The Cinderella Society (35 page)

His eyes followed mine. “This must be Face Value Guy,” he said quietly. “What do you need me to do?”

I tore my eyes away from Ryan and looked at the sweetheart of a guy who’d managed to give me my first night of angst-free fun in days. I relaxed. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

He gave me that lopsided grin, and I linked my arm with his. Alec paid for our dessert, and we returned to our date, ignoring Ryan and his gang for the rest of the meal. Ben excused himself briefly to say hi to Ryan, but he didn’t make a big deal of it and didn’t try to merge the two groups. All in all, I thought we made the best of an awkward situation. And we didn’t even resort to making out to get a dig in. Not that it didn’t flicker through my mind ever so briefly when Gennifer slipped her arm around Ryan’s waist, even though he didn’t seem to notice.

“You do realize he hasn’t taken his eyes off you since they sat down, right?” Alec said when Kyra called her mom to let her know they’d be heading home shortly.

I flicked a glance toward the table where Ryan had positioned himself directly opposite us and was watching me intently. His face was expressionless. Not mad, not sad, just … distant.

Kyra grabbed her purse and went off to the ladies’, probably to freshen her breath for a good-night kiss. Since I didn’t have one in my plans, I stood by the table with Alec and Ben and pretended to be absorbed in a conversation about the WWE. Which was much harder than it sounds (and pretending to be absorbed by pro wrestling is
never
easy), because Ryan had gotten up from the round table and was heading toward us.

I felt his presence as he approached, just like I always did. He was like a magnet for me. If he was within a hundred-foot radius, my body naturally leaned in that direction.
This time, I leaned a little into Alec for protection.

Ryan stopped next to Ben—who looked distinctly uncomfortable—and extended a hand to Alec. “Good to see you, Alec.”

Alec shook his hand. “You too, Ryan.” He eyed us warily, clearly not wanting to overstep, even though I’d told him it didn’t matter. Or shouldn’t have mattered.

Ryan turned to me. His voice was quieter. “You look great, Jess.”

“Thanks.” No squeakiness this time. The icing on that cake wasn’t quite so tempting anymore. With enough time, maybe I’d be able to nix the craving entirely.

Ben and Alec resumed their wrestling discussion to ease the tension. Alec gave us some space but was obviously keeping an eye on me in case I needed support.

“You look happy,” Ryan said. His eyes were soft. Sad. “I’m glad. You deserve to be with someone who appreciates how incredible you are.”

I could feel my defenses melting. “Ryan, don’t.”

“It’s the truth.” His voice was only for me. “Don’t ever settle. Not for anyone.”

My knees turned to jelly as he gave me the sweetest petal-soft kiss on the cheek, then stood back. The pain was right there, so close to the surface. And for once, he didn’t push it back down. He didn’t let it out either, but he didn’t try to hide it away. I could see the strain as he battled the demons that kept everyone who cared about him at arm’s length.

And then he turned and walked away. Away from me, from his friends, from everything. Ryan simply disappeared.

I was so stunned that it took me a minute to register Gennifer’s cries of indignation. She rushed out to the parking lot, yelling at the top of her lungs for Ryan to stop, and
caught him as he opened his car door. A few heated words on her part and one emotionless response on his, and he was driving away. Alone.

I looked at Alec.

He groaned. “Oh, man. This is
Pretty in Pink
and I’m Ducky.” He shook his head. “Always the sidekick, never the hero.”

How many guys would know the one ’80s flick that happened to be my all-time favorite? Only my very best guy friend, that’s who.

“You’re
my
hero, Ducky.”

But just like in the movie, my heart belonged to someone else.

Chapter 23

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN I GET PAID?”

Nan pulled a roll of raffle tickets out of the backseat and looked around the Fourth of July carnival grounds for bystanders. “Your Guardian development schedule will leave little time for regular employment,” she explained quietly. “You’ll need to cut back on your hours if you want to take it seriously. The Guild understands that and offers a small stipend to Guardians-in-Training to offset the income lost by reduced hours. Didn’t Brooke go over all of this?”

Given the amount of work I’d been juggling, I certainly wasn’t complaining about the income. But payment? I’m pretty sure that would’ve stuck in my mind. Even though I’d been starstruck and dazed for the first part of my little shindig with Brooke at Sarah Jane’s house.

