Touching Fate

by Brenda Drake

  “You should probably drink tons of water, or you’ll get a hangover,” she said to him before linking her arm with Daisy’s and rushing after Leah and Jan.

  Behind them, Reese said something to Henry before joining her and Daisy. The line for the Ferris wheel wasn’t as long as it had been early in the day. Aster tilted her head back. The Ferris wheel sure seemed taller up close than it did from a distance away. The many lights attached to it lit up the dark sky.

  Aster pulled Leah aside. The movement caused the mark on her wrist to burn, and she winced at the pain.

  Concern shadowed Leah’s face. “You okay?”

  After a few seconds, the sting subsided. “Yeah, the bandage must have pulled on it.”

  “So what did you want?” Leah asked.

  “I thought you were into Henry? What happened?”

  “I can’t explain it,” she said. “There’s just something about Jan that draws me to him.”

  “Don’t get me wrong,” Aster said. “I’m relieved you didn’t become another boost for Henry’s ego. That guy is too perfect.”

  “Come on, you guys.” Daisy waved them over to where she stood at the front of the line.

  Leah and Jan climbed into a gondola. “You don’t mind us going alone, do you?” she called, not waiting for an answer.

  Aster smiled nervously at Reese. “Guess you’re stuck with us.”

  “Guess I’ll have to suffer through it.” He winked and followed Daisy into the next gondola.

  Daisy sat in the middle of one seat, not leaving room for Aster.

  “Move over, brat.” Aster tried to push her over, but she wouldn’t budge.

  “Sit on the other one. I want my own so I can see better.” She rotated and stared over the back of the seat.

  Aster glanced at Reese on the opposite side of the car from Daisy. He slid over and patted the seat beside him. “I promise not to bite too hard. Unless you go for that kind of thing, then I’m happy to oblige it.”

  “Funny.” She plopped down beside him and clutched the pole in the middle, between the two seats. The Ferris wheel moved, rotating slowly.

  She caught a quick glimpse of Leah and Jan before their gondola disappeared. They sat close to each other, their heads together, with Jan’s arm around Leah’s back.

  Reese grabbed the pole and stared off in the direction of the ocean, now ink black in the night. Aster’s skin tingled when his hand grazed hers, her stomach doing an instant tumble.

  He turned to face her. “I’ve been pondering something.”

  “You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?”

  “Now who’s being funny?” He smirked and brushed away a strand of hair stuck to the corner of her mouth. “In all seriousness, I would like to do this again.”

  “Sure.” Why was he touching her so much? She took a deep breath and tried to act like that thing he just did didn’t totally affect her. “Um…but maybe we should do something else before riding this again.”

  “No, I meant…how do you say it?” He paused as if he had to search his thoughts. “Hang out together, yes?”

  “You mean, like a date?” Please say a date. Please say a date.

  Daisy swiveled around to face them. “I even know he means a date, silly.”

  “Yes, a date,” he confirmed.

  His blue eyes went bright to dark to bright with the flashing lights on the Ferris wheel. They were so hypnotizing, she couldn’t concentrate. She pulled her gaze from him and focused on the boardwalk. It looked like a silvery vein of bright lights in the darkness.

  What is wrong with you, Aster? Speak already. But she felt torn. She hadn’t known him well enough to determine what kind of guy he was. He was nice, but arrogant. He was hot, but not too hot. He was here, but not for long.

  When she faced him again, he was watching her, a puzzled look on his face. “I thought you were leaving for Florida in the morning,” she said finally, happy with her response. It might have even made up for the awkward pause.

  “Who told you that?” He pushed his hair from his face, and the wind whipped it back over his forehead.

  The Ferris wheel rattled, and she bumped closer to him on the seat, her heart hammering in her chest. She slid away from him, and he noticed, twisting his lips in that sexy smirk again.

  “Henry said you guys were leaving in the morning,” Daisy said over her shoulder. Obviously, they had an eavesdropper.

  “Well, you must have misunderstood. He and Lars are leaving tomorrow. Jan and I are staying behind.” He shifted uneasily in the seat. “We’re attending the remainder of the school year here.”

