Whisper of Attraction

by Melanie Shawn

  Izzy created a timeline for all departments: set design, costume design, talent, sound, and lights. Brynn truly hadn’t realized what an undertaking a high school production was and though she’d been doing her best, it seemed her best still required her to put out fires every day. It was a very reactive style of directing. But Izzy was proactive. She addressed problems before they arose.

  “And what about Fiona? Is young love still in the air?”

  “Yep.”

  Ryder and Fiona were officially together. KJ and Presley were still going strong, and she was pretty sure Ricky and Izzy were going to be the next couple in Whisper Lake. The two of them were huddled together talking and laughing every chance they got.

  “And what about you? Have you fallen susceptible to the love in the air?”

  Yes.

  She’d thought that she’d been preoccupied with Axel before the night they’d spent together, but now he was all she thought about. Day and night. Whether sleeping or awake. He dominated her mind, body, and soul.

  A loud shrill blared from the speaker in the wall.

  Saved by the bell.

  “I gotta go, Mom. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Okay, love you, Sunflower.”

  “Love you, Mom.”

  Brynn hung up the phone and grabbed her bag to head to the theater. This had quickly become her favorite part of the day, easily replacing her morning walks around the lake. She still enjoyed those, but the three hours she got to spend in the same building with Axel had taken the top spot.

  She exited the double doors of the administration building and was accosted by her son and the twins.

  “Hey guys!” She smiled.

  “We figured it out,” Ryder said excitedly.

  “Awesome!” Brynn exclaimed in support before asking, “You figured what out?”

  “Halloween,” Ricky offered.

  Out of the three boys, Ricky was the calmest and most mature. He and KJ were exact opposites. KJ was loud, rebellious, and impulsive. Ricky was reserved, levelheaded, and deliberate. And Ryder fell right in the middle of them. Which was probably why they all got along so well.

  “We’re going as Game of Thrones,” Ryder rushed out.

  “Oh, okay.” Brynn still didn’t feel great about the fact that her son had seen the show considering the content, but he’d binged watched it on a rare weekend with his dad.

  KJ smiled. “I’m going to be Jaime Lannister and Presley’s going to be Cersei. I’m going to have a steel hand.”

  “And I’m gonna be Jon Snow and Fiona’s going as Ygritte,” Ryder chimed in.

  Brynn naturally turned to Ricky.

  “I’m going as Khal Drogo and Izzy’s going to be Khaleesi.”

  More kids started flooding out of the school and Brynn saw the girls coming their way. Before they were within earshot Ryder said, “Oh, and I told the girls that you’d make their costumes, too.”

  Of course you did.

  Brynn’s mind started racing, thinking of the timeline for the costumes. There were three weeks until Halloween. And she’d have to make six costumes. It was doable, but she wasn’t going to get much sleep. She started to mentally map out what each of the costumes might look like and when she got to Ricky and Izzy, she felt herself smiling.

  She’d been wondering if something was going on, but she hadn’t wanted to ask Ryder. He’d told her that he felt like she was “way too involved with his life” since she worked at the school and was directing the play. She reminded him that he’d had no interest in the play when she’d thrown her name in for the job.

  In front of her, she watched as Izzy, Fiona, and Presley arrived at the theater. Her heart swelled when she saw Ryder step up and open the door for Fiona, her little gentleman. And it filled with more joy when Ricky took over from him, so he could be the one holding the door for Izzy.

  They really were adorable. Even Axel was fine with it. Or at least, he seemed to be.

  She’d caught him watching them a few times and he hadn’t looked like he wanted to put his fist through a wall, so she figured if that wasn’t a stamp of approval she didn’t know what was. He’d even let her go on a group date with the rest of them to Stone Castle over the weekend.

  So, his actions definitely indicated he was okay with it, but since the two of them hadn’t talked, alone, since the night they’d spent together, she could only guess what he was thinking, about a lot of things…

  CHAPTER 20

  “Hey! Are you almost ready?” Axel leaned against the counter in the small kitchenette, his arms folded across his chest as he waited on his sister, who was still in the bedroom getting dressed.

