Foreshadow (4 page)

I paused at the head of the staircase. Andrei stood in the foyer with Genevra and Shane. He glanced up at the exact moment I hit the top step. Our eyes met, and I began my descent, silently willing myself not to trip in my heels and tumble down the stairs. I didn’t consider myself a clumsy person, but I had always had a hard time walking in heels.

I watched Andrei as I made my way to the base of the stairway. His eyes lit, and I saw a ghost of the lopsided grin I had noticed earlier. It seemed like an old movie, where the guy can’t take his eyes off the girl entering the room, until I missed the last step and tumbled toward the floor. I closed my eyes and winced, readying for impact and the resulting embarrassment. Opening my eyes suddenly, I realized I hadn’t hit the ground. Andrei had caught me. I gazed up into his sea-blue eyes. His arms were firm around my waist, steadying me. We couldn’t have been more than a hand’s breadth apart.

A clearing throat pulled me from my contemplation of Andrei’s face. I detached myself from the warmth of his arms and turned to face Genevra’s and Shane’s scrutinizing gazes.

“So, Rae, when were you planning on telling us about your date tonight?” Genevra inquired.

I groaned inwardly. I realized I would have to talk pretty fast to get the green light to go out with Andrei that night. If she treated me like a child in front of him, it might chase him off. Bad enough that I was a little bit younger than him—now I’d look even more immature.

Genevra and I excused ourselves from Andrei and left him in the foyer talking to Shane while we headed into the living room.

She faced me. “All right. Care to explain? Where did you meet this guy? Were you even planning on asking us if you could go out with him tonight?”

“I wasn’t aware I needed permission,” I stated. I didn’t want to be rude to the only family I had, but I wanted my freedom, too.

“What do you mean, you weren’t aware you needed permission? You’re sixteen, Raena! You don’t even know this guy. Your mother trusted Shane and me to take care of you, and you can’t just run off without telling us.”

I could tell she was getting angry, and I needed to calm her down before this escalated into a fight. “I’m sorry. I haven’t had to ask you and Shane permission to go anywhere before. I assumed this would be the same. Besides, he just asked me to dinner this afternoon, and you guys weren’t here when I got home. I asked him to pick me up here so you could meet him, and we could tell you where we were going.”

Apparently my excuses worked, because she seemed pacified. “Okay,” she conceded. “I don’t want to embarrass you in front of this boy, but I do expect some more consideration from you in the future. You may go, but I want you home by ten.”

I opened my mouth to protest—after all, it wasn’t a school night—then closed it again. Arguing with her wouldn’t solve anything. “Okay, ten it is.”

She nodded, a quick, downward slash of her head. “I expect a full report tomorrow.”

“No problem. I’ll be home on time.”

We made our way back to the foyer, where Andrei and Shane were laughing about something. “What’s so funny?” I asked.

Andrei looked at me, mirth dancing in his eyes. “Nothing.” He glanced at Genevra. “Is everything okay?”

“Of course,” I said quickly. “Let’s go.” I reached for the door.

Just then, Nuada waltzed into the foyer and froze. Her back arched, and her fur stood up on end. She bared her teeth and hissed.

“Nuada! Stop it!” I scolded her.

“It’s all right,” Andrei reassured me. “Cats don’t exactly like me.”

“Why’s that?” Genevra asked.

“I don’t know. They just never have.”

He didn’t say anything more on the subject. “Okay, let’s try this again,” I told him. I wanted to get out of the house.

Andrei extended his hand to Shane. “Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Deville.”

Shane grasped his hand. “You as well, Andrei.”

I headed toward the door, which Andrei opened for me. “Remember to be home by ten!” Genevra called after us as the door shut.

A glossy black BMW convertible sat in front of my house. Andrei opened the passenger door and waited for me to slide in. “There’s a seat control on the side if you want more leg room.” He closed the door for me.

He went around to the driver’s side and climbed in. I glanced at the state-of-the-art navigation system on the dash. From the looks of it, he had gone home after work. The directions seemed to be coming from somewhere around UC Santa Cruz, the university he had said he attended.

We kept our conversation light during the drive. When we pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot, my heart plummeted. I had been so absorbed in the “discussion” with Genevra and the conversation on the way that I had forgotten to ask him if we could go somewhere else.
Oh well, I’m going to have to face this place at some point
. I sighed heavily.

