Goddess Legacy: Goddess Series Book 1 (9 page)

“Ah, Legacy, you’re here. Good. I hope River has been helpful,” Ms. Gorgos said as she walked in their direction.

“Very,” she responded, trying to put a pleasant smile on her face.

“Good. I need to take care of some things before we get started. River, why don’t you get the boxes out of my car? Legacy, you can sit with Yale at the register.”

Ms. Gorgos walked toward her office with her keys in hand. River walked out of the store and into the parking lot to retrieve the boxes from his mom’s car. She obediently walked over to Yale and sat on the stool next to her.

Yale showed her how to work the register and explained how things were done around the store. Legacy tried concentrating on what she was showing her, but she had some difficulty paying attention. She tried to keep her brain on the tasks at hand, but her thoughts were elsewhere. Like what the hell River had to do with her mom and just what he knew about this whole
goddess
business.

After watching Yale with the first few customers, she had Legacy work the register. It did not require her undivided attention, so she hadn’t missed that after River had taken the boxes into his mom’s office, he hadn’t come back out. He was hiding from her. That tactic would only work for so long.

“What year are you?” Yale asked.

“I’m gonna be a senior.”

“Oh, that’s cool. I loved being a senior in high school. Well, up until my dad realized I was going to a state college and not Yale like he had. Boy, was he hot.” She rolled her eyes. “You won’t believe the pressure he put on me all my life to go there. If I were going to go to an Ivy League school, I’d go to Harvard just to piss him off. Couldn’t you imagine…a lady named Yale going to Harvard? Priceless.” She laughed.

Legacy smiled at her, but was caught up in her own musings to pay too much attention to Yale’s ramblings.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Yale asked.

“No.” Did she? One date didn’t actually equal a boyfriend. And they were taking things slowly. Did that mean it’d be a while before they reached the boyfriend and girlfriend labels status? She didn’t know.

“Well, I’m not sure if River has a girlfriend. Too bad he’s too young for me,” Yale said with a giggle. “He seemed really helpful to you this morning. When I first met him, it took him several days before he approached me.”

“He was the only one here when I arrived. I assumed he was just filling in for his mom until she got here.”

“Once you get to know him, I think you might like him,” she offered in an amusing tone.

“I get along well with just about everybody.” Legacy shrugged and looked away from her.

“I didn’t mean anything by that. I tend to blurt out things without thinking.”

Obviously. “It’s okay.” Then it hit her. Maybe Yale knew some things about the family they worked for. Make the chick rambled about stuff that might be useful to her. “What do you know about the Gorgos family?” she asked, a little too eager.

“Not much. Probably the same things you know. They’re ridiculously rich. Stores all over the place. Houses everywhere. They travel around a lot. River has been in boarding school overseas for several years, but since his dad is still in Greece, I heard him mention he’d be attending school here to help out with his mom.”

“Greece?”

“Yes. I’m not sure what he does there. I mean, they’re all from around here, but I think their ancestors came here from Greece. They go back several times a year, but I’ve never met his dad. Any time his name comes up, Ms. Gorgos says he’s working in Greece. They might even be divorced.” Yale shrugged.

Legacy looked out the window, absorbing this information and wondering if it was relevant to the information about her mother. She looked at the sky and saw clouds rolling in. These were not the soft, fluffy clouds of a pleasant summer day. No, these clouds were dark and menacing.

“Is it supposed to storm today?” she asked as she turned back to Yale.

“Oh, yeah. Didn’t you watch the weather? There’s a front moving in and we’re supposed to have bad weather all week. They’re also talking about a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico, but it
is
hurricane season.”

“Tropical storm? Where?” Adin’s family was at the beach this week, but he hadn’t mentioned where, and she’d been too awestruck to think clearly when he mentioned that fact.

“I’m not sure, but I think they mentioned something about it making landfall in the Florida panhandle.”

Forceful thunder rocked the building.

“Maybe I should go to the break room and see if there’s anything about the weather on the news,” Yale said anxiously. “Will you be okay here by yourself until I get back?”

