Charmed (Contemporary Romance) (3 page)

His warning had been uncalled for and ridiculous, especially when he’d been so charming just moments before. To Jamie it was one more reminder that too many people hid their true selves. Nick had just unmasked himself sooner than most.

Claire walked in just as Nick was putting Jamie Sullivan’s paperwork away. “How’d it go?”

“It … was a strange interview.” He’d behaved badly and he was disappointed in himself, but he was at a loss as to what to do about it. Would she go through the admissions process? “It turns out she’s Viera’s sister.”

“Justin Viera? Your college ice hockey nemesis?” Claire rolled her eyes at him.

“High school, too. How can you forget?”

“Isn’t he in your old-timers league now?” Claire asked.

“It’s not an old-timers league, it’s a master’s league. And we’re not officially a league yet.” He kept quiet for a while.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Getting older,” Nick confessed. “You know, all through high school and college, I can’t think of a game where Viera and I didn’t get into a fight. There he was, always standing in the way. Whether it was a winning streak for our team, or a personal record I was working so hard to break …

“He was relentless. He just wouldn’t let it happen. I was always in his way, too, and then we had to see each other around town. I think it’s safe to say the hate was mutual.” Nick tapped his pencil to his chin, considering their more recent history.

“But somewhere along the way I actually began respecting the guy. Probably around the time I moved back, and we both started teams here. We were both so intent on still playing, even though our lives were focused on other, more important things. It seems like under different circumstances, we might’ve been friends.”

He didn’t add that he would’ve also known Jamie better and he wouldn’t have treated her the way he’d just treated her. He still had no idea why those words had come out of his mouth without going through a filter first.

He broke from his reverie to look at the silver-haired woman who was like a mother to him. “It’s just funny what age can do to you.”

Claire stared at him for a long moment before getting up, walking over, and giving him a firm whack over the head with a rolled up stack of papers. “You’re all of thirty-seven and you’re telling me? That
is
funny.”

• • •

Later that night, Jamie tucked her boys into bed and looked forward to a little alone time.

“Mommy, can you tell me the story about Autumn Falls?” Timmy asked.

“Not again,” Michael groaned. “That’s such a girlie story.”

“It is not! It’s a true story, and it’s got an Indian war guy in it and magic and everything.”

Jamie turned their night light on, switched the overhead light off, and sat on the corner of Timmy’s bed. “All right, one more time,” she agreed, watching Michael put a pillow over his head. “It’s called the legend of Autumn Falls because nobody has been able to prove it really happened.”

“No! Start with once upon a time,” Timmy instructed.

“Okay.” Jamie cleared her throat to find her best storyteller voice. “Once upon a time, an indebted and embattled duke fled from England to the New World in search of fortune. He became very rich with a cashmere mill he started right here in our little town. He then got married and had a child. His daughter was born among gold, orange, and fiery red leaves on a mid-fall day, and he named her Autumn.

“One night, when the adventurous and impulsive duchess turned ten, she snuck away to climb Drizzle Mountain. As she climbed, two stars collided in the heavens above. The spectacular light blinded the duchess, and she almost fell off a ridge, but a young Mohican Indian saved her.

“The years passed, and Autumn and her Mohican continued to live parallel lives. So close, yet their paths never seemed to cross. By the time the Mohican Indian was eighteen, he was so brave and so courageous that he was named a hero by the tribal war chief on a special night. That very dawn, he and Autumn chanced upon each other again while walking along Drizzle Mountain.

“They soon fell deeply in love. But her father would never approve, and so they planned to elope. When the duke found out, he had the Mohican murdered the night before their elopement. When Autumn went to meet her young Mohican love at daybreak, she learned of his midnight murder.

“The young duchess was so angry at her father, she decided to punish him. She climbed the ridge where she and her Mohican had first met, and flung her body over the edge!

“When the Mohican hero’s mother learned about the tragic events, she gathered the pair of traditional wedding charm dolls she’d made for the couple, bound them together, face to face, placed them in a medicine bag, and chanted as she buried the charm dolls.

