It seemed like he didn’t even hear her; instead of leaving, he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. “Look what I got for you,” he said.
He walked over to her, reached behind her, and shut the door, then held out a gold chain with a charm hanging from its gleaming links. “See, I had this specially made for you; it’s a sign of how much I love you,” he said, walking around behind her and fastening it around her neck.
Michelle still hadn’t said a word, was in too much shock to make her mouth work, but her brain was screaming at her that this wasn’t right. She stepped away from him and said, “Bryce, I don’t want you or your presents,” she said.
But he followed her and captured her face in his hands. “Are you sure about that, Michelle? Are you sure you don’t want to be with me? Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?”
With each question he asked, Michelle felt her resistance begin to weaken, felt the old feelings she’d had for Bryce begin to surface. He was looking deeply into her eyes, the questions still coming when she felt the charm around her neck begin to get hot. Her body began to tingle, and suddenly she knew what Bryce had tried to do.
Flinging his hands off her face, she stepped back from him, reached up and ripped the necklace from around her neck. She threw it on the floor, whispered a few lines of a spell, and it burst into flames.
She looked from Bryce to the necklace smoking on the floor and then back up at him, anger flooding her. Angrier than she’d ever been before in her life, she let her magic flow, channeled it into her hands and lifted them up before her.
They were pulsing with a strange light, and she knew deep down that if she wanted to kill Bryce right then, she was perfectly capable of doing so. But instead, she said, “You tried to put a spell on me.” Then asked, “Did you really think I wouldn’t know?”
Bryce shrugged his shoulders. “It was worth a try. I’m desperate, Michelle. If I don’t get into the coven, I’ll be ruined, and you’re up here playing historian. Would it kill you to come back just for a few days and do what you promised?” he sneered at her.
Michelle stared at him in shock; he was so arrogant and spoiled that even now, he couldn’t see that he’d done something terribly wrong. “I’m so mad at you right now I could kill you,” she said, her voice trembling.
“Ha, I’d like to see that,” he said. “You may be a powerful witch, but you don’t use your magic. I’m surprised you felt that spell.”
Michelle had heard enough. “It’s time for you to leave, Bryce: leave and don’t come back,” she said, then brought her hands together, trying to control the power surging through her.
“I’ll leave when I’m ready, and not a minute sooner,” Bryce said.
Michelle’s anger surged again, the room filled with a bright light, and Bryce flew across the room, skidding to a halt at the front door. “Are you ready to leave yet?” she asked.
Bryce scrambled to his feet and opened the door. “This isn’t over yet, Michelle. I’m not giving up my place in the coven that easily. Your father promised me that spot, and I’m going to get it,” he said, then stumbled down the porch steps where he ran right into David.
“Get out of my way,” he said, pushing David aside.
David grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and picked him up so that his feet weren’t touching the ground. “What’s the hurry?” he asked, then looked up at Michelle who was standing on the porch. “Is this guy bothering you?”
“He was just leaving,” Michelle said, “and he’s never coming back.”
Chapter Eleven
***David***
David felt anger and something else surging through him, and he knew he was close to shifting but managed to control his power. Part of him wanted to beat Bryce to a bloody pulp, but another part wanted to go to Michelle and comfort her. She was standing on the porch trembling, her face white, her lips pressed together.
Finally, he released Bryce, who fell to the ground in a heap, and said, “If I see you in town again, you won’t get off this easily.”
Bryce scrambled to his feet. “This isn’t over,” he shouted, then ran for his car.
David covered the distance between he and Michelle in a few strides and pulled her into his arms. “Are you okay?” he asked, wanting to run his hands over her body to make sure she wasn’t hurt. “I thought I saw the flash of a gun.”
Michelle pulled away from him, and he realized she was trembling with anger, not fear. “It must have been a light bulb or something,” she said, then stomped into the house.
David followed, no longer afraid she was hurt but still just as mad. “You should have called me when he showed up,” he said, putting his hands on his hips and watching as she began searching the room. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for my phone; that has to be how he found me. I never should have answered that phone call. I should have blocked him a long time ago,” she ranted.
When she finally pulled the phone out from under a table, she headed for the kitchen. He followed, wondering what she was doing, then stood open-mouthed while she took a hammer and smashed her phone. When there was nothing left of the phone but small fragments and she continued to pound on it, he walked over and took the hammer out of her hands.
“I think you’ve killed it,” he said.
Michelle’s shoulders slumped, and he could practically see the anger draining out of her. She looked up at him, and tears began to form in her eyes. “I’m sorry you had to see that, but I’ve had enough. I can’t believe he followed me up here,” she said.
“He sounded pretty determined,” David said.
“Yeah, to get what he wants,” Michelle said.
“Are you sure that you’re okay?” David asked, grabbing the trash and sweeping the pieces of Michelle’s cell phone into it.
Michelle shook her head. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that mad in my entire life. It kind of scared me.”
David put the trash can back, then came back over to where she was standing. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, leading her out of the kitchen and into the living room.
