Bitterroot Crossing (10 page)

    I walked through to the kitchen. My parents and Bobby were huddled around the table with worried looks on their faces.

    “What wrong?” I asked. “You all look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

    “You think this is funny?” My dad shot up from his chair, grabbed my shirt and slammed me into the fridge. Mom’s collection of kitten magnets and Bobby’s drawings fell to the floor. I looked down at my shirt then stared into his face. “Let go of my shirt. Now.” He released his grip and stepped back.

    My mom stood and nearly tiptoed over to us. “Sweetie, why didn’t you tell us Zedekiah was back?”

    “Why, has he been here?”

    Dad sneered at her. “See I told you he knew all about it.” Now his sneer faced me. “Go look out back.”

    I walked to the back door and glanced out to the backyard. The two car garage that once stood there was now just a pile of smoldering ashes.

    “The door to the garage was wide open,” Mom said in a shaky voice. “The gang came by and just rolled a ball of fire in there as if they were bowling.” She giggled nervously.

    Dad shoved my shoulder. “Well, what do you have to say, Nick?”

    I turned and nearly clashed shoulders with him as I passed. “The only thing I’ve got to say is that I’m damn hungry and your great-grandfather is an even bigger asshat than you.”

Chapter 14

    I shouldn’t have been so happy about the cancelled school day, but I couldn’t help myself. And to think just weeks ago I was thrilled with the prospect of attending high school. When I’d heard the sirens down below alerting everyone that school was closed for the day, I jumped right out of bed and threw on my favorite pair of shorts. Apparently there had been just too much paranormal shenanigans in town for the citizens to deal with.

    It was another crystal blue day with the promise of warm sunlight. I grabbed my book and my latest needlepoint, a portrait of Jasper sitting proudly in front of the fireplace, and headed to the back steps. Even this late in the year, the top step received direct light.

    Nana was still in bed. She’d worked herself into a headache after the mayor’s visit. I moved stealthily through the house so as not to wake her.

    I was halfway through Jasper’s ear when I heard Mandy’s whinny from the barn. It meant she was finished with breakfast and ready to be turned out. The mare was already pacing when I got there. “Hold on, girl. I’ll get you out.” Mandy was the kind of horse who needed no halter. I just opened her stall door and she trotted obediently out to her pasture. I returned to my porch and sat.

    Dry leaves crunching under footsteps made me look up from my work. It was Nick. He smiled and instantly my fingers trembled. I put down my needlework before I stabbed myself. “I didn’t hear you pull up. Where’s your bike?”

    “It’s been running sort of rough after . . . .” He stopped and looked around for a minute. “Besides, I didn’t want to alert you-know-who to my presence. He seems to have it out for me.”

    I patted the step for him to sit down next to me. “He hasn’t appeared this morning. Maybe ghosts like to sleep late.”

    “The town’s sirens seem to be useless these days.” Nick climbed the steps and sat next to me. He smelled heavenly.

    “I like the fragrance of the soap you use.” The words just sort of spurted out.

    He tucked his hair behind his ears and grinned. “Thought I’d spruce up before I came courtin’.  Even put on my Sunday best.”

    I laughed at his fake accent. “It’s Wednesday. And you’re wearing jeans and a t-shirt.”

    “Yeah, but it’s my best t-shirt.”

    “I can’t believe how warm it is still. I hope it stays forever. I dread snow.” I stretched my legs out to soak up the heat of the sun then pulled them right back. But not before he glimpsed them. I wrapped my arms around my knees.

    “You’ve got beautiful legs. Why are you hiding them?”

    “My legs are far from beautiful. It’s more obvious when I’m sitting; when I lay them out next to each other.” I could feel his gaze on the side of my face. I looked at him. He was incredibly handsome. His nearness made me nervous and when he lowered his eyes to my lips, I looked back down at the steps below. I had never really thought about kissing a boy before, but lately, being around Nick, the notion seemed to be popping into my head a lot.   

    I needed to clear my mind of it quickly. He was probably nothing but heartbreak for a girl like me. “Nana made blackberry pie last night. Would you like a piece?”

    “Although I’m probably crazy for turning down some of your grandma’s baking, I just ate breakfast. How about a walk?” He glanced around the farm. “It seems pretty peaceful out there this morning.”

    Unfortunately it always seemed peaceful just before Zedekiah appeared. Still, the thought of a walk with Nick seemed too nice to pass up. “We could ride Mandy up the mountain. There’s a patch of wildflowers I’ve been meaning to harvest for Nana’s vase.”

    “Cool. I haven’t ridden a horse in a long time.”

    “Riding Mandy isn’t really like riding a horse. It’s more like riding a couch with legs.”

    “Still sounds fun. I haven’t ridden a moving couch lately either.”

    I stood and picked up my things. “I’ll just leave a note for Nana.” I ran into the kitchen, jotted down a note, and grabbed a basket for picking wildflowers. My stomach was jittery. Before I walked back out onto the porch, I stopped and took a couple of deep breaths. It was rare for me to be nervous about anything. I looked through the screen door at Nick’s broad-shouldered silhouette as he stood facing out to Mandy’s pasture. He was flawless. I stared down at my feet and decided I was anything but.