  Izzy was supposed to be downstairs at the main house twenty minutes ago to take pictures with Ryder and their friends before they went to the Halloween Festival. Apparently, it was a really big deal in Whisper Lake, just like the Christmas Festival, New Year’s Festival, Valentine’s Day Festival, Spring Festival, Beginning of Summer Festival, Fourth of July Festival and End of Summer Festival. He’d heard of other towns that had three, maybe four, festivals per year, but eight seemed excessive to him. He’d mistakenly admitted that sentiment to Mrs. D during one of her interrogations disguised as small talk. She informed him that the festivals brought in the tourists that contributed significantly to the economic stability of the town. Then, she stretched out her arm and with a closed fist, opened it, and said, “Mic drop.”

  She was a trip and, he had to admit, she was growing on him.

  “Iz, it’s five past,” he prompted again.

  “I know,” she sounded totally unfazed by her tardiness. If anything, she seemed irritated that he’d brought it up.

  He’d never understood how people could reconcile being late for things. In his book, there was no excuse for it. But his sister had never considered punctuality a priority and it had only gotten worse since she hit her teenage years.

  Agitation bunched in his shoulders as he waited. He knew that there was no reason he should be anxious about her tardiness. It wasn’t his friends that were waiting on him.

  His head turned and his gaze went to the window, as it always did. He could see Brynn in her kitchen with Ali and Jess. Ali had brought the twins over and Jess had come over to do hair and makeup.

  Axel watched as Brynn opened a bottle of wine and poured it into three glasses. She was laughing.

  “Is it okay if I stay at Fiona’s tonight?”

  Axel’s first instinct was to say no. He wanted her here, under his roof where he knew that she was safe. But if she had to stay anywhere, he supposed Fiona’s wasn’t a bad second choice. Each time he saw her mom, Chrissy, he was surprised that she wasn’t wearing a cape with an M on it, because that woman was Super Mom. He hadn’t met her husband, but he did feel comfortable that Izzy would be safe over there.

  “Did Mrs. Caldwell say it was okay?”

  “No.” His sister stated flatly. “In fact, she said I wasn’t allowed in their home. But don’t worry. I’m just going to sic one of my dragons on her.”

  He found himself rolling his eyes for at least the third time that day alone. It was something that was becoming somewhat of a habit while raising a teenager. “You’re so funny.”

  “I know. I’m thinking about taking my act on the road. Who wouldn’t want to go see standup from The Mother of Dragons?”

  The bedroom door opened and Axel felt his jaw actually drop. His baby sister was dressed in a light blue, flowing dress with a thick gold belt that she and Brynn had sewed together. And earlier in the day Jess had styled her long blonde hair in waves and it had braids running through it.

  “Wow.”

  She didn’t acknowledge him as she walked slowly from the room, hands clutched at her waist, her head held high with an air of royalty about her. It was exactly the way the character walked on Game of Thrones.

  Axel knew that it was just a costume, but he couldn’t believe that this was the same little girl that he’d walked the halls with when sh
e was teething. Those nights had been torture and he remembered thinking they’d never end, but now time felt like sand slipping through an hourglass. No matter how much he tried to stop it or slow it down, granules just kept dropping down.

  It wasn’t just how much older than her thirteen years she looked, it was the maturity that she exuded. Which shouldn’t surprise him because this was the same girl that he’d accidentally woken up when he’d tried to leave a dollar under her pillow when she lost her first tooth. He’d told her that the Tooth Fairy was sick and she’d asked him to fill in for her. Even at five years old, she’d known that he was full of it. Her little lips turned up in a smile and her eyes twinkled as she said, “I know you’re Santa, too.” Then she lay back down and went to sleep.

