AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Cat hikes a brow. “How do you two know each other again?”
“Oh, Heather’s staying in Mom’s house while she’s working on a big piece about the island,” Penelope says as if me living next to her and her famous cousin is the most natural thing in the world.
“It’s nothing ‘big,’” I clarify. “And unless you consider my love for food romantic, it’s pretty tame.”
“Okay, regardless, you’ve been downright cranky lately. And you can’t missT’slasta. It’s the biggest celebration in Augustine.”
“Itispretty special,” Cat pipes up. “We burn wood harvested from the sacred forest that’s been blessed by Elder Mateo. Then we eat until our bellies pop, dance, and give thanks for our land.”
Sacred forest? Elder?
“Now doesn’t that sound more fun than sitting all alone at the house?” Penelope asks.
I suppose she has a point. And who knows what sort of information I may run into with Marcus’s closest friends all gathered in one place.
“Please,” the girls clasp their hands together and beg in unison.
“Okay, okay. I’ll go.”
It’s a challenge not to smile with the four of them clapping excitedly before they drag me out of the bookstore, and onto the cobbled walkway.
“We’ll see you guys there, Pen. Nice meeting you, Heather!” Cat and the girls wave us off.
In the center of the square, rows of pink and white paper-flower garland sweeps from lamppost to lamppost, blanketing the streets in spurts of intermittent shade. The scent of cooked meats and grilled corn being prepared drags my attention down the sidewalk.
She hooks a thumb in the opposite direction of where everyone else is headed. “I have to pick up some flowers before we go. Wanna come?”
Mesmerized by the sights and sounds around us, I step off the curb and into the busy street.
“Whoa. You’ll be public enemy number one if you ruin Momma G’s homemade wine.” Penelope grabs my shoulder, hauling me backward before I stumble into a cart full of thick oak barrels. “Come on, the flower shop is this way.”
By the way she handcuffs her fingers around my wrist before guiding us around the cart, ‘no’ wasn’t ever an option.
There’s an unusual ease in my laugh as we make our way up the road toward the florist. I’m slowly finding an appreciation for her spunkiness and the way she cons me out of my comfort zone.
“Is Marcus going to be there tonight?”
A windstorm of jitters brushes my ribcage when she absently remarks, “Oh, he wouldn’t miss it.”
Every plaguing thought regarding Marcus that I’ve had this last week threatens to spill over, but I bite my tongue.
There’s a portion of my soul longing for what’s calling me here.
Friendship, peace, and adventure. But then, it’s all an illusion, isn’t it?
None of these things could ever truly be mine, because I’m not some normal girl vacationing on a ranch in rural Topica Bay like I’ve led them to believe. And eventually, Alice will either force me to procure this article or I’ll push through what’s blocking me and write it on my own.
But whichever comes first, one thing is certain—I won’t be on this island for much longer, and the fewer attachments I have, the better.
“Everything okay?” Penelope asks.
“Yeah,” I say, lowering my façade back into place with a simple shrug. “Just nervous, I suppose.”
“Everyone will love you, Heather,” she says, threading her fingers through mine in that no-boundaries way of hers. “Be yourself, relax, and letT’slastawork her magic.”
* * *
An enormous fire blazes toward the night sky on a stretch of land between the Vance’s ranch and the road leading into town. Rows of tents line the perimeter of the field as children of all ages flit around, shouting and chasing each other in circles.
