Briar Rose (6 page)

Finally they reached the twin picnic tables, which were laden with munchies. It was the usual summer fare – lots of meat for the guys and vegetables and carbs for the girls. Pat threaded
three hot dogs on a skewer and took them over to the fire. Briar wasn’t hungry, not with her stomach churning around, so she grabbed a paper plate and loaded it up with buns and chips for
Pat.

When she was finished, Briar placed the plate on an empty picnic table. Pat was joking with one of the other guys, taking his time doing the grilling thing. It was then that she had the unusual
feeling of being watched far too closely.

She turned to find Joshua standing behind her, the Border collie at his feet. He looked nervous, twisting something in his one hand.

‘What is it with you?’ she said, trying to keep her voice low. ‘You want to get us grounded?’

‘No. But . . .’

Pat called out to her that the hot dogs were about done.

‘OK,’ she called back. ‘What’s up, Joshua? Why are you even talking to me? You know we’ll get into trouble.’

‘I . . . ahhh . . . have something for you. I was going to give it to you at the battle today, but . . . it’s . . . a birthday present.’

‘What?’ she said, completely caught off guard. ‘Do your folks know about this?’

He shook his head. ‘Best you don’t tell yours, either. There will only be hell to pay.’

And then some.
Her suspicions rose. ‘Why would you give me a present?’

‘Because we used to be . . . friends,’ he said, continuing to twist something in his hands. Somehow the answer felt incomplete.

Why would that matter to you?

Joshua stretched out his hand. A curl of silver sat in the middle of his calloused palm.

Briar gasped.

He lifted up the charm bracelet and held it in the air with two fingers. ‘Please, take it. Act like I’m not a Quinn, just for one second, OK?’

He was so sincere that she’d feel awful if she turned him down. But if she accepted the gift and her mom found out . . .

I don’t care
. When Briar flattened out her palm, he dropped the bracelet into it. The metal tingled against her skin, like it had a faint electrical charge. She leaned closer to
study it, moving it about with her fingers. Once she realized what she was seeing, her eyes met his in wonder.

‘All these charms are from a fairy tale. How did you know?’

‘I remember you read them all the time at the library,’ he hedged. ‘I hope you like it.’

‘Ohmigod, it’s awesome, Joshua. Thanks!’ She hesitated. ‘I don’t understand. Sure, it’s my birthday, but—’

‘This is just between us,’ he said solemnly. ‘I don’t care that my mom hates your mom or the other way around. That’s their thing, not ours.’

‘This afternoon you said—’

‘Doesn’t matter what I said. I was . . . upset.’

He had been, but he wasn’t now. If anything, he was hopeful. ‘I don’t want you to get in trouble for this.’

‘Same for you,’ he said.

‘Briar? Where’s those plates?’ Pat called out.

The dude’s timing sucked. This was way awkward.

Though she wanted to hurry over to Pat, she put on the bracelet and watched the little charms twirl round on their jump rings.
So cool.

‘Briar?’ Pat called out again.

‘Ah, sorry, I gotta go,’ she said. ‘But thank you. I
really
love it, even though I have to disavow any knowledge of where it came from.’

‘You’re welcome. Happy birthday, Briar.’

As he walked away, Joshua looked back over his shoulder, a faint smile in place. For a brief moment Briar wondered what it would have been like to kiss him.

If Pat had seen what had gone on between her and Joshua, he didn’t act like it. Instead, he led her further down the lake to an empty picnic table. Fortunately the moon
was fairly bright and it cast a lovely glow over the woods and the water beyond.

Just like in a fairy tale. But in this one the princess dies.

Where had that come from? Briar shoved the ridiculous thought as far back in her mind as possible, not wanting to ruin the moment. They settled in at the table and she watched Pat eat. Briar
tried not to be nervous, but it was futile. This was the guy she’d been dreaming about since the first time she’d seen him in the school hallway, leaning against the lockers. Even then
he’d looked as if he owned the place.