  Aster eyed him. “Really? Which school?”

  “Um, I’m not certain. Let me check.” He pulled out his phone and looked up something or texted someone. Aster couldn’t be sure. “Stephen Decatur High School. That’s the one.”

  Excitement sparked inside her, and she struggled to stay calm. “I go there. And by the way, I’m not sure when I can hang out again. I work a lot this weekend, and my sisters’ birthday party is Saturday night. And Sunday is family day. Then school starts on Monday.”

  He looked genuinely disappointed, which only made her insides tumble more. “You have a full schedule,” he said. She loved how he pronounced shed-yul. He seemed distracted, though. Almost panicky.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “Just getting a little tired.”

  Aster checked the time on her phone. “Oh, it’s getting late. I have to get Daisy home by ten.”

  The Ferris wheel slowed down, then stopped. Reese helped Daisy out and then Aster. Her hand in his felt comfortable, his grip on her elbow strong. Again, her stomach fluttered. Her cheeks felt warm. She wondered if she was coming down with the flu.

  Jan and Leah joined Aster, Reese, and Daisy on the walkway.

  “Shall I text you later?” Jan said to Leah. “Possibly the moment you disappear from my view.”

  Leah grinned. “You better.”

  Reese moved closer to Aster. “I haven’t gotten your answer. About hanging out?” He took another step, closing the distance between them.

  “Find me at school, and we’ll make plans,” Aster promised.

  “All right.” He took another step, a serious expression on his face.

  He’s not going to kiss me, is he? Not here. Not now. She panicked and backed up at the same time a group of rowdy teens passed by. They pushed her into Reese, and he caught her in his strong arms. His cologne smelled so good, she wanted to bury her nose in his shirt.

  “Shit.” She quickly pulled away, and then called to the group, “Watch where you’re going! You don’t own the walkway!”

  Reese put his hands up as if he were approaching a bull. “Easy there, rager. You backed into them.”

  “Rager? Do you even know what that means?”

  “Yes, I do. It’s someone who’s easily provoked.”

  Aster glared at him. “Oh yeah? It has other meanings, too. You should Google them.”

  Reese wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and blew out a sigh. “Clearly, we’re both tired and need to call it a night,” he said.

  “Clearly.” She wheeled around, fuming, and headed down the walkway. “Come on, Daisy. Leah, kiss him good-bye already. We’ll meet you at the car.”

  “What did I do?” she heard Reese ask Leah and Jan.

  As she stomped along, her thoughts went wild. How dare he? I’m not a rager. I had every right to tell those guys to watch out for others. I backed into them, she thought, mocking his accent. And clearly, we’re both tired. Puh-lease. Clearly. Talk about hot and cold.

  “Aren’t you overreacting?” Daisy hurried to keep up with her.

  “Stay out of it.”

  “Okay, but the only time you act like this is when you like a guy.” Daisy slowed her steps to walk behind Aster.

  “I don’t like him.”

  “Right.”

  When Leah finally dropped Aster and Daisy off at the house, only the porch light was o
n. There was complete darkness inside. The only other light came from Tillie’s apartment window beside the garage. Tillie stood at the window, staring at Aster and Daisy as they crossed the driveway and bounded up the steps to the porch.

  “What is she doing watching us?” Daisy asked in a quiet voice.

  Luckily, Aster had good hearing. She slipped the key in the door and opened it. “I don’t know, but she’s giving me the creeps.”

  Just then, Wade pulled his Jeep to a stop in the driveway. Iris hugged him before popping open the door and bouncing up the steps to them. “Hi, guys, how was the boardwalk?” She brushed against Aster as she squeezed through the partly open door, giving Aster a shock when they touched. “Ouch, this house sure does have a static problem.”

  Aster and Daisy gave each other confused looks. “She’s with Wade now? What happened to Josh?”

  “I’m with no one,” Iris countered from within the house. “I broke it off with Josh. He’s such an ass.”

