The Darkness Within (7 page)

“I’m not being tolerant of his feelings. I just flat-out told him I love Ethan. What more can I do? I’m not going to be mean about it. I owe him at least that much.”

“Look, I get that you think I’m a bitch—”

“Shannon, I don’t think you’re a bitch.”

“Fine. Maybe not anymore, but you did think that before.” She
had me there. “I’m not telling you to act the way I do or even did. I’m just saying be careful around Dylan. He takes after Ben.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Ben was a hothead. He was fearless to the point of stupidity. Do you think it was coincidence that Nora had you drain him first? He caused her the most trouble. When he found out she’d gone all dark with her magic, he went after her. Big-time. And she made him pay for it.” No,
I
had made him pay for it. “Dylan’s not much different.”

“What exactly do you think he’ll do? It’s only a crush, right?” I couldn’t see Dylan waging war against me over this.

“Think about it, Sam. He has a thing for you, and Ethan’s magic is all screwy. Who do you think Dylan’s going to take his frustration out on?”

Ethan.

7

S
HANNON
thought Dylan was going to attack Ethan. My mind flashed back to the fight at the cottage. Ethan had attacked Dylan. He’d gone after him with a hammer. Dylan had bashed Ethan’s head into the side of the cottage, but he’d said it was just to get the hammer away from Ethan. He could’ve taken it and used it to… But he hadn’t. He’d only disarmed Ethan.

“No. Dylan wouldn’t do that.”

Shannon put her hand on her hip. “You think you know him so well? Ask him why he wasn’t in school before we formed the coven. Ask him where he’s been and where his family is. Ask him what his last name is—his real one.”

Real last name? Dylan was using a fake last name like Ethan and me? “Shannon, what aren’t you telling me?”

“He should be the one to tell you.”

I threw my arms out to my sides. “Yeah, well, he’s not here. You are. I’m tired of the games. I want a straight answer. No smart comments or magic. I want to pretend for two seconds that we’re normal teenagers. Nothing strange about us.”

Giggling stopped me mid-rant. Beth and Tristan were coming out the back door. Gloria usually never let people—other than employees—use this door.

“Hey.” Tristan smiled at us. “We were on our way to a movie. You guys want to come along?”

“No.” Shannon was the perfect ice queen.

Beth’s head jerked back like she’d been punched. “Oh, okay.” She turned to me. “Sam, we left your tip on the table. We tried to wait for you, but you were gone for so long.”

Crap! How long had I been on break? “I have to get back to work.” I gave Shannon a look that said “we’re not done here” and headed back inside.

Gloria was at the counter making more coffee. The place was pretty empty, but I could practically see the steam coming from Gloria’s ears. “Maybe you should wear a watch to work from now on.” She wouldn’t even look at me.

“I’m so sorry. I ran into some of my friends and—”

“Samantha, I get that you’re in high school and you have a social life.” She turned to meet my eyes. “I even understand that you give up a lot of your free time to work here while all your friends are out having fun. But I can’t afford to pay you for work you don’t do.”

“I’m really sorry, Gloria.” My insides twisted, and for a moment I felt like I was back in my old life, before the cancer. This was so eerily similar to the time Mom caught me lying to her about where I was going. I’d snuck out to meet Ethan. We’d just started dating, and Mom and Dad hadn’t met and approved of him yet. Mom caught me sneaking back in through the den window. She’d looked so betrayed and disappointed in me. Gloria was giving me that same look now. “I don’t know what else to say other than it won’t happen again.”

She nodded and finished setting up the coffee. I bussed a few tables and wiped them clean. I wasn’t sure why Gloria was so upset about me taking too long of a break, but she seemed bent out of shape over it. We barely spoke for over an hour. I worked through my dinner break to make up for it, but around seven, Gloria grabbed my arm and pulled me into the kitchen.

