When Sparks Fly (Netherworld Series Book 3)

by Olivia Hutchinson

  Jonah dropped her arm and began pulling on his clothes as she did the same. The pool was warm while they were in it, but now she regretted getting wet. Having to walk all the way back to the cabin with wet hair would freeze her. She zipped her jacket all the way up and pulled the hood over her head. She stepped out of the cave first and Jonah followed close behind her. She watched as he tucked her flashlight into the pocket of his jeans.

  “That was close,” she breathed when they were outside.

  “Too close.”

  “Who were those people?” she asked him.

  Jonah shrugged, but she got the impression he knew. Too shaken, she decided not to pry for an answer. She’d ask him again another time she decided as they made their way back through the woods toward the cabin.

  The sun was setting in the sky and she knew she had spent too much time away. Her father would be upset when she wasn’t home in time for dinner and would probably worry, but she couldn’t regret the time she had spent with Jonah.

  “Will I see you tomorrow?” he asked her when the cabin came into sight.

  “Yes,” she said. “We’re not going home until next week.”

  “No more caves,” he said with half a laugh.

  “Maggie!” The sound of her father’s voice cut through their exchange like a knife. “Where have you been? I was just about to go looking for you.” Her father came rushing toward them, the front door of the cabin banging behind him.

  He glared at Jonah, his green eyes evaluating the boy. “Who are you?” he demanded, standing over them. She had never thought of her father as an intimidating person, but right now he was scaring her and was probably scaring Jonah as well.

  “I’m Jonah Cowan, sir,” Jonah said, clasping his hands behind his back. Her father shook his head.

  “What are you doing with my daughter?”

  “We were playing in the woods, sir.”

  “Maggie?” Her father turned his head toward her. She had never thought she would be in trouble for making a friend in New Freedom, but now she wasn’t so sure. She didn’t know what it was about Jonah that her father didn’t like, but it was apparent by the way his mouth made a thin line that she had done something wrong.

  “We were playing in the woods, Daddy,” she told him. Her father sighed and put a hand on her back, ushering her toward the cabin.

  “Go inside and pack your things, Maggie. We’re going back to Cantor tonight.”

  “What? Why?” she cried, digging her feet into the ground.

  “It’s time to go back. You have school on Monday.”

  “But Daddy!” She didn’t want to leave and now they were going a day early. She didn’t want to leave Jonah behind.

  “Maggie.” His voice was gruff, and she knew if she protested again, she’d be in trouble if she wasn’t already. Her cries died in her throat. “Jonah, go home to your parents. They wouldn’t like knowing you were out here.”

  “Yes, sir,” Jonah said, casting a lingering look at Maggie before racing off through the trees in the direction of town. She watched him go, her face crumbling as tears started to well up in her eyes as he disappeared through the trees.

  “You’re not to see that boy again. Do you understand me?” Her father demanded of her once Jonah was gone.

  She nodded once before staring down at her feet. "Yes."

  2

  8 years ago

  Her father had asked Maggie what she wanted to do for her eighteenth birthday. She had taken two days to think about it. Part of her had just wanted to stay in Cantor and go out with her friends Heidi and Carey, but the other part of her really wasn’t into the whole ‘go out’ thing. Carey pushed her more than Heidi and since Carey had a fake ID, she thought they may have fun.

  But there was something about a couple teenage girls going out and getting drunk on a tailgate that just made her shrug her shoulders. She had graduated high school a few months before and by the end of the month she’d be moving to Portland to start the community college’s culinary program. Even though she would be in school, she would still have plenty of time to get drunk and act stupid with any new friends she made there, if that even appealed to her.

  When she told Heidi and Carey her plans, she was surprised they agreed it was a good idea. They would see each other over the summer and every holiday break between now and her college graduation. Carey had told her to go do anything that made her happy. After all, a girl only turned eighteen once.

  And so, bright and early on the morning after her eighteenth birthday, her father helped her pack up her old battered Honda two-door and she took off by herself.

  She hadn’t been to New Freedom in ten years. Her father still went up every year, but something had always prevented her from going with him. First school and later – when she was a teenager – it had been parties, football games, and friends that kept her in Cantor. There was something in her now that wanted nothing more than to see the small mountain town one more time before leaving for Portland. Maybe it was her way of saying goodbye to her childhood.

  Her father had apologized for not being able to go with her. Work kept him home, but she didn’t mind. To experience the wilderness alone was something she welcomed. The peace. The quiet. The time to be alone in her own mind. It was freeing.

  The two-hour drive went by quickly. The narrow winding roads had changed surprisingly very little over the years. Her tiny two-door car sputtered a few times, but she managed to get to the small cabin without incident. The August heat cooled once she was in the mountains, but even in shorts and a tank top, she was sweating by the time she lugged in half of the supplies her father made her bring. He hadn’t been up since winter and had warned her the place would need a good scrubbing to be habitable.

  He hadn’t been joking.