‘So what did the horse dude want?’ Pat asked before loading more chips into his mouth.

That hit an unexpected nerve, especially after the awesome gift. ‘His name is Joshua.’

‘I know, but he’s always on that old nag so that makes him a horse dude.’

Joshua’s mare certainly wasn’t a nag. If anything, Arabella had been a race horse in a previous life.

Though aggravated at his attitude, Briar bit her tongue, not wanting to mess up their time together. She knew the other girls were just waiting for her to make a mistake, and then one of them
would swoop in to claim him.

‘Joshua gave me this for my birthday,’ she said, extending her arm so he could admire the bracelet.

Pat peered at it and then smirked. ‘Is that an axe murderer on that thing?’

‘What? No, silly. That’s the huntsman from “Snow White”.’ She pointed at another charm. ‘This is a prince, probably from “Cinderella” or
“Sleeping Beauty”. And that’s a flying horse and a—’

Pat leaned over and stole a kiss, breaking her recitation. Her body began to glow at the attention, especially when he pulled her closer on the bench seat.

‘How’s about we go for a walk down by the mill?’ he suggested.

The warm glow from the kiss fizzled and died. The mill was the last place Briar wanted to go. It was dark and kind of creepy, and Pat had no idea that she’d nearly drowned there. But how
could he? He wasn’t a local boy.

Her old fears went to war with her hopes. In the end, the hopes won.

‘Ah . . . OK.’ It wasn’t like they were going into the river or anything.

After discarding their trash, they headed down the tree-lined path to Potter’s Mill. Briar found herself shivering at the thought of their intended destination. When Pat’s arm curved
round her waist, she tried to relax. This was exactly what she’d been wishing for ever since the last day of school. She’d be safe with him. Why ruin it?

Briar knew everyone was checking them out as there were whispers behind them. She shot a glance over her shoulder and found some of the kids pointing and snickering. What was that all about?
Then she saw Joshua and he was frowning, his hands clenched at his side.

Briar stumbled and that made her pay closer attention to the uneven path before them. In the distance, she could hear the river coursing over the sluice gate, the rattle and clank of the aged
wheel as it turned. The mill had been built before the Civil War by slaves from the Ashland Plantation, and while damaged by the Union troops during the battle of Bliss, it had only ceased grinding
grain in the early 1930s. Though a local group of preservationists had restored it as best they could with limited funds, it was still weather-worn in many places.

As the sound of moving water grew louder, it was nearly impossible not to remember that summer day ten years before. She and Saralyn, who had been five at the time, had wandered away from a
family picnic and found themselves by the mill. It was something they were never supposed to do as alligators sometimes sunned themselves on the banks.

Oblivious to the danger, they’d clambered up and down the stairs, proclaiming the mill was their castle. Joshua had joined them and it’d been great fun until Saralyn had lost her
footing. Briar had grabbed for her, but in the process had hit the railing that overlooked the river. It had broken in two, pitching her into the churning water below, leaving Saralyn safe far
above.

Over the years Briar had heard different versions of the tale, often by people who hadn’t been there that day. How Joshua had pushed her into the water, how both of them had died. How it
was all her fault that they were at the mill in the first place, which was another lie.

While her cousin ran for help, Joshua had gone into the water after her. It had been him who had drowned, not her. She still remembered that part as clearly today as when it had happened,
Joshua’s hand clutching on to hers, his brown hair floating around him in the churning water as they were pushed along by the current. That strange jolt of sensation that had passed between
them right after he’d stopped fighting and given in.

Briar was still breathing when she was pulled from the river, crying, begging them to help her friend. It’d been her uncle who had done CPR and brought Joshua to life. Finally he’d
coughed and sputtered and choked out a bellyful of water. Then Joshua had begun to cry.

No matter the tale or who told it, from that day on, the river had been Briar’s mortal enemy. From that point forward Mrs Quinn had begun a personal vendetta against the Rose family,
blaming her for what could have been a personal tragedy.