Legacy nodded, and Yale slipped off the stool beside her, quickly making her way to the back of the store. Legacy turned to watch the clouds rolling in. She didn’t share Yale’s anxiety—storms never bothered her. But as she watched the trees across the street sway forcefully with the wind, she began to feel somewhat uneasy. She didn’t understand the emotion, but for some reason, she felt compelled to go outside.

Without conscious effort, she silkily stood up and stepped to the door. She couldn’t take her eyes off the trees. With forceful determination, it seemed as if they were beckoning her. It reminded her of her dream, and then she saw something slide out from the edge of the trees. A snake? She couldn’t tell. She reached for the door and then jumped at the touch of someone’s hand on her shoulder.

She turned around to see who it was just as a piercing alarm sounded outside.

“Where are you going?” River asked, his hand still on her shoulder.

“Er, nowhere. I was just looking at the sky.”

“We’re under a tornado warning. We need to go down to the basement.”

She looked back outside and stared at the sky. River locked the front door and the register before turning back to her.

“C’mon. We need to go,” he said as he grabbed her hand and yanked her behind him.

By the time they got into the basement, the others were already there. Ms. Gorgos sat in a chair at the far wall and glared at her as she came into the damp room. As soon as she saw her, she realized River was still holding her hand, so she gently moved her hand away from his. When she let go, Ms. Gorgos’ eyes softened.
Overprotecting much?
she thought to herself and then shrugged it off.

She went to sit by Yale who looked like she was on the verge of freaking out. No, not on the verge. She was already freaking out. She jumped at the slightest sound that came in through the walls and ceiling.

“It’s okay,” Legacy said as she patted her leg, trying to console her.

“Er, I know. Um, I’m sorry I didn’t come get you.” She jumped again as the thundered crashed. “River came in while I was watching the weather report and told me to take cover. That he’d go get you.”

“He did,” she said, stating the obvious. She felt like she was talking to a five-year-old.

River took a seat across from her. He leaned in toward her, placing his arms on his knees and clasping his hands together. He looked at the floor like he was uncomfortable being here, but he wasn’t scared like Yale was. In fact, no one looked scared except for her.

Ms. Gorgos broke the silence just as it was becoming uncomfortable. “How’s everything going, Legacy? I’m sorry I’ve been too busy to show you things herself.”

“That’s okay. Yale’s doing a great job showing me the ropes.”

“Good. If you have any questions, please feel free to knock on my door at any time. Regardless of how busy I am, I will always make time to answer any questions you may have. And River, too. Right, River?” she asked as her eyes flashed at him.

“Of course,” River said, looking up at her. He didn’t look long, though.

They all sat quietly, listening to the weather radio. Legacy looked over at Yale, and she was still on edge. “It’s probably almost over,” she whispered. “I’m sure it’s already past us by now.” Her comments didn’t seem to help her, so she looked away. She was surprised to see River staring at her again, but this time, his smile was gentle.

“That’s very kind of you, trying to make her feel better,” he offered.

She shrugged, but smiled back.

Yale looked over at him and smiled halfheartedly. Then the radio announced the all clear, and Yale sighed in obvious relief.

Ms. Gorgos got up first and led the way out. Yale followed next, and Legacy followed. River turned out the lights as he followed her out of the basement.

“Legacy,” he murmured, and she turned to look at him. “Would you like to go out with me tonight?”

Oh no! What did he mean by that? Like go out on a date or just get her alone to talk about what he knew?

He saw the confusion on her face and saved her from any embarrassing comment she feared she was about to make. “I would just like to be alone to talk about things.”

“Um, sure.”

“I’ll pick you up at seven. I can get your address off your application.”

“Okay,” she said as she turned around and walked back toward the lobby.

She finished the rest of her shift in a haze, trying to think of reasons why River would know, or at least know of, her mom. She came up empty. It didn’t make any sense, but if she wanted to be honest with herself,
none
of this made any sense. At least she found some who could corroborate what Lissa had said.