“I think I just need to sit down for a minute,” she said, sinking onto the couch.
David sat down next to her, trying to decide if he should put his arm around her; when he finally did, she snuggled up close to him and sighed. “I came up here to do something for myself for a change, but that doesn’t seem to be working.”
“It seems to me that you have been; you certainly managed to send Bryce out the door all on your own,” David said, then began laughing and couldn’t stop, the memory of the look on Bryce’s face when he came out of the house flashing through his mind.
“I’m glad you think this is funny,” Michelle said, pulling away from him.
He pulled her back into his arms and tried to stop laughing. “You’d laugh too if you’d seen his face when he came running out of the house,” he said, then the laughter bubbled over again.
Michelle smiled at him. “I guess it must have been pretty funny,” she said, then began laughing herself. “Was it anything like the look on his face when you dropped him in the dirt?”
David nodded his head, then took a deep breath and said, “I guess between the two of us, he didn’t get a very warm welcome to Gypsum Creek.”
“He got what he deserved,” she said, a few more giggles erupting out of her.
They both sighed, and the room got quiet then, David wondered why the rest of the house wasn’t awake after all the commotion but was glad that they were alone. He was ashamed of himself, but he was thinking about kissing Michelle, about how wonderful she felt in his arms. When to his surprise, she turned in his arms and reached up to cup his face in her hands.
“I want to kiss you, David,” she said, then pulled his head down and gently put her lips on his.
David had been kissed before, many times in fact, but none of those kisses could compare to the gentle pressure of Michelle’s lips on his. Desire raced thro
ugh him, but something more, a feeling of contentment, a feeling of being right where he was supposed to be.
But he held back, afraid that if he let go, he’d ruin the moment, but then Michelle parted his lips with her tongue, and he was powerless to stop himself. He wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her closer to him, thinking that she fit just perfectly, and dipped his tongue into her mouth.
She moaned, and opened her mouth to him, making his blood race. He kissed her then with all the passion he felt for her, hoping that she’d understand just how wonderful it was to finally have her in his arms. When his hands began stroking her back, she arched it, pressing her breasts against his chest, and pleasure washed over him.
He felt her nipples stiffen under her robe and slid one hand around to cup one of the perfect globes in his hand. She moaned again, and he switched to the other breast, marveling at how perfectly it fit in his hand. When he ran his thumb over her stiffened nipple, she gasped and broke the kiss, looking up at him.
There was desire in her eyes but also wariness, and he knew that it was time to stop, that he never should have let her kiss him in the first place. “I’m sorry, Michelle, I got carried away,” he said, running his thumb over her cheek. “But you’re pretty hard to resist.”
It was clearly the wrong thing to say because she pulled away from him. “No, I’m the one who should apologize; that was my fault,” she said, getting up from the couch. “I think it’s time we both went back to bed.”
David was disappointed, but what he’d felt wasn’t just regular desire; it was deeper than that, and he was sure that she’d felt it too. He got to his feet and walked over to where she was standing and tipped up her chin so she was looking directly into his eyes.
“Don’t be sorry. I’m not,” he said, kissed her quickly on the lips and walked out the door.
***Michelle***
Michelle woke with the memory of the kiss still on her mind, stretched and rolled over, hoping to go back to sleep. She’d dreamed of David all night, dreams that were full of passion and desire, and wanted to make the feeling they’d left her with last a little longer.
But before she could go back to sleep, there was a knock on the door, and Stephanie poked her head in and asked, “Are you up?”
Michelle sat up in bed, “I guess so,” she mumbled.
Stephanie laughed. “Well, you’re going to want to be up when I tell you that Sophie is waiting for you at the diner.”
Michelle threw back the covers and jumped out of bed. “Why didn’t she call me?” she asked, rummaging around in the closet for clean clothes.
“She said she tried, but your phone kept going straight to voice mail,” Stephanie said, leaning against the door jam.
Michelle winced, hoping Stephanie hadn’t seen the pieces of her phone in the trash. “I had a little problem with my phone last night,” she said.
“I saw it in the trash; looked like more than a little problem.”
Michelle stopped what she was doing and looked over at Stephanie. “It was, and I promise I’ll explain later. I don’t want to keep Sophie waiting.”
Stephanie nodded, “I’m going to hold you to that.”
When Michelle walked into the diner a half an hour later, she spotted Sophie right away. She was hard to miss, with her striking red hair and blue eyes. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting; I had a little issue with my phone last night, and it’s not working anymore.”
Sophie smiled at her. “No problem, I’ve kept you waiting for this for too long,” Sophie said, handing an old leather bound book to Michelle.
“Is this…?” Michelle couldn’t finish her question because the journal began to become warm in her hands.
“Yes, that’s Molly’s journal. Jessie found it in the wall of the old cabin when he tore it down,” Sophie explained, clearly pleased with Michelle’s reaction to the old book.
“I suppose it would be rude to sit here and read it right now,” Michelle said, unable to suppress the little sigh of happiness when she looked down at the book.
