Dreamer (The Seeker Series Book 2) (6 page)

“Forget it. He’s not my type. Did you see the floozy he brought to the movies? Her eyebrows were painted on! And she was hanging all over him.” She tried to appear casual, putting the magazine back on her desk and pretending to straighten up the items on top.

“Oh, and you weren’t hanging all over Rémy?”

“Ouch. Hello pot, I’m kettle. You weren’t exactly ‘hands off’ with Jack, you know. Didn’t you two sneak off to make out?”

“Uh, yeah, but we’re in a stable relationship. We weren’t on a first date, you slut,” I teased.

She laughed. “Rémy’s fun, but that’s it. I was mostly trying to make Mat mad. I can’t believe he showed up like that! What a jerk!”

“Hey, go easy on him. He’s not only Jack’s cousin; they’re best friends. I’d like us all to be able to get along. I don’t want awkwardness, okay?” I grabbed her arm and made her look at me.

“But he’s so…ugh!”

I looked at her, eyebrows raised.

She sighed in disgust. “Fine. I’ll play nice. But I don’t like him!”

“Careful, chica. You might be protesting a bit too much.”

“Shut up! Are you staying the night? We haven’t had a sleepover in ages,” she wheedled.

“Sure, but I may not be much fun. I’ll probably crash way early. I’m so tired, Tara.” I was holding back a yawn.

“Hey, you still having those nightmares?” I had told only Tara and Jack about the horrible dreams. I nodded.

“You don’t think these dreams are, like, psychic, do you? You know, part of your powers?”

I hadn’t thought of this, but now I sat on her bed, pondering the possibility. I didn’t know if dreams could be part of my…repertoire? But I suppose they could. “I don’t know. I’ve been assuming they were stress related, but now I’m not so sure. These dreams don’t feel like any of my future visions, so I really hope they’re not a warning I’m about to be kidnapped.” I shivered.

Tara sat down next to me. “Hey, I’m sure that’s not going to happen. Don’t worry. You’re probably right and they’re simply stress dreams. I’ve got a great idea—why don’t you start focusing on having sex dreams instead of stress dreams? Sounds like a lot more fun to me.”

I laughed. “Yeah, it does. I’ll work on it.”

CHAPTER SIX

“
Contending
with the fretful elements;

Bids the wind blow the earth into the sea,

Or swell the curled waters ’bove the main,

That things might change or cease.”

–Shakespeare –King Lear (3.1.4)

Trina couldn’t be stopped. She definitely fussed for Jack’s birthday, preparing a huge spread of food and inviting a slew of relatives who all brought food as well. In the Jimenez family, special occasions, or any reasonable facsimile thereof, meant family—lots of family. All of Manny and Trina’s kids were there: Mat, of course; Shelly and her husband, Don, along with their young son, Nathan; Mat’s oldest brother, Paul, and his wife, Elise; their kids, Josue, Becky, and Roberto; and his next older brother, Jason, with his fiancée, Jasmine. His grandparents and several aunts and uncles, along with at least ten other cousins were also there. It was very much like his post-probation party, but with presents. Trina baked a giant cake with nineteen candles, which Mat had secretly swapped out for trick candles.

“Oh, Mat!” she cried, exasperated, while everyone was laughing. “When will you grow up?” She lightly smacked the back of his head. “Get these candles out so I can cut the cake!”

As Jack finished opening his presents, Shelly stood up to get everyone’s attention. “Jack, sweetie, I know this is your birthday, and I don’t want to take away any of your glory.” Jack rolled his eyes. “But I can’t pass up the chance to tell so much of our family at one time,” she paused for effect, looking around at everyone. “Little Nathan is going to be a big brother!”

The room erupted in cheers, tears, and a complete hug-fest. Trina was a soggy mess. In the midst of all the chaos, Megan came over and quietly stood by me, saying nothing and looking too sober.

“Hey, munchkin. What’s wrong?” I asked.

She shook her head, so I took her hand. She crawled onto my lap and curled up. “Is Shelly going to have a baby?” she whispered.

“Yeah, sweetie. What’s wrong? Everyone’s happy.” It about broke my heart to see a tear trickle down her cheek. I didn’t know what to do or how to comfort her, so I picked her up and carried her into the next room, away from all the noise, tugging Jack’s shirt as I walked by him.

He followed us and sat down next to us on the couch in the family room, pulling Megan into his lap. “Hey, what are these tears for? What’s the matter?” Megan shrugged. He met my confused gaze as I shook my head.

“Are you upset about Shelly having a baby?” Jack asked. She shrugged again. Then she nodded slightly. “Tell me, Meg.”