She left work feeling confident that this job would be an easy one for her to do with the added bonus of working with someone who knew her mom. She slipped out without seeing River again, but she was eager to see him tonight.

Once she got home, she dashed upstairs and picked out an outfit for her non-date. She selected her favorite jeans and a cute shirt. She took a shower and tried to relax. It didn’t work. She was sure the nerves she felt were due to the impending news she would be getting.

She got out and dried her hair before returning to her room. Once in the hallway, she heard some noise from downstairs.

“Is that you, Lissa?” she called down from the top of the stairs.

“Yes, but I’m on my way out.”

“I thought you had to work late.”

“I still do. Olive is staying with a friend, so I needed to get her some clothes.”

“Oh, okay,” she said as she started to turn back toward her room.

“Legacy, can you see if you can stay with Calli for a few days?”

“Er, yeah. Why?”

“I have to go out of town. I need to leave in the morning.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes, I have a conference to attend and want to make sure everything is set up before it starts.”

“All right. I’ll see you later,” she said, and heard Lissa leave.

She closed the door to her room and got dressed. She played with her hair, but decided to leave it down. She put on some fresh makeup and sat on the corner of her bed, lost in her thoughts again. When Lissa mentioned Calli, she realized she needed to tell about her plans with River and explain. Maybe she could use this casual time to find out about his personal life. She would have to make a conscious effort to do that since she was more worried about finding out what he knew about her mom than she was worried about what he looked for in women. But she knew she needed to tell Calli.
Now
.

She grabbed her cell and tapped Calli’s name.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Calli.”

“Oh hi, Legacy. How was your first day?”

“Very interesting.” Hmmmm . . . River and she used the word
interesting
when they explained their weekend. Amazing how fitting this description really was.

“What was interesting about it?”

“Well, River apparently knows my mom. Or he knows of her.”

“What?”

“Yeah, he didn’t realize she was my mother at first.”

“How does he know her?”

“I don’t know. We’re going out tonight so he can explain. He didn’t want to talk about it at work, and he knew I wasn’t going to let it go.”

“Where are you going?” she asked, sounding a little sad.

“I’m not sure, but he’ll be here in a few minutes, so I need to go. I’ll call you when I get back.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, Calli?”

“Yes?”

“Lissa has to go out of town for a few days, so she asked me to ask you about staying over at your house until she gets back.”

“No prob. You know my parents won’t care,” she said with more pep in her tone.

“Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.”

The knock at the door caused her stomach to flip. She casually went downstairs to answer it.

River was standing under the porch light when she opened the door. He was wearing jeans and a cotton v-neck shirt with a short-sleeved, buttoned-down shirt layered on top. He looked and smelled like he just got out of the shower. His hair was still slightly wet with fresh gel scrunched through it. He looked great. If she wasn’t head-over-hills for Adin, she would definitely have some serious butterflies in her stomach.

It took her half a second too long to respond and he began to smile.

“You’re early,” she managed to say, keeping her composure.

“I wasn’t sure how to get here, so I left a few minutes early.”

“That’s fine. I’m ready. Just need to get my purse and keys.”

She got her things and turned around to follow him to his car. Oh wow. He was driving a silver Mercedes coup. She should have known he’d have a nice car. He lived in Calli’s neighborhood, for crying out loud. But she just hadn’t considered that.

River turned around when he heard her audible surprise and gave her a puzzled look. She shrugged and continued walking. He walked to the passenger door to open it for her. Men in the south were taught to be chivalrous, so this really didn’t surprise her. She tried, unsuccessfully, not to watch as he walked around to the driver side. He moved gracefully for a guy that looked athletic. Once inside, he started the car and turned down the radio. After they were out of her driveway, he glanced over at her.

“You look very pretty.”

What?
“Thanks. You look nice too.”

“Thank you,” he said, fighting a smile.

“So where are we going?”

“I made reservations at the Italian restaurant downtown. It has intimate seating. We should be able to talk freely there. You know, get to know each other without interruptions.”