by Anna Katmore
And be alone with the dragon? Panic washed over me, tightening my grip of the fork until my knuckles went white. No way. I wouldn’t give her a chance to sneak around me, trying to engage me in chitchat. “I’m all right. I can go out with you in the afternoon.”
Anyway, it was my last day around, and I wanted to spend some more time in the vineyard before I headed off to an uncertain destination after dark.
“Very well. Just let me know when it is getting too much for you,” my aunt said in her ever so sweet French accent. She pulled back her hand after giving mine a short squeeze and returned to her food.
To evade Julian’s glances, I loosened the strands hooked behind my ear and hid behind a curtain of hair.
When everyone had finished, Julian helped Charlene back to her room. This was a good moment to talk to Marie in the hallway.
“What were you doing with Valentine this morning?” I had seen the two women kneel on the ground a lot. “When you ripped out the bushes?”
She laughed. “We did not rip out the vine, but picked weeds. We need to keep the ground clean of pest plants which would soak up the minerals meant for the vines.”
“Can I help you with that?”
“Of course you can. But would you not rather work with Julian. I thought you two had a nice time together. He enjoys your company.”
And perhaps I enjoyed the time with him more than I liked to admit. But it was a bad idea to get too close to someone who was allied with a certain bitch. In fact, getting close to anyone in this house was a bad idea. A small twinge of regret already poked my chest when I thought of leaving without saying goodbye to my aunt.
Eyes fixed on my mother’s door, I sighed. “I’d much rather work with you than with him.”
Julian chose that exact moment to come out of the room. My mouth hung open. I froze under his stare, my shoulders tensed when he shut the door louder than necessary. A muscle in his jaw ticked.
Slowly, he came toward me. My strained expression hardened as I expected his pissed off remark. But he walked right past me and headed outside.
“Marie, make sure she applies sunscreen before she goes out again.” His hard tone cut to my core.
SPYING UNINTENDED
THE WIDE LEAVES of the grapevine swayed before my eyes in the light summer breeze. Their luscious smell filled my head, while dirt crept under my nails. My hands were sore from pulling out wee plants by their roots. The muscles in my slouched back protested.
It took a lot of effort not to cry out in pain or quit digging and rest in the shade. I clenched my teeth as pride kept me going. Minutes stretched into hours, and my body screamed at me with the slightest move I made.
The aching seemed to lessen if I kept myself distracted, so I took the chance to make plans for my imminent departure. I’d pack my few belongings into my backpack before taking a nap until around midnight. By then, everyone else should be fast asleep.
The first few miles I could hike, or maybe even try to hitch a ride in a car. Without money, taking a bus was beyond question. To fund the flight, I was going to lift some money off people at the airport. This option I preferred to the alternative—taking money from Albert and Marie.
It wasn’t only the promise to Quinn that kept me from stealing from my family’s house, but my aunt’s inevitable hurt and disappointment when she would find out.
A glance over at Marie had me thinking about a farewell letter to her. Although I didn’t plan to take any of her clothes, I wanted to thank her for the nice meal she cooked me and her generosity.
The thought of her sad face when she noticed my disappearance tugged at my hidden conscience. I stopped thinking about her altogether and let the physical pain take control again. This sensation was easier to handle, if not for long. Finally, I sagged heavily on my bottom.
“This looks easier than it is, no?” Marie’s soft chuckle charged the humid air. “You should take a break and get a drink.”
I grabbed the water bottle from the ground right next to me and lifted it to my lips. Liquid heaven filled my Sahara-dry mouth and throat. Legs crossed, I rested for a few minutes and took the chance to study my aunt while she continued ripping weeds with admirable passion. Her love for the vines was almost tangible.
She had me wondering what would have become of me had I been raised by her patience and support. I might have been holding a high school degree just then and ready to go to college. My days as a criminal teenager probably would have never come. I hated how I had landed in the gutter instead of my aunt’s care. But why hadn’t she come for me?