  The tiny one-bedroom cabin was covered in a thick layer of dust. Sweat poured down her back as she hung the linens on the line to dry after scrubbing them in the wash basin. One of the downfalls about having no appliances or electricity was having to hand wash everything. While there at least was a water pump over the sink, there was nothing else that resembled her comfortable home in Cantor. A wood-burning stove and an outhouse were all the amenities the cabin in New Freedom provided.

  Sweeping, mopping, and ridding the place of cobwebs took up the rest of her morning. In the afternoon, after she had munched on a granola bar, she got to work chopping wood. While there were some logs left on the woodpile, it wouldn’t be enough to get through the entire week. Her shoulders ached from dragging the fallen logs. She hacked them into manageable pieces before bringing them back to the cabin. There she split them into the right size before throwing them on the slowly growing pile. She was used to this kind of work since she also had to do it at home. While she and her father at least had the luxury of hot water and a washing machine, they still relied heavily on a wood stove for warmth in the winter. Chopping wood was just one of the many chores she’d taken on over the years.

  By the time the sun started to creep down on the horizon, she’d had enough. Exhausted, she didn’t even want to bother with making herself dinner even though her stomach was growling loudly. Pushing the long strands of black hair that had escaped her ponytail out of her face, she gave up and went inside.

  The same wash basin she had used to wash the blankets and curtains was still sitting in the middle of the floor. She had dumped the dirty water out earlier, but at that moment she wanted nothing more than a bath. Hauling over one bucket of cold water after another, she dumped it into the large basin before stripping down and crawling in.

  As hot and sweaty as she was, the cooling water felt glorious against her skin. She scrubbed off the dust and grime before submerging her hair. Washing the thick, long strands was annoying at best. Before she left for school, she vowed to get it cut. Perhaps to her ears, she thought with half a smile.

  After she was done, she dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and pulled on a clean white tank top. She dumped the bath water out
the front door and left the wash basin on the porch before grabbing her keys and shoving some money in her pocket. She wanted something good to eat and she wasn’t going to find it in the cabin, among the cans of soup and granola bars.

  The CRX gave her some trouble on the dirt road, the bottom of the car scraped the ground every time she hit a pothole. Biting her lip, she made herself drive as slow as she could, so she didn’t do too much damage to it. Once she hit the paved road, she breathed a sigh of relief.

  By the time she got into town, it was dark. Even though she had driven through earlier, she hadn’t paid too much attention. The town itself hadn’t changed much. One gas station, one general store, a small diner, and a tiny hole in the wall bar were the major attractions. The town was also home to a school, a sheriff’s office, a small non-denominational church, and a town hall which also hosted Bingo every Tuesday and Thursday night as well as dancing every Friday, according to the lit sign out front.

  The people who lived out here depended heavily on the land and acquired most of their food through hunting, fishing, and canning their own vegetables. Any simple supplies they may need were bought at the general store, whether it was clothing, groceries, hardware, or ammunition. There was something about the town that she had fallen in love with when she was young. Just seeing the sign for Martin’s General Store made her realize how much she missed being there over the years.

  The Main Street Diner sat across the street from the church and was lit up like a beacon. The pink and green fluorescent lights illuminated the darkness around it. There were a few people inside from what she could see through the windows, all smiling and laughing.

  Her boots crunched over the gravel as she walked toward the front door. The light evening breeze blew a few still wet strands of hair loose from the haphazard bun she had attempted to put in place. She twirled her keys in her hand as she pulled open the front door and stepped inside.

  The sudden brightness of the place momentarily blinded her. When her eyes adjusted to the glare, she couldn’t help but feel as if every pair of eyes inside were focused directly on her. Her cheeks warmed as she made her way to the counter and hopped up on one of the stools. She snatched up the menu and buried her head in it to block out all the open stares and curious whispers.

  “Can I get you something to drink?” The masculine voice interrupted her thoughts of fleeing the restaurant and spending the rest of the week huddled in her father’s cabin.

  She peered over the top of the plastic menu. He was a boy, perhaps no older than herself, carrying a full pot of coffee. His thick blond eyebrow was raised as he looked at her with dark eyes. The name badge clipped to his white apron read Jimmy.

  “Coke?”

  “Sure thing,” he said before turning around. She buried her head back in the menu.

  “Are you sure you don’t want a milkshake? They’re pretty darn good.”

  She jumped at the closeness of the man’s deep voice, the menu falling from her hands. Whipping her head around, she stared at him, her eyes widened when she recognized him. Oh, shit.

  Jonah.

  He’d changed over the years. What little peach fuzz he had been growing back then was now shaved clean, but he still had the same grey eyes that reminded her of warm stone – if such a thing were possible – and the same hair, although now he seemed to be much better groomed than he had ten years before. The light brown strands were cut close to his scalp, accentuating his strong jawline and straight nose.

  He was leaning on the counter next to her, his elbow propped on the white laminate, his chin in his hand. The grey tank top he wore did nothing to hide the muscles he’d developed over the years. Years of hard work, years of working with his hands. Huge hands.

  She gulped. She hadn’t thought about him in a long time, but seeing him now, standing next to her as if he hadn’t a care in the world brought everything back like a swift punch to the gut. The day of exploring, the stolen kiss, his protectiveness of her, and then having to say goodbye.

