Unveil (3 page)

I stared out the window at the grey sky and trees swaying slightly in the breeze. It looked like it was cold but at least it wasn’t raining like it had for so many days prior. I pictured Tanner standing on my front porch drenched in rain. A vision of the two of us on the lawn talking in the moonlight flashed into my mind. Closing my eyes, I relived the moment when he reached out and touched my cheek tenderly. My heart sped up at the thought. I could still smell the minty scent of his breath as his lips reached mine. Then the awful look on Isaac’s face came into view, shattering the entire scene. I wished I had more self- control. I could stand to be a lot more like Isaac.

The shower turned off and I opened my eyes, returning back to the present. I could no longer dwell on what happened the previous night. Isaac had forgiven me and we’d moved on. He was still here and I wouldn’t ruin the time we had left together. Soon I could talk everything over with Tanner. I’m sure we would remain friends. Then I remembered him racing to his car without even a backward glance and I wondered if that was true.

Could Tanner forgive me and stay my friend? Or was the damage too great? My stomach hurt. I couldn’t imagine losing Tanner. I mean, I knew that I loved Isaac and so the choice seemed like a no brainer. But I never really thought about losing Tanner completely. Isaac would leave at the end of the week and then I’d go back to church and school. I guess I had assumed Tanner would be a part of all that. Now I wasn’t so sure.

“You okay?”

I jumped, not having heard Isaac come up behind me.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” He chuckled. “You were sure in deep thought. Anything you want to share?”

I forced a light smile. “Just thinking how lucky I am to have you.”

“I’m the lucky one.” He grabbed me around the waist, pulled me up to stand against him.

Breathing in his soapy scent, I tried not to picture Tanner’s face. I tried not to think about how I might have just lost one of my best friends.

In the end, hunger won out and we went to a deli I liked for lunch. While we munched on ham sandwiches and salty chips, Isaac caught me up on what was happening in California. He told me all about his basketball season, how his dad was healing after his accident at work and how his mom had been. We even talked about Grandma for a little bit. Sometimes it seemed weird that he knew more about her than I did. But it made sense. He had lived next door to her for years. Mom and Grandma had been estranged for most of my life, so I had only just gotten to know her.

I wiped my greasy fingers on a napkin and set my empty chip bag on the table. “So, how is Rhiannon? We’ve hardly talked at all since I’ve been back.” Thinking of the eccentric girl who lived on the other side of Grandma’s house made me smile. Even though she’d been the one to get me involved in witchcraft in the first place, in the end she had turned out to be a good friend.

“You didn’t hear?”

“Hear what?”

“She’s moving.”

“Really?” I felt bad, remembering how much she hated all the relocating her family did. It had something to do with her parents’ jobs.

“Yeah, the house just sold a couple of weeks ago. I figured your grandma would have said something.”

“I don’t think Grandma was Rhiannon’s biggest fan.”

Isaac chuckled. “She is fiercely protective of you.”

I wanted to be irritated with that, but instead it made me happy. Frankly, it felt good to be protected. After stuffing myself with a ham sandwich and chips, weariness blanketed me. Despite my best efforts, lack of sleep had finally caught up to me.

“Hey.” Isaac rested his arms on the slick table. Wrappers from lunch scattered around his elbow. “Why don’t we go back to your house and you can take a nap?”

I yawned behind my hand. “No, I’m fine. Let’s go do something.”

He flashed me an amused look. “You’re not fooling me.”

“C’mon. You didn’t come all the way out here to watch me nap.”

“It’s okay. I’m kinda tired, too. Maybe I’ll take one as well.”

I let out a resigned sigh and started clearing the wrappers off our table. As Isaac drove back to the house, I had to work hard to keep my eyes open. Apparently, I was even more tired than I thought. Then again, it had been a pretty long and intense night.

When we pulled up alongside the curb at my home, I saw our neighbor, Mrs. Kelley, pulling weeds outside. A little boy sat next to her looking sullen. As far as I knew the Kelley’s did not have children. In fact, I remembered my mom saying something about them not being able to have kids. Maybe they were adopting or fostering children. That would be kind of cool. Hopefully she wasn’t taking this kid, though. He looked really mean the way he glared at me, like he was sucking a lemon.

When I got out of the car, Mrs. Kelley waved.