“She might have. But what about covering the rest of my hours? You still need help at the store.”

“I’ll figure something out. One of my regulars might be looking for work, or I can put an ad in the paper if need be.” Nan led me across the mostly empty parking lot as we walked toward the tent she’d be manning on the carnival midway. “Regardless, you don’t need to fret over that. You’ll
be quite busy enough without worrying about your shifts this summer.”

I knew it wasn’t my responsibility, but I still felt guilty as we headed over to Nan’s booth. Celestial Gifts was a part of our family, even if Mom wouldn’t be caught dead there during events like summer solstice. Or most of the year, for that matter. Leaving Nan in the lurch felt like letting my family down.

I helped Nan and the other members of the Ladies Auxiliary set up their raffle booth for a swanky romantic getaway at Grand Hyatt Atlanta and kept an eye out for Sarah Jane. She and Kyra were helping Mrs. Peterson set up a ring toss to benefit the children’s hospital, but I hadn’t seen them yet.

I did, however, see Lexy stalking down the midway like she wanted to maim someone. I figured as long as I kept out of her tunnel vision, I’d be in good shape. Until Heather stepped out from behind the brats-and-hots station at the end of the row and Lexy picked up her pace.

Time to earn my paycheck
.

Heather carried an empty box toward the rusty El Camino pulled up onto the grass. She dumped the empty into the trunk and pulled out another box full of hot-dog bun packages. I kept an eye on her through the slats of the empty cotton-candy booth one stall over.

Lexy smelled blood.

“Look what we have here,” Lexy said as she closed the distance to Heather. “How’s it hangin’, Cheater?”

Heather sounded tired. “What do you want?”

“To give you a warning: your little hero won’t always be around to protect you. You screw me over again, and I’ll take your boyfriend down with you.”

Heather blinked. “My boyfriend?”

“You remember him, don’t you? Rocker guy, cute in a white trash kind of way?”

Heather nodded slowly. “So if I don’t do what you ask, you’ll go after Cam to get to me?”

“What are you, slow? Let me repeat it so you’ll understand.
Get us. In. The vault. Or Cameron. Goes down. Too.”

If I hadn’t seen it for myself, I never would’ve believed it. Heather threw back her head and laughed.

“You really do think I’m dumb, don’t you?” Heather said, her laugh harsh and cynical. “You think I don’t know you already tried to get to Cameron but he told you to go to hell? That he told you there’s nothing you could have on him or on me that he would give a damn about?”

I knew that last statement must have felt like a knife to the heart for Heather. I wanted to hug her.

Lexy’s eyes got round as hockey pucks.

“I’ve already ruined the only thing I care about,” Heather told her. “Nothing you can do matters to me anymore. I’m done being your pet.”

Oh, yeah
. I’d definitely found the right girl to lead the uprising.

“Happy Fourth of July!” I called, striding around the corner to stand next to Heather. “Gorgeous day for a carnival, don’t you think?”

“Beat it, Thief.”

I smiled sweetly. “I don’t think so, honey bun. What kind of hero would I be if I took orders from you?”

“You can’t save everyone, though, can you?” The look in her eyes gave me chills. “Especially if they’re all hurting at the same time.”

“I don’t have to,” I said, standing my ground. “Once they know what you’re up to, they’ll save themselves because they’re stronger than you.” I gave Heather a nod. “Way stronger.”

Lexy scoffed. “You have no idea how strong I am or what I’m capable of.”

“Possibly.” I flicked a lazy glance Lexy’s way. “And you have no idea how strong
they
are. All they need is the right inspiration. Once they know your game, you and your yes-girls won’t get past square one.”

“Please. This is just the tip of the iceberg. But I’m glad to see you’re on the
Titanic
for the duration. It’ll be fun to watch you sink.”

“I’ll bring the deck chairs. In the meantime, stay away from Heather. As you can see, she has no use for you. If I hear you threaten her again, or anybody else for that matter, you and I are going to have a little powwow of our own.” I went nose to nose with her. “You got me?”

“Like I’m afraid of you. You’re all talk, Thief. You don’t have the balls to follow through. If you interfere with my mission, you’d better come with backup.”

