Shadow of Time - Book 1: (Paranormal Romance)

by Minkman, Jen

  After showering, Hannah settled on the porch steps with a book. Her heart sped up to a hum when at three o’clock sharp, she could hear the Chevy’s engine rumbling in the distance.

  Josh parked the car on the drive and turned down the volume on the radio to shut up Ben, who was singing along.

  “Hey, sis!” Ben bounded out of the car and up the porch steps. His nose was sunburned, and his blonde hair had gotten even lighter in the past few days. “You still alive?”

  “Barely. I was bored to death without having you guys around, obviously.”

  As Ben hugged her tight, Hannah was acutely aware of Josh turning off the engine, locking the car door and approaching the steps leading up to the porch. When her brother let go of her and popped open one of the beer cans on the table, Josh sidled up to her. A blush crept up her face as she gazed into his dark brown eyes.

  “Hey, shan díín,” he said softly, a gentle smile on his face.

  “H-hey,” she stammered. “How – how have you been?”

  Just great. The desire pulsing through her veins was turning her into a monosyllabic, stuttering idiot again. Hannah wished she could fling herself into Josh’s arms and get a hug from him, too. A long and intense one. But Ben was sitting right here – it’d be downright embarrassing to have Ben bear witness to a prolonged ‘My Best Buddy is Groping My Sister’ show. Or the other way around. So far, Josh wasn’t making a move.

  “We had a good time,” Josh said. “The weather was great, no flash floods, and we visited all the sites I wanted to show to Nick. Mission ‘Promote the Rez’ accomplished.”

  Ben and Josh went on to tell Hannah about their hike on the reservation. Hannah told Ben a convenient lie about dropping by the police station. She also told her brother she hadn’t suffered from nightmares any more after he left on Wednesday, but of course she couldn’t tell him why.

  “Good to hear.” Ben patted her on the shoulder, giving her a warm smile.

  Hannah flinched. Damn, she felt awful, having to keep things from him. She wished she could tell him about the skinwalker curse, but there was no point freaking him out or being put into a straitjacket before the barbecue had even started.

  “Wonderful.” Josh chimed in. “But I’m still going to help you make a dreamcatcher. I haven’t forgotten.”

  It was strange to see him again. Strange, because somehow it felt as though Wednesday morning had never happened. Josh sat across from her, a little ways away from her, and he didn’t try to hold her hand or scoot closer. He’d said he needed time – and she was willing to give him what he asked for – but still. She felt a bit betrayed by the polite distance he was keeping. Now it really felt like she was his big sister. She was actually happy she could flee to the kitchen and prepare the burgers and salad when Josh and Ben got up to fire up the barbecue.

  Hannah set the microwave to defrost the burgers, then rummaged through the fridge to pull out the ingredients for a niçoise salad. Cutting the onions was a horrible job – she always cried her eyes out, no matter how sharp the knife or how quickly she turned on the tap. With a grunt, Hannah tried to rub the tears from her cheeks with the back of one hand.

  “Hannah?” a voice piped up behind her.

  She saw Josh stepping into the kitchen through a blur of tears. He moved up next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. “Are you crying?” he asked gingerly.

  Her heart melted into a puddle when she heard the worry in his voice.

  “Yes. It’s that onion.” She pointed an accusing finger at the cutting board.

  Josh started to laugh. “Don’t tell me. What did that onion do to you?” he asked, all fired-up. “Did it call you names? Hit you? Don’t be afraid, I’ll protect you.”

  Hannah bit back an inane giggle. “Nutcase,” she blurted out, rubbing the tears from her eyes.

  “Crybaby,” he teased.

  Hannah bit her lip. His teasing called for a smart comeback, but the look in his brown eyes suddenly made her forget all her vocabulary. Silently, Josh pulled her closer, using one thumb to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “There,” he said. His fingers brushed her upper lip, where a single tear had landed. Hannah stared at him speechlessly, her breath hitching in her throat. Josh pushed her up against the kitchen counter and looked at her longingly.

  “I really missed you,” he whispered.

  Hannah’s heart almost exploded with love. “I missed you too,” she mumbled.

  Josh lowered his head and lightly kissed her brow. Her heart stopped when his hands slid down to her hips and he kissed her again, on her mouth this time, hungrily. She closed her eyes and pressed her lips against his mouth with a soft groan, suddenly wanting him so much it ached.