  “You don’t remember me, do you?” he asked when she didn’t say anything.

  Slowly, she nodded her head, her mouth suddenly dry. “Jonah.”

  “Very good.” His crooked smile stole her breath away. “And you’re Maggie Alfieri.”

  Was she? “I am,” she said more to herself than to him.

  “Why are you over here all alone, Maggie Alfieri?” He stood a little straighter, his hand falling to the counter in front of her.

  “I’m getting something to eat.”

  “Doesn’t your dad make you dinner?”

  “He’s back in Cantor. I came by myself.”

  He tilted his head ever so slightly, his smile fading. “Is that so?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  She smiled at his apparent disbelief, almost able to read his thoughts. Why would anyone want to go out of their way to come to New Freedom, especially alone?

  “It’s my birthday present to myself.”

  “Your birthday? Well, I believe I owe you a ‘happy birthday’ then, don’t I?” His smile was back. “What birthday am I congratulating you on?”

  “Eighteen.”

  “That’s an extra special one. One deserving of a fine chocolate milkshake. Jimmy, how about you bring this fine lady a big chocolate milkshake on me for her birthday?” he asked as Jimmy set her coke down in front of her.

  “Of course.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” she started, but he shook his head.

  “Of course, I do. In fact, why don’t you join my friends and me? It’s no good celebrating your birthday alone.”

  She couldn’t help the smile that crossed her mouth. Nor could she help the fluttering that started in her gut.

  “My birthday was yesterday actually, so really there’s no need. I don’t want to intrude.”

  “There’s no intrusion. If you can handle Travis and his girlfriend making out every ten seconds, I’d say you’d be a welcome distraction for me.”

  “I haven’t even ordered yet,” she stammered.

  “Good. Neither have we.”

  Out of excuses, she hopped down from the stool and picked up her drink. Jonah pointed toward a booth against the far wall. A couple sat on one side, a man around the same age as Jonah had his arm around the shoulders of a petite blonde. They were watching Jonah and her as they approached the booth. The man whispered something into the girl’s ear that made her mouth drop, her eyes narrowing in interest as she observed them.

  “Hi,” Maggie said as she sat down in the booth. Jonah sat next to her, his jean-clad leg pressed against her bare thigh.

  “Hey,” the two of them said in unison.

  “Maggie, this is my friend Travis Bosco and his girlfriend Jennie,” Jonah told her before looking at the couple. “This is Maggie Alfieri.”

  “Alfieri?” Travis asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Hunh.”

  She didn’t say anything. She didn’t elaborate about how her father had grown up in New Freedom. She didn’t go onto explain that her grandparents had lived in the town until they died a few years after she was born. She didn’t have to, she was sure they already knew. As small of a town as it was, they all knew about her family.

  Jennie twisted her shoulder-length hair around her finger and looked at her with curious brown eyes. When the stares from the girl and Travis become uncomfortable, she cleared her throat.

  “So…what brings you out here?” Travis asked as Jimmy leaned over the table and set a large chocolate milkshake in front of her. It was complete with whipped cream and a cherry on top.

  “Are you guys ready?” he asked, pulling out a pad of paper and pencil.

  Travis ordered a patty melt while his girlfriend ordered a small garden salad. Maggie had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. When Jonah ordered a double cheeseburger with all the extras, she couldn’t help but ask for the same thing. She was starving.

  Jonah looked a little surprised wh
en she said, “Same.” Jennie, on the other hand, looked at Maggie as if she had just committed one of the seven deadly sins.

  “Are you scared of getting fat?” she asked once Jimmy walked away from the table.

  “No.” The word came out harsher than she meant for it to sound.

  “I mean all that food plus a milkshake? You’re brave.”

  Maggie shrugged her shoulders. She did not want to have the I’m-so-fat discussion with this girl. She’d been in high school. She knew how it went.

  She listened quietly as Jonah and Travis talked football. Thankfully, they didn’t leave much breathing room for Jennie to try to carry on a conversation with her. When the discussion finally died, Jennie was hanging on Travis’s arm and a second later they were locking lips. Maggie was growing more and more uncomfortable by the second and found herself looking around the small diner just to avoid eye contact with Jonah.

  He shifted in his seat next to her, his leg moving against hers and she couldn’t help the tightening in her stomach. She almost breathed an audible sigh of relief when their food was placed in front of them.

  The cheeseburger was huge. Everyone at the table, including herself, dug into their dinners. Jennie was done before anyone else, leaving half of her rabbit food still in the bowl.

  “I’m full,” she announced.

  “You didn’t eat,” Travis commented, his mouth full.

  “My stomach is smaller than yours.”

  Jonah, to his credit, didn’t say anything. He regarded the couple in silence before popping a fry into his mouth. Grease was running down Maggie’s hands as she took a big bite of the burger. It was delicious and just what she’d been craving.

  As hungry as she had been, she still wasn’t able to finish the entire thing. Although she did manage to finish the milkshake. Jonah had been right. It was the best chocolate milkshake she’d ever had.