“Hi!” I called back. Then I glanced down at the boy. “Hey,” I said in my sing-song voice solely reserved for children or animals.

Both Mrs. Kelley and Isaac gave me a funny look, but the boy just kept glowering. I shook my head and followed Isaac up the walkway.

“What was that about?” Isaac asked when we got inside the house.

“What?”

“The way you said hi to your neighbor and then started looking in another direction and said hi again in a weird voice.”

“Oh.” I smiled. “That’s just how I talk to kids.”

“Why did you do it right now though?” His brows furrowed in a look of utter confusion.

I was starting to get annoyed with this line of questioning. Can’t I say hi to a neighbor boy without getting the third degree? So what if I use an odd voice when talking to kids. Lots of people do. “Cause I was saying hi to the little boy.”

“What little boy?”

Cold slithered up my spine at Isaac’s tone. “The boy sitting next to Mrs. Kelley in the front yard.”

“There was no boy with her.”

I flung open the front door and raced outside, my heart thumping in my chest. Was I going crazy? I was sure I saw a little boy.

Relief flooded me at the sight of the child still sitting in the grass. I gave Isaac a triumphant look. “See. Right there.”

Isaac narrowed his eyes, staring in the direction I pointed. I expected an apology. Instead, he said, “Are you okay?”

“Fine. Why are you acting so weird?”

“Because there is no little boy there.”

A chill brushed over my body, causing goosebumps to rise on my flesh. I glanced back at Mrs. Kelley who kept weeding, oblivious to our conversation. She also seemed not to notice the child, even though he practically sat on her legs. The boy’s neck craned to look at me, but he still didn’t smile.

Fearful, I raced back in my house. Why did I see him if no one else did? Who was he? And what was he doing next door?

The next two days flew by. I took Isaac to my church on Sunday and, thankfully, did not run into Tanner there. We walked through the mall, checked out my favorite bookstore and ate at some fun places. I couldn’t believe it was already Tuesday. Panic washed over me at the thought. Only one more day before Isaac would have to leave. I wasn’t ready to see him go. It felt like he’d just arrived.

Mom sent us to the store to pick up some groceries for Thanksgiving. For some crazy reason Mom still thought Drake was joining us for Thanksgiving dinner, even though she hadn’t heard from him in days. She had convinced herself that he was just really busy with work. Only, I knew the truth. He was a demon who had played her and now he’d taken off. However, that was an explanation Mom wasn’t buying. So to appease her, I took her exhaustive list and headed with Isaac to the store.

Surprisingly, the store wasn’t too busy. A few older couples shopped and a few moms with screaming children hurried through the aisles frantically throwing food in their baskets. Isaac pushed the cart while I tossed items in the back and checked them off the list. At times I had to squint to decipher Mom’s chicken scratch but other than that I was doing pretty well. The pile grew and I wondered what Mom and I would do with all this food when Drake didn’t show. Then an awful thought crossed my mind. What if he did show up? A shiver shot down my spine.

“You cold?” Isaac draped an arm over my shoulder. I gratefully nestled in.

“Not now.” I winked.

We rounded the corner and I froze. Isaac stopped, too, squeezing my shoulders. I found it hard to draw breath. Standing just a few feet away was Tanner, grabbing a box of cereal off the shelf. His back was to us. We could’ve escaped without him even noticing if we had walked away right at that moment. But that’s when I noticed that he wasn’t alone. An attractive blonde girl wearing skinny jeans, a tight top and tall black boots stood next to him. Irrational jealousy coursed through me. Who was she anyway? I didn’t think I’d ever seen her before.

Isaac tried to steer me away, but it was like my feet were glued to the floor. Tanner turned, his eyes grazing over me and then they widened in recognition. The pain at seeing me was evident in his face. At that moment, I realized things would never be the same between us again.

He didn’t even say hi. Just threw the cereal in the cart and turned to the strange girl. I should have just let him go. In fact, I’m certain that would have been the smart thing to do. However, I rarely do the smart thing. Before I could stop myself I shouted out, “Tanner.”

He stopped and turned around, a resigned look on his face.

I walked toward him, forcing a smile. Isaac stayed by the cart.
What was I doing?

“I just wanted say hi.”

His lips hardened in a straight line. I wished he’d flashed me one of his famous dimpled grins, but he didn’t. “Well, you said it. Is that all?”