  Aster and Daisy smiled at each other before doing a fist bump. They both despised Josh. The burn on Aster’s wrist itched and she rubbed at it, her eyes returning to Tillie, who was still staring at them.

  Footsteps crunched across the graveled driveway. A shadow moved toward them.

  “Who’s there?” Aster called.

  The figure came into the light from the lamp beside the door. Josh? He staggered, struggling to right himself as he approached the porch. Shit. He’s drunk.

  Aster practically shoved Daisy inside. “Close the door and lock it. And whatever you do, don’t let Iris out.”

  “Like I’m big enough to stop her,” Daisy whispered before shutting the door. The bolt slid home shortly after.

  “Go home, Josh,” Aster ordered.

  Josh grabbed onto the railing, steadying himself. “I need to talk to Iris,” he slurred. He was definitely in no condition to get home on his own.

  Aster let out a deep sigh and bounded down the steps to him, taking his arm. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”

  He reeked of alcohol. “N-no. I have to see her…now. She can’t break up with me. I won’t allow it.”

  “You won’t allow it?”

  A horn sounded. “Josh, hurry up or we’ll leave your ass,” a guy yelled from the passenger seat of a beat-up white Mustang.

  “Get out of my way,” Josh snapped, pushing Aster aside and steadying a foot on the first step of the porch.

  “Hell no, you aren’t seeing her.” Aster charged up the steps and blocked his way, startling him. He rocked backward and slipped off the bottom one, barely landing on his feet.

  “You are such a bitch. Mind your own business.”

  “She’s my sister. This is my business.” Aster scrambled down and shoved him several times, backing him down the driveway. “Now leave. Your douchey friends are waiting.”

  Josh slammed his chest into Aster, knocking her to the ground on her back and causing her to lose her breath. He stood over her, preparing to hit her with his fist when something thwacked his arm, hard. Aster pushed herself up. Tillie glared at Josh, her cane ready to strike him again.

  “Shit. That hurt,” Josh barked, rubbing his arm. “What the hell, lady—”

  “If you lay a hand on her, I’ll beat you to death,” Tillie said, the determination on her face scary and somewhat evil-looking. “She asked you to leave.”

  When Josh didn’t move, Tillie stomped a foot forward with her cane cocked back, startling him. He took off down the driveway, his feet slipping across the gravel. Before the Mustang sped off with Josh in the backseat, he called out the window, “She will talk to me!” The tires squealed down the street.

  Aster glanced at Tillie. “Thank you.”

  Tillie grunted, and without a word, she headed for her apartment, supporting herself with her cane.

  The front door opened and Daisy scrambled down the porch steps to Aster. “I saw everything. He’s crazy. And Tillie…she spoke?”

  “Yeah,” Aster said absentmindedly, her eyes on Tillie’s departure, the spell breaking only after Tillie disappeared behind the closed door. “She came out of nowhere. And she did talk. So strange.”

  “She’s not so bad after all,” Daisy said. “And she can swing a cane like nobody’s business.”

  “Yeah.” Aster was at a loss for words.

  “Come on,” Daisy said, taking Aster’s hand and leading her into the house. Aster gave one last glance at Tillie’s window before Daisy shut the door. The old woman stood at the window, giving Aster a slight nod before closing the drapes.

  Chapter Six

  Reese

  Reese typed “rager” into the search engine. In the three days since meeting Aster on the boardwalk, he’d meant to search the word, but finding a place to live and getting internet service had taken precedence. The instant Jan finished setting up the wifi, Reese had hopped on the laptop.

  Jan stabbed a butter knife repeatedly at the packing tape of one of the many boxes they received in the post. “Gah! Why must they secure things like this? Don’t they realize the wrap rage they cause?”

  “The wifi is agonizingly slow,” Reese said. “Did you set it up correctly?”

  “Maybe it’s the user.” Jan whacked at the box.

  The listings loaded and Reese clicked on a dictionary that specialized in current slang meanings. The first definition said a “rager” was an extremely large party where students in high school or college drank tons of alcohol and got out of control.