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “Everything okay?”

I took a deep breath. “Well, I wasn’t going to bring this up, but I used to go to Shadowbrook with my mom all the time when we would come to visit Genevra and Shane. I haven’t been here since before she died.”

His face softened. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize. Would you rather go somewhere else?”

“No!” I said quickly. “They’re good memories. Besides, I can’t spend the rest of my life not going places just because my mom and I used to go to them. I’ll be fine.” I tried to smile, but it felt more like a grimace. I hoped Andrei didn’t notice.

We parked and decided to take the cable car up to the restaurant. Andrei opened the car door for me. As we rode up to the restaurant door, we could see lights from Capitola and the nearby town of Soquel glinting below. It was so beautiful out that I almost didn’t want to go inside, but hunger got the best of me. When we reached the door, Andrei held it for me as well.
Mom would have liked him,
I thought.

We approached the host desk, and I was astonished to find that Andrei had made reservations. I wondered when he’d had the time. “Petrov, for two,” he murmured to the hostess.

“Of course, Mr. Petrov. Right this way.”

The hostess led us to a table in front of the fireplace. Andrei held my chair for me before going around the table and pulling out his own. The hostess dropped my menu in front of me, slowly placed Andrei’s in front of him, and flashed him a huge smile. When she realized she hadn’t impressed him, she flounced away.

Andrei caught hold of my hand from across the table and began to rub his thumb across the back of it. He leaned forward. “I’m glad you agreed to let me take you out tonight, Rae.”

I blushed. “So am I.”

“Order whatever you want,” he told me.

Now, I’m not one of those girls who would order just a salad on a date, pretending I didn’t eat much. I love to eat. But I’m a vegetarian, and unfortunately most restaurants didn’t offer much in the way of vegetarian options. Luckily, this one did.

The waitress came over. I ordered a Diet Pepsi—I’m seriously addicted to diet soda. When the waitress returned with our drinks, I ordered the vegetable coconut curry. In my opinion there couldn’t be a more perfect combination.

We talked a little while we waited for our food and ate slowly when it arrived. Finally the subject I had been dreading came up.

“So you mentioned your mom. Can I ask what happened to her?”

“Cancer,” I said. “She had cancer.”

He frowned. “Wow. Must have been terrible.”

“It was.” I suddenly felt the urge to open up to him. “She was fine, and then all of a sudden, she wasn’t. She just got sicker and sicker, and then she had to go into the hospital. The treatments worked, and she went into remission for a little while and was able to come home. After a couple of months, she relapsed and had to be readmitted to the hospital. She never came back out. I just watched her deteriorate. Then she was gone.”

Tears stood in my eyes, threatening to spill over. I quickly wiped my ring finger along my lower eyelids. I didn’t want to cry in front of this guy, and I certainly didn’t want to ruin my makeup.

He reached over and brushed his hand across my cheek. “I’m sorry, Rae. I shouldn’t have brought it up. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for you. You know, I had a family member in the hospital recently.”

Suddenly I realized why he had seemed so familiar when I’d seen him in the coffee shop earlier. “Wait! Was the hospital in Las Vegas?”

He seemed surprised. “Yes, how did you know?”

I almost started laughing. He was the golden god-like guy that I had spotted in the hospital cafeteria! “I think I saw you there, just after my mother died. You were in the cafeteria.”

“What a strange coincidence. Why didn’t you come over then?”

“I got distracted by someone else talking to me.”

“I see…” He trailed off. “Why don’t we talk about something else? Would you like some dessert?”

“No, but thank you.”

“I can’t believe you don’t eat dessert. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a girl turn down sweets before,” he said in mock astonishment.

“Well, I’m not most girls,” I told him, smiling despite our morbid and emotional conversation of a few minutes before.

His eyes turned serious. “No, you are definitely not most girls.”

Andrei motioned for our hovering waitress to bring the check. He already had a credit card out when she arrived. He slipped it into the check holder and handed it back to her. I hadn’t even seen him take the card out. He signed the slip when she returned, then stood and came around the table to pull my chair out for me.

He escorted me out of the restaurant with his hand resting lightly on the small of my back. This time we opted to take the meandering garden path back down to his car, admiring the lights and the waterfall on the side of the path on our way down.

****

Logan

I noticed Rae exiting the restaurant with a blond man I didn’t recognize. I couldn’t help but wonder who he might be.

