by Holly Hood
I tried to figure out who was home. My hands shook as I grabbed the doorknob. I pushed it open and went inside.
All was quiet. The smell of breakfast still lingered in the air.
Nona was at the dining room table reading the paper. I smiled as her eyes lifted at took me in. “Good morning.”
I waited for Sweet pea to come out. “Morning, Nona.”
“Did you want breakfast?” She crossed her legs, looking over the paper at me.
I jumped. “I’m not hungry.” I wished she would tell me why she called so many times and put me out of my misery.
Nona finished reading the paper and set it down.
“Did you have a nice night?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, it was…fine,” I stammered.
Nona’s eyebrows squished together. “Are you alright?”
I shook my head. “You called my phone. I figured something was wrong.”
Nona nodded. “The festival. I wanted to ask you if you would be interested in singing.”
I opened my mouth and let out a breath of air. “That’s all?”
Nona stood. She scratched her head squinting. “That’s all. I thought it would be fun, and after everything that has happened I think you need some of that.”
I flopped back into the dining room chair. “Sure, Nona, Whatever you want.”
“I want a lot of things. Like world peace and to not gain weight when I gorge on ice cream at night. This is a simple song at the festival.” She stood up.
“Well, I can do that,” I assured her.
“I have yoga, wake your dad up before you go,” she said.
I watched her leave and thanked god for letting me catch a break. She didn’t know anything about last night and I hoped it would stay that way.
I climbed the stairs in a hurry to find Dad before he went off the deep end. He now remembered everything and I was sure he would wake up even worse than he was when he first realized what he did.
I opened his door going inside. He was face down on his bed, a pillow over his head. I parted his curtains letting the sun in.
He groaned.
“Time to wake up,” I said.
I told myself I could figure out a way for us both to find peace with what happened to the mayor’s wife. I took a deep breath in and let it out. “Dad, we have to talk.”
It didn’t matter if he lashed out at me, I would deal with it. I took a seat at the foot of his bed. He opened his eyes.
“I would like to be left alone,” he said. “You didn’t have to stop by.”
I watched him as he rolled over putting his back to me.
“I’m sure you do want to be alone, but that’s not going to work. I’m not mom, we are going to talk about this,” I said.
“And when you say this your referring to the death of the mayor’s wife?” he asked, knowing the painful truth.
I stared at him. I wished for once he was the responsible dad. If he was we wouldn’t have been in the mess we were in at all.
I wished I was back at the RV with Slade, not sitting there trying to get him to understand when it was clear he didn’t want to hear it. He was like a child sometimes.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I wanted you to understand that Slade isn’t the bad guy.”
He sat up. But he wouldn’t say anything.
“You can’t blame who I am on Slade,” I said. “It’s not fair to Slade. You need to understand that Slade helped me, he never hurt me. And I love him, Dad.”
I blushed not expecting the last part to come out.
“I was upset about that, but not anymore,” he said. “Now I just feel like a bigger failure.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Who am I to say anything? Look what I did?” He shook his head. “Everything that happened since we moved here is my fault. If my marriage didn’t fail we would never be here.”
I shook my head. “Stop.”
“If I’d have stayed in Georgia and fought for your mother, none of this would have happened,” he said.
I shook my head. “Everyone makes mistakes. But I want you to promise me that you will let me deal with this.”
“Hope, there is nothing you can do. I did the wrong thing and a woman is dead because of it.” He scratched his neck. “I’m lucky I’m not sitting in jail.”
“And you won’t be,” I said. “I took care of that.”
“What?” Dad said.
“The mayor called me that night,” I said looking down at my feet. “He told me to meet him, and that’s when I found you and the van. I made a deal with the mayor, he said as long as I did what he wanted he would make sure nobody ever found out what happened.”
Oh how I wished that night never happened, I wished I could take it all back. And for the rest of my life I knew it would eat away at me. I never wanted to be a part of any twisted plan.
Dad glared at me. “Why would you ever do such a thing?”
I swallowed. “You’re my dad; I didn’t want to see you in trouble.”
His face reddened. “This is all one big mess isn’t it?”
Of course it was. And I was glad he saw the mess.
“So, can you promise me that you won’t say anything?” I asked. “Please?”
He gave a small nod. “Saying anything would bring you down with me.”
I crawled across the bed and wrapped my arms around him. “Thanks, Dad. I promise I can fix this.” I leaned against him.
“Don’t be doing anything else to try to help me,” he said. “I said I wouldn’t tell. I didn’t say I would sit by and let you get further into my mess.”
I hugged him again. “I promise everything is going to be alright. I could even turn it off if you want me to.”
Dad shook his head. “For once let me deal with my mistakes the right way, Hope. I don’t need magic or alcohol; I need to deal with life.”
I got up to leave, but spun around on my heels. “Are you going to the festival?”
Dad rubbed the back of his neck. “Possibly why?”
“Nona asked me to sing. I know you always like to hear me sing. You should come,” I said.
He smiled. “Yeah, sure I’ll be there, sounds good.”
