On Shadowed Wings (An Ash Grove Short Story) (6 page)

The pleasure of hearing that warmed her
cheeks, but she felt weirdly shy. She looked out over the river so
she wouldn’t have to meet his eyes. Farther out where the water was
calm, a heron stood gracefully on one slender leg. “I decided I’m
not going to California,” she said finally. “I broke up with
Darryl.” That had been an uncomfortable conversation, but at least
it was over with.

“So your wish was granted.”

When he spoke quietly like that, his voice
sounded like chocolate wrapped in velvet, and she had to resist the
impulse to just close her eyes and let herself sink into it. “My
wish?” she repeated, stalling.

“You made a wish on the butterfly, didn’t
you?”

I wish I knew what to do,
she had
thought as the butterfly shed its reflected light on her sheltering
hands. About the Sumners, about college. About Darryl. And about
Jim. “Yeah,” she said reluctantly. “I kind of wanted some guidance
about a few things.”

“I think you knew already what you wanted to
do,” he said. “About one thing, at least.”

“What do you mean?”

“When we first met, you were planting
something in Dr. Sumner’s yard.” He paused meaningfully. “A
butterfly bush.”

She didn’t follow. “What does that have to do
with anything?”

“Well, there was that folklore Dr. Sumner was
talking about. Maybe on some level you were thinking about breaking
up with Darryl. And if a butterfly was attracted by the bush you
were planting and landed on you… well, it might seem like a sign.
If you thought you wanted one.”

She stared at him. The crazy thing was, it
actually made a kind of sense. Except that she wasn’t
superstitious.

But maybe she’d wanted to be. Sometimes it
would be nice to think that all the tough decisions weren’t up to
her, that something bigger than her—and less muddled—was looking
out for her and sending her signals.

And after last night, it sure seemed like
there were a lot more forces in the world than she’d let herself
acknowledge. The thought should have alarmed her, maybe, but here
in the sunshine with Jim she found she couldn’t be scared.

“I think you’re wasted in lepidoptery,” she
said, impressed. “Psychology should be your major.”

He shrugged modestly. “It was all there in
your face. I just happened to be where I had a good view.”

“And happened to be paying really close
attention.”

He smiled. “Yeah, that too.” He tossed away
the blade of grass and faced her. She sensed that he had worked
himself up to something important. “I’ve decided to stay in
Hayesville over the break instead of going back to Atlanta,” he
told her. “Since it sounds like you’re not going to California this
summer, I’d like to spend more time with you. A lot more time.”

“I’d like that,” she said, though that was an
understatement.

“And after the summer too, if you’ll still be
around.” He was trying to sound casual, bless his heart, but she
could see from his face that her answer meant a lot to him. That
was one of the nice things about Jim: he wasn’t able to control his
expression like Darryl.

He’d been totally up-front with her, and she
owed him the same. “After the summer,” she said, “unless I’ve
missed the deadline, I’ll be enrolling at Young Harris. If I end up
having to go someplace else, though, we can work it out. UGA isn’t
that bad a drive. Neither is Georgia Tech.” She reached up and
brushed his sandy hair out of his eyes, letting her hand come to
rest on his cheek. Her heart was beating a little faster than it
should, and she took a deep breath for courage. “I’ll want to visit
my swoonworthy boyfriend as often as possible,” she said.

“Mmph,” was all he said in reply, because by
then she was kissing him. Kissing him with so much determination
that they overbalanced, and Jim
oof
ed as his back hit the
ground, knocking the breath out of him. But he never stopped
kissing her. Or at least not until much, much later, when the angle
of the sun had shifted and the mellow light of late afternoon was
glowing on the canopy of leaves.

“By the way,” he said presently, “in case you
were in any doubt, I’m in love with you.”

For a second or two she lost all ability to
speak. Finally she managed to ask, “Did… did you realize that last
night?”

His gaze held steady on hers. She had taken
his glasses off, since they kept getting in the way, and now she
had an unimpeded view of his remarkable eyes—and the expression in
them. “Yesterday brought some clarity to me,” he said. “Not just
what we saw at Ash Grove, but
you.
I know now I shouldn’t
give up so easily on being a teacher. And I know I want you in my
life from here on out.”