Rae glanced in my direction, and I quickly turned my head, hoping she wouldn’t notice me. After all, this would make the third time that day I had run into her. I didn’t want her to think I was stalking her.

Why do I keep seeing Raena everywhere? Is it some sort of sign?

I thought about it for a minute, watching her as she walked toward the front door, the strange man’s hand hovering near her waist. I found myself seething over the sight.

I couldn’t figure out why it made me so upset to see her with another man. I was just trying to look out for her, right?

I can’t be jealous
.
I don’t feel that way about her.
I didn’t think I convinced myself.

“What’s wrong, Logan?” my mother asked, her voice cutting into my thoughts.

I pulled my gaze away from Rae’s retreating figure. I focused my attention on my parents, who were looking at me with concern.

“Nothing, Mom,” I reassured her. “I just thought I saw someone I knew. Never mind.”

My parents seemed appeased and returned to their conversation, which I promptly ignored. I glanced back at the door, but Rae had already exited. I sighed softly, returning to my churning thoughts.

Raena

Andrei drove slowly on the way back to my house. We still had some time to kill before I had to be home, but I figured he hoped to make a good impression on Genevra and Shane by getting me home before curfew. When he parked in front of my house, he shut off the car.
Is he planning on walking me inside?
I wondered.

He reached over, brushing my hair out of my eyes. His hand lingered there, and he ran the back of one finger across my cheek and down my jaw. “I had a great time tonight, Rae.”

I think I stopped breathing for a minute. “I—I did too,” I stammered.
Is he going to kiss me?

His hand dropped to mine, and he encircled my palm with his fingers. “I hope we can do this again soon.”

“Sure,” I nodded.

His eyes bored into mine for a second, then he released my hand and pushed the button to unbuckle my seat belt. I sat, frozen, while he opened his door and came around to the passenger side to hold the door for me. He held his hand out for mine to help me out of the car. I appreciated his help because I felt dizzy from his proximity and what I believed had been a near-kiss. I felt a little unsteady on my feet, a fact amplified by my heels.

This time when he grabbed my hand, he held onto it as he walked to the door with me.

When we reached the front step, Andrei turned to me. He leaned forward a little and brought my hand to his lips. “Goodnight, my Rae. Sweet dreams.”

I took a deep breath to calm my hammering heart before I responded. “Goodnight. Thank you for dinner. I had a lot of fun.”

“So did I. I will see you soon.” He released my hand, and I fumbled for the doorknob. I stepped backwards over the threshold, still staring at him. Surprisingly, I didn’t trip. He walked back to his car as I closed and locked the door, and shut off the porch light. I leaned against the door and exhaled forcibly, shaking my head in disbelief. The whole night felt like a dream.

I spotted Tanis trying to creep out of the darkened kitchen. Had she been spying on me? “I see you in there, Tanis!” I called. “You might as well come out here.”

She sauntered out of the kitchen. “Well, well. You were gone for a long time.”

I glanced at the clock hanging in the hall. “I’m not late. I’m actually early.”

“I know. But you were still gone for a long time. Come on, tell me what happened.”

“Not now. Tomorrow,” I promised. “I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”

I headed for the stairs, but she cut me off. “You know I won’t quit until you tell me. You just barely met this guy. You have to tell me sooner or later.” She winked at me and smirked.

I stopped at the top of the stairs and faced her. “Whatever. I’m going to bed. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

I hurried to my room and shut the door behind me, locking it for good measure. Unfortunately the door to the bathroom only locked from inside the bathroom itself, so I pulled my desk chair over and propped it up under the handle as a barricade. Tanis had an annoying habit of barging into my room, and I didn’t feel like dealing with her anymore tonight.

I kicked off my heels, slipping out of my dress and into my favorite pajamas. Leaving my dress and heels where they fell on the floor, I called for Nuada as I changed, surprised she hadn’t come out to greet me when I’d gotten home.

“Nuada?” I tried again. I lay down on my stomach on the floor and checked under the bed. No Nuada. I got up and glanced under my desk. Not there either. I looked in my closet and even dragged the chair away from the door, checking the bathroom to make sure she hadn’t gotten trapped in there.

I rapped on Tanis’s door. After a moment, she flung it open. “Oh,
now
you want to talk? Well, maybe I don’t want to know anymore.”