“Will Aunt Trina still take care of me?” she whispered.

“Of course she will,” he said as he rubbed her back. “Megan, sweetie, Trina is excited she’s going to be a grandma again. That’s all. You don’t have to worry. She will still love you and take care of you.”

We managed to convince Megan, for the moment at any rate, she was not about to be replaced. Poor thing; she was so young when she was moved to Albuquerque, but she apparently had some deep-seated issues. Jack carried her upstairs to tuck her in while I returned to the party to make his excuses. Once he came back downstairs, we stayed for only about fifteen minutes before I asked him to take me home.

“Well, shit,” he said as he settled behind the wheel of his Mustang. He scrubbed both his hands over his face in frustration.

“Hey,” I said softly, reaching over to touch him. “She’ll be okay, Jack.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just…I don’t know. It seems like my past keeps sneaking back in to kick me in the ass.”

“Jack, it’s Megan’s past too.”

“You think I don’t know that?” he yelled. I flinched back in my seat, jerking my hand away from him as if I’d been burned. He let out a breath. “I’m sorry, Ally. I don’t mean to take it out on you.”

“Can we drive for a while?” I asked, crossing my arms in front of me. He nodded and put the car into gear. He drove us across the Rio Grande river to the West Mesa. We didn’t speak until he pulled off to the side of the road on Nine Mile Hill where the view of the middle Rio Grande valley and the twinkling lights of Albuquerque stretched all the way to the Sandia Mountains in the east. It was breathtaking and we spent a few minutes to take it all in. We got out of the car and walked around to lean on the hood.

“I’m really sorry I yelled at you,” he said quietly, linking his hand with mine.

“It doesn’t matter, Jack.”

“It does. You deserve to be treated better.”

I turned to look at him and could see he wasn’t done beating himself up over his outburst. “You’re allowed to have a temper. So am I, and if you don’t quit this self-castigating behavior, I’m gonna get pissed off.”

One side of his mouth lifted, as if he was trying to hold back a smile. “Nice vocab. Okay, let me apologize once more and then I’ll be done.” He turned and took my chin in his hand. “I’m sorry, querida.” He leaned in to kiss me softly.

“That’s better,” I sighed. “Let’s not waste this perfectly lovely scenic overlook with arguing.” So we didn’t.

He kissed me all too briefly and then turned me around to lean back against him, his arms wrapped around me, protecting me from the cold wind. “Megan was so little when we left Taos—a baby, really. She doesn’t even remember our mom and dad. I thought—hoped she would settle in with Trina and Manny, and she mostly has, but every once in a while she has one of these…panic attacks I guess you could call them. God, it kills me to see her like that.”

I turned in his arms and held him tightly. “Jack, you are doing such a great job with her. Everyone has moments of insecurity. She’s going to be fine. She has a great family, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. I hate to see her so insecure,” he sighed. “She shouldn’t have to go through this crap.”

I leaned back against his chest. “You can’t fix everything, Jack. I love that you want to try, but this is beyond your control.”

He turned me around to face him. “You’re pretty smart, you know? You’re also pretty sexy.”

“You think so?” I teased. “Well, what are you gonna do about it?”

He showed me exactly what he was going to do about it.

***

The
next evening, I took Jack out for his birthday. I picked him up in my VW, refusing to let him drive so it wouldn’t ruin the surprise. He managed not to cringe too much at my rough starts out of first gear. He always spoiled me rotten, driving all the time, paying for every date we went on, so I dipped into my savings and splurged on a romance package at a fondue restaurant, The Melting Pot, complete with roses, surf-n-turf, and sparkling cider.

“Ally, sweetheart, this is wonderful, but extravagant, to say the least. You don’t eat either surf or turf,” he complained. “What are you going to have here?”

“Says the guy who got me a car for my birthday. There are plenty of vegetables and bread I can cook and dip in the fondue. Don’t worry about me.”

“The car was for Christmas. I feel like a kept man.”

I laughed. “Shh. Don’t spoil my fun, okay?”

He sighed. “Fine.” He poured us each some cider and handed me a glass. “How about we toast to my beautiful, amazing girlfriend, then?”

I raised my glass to touch his. Before he took a sip, he leaned across the table to kiss me. “You say the sweetest things,” I murmured against his lips. “I want to give you your present now,” I said, leaning back.

“All this
and
a present? We’re going to have to set some rules in the future.”

“Whatever. Like you’d ever abide by them. All right, I can do this.” I took a deep breath and reached in my bag for his gift.

“Are you nervous, querida? Why?”

“Um, yeah. I’m not sure you’re going to like what I got you. Do you have any idea how hard guys are to shop for?”

