandwich.

As we ate in silence for a few minutes, I stared blankly at the cabinets across the kitchen. What if he was right? Not about staying young, but about the magic. After all, I could talk to animals with my mind, communicate with them in ways that only existed in fairy tales. Could this necklace somehow be connected to my unusual talents?

“What are you thinking?” Xander’s question broke through the silence and my thoughts.

“Just that we should probably hurry up and finish our lunch. I really should get home soon.”

“Yeah. I guess our little outing this morning went longer than expected. I’ll take you home as soon as you’re done.”

“Thanks.” As I finished my sandwich, a skeptical thought crossed my mind. “Are you sure your dad is right about my necklace? I mean, for it to be one, maybe two hundred years old wouldn’t seem so unreasonable. But biblical times? That’s like two thousand years ago. Maybe he’s got it wrong.”

“No way,” Xander shot out quickly. “No one knows jewelry, especially jewelry with a history, like my dad. He’s been doing this his whole life. The craft goes way back in our ancestry. It’s been passed down for generations.” Conviction dripped from his voice.

“Then I’ll be very curious to learn what he finds out when he researches the hallmark. But for now, I just like wearing it.”

“You should. It looks nice on you.”

As he smiled at me, I remembered the touch of his fingers on my skin when he had lifted the pendant a few minutes ago.

I felt my cheeks blush at the memory and instantly looked down at the potato chips left on my plate.

“Thank you,” I replied quietly as I lifted a chip to my lips.

After we finished our lunch, Xander cleared away the dishes and put the leftover food back in the refrigerator. Then he drove me home. When he pulled into my driveway, I reached for my coffee thermos and backpack from the floor of the truck.

“Thanks for lunch,” I told him. “I really enjoyed meeting your dad.”

“And thank you for the hike today. Aside from the bear, it was great. Someday, you’re going to have to tell me what that was all about.”

I had been hoping he’d forgotten about the bear. This was the first time he had mentioned it since we’d left the trail. “There’s nothing to tell,” I stated quickly in a curt tone. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow. Bye.”

After tossing him a quick smile, I climbed down out of the truck using the running board that I was now accustomed to. As I raised my hand to the heavy door, I glimpsed Xander one last time. His sunglasses hid his gorgeous blue eyes, something I was thankful for. I had seen enough of those haunting eyes today to last a lifetime.

“See you, Laken,” he said before I shut the door.

As I turned away from the truck and approached the sidewalk, I heard him back out of the driveway. I fought the urge to turn and wave, and instead headed up the sidewalk to the front door. The house that I had grown up in suddenly seemed tiny and dull compared to Xander’s massive log home with its shiny new hardwood floors, high ceilings, and granite countertops. I wondered what he thought of our meager existence in this small town.
Stop!
I scolded myself.
Why do you even care what he thinks?
But no matter how hard I tried to convince myself of anything different, the truth was, I did care.

Putting my thoughts of Xander aside, I fished my keys out of my backpack when I reached the front door. To my pleasant surprise, Dakota greeted me on the other side. I immediately knelt down with a relieved smile, ruffling my hands through his thick, black fur.

“Dakota! You’re back!” I carefully inspected him for new wounds. Finding none, I wrapped my arms around his neck as he rested his big head on my shoulder for a moment. When I released him, I gave him a scolding look. “You scared me! I was really worried about you since you ran off. Please stay home for a few days. I don’t want to worry about you this week.”

He looked at me knowingly, his honey colored eyes shaming me for not trusting him to stay out of trouble.

I shook my head at him as I rose to my feet. “I know you can handle yourself, but you can’t blame me for worrying just a little, since the last time you came home, you were bleeding.”

Turning away from him, I headed through the quiet house, grateful that my mother wasn’t waiting to pounce on me with the college brochures in the kitchen. Dakota followed me upstairs, plunking down on his big fluffy bed with a deep sigh as I entered my room. I, too, let out a big sigh as I sank into the chair at my desk and stared at my textbooks, a long afternoon of solving Calculus problems and writing English essays ahead of me.

Chapter 15

On the way to school Monday morning, intermittent raindrops pelted the windshield as I filled Ethan in on most of the details from my weekend. No matter how hard I tried to tell him about my time with Noah, I kept coming back to Xander. Xander and our hike. Xander and his gorgeous log home and warm, good-natured father. When I finally forced myself to stop talking about Xander, I changed the subject. “How was your weekend?”

“Oh, no, you’re not getting off that easy,” Ethan replied with a wicked grin. “You just spent five minutes telling me about yours, and four and a half were about Xander. He surely turned the tables on you fast.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You swore you did not and would not like him, and now you’re falling for him.”

I gasped, nearly jerking the Explorer to a stop in the middle of town. Taking a deep breath, I focused back on the road. “I am not, and I don’t appreciate the insinuation.”