Chapter 34
“Ouch, Karsen that really hurts,” I said as Karsen jabbed another bobby pin into my hair pinning the top in place.
“Pain is beauty,” she said. “If you would hold still I wouldn’t be close to stabbing you in the brain.”
I folded my arms across my chest and stared at my reflection in the mirror. I knew I should of went to the salon and got my hair done by a professional. I was an hour away from singing at the festival.
Karsen gassed me with hair spray. “Perfect.”
I lifted my diamond earrings from the vanity. A gift from Nona, along with the long pale pink ball gown I wore. I dropped the earring, going down on the floor to search for it.
“What is wrong with you?” Karsen asked helping me hunt for my diamond.
“I guess I’m just a bit nervous about singing,” I lied. I was nervous about Hutch.
Ever since his threat I wasn’t sure how things would play out. I bit at my fingernails, the taste of the new polish stung my tongue, but I didn’t care. I just hoped we made it out alive, and that everyone I knew would be okay.
I wiped my hands against the sheer fabric of my dress. My palms were sweating like crazy.
“I have to run home and get Kidd. And we will see you in a little bit.” Karsen squeezed my arm. “Are you sure Slade is okay with Hutch taking you to the festival?”
She didn’t know the entire story. I left a lot out; I didn’t want Hutch to figure anything out. Karsen thought I was doing Hutch a favor. And even when she gave me a weird look when I explained she trusted me and let it be.
“See you soon,” I told her.
I stood in the mirror trying to put my necklace on. My fingers trembled and failed each and every time I tried to open the clasp. All of a s
udden someone was behind me and it wasn’t Karsen. I spun around, letting out a sigh of relief that it wasn’t Hutch either.
“Need help?” Slade asked. His eyes softened. “You look amazing. Tell me why I’m not your date again?”
My cheeks warmed. “Because Hutch is a psychopath set on destroying everything I hold near and dear. His words, not mine.” Or maybe K’s, I didn’t know anymore.
He touched my cheek; his fingers lingered against my skin and sent a shiver through me. I was eager for him to kiss me. I moved in and closed the distance between us. At that moment I didn’t care if anyone walked in, I wanted to be near him.
I licked my lips, my fingers brushed along his jawline. My heart sped up as Slade leaned in and kissed me. I ignored Nona’s voice from the hallway telling me to hurry up and enjoyed Slade’s tongue.
He pulled away. “I want you to be very careful tonight.”
Every nerve in my body tingled at our kiss. “Of course, and you’ll be there.”
Slade’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll be there watching Hutch think he has got his way.”
I swallowed.
“He makes one wrong move and I’m going to rip his heart out and feed it to him,” Slade said he folded his arms across his chest.
“If only he had one,” I said. “I will see you there. Everything is going to be alright.”
“Oh yeah, it’s going to be lovely. Such a fun time. Maybe he can win you another giant stuffed animal,” he said.
I knew that what I was going to do was the right thing to do, no matter how uncomfortable.
I knew I loved my family, and if anything happened to them I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. I needed to do what was right; I needed to find a way to fix everything. But I was going up against a powerful man.
My stomach hurt. I didn’t know what Hutch would do. Or what being his date entailed.
“What’s the worst that could happen?” I said. “I’ve already been stabbed in the chest, attacked and left for dead and turned into a witch.”
Slade didn’t smile.
Chapter 35
I sat on the couch and waited for Hutch to arrive. My knee bounced up and down. I rubbed my temple, and closed my eyes. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I didn’t want to be near Hutch.
I touched my fingers to my lips staring out the window for any sign of him, tears building in my eyes. I begged myself not to lose it; I didn’t want to cry because of Hutch.
I wanted Slade. I wanted his arms wrapped around me; I wanted to hear his voice tell me that everything was going to be okay. That we would get through this.
The doorbell rang and the hair on the nape of my neck stood. I was frozen to my place on the couch. I couldn’t believe it was time. My feet moved and I was at the door by some miracle. My fingers trembled as I grabbed the doorknob.
“Wow,” Hutch said as soon as he saw me. “You look beautiful, doll.”
I wanted to run back upstairs and lock myself in my room. He offered his arm as I stepped out onto the porch. Everyone already left for the festival and I was alone. I locked up Nona’s house.
I refused to look at him as I took his arm and let him lead me down the stairs.
“Do you remember the last time we were at the festival?” He asked. “I won you that giant teddy bear.”
“Please stop talking like everything is okay. It’s not okay. I am here because you gave me no choice,” I told him.
“At one time you acted like it was the only place you wanted to be,” he said.
“At one time I believed in Santa too,” I said. I smiled on the inside happy that I could insult him.
We headed down the boardwalk to the festival. Hutch smiled the entire way, not bothered that I was there against my will.
***
I stood behind the curtain, listening to the buzz of the audience waiting for my performance. I fingered the necklace Nona gave me as I waited to be called on stage.
Knowing my entire family and friends were out there waiting for me made my performance that much greater, it always did.