With the memories dragging her down, Briar halted abruptly. ‘Ah, I don’t like being near the water.’

Pat turned and studied her. ‘You can’t swim?’

‘No.’ He didn’t need to know her past. She didn’t want him to pity her.

‘Then relax, will you?’ he said. ‘I was thinking of us doing something else.’

The boy of her dreams stepped closer, cupping her face with his strong hands and then kissed the end of her nose. Briar smiled up at him, caught up in his spell. This really was like a fairy
tale. The moon, the prince, the princess. All they needed was a white horse and a castle.

The next kiss was full on her lips. It was genuine, not the half-hearted kind Mike had always given her.

Briar found her heart pounding when it ended. ‘Wow,’ she said, her eyes widening.

‘Yeah,’ Pat replied, smiling. The next kiss lasted a lot longer, his hands sliding round her waist and pulling her tightly against him. His body reacted to their closeness and Briar
found herself blushing. This was so perfect.

When it ended, Pat kept his arms around her as if he couldn’t bear to let her go. He angled his head towards the mill. ‘We could go in there,’ he suggested. ‘No one would
know where we were. We could be all alone.’

The mill part didn’t sound that good, but the
all alone
part did. Unless . . .

‘Umm . . .’

He gently touched her cheek. ‘I promise I won’t tell anyone. Not like Mike.’

Her ex’s name broke Pat’s intoxicating spell. ‘What’s Mike got to do with this?’

‘Nothing. Come on,’ he said, taking her hand. ‘We have some time before anyone misses us.’

When he tugged her forward towards the mill, he didn’t realize he’d triggered more of her memories. Saralyn had pulled her along in much the same way only a short time before Briar
had fallen into the river.

‘No,’ she said, sliding her hand out of his. ‘Let’s go back to the party, OK?’

‘Why?’ he said, stepping close to her again. His hand caressed her cheek. ‘It’ll be fun.’

Briar stepped backwards, suddenly aware that there was no one else around. Still, her reaction made no sense. Pat wasn’t a threat. He was too cool.

‘No, I gotta go,’ she said, turning away. Pat quickly caught up with her.

‘What’s going on?’ he asked, catching her by the wrist. Then he suddenly broke his grip and stared at his hand. His finger was bleeding. ‘That damned bracelet of yours
bit me.’

‘Sorry. The axe is kinda sharp, I guess.’

He sucked on the wound, and then wiped his finger on his jeans. ‘Look, I thought we were good together. Why can’t we just hook up tonight?’

Briar blinked. ‘Hook up?’ He nodded. ‘You mean like . . .’ Pat gave another nod, a slightly irritated expression on his face.

This wasn’t just a kissing expedition – he was talking about going all the way.

‘It’d be good. I promise,’ he said, deploying that devastating smile of his. As if that would be reason enough to take that final step.

For a few precious seconds Briar actually considered it. This was Pat, and she liked him a lot. If the curse was for real, what would it matter? She deserved some happiness.

No. Not this way
. It felt too needy. Desperate even.

‘I can’t. I’m not like that, Pat. I don’t know why you thought I was.’

He frowned now. ‘You’ve already done it with Mike, so it wouldn’t be like it was a big deal.’

There were so many things wrong with that statement she didn’t know where to start. ‘Who told you Mike and I hooked up?’

‘It’s all over his Facebook page. He didn’t use your name, but everyone knows it’s you.’

It can’t be.
She’d unfriended Mike when they’d broke up, but he wouldn’t say things like that about her.

‘You’re lying!’ she said, growing angry.

Grumbling under his breath, Pat dug out his smart phone, hunted around for something, then handed it over.

‘Look!’ he said. ‘He put it up yesterday.’

There it was right on his page: Mike’s post, a response to the question ‘Have you ever done it in a car?’ was about the night he’d spent with a girl whose initials were
BR. He went into
graphic
detail of their time in the back seat of his car, none of which was true because she’d called a halt long before they got
that
far
.