“Two Mohican Indian women heard her mournful chants, and they each told a different ending. One said that the chant was a spell, and that if anyone fell in love while roaming her land, there was to be no obstacle their love couldn’t overcome. The second cautioned that the chant was a curse, and that love born on this land would always end in suffering.”

Jamie glanced at her boys. She shook her head and smiled when she saw that Timmy was almost asleep while Michael was awake and listening.

“And years later, as more settlers came, the story was passed on. It became such a popular legend that the town was named Autumn Falls.” She gave each boy a kiss on the forehead and turned to go.

“Mommy, why did Autumn fling herself off the cliff? Is that what love
does
to people?” Michael’s eyes were wide.

“Only to very silly people whose mommies never told them that there are better ways to handle sadness.”

“Do you believe it was a love spell or love curse, Mommy?” a groggy voice asked. Jamie turned to Timmy, who was still fighting sleep.

Love spell for a lucky few, love curse for the willfully blind,
Jamie thought. But instead she said, “I don’t believe in spells or curses, but I do believe some sort of magic happens here, because I’m always happy to be back home.”

Jamie turned off the light and went into the living room. She sat with her sketchpad and began to draw, remembering a time when she too loved hearing about the legend, believing her small town held some secret magic. It definitely looked like it did. Etched into a valley of rolling hills that spilled out of two mountain ranges, Autumn Falls seemed like the perfect place for enchantment.

Michael and Timmy would love growing up here, too. And Grey Private Elementary seemed like the perfect place for them to go to school. But thinking about the school made her think about Nick Grey and his absurd warning.

As if she ever wanted to lose herself again.

Absentmindedly turning a page in her sketchbook, Jamie led her charcoal pencil into lines and curves that quickly turned into a pair of eyes, and soon, a certain look Scott had often given her took shape.

Staring down at the page, she swallowed a thick sigh, thinking of the life she’d lived since first laying eyes on the enigmatic Scott Sullivan, knowing she’d never see that look again.

She tore the page out of the book, not wanting to go there.

The place she’d retreated to after Scott’s funeral was lonely, and she’d stayed there, gracefully and quietly, often remembering that very look. Many moments had been lost to the strain and the burden of certain memories she couldn’t share.

The sound of a faucet interrupted her dark thoughts, and she walked to the hall bathroom to see if one of the kids had gotten up for a drink of water.

It was Timmy. He was asleep, and he was peeing on the bathroom door. Again. Jamie ran a hand through her hair. Some kids talked in their sleep, some kids walked. She’d even heard of sleep eating. Her son was the only one she knew of who sleep-peed.

She cleaned the mess, a sobering yet welcome reminder that she had too much to do to either dwell on the past or worry about meaningless things in the present.

• • •

Nick was feeling restless. He’d reached the state just before sleep a few times, but hadn’t managed to go under. It was too hot and his mind was too active. Whipping his shirt off, he went to the kitchen and gulped down an entire glass of water before opening the liquor cabinet, retrieving a bottle of Johnnie Walker, and slowly pouring a measure of the liquor into the same tumbler.

Walking toward the living room, he took a swig, savored the smooth taste and aroma, and swallowed. He sat in front of the floor to ceiling bay window, heaved his feet onto the coffee table, and looked out.

His house was perched atop a steep hill, and he could see the whole town from that one armchair on a clear day. His gaze traveled across town, toward the turn-of-the-century house where he’d grown up. It was so dark, he couldn’t see much, but his eyes always seemed to wander in that direction first. The old mansion was now a bed and breakfast, and it looked more inviting to him now than when it had been his home.

Willow Street was just below, and his thoughts turned to the new occupants of the small blue cottage on the corner, wondering why he’d gone and hurt Jamie Sullivan.

He knew why she’d made him uncomfortable, but a cold shower would’ve cured that. For some reason, he’d wanted to give her a good shove away from him.

“Jamie Sullivan,” Nick said out loud, making her a promise. If she applied, he’d make her feel at home at the school. He had a few months before he left, and he had a lot to do, but he’d carve out time to make her feel like she was part of the family. He owed it to every parent.