“I know you, Laken, and it’s pretty obvious. But I won’t say another word, at least not until you stop lying to yourself.”

With a frown, I glanced over at his boyishly handsome face out of the corner of my eye. The one thing I equally loved and hated about him was his brutal honesty. “You should blame Brooke, you know. She’s the one who called him to come to my rescue. If he hadn’t picked me up at the restaurant Saturday night, none of this ever would have happened.”

“But it did. So now you have to decide, Noah or Xander.”

“Noah,” I responded a little too quickly. My mouth curled into a smile as I remembered his kiss, a detail from my weekend that I had spared Ethan. Then my smile faded as I realized I hadn’t heard from him yesterday. Not a single phone call or text. Maybe it was too soon after our first date and amazing first kiss. “How long should I wait to hear from him before I call him?” I asked Ethan, wishing I had more dating experience.

Ethan laughed. “Are you nervous he won’t call?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, okay. I really don’t know what to do here.”

“Laken, he’ll call or he’ll show up on your doorstep one night. Stop worrying about it. Your bigger problem’s going to be Xander.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You always know how to make me feel so much better,” I told him sarcastically.

The school came into view behind a line of maple trees with red sprinkled in their leaves. I turned into the parking lot and pulled the SUV to a stop under a tall oak tree.

Ethan and I hopped out of the Explorer, our doors shutting one right after the other.

As I locked the SUV with the remote, I caught a glimpse of the sparkling pendant hanging above my black sweater in the window. Every time I saw the necklace, whether in a reflection while I wore it or as it lay on my dresser, I wondered what Xander’s father would find out about it in the coming weeks.

“Hey, Laken, we’re getting wet! Hurry up!” Ethan called as he jogged backward across the parking lot, breaking me out of my thoughts.

“Coming!”

He turned around once he had my attention, and I ran after him. Random raindrops spit out of the sky at us in our mad dash to the school. We sprinted up the outside steps, darting around some of the other students as we rushed to the entrance. As we blasted into the building, our shoes squeaked on the floor now slippery from the water being tracked in.

The halls were crowded with students carrying umbrellas and wearing wet rain slickers. Buzzing chatter and slamming locker doors sounded throughout the school. Ethan and I wound our way through the hall to find Brooke at her locker, swearing as she dropped a book on the floor. She knelt down to grab it, flipping her short red hair back as she rose to her feet. Her blue eyes immediately settled on us.

“Hey, guys,” she grumbled, managing a small smile before turning to slide her book onto her locker shelf. Then she stripped off her navy slicker that glistened with rain, revealing a black sweater that matched the tall boots she wore with blue jeans.

“I know why Laken’s in a mood today, but what’s got you down?” Ethan asked.

After shoving her slicker into the locker, she turned to face us. Without a word, she tilted her head in the direction across the hall. We followed her gaze to a Homecoming sign tacked up on the wall. “Homecoming already?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Brooke groaned. “The dance is in three weeks and I’m not even close to getting a date.”

“Brooke, they just announced it. Nobody has a date yet,” I reassured her.

“You’ll probably have a date by the end of the day,” she said, her sad tone hinting with envy.

I wished I could be as sure of that as she was. But I didn’t feel like speculating on my chances of going to the dance with Noah right now. “Then I guess we’ll have to focus on finding you a date,” I told her with a warm smile.

“Thanks.” Her expression softened. “But it sure would be nice if I didn’t need help.”

“I have a deal for you,” Ethan said. “If you don’t have a date by the end of this week, then why don’t we go together? You know I’m too terrified to ask anyone else.” He smiled at her, and I watched curiously as their eyes met. “So what do you say?”

A wide grin broke out across her face. “That would be great. But are you sure? There’s got to be someone else you’d rather go with.”

“No, I really mean it. I’d much rather go with a good friend than someone who makes my palms sweat.”

“Really?” Suddenly, they began talking as if I wasn’t standing right next to them.

I excused myself, slipping away and weaving through the crowded hallway on the way to my locker. I wasn’t even sure they noticed I had left. I thought I saw a little spark between the two of them, and I was happy to give them some space.

After a quick stop at my locker to hang up my jacket, I filed into homeroom with the other students who were a couple minutes early. I took a seat in the back of the room alone. As I leaned down to sort through my book bag, a dark figure took the seat next to me. I didn’t need to straighten up to know who it was. Shivers rippled through me and my heart raced. Xander had arrived.

I sat up and was greeted by his blue eyes and amused smile.

“Good morning,” he said. His black T-shirt stretched tightly across his broad, muscular frame, the blades of his tattoo extending down from under his sleeve.

“Hi,” I said shyly.

Voices around us were becoming louder as the classroom filled up.

“How are you feeling after yesterday?”