He was wrapping a strand of her hair around
his finger, and it made her thought process a little hazy. Or maybe
it was the euphoria fizzing through her veins that made her feel so
lightheaded. “I guess I’d better introduce you to my parents,” she
said inconsequentially.

“Probably so,” he agreed, smiling into her
eyes. “It’s cool, though. I believe in long engagements, so that
should reassure them.”

That startled her out of her pleasant haze.
“En
gage
ment! I’ve known you less than a week.”

“I don’t want to rush you or pressure you
into anything, like Darryl,” he said. “But… well, I guess there is
no ‘but.’ I’ve told you what I’m hoping for. It’s your call.” His
eyes without his glasses were completely guileless, his face
showing his feelings so clearly that she caught her breath.

It was such a huge step. But an engagement
wasn’t irrevocable, after all. And a long one would give them
plenty of time to get to know each other. In all kinds of ways.

A giggle threatened to bubble up out of her
throat. California didn’t seem like such a drastic step now, in
hindsight—but the difference wasn’t the level of commitment. It was
the guy.

“On one condition,” she said, amazed at how
certain and confident she felt.

“Name it.”

She plucked a leaf from his hair. “If I want
to plant a butterfly bush in our garden, you won’t take it
personally.”

Laughing, he pulled her close to kiss her
again. And then again. Her heart felt so light it seemed to float
up and out of her body, up into the sky. Almost as if it had
wings.

The End

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In the breathtaking Blue Ridge Mountains,
Ash Grove High School for the Performing Arts draws the brightest
and most talented teens. But beneath the peaceful surface,
supernatural forces are at work...

When ordinary high-school junior Joy Sumner
visits a graveyard at midnight on a dare, she doesn't expect to end
up sharing a kiss with brooding teen model Tanner Lindsey. And she
definitely doesn’t expect to make an enemy of Tanner’s seductive,
sinister mentor, the ageless supermodel Melisande—who may not be
entirely human—or to find that her sleepy little corner of North
Carolina is buzzing with supernatural energy.

But most unexpected of all is when Joy finds
out that she’s pregnant. And when Tanner’s love for her puts his
life in danger, will she be able to rescue him—and save their
future together?

Bonus content: excerpt from Casting Shadows,
book two in the Ash Grove Chronicles

Length: 70,000 words ~ Age level: 15
and up

Novels in
The Ash Grove
Chronicles:

The Shadow and the Rose

Casting Shadows

Among the Shadows

Explore the magical world of Ash Grove and enjoy
extras at
amandadewees.com
and
Facebook.com/TheAshGroveChronicles
.

After her brother is killed in 1855 in the
Crimean War, innocent young Oriel Pembroke finds herself alone in
the world. Disowned by the cruel father who has always despised
her, she takes shelter with the former Duchess of Ellsworth, who
has scandalized society by remarrying soon after her first
husband’s death. At the opulent seaside estate of Ellsmere, Oriel
thinks she has found a safe haven—but the darkly handsome young
duke, Herron, believes otherwise. Haunted by the death of his
father, he suspects that Ellsmere is sheltering a murderer.

Even as Oriel falls in love with the duke,
she begins to fear that his grief and suspicion are turning to
madness. When dangerous accidents start to befall both Herron and
Oriel, however, she realizes that someone may be trying to stop
them from discovering the truth about the past. And when her father
comes back into her life, she learns that he may hold the answer to
the most horrifying secret of all…

Length: 110,000 words ~ Sensuality level:
mild/sweet

Ebook bonus content: Book club discussion
questions

Award-winning author Amanda DeWees received
her PhD in English literature from the University of Georgia and
likes to startle people by announcing that her dissertation topic
was vampire literature. Amanda’s books include the widely praised
historical gothic romance Sea of Secrets, winner of the 2012 RONE
award in mystery, and the Ash Grove Chronicles, a captivating young
adult “paranormal lite” romance series set in modern-day North
Carolina. Besides writing, Amanda’s passions include theater,
classic film, Ioan Gruffudd, costume design, and the preservation
of apostrophes in their natural habitat. Visit her at
amandadewees.com
for book
extras and other delightful diversions.