“Of course I’ll like it.” He rolled his eyes. “I’ll like anything you give me.”

“Yeah, I’ll remind you of that when all I can think of is a tie or an ugly sweater. Okay, here goes.” I handed him the box.

I had to practically sit on my hands as he unwrapped the Claddagh ring I had bought him in Galway. I was so nervous. What if he hated it? What if he thought it was too presumptuous of me? If he thought it signified a more serious relationship than we had? But he had said he loved me, right? So, maybe…argh! Oh my God! Calm down already! “So, the crown stands for loyalty, the hands for friendship, and the heart for love. You wear it on your right hand facing inward to show you’re in a relationship, so…” I couldn’t continue and I couldn’t look at his face.

“Like this?” He took my hand in his, the ring on his right hand ring finger. “You got a matching one?” I had put mine on for the first time tonight. “I love it, Ally. It’s really special. Thank you.” He got up and came around the table to pull me into his arms and kiss me deeply. “Why were you so worried? It’s a perfect gift.”

“I don’t know. I didn’t know if you’d think it was too girly or presumptuous or something.”

“It’s not girly at all, sweetheart. And what do you mean by presumptuous?”

I couldn’t meet his eyes. “I mean, like, if you thought I was presuming too much about our relationship or something.”

He raised my chin with his fingers, forcing me to look at him. “Ally, I am completely and totally in love with you. You are not presuming too much to give me a ring announcing to the world we are in a relationship. I wish I had thought of it first, actually.”

“Really?”

“Really.” He kissed me. “I don’t think you realize how much I love you.”

“I’m beginning to get the picture,” I said and pulled him down for another kiss.

Later, over a dessert of fruit, cake cubes, and white and dark chocolate fondue, I decided it was time to drop the bomb I had been saving for several days.

“Jack, do you remember before Christmas, when you told me about graduating early and joining ROTC?”

He finished chewing and put down his skewer. “Crap. Is this going to be one of those conversations?”

“Yep. I’m afraid so.” I put down my skewer and reached across to take his hand, looking him directly in the eye. “I saw my counselor this week. The short version is I signed up for the same eCademy online courses you did and I’m taking a community college English class my counselor signed off on to count for my senior English credit. I’m graduating this May with you, Jack.”

“What? Ally, you’re not doing this because of me, are you?” he said.

“No, not entirely. I will admit I got the idea from you, but I’m doing it for myself. Jack, I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I hate high school. And lately, with all this Seer/Oracle crap, I think it’s a good idea not to be tied up there any longer than necessary.”

“What about cheerleading?” he countered.

I looked him in the eye. “Fun, but not nearly enough to keep me tethered to all the teenage drama that comes with it.”

He smiled wryly. “Yeah, I understand. Listen, I won’t lie—the idea that we can be in college together next year is awesome. As long as it’s something you want for yourself. How are your mom and grandmother with this?”

“They took it surprisingly well, actually. Mom showed us an article, which proposes the idea that high school in general should only be three years.”

“How did Tara take it?”

“She freaked out, of course. She hurled some truly impressive nasty names at me and then high-tailed it to the counselor’s office to do the exact same thing,” I admitted.

“So, will Tara be joining us at UNM next year, or is she going out of state, by some miracle?” he asked in a serious tone.

“Be nice.” I laughed. “No, I’m afraid she is going to UNM with us. She’s trying to talk me into rooming with her in the dorms.”

“Sounds fun. Do you want to?”

“I’d rather room with you,” I said with what I hoped was a seductive glance.

“Thanks for the mental image. I’m not going to be able to think of anything else now.” He put his head in his hands and groaned.

“Good. I think it’s a fabulous idea.”

“Yeah, and I’m sure your mother would love it too. And I can imagine how hard Manny would kick my ass. Listen, sweetheart.” He leaned forward and clasped both my hands on the table. “You will still be seventeen when we start college next fall. How about we shelve any discussion about moving in together until you’re at least eighteen, okay? For my sanity, please?”

“God, you’re noble. Are you sure you’re actually human? Do I not tempt you in the least?”

“Ally,” he said, sounding a bit dangerous. “If we were not in a public restaurant right now, I would show you exactly how much you tempt me. Now behave yourself. Besides, Mat is nagging me to move into an apartment with him as soon as I graduate.”

“I know! Tara can move in with Mat and I’ll move in with you. It’s the perfect solution!”

“You’re hilarious. It’s not happening.” He released my hands and sat back. “You know, Ally, sweetheart, I smell a rat. I think you totally distracted me from the main discussion by bringing up living arrangements. Confess, you little manipulator!”