“Tanner?” I whispered. “Is this how it’s going to be between us now?”

He shrugged.

“Please, Tanner, don’t be like that.”

He shook his head. “I’ll see ya around, Kenzie.” He gave a slight nod to Isaac. “You two have fun now.”

His bitter tone cut to my heart.

He returned to the girl who eyed me with suspicion. “Let’s go, Rosie.”

Ah, Rosie. It was his sister.
Relief flooded me .

As I watched them walk off, Isaac pushed the cart up beside me. Tears burned my eyes. I blinked them back. Glancing over at Isaac, I saw that his face held a pensive look. Without saying a word, we continued shopping. Luckily, we didn’t see Tanner again in the store. Once we’d gotten everything on Mom’s list, we loaded it all into the trunk of my car.

Isaac and I had hardly said two words to each other after seeing Tanner. I hated how awkward things were between us now. I knew I shouldn’t have gone after Tanner like that. It made me look like I hadn’t let go of him. I’m sure that was what Isaac was thinking. But it wasn’t like that. Tanner was my friend. However, I knew Isaac wouldn’t understand. I couldn’t expect him to. It was my fault he doubted in the first place.

I pulled out of the parking space and headed to the lot’s exit. Just as I turned the corner, a man jumped in front of my car. I screamed and slammed on the brakes. The tires screeched, and the scent of burning asphalt filled my senses. I closed my eyes, praying I didn’t hit the man. When I opened them back up, he was gone. My heart stopped. Had I imagined him the same way I had with the little boy?

I looked over at Isaac whose face had gone white as a sheet.

“Y-y-you saw him too, didn’t you?”

He let out a shaky breath and nodded his head. “Why did he run out in front of us like that?”

“I don’t know. People are crazy.” I exhaled deeply to slow my heart rate down. “I’m just glad I didn’t hit him. Where do you think he went?”

“He ran that way.” Isaac pointed to the right. I squinted, but didn’t see the man. Of course there were a lot of people in the parking lot, and I didn’t get a very good look at him. From what I did see he appeared to be homeless or something. His clothes were pretty ratty and dirty. I vaguely remembered a beard. Something else about him nagged at the back of my mind but I couldn’t place what it was.

“You okay to drive?” Isaac’s face was filled with concern.

I nodded and pulled out of the parking lot, still trying to figure out the significance of what just occurred.

When we got back to my house, Isaac and I put away the groceries. The tension from earlier dissipated and we bantered with ease. We still hadn’t talked about seeing Tanner at the store and I wanted to keep it that way. We had already had enough awkwardness this trip to last a lifetime. My goal was to enjoy every minute I had with Isaac until he had to go back home.

A knock at the door startled me. I set the block of cheese down that I held in my hand and went to answer it. I noticed Isaac’s sweatshirt strewn over the back of the couch and his shoes tossed on the floor. It gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. I would miss seeing that when he left.

I flung open the door. Haley stood there. She flashed me a relieved smile. “I’m so glad you’re alright. I was worried.”

I chuckled. “What are you talking about? Of course I’m alright.”

She held up her cell. “I’ve been blowing up your phone. You haven’t answered any of my texts.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” I glanced over at my purse where my phone had been tucked away since Isaac got here. I hadn’t had much use for it since the main person who called me was with me. “I’ve been busy.”

Haley’s gaze swept over the family room and landed on the sweatshirt and shoes. Understanding washed over her features. “Ah, I get it. So, Tanner’s over. You and lover-boy have been pretty busy, huh?” She laughed and threw me a wink.

My face flamed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Isaac standing in the doorway of the kitchen, and my heart squeezed. Haley noticed him, too, and her eyes widened.

I cleared my throat. “Haley, this is Isaac.”

Haley bit her lip and gave me an apologetic look. Isaac stepped forward, his face giving away nothing. My stomach was in knots as they shook hands.

“It’s so great to finally meet you. Kenzie has told me so much about you. She just can’t stop talking about you. It’s always Isaac this and Isaac that. Every day, all of the time. It’s enough to make me sick.”

From behind Isaac’s back I ran my finger along my throat to signal her to stop talking. She was laying it on too thick, and that would make Isaac suspicious. Anyway, it wasn’t like she could take back what she had said. The damage was already done. It seemed like it was one thing after another. I wondered how our relationship would survive.