Intrigued by this question since my arrival, I swallowed hard. Eventually, I said, “Marie?”
Her smudged hands stopped, and she turned her head to me. I cleared my throat, but words got stuck in it.
“What is it, Jona?” she prompted. The slight tremble of my hands certainly didn’t escape her attention.
I swallowed past the lump that tried to keep me from finding out the truth. “You seem happy to have me here. And all the nice things you gave me—” I clasped my hands, lowering my gaze. “Why didn’t you take me when my mother wasn’t fit for the job and shoved me into the youth center?”
With a thrust, Marie embedded the small spade in the earth and wiped her fingers on her shirt. On her knees, she scooted over to me then cupped my face in her two dirty palms. “Chérie, I would have brought you to France that very instant. An orphanage is no place for a child.” The warmth in her eyes showed all the love she had for me.
Then where had she been during the past twelve years? As a kid I would have loved to live in an enchanted place like these vineyards. Not quite a child anymore, I still loved it.
The heel of my boot dug into the pebbly ground. “Why didn’t you come get me?”
“Because I did not know of you, chérie.” She shook her head slowly, as though she couldn’t believe the truth herself.
But what was she saying? She was Charlene’s sister. Surely, my mother wouldn’t have kept me a secret from her family.
Aunt Marie took my hand and squeezed it. “When your mother was about nineteen, she met that soldier from England. His name was Jake, or Jack. She never told me his last name. Charlene was determined to follow him to the island. Never-dying love—I think those were her words.” Marie gave an exhausted gasp. “Poor Charlene.”
From the disapproving frown on my aunt’s face, I assumed my mother fell head over heels for a man who didn’t return her love. An unexpected sting in my chest made me hunch a little more. I ground my teeth, confused as to why I would feel agitated that my mother wasn’t loved by the man she wanted to be with.
“Our parents tried to talk sense into her. They argued a lot. But in the end, my sister left us one night. There was a little note of farewell which only told us not to go looking for her.”
My mouth sagged open. Charlene ran away? To a foreign country? She was braver than I actually gave her credit for.
“Do you know what happened then?” The demand in my voice surprised me.
“After a month, I received the first letter from her. She told me she was all right, found work in a new country, and rented a small flat.” Marie’s features turned sad. “I think in total I received five or six of her letters over the years, but she never put an address on the envelope where I could have sent something back. It was terrible not to know where she was. But the worst thing was that my parents never forgave her for running away. They died four years ago without seeing their eldest daughter again.”
I wondered if my mother felt sorry when she heard about her parents’ deaths. “How come Charlene is living with you now?”
Marie sat on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest, legs crossed at the ankles. “A couple of months ago, she returned, broken and sick. She needed care.”
And it was just like Marie to forgive her older sister on the spot and offer her a home. Like she did with me. I could do nothing but admire my aunt for her kindness. “Do you know about her life in
England?”
“I can only tell you what she told me.” Marie’s brows furrowed. “She was with child when she left. The soldier was your father, and she had to find him and tell him.”
A silent moment gave me the chance to swallow my surprise. My aunt had spoken of the man who fathered me. Now, I understood why I felt sorry when I heard of this soldier toying with my mother. He hadn’t only hurt her, he’d abandoned us. Abandoned me.
My chest constricted as I tried to breathe. In this big world, wasn’t there one single person, who wanted me in his or her life?
“He was based in the United States for a few years. Your mother stayed in Britain, though, ashamed to return to her family unwed and with a baby in her arms after all the fights with our parents. She was certain they never would accept a child out of wedlock. So she hid you from us. Never let us know.” Marie’s sad eyes warmed when they intruded on mine. “The mentality never bothered me. I would have loved you all the same. You can imagine my surprise when I learned what a lovely niece I have.”
Her loving words did little to soothe the anger that was brewing along with her story.