Ethan was sitting at the sink holding two plates of Jackson’s famous lasagna. He smiled at me, raising the plates slightly so I had a better view of the food. Gloria patted my arm. When I met her eyes, she smiled and nodded toward Ethan. All was forgiven. I leaned over and kissed her cheek. I’d never done that before, but she was
family to me and I wanted her to know that. Her eyes glistened with the threat of tears as she left the kitchen.

Jackson winked at me as I passed him on my way to Ethan. “What’s the occasion? It must be something special if I deserve Jackson’s lasagna.”

“Actually,
I
made it.”

“You?” My voice squeaked in surprise.

Ethan laughed. “I told you I’m getting really good at cooking. Jackson said I could have a real future in it.”

The lasagna looked and smelled exactly like Jackson’s. “You’re sure you made this? You’re not trying to put one over on me?”

“I made it. I swear.” He patted the stool next to him. “Come on. Sit. I’m dying for you to try this and tell me what you think.”

I sat down, and Ethan handed me my plate. It wasn’t easy to cut the lasagna while holding the plate at the same time, but I managed. I took my first bite and chewed slowly, teasing Ethan by not making a sound or a single expression to give away my true thoughts, which were that this was seriously good!

His eyes widened. “Well?”

I held my fork up, motioning for him to give me a second.

“Sam, you’re killing me! Tell me what you think.” God, he was cute when he was impatient.

I leaned forward and kissed him. He tasted like lasagna too, which made me wonder how much he’d eaten before I got here.

“Don’t make me turn that hose on you two,” Jackson yelled across the kitchen.

Ethan and I pulled apart. His shirt was covered in his lasagna.

“Sorry. I made you lean on your food.”

“Tell me you like the lasagna and I’ll forgive you.” He reached for a towel on the edge of the sink and wiped his shirt.

“I love the lasagna, and I love you.”

“I really wish our shift was over.”

“But you haven’t finished your lasagna,” I teased.

“This is my third piece.” I gave him a look, and he shrugged. “You didn’t think I’d feed it to you unless I knew it was delicious, did you?”

“It took three pieces to decide it was good enough?” I ate another bite.

“No. It only took one bite, but the stuff is addictive.” He stared at me with such love in his eyes. “Kind of like you.”

“I’m addictive?”

He shrugged again. “I can’t ever get enough of you, so yeah.”

Now
I
wished our shift was over. All I wanted was to be alone with Ethan. The day might have sucked, but there wasn’t anything a little time alone with Ethan couldn’t fix.

“Don’t even think about launching into another make-out session,” Jackson said. “I
will
get that hose. You sit there and eat your dinners and then get back to work.”

Ethan and I laughed, but we were both disappointed. Quitting time couldn’t come soon enough. We finished dinner without any more kissing, thanks to Jackson. I helped Gloria with the last tables of the night and cleaned all the tables and the counter while she balanced the register drawer in her office. I was about to yell good night and go collect Ethan from the kitchen when Gloria came back.

“Samantha.” She looked serious. Something was wrong. I hoped I hadn’t screwed up the register.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“Sit down for a minute.” She motioned to the stools at the counter.

My legs wobbled as my mind raced with things she might say. After the long break, if I screwed up something big like a bill… Would she really fire me?

“That girl you talked to earlier this evening, is she a friend of yours?”

Had Gloria seen me with Shannon and Dylan outside? “Um, yeah. We go to school together and have been hanging out a lot. Why do you ask?”

“When I went to my office just now, the door was unlocked.”

She never forgot to lock the office. I joked around with her about it all the time. “You don’t think someone went in there, do you? You’re the only one with the key.”

She thought about it for a moment and waved her hand. “Never mind. You’re right. Besides, nothing was missing. I must have just forgotten to lock it, or maybe the lock is acting up. I’ll have Jackson look at it.”

Something was still bothering me. “Gloria, why did you ask about Shannon?”

“I don’t let customers leave through the back door for a reason. I don’t want them near the office. Today two customers left out that door. They met you in the back lot.”