All the noise was too much; shrieks, laughter, and music flooded my ears and made me lose focus. I sung the lyrics in my head. I prayed I could keep it together, do what I needed to do to make it through.
I heard my name. I blew out several short breaths and parted the curtain. It was time to go on, it was now or never.
I stared at the audience and clutched the microphone. Singing along to the music as the band played. It didn’t matter what I sung because I wasn’t going to remember a single bit of it. I was too wrapped up in trying to figure out Hutch.
I forced myself to get through the song. To make Nona happy, to be part of the real world even for a few brief minutes, I found Slade in the crowd.
I kept my eyes on Slade. He smiled, his face lit up. It made me feel better that he was there; part of me knew Slade wouldn’t let anything happen.
I was happy to see my dad there. He didn’t have to come, in his current state I didn’t think he would follow through and he did. Like always there he stood with the same smile on his face whenever he heard me sing.
The world vanished when I was on stage, I became someone else. Someone with purpose, someone who loved life, the music pumped through my arteries, soaring through my veins, healing me.
I finished and dropped my hand to my side. The crowd roared, everyone clapped and shouted. I gave a small smile and darted behind the curtain. In the midst of all the drama a little part of me felt that familiar spark that ignited after singing to a crowd. That undeniable rush filled me.
I thanked the man in charge of the events at the festival and headed off stage.
Dad moved through the crowd and hugged me. “I loved it. You did great.”
I hugged him tight, glad he was there before Hutch.
“But, I’m not feeling to well, so if you don’t mind I am going to head back to Nona’s,” he said as Hutch approached. “You sure you’re alright, kid?”
I wished I could tell him no. But instead I painted on a fake smile. “Yes. I’m just fine. I’ll see you in a little while, Dad.” He kissed my cheek and hurried through the crowd.
“Great job once again,” Hutch said.
I refused his hand.
“I wish you weren’t so upset with me. I’d like to have a nice night with you,” Hutch said. “Is that so hard to do?”
“I wish you would leave me alone,” I told him; I clenched my jaw, we walked through the crowd. I busied myself with finding Slade amongst the chaos.
The band began to play. Hutch stopped. “Dance with me.”
At that moment I wished I could sock him right in the face. I wished for every bad thing that could happen at a festival to happen to him.
He took my hand in his, his head tilted to the side. “Remember when you wanted my help?”
I remembered a lot of things. “That was when I thought you were a good person.”
“I can be,” he said, his voice softened.
I avoided his stare watching the people around us dance. As he turned me I found Slade standing in the audience. His eyes cold as he watched us.
Hutch picked up on what I was looking at. His grip on my hand got even tighter. “Do you think he has it in him to give you up?”
I forced a laugh. “He’s just a boy.”
“You didn’t answer the question.” Hutch told me.
I changed the subject. “What is it you have planned?”
Hutch opened his mouth to answer, but then thought better of it.
“You can’t force feelings on somebody,” I told him. “It doesn’t work that way.”
Hutch turned me in the opposite direction away from Slade’s glare. “Are you forgetting the spell, or when you offered to accept my help?”
I frowned. “No, I remember. Like I said, that was back when I thought you were a good guy.”
“You’re connected to me, to my powers. You may not think so, but you and I could be amazing together,�
� Hutch said.
I rolled my eyes. “Doesn’t feel that way, the only thing I feel for you is disgust.”
Hutch’s breath sounded through his nose. I angered him, I wondered if I found his breaking point.
“I saw it at one time,” he said.
I wished he would shut up. What I felt was not real. You couldn’t make someone feel something for you by being deceitful. It didn’t work that way.
“Did you kill the mayor?” I raised an eyebrow. “I don’t understand why you did any of this.”
Hutch bit down on his lip. “It was all to help you. I wanted to show you that I could be what you needed.”
I allowed him to turn me again. “You ruined everything, you didn’t help.”
Hutch leaned in. “And no, I didn’t kill the mayor. But I would have if I thought it would help. I’d sell my soul for you, doll.”
I jerked my hand away from his, shaking my head. “You’re obsessed.”
“I’m in love. In love with the most amazing girl I’ve ever laid eyes on,” he said, touching my cheek.
“Love can make a man do ridiculous things. You might not see it now, but I promise you everything I did was to help you,” Hutch said, ignoring the end of the music as he continued to try to get me to understand.
Love didn’t work that way, and I knew that.
I blew him off.
I watched other people leave the dance area and wished I was one of them. Karsen and kid approached. Karsen looped an arm through mine.
“You look beautiful,” she said hugging my arm. “Did Slade see you?”
My eyes went wide as I stared at my best friend. “No…I—
Hutch moved in. Karsen’s fingers touched her parted lips. She knew she messed up. Kidd wrapped an arm around her as if he was trying to shield her from her mistake.
“Yeah, did Slade see you, Doll?” Hutch asked me.
My stomach felt like it was weighted down with bricks. I wanted to run back behind the curtain and hide from Hutch’s glare. I didn’t think it would be so simple to make things backfire.
Kidd cleared his throat. “We’ll be over here.”
