Susan's Summer (11 page)

“Where do you think Seth keeps his Rose?” I wondered to Mae. I was back in the room and she had finished in the shower. Seth obviously had one, even if Teegan didn’t, but I hadn’t seen it in the garden.

My friend was busy toweling her short hair dry. She had put on a rainbow-colored skirt and a white t-shirt. Her feet were bare, and she had been bemoaning the state of her toenails. She flung a grin at me and waggled her eyebrows. “Oh, you think you need to know? You and every other girl that catches a look at him.”

I ignored her. I didn’t want to know because I wanted him to offer me his Rose, I wanted to know because I was curious. Holt had kept his in a garden at the back of his property in Castleton, in a beautiful stoned-off courtyard. When he had taken Autumn out there she had been in awe. I had never seen Samuel’s or dared to ask him about it, although Autumn would probably be seeing it soon. Having worked my way around to remembering the previous summer, I pushed the entire thought train away. But Seth struck me as more like Samuel than like Holt, and I didn’t think he would keep his Rose in such an open kind of place.

“Did you know there are strange burns around the edge of his property?” I asked, changing the subject. I had seen as much on my walk and had also smelled the burns, but no one had said anything about them. Seeing dead plants and grass was like a physical pain in my gut, and I hated it. Unfortunately I had been distracted when Teegan showed up, but since it looked like I was sticking around for a while I was determined to go back out and have a look.

“No,” said Mae. “I, unlike you, have spent my time here pampering myself after my ordeal, not trekking around through dirt and weeds. It’s
dirty
.”

“There are literally no weeds in Seth’s garden,” I muttered. “And you’re a Summer Fairy. You shouldn’t mind dirt!”

I had never seen such perfectly cared for grounds. My mother had always said you could tell a court by how they took care of their fields, and if that was true then the Arsenal Court was still the best in the land.

“So, you are willing to give up your wild and crazy chase after a husband now that we’ve found a cool place to spend the summer?” Mae’s voice was filled with worry.

“Wild and crazy? You never told me it was wild and crazy!” I wasn’t sure whether to be offended or to laugh, since part of me knew she had a point.

“Well, you’ve been sad,” said Mae, shrugging as if that much was obvious enough. “I didn’t want to upset you any more than you already were.”

“Oh, no kidding? Glad to see you aren’t losing your touch. Anyhow, I’m willing to stay for a couple more days,” I conceded reluctantly. I didn’t want her to know that I was starting to feel happier and more comfortable here than I had felt in months. Somehow that felt like admitting that I could be happy again, and I knew that just wasn’t possible.

“We’ll have to find something to do every day,” I said. “I don’t want to just sit around.”

“Why not?” Mae demanded. “You were happy to just sit around in the car all day every day in order to chase after your elusive future husband.”

“He’s only elusive now. Just wait till we’re married and sick of each other.”

“I’m already sick of him and I haven’t even met him yet,” Mae muttered.

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t act like what I’m doing is crazy. If I have a betrothed out there, it’s my duty to find him and marry him.”

“Whether he likes it or not,” said Mae, grinning.

“No need to be so negative,” I huffed. “I’m sure he’ll want to.”

“You’re just that kind of irresistible?” Mae asked.

“Something like that,” I said, smiling in return.

“Do you really believe there’s just one person out there for you? That Princes are destined for just one Rose?” she asked, serious now.

I shrugged. “I used to believe a lot of things. Then too many people I loved died. I don’t know what I believe anymore.”

~ ~ ~

A loud bang woke me up and I flew out of bed. Groggy, I slammed into the bed post, then cursed as my knee burst into pain. Another bang made me cry out, and I quickly slapped my hand over my mouth. Glancing over at Mae, who was still sound asleep, I realized that there was a thunderstorm going on, which wasn’t bothering her in the least but was terrifying me. I was like a little kitten that just wanted my owner to come and grab me up and protect me.

Another bang and the clouds burst, sending cascades of rain against the windows.

“Mae,” I whispered hoarsely, not wanting to be alone. She rolled over, mumbled, and stayed firmly asleep.
Damn people who could sleep through anything
.
Why wasn’t I one of them?

Fear gripped my heart and squeezed.

I thought about crawling back into bed, but this strange bed in this strange house held no comfort for me, so I decided to head to the kitchen. What girl didn’t feel better after some hot chocolate or ice cream?

I didn’t look out the window again. For Fairies there was a fine line when it stormed. We wanted all the green stuff in the world to have as much water as it needed, but sometimes, like now, it came down harshly. The lightning didn’t help. I desperately didn’t want it to strike and kill a tree, an event that I would feel as an almost physical pain. Besides, I hated the dark, and with Mae in the room I couldn’t turn a light on.

Silently I padded downstairs. I don’t know why I tried to be quiet, because it’s not like my quiet walking was going to wake up the other members of the house. Katie’s room was on our floor, only a few doors away, but I had no idea where Seth slept. He hadn’t been around at dinner or later in the evening, and although Katie hadn’t acted like that was anything unusual, I could tell she’d been disappointed.