“Is Nuada in there?” I asked.

“No. Why would your cat be in my room?”

“Well, do you know where she is?”

“Nope. Actually, I haven’t seen her since right after you left.”

“I’ll check downstairs, thanks.” I headed back through the bathroom and into my room. I paused to shove the chair back under the door before I ventured out into the hall. I searched the house high and low, checking every hiding spot I could think of. I pulled out a bag of her food, shook it, and poured some into her dish. That would usually bring her running, but she didn’t show.

I ran back upstairs and tapped on Genevra and Shane’s door. Genevra answered the door in her robe. “How did your date go, Raena?”

“Fine, thanks. Is Nuada in there?” I asked.

“No, she isn’t. I haven’t seen her in a while. Why?”

“I think she’s missing. I can’t find her anywhere,” I told her, near tears now.

“Oh, I’m sure she’s fine.”

“She’s a kitten, Genevra. She’s only a few months old. What if she got out? Did anyone leave any doors open?”

She hesitated for a heartbeat. “I don’t think so…”

“I’m going to go look for her. I’ll be back!”

She didn’t argue with me. “Take a coat! And your phone!” she called after me as I ran off.

I made a detour to my room to grab my phone and some slip-on shoes. I darted back downstairs, grabbing a coat out of the coat closet. I barely paused to slip it on as I flew out the door, not even stopping to lock it behind me.

At first I just stood in the front yard, calling for Nuada. When she didn’t appear, I started to run down the street, still yelling her name. I didn’t care if I woke the neighbors. I just wanted to find my cat.

I headed down to the park. I don’t know why, but I felt drawn there. Maybe I’d find her hiding in a bush, or maybe she had climbed a tree and had gotten stuck. I continued to yell for her, pawing through the bushes and trying to ignore the scratches I got from the sharp needles and poking branches.

Suddenly I felt a warm breath on my neck. “Looking for something?” a voice murmured in my ear.

I must have jumped ten feet in the air. I whirled, right fist raised. A hand closed over my fist, and an arm went around my waist, pulling me close. When I saw who it was, I breathed a sigh of relief. It was only Logan.

“Now Raena, you don’t want to damage this handsome face of mine, do you?” he asked.

The fight had drained out of me, but I still attempted to struggle away from him. “Let me go!” I demanded.

He leaned in until his face hovered mere inches from my own. “You don’t
actually
want me to let you go, do you?”

“Yes, I do! Cut it out!” I planted my left palm against his chest and pushed as hard as I could.

He finally released my waist, but he still had hold of my other hand. He ran his thumb across my knuckles. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you to make a proper fist? You’ll break your knuckles like that.” He
tsked
. “Someday I’ll have to teach you self-defense.”

I relaxed my fist, but he still held onto my hand. He lowered our arms and swung them experimentally between us. “I always wondered what it might be like to hold your hand,” he said softly.

“Huh?” I must not have heard him right.

“I said ‘I bet you’ve always wanted to hold my hand.’” He smirked at me. “Now, if I let you go, will you promise not to run away?”

“Of course I’m not going to run away!” I exclaimed. “Logan, let me go!” I wasn’t about to admit I enjoyed the cool feel of his hand, which slowly warmed against mine.

He let go, but didn’t move away. “Now tell me, Raena. What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?” He eyed me appraisingly. “Looking quite appealing in your lovely pajamas, I might add.”

My face burned, and I felt thankful the trees were hiding the moon. I hoped he wouldn’t notice. “My cat is missing. I didn’t have time to change.”

His expression changed suddenly. His eyes mirrored my concern. Funny, I didn’t think he had any level other than “jerk.” “Can I help you look?” he offered.

I stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out if he was being sincere or not. “Uh, sure. I guess so.”

“What does she look like?” he asked.

“She’s black, short hair, and tiny.”

“What’s her name?”

“Nuada.”

“Beautiful. It means ‘protector,’ you know.”

“I didn’t know. It was her name when we got her.”

“We?” he asked, intrigued.

“Well, just me, I guess. I just found her sitting on our doorstep one day, the day my mom died.”

“That’s a wonderful story.”

I didn’t respond for a moment. I couldn’t lose Nuada! I had already lost my mother. If I lost my cat, too, it would be like losing my last tie with her. My vision began to swim. “Can you just help me look for her? Please, Logan.”