  She’d always been bright and mature beyond her years. It used to be a cute quirk. A precocious little girl that had a crazy vocabulary. But now, now that she was actually becoming the adult version of herself, that little girl was gone and he knew there was no way he could get her back. Axel didn’t just want to slow down time, he wanted to stop the sucker all together.

  “You look amazing.”

  “I know, right!” She exclaimed as she spun around, morphing back into an excited teenager before his eyes.

  When Izzy had shown up in Whisper Lake a month ago, he’d wrestled with whether or not letting her stay was the right thing to do. But in the time she’d been here, he’d gotten his sister back. She’d embraced the town and the town had embraced her right back.

  She’d found a great group of friends and was excelling at school, which was no surprise. What was a surprise was that she had her first boyfriend and Axel couldn’t be happier about it. The kid was smart, funny and respectful. He couldn’t ask for a better kid for his baby sister than Ricky Walsh.

  When she started for the door, he stepped in front of her, halting her path.

  “Is your phone charged?” A rule he had was that she always had to have her phone charged and on her so that he could reach her at any time.

  “Yes.”

  “And you know the rules.”

  “No drinking. No drugs. No prostitution. No murder.”

  She was really living up to her nickname and being a huge pain in the ass. He glared at her, waiting for her to answer him seriously.

  Now it was her turn to sigh, and her head fell back in exasperation. When she raised it, she also lifted her hand so she could count things off on her fingers. “Tell you where I’m going. Be where I say I’m going to be.” She lowered her forefinger and extended her middle finger, flipping him the bird briefly before she smiled re-lifted her forefinger adding her ring finger as well as she said, “Tell you if any plans change. Answer if you call and message you back if you text within five minutes.” She held her hand up, all of her fingers extended. “Happy? Can we go now? You’re making me late.”

  “I’m making you late?”

  “Whatever, can we go?”

  He nodded and followed behind her. The two walked down the steps, across the deck and into the house. The moment Izzy stepped inside the girls shrieked, ran over, and threw their arms around her. The three girls had become fast friends. Yesterday they even bought matching friendship bracelets. Not the ones that he remembered people having when he was a kid, the kind that were handmade, with thread braided together. No, the ones his sister and her friends had were silver bands engraved with the words “side by side, or miles apart, we are friends connected by heart.”

  It amazed him how much Izzy fit right in. Like she’d known this group her entire life. She talked to her friends and the adults with a familiarity that he’d only seen his baby sister share with him.

  Izzy and Brynn were working closely together on the play and had bonded in a way he’d never witnessed, even between Izzy and her own mother. And his little sis worshipped Jess. She couldn’t stop talking about her punk pinup style and how cool she was. And she and Ali shared a corny sense of humor. The two of them cracked each other up.

  Ryder treated her like a little sister. KJ was as protective of her as he was the rest of the group. And Ricky was totally smitten.

  Axel watched as Jess, Ali, and Brynn all ordered the kids into different groupings and poses. Their costumes were impressive. Brynn had been staying up until the early morning hours for weeks now making them at her kitchen table. He’d given Izzy the bedroom, so he was camping out on the Murphy bed next to the window that overlooked the main house. Each night he’d watched her work tirelessly to get each of the costumes completed. He’d offered to buy Izzy’s dress, but Brynn insisted that it was some kind of tradition for her to make everyone’s costumes.

  Izzy included.

  His chest ached with emotions he didn’t want to address.

  He’d been worried about how he would deal with leaving this place once the assignment ended. But now it wasn’t just him that he needed to worry about. Izzy was going to be devastated. He hadn’t told her the real reason he was here, but she knew it was temporary. The problem was, none of this felt temporary. It felt like the most permanent thing he’d ever experienced.

  * * *

  “I can’t believe how old they’re getting,” Ali sniffed as Jess fixed the beard that she’d put on Ricky while Brynn took pictures on her phone.

  Between Ali and Brynn, they’d probably taken a couple hundred today. They’d had some of all the girls, some of all the boys, several of each individual couple, and a bunch of the whole group together.