  Before Josh could deepen the kiss, Ben stomped into the kitchen. “Where are those burgers? Oh, here they are,” he muttered, yanking the microwave open.

  “Sorry,” Josh said, turning around. Hannah turned beet red.

  “No problem,” Ben replied with a smirk. “Don’t mind me. I’m not here.”

  “Come on, I’ll help you grill the burgers,” Josh offered. He let go of Hannah, but not before planting a feather kiss on her mouth, grinning boyishly. She stared at him as he walked away from her, her eyes roving over his muscular arms and broad shoulders. Completely dazzled, she went back to cutting the onions and mixing the salad. Wow. She suddenly felt a lot better.

  When she came outside with a bowl of salad, Ben asked her to keep an eye on the burgers as he and Josh unpacked the camping gear. Barbecue tongs in hand, Hannah’s mind drifted as she stared at the beautiful red mountains on the other side of Lake Powell. Maybe she should go camping on the rez as well. Emily could join her, or Ben – or Josh. She wouldn’t mind pitching a tent with him and get all close and personal inside it. She smiled dazedly, still not entirely able to believe her luck. For once, she was experiencing a pleasant vision.

  The smell of scorched veggie burgers brought her back to reality, though.

  “Hey, what’s burning?” Ben shouted, pulling at the ground sheet balled up inside the Chevy’s trunk.

  “Oh, shoot.” Groaning, she tried to save her veggie burgers by flipping them again. Oh well – the other side didn’t look so bad.

  Josh stormed out of the log cabin holding another pair of tongs to help her out. “Firefighter to the rescue,” he chuckled. “Food hasn’t been your best friend tonight so far, huh? First that onion and now the burgers.”

  Hannah rolled her eyes. “Honestly, I think it’s me. Don’t blame the food.”

  “Good thing I’m always around when you’re in trouble.”

  Hannah snorted. “Oh yeah? Maybe it’s you. You’re trouble.”

  Josh fell silent and stared at her, the smile fading from his lips. Gingerly, he took a step back.

  Okay. Clearly, she’d said something wrong. But what? “I was just fooling around. Sorry.”

  Josh let out a shaky breath and nodded. “Yeah. I know.”

  “Sorry,” she clumsily repeated.

  “It’s okay,” he said curtly, turning around to help Ben fold the ground sheet.

  Hannah sighed. If only she could find out which buttons to push and which ones to leave alone, or discover what his touchy-feely subjects were. Because she sure as hell wasn’t going to stay away from him. The attraction between them was so strong she felt it in every fiber of her body. Even now, when he was standing at a good twenty paces away from her, she could sense his presence, his aura reaching out to her.

  Sure, being with Josh would be challenging. But it would be even more difficult to not be with him.

  “Man, that trek through the rez made me hungry.” Ben burped, gulping down his last swig of beer. “Let me do the dishes and leave you two turtledoves outside.” He got up and piled up the plates to take them to the kitchen.

  Josh grinned. “Thanks, shik’is. It’s dreamcatcher time.”

  Hannah got up and fetched the paper bag from the living room. Hopefully, Josh wouldn’t notice she’d alre
ady cut off a piece from the leather strap to make a necklace for her medicine bundle. It was astonishing how much the magical item influenced her peace of mind. She could feel the leather press against her ribcage, just right of her heart. It made calmness spread throughout her body. All fear was gone. In fact, she was even slightly curious what would happen if she ever ran into the skinwalkers again.

  Josh was pensively staring into the flame of the lantern on the table when she returned. Josh looked up and pulled her down next to him, so close she could feel the warmth of his skin, making Hannah blush lightly. “Hi,” she mumbled. “Here’s the stuff we need.”

  He pulled the ring made of twigs from the bag. Hannah watched Josh wind the strap around the first bit of the ring, moving his long, slender fingers slowly on purpose so she could see how he did it. “Now you try.” He handed her the dreamcatcher hoop. His fingers touched hers for just a split second, but it made her shiver pleasantly. Carefully, she tried to imitate Josh and wind the strap around the twigs as tight as she could.

  “Like this?” she asked quietly, looking aside.

