Autumn (17 page)

Samuel’s eyes met mine. In their blue abyss I saw a level of pain that took my breath away.

“Oh,” I said.

“When I tell you that they haven’t decided what to do,” he said, starting to take a step towards me, “I mean exactly that.”

He reached for me, but I pulled away.

“I’m sure I know what your mother thinks of all this,” I muttered. I hated his mother. I had always hated her. But in this moment, right here and right now, if it had been the Winter Queen standing in front of me instead of Samuel, there was a very good chance I would have  tried to kill her for what she had done to Holt and the Roths and even to me.

“Are they still trying to decide what will happen to us?” I asked, my voice small.

Samuel let his hands fall to his sides, useless.

“Yes.”

Just then, another car came up the driveway.

I don’t know what I had expected from Mrs. Roth, but I didn’t get it. I had thought that she wouldn’t want anything to do with me and so would keep dinner brief. I had been mistaken.

Far from being brief, she dragged the evening on for hours. My hints that I had school the next day fell on deaf ears. If my mom hadn’t been sleeping when I got home I would have slammed into the house and stomped up the stairs. As it was, I was forced to take my anger out internally. I was in the middle a mental rant about just how crazy Mrs. Roth was when my phone lit up.

It was Susan. Relieved that she was still talking to me, because I could only assume that Mrs. Roth had gone home and wished death upon me, I looked to see what she had to say.

“Can we hang out tomorrow?” she asked.

“Sure,” I texted back. I was working after school, but Susan already knew that. She would probably just show up at UP UP and Away, which was pretty quiet during the week now that the tourist season had ended. Business had slowed down considerably, and I often found myself doing homework or checking people.com on my phone when my shifts were slow.

I went to bed feeling better. Tomorrow, I would vent to Susan.

School couldn’t have gone more slowly the next day. Even though Nick was there, as funny and supportive as ever, I was bored and I couldn’t wait to talk to Susan. European history seemed so irrelevant in the face of two Fairy Queens hating me.

Finally, the last bell of the day rang. Susan was waiting outside to drive me to UP UP and Away. I grinned in relief.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hey.” She was wearing a cute long-sleeved green dress, with her long hair pulled up into a ponytail.

“So, what happened with Holt’s mom?” she asked, getting straight to the point as she pulled away from the curb.

I sighed. I was still reeling from the confrontation. She had wanted me to leave Holt so badly.

“She told me that I had ruined her son’s life and probably ruined the life of all the Fairy Summer Court,” I said. Susan gasped. “She said that if she ever heard of me coming near Holt again she would kill me herself. I pointed out to her that no decision had been made and that Holt and I still might be allowed to be together. She said, ‘Over my dead body,’ and started shrieking about this, that, and the other thing. Everyone in the restaurant saw, so she was forced to magic them.”

Susan clucked in sympathy.

“I asked her what had changed. I mean, she used to be so kind. A part of me thinks that side of her is still in there somewhere.”

“She is a good person,” Susan murmured.

“What did she say to you?” I said.

“She said that she was going to do everything she could to get me away from you. She thinks you’re a bad influence on me, and she would like me to cease all contact with you as soon as possible. She sees it as a good sign that Holt is home.”

“So she’s speaking to him?” I asked darkly.

“Of course,” said Susan. “He’s her son.”

“I’m practically her daughter-in-law,” I pointed out resentfully. I knew we weren’t quite there, but still....

Susan took a deep breath. “Anyway, I wanted you to know, I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to see you.”

“Their letting Holt out means something, doesn’t it?” I asked. “They’re reaching a decision.”

Susan nodded, her eyes never leaving the road. “I mean, I’m not entirely sure, because there’s no rule book for this, but yeah, I think they’re reaching a decision.”

“And ordering me to stay away from him can’t be a good sign?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure you can read too much into that. They might just be doing that for Mrs. Cheshire’s benefit.”

I leaned my head back against the seat rest, wishing everything wasn’t so complicated. Most of the day my mind had been on Holt, wondering how he was doing now that he was free, but every so often my thoughts would dash to Samuel. Like a dog that had gotten free of the leash they raced towards the imaginary bouncing ball that was the Prince of the Winter Court.

I sighed. Once Holt and I were together again, Samuel wouldn’t always be invading my thoughts.

I hoped.

I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I didn’t notice Susan glance sideways at me in the mirror.

My mother was waiting for me when I got home. My shift had run late, but I hadn’t texted her because I had been going in and out of the house so much without her commenting that I figured she wouldn’t mind. I figured wrong.

When I came into the house the kitchen lights were on, and since I hadn’t had time to eat dinner I wandered that way.

My mom was sitting at the table, staring at nothing. Both places were set. Mine still had food piled on it, but I didn’t see steam rising from it. There was nothing left on my mom’s plate but crumbs.

“Hi, Mom,” I said, grabbing up my plate. “Thanks. I’m starving.”

“Are you?” There was an edge to her voice that instantly put me on guard. She was doing her I-am-not-happy-with-you voice.

I stuck the plate in the microwave, and pretending to be busy at the counter I asked, “Is everything alright?”

“No,” said my mom, her voice too high-pitched, “it is not.”

I froze. Could Rog and the other traveling Fairies have gotten to her, too? Was she threatened? Was she scared?

“What happened?” I asked. My mind flashed to Samuel and I wondered if I would have to call him.

“You’re late,” said my mom. “Again.”

I stared at her incredulously. Was she joking?

“So?” I asked.