What was the point in bringing me here now, when my time of detention would have ended in a few weeks? Charlene had spoken of a home in France. Right, a home she’d denied me for seventeen years. Damn that woman! I’d go and wring her bony neck.
With a rush of energy, I rose to my feet and paced down the line of shrubs.
Marie followed me and grabbed me by my elbow. “What is wrong?”
“Because Charlene was ashamed of me, I had to pay for my unworthy existence and spend my youth in a prison for kids!” I yelled, then yanked my arm free.
“Jona, wait!”
Her plea faded as my stride turned into a run. I was going to strangle my mother.
Burning rage constricted my lungs, made it hard to continue running. But I surged forward to the house. My breaths erupted like the puffs of an active volcano. I kicked at the ground hard. Stones shot in all directions as I let out some of the frustration that boiled in me.
Cancer was one way to get rid of the dragon, but today I would make sure her last hour finally came.
As I neared the house, I noticed that someone had beaten me there. Through the wide windowpane in the parlor, I could see the dragon resting on the couch with Julian seated right next to her. I kept to the low line of bushes in the garden. I even held my breath for a second then shook my head at my own silliness.
Drained of any healthy flush, Charlene looked close to death with her arms lying lifeless by her side. With a caring touch, Julian took my mother’s hand. His other hand stroked first her fingers, then her forehead, wiping long, colorless strands of hair from her face.
To catch the two in an intimate moment ranked high on my never-to-do list. But for some reason, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the scene. Crossing to a weeping willow, I hid in the long overhanging branches and peeked around the trunk to catch another glimpse through the glass.
My mother’s eyes remained closed, but her lips moved with an effort. I’d die to find out what she told him. The stroking continued for a couple of minutes. All of a sudden, Charlene’s eyes opened and focused on Julian’s face. Something she saw there must have caused her pure happiness, for that was what she radiated with both her face and body.
And then it occurred to me that it wasn’t so much Julian’s look, but what he did to her with his hands that stirred a certain change in my mother’s composure. Hadn’t I experienced a similar stimulation only yesterday?
Charlene propped on her elbows and waited until he helped her to a sitting position. The lively color of youth replaced her white face. Her eyes grew wider and lost their glassy sheen. A spine that had seemed broken only seconds before straightened. She beamed. Strong and content.
Oh my God! Julian was her personal brand of drug.
As my back sagged against the tree, a breath pushed out of my lungs. The scene I just witnessed seemed so very weird. Surreal. What was Julian’s secret? There had to be one.
I peeked around the tree one last time to catch a glimpse of him talking to my mother while he held her chin cupped in his hand. Then he tilted his head to gaze through the window. His eyes caught mine in an instant.
Shock slammed into me. Bloody hell! I couldn’t move.
Julian rose from the sofa, his expression blank. My nails dug into the bark of the willow, and my heart knocked against the base of my throat. I swallowed hard. As he held me with his penetrating stare, I completely forgot why I’d come there in the first place. The world spun around me. It needed to stop. Finally, I found the strength to tear my gaze away. I whirled around and marched back to the vineyard.
Marie cast me a troubled glance when I stormed past her and Valentine to find a place some fifty feet away. Knees digging into the ground, I ripped weeds with a whole new enthusiasm.
Secrets. Secrets. What was it about Julian that made everyone feel better around him? Calmer. Healthier. He could hardly cast a spell over people.
Capable of hypnosis? I shook my head. Dirt crumbled from the bundle of dandelion I just tore out of the ground and tossed to the side. With a smudgy arm, I wiped beads of sweat from my forehead, pushing an angry sigh through gritted teeth. Damn, there was something weird going on with that guy.
And Charlene? The dragon had awoken from the dead in the front room. All happy.
All his.
She shouldn’t be his. She was my mother and about two hundred years too old to be his.
Someone laid a hand on my shoulder. At the touch, I jumped to my feet and shot around. “And why the hell do I care?” I bellowed before I even got a clear glimpse of who I was facing.
