Wingless Book Series (book 1) (27 page)

“
Well, why don’t you look at it as
a good thing? Maybe this is his way of being back in your life,” he
said, taking my hand in his, he stared at my ring.

“
I guess that is one way to look
at it. Do you think those kinds of things are real?”

“
I suppose it could happen,” he
said matter of fact.

“
You suppose. I feel like you
should know this and you never do,” I said annoyed.

“
I can’t let you in on every
secret. What’s the fun in that?” he said teasingly.

“
Evan, it’s not silly to me. It’s
important. Could a person who is dead talk to you through dreams?”
I wanted to know this, and if so, why would he wait four years to
contact me?

“
Anything is possible. I wouldn’t
know firsthand, but I think it could happen,” he said,
shrugging.

“
Why now then if that is
true?”

“
I don’t know. Maybe because your
life has changed, or is changing. Maybe its stress.”

He got up, heading in the house. I
could see it made him uncomfortable discussing these things with
me. Maybe he knew more then he could tell me.

Chapter 26

Today

“
I never thought you would wear
anything like that,” Vanessa said, laughing at my pink flowing
sundress and my giant sunglasses.

I didn’t see anything wrong with
what I was wearing. It was new, but I think it was Ari starting to
rub off on me. Ari knew what was in and hip. I always just picked
what was comfortable and a tad girly.

“
People change, Vanessa,” I
mumbled, going through the rack of clothes with a spastic gesture
of agitation.

Evan had given me his credit card
and told me to get out of the house with Ari and Vanessa and do
some shopping. I wasn’t one to just be all right with using someone
else’s funds, but he insisted I needed some girl time.

Vanessa pulled a red shirt off the
rack holding it up to herself, admiring it in the
mirror.

“
That’s for sure,” she said back
just loud enough to hear. Something about Vanessa today was irking
me; she had a smug attitude that I was not feeling.

“
What does that mean?” I asked
sharply, slinging a floral sundress over my arm.

“
Ever since you been with Evan you
seem so different. Everyone notices it, not just me,” she said,
ignoring my glare and going through the next rack of
clothes.

“
Oh really? Seems like you have
been talking to my family too much,” I snapped. Ari looked at the
two of us and headed into a dressing room with a ton of
items.

“
At least someone does,” she threw
back.

“
You’ve known me for twelve years.
Don’t try to act all surprised that I don’t.” I was ready to rip
her hair out, but not in a bad way. Vanessa always knew how to get
under my skin, but I still liked her after it.

“
Does he really make you happy?
Happy enough to just leave your family behind?”

“
You already know the answer to
that. I wouldn’t be there and you know it,” I said, throwing
another dress over my arm.

“
Eve, I just want to know you’re
okay, because Gray told me-” she stopped midsentence.

I turned to face her, a million
thoughts running in my head. “Gray told you what?”

“
He said that he looked into his
family and, I don’t know, asked around. And he said that they’re
into illegal things,” she said avoiding my gaze.

Ari came out of the fitting room
in a red dress. She looked at me with a pained look. I could tell
she sympathized.

“
Is that so? Well, there’s nothing
that I’m aware of,” I said, looking at Ari.

“
Vanessa, I’m dating Kenny and I
have known them since I was young. They’re harmless,” she said,
fixing the straps on the dress.

“
That’s really nice of you to put
your two cents in, Ari, but Eve is my friend and I’m concerned,”
she said, snubbing Ari.

“
Vanessa, watch how you talk to
her. Evan is harmless. He is a really good guy and if you knew him
you wouldn’t be worried about it,” I said, touching her
arm.

“
Maybe he is, but Gray says his
family is in all sorts of trouble,” she said, crossing her
arms.

“
It’s all accusations. It’s
nothing more than accusations,” Ari insisted, moving in the middle
of us.

“
Nessa, I’m a big girl, and I am
telling you I am okay,” I said, letting out a huge sigh.

“
You’re my best friend. I don’t
want anything to happen to you. And if your parents don’t have it
in them to ask, I will,” she said, then walked away.

Ari stared at me. I acted as if I
didn’t notice. “That’s a good friend,” she said, going back into
the dressing room.

I knew she wouldn’t leave; she was
just taking a breather. When Vanessa got mad she would take off.
She always came back though.

I knew it was out of good
intentions what she was trying to do. But if anyone knew anything,
they would know I was in the best place I could be. Evan was in no
way out to hurt me. He would only do that when it was
time.

I was finally ready to go. After
numerous dresses and shoes I was feeling like I had gone way
overboard. Ari insisted that it was fine and barely a blip on the
amount of money available on Evan’s card. I’d never spent that much
in my life. Vanessa seemed shocked as well, her meager forty-five
dollars was nothing compared to what our totals were.

“
I’ll talk to you later, Eve,”
Vanessa said, heading to her car at a quick pace. It was getting
dark and I knew Nessa was spooked by parking lots at
night.

“
See ya. Oh, and call me when
you’re home,” I said as me and Ari loaded the bags in Ari’s trunk.
Vanessa nodded, speeding out of the parking lot.

“
That was fun,” Ari said, smiling
as she slammed the trunk shut.

“
It was,” I said looking
off.

“
What is it?” Ari asked me,
jingling her keys as she touched my arm. “Eve, you’re going to get
that a lot. And as long as you know, don’t worry about what others
say.”

“
I know, it just really bothers me
sometimes because I know and no one else does and I just wish they
understood like we did,” I said, getting in the car.

“
We are the very few who do. Do
you really think they would, even if it was spelled out for them?”
Ari asked half laughingly.