“You’re talking about Tristan and Beth, not Shannon.”

“How many people are you bringing by my office, Samantha?” Her tone was very accusatory. Just great. I’d thought we were past her disappointment in me.

“I didn’t bring them there. I was as surprised to see Tristan and Beth as you were.”

“And the other girl? Shannon?”

“I wasn’t expecting her either, I swear. And she was only outside, not near your office at all.” I fidgeted with my hands. I wanted to reach out to her, to show her I never meant for anyone to be near her office, but she looked so…upset with me. “I won’t take breaks out back anymore. I won’t go anywhere the customers aren’t supposed to be. That way, no one will follow me.”

She shook her head and waved her hand, dismissing my idea. “
You
work here.
You
are allowed in those places. It’s other people I want to keep out. Just do me a favor and promise me you’ll come to me immediately if you see anyone by my office again. Oh, and tell your friends that the back entrance is for employees only. Unless they’re looking for jobs, which I can’t give them right now anyway, they are not to be back there. Got it?”

“Got it. I’m sorry, Gloria.”

“Samantha, you can stop apologizing. You are entitled to breaks, and as long as you were telling the truth about not inviting those kids back there with you, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

If
I was telling the truth? Did she not believe me? “Gloria, I wouldn’t lie to you. You’re like…” If I said “a grandmother to me,” she’d get insulted. Gloria might be old enough to be my grandmother, but I didn’t dare say that to her face. “You’re like family to me. I don’t really have a lot of family. I’d hate to think you don’t know that you can trust me.”

Gloria sniffled and pulled me in for a hug. “Sugar, I do trust you. I know you’re a good girl. And for what it’s worth, you and Ethan are
like family to Jackson and me, too. We don’t really have any family left, so we’re more than happy to have you two.”

I squeezed her, wondering how long it had been since I’d hugged anyone other than Ethan. Too long. I really missed Mom. And Dad. And Jacob. The list went on.

“Hey, what are we missing?” Jackson asked, coming out of the kitchen with Ethan right behind him.

“Apparently it’s hugging time.” Ethan held his arms out to Jackson, who swatted them away. We all laughed. Jackson joined Gloria and me. Ethan faked a frown. “Well, now I just feel left out.”

“I’m sure you’ll be getting plenty of hugs from this one as soon as you two get out of here.” Jackson palmed my head and ruffled my hair.

Gloria pulled out of the hug. “Not too much hugging. Samantha is a lady. You remember that, Ethan.”

He stifled a smile and gave a small nod. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. Now, you two get out of here. We’ll see you tomorrow. And let’s not have a repeat of the car incident again.” Gloria eyed me, and I felt two feet tall. How was I going to get over the embarrassment of her catching Ethan and me making out in his car?

Ethan opened his mouth, and I knew he was going to ask Gloria what she meant. I reached for his hand and tugged him toward the door. “Good night.” My voice was small, despite my attempt to act casual.

Jackson wrapped his arm around Gloria and waved to us as we headed to Ethan’s car.

“What was that about?” Ethan asked, opening my door for me.

“Gloria saw us making out before work.”

Ethan turned bright red. “Oh man, for some strange reason that’s worse than your dad catching us.” I laughed as he walked around the car and got in. He wasn’t wrong, though. My dad was a puppy compared to Gloria.

“Gloria’s very old-fashioned. She wants to make sure you’re treating me like a lady.”

“Don’t I?” Ethan looked a little hurt.

I brushed my fingers against his cheek. “Always.” Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. When Ethan spaced out and got aggressive, he
didn’t treat me like a lady. I couldn’t really blame him for that, though. He’d be fine once he learned how to handle the magic inside him.

He smiled and laced his fingers through mine. “Does this mean you don’t want to go to the mountaintop anymore?”

“Are you kidding?” I wanted to go more than ever. “If Gloria and Jackson weren’t staring at us through the window, I’d be in your seat with you right now.”