“Fine. Why?” I saw Ethan enter the room and waved to him. He sauntered down the aisle, dropping into the seat to my right.

“Because I’m actually a little sore. You worked me pretty hard.”

I raised my eyebrows at him, noticing a few interested glances from the boys sitting nearby. “I guess you need to get in better shape then.”

A devilish grin formed on his face as he stared intently at me. “I’ll work on that if it means we can do it again.”

Rolling my eyes, I broke away from his gaze, thankful that the ringing bell preempted my response.

The chatter quieted down as the homeroom teacher began listing names for attendance. I focused straight ahead on the bald teacher, his wire-rimmed glasses and blue tie against the white shirt that covered his round figure an all too familiar sight. Suddenly, a hand reached across the aisle from my right side. A folded piece of paper was between Ethan’s fingers. Grabbing it, I slumped down in my seat to open it in my lap.

You’re going to get quite the reputation if you two keep talking like that
, it read. I crumpled up the paper, biting down on my lip to keep from laughing. Glancing over at Ethan, I couldn’t mistake the mischievous look in his brown eyes. He smiled, and I nearly choked on my laughter when the teacher called out my name. Somehow, I managed to toss out a quick “Here.” As the teacher proceeded with the roll call, Ethan chuckled softly and I struggled to keep my own laughter in check. I reached across the aisle, playfully swatting his upper arm.

“Very funny,” I mouthed to him, only to see him proudly nod his head. I glared at him, pretending to be mad as I resisted the urge to throw the crumpled note at him.

After the morning announcements were broadcasted over the loudspeaker system, the bell rang. I jumped to my feet and grabbed my book bag. As I slid the strap over my shoulder and followed Ethan out of the room, I sensed Xander behind me, but it wasn’t until he called my name once we were out in the hallway that I turned around. Ethan didn’t notice and disappeared into the crowded hallway, leaving me on my own with Xander.

I leaned my shoulder against the wall a few feet beyond the classroom door. Students spilled out of the room and passed us, but they were only a blur. All I could see were Xander’s now too familiar blue eyes. He stopped inches away. I tried backing up, but students blocked the space behind me. “You’re wearing your necklace.”

I smiled at him. “Nothing gets past you, does it?”

“Ha, ha, very funny. It looks nice. I’m glad you’re still wearing it after what my dad told you.”

“Why would that stop me from wearing it?” I chuckled softly, noticing that, for the first time since he had set foot in our school a few weeks ago, he looked a little nervous.

“You’re right. That was a dumb thing to say.” He scanned the crowded hallway and then looked back at me. “I really just wanted to ask you to go to the Homecoming dance with me. I hope after yesterday, you don’t think I’m such a bad guy anymore.” He leaned in closer to me. “Maybe you even like me a little now.”

My smile faded as I considered his invitation. I had never been asked to a school dance the same day it was announced. As tempted as I was to accept, I thought of Noah. “Um, okay, yes, I don’t think you’re such a bad guy, and maybe I like you a little as a friend, but I’m going to pass on Homecoming.”

“It’s because of the cop, isn’t it?” he blurted as the hope in his eyes disappeared.

“That’s really none of your business,” I replied quietly.

I would neither admit nor deny wanting to go to the dance with Noah. The only thing I knew for sure was that I could only go with one of them, and as I had told Ethan earlier this morning, my choice was Noah.

Xander gazed off to the side at the other students, his expression mixed with disappointment and anger. After a moment, his fiery eyes returned to me. “I thought we were really getting somewhere yesterday. What happened? Was it something I did, something I said?”

“No, don’t take it that way. It’s not you.” I smiled sympathetically. “There are plenty of girls who would love to go with you. What about Carrie? You two sure looked pretty cozy together last week.”

“You don’t understand,” he snapped. “She was just a distraction. I guess this is going to take a little longer than I thought,” he mused, looking around like he was talking to himself. “Fine. Go with the cop. See if I care.”

Before I could calm him down, he stormed off. I whirled around to watch him disappear into the swarm of students. Sighing, I wondered where his dark words and harsh tone had come from. He seemed to think that yesterday meant a lot more than it really did. But it had only been a hike.

Shrugging my shoulders, I set off through the crowd on my way to my first class, hoping I could forget his bizarre behavior.

***

After the last bell rang that afternoon, I returned to my locker to stack the books I didn’t need to take home and gather the ones I did. I hadn’t seen Xander for the rest of the day except in History class. He had chosen a seat on the opposite side of the room from me and avoided my eyes every time I glanced his way. I hated to admit it, but a part of me was disappointed by his sudden coldness. After getting to know him, I was starting to like him, at least as a friend. So what if I turned him down for the dance? I didn’t understand why it bothered him so much. He could take any other girl in school. Surely no one else would turn him down as I had.