Taking in a long, deep breath, he bit into a few chunks of ice in lieu of a cold shower and purposefully cleared his mind of his thoughts. Turning away from the window, he caught sight of his reflection, and was happy to see nearly the same abs and arms he’d had in college. Flexing an arm, he nodded approvingly.

“You got up in the middle of the night to check yourself out?” Emma half yawned, startling him.

“What are you doing up?”

“Who’s Jamie Sullivan?” Emma asked, ignoring his question.

“Are you having trouble sleeping?”

“Is this the beginning of your midlife crisis, Dad? ’Cause you can talk to me about it, you know. What’s on your mind?” Emma sat down.

Nick shook his head and tried not to smile. Emma wanted to major in psychology, but he wasn’t ready for role reversal just yet. “Nothing. I’ve been thinking, that’s all.”

“Okay, but who’s Jamie Sullivan?”

“Just … someone new at school. I was going through some things in my head.”

“Is he the new assistant coach?” Emma asked. Nick didn’t answer. “Don’t worry about the school, Dad, it’ll be all right. You’re only leaving for a year, and Mrs. Gardner is more than capable.”

Nick sat down and Emma gave him a comforting pat on his knee. “Do you want some hot cocoa?” she asked. He couldn’t help it — he laughed.

Emma sighed and picked up a framed picture of her late grandmother. “I’m
trying
to help.”

“I’m sorry, Em. I’m not in the mood for hot cocoa, but join me after you make yours, okay?” When Emma shivered, he asked, “Would you like me to turn the AC down?”

“No. It’s just that seeing eyes so identical to yours look so cold never fails to spook me,” Emma explained before placing the picture back on the table and walking toward the kitchen.

Nick stared at the photograph and silently agreed. Her eyes were frighteningly cold. Wondering what his mother would think about him leaving the school for a year, Nick smiled, knowing she’d be ecstatic, hoping Mrs. Gardner would restore the school to what it had once been. Things like scholarship programs for promising children of reduced income families, and more parental involvement would’ve exasperated her.

The microwave oven signaled that “hot cocoa à la
Emma” was ready, and Nick put the picture back down.

“So, should I be worried?” she asked after settling into the loveseat beside him and taking a sip. “I mean, you know how these midlife crises go. First, you start drinking and checking yourself out in the middle of the night. Next, you buy the zippy red convertible. Pretty soon, you’re being bamboozled by some pretty young bimbo. Next thing I know, I’m changing my new baby brother’s diaper while mommy dearest spends your money in Europe with her handyman lover.”

“Ouch. You do know it’s too early for me to have a midlife crisis, don’t you?”

“Well, maybe having a kid so very early in life speeds andropause up.”

“Andropause?” Nick raised an eyebrow.

“It’s like menopause, but for men.” Emma took another long sip from her mug. “I guess I’ll just have to ask Claire to keep an eye on you until the end of the semester.”

“Last week you said I was a scarred man with a deep aversion to relationships embedded in my psyche from birth, and tonight you think I’m going to be taken in by some sweet young thing?”

“That scarring part actually came from Mom. Your psyche analysis was all mine.”

Nick was used to having the women in his life analyze him to death, so he only said, “Fine, talk to Claire. I’m sure you’ll be the first person she’ll call if I get the urge to dress like a teenager and get my ear pierced.”

Emma pretended to shudder at the image. Nick smiled and playfully kicked her knee, knowing Emma trusted him to be smarter than that. She knew how hard he’d worked to overcome the stigma attached to being a young father; she’d been there every step of the way.

All he was itching for now was a change in scenery and a different kind of freedom.

• • •

A few weeks later, Jamie was busy getting the twins ready for school. They’d applied to Grey Private Elementary, and the children had been accepted. In the end, her kids always came first, and it was the right school for them.

Her in-laws, Cindy and Joseph, were visiting, and they were really enjoying the process of helping their only grandkids pick out their school things.

They were all back in town now, she and the boys walking down the dry-laid brick sidewalks of Autumn Falls’ small downtown area, waiting for her in-laws. There were a few wonderful antique shops located around the town’s square, and Jamie’s mother-in-law loved sifting through them whenever she came.