  “Okay, so what’s so bad about that?”

  Jan dropped his serrated weapon and slogged over to the table. “I thought you were going to search for information on the school.” He leaned over Reese’s shoulder. “Well, that word isn’t bad at all. Which reminds me, there’s a party at a beach house tonight. Want to go? Maybe it’ll be a rager?”

  Reese read the next definition. “Bugger.”

  “What?”

  “Read this one.” Reese stabbed the screen with his finger.

  “Do you mind? I detest fingerprints.” Jan squinted. “Bloody hell, did I read that right?”

  “You did. A rager is a rock-hard erection.”

  Jan laughed, practically falling on top of Reese. “Small wonder she suggested you search the meaning.”

  “Do you mind?” Reese pushed back against him, and he walked off.

  “We should finish setting up the place before we go to that party.” Jan opened a box. “Your mother is an amusing woman. Pots and pans.” He held up one in each hand. “She believes we’ll cook meals in this tiny flat. Someone should hide her credit cards. We couldn’t possibly fit anything else in here.”

  Reese clicked off the computer. “What time does the party start?”

  “A half an hour ago.” Jan dropped the pans in the sink. “I forgot to mention, it’s a birthday party.”

  “Sensational. I’m not going.”

  “Aster will be there.”

  Reese sighed and started searching the unopened boxes. “Help me search for a gift.”

  …

  There were so many people at the party, Reese was quite certain no one would notice if they’d brought a gift or not. He removed the makeshift card from the white-tissue-wrapped box. Jan was a clod. A salad spinner wasn’t an appropriate gift to bring to a sixteen-year-old’s birthday party.

  Snaking through the partygoers, Reese searched for Aster. There were so many flower arrangements, he thought he had ventured into a funeral. He slipped out a single white aster from a vase and continued his search. Jan and Leah stood by the refreshment table.

  “Have you seen Aster?” Reese scanned the crowd.

  Leah popped an olive in Jan’s mouth. “She hates big parties. They remind her of her grandfather. He used to throw the best ones. They were so much fun. Anyways, she usually disappears to the beach.”

  “All right, thank you.” Reese went out the French doors and across the decking to the beach. He glanced in each direction, twisting the aster’s stem betwee
n his fingers. Just up a ways, he saw Aster, barefoot in the sand facing the ocean. Her auburn hair was down, and the breeze whipped her tresses around her face and flapped her dress against her legs. Movement failed him. He could watch the setting sun play against her tanned skin forever.

  The spell was broken when some partiers ran up the beach screaming and laughing. Aster turned in the direction of the noise and spotted Reese standing there. He waved. A moronic move, he reprimanded himself. Strolling up the beach James Bond-style would have been better, but instead, struggling in the sand, he headed for her. He decided if she moved toward him as well, it would be proof that she was attracted to him. Aster spun around and faced the ocean again.

  Reese stopped. She was still angry with him. Just when he made up his mind to leave her alone, she started down the beach toward him.

  “Hi,” she said, staring up at him. The golden specks in her eyes were like stardust glinting in the low-lying sun. “What are you doing here?”

  “Leah invited Jan, and he brought me along.”

  “I see.”

  “Well, I didn’t put up a struggle. I have to admit, I was hoping to see you.” He held out the aster. “This is for you. A peace offering. One simple flower can mean so much more than a bunch, don’t you agree?”

  A shocked expression crossed her face, and Reese thought he had blown it. But then she gave him a sweet smile and took the flower from him. “Stolen ones are even better.”

  “Well, in all honesty, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. A gentleman doesn’t court a lady without bringing a gift.”

  “So you’re courting me?” She tried unsuccessfully not to smile. It was rather fetching, her pink glossed lips twitching at the effort. “You don’t even know anything about me.”

  “Well, that is the point of dating, isn’t it? To get to know each other?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  When the silence between them got uncomfortable, she lowered her head and picked at the stem of the flower.

  “Not sure, huh?” This girl was a hard nut to crack. Reese got an idea. “How about we play a game?”