Carnelian (33 page)

“Yep. It’s a bit strange, but we leave at
midnight,” Arianna replied as she halted near the bus stop.

“We can give you a ride home,” Tish offered,
as her mother pulled a car to the curb and waved to the girls.

“Don’t worry about it,” Arianna replied. “I
live in the opposite direction. Fred should be back soon, anyway.”
Arianna had found, after her first few trips, that the bus she rode
to the theater could make its loop in three hours and return to
bring her home. Her friends climbed into the waiting green car.

“We’ll see you in a week,” Mary Ellen
called. Arianna nodded as she waved to her friends.

She had told her friends she would be home
in a week, but her aunt had only said it was possible they would
return in a week. The whole trip was very strange. They refused to
explain why they were leaving so late, where they were going, where
they were staying, how long they would be gone, or even why they
were going in the first place. Arianna was beginning to feel that
even her secret correspondent knew more about her trip than she
did. For weeks they refused to even give her a time they would
return. It wasn’t until Arianna bugged her aunt every ten minutes
for an entire day that she was finally given a tentative return
date.

“So, was it good?” the bus driver asked,
opening the door.

“If you like that lovey-dovey stuff,” she
replied.

“Your choice next week?” he asked, as she
sat down near the front door.

“I’ll be gone next week, but the week after
I’ll choose something much more interesting.” Arianna sat and
stared out the front window. She had ridden the bus so many times
she could picture each stop without looking out the window. The
rain began again, lightly. Arianna sat in silence for the remainder
of the ride home. Who was this writer? Was it safe to just go meet
someone who obviously didn’t have her guardian’s approval?

The rattling of the empty bus didn’t help
calm her nerves. Arianna always knew she was an orphan. Every time
she was asked what her parents did for jobs, she would have to
explain that they were dead. Her lack of parents affected her
attitude, and made her want to please her aunt and uncle. Without
them, Arianna felt she would be homeless. This was the first time
she had ever thought of deceiving them.

“I’ll see you in two weeks, Fred,” Arianna
said as she cheerfully bounced off the bus. The driver nodded.

“Then have fun in those two weeks, Ethel,”
he replied. “By the way, happy birthday, kiddo. Soon enough you
won’t need me to drive you around.” Arianna smiled and waved to the
older man as the door shut.

Arianna ran around the diner to the back
door. It was past eight o’clock, so the front door would be locked
by now. Briefly, Arianna peered into the kitchen before heading
upstairs. As expected, it was almost empty. Aunt Lilly was done for
the night, and was in the living room folding laundry as Arianna
opened the door to their apartment.

“How was the movie?” she asked.

“Okay, if you like love stories,” Arianna
replied.

“You just wait,” Aunt Lilly responded.
“Someday you’ll fall in love, and your opinion on love stories will
change.” Arianna rolled her eyes. Aunt Lilly always preached about
the benefits of falling in love and how love can change a person.
“Have you finished packing yet? All the laundry is done, so if you
need something here, just take it.”

“I’m almost done,” Arianna replied, walking
through the small living room to her bedroom. “I can help
downstairs after I pack the rest of my stuff.” Aunt Lilly nodded.
Lilly and Dean had never asked Arianna to help with the diner, but
she always offered. Small tears trickled down Aunt Lilly’s cheeks
as her eyes glazed over. Arianna moved across the room quietly and
put her arms around her aunt. It didn’t happen often, but when she
began to cry, it was a sign that Aunt Lilly needed a hug. “I love
you, Aunt Lilly,” Arianna said quietly, as her aunt tried to
quickly wipe the tears away.

“I can’t believe it’s been ten years
already,” Lilly said as she hugged Arianna back. “Time goes by so
fast. I wish I could sprinkle some magic dust on you and keep you a
child forever.”

“Now do you really want that?” Arianna
teased. “I thought the last time we had this talk you told me how
proud you were that I was growing up.”

“I wish I could have both,” Aunt Lilly
complained.

“I better finish my packing and get the
diner cleaned with Uncle Dean,” Arianna said, letting go of her
aunt. Aunt Lilly smiled at Arianna. Arianna might not be her
biological child, but Lilly had never doubted for a moment that
Arianna loved her like a mother.

Arianna walked into her room and plopped
down on the bed. She had already packed everything days before.
Because of her aunt and uncle’s refusal to tell her how long they
would be gone, Arianna secretly packed everything she couldn’t live
without. She fell back into the pillows and began to wonder how
long it would be before she would be back in her bedroom in their
small apartment above the diner. She studied each familiar crack in
the ceiling, these same, comforting flaws that she had spent years
staring at. She felt as though her life was about to change, but
she couldn’t understand to what extent her life would be turned
upside down. Arianna glanced at the clock: 8:52. It was time to
meet her mystery friend.

Following the instructions, Arianna offered
to empty all the trash bins. As she brought out the last bag, she
quietly slipped behind the large, green, alley dumpster and waited.
The rain had stopped again, and a fog was beginning to rise.
Arianna stared at her watch. One minute to go. Patiently she
waited, keeping out of view of the back door. In the light fog, she
didn’t see the person nearing her. In just a flash, Arianna felt
her knees weaken and her body fell only to be caught by two large
hands.

“Who?” she tried to ask, but the hands
gently scooped her up and her world dimmed without seeing the
mysterious person’s face.

As with any work of fiction, there are many
people to thank along the way.

To you, the reader. Thank
you for taking the time to read this story and go on the journey
with me and Mari. If you liked it, please leave a review on your
favorite online bookseller (or all of them!) and connect with me
on
Twitter
,
Facebook
,
Goodreads
, etc. The
greatest help you can do to keep a writer going is to support them
by spreading the word about their books and leaving them
encouraging words. If you are really inspired, join my
mailing
list
to get updates first on my
current and future writings.

Also I would like to thank
my editor and cover designers. A good editor is essential to
getting the story correct. Thank you so much, Kathie, for catching
all those errors. Thankfully she can catch everything to make this
a better novel for everyone else to read. Thanks also to Ashton
Brammer for the second edit to make this book even better. A thank
you to Alexandria Thompson at Gothic Fate for such a pretty cover
and Lunarieen for allowing us to use your beautiful necklace. A
great cover helps get people interested. They may say
never judge a book by its
cover
, but everyone does! I greatly
appreciate all those that can do what I cannot, like editors and
cover designers. I am grateful I was able to find great
professionals to work with on this book.

I’d also like to thank my hubby for
continuing to push me further down the writing road. He gives me
time when I need it to work on my stories. He encourages me to keep
going each and every day on this adventure. And he does all the
behind-the-scenes effort to make this work. This would be so much
harder without his help. So thank you, B. for pushing me off the
deep end (or the cliff as I see it sometimes). And a great big
thanks to my little munchkins who keep me going from before the sun
comes up ‘til long after it sets. Love you AK and KB.

Thank you so much for taking the time to
read my novel!!

Originally from Wisconsin,
B. Kristin currently resides in Ohio with her husband, two small
children, and three cats. When not doing the mom
thing of chasing kids, baking cookies, and
playing outside, she is using her PhD in biology as a scientist. In
her free time she is currently hard at work on multiple novels.
Every day is a new writing adventure. She is a fan of all YA
fantasy and science fiction and continues to promote good books on
her own blog at
www.bkristinmcmichael.com
. You can find her on
Twitter
,
Facebook
, and
Goodreads