“So?” she said tightly, and I winced. My mom didn’t usually get outwardly angry. Instead, you had to worry when her voice got too low. Well, right now her voice was so low I could barely hear her without leaning forward.

She stared at me in consternation. “So, you have been coming and going at all hours, ignoring your curfew, which, yes, because you have seemingly forgotten, you do STILL have. I have no idea where you are or what you’re doing. You supposedly hang out with that Samuel and Susan, but who are they? You don’t go to school with either of them. People around town report you as pleasant, but distant. Every single one of them is happy to see you, and since that’s so contradictory to the sullen girl who sulks around the house and then disappears for hours on end, I’m forced to wonder if you’re giving them drugs.”

I laughed out loud at that. The microwave dinged and I grabbed my food with relief. Setting it on the table, I fell on it ravenously. Leftover spaghetti and my mom yelling at me. What an evening.

“Mom,” I said, “I’m sorry. I’ve had a lot going on. I didn’t realize it was worrying you.”

“My worry is competing with my anger,” said my mother, glaring at me. “Guess which one is winning?”

“What about your undying love for your daughter?” I asked, “Where is that falling into play?”

My mother almost laughed, but instead she managed to hang onto her glare. “You have a curfew. I know you’re a teenager....”

“Oh, please, Mom, stop,” I groaned. “I promise I’ll come home for curfew.”

“Good,” said my mother, nodding. I waited, wondering if she was going to punish me for being late. Instead she gave me a devilish grin.

“If you’re spending so much time with this Samuel character, I would like to meet him.”

I stared at her incredulously. It was like she had just said Justin Bieber was cool. I was almost one hundred percent positive she didn’t know who Justin Bieber was.

“Mom,” I said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?” asked my mother, starting to clear the table. “Because he’s a drug dealer?”

“He’s NOT a drug dealer,” I scoffed. He’s a Fairy Prince who’s supposed to marry me, but now I’m promised to someone else. Surprise! Spring wedding....

I winced. That wouldn’t go over well. My mother wasn’t the kind of woman who always talked about her only daughter’s wedding, but I knew she was looking forward to mine and would love to be a part of it. I wondered now if she would have that chance.

“I want to meet this young man, so you will have him to dinner,” she explained with pretend patience. “Now, I’m going to call your father. Have a good night, Honey.”

I had always thought of my mother as a pretty cool, relaxed woman. After all, she had encouraged me to spend the summer away from her, staying with a friend, and mostly without supervision.

I knew she wanted time alone with my dad (hadn’t that gone so well?), but more than that I had thought she trusted me.

What I found out when I got home the next night was that her trust only went so far. I had hoped she would forget about the whole Samuel coming to dinner thing, but of course she hadn’t.

I was surprised to see lights on in the house when I drove up the driveway. Normally my mom left the porch light on for me, but that was it. Now I could see lights in the living room and kitchen.

I frowned and hurried inside, worried that something had happened to my dad or someone else we knew. The events of the summer, when a Water Sprite had attacked residents in Castleton while looking for me, were still fresh in my mind.

“Mom, is everything okay?” I asked, hurrying into the living room. My mom was sitting in her customary rocking chair, the one with the best view of the TV. We looked a lot alike, the same small build, brown hair and eyes. I might have been looking into a mirror of sorts, except that luckily I had my dad’s nose; my mother’s was very long and beakish. Our personalities were clearly very different.

Her eyes met mine and I knew that nothing bad had happened, but that she was really angry. Suddenly, I wished I hadn’t been in such a hurry to get home.

“Did you ask him yet?”

“No.”

“Samuel. Dinner. I want him to come over. Now, go to bed.”

I stared at her, but knew I couldn’t argue. My mother was officially crazy.

“I’m not sure he’ll come,” I said. I really wasn’t. After everything I had put him through, why would he?

“Well, invite him and see,” she said. “And I’ll know if you don’t even ask him.”

“How will you know? Spy on my phone?”

My mother started to wash the dishes, but said, “No, I’ll just ask him the next time I see him. Hopefully it will be in a very public place.”

I rolled my eyes and went to bed. Samuel was going to love this.

During lunch at school the next day I sent Samuel a text about dinner. I wondered if he was still mad at me for accusing him of not doing enough to find Logan, and when he didn’t answer by the time the bell rang for the next period, I was sure I wouldn’t be having dinner with the Winter Prince and my mother after all.

When I got out of school, though, Samuel had texted me back. He wanted to know when. I told him he might as well come over tonight, and he responded that he loved my enthusiasm. A smile tugged at the edge of my mouth as I hurried home. My mother was going to be thrilled.

“Is he usually on time?” my mother asked as she dashed around the kitchen like she was on a race track.

“Always,” I said. Unless something was wrong, but what could be wrong? He wasn’t in trouble. He hadn’t broken Fairy law. His family and friends didn’t hate him. His life was nearly perfect.

The doorbell rang.

“Oh dear,” my mother said. “I don’t even have everything ready yet!”

“Hey,” said Samuel when I answered the door. He had dressed up for the occasion in a blue button down that brought out the brilliance of his eyes.

“Breathtaking,” I whispered, staring at him.

“What?” he asked.

“Hey,” I said, clearing my throat. Someday I would not be so awkward, I told myself. “Thanks for coming. What a lovely evening.”

“I could never turn down an invitation from your mom,” he said, grinning.

“You could have,” I muttered.

He handed me a folded piece of paper. “Holt asked me to give you this,” he said. “He wants you to know that he misses you.” Samuel said it without any hint of inflection in his voice, but I could still tell that it hurt him to say it to me. It should have been him.