    We hopped on Mandy’s back. The horse seemed pleased with the notion of a walk at first, but the farther we moved away from her pasture, the harder I had to press her with my calves to get her to move. Nick balanced precariously behind me with his hands on his thighs. When the road got rocky, he placed his arm around my waist. His touch surprised me, and I nearly lost my balance.

    He released me. “Sorry, it’s just kind of a bumpy ride back here.”

    “No, really, it’s O.K. I just wasn’t expecting it.” What a nervous ninny I was this morning. “You better hang on to my waist, it gets even rougher up ahead.

    His arm snaked around me, and I had to catch my breath again without him noticing. At one point he pressed against me and I thought my heart might jump from my chest with the way it was beating.

    “This couch of yours needs some decent shock absorbers.”

    “Mandy isn’t really built for rough terrain. In fact, as far as she’s concerned, she’s only built for pasture grazing and napping.”

    Mandy’s front hoof slipped on a smooth chunk of granite and we lurched to the side. Nick’s grip on me tightened,  and I found myself silently thanking my mare for being so clumsy.

    When we reached smooth terrain and he released his hold on my waist, I actually felt disappointed. I’d most likely imagined it but I could have sworn he let go reluctantly.

    I’d had to prod Mandy forward so much my legs were tired by the time we reached the patch of yellow wildflowers. We slid down and my stubborn horse immediately spun around and trotted back down toward her pasture.

    We both watched her massive hindquarters swing from side to side as she plodded back home. I shook my head. “It’s amazing how gracefully she can travel those rocks when she’s headed back to food.” I looked up at Nick. “I guess we’ll be walking back.”

    “Too bad,” he said. “I was looking forward to the ride down over the rocks.” The confident look in his eyes reminded me a lot of Zedekiah.

    The sky remained crystal blue and there was no hint of ghost in the air. I wandered through the patch with my basket on my arm and picked flowers.

    Nick followed behind. “How do I know which ones to pick? They all look the same.”

    “Pick the ones with the sturdiest stems. They stand up the longest in a vase of water.”

    I found a few choice ones and tugged them out of the ground. I twisted around to show him my example. He was bent over picking one of his own. He tugged hard dislodging most of the petals in his effort. The naked stem twirled in his fingers as he held it up and smiled. “It’s kind of bare now, but the stem is sturdy.”

    We laughed.

    He reached for another one, this time with more success. The petals remained. Unfortunately so did the brown spider that had attached itself to it. He dropped it fast and wiped his hands on his pants. “I really hate spiders. I think I’ll let you pick and I’ll watch. You look much cuter doing it anyhow.” He grabbed one more flower and propped himself on a giant boulder. He twirled it between his thumb and forefinger then began removing its petals one by one. “She loves me, she loves me, she loves me,” he chanted as he discarded each yellow petal.

    I smiled over at him. “I thought it was she loves me, she loves me not.”

    He shrugged. “I figured why tempt fate.”

    I bent over to pick more flowers and wondered if he was thinking about Tina while he was pulling off the petals. I hoped not.

    “So what kind of stuff do you like to do, Jessie?” He threw the empty stem onto the ground and propped himself up on his elbows.

    “The usual stuff, I guess. I like reading books and needlepoint.” I smiled at him. “Of course you could have guessed that. Oh, I love canning season when Nana and I make apricot preserves and strawberry jam. And pickles, when we get a good crop.”

    He sat up straight and the sunlight glinted off his silver hoop earrings. He was breathtaking sitting there on that rock. “That’s not exactly usual stuff, but I like that you’re so different.”

    I wasn’t sure how to take his comment. I looked down at my odd shoes and the basket in my hands filled with silly, half-wilted wildflowers. A shadow fell over me and I looked up. He was standing directly in front of me. He brushed a strand of hair off my face and the sensation of him running his finger over my skin made me nearly drop my basket.

    “That came out wrong,” he said. His dark lashes fluttered down as he stared at my lips for a moment then his gaze caught mine again. “You’re not just different, you’re amazing.”

    I looked away before I embarrassed myself with the heat rising in my cheeks.

    “Most girls eat up compliments. You shy away from them.” He bent over, picked up a clump of less than perfect flowers, and handed to them to me. “Like I said, amazing.”

    My heart could not seem to catch up to my breath. “We’d better finish here before Nana comes looking for us,” I said completely flustered by his attention. I moved farther away to finish picking flowers and slow down my breathing. Nick lay back down on the surface of the rock with his hands crossed behind his head and his legs crossed at the ankles.

    By the time I’d filled my basket, he looked close to sleeping. I removed a flower from the basket and tickled his nose with it. His long lashes fluttered open. He sat up lazily. “I was dreaming about your Nana’s pie.”

    “Just what a girl wants to hear,” I said.

    He hopped down from the rock and took hold of my basket. “You were there too, of course, eating pie with me.”

    “Good to know. Let’s head back down and I’ll cut you a slice.”

    We were not halfway down the path when a tremble ran through me. Nick sensed something too. Suddenly a small, menacing cloud floated directly above us. Within seconds, a downpour of bitter tasting, icy rain fell on our heads. My newly picked delicate wildflowers were crushed beneath the weight of the drops.