On the bright side, the three of us had had the chance for some girl talk. I hadn’t allowed myself any frivolous conversations since Holt had died, so it was fun to talk about outfits and what everyone would wear to the Marchells’ the next night. It turned out they had parties all the time, and they always, as neighbors, issued invitations to the Arsenals.

Still, Katie took care to point out that this was the first time a personal invitation had been given, and she thought it had something to do with my presence. The Marchells loved news and gossip, and as a longstanding leader of the fairy social scene I had lots of both. The Marchell heir was in his forties and already happily (most of the time) married, so that wasn’t going to be an issue for me.

Katie had also asked Mae if she had a fairy, and when Mae said she was staying single to concentrate on studying—a standard answer for girls who want boyfriends, but don’t want to look desperate—Katie had rattled off a list of eligible men who’d be at the dinner the next night. The Marchell court was very popular this summer, and a lot of people who usually spent time at the Roth Court were there.

Arsenal, as Katie pointed out bitterly, had not socialized at all.

“It’s a good thing your brother isn’t here to hear you talk like this,” said Mae, cutting up her fish into smaller pieces.

Katie shrugged. “I don’t say anything behind his back that I’m not more than happy to say to his face. He knows it. I mostly say it so that he knows I know, if that makes sense.”

Mae grinned. “Barely,” she murmured.

Slipping into the kitchen in the middle of the night, I turned on every light I could find. Once that was done I felt a lot better. I also felt better that the curtains were drawn over the windows and I couldn’t see the rain lashing the ground.

Rummaging in the fridge, I was relieved to find both milk and cocoa mix. I set about heating up the milk, and while that cooked I went back to the fridge and grabbed a large wedge of cheese, some grapes, and an apple, which I put on a plate with various kinds of crackers that I found in the cupboards.

Katie had told me that they didn’t have so much as a maid, which meant that they did all the shopping and cooking themselves. When Mae had asked if that meant that Katie did all the shopping and cooking, she had emphatically shaken her head, insisting that Seth helped with everything and was a far better cook than she was. Mae had been skeptical, but she let it go. Later she said to me that there was such a thing as being too protective of your family. I had agreed.

“Couldn’t sleep?” a warm male voice asked behind me. I realized, after I finished screaming in surprise, that the voice was neither close to me nor threatening, but since I’d been lost in thought and was already on edge from the storm, neither of those things mattered.

Seth let me scream, not coming any closer till it was clear that I realized he wasn’t a monster all dressed in black come to kill me. He simply raised his eyebrows a little.

“What are you doing here?” I said.

“I live here.”

I stared at him. He was wearing a sweatshirt, probably against the small draft that wafted through the house at night, and exercise shorts, but I was sure he’d been sleeping. I wondered if he slept in less than that and had stopped to get dressed before checking up on strange noises in the night.

“Why are you standing by the door?” I demanded, trying and failing not to sound hostile.

“People waving knives scare me,” he said dryly. I glanced at my right hand. Sure enough, the knife I had been using to cut the cheese was still in my hand, now pointed at the ceiling.

“Don’t be silly,” I said. “I could never beat you in a fight.”

“So, you admit you want to stab me?” Seth countered, his eyes lighting with amusement.

“You said it, not me,” I muttered, setting the knife down so that he couldn’t mistake the motion. He moved into the room and I watched him come closer from beneath my lashes. I expected him to stop and take one of the chairs that lined the island I was standing against, but instead he kept coming closer. My breath got a little shallow, but instead of stopping right in front of me as I expected him to, he moved past me, almost but not quite brushing my shoulders with his.

I stopped breathing. My mind raced along, trying to reassure itself: Physically attracted, physically attracted, only physically attracted, I have a betrothed to find!

Seth reached the stove and pulled the milk off the flame. I was mortified to realize that it was almost burned.

“Wouldn’t want to ruin your hot chocolate,” he murmured, carefully pouring the white liquid into the cup I had laid out. “An evening feast is nothing without a hot drink. So, you burn the milk, wake the house, and threaten to kill the owner? Are you sure you’re not a burglar?”

“Ha,” I said, blushing at his teasing. “And sorry. If I had known you were coming I would have heated up more.” Now that his back was to me I dared to turn around. Since he didn’t have eyes in the back of his head, I could examine his back carefully without his noticing.

“It’s all right,” he said. “Who could have known there’d be this storm and we’d both head to the kitchen?”

He turned around and met my eyes. His blue eyes locked on my green ones and held them. My face instantly went scarlet and I busied myself arranging the already perfectly arranged cheese.

“Come on,” he said, picking up the mug and moving toward the table. But instead of stopping at the big table by the windows he kept going, headed for a smaller table that I had barely noticed over in the corner of the room. Yes, the kitchen was that big, and yes, I had been so intent on having my snack that I hadn’t really looked around. But I should have noticed it, because with every light blazing it was very easy to see. This smaller table was in a little alcove, circular, the walls lined by books. There were two chairs that looked like rocking chairs, white with light blue cushions on them, but they didn’t actually rock. On the table was a vase of yellow flowers that gave off a fragrance that couldn’t help but warm my heart.

“You’re going to join me?” I asked. I didn’t want to admit it, but I wanted him to.