by K. K. Allen
“Okay,” I give him my best eager look, but a smile peeks through. “Tell me where we’re going.”
He glances over at me, and the tranquil atmosphere shifts to something layered with confusion and bundled with curiosity. “I will, but promise me you won’t be mad.”
I fold my arms and narrow my eyes. “I will not promise that, but I take it you aren’t surprising me with a Disney cruise.”
His expression grows distant. “I could do that. Would you like that?”
With a shake of my head, I laugh. “I was just kidding. You don’t need to take me on a cruise to spend time with me. But please spill, and quickly. You’re starting to remind me of Rose with your secrets.”
He makes a face. “Okay, okay. The storage locker company in Silver Lake sent a letter to Charlotte since she was the one who signed for the lease. The contract is expiring, so we either need to renew it or get rid of it. I thought you might want to help me make that decision since the contents are yours.”
Oh. The mention of my mom’s storage locker ignites a bundle of emotions. I’ve never even seen it. After her death, Charlotte and I allowed the moving company to box up everything we owned and take it there. They mailed us a key, but I wasn’t planning to go back there anytime soon.
“Okay, but why did Charlotte give the letter to you and not me?”
Paul taps the wheel rhythmically. “You’ve been a little preoccupied lately. Plus, she figured I’d want to be involved since Grace was my wife.”
A coldness seeps in around my ribs as I stare at his face—uncertain and afraid. “She was, but you two divorced.”
He shakes his head. “There’s something I haven’t told you because it never really mattered—or I never thought it mattered. But maybe it does. I don’t know.” He shakes his head.
I gasp. “You two were still married? The entire time you were apart?”
He nods then breathes out a whoosh of relief. “Wow, that was a lot easier than I thought.”
Rolling my eyes, I face front and curl my legs up in a ball beneath me. Leaning against the window, I think of what this means. Maybe he’s right. Maybe it doesn’t really mean anything—or maybe it means everything. My dad must have still loved my mom if he remained married to her for all those years.
“We meant to—” He clears his throat. “Divorce, that is. But it was difficult to communicate with Grace once you both moved. I didn’t push it. Neither did she.”
“But why?” I ask sadly. “Didn’t you want to move on with your life?”
He shakes his head. “No, Kat. That’s exactly it. I never wanted anything more than I wanted my family. I want you to know that I don’t hold any grudges against your mother, but I think we could have lived with our divide. I would have tried. I would have succeeded. Your mother… It was harder for her.”
This week has been such an emotional one that I’m not surprised when his words bring tears to my eyes and swelling to my throat. “For eighteen years, I was certain you didn’t care, that you chose another life. I even accepted it.”
“Katrina,” he says gently, “I’m sorry it took me so long to tell you this.”
“You didn’t have to.” I look at him. His eyes are focused on the road, but he’s listening. “Since the moment you showed up in my life again, I knew. We can’t make up for lost time, but we can enjoy the time we have together now. And I have been. I love having you around.”
A shaky breath releases from him, and his hand lands on my wrist. “Good, because I love being in your life.”
Silence passes between us for quite some time before we find lighter topics to cover. When we start to pass through a unique Georgia town, its charm wins me over immediately. I can tell from the long oak tree branches dripping with Spanish moss and the quaint parks on almost every block that we’ve entered a fairytale.
“Where are we?” I ask on a breath.
Paul slows and turns onto another street with a row of homes to the right and a lush green park to our left. “Savannah. I want to show you something.” He grins at me as he puts the SUV into park and removes his seatbelt. “Let’s go.”
It’s nice to get out of the car. We’ve only made one other stop, and even my Enchanted bones are getting stiff from lack of activity. I stretch and pull on a light jacket from the backseat before following Paul across the street.
“Wait up. Are we eating?”
He gives me a look over his shoulder. “You hungry?”
I think about it. “Getting there.”
“We can grab dinner before we head out.” I finally catch up to him and look ahead.
My dad places a hand on my back as we make our way down the sidewalk. A while later, he slows to a full stop and turns toward the entrance of the park we’ve been walking around. I’ve been so focused on the buildings and cars that I didn’t notice the most beautiful landmark there.
Down a long, wide concrete path sits a stunning fountain spraying water in all directions. Surrounded by a small black fence, it looks as if it came straight from Paris. It’s simply breathtaking.
My dad holds out his arm, so I link arms with him, following his lead. “This is Forsyth Park, where your mother and I married.”
My head swivels so fast to face him, it practically spins off my neck. “Really?”
“Yes.” He grins down at me. “Really. We kept it to just my close family, but you would have thought we’d invited the world with how it was all set up. Your mom dreamed of a Savannah wedding since the moment she laid eyes on the city in a magazine. It’s all she talked of for the year leading up to our big day. I didn’t understand what made her love Savannah so much, then she brought me here to show me where she wanted to marry, and I understood. We had plans to move here with you. She wanted to attend art school, and I planned to get a job at the nearest energy plant.”
Then he points down the walking path that leads to the front of the fountain. “This was our aisle.” He pulls me along it, but my shock hasn’t caught up with me yet.