Julian gazed at me with a stunned expression. My outburst had made him back off a step. He shrugged, forlorn.
My nostrils flared as I pushed an angry breath out. A storm raged inside me. I didn’t know what to do to keep myself from exploding.
Julian just stared at me. His silken hair glinted golden in the sun, his eyes shone like the surface of a calm sea. Inwardly, I whined. How dare he look so sweet?
Oh no, I wouldn’t be fooled this time. A mental slap helped to tear me out of my passing fancy. His sweetness must in no way distract me now. He couldn’t work this calming voodoo on me. I wouldn’t let him. “Stop that!”
“Stop what?”
“Stop weaving your hocus-pocus around me.”
The left side of his mouth twitched. “Jona, are you feeling all right?” One of his hands came up to touch my shoulder again.
A shrill siren shouted suspicion inside my head, and I slapped his hand away. “I feel perfectly fine.” With my finger pointed at his face, I frowned. “I just won’t let you infect me with your…your…happy feelings. You’re like a drug.”
He angled his head and questioned my sanity with an arched eyebrow. “You better put this on, girl.” A straw hat dangled from his hand. “A sun stroke can be a nasty issue.”
He stuck the hat on my head and tapped the top. Invisible roots tied me to the ground when he pivoted and walked away.
The hat shaded my face from the wretched glare of the sun and shielded my eyes. Julian brought it for me. I’d be damned if he wasn’t concerned about me. My steely core turned liquid. He really cared.
But that was not an excuse for his relationship with my mother, and I sure didn’t need him to care about me. I needed no one. Hand clenched around the brim, I tore the hat from my head. Like a flying saucer it shot at Julian’s back. “I don’t need a bloody hat! What I want is an answer!”
He stopped and turned around. “An answer?” After he picked up the straw hat from the dirty ground, he wiped off the dust with one hand. “And just what would you want to know, Jona?” he drawled.
One heartbeat. Two. I couldn’t bring myself to mouth the question. Julian waited while seconds ticked by.
Ah hell, what was I afraid of? With a final deep inhale, I stalked the few feet to him and, on tiptoes, gl
owered at his face. “Are you, or are you not, my mother’s lover?”
Julian cast a nervous glance over his shoulder like he was afraid someone could’ve heard me. His firm fingers curled around my upper arm. He pulled me farther away from where Marie worked the field.
“I’m a lot of things, but certainly not her lover,” he hissed. “And if you stopped spying on people, you’d never come up with such stupid ideas.”
“I wasn’t spying,” I snapped and yanked my arm from his hold. “Not intentionally, anyway.”
He stopped in his tracks when I did and faced me. “What then were you doing in the garden while I checked on your mother?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Oh, but what kind of relationship I have with her is your business, right?”
“Right! No. Argh!” I raked a hand through my hair.
It was my business. After all, we were talking about my goddamned mother. “What’s your intention? To become my stepfather?” A gruesome shiver trailed down my spine. That could never happen—especially when I felt so annoyingly attracted to him.
Julian said nothing. Instead his brows pulled together. He studied me with penetrating eyes.
I retreated a step from his intense stare. But this little distance could barely block whatever channel he used to read me. I so hated to be an open book.
“Now, give me that damned hat,” I growled. The woven straw crunched under my grip as I snatched the hat from his hand and put it on my head. I stormed away, headed for the fertilizer container. His amused chuckle bounced off my back in the heated air.
Done crawling on the ground for today, it was time to strew some powder again. The floury dust ran through my cupped hand and bedecked the earth around the shrubs. Alone, the task was not the most entertaining of jobs but still preferable to the slouched work of weeding.
I had hardly made it down one row when shoes crunched the path behind me. I prayed it would be Marie or even Valentine, but I already knew it was neither of them. To suppress a pissed growl took some effort as I glanced over my shoulder. Julian had started tending to the other side of the path.
