Evan Elemental (The Evan Elemental Series) (22 page)

I let
out a hopeless sigh. All I can do is keep moving forward. If I can't control
anything else, I can at least control my emotions. I've always been good at
that; at least, I used to be good at it.

Ever
since I arrived at Price, I've been a whirlwind of emotion, especially where
Lex
is involved. Now that he's gone, it should be easier
for me to stay in control. Hopefully, I can at least keep myself from going nuclear.

With
new resolve, I open the fridge and begin to sift through glass dishes of
mayonnaise-laden salads, fluorescent colored Jell-O molds dotted with canned
fruit, and trays of perfectly rolled deli meat and cheese. I place each tray on
a wheeled cart so they can be taken out to the tables for the picnic.

"It's
too early for that." Though her voice is soft, Grace startles me to the
point where I almost drop the super-sized dish of macaroni salad that I'm in
the middle of pulling out of the fridge.

"Grace.
Hey," I reply a little breathlessly. I set the dish down on the stainless
steel island in the middle of the kitchen.

Grace
gives me a small smile, but there's something off about the way she's looking
at me. Silence stretches on between us until it becomes too awkward for me to
bear, which
is
weird because, whenever we're normally
together, we barely speak.

"So,
um, too early? For what?" I ask, rubbing imagined sweat from my brow.

"To
take those out," she answers in her even, unemotional voice. "They'll
spoil in this heat; we should wait until it's closer to eleven."

"Oh,"
I say, my usual brilliant comeback.

We
revert back to awkward silence. I have no idea what's going on, but the tension
between us is unmistakable.

"Grace?"
I ask tentatively, "Did I do something to upset you? Because it seems like
you've been trying to avoid me all week."

Grace
takes on a pained expression. I brace myself for whatever it is I've done to
cause her so much grief. After a moment, she shakes her head slowly, her eyes
suddenly wet with tears.

"No,
you didn't do anything," Grace says with a sigh. "I've just been
going through a lot lately. My dad hasn't been easy to deal with since my mom,
well...today is actually the anniversary of when...of when she left us."

I press
my hand to my mouth horrified. "Oh my god, I had no idea. I'm so
sorry."

She
waves away my apology. "You couldn't have known. Nobody around here ever
talks about anything that doesn't have to do with the town social calendar or
the weather."

Grace
freezes and glances around as if she's afraid someone might be listening. I'm
sort of shocked by her bitter tone, but I don't mention it. She only said what
I've been thinking since I moved here.

"I
shouldn't have said that. The Ladies Council has been giving me a hard time lately,
too, about fulfilling my obligations. I just figured you wouldn't want to be
bothered with all of my drama, so I guess, yeah, I've been avoiding you a
little bit."

She
takes a big gulp of air as tears quietly stream down her face. I feel like such
a shitty friend, assuming that it was
all about me and not
even thinking for a second
that that there might be something else going
on to upset her. Grace has said very little about her home life and I can only
imagine how hard things must be for her. I can't think of anything to say so I
cross the room and pull her into an awkward, very brief, hug.

"Grace,
if you ever need to talk or anything, I'm here for you," I say earnestly.
"I'd like to think we've become friends over these past weeks. Awkward,
mostly non-verbal friends, but still."

Grace
gives a small laugh and blinks away the rest of her tears. "Come on, let's
put these back in the fridge," she says gesturing to the covered dishes
that have already begun to sweat. "We have a lot of setting up to do outside
first."

After
our little moment, Grace seems a bit brighter. She's more talkative than usual,
filling me in on some of the latest Ladies Council drama that mostly revolves
around Delia and her mother and their continuous, painfully polite, power struggle,
and the still months away Apple Festival. I listen attentively but I couldn't
really care less. With everything else going on in my life, a pageant seems
pretty trivial.

"Why
is that stupid festival so important?" I blurt out while Grace is in the middle
of describing the current controversy over whether there should be a six-piece
string orchestra or a brass band as the opening day evening performance.

Grace
laughs nervously. "Well, it's tradition," she says biting down on her
lip. "We're not really supposed to talk about it." Grace glances
around to make sure that we're really alone. "Price was actually founded
by a group of Pagans."

I start
to laugh, because come on, Pagans? But Grace's expression tells me she's not
joking. I shake my head in disbelief. "My family. Our families. Were
Pagans? What, like witches?" I know that's an obtuse interpretation of the
word, but all I can think about is Magda in a pointy hat hovering over a
cauldron. It's so fitting.

Grace's
eyes widen and she laughs nervously. "No, not witches." Her face
scrunches up in thought. "At least I don't think so."

"Holy
shit, Grace. You can't drop a bomb like that and not explain. What's the
story?"

Grace
leans against the counter and folds her arms across her chest. "Well, it's
like I said, we're not supposed to talk about it. But," she rushes on,
"it's not that big of a deal. The early settlers in this area basically
worshipped nature and were really holistic. I'm sure you've noticed how
beautiful and intricate the gardens at Magda's estate are. Anyway, we honor
their tradition of celebrating the solstices, the equinoxes, and the harvest.
Only we call them picnics, fairs, and festivals."

"Okay,"
I say slowly, "as strange as that sounds, I actually understand. It's
basically what the Catholic Church did.
But, why the pageant?
What purpose does a bunch of teenage girls cat-fighting for a plastic crown
actually serve?"

Grace
smirks. "Because people like pageants," she says wryly. "They
like to look at pretty girls prancing around in pretty dresses."

I nod
in mock thoughtfulness. "It's all clear to me now," I say with a
grin.

Grace
shrugs and puts the last covered dish back in the fridge. "Let's get
outside before Mary Morris has some sort of fit because the checkered table
cloths haven't been put out, or something equally as serious," she says
dryly.