We stroll around the fountain, admiring the mythological statues as he explains the symbolism of the Tritons and Nereids that hold fish spouting water upward to the rim of the basin. My father has a wealth of knowledge, like Rose. I’ve watched him speak at the theater, and he draws the crowd in just like my grandmother does, hypnotizing them with his words and evoking whatever emotions he wants them to feel. There’s no doubt the town will want him to take over for Rose when she’s gone.
Guilt evades my serene thoughts for a moment. I can’t believe I could even think of Rose leaving this world, but ever since she first taught me how to energy source, her ominous words have stayed with me.
“This,” my dad says breathlessly, “is one place I thought I’d never come back to after losing you and your mother—too much history. I couldn’t have come back here without you, Katrina. So thank you.”
He squeezes my hand, and my heart aches for the man who suffered a heartbreak so great that I’ll never fully understand—and selfishly, I hope to never understand it.
“You must have wanted to start another family.” I search his face for any indication he might be lying to me. “I won’t be hurt, I promise. It’s only natural…”
He chuckles, and I’m glad to have lightened the mood. “I dated women, Katrina.” He smiles wistfully. “But your mother was the love of my life, and it took me a long time to even consider moving on. There was a woman I thought I’d marry, but it didn’t work out.”
“Why?” I want to kick myself for asking such a personal question. For an instant, I think of Alec. Just as quickly, I shake away the image of his crestfallen face as we stood on my balcony last night.
Paul hesitates before speaking. “When she found out I couldn’t have children, that pretty much ended it.”
This is news to me. Not that my father would have any reason to mention this before now. “You can’t have children, or you don’t want to?”
“I was in an accident many years ago at an ene
rgy plant in Houston. A chemical explosion almost killed me. You wouldn’t know it by looking at me now, but I was practically charcoal. Luckily, I was surrounded by Enchanters who pooled their energy to heal me. If I were to put money on it at that time, I would have bet my life was over.”
A chill sweeps through me, causing my body to tremble.
“I came out of it alive, but the chemicals were like poison to my insides, and I lost the ability to have more children. Unfortunately, there isn’t a magical cure for infertility, not that we’ve found.”
What is it with the Summer family and tragic fires? My grandfather died in a house fire, I was almost killed after a wild bonfire ignited at Alec’s Fourth of July party, and my poor dad survived a chemical explosion.
“How did the fire start?” I can’t help asking since every disaster seems to lead back to one person.
He frowns. “I know what you’re thinking. Erebus?”
I nod. “Do you think he could have had anything to do with the explosion?”
Paul shakes his head. “No, he definitely had nothing to do with that one. That was a chemist’s recipe gone bad.” He shivers. I can’t imagine what an awful memory that must be. “The work we do at the plants is considered too dangerous for most.”
“I know nothing about it. What kind of work does a chemist do for the plant?”
Paul grins but doesn’t look at me. “You’d be surprised. Anyway…” Clearly, he doesn’t think it’s important enough to answer. “One moment, I was walking the halls of the facility, and the next, I’m blown up in flames, sucking down the toxic gases from the plant.”
“When was this?”
“Nine years ago.”
My thoughts stray. “I was ten years old.”
“What were you doing when you were ten?” His question matches my line of thought, which amazes me. Our similarities are endless.
I allow him to steer me onto a large, open green field where soccer balls roll and kites fly. There’s so much beauty in everything, it’s overwhelming. I can see why my parents wanted to raise a family here. This place oozes charm and magic from even the simple cracks in the concrete. It’s made for an Enchanter.
Within seconds, I’m brought back to my lonely but happy childhood as I ponder a way to answer Paul’s question. I smile as I think of one of my favorite memories. “There was this treehouse in the woods behind our apartment. It was deep in the thick of nature, surrounded by nothing but more trees. It belonged to two brothers, boys my age. I remember the day I found it because I’d always play in those woods against mom’s wishes. It was the only place I could go and feel as if I was a part of a world bigger than the small distance she would take me. There was a hammering in the woods, and I spied on the brothers and their father laying down the last piece of floorboard. From that day on, I’d go to that treehouse as much as possible. I found comfort there, even when I knew I was trespassing.” I giggle, pulling myself from my memories.
My dad unhooks our arms and wraps his around my shoulders. “I’ll build you a treehouse, Katrina.”
His words are few, but they mean the world. Tears threaten to release, and I grin. “Would you have built me a treehouse at that age?” I’m genuinely curious.
There’s something in his expression that I’ve never seen before. I’ve seen sadness, but this is something more, as if he’s fighting back tears. “Yes, sweet girl. I would have built you one then, and I’ll build you one now.”
“But I’m nineteen.” I laugh then curl up closer to him in his embrace. “What can I do with a treehouse now?”
“You’re never too old for a treehouse, Katrina.”
We left Savannah last night after an early dinner and a stop at Leopold’s for “the best ice cream ever,” according to my dad. He’s convinced the original owners are descendants of Greek gods, bestowed with the magic of delivering heaven in the form of an ice cream cone. By the time we got to our hotel in Silver Lake, we were both exhausted.