“I’ve got her back,” Heather said, standing taller. “I’m sick of being your doormat, Lexy. I’m not the only one either. You go after Jess, and we’ll come after you.”

I was so proud of Heather I wanted to scream.
Celebrate your strength, baby!
But even better than Heather finally going on offense was what happened to Lexy when she did. For a split second, fear flashed in Lexy’s eyes.

That’s when I knew we’d finally found their weak spot.

What the Wickeds feared most was a Reggie who could fight back. A Reggie who
would
fight back instead of letting the Wickeds manipulate her.

Because without the Reggies to control, the Wickeds had no power.

If one Reggie fighting back gave Lexy a jolt, imagine what kind of damage a full-scale Reggie revolt could inflict on the Wickeds.

True to form, Lexy’s hate face was back up in a heartbeat. “Nice try.” She dismissed Heather and looked at me. “You’d better come armed with more than just losers on patrol.”

“Just tell us where and when.”

Lexy’s head whipped around at Sarah Jane’s voice to discover SJ, flanked by Kyra and Gwen, joining our happy little group. “You mess with Jess,” Sarah Jane said, “and you mess with us.”

I’d seen Lexy and SJ interact before, but they’d always played surface nice. I was glad I’d told Sarah Jane about incriminating her in the course of my own ugly blackmail episode. If Lexy was going to target her too, SJ deserved advance notice.

“Well, captain,” Lexy purred, “you certainly put me in my place. Can’t have you angry with me, what with us spending so much time together this summer.” She curled her lip in Heather’s and my direction, then dismissed all of us with a flick of her wrist. “Later.”

“I hope you’re not really spending time with her this summer,” I said as the trio stopped in front of us. “Are you being punished for something?”

“We’re both going to be spending time with her,” SJ said, clearly not liking the idea. “Amanda Hamilton called me this morning because her dad got transferred to Dallas. They’re moving at the end of the month.”

I hadn’t gotten to know Amanda very well, but she was
the back spotter in my stunt group. Losing her would stink, but we’d get by. Except—

“Please tell me she’s not.”

“Oh, yes, she is,” SJ confirmed. “Lexy just got promoted.”

*   *   *

“Where are we going?” Heather asked me after she’d gotten the okay from her supervisor to take a break.

“Do you usually work for the brats guy?”

“Not usually. My dad was supposed to be working off his community service today, but he’s not feeling well.”

I read between the lines. Mr. Clark was drunk again, so Heather had taken the shift to keep him from getting in more trouble.

“You work at Burger Palace, right?” I asked as we headed down the midway. “I saw you there when my mom was having an extra pickles craving.”

“Yeah. They can only give me twenty hours a week this summer, so I work at The Dollar Hut too.”

I knew both jobs paid minimum wage, since I’d checked when I thought I might need extra hours for a car. Instead, Nan had been happy to give me as many hours as I wanted, because she’d been knee-deep in her summer projects for the local seniors’ center.

Or so she’d said. I wondered now if that was a cover for her ISIS duties.

“Does that happen a lot with your dad? Covering for him?”

“Pretty much. He used to be a nasty drunk. Not physical, just hurling insults and stuff. Now he mostly doesn’t bother with me. With anything, really.” She didn’t even look embarrassed. “Not that I ever cared that much. Most of it rolled off my back.”

As a defense mechanism that might have worked, but as a life situation it bit the big one. Not only had she lost her mom, but she was surrounded by people who wanted to grind her soul to dust. What Heather needed was some good old-fashioned female influence of the positive kind. There were big things in store for Heather Clark, and she was going to need a strong support system to see her through. Time to pay it forward for two of my favorite people. The thought made the butterflies smile.

I ducked into the raffle tent with Heather at my side.

Nan greeted Heather with a hug. “Heather! How delightful to see you, dear. Are you girls heading over to the gazebo? I understand there’s a band from the high school playing today.”

“No time for small talk, Nan,” I said. “We’re here on business. You know that opening you have?”

Nan raised her eyebrows.

I guided Heather forward a step. “Meet your first applicant.”

*   *   *

A little while later, an overjoyed Heather headed back to man the brats station, thrilled that Nan had hired her on the spot.

Nan wrapped me in a hug. “I’m proud of you, Jessica.”