"What’s up?" he asked, and I could almost picture him, that curly brown hair flopping everywhere as he slumped back into his desk chair.
"A sister isn’t allowed to check in on her little brother these days without getting the third degree?" I shot back playfully, and he laughed.
"One question isn’t the third degree, Dina."
"Oh, I can make this an interrogation if that’s how you want to go about it," I teased him. "What have you been doing? Andwho have you been doing it with? And how many hours have you studied this week? And…"
"Hey, hey," he protested. "Slow down, give it to me one at a time..."
"I’m just kidding," I promised him. "But how have you been doing, Danny, really? How are things going? You keeping up with everything?”
"Yeah, pretty much," he replied, and I heard papers shuffling like he was re-arranging something on his desk right in front of him. "It’s been a little tougher this year, but I’m still keeping on top of it. Just about. I actually started this new module recently, the history of brutalist architecture, and it’s really interesting..."
He filled me in as I headed home, and I couldn’t help but smile as I listened to him catch me up on everything he had been working on this semester so far. He was studying architecture, a dream of his since he was a little boy. Well, just as soon as he found out what it was, of course. He had applied to dozens of schools all over the state, but had settled on Auburn University, renowned for its architectural program. As expensive as it had been, Mom and I had pooled all our resources to make sure that he’d have a chance to experience it. Even if we couldn’t, that didn’t mean we had to deny him what he so clearly wanted, and I was glad that we had been able to make certain that he’d followed his dreams.
"What about you?” Danny asked, once he had finished up, and I found that the question caught me slightly off-guard.
"Uh," I replied, looking around, as though I might suddenly be reminded of something interesting that I’d been doing since the last time we had talked. "You know, just the usual. Work. It’s really busy here in town at the moment..."
"Oh, yeah, always is at the end of summer," he agreed. "Anything interesting happening?”
"Oh, nothing much," I replied. "You know how it is. Just the same old, same old."
"You should come visit me," he told me, his tone brightening at the thought. "Maybe you and Mom could come up, and I could show you around..."
His voice was so bright with hope, I didn’t have it in me to tell him that the chances of something like that happening were virtually nil. I couldn’t take the time off work, and even if I had been able to, we wouldn’t have been able to muster the money to get both of us to Alabama and into a hotel for a weekend.
"Yeah, maybe," I agreed noncommittally, hoping that he wouldn’t take me at my word. "So, what were you saying about that class...?”
I turned the conversation back around to something I knew he would be able to fill the time with, and continued on the last twenty minutes or so of my walk, glad to have my little brother for company. We might be far away from each other geographically right now, but we were still family, and I was beyond proud of him that he had managed to stick it out with the best of the best in that college.
Even if I wished that I’d had a chance to try my luck at something close to it, too.
Chapter 1
Felix
Hands braced on my knees, I caught my breath at the top of the waterfall, staring down at the thundering water as it cascaded over the rocks below. I should have left that waitress last night a tip, because this place was even better than she had made it out to be.
I had decided to take the hike up to the waterfalls the next morning, instead of going after the dinner I’d had at the Jukebox Diner the night before. I didn’t want to end up in the woods at night, getting lost and wandering around till some hapless tour group stumbled on me the next day. I might have been on the road for a while now, but that didn’t mean I was going to ignore my better instincts.
And besides, by the light of day, this place was even more striking. The woman I had spoken to yesterday, whatever her name was, she was right: with the trees and flowers out, it looked gorgeous. The hike up here hadn’t been too tough, even if the trail had been a little uneven beneath my feet. Hell, in the yearsthat I had been travelling, I had navigated some way, way worse places than this.
And Whisper Falls probably ranked up there with the most beautiful I had ever visited. I was staying at the Linden Hotel near the square, the Whisper Falls Cabins that were nestled in the woods nearby already booked up by the time I hopped on a train down here. The view over the town square had been my favorite thing to enjoy with a coffee from Bean There Coffee Shop in the morning, watching the townsfolk bustling around to their jobs, from opening the Plot Twist book shop to taking care of business in the mayor’s office.
Once I had caught my breath, I pulled out my flask and took a sip of water, wishing instead that I could stick my head beneath the flow in front of me and drink straight from the source. But, as I hitched my bag back over my shoulder, I knew that I should probably be heading back down the other side of the trail by now, the one that came out not far from the Jukebox Diner. Not that I had any intention of going back there, and even if I did, it had nothing to do with the cute waitress who had been there the night before.
I re-tied my shoelaces, zipped up my jacket, and started down the path that led down to the road beyond, following the flow of the waterfall as it fed into the river and to a large pool below. I could see why this place was so popular; when I had been doing some research before I had come out, I had seen dozens of people raving about how beautiful the waterfall was, but it was more than just that. It was the sense of stillness that settled over the scenery and the town, even despite the tourists passing through. Like the whole place was letting out a long breath, and you could finally do the same…
"Oh, hello!”
A voice caught my attention as I made my way down the path and I flicked my gaze forward to find that I was not the only oneon the trail that morning. No, the woman standing in front of me was the same as the one who had served me last night, the one who had suggested that I come up here in the first place. I spread my hands wide, as though to acknowledge that I had done just that.
"Took your advice," I told her. "And you’re right, this place is beautiful."
She smiled slightly, her tawny brown hair dancing around her delicate features as a slight breeze passed through the branches.
"But I thought you said you didn’t come up here," I remarked, and she shook her head.