  “Okay, mom. That’s good. We’re gonna go.” Ryder had been really patient with her considering he was thirteen and his girlfriend was there. A lot of kids wouldn’t have indulged their parents for this long and she appreciated it.

  “Do you have your bag?”

  “Yeah.” He showed his mom that he had his backpack beneath the Night’s Watch cloak that she’d made him.

  Ryder was going to be staying over at Ali’s with the twins after the festival and she’d heard that Izzy would be staying at Fiona’s, which meant this would be the first time she and Axel would be alone since the night they’d hooked up.

  “All right, guys. Have fun. Be safe. Make sure to watch out for the little kids.” Last year there were some issues with grade school kids getting scared by high schoolers. She remembered thinking about how Ryder would be a freshman in a year and now he was. It was crazy how fast time went.

  The group agreed, or at least humored her, and Ryder gave Brynn a quick hug before they all headed out the front door. She watched as the group started toward downtown and snapped one more pic of them all walking together from behind. She just couldn’t help herself.

  When she closed the door and headed into the kitchen, she noticed Axel was already halfway across the deck and heading up to the apartment. A twinge of disappointment pinched in her chest. She knew that he probably wouldn’t want to hang out with her and her friends and share a glass of wine, but she’d at least wished that he would’ve spoken to her.

  The only conversations that they’d had in the past few weeks had been initiated by her, surprise-surprise, and they’d all centered around Izzy. All of his sister’s teachers were absolutely floored by just how gifted she was. She was also incredibly sweet and ambitious. In the short time she’d been in Whisper Lake, she’d spearheaded a buddy lunch program so no kid ever had to eat by themselves and was currently collecting signatures for her healthy lunch initiative.

  She truly was a remarkable young lady.

  “I mean, that’s a view I just don’t think I’d ever get tired of seeing.” Jess commented and Brynn realized that all three women had been standing at the sliding door watching Axel go up the stairs.

  Ali shook her head in mock disapproval and tsked. “Must I remind you that you’re almost a married woman?”

  Jess didn’t miss a beat. “Must I remind you, you are already a married woman?”

  Ali’s hands flew up. “I didn’t say anything!”

  “Maybe not, but you were thinking it,” Jess cha
llenged.

  “Fair enough,” Ali conceded.

  “You’re awfully quiet on the ass-gawking front,” Jess pointed at Brynn. “Any more nudity or groping?”

  Brynn hadn’t filled her friends in on the night she’d spent with Axel. At first, it was because she was still trying to process everything. Then, she didn’t see the point since the main reason she shared things with her friends was to ask their advice. But she didn’t need their advice. Axel was leaving soon and he’d made no effort to spend any kind of time with her. What had happened was practically a one-night stand.

  “Nope.” Brynn crossed to the fridge and pulled out a rosé that she’d picked up a few nights ago as her reward for finishing all six costumes. It hadn’t been easy. She’d averaged about three hours of sleep a night, but seeing them all tonight had made every sleepless night and exhausted day worth it.

  She pulled out the utensil drawer and grabbed the wine opener. When she looked up, she realized that both Ali and Jess were staring at her with odd expressions on their faces.

  “What? Did you guys want red? I think I have a—”

  “So,” Jess leaned her hands on the counter. “Mrs. D came in for a blowout today and she mentioned seeing Axel climbing out of your bedroom window a few weeks ago.”

  “Hmm?” Brynn tried acting oblivious as a question that had been bugging her was answered. She’d wondered how Axel had made it to the backyard so quickly that morning.

  “You didn’t know?” Jess’s face grew very serious.

  “No,” she answered honestly.

  “I’m going to kill him.” Jess turned for the slider and Brynn launched herself over the counter and grabbed her friend’s arm.

  “What? Why?” She wasn’t able to get out full sentences.

  “I knew there was something that he was hiding, but I didn’t think it was that he’s a pervert. I’m gonna kill him.” Her friend repeated.