“
No, I guess they wouldn’t. But
Ari, do you ever wonder about your own fate?” I asked.

“
What do you mean?” she asked,
looking at me.

“
Do you think it’s something you
will find out about when it’s your time?”

“
I’ve asked this before, and I’m
not completely sure. I never heard about anything like it before,
or should I say haven’t witnessed it happen yet,” Ari said, driving
slowly out of the parking lot. Her carefree way wasn’t there at
that moment.

“
I wonder about it, and I asked
Evan, he said not to worry. Do you think that means he knows or
doesn’t?” I asked.

“
I don’t know. But knowing Evan, I
would think it’s something he would tell you about. Kenny on the
other hand…” She trailed off, rubbing her arm in silence as she
drove.

Kenny on the other
hand,
would probably off Ari and not even
let her see it coming. And I knew that was what she was thinking as
well.

Chapter 27

Balance

Ari and I laughed as we came
walking into the house. We had found it amusing the amount of
clothes that we had bought, it seemed a little silly. I had so many
bags looped on my arm I was wobbly. Ari’s laugh came to a halt as
Kenny appeared in the door. Kenny’s face wasn’t looking too amused,
I thought to myself, my smile fading as well.

“
Wow, you never disappoint now do
ya?” he said, looking past me to Ari.

Ari dropped her bags at her feet.
She sighed, finding a new way to arrange them so she could get them
inside.

“
They had a good sale,” she
muttered, walking past him in a huff. Kenny held the door watching
Ari walk away.

“
It was fun. We had a lot of fun.
Where’s Evan?” I asked him, trying to break the crusty mood that
was oozing out of him.

“
He is in the bedroom packing,” he
said, not looking at me.

“
What?”I asked in
shock.

People normally didn’t say things
like that out of the blue, and when they did, the other people
living in the home usually knew what they were speaking
of.

“
What do you mean packing?” I said
to Kenny.

He sighed, slamming the screen
shut before it could shut itself. “I mean he is taking things and
putting them into boxes,” he snapped at me.

His mood wasn’t intimidating to me
at all, and the thought of not knowing what was going on was
bugging me. I tried to bite my tongue, but it was no
use.

“
No shit Sherlock!” I yelled,
throwing my bags over my shoulder and stomping down the
hall.

I kicked the door to our room with
one quick kick and threw all the bags on the floor in a big heap.
Evan came out of the closet with a handful of his own clothes on
hangers, his expression going from concentration to almost
startled.

“
You’re back already. Did you have
a nice time?” he asked me, laying his stuff on the bed.

“
I did, yeah. All the way up until
I saw Kenny,” I said harshly.

“
He upset you?” he asked, playing
dumb.

“
Evan! Why are you packing?” I
practically yelled at him.

He sighed, sitting down on
the bed. “I was going to tell you as soon as you got here,
but
can I see Kenny got to you
first.”

“
Uh, yeah, and the part about you
gutting the closet was a pretty good tip off as well. Why don’t I
know about this? And why so sudden?” I said, hurling it at him at
once. My cell phone buzzed in my pocket.

“
Are you going to answer it?” he
said, setting up a box.

“
I’ll call you back, Ness,” I
said, flipping my phone shut and tossing it on the bed.

Silence did wonders when serious
things were brewing.

“
Piper Valley is where we are
going. I told you about this. I just wasn’t sure when exactly we
would be heading out.” He looked away from me. I think he knew I
wasn’t happy. I was as happy as when I was informed we were moving
back then.

“
Why now?”

“
It’s time. I know not the right
time for you, but Carlo, he called and said the movers would be
here tomorrow. I think you will like it.” He took my
hand.

“
I don’t know. I don’t think I
ever heard of Pepper Valley,” I said, holding his hand
loosely.

“
Piper Valley. It’s twenty minutes
from here. So you still can visit your family in no time. They can
come there too.” He squeezed my hand trying to find some life in
me.

“
What is so special about Piper
Valley?” I demanded.

“
Let’s just say that we all share
one common bond there,” he said. I sat down next to him to listen.
“Ari and Kenny will be there, my brother Mark, his girlfriend, and
plenty of others you will get to know in no time. Eve, I really
think it will be good for us.”

“
But how will I fit in?” I asked,
worried that me amongst a bunch of them I would stick out like a
sore thumb.

“
You’re with me. You’re no
different than any of the other girlfriends or fiancé’s. Ari is
human like you. Believe me, you will be just fine. This is like the
next step in our relationship.” He kissed my forehead.

“
I know, but I feel so new, like
I’m not as experienced as anyone else,” I said blushing. It sounded
stupid, but Ari was like an old pro. Me? I hadn’t been around it
long enough to truly grasp it all. I had months versus Ari’s
years.

“
You’re going to be fine. You’re
my fiancé, you’re with me,” he insisted, getting up and packing
again.

“
I don’t know if I am going to be
fine. Things happen so fast around here I don’t ever get a chance
to even think about any of it,” I said, irritated.

His quick bounce back to what he
was doing was not sitting well with me. It was more like something
that was a definite to him, not something that was going to be
discussed or compromised on, and I didn’t like that. I was starting
to feel like it didn’t matter if I didn’t want to go, I had to. And
if I didn’t, then I would be saying goodbye to him.

“
What are you talking about?” Evan
asked irritated himself as he threw another heap of his clothes out
of the closet. This time he threw them on the floor, heading back
inside.

“
Does it even matter if I am okay
with this?” I asked, coming in the closet.