  “Yeah – like that,” he replied in a husky voice. “Jó nizhóní. You’re doing great.”

  It felt inexplicably comfortable when he talked to her in Diné Bizaad. Somehow, it reminded her of her dreams of him, talking to her in his own language. Could she risk telling him something about her visions?

  Josh picked up the white thread, then took both her hands and showed her the best way to attach it to the ring and start the weaving pattern. As he was watching her weave, he suddenly brought up dreams himself.

  “The Diné believe the night sky is filled with thoughts, good and bad ones,” he softly told her. “They can enter a person’s dreams. The dreamcatcher catches those thoughts, giving you the good ones only.”

  Hannah finished the first round of stitches, starting the second round with Josh’s instructions.

  “When the entire inner part of the ring is filled with the woven thread, you leave a small hole in the middle. That’s the gateway for the good dreams to enter your mind. The bad dreams get stuck in the web and dissipate in the first light of day.”

  Hannah looked up to see if Ben was still busy in the kitchen, but the light above the counter was out. The window looking out over the porch was dark. In the flickering light of the candle flame, Hannah saw her own face reflected in the glass, Josh’s face right next to her. He watched her with an almost imperceptible smile. The soft light gave them both a halo, and for a moment, Hannah could almost understand what kind of aura Amber perceived whenever she observed the two of them together.

  Josh’s smile grew cheeky as he turned toward her and pressed a light kiss to her cheek, so soft it felt like a butterfly landing on her skin.

  “Stop weaving for a minute,” he whispered close to her face, taking the ring from her hands and picking up the silver wire from the table. “I’m going to weave in some silver. And turquoise.”

  “There’s no turquoise bead in the bag,” Hannah pointed out.

  Josh laughed warmly. “I know. You’ll get mine.”

  Hannah’s eyes widened as she saw his hands fumbling for the small braid in his hair. He held it up in front of her. “Why don’t you take it out,” he said. It was the turquoise bead he always wore in his hair, together with the small red feather symbolizing his father’s clan.

  “But,” she stammered. “But that’s your – thingie. You always wear that.”

  “That’s right,” he nodded solemnly. “It is my thingie. And now I’m giving it to you.” The corners of his mouth tipped up in a smile.

  “Well – okay,” Hannah gingerly accepted. She carefully took the bead out of his hair, putting the red feather with the other feathers from the paper bag. Mouth agape, she watched Josh weave the bead and the silver wire into a tiny shape in the upper left corner of the dreamcatcher, on top of the work she’d already done. He tied a knot, wove the white thread a bit further and then gave the ring back to Hannah.

  “Wow! It looks like a little butterfly,” she mumbled, staring at the pattern he’d made.

  “No, seriously? What a coincidence,” he snickered.

  “Oh, shut up.” She pushed him playfully, unsure what attitude to adopt. This meant a lot to her. Josh had given away the bead symbolizing his clan to decorate her dreamcatcher.

  He didn’t reply, but leaned into her and kissed her slowly and softly on the mouth. They were both completely silent for a moment. No sound was heard, apart from the radio in the kitchen playing a mournful piano tune. Josh put his hand on her knee, sending a tingling sensation up her thigh. He came closer still, his hair tickling her cheek, his other hand stroking her neck. If only she wasn’t holding that stupid dreamcatcher. All she wanted now was to fling her arms around his neck, press herself up against him and kiss him like there was no tomorrow. But if she dropped the dreamcatcher and started groping Josh instead, she’d probably ruin his work.

  Dazedly, she opened her eyes when Josh let go of her and ended the kiss. He rubbed his cheek against hers.

  “You shouldn’t lose the thread,” he whispered, his breath faster than usual. His eyes wandered to the dreamcatcher in Hannah’s hands.

  “When you kiss me, I always lose the thread.” She smiled shyly.

  Josh smiled back, his cheeks turning a lovely shade of pink. He gently caressed her upper arm and stared at his own tanned hand on her light skin. “When I start touching you, all I want is to hold you forever. But that feeling also scares me.” He looked up with uncertainty in his eyes, his voice wavering. “I haven’t opened up to anyone like this, not for a very long time.”

  Puzzled, Hannah blinked her eyes. What was he talking about? He hadn’t been a bachelor for that long. She took hold of his hand, looking into his dark, melancholy eyes.