“How does Pancake Nation sound for breakfast?” Paul asks as soon as we’re back in the car.
My heart squeezes as I remember the restaurant my mom and I visited frequently. “I don’t know…” My hesitation weighs on my chest.
With a single glance out the window, I sigh. Why does it all have to hurt so much? Being this close to where my life once existed is like reopening a wound held together with a single piece of masking tape.
I want to pretend I’m anywhere but here. Savannah, maybe. My dreams of Savannah last night were anything but beautiful, though. I was haunted by my mother, who was dressed in a knee-length wedding dress. The dress was caked in dirt, and she was surrounded by a disturbing gold glow. Looking closer, I recognized the black-and-gold serpent slowly circling her feet.
“There’s a drive-through coffee place down the road if you just want to grab something quickly. I don’t have much of an appetite right now.”
He narrows his eyes, concern transforming his features, but he doesn’t push me. “That’s okay. I don’t have much of an appetite either. We can grab lunch on our way back home.”
We drive past the apartment my mother and I used to live in, by the rundown basketball court, my old high school, and the local gym. Despite the darkness that engulfed me when I left this place, it’s the happy memories that flood my mind now. The laughter, the bike rides, the hikes, and the many inside jokes my mom and I shared.
By the time we reach the storage facility, I feel like the weight of the world has lifted off my shoulders. Maybe this is what I’ve been needing—to remember my mother in a way that would honor her life instead of question her every decision.
“I’ll go in first. Come in when you’re ready,” he says gently.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll come.” I unbuckle my seatbelt and step out of the car before I can change my mind.
Paul unlocks the rolling door and pulls it above his head. Harsh light from the hallway shines in on the room, exposing my mom’s belongings. I step past my dad and enter the room, heading straight for the clothing rack.
I run my fingers across the plastic wrap protecting the worn fabric, my senses instantly picking up on familiar scents from her favorite floral perfume. Maybe I’m not smelling anything at all, but my memories of being enveloped in warm hugs while breathing in her signature scent is so vivid, I could cry.
“She kept this?” My dad’s voice startles me.
I turn to see him holding an old CD. My feet sweep the ground to approach him so that I can get a better view of what he’s referring to. Ah, yes. This one, I know well. “That was her favorite.”
I take the CD from him and flip it to see the song list on the back. I smile. “‘Name,’ by the Goo Goo Dolls. That’s the one. She would put this on repeat sometimes and stare off into space with a smile on her face.”
Paul sweeps his eyes around the room quickly and finds whatever he’s searching for. He reaches for the black box under a pile of books on top of a white shelf. Dust flies everywhere as he wipes it off. In seconds, he’s powering up the CD player with nothing but magic, and the familiar tune rings in my ears.
“Dance with me?” My dad offers me a hand while he grins.
How can I resist? I take his hands and let him spin me around the cramped storage unit, unable to keep my giggles from escaping.
“Your mother and I used to listen to this often. We called it our secret song, a little joke we had that made her serious situation not feel so serious.”
I tilt my head up at him. “She was sad about not knowing her family?”
He nods. “She would have these moments of sadness, but then we’d play this song, and she’d be all smiles again. It didn’t take much to make her smile.”
We let the rest of the CD play while we continue wandering around the space. To my surprise, I find perusing my mom’s old things rather therapeutic as we mark the things we want to keep, toss, and give away.
“Hey, Kat. Do you want your mom’s old notebooks? I don’t really want
to rifle through them. I’m certain they’re her journals. She would write in them constantly back in high school.”
I look over my shoulder and frown. “I’ve never seen those before.”
Paul looks down at them then back to me. “I’ll pack them up. You can decide what to do with them later.”
I turn back to a pile of photographs and decide to box them up for our trip back to Apollo Beach. There are too many to look through right now, and since they include family photos of the Summers, Rose and Paul might want to look through them too.
There’s one last jewelry box in the corner of the room on a high shelf. My mom instructed me to never touch it because it contained her valuables. There’s nothing stopping me from looking at them now. I smile and will it down, levitating it and admiring the handcrafted wood closely. She would want me to keep this.
Out of curiosity, I hold it still with one hand and pull open the top with the other. I gasp. “Is this her wedding ring?”
There are only a few pieces of jewelry in the box, and a giant halo diamond on a rose gold band sits in the center. I’ve never seen it before. I guess my heritage wasn’t the only secret she kept from me. She was clearly holding on to my father after all those years, but she didn’t want me to know. She must have known he would find these things if anything ever happened to her.
“That was her engagement ring,” Paul says, pulling out a solid rose gold band. “This was her wedding ring. I figured she got rid of them.”
“Apparently not.”
“Why would she keep it?” He sounds hurt, as if this betrayal stings.
I hold out the jewelry box to him. “Take it. This should be yours.”
He pushes it back to me. “No, Kat. I can’t take any of that. Your mother would want you to have it.”
I shake my head. “She never intended for me to have all this now. She always said she looked forward to passing her ring on to my future husband to give to me. Hold on to it for me?”
He presses his lips together in a firm line and breathes out his nose before giving me a tight smile. “Okay. But I’m just holding on to it for you.”