Outside,
the day has already grown unbelievably hot. I had forgotten that today is the
summer solstice until Grace mentioned it. I unfold tablecloths and lay them out
on the picnic tables until I'm seeing nothing but red and white checkers. Grace
has been recruited to help Anders string up paper lanterns. He's doing most of
the work since he has about a foot on her, but she doesn't seem to mind. In
fact, I think she's really enjoying the view.

It's
cute, but I was kind of hoping to get Anders alone. He's been doing a pretty
good job of avoiding me all morning and I'm anxious to grill him about what
happened that led to me waking up on the church office couch. Ezra is
conveniently absent, which is pretty telling that he most likely did something
to me back in the car that caused me to pass out.

While
we set up, the rest of the Ladies Council is busy giving out orders and making sure
that everything we do is up to their standards of unattainable perfection, all
the while avoiding doing any actual work
themselves
.

Delia
Holloway doesn't show up until we're almost done, so she doesn't have to do
anything other than arrange the dishes of food that Grace and I finally brought
out from the kitchen and fidget with the napkin display while making eyes at
Anders who is oblivious to her presence. When Delia finally gives up trying to
get his attention, she alternates between scowling at Grace and me.

I try
to keep busy, but I can't help but look around for Josh. This doesn't seem like
his scene, especially since he's on the outs with his family right now, so I
shouldn't have anything to worry about. Still, the idea of running into him,
and the inevitable confrontation that would be sure to follow, has me on edge.

I take
a break from working to slip off my cardigan since I'm really starting to
sweat. People are already starting to show up and mill about the village green
where everything is set up. I use the commotion to my advantage to slip off
unnoticed. Mrs. So and
So's
husband has taken over
the massive grill and the air is thick with the scent of roasting processed
meat. The smell is making my mouth water, a reminder that I haven't eaten yet
today.

I'm on
my way back to the Church to get my bag- where I know a granola bar is stashed-
when a familiar-looking black SUV catches my eye and stops me in my tracks. I
watch in horror as Josh Holloway slips out of the driver's seat of the same SUV
that I saw Jessie getting into the day
Lex
left. If I
confront Josh about Jessie then I'm going to have to risk answering some
questions of my own. A freaky space/time door sounds really good right about
now. Fuck.

I
straighten my shoulders, throw my head back, and march straight for Josh. When
Josh sees me approaching he breaks into a huge smile. Not the reaction I was
expecting, but I guess it's not a bad sign.

"Hey
Evan, sup?"

"Sup?"
I repeat, arching an eyebrow.

Josh
laughs, the sound of it cutting through all the bullshit and warming my heart.
It's difficult to ignore the easy connection that we have, but I try.
"Nice car. Yours?" I ask.

Josh's
brow crinkles in confusion for a moment before he relaxes back into his easy
smile. "Nah, it's my mom's. I'm just borrowing it for the day."

"Interesting.
Do you borrow it often?"

"What's
with the line of questioning? Investigating a hit and run?" Josh grins and
I can't help but grin back. Obviously I would be a terrible detective.

Subtlety
isn't working for me, so I decide to just go for straight forward. "No,
it's just, I saw my friend, you know, the one from the party?" Josh nods
politely but I can tell he's having trouble following me so I cut to the chase.
"The other day I saw her getting into a car just like that one. In fact,
I'm pretty sure it was that one."

Josh
frowns and then his eyes widen in understanding. "What day was it?"

"About
a week ago. It was the day after the party at that beach house."

Josh's
serious expression cracks and he starts to laugh. "Oh yeah, I remember
that party. I was late getting there, but I got to hear all about how Magda
Price's granddaughter showed up alone in some hot ass dress, got drunk, dirty
danced with one guy, and left with another. It's all anyone's been talking
about for a week."

I roll
my eyes and give him my best who-gives-a-damn smirk. On the inside I'm pretty
much dying from humiliation. "I bet. So, the car?"

"Oh
yeah," Josh says nodding. "I was hung over all day after the party so
I didn't go anywhere. I barely even left my bathroom. I have no idea who might
have taken it that day other than the usual suspects: mom, dad, Princess Delia
the First."

I
snort. "Good one. I guess it might make sense if she was getting in the
car with Delia; they seemed to hit it off at that party. I don't know why it
bothers me so much, I just got a bad feeling about it."

"I
wish I could help you. I..." Josh trails off, his gaze fixed on some point
over my shoulder.

I turn
to see what he's looking at only to be greeted by the unwelcome sight of Ezra
walking straight for us. I glance back at Josh who's still staring open-mouthed
at Ezra. "Dude, you're staring," I tease.

Josh's
mouth snaps closed. He gives a little shake of his head and his eyes lose that
glazed look. "Welcome back to the land of the living," I smirk.

Josh
gives me a playful shove on my shoulder, but I can tell he's still completely
tuned in to Ezra's every move.

"Evangeline,
there you are." I shudder at the sound of Ezra's voice, all dark chocolate
and silk. Josh's gaze meets mine and I can see the blatant disappointment
there.

"Another
one bites the dust," Josh says with a wistful sigh. "I'll see
ya
later,
Ev
."

I open
my mouth to plead with him to stay, but he makes quick work of turning and
heading toward the church.

"I'm
glad to see you're up. I was afraid I might have...come on too strongly."
I feel Ezra's warm breath on my neck when he speaks. He's standing directly
behind me with barely any space between us. I want to remedy that, and put as
much space between us as possible, but I'm frozen in place. He has this
electric hold on me that I can't fight, not with all the power in the world.
I'm not sure I even want to anymore. The promise of Ezra is the promise of
darkness and oblivion, numbness to everything, but sensation.