“I have a better idea; let’s have some breakfast, and then you can read it. I’ve got plenty to keep me occupied while you read, but first I’d like to get to know you a little bit,” Sophie said, with a smile that did nothing but make Michelle feel like she was about to make another friend.
They ordered breakfast and coffee, then Sophie told her about coming to Gypsum Creek as a new teacher and how difficult it had been to leave everything she knew behind. Michelle understood all too well what Sophie had felt and found herself telling Sophie about leaving her family behind.
Then Sophie began telling her about the moonshiners who tried to kill her and falling in love with Jessie, and by the time they’d finished breakfast, Michelle found that she not only liked Sophie, but respected her. It seemed like there were pieces of the story missing, that there were things Sophie wasn’t telling her, but she ignored that feeling.
“That’s amazing; weren’t you scared?” she asked when Sophie had finished.
“Oh, I was scared, but I also knew that what we were fighting for was worth the risk,” Sophie said. “And love has a way of giving you strength you’ve never had before.”
Michelle couldn’t help but sigh. “I hope someday I can find a love like that,” she said, “but that doesn’t happen very often.”
Sophie laughed. “You’d be surprised. Wait until you meet Danny and Kara, Jessie’s sister; their story is almost as good as ours. But we’ll save that for another time. I think it’s time you read Molly’s journal.”
Michelle had forgotten all about the journal. “I almost forgot,” she said laughing.
Sophie signaled the waitress for more coffee. “I’ll just get a little work done while you read,” she said.
It took her an hour to read the entire journal, and when she turned the last page, she found herself wishing for more. Molly had painted a perfect picture of what it was like to be a witch in the late 1800s and Sophie was right: it had been the pastor of the church who killed her family, that much was clear.
But Michelle still had a lot of questions, wanted more than anything else to see where it had all happened. “Oh, this is so sad. It still amazes me what people used to do out of ignorance and superstition.”
Sophie nodded. “The sad thing is that it still happens today.”
“I’d like to see the farm, if that’s okay,” Michelle said when they’d been silent for a few minutes.
“Of course, but first there’s something I want to ask you,” Sophie said.
Michelle nodded, not sure what Sophie was going to ask, but willing to answer any question if it would get her onto Swensen’s Mountain. “Ask away.”
“Well, don’t take this the wrong way, but I wonder why you’re so quick to believe in Molly’s spirit; most everyone at the university laughed at me,” Sophie said, meeting Michelle’s eyes with her own.
Michelle chose her words carefully, “I don’t tell very many people this, but I can see spirits; sometimes I can communicate with them as well,” she finally said, hoping that Sophie wouldn’t think she was crazy.
Sophie nodded, “That’s what I was hoping,” she said, shocking Michelle. “I’ve seen Molly myself, but I can’t communicate with her.”
Chapter Twelve
***David***
It was mid-morning before David finally emerged from the store, still a bit dazed from the night before. He’d never imagined that one kiss could change him so much, but the moment Michelle’s lips had touched his, he knew that his life was never going to be the same.
Walking away from her had been the hardest thing he’d ever done, especially because he knew that if he’d pushed, she would have given in. But that wasn’t what he wanted, wasn’t how he’d pictured their first time together, so he’d gone home and paced the floor for hours until he’d been able to sleep.
Then he’d slept late, even slept through the construction going on just a floor below him. But he’d woken refreshe
d and excited about the day ahead; suddenly his life didn’t seem quite so overwhelming. Hoping he hadn’t missed Michelle but realizing that she couldn’t have gone far when he saw her car parked out front, he headed for the boarding house.
But then he saw her sitting with Sophie in the diner and changed direction, glad to see that Sophie was finally back in town. When he walked in the door, they were deep in conversation, but when Sophie saw him, she waved him over.
“David, I was hoping to see you while I was in town,” she said, getting up and giving him a hug. “Thank you so much for helping out.”
David looked at Michelle, whose cheeks had gone a pleasing shade of pink. “It was my pleasure,” he said, looking directly at Michelle. “Can I assume that since you’re back, the problems with the state have been solved?”
Sophie nodded. “My lawyers chewed them a new one,” she said, laughing. “We’re thinking about having the entire area declared a historical site so they’ll leave us alone.”
“It could happen; you’ve got a lot of history here in Gypsum Creek, and it hasn’t been polluted by progress,” Michelle said, “You might not get that gas station you wanted though, David.”
“I’ll gladly give up my gas station if it means Gypsum Creek doesn’t disappear off the map,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.
“Glad to hear that because it’s going to mean a lot more work for all of us,” Sophie said, then asked, “Have you had breakfast?”
David nodded, “I ate at home.”
“Good, we’re heading up the mountain if you want to come. Michelle wants to hike the old trail.”
David had been letting his work stack up, but it was all paperwork and could wait. “I’d love to,” he said, thinking it would be another good day if he were with Michelle. “Did you read Molly’s journal yet?” he asked Michelle, wanting to grin when he saw the blush creep up her cheeks again.
Young Love: Wolves of Gypsum Creek (A Paranormal Romance Story) Page 7