  “I’d like to, though. You can’t imagine how much,” he continued softly.

  Hannah nodded. “You need time. That’s okay.” Actually, it was sort of weird, but she could see Josh meant every word he said. He was battling some demons in his head, that much was clear.

  At that moment, Ben stepped out of the log cabin. “Hey, that’s one cool dreamcatcher! You made that all by yourself?”

  “Not the bead and the butterfly. But the rest, yes.”

  “Good to know. If you ever get tired of teaching high-school French to pimply teenagers, you should start your own New Age store selling those things.”

  Hannah chuckled. Silently, she worked on, finishing the weaving and helping Josh fix the three large feathers to the bottom of the ring. He stuck his tiny red feather under the large bead in the middle, and finally used the last bit of leather strap to make a loop at the top so she could hang the dreamcatcher on a peg in the wall. “Here you go,” he said, dangling it on her outstretched index finger and pressing a kiss on the palm of her hand.

  “I can’t thank you enough.” Hannah was completely enthralled by the wonderful piece of Diné art she’d made almost entirely by herself.

  “You don’t know that.” Josh got a mischievous dimple in his cheek. “Why don’t you give it a try?”

  Ben chuckled. “He’s challenging you, sis. What are you going to do about it?”

  Blushing, Hannah threw her arms around Josh and snuggled up against him.

  “Thanks,” she mumbled against his neck, kissing him just below his jawline. His arms pulled her closer, and she was where she belonged.

  Later that night Amber, Ivy, and Emily joined them for drinks. Ivy told them stories about her visit to Window Rock earlier that day. “Our parents also want to visit Canyon de Chelly. That’s going to be a two-day trip at least.”

  Amber nudged Emily. “You want to join us? I bet my parents wouldn’t mind.”

  “Yeah, sure! I’m sure I can fit it in.”

  Hannah sat up when she heard the name of the canyon from her dreams. She’d been there years ago, when she was fifteen. Actually, she was dying to visit the place again. “Sounds cool. Can Ben and I come, t
oo?”

  “Of course you can. The more, the merrier.”

  “What about you?” Hannah asked Josh. Would she be able to remember anything important if she visited the canyon with him? Not the happiest memories, probably. If Amber’s theory was correct, she’d decided to break up with him in a previous life near that canyon.

  “No, I don’t think I’ll have time. I still have to drop by Tuba City to take care of college stuff.”

  “Are you looking forward to going to college after summer?” Ivy asked.

  Josh nodded enthusiastically. Hannah listened to him talking about his plans to get a degree and start a school in Kayenta. He wanted to make sure more young people would rediscover their roots and say no to gangs and drug abuse.

  “Are drugs such a problem on the rez?” Amber asked, sounding a bit shocked.

  “Yeah, especially meth,” Josh said grimly. “Methamphetamine. Cheap as dirt and just as widespread. One of my cousins from Chinle got addicted to the stuff a few years back. She’s cured now, but she was still psychotic for a full year after quitting meth.”

  “How did she manage to stay off drugs?”

  “I helped her.”

  “Really? I didn’t know,” Ben piped up in a surprised voice.

  Everyone was silent, looking at Josh expectantly. “Yeah, I organized a two-day ceremony for her,” he mumbled. “A hataalii eradicates the evil from someone’s body by using sandpaintings, sacred chanting, and a prayer circle of friends praying for the patient.”

  “Did Sani help you?” Emily inquired.

  “Yes, although he didn’t join me when I went to Chinle. He instructed me how to go about things, and he made me a jish to use during the ritual. That’s a hataalii medicine bundle,” he explained to the others.

  The conversation buzzed on for a while, but Hannah couldn’t focus anymore. She’d shared a look of surprise with Ben when Josh told them about the ritual he’d done for his cousin. The fact Ben had never even heard the story before, was telling enough – once again, it was clear there were big parts of his life Josh didn’t want to share with anyone except Sani. It all came back to the old man in Naabi’aani who obviously had such a big influence on Josh. She’d only seen him from a distance, that day at the rodeo, but she hadn’t forgotten that Sani had ruined her chance to dance with Josh that day because he’d suddenly needed his assistance. Of course, it was ridiculous to be jealous of some old medicine dude, but still – that old medicine dude knew more about Josh than she did.