He raised his hand partway. It hung there, suspended in the air for a moment. I didn’t quite know what he was doing, but he lowered his arm. “Of course, Raena. I’ll help you look.”

We searched the park, the school behind my house, and the parking lot of the church across the street. We wandered through the surrounding neighborhood, walking aimlessly up and down the streets, calling Nuada’s name. We didn’t find any sign of her. I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and plopped down on the curb. I drew up my knees and rested my head on them.

I felt the lightest touch of Logan’s hand on my shoulder. “Maybe we should call it quits for the night,” he suggested.

My head shot up. “I’m not giving up! My poor cat is missing.”

He sat down next to me and put his arm around me, pulling me close to him. “I’m not suggesting we give up. I’m just suggesting I walk you home so you can get some much-needed sleep. I can pick you up bright and early in the morning and we can resume our search. It will be easier to look for her during the day anyway. Since she’s black, she kind of blends in with the night.”

I twisted my head to try to look up at him—even with us both sitting down, he still towered over me—without accidentally brushing my lips across his neck or something else embarrassing. I leaned back a little so I could get a clear view of his face. “I guess you’re right,” I agreed.

His arm dropped from my shoulders, and he stood, holding his hand out for mine. I placed my hand in his, and he pulled me to my feet. “Can I walk you home?” he asked.

“Sure.” I nodded. “I suppose that would be okay.”

As we walked back to my house, we still kept our eyes peeled for Nuada. Logan walked me straight to the door and just stood there.

“I’ll come by for you first thing in the morning, and we’ll keep looking, okay?”

“Sounds good. Thanks for helping me tonight.”

“Anytime. After all, I couldn’t risk you getting help from some other guy. I don’t want to share you.” He winked at me.

Great.
He’d gone back to his old self. “Logan…”

“I know, I know. Stop being a jerk.” He stooped to kiss me swiftly on the cheek. “I can’t help it if I’m confident, Raena. I’ll see you in the morning.” He turned and jogged down the street.

My hand flew to my cheek and pressed against the spot he had just kissed. It still felt warm from the imprint of his lips, and felt as though it thrummed with energy. Did Logan like me? If so, I hated to break his heart by telling him about Andrei. Even though Logan acted like a jerk the majority of the time, he did seem to have a semblance of a heart buried somewhere in his muscled chest. I just needed to put him out of my mind. He was a friend—of sorts—nothing more.

I began to feel chilled. I didn’t know how long I had stood on the porch, staring at the spot where he had disappeared around the corner.
I should go inside.
I tried the doorknob. Good. They hadn’t locked it. I went in and closed and locked the door. I shed my coat and hung it up. No matter how tired and stressed I felt, I knew Genevra would throw a conniption fit if I left it lying around.

My coat now in its place, I trudged upstairs. Tanis waited for me in my room, perched on the edge of my bed.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“I just wanted to see if you found Nuada.”

Oh. I couldn’t be mad at her for that, even if she had come into my room without permission. “No, I didn’t. Logan and I looked everywhere.”

Her eyes widened. “Logan?”

“Yeah, I ran into him at the park.”

“Funny. What was he doing out at the park so late at night?”

“You know, I’m not sure. We got caught up looking for Nuada, and I forgot to ask him.”

“So, is something going on with you two now?”

“No! He was just being nice—for once.”

“Okay. Well, I can help you look in the morning, if you want,” she offered.

“Thank you. Logan said he’s going to come over in the morning to help me look again.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to be alone with him?”

“No, Tanis. I don’t want to be alone with him. It’s not like I’m afraid to be alone with him or whatever, but the more eyes, the better.”

“Okay then,” she told me. “If I’m not up when he gets here, just wake me.”

Of course she would be up. She
always
got up early. Now was not the time to remind her of that though. “Sure. I’ll wake you up.”

She slid off my bed and headed for the connecting door. “Tanis?” I called after her as her hand reached for the knob.

She paused. “Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. After all, what are sisters for?” She disappeared into the next room, shutting the door behind her.

I surveyed my room. It seemed sad and empty without Nuada. This would be the first night I’d slept without her since I’d gotten her. I didn’t know if I could fall asleep without feeling her warm fur against my arm or hearing her purring.

I sighed mournfully and climbed into bed. I fell into a restless sleep, with dreams filled with Andrei. At least, I thought it was him…