Cursed (Book 1, The Watchers; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (14 page)

 I think everyone
at the table was staring at Brand waiting for his answer.  It was one that Tara had neglected to ask during her own interrogation of Brand.  Even though Utha Mae had
more tact than her granddaughter, she was certainly testing Brand in her own
way.

 “I can truthfully
say that you will never meet anyone who believes in Him more than I do, Mrs.
Jenkins.”

 Satisfied with this
answer, Utha Mae nodded her head and quietly said, “Good to know.”

 Before dessert
was to be served, which included Brand’s pie and cookies and Utha Mae’s famous
chocolate cake, I asked to be excused and went to the bathroom.  Utha Mae’s
main bathroom was large for a trailer.  Heck, it would be large for someone’s
house.  It had a Jacuzzi tub, walk in shower and double sink vanity.

 Just as I was
washing my hands at the sink, my mother came in.  I always hated it when she
did that without knocking.  I usually locked the door when I went to the
bathroom to stop that sort of thing but had completely forgotten to this time.

 “Lord have
mercy,” she said leaning against the counter beside me as if out of breath. 
“How did you get so lucky to find a man like that in your first week at
school?”

 “Just had the
same class,” I shrugged, wiping my hands on one of Utha Mae’s crochet trimmed
guest towels.

 “Well, don’t let
him get away like you did Will.”

 My heart dropped
into my stomach at her crass statement.

 “There aren’t a
lot of men like that in the world.  I can tell you that much.”

 “Well, you should
know that better than anyone, Mom.  You’ve certainly been with enough of
them.”  I left the bathroom without another word to her.

 We got ready to
leave soon after.

 Before we left,
my mother surprised me when she asked if I wanted to take her car until I was
able to get a new one of my own.

 “Utha Mae said I
could use her car to go to work in.  She’s not driving it much these days
anyway.”

 “Sure, that would
be helpful, Mom.”

 It was
uncharacteristically unselfish of my mother to lend me her car, especially when
she had just bought it a few months ago.  Her boyfriend, at the time, owned a
used car lot and gave her a great deal on a five year old red Pontiac Solstice.

 “Here Brand,” my
mother handed him the keys.  “Why don’t you drive Lilly home in it?”

 Brand took the
keys.  “I’ll make sure she gets home safely, Ms. Nightingale.”

 I was relieved I
wouldn’t have to ride another hour in Tara’s car with Brand and Will forced to
sit together in the backseat.  Though, I got the distinct impression neither Tara nor Will was pleased they wouldn’t be able to watch over me anymore.

 When we got on
the road, I finally felt like I could breathe.

 “Are you all right?” 
Brand asked sensing my tension.

 “Yeah I’m fine,
just tired.”

 “Why don’t you
sit back and take a nap?  I’ll wake you when we get to your apartment.”

 I looked over at
Brand and marveled at his compassion.  Did he actually exist or had my brain
completely made him up in some desperate attempt to fill a void in my life? 
How could anyone who looked like him be so caring at the same time?

“Do you know how
incredible you are?” I asked before my brain could edit what I was thinking.

He glanced at me
from the corner of his eyes and grinned, evidently please with my question.

“Well, I’m glad
you see me like that.”

“Who wouldn’t?” I
asked.  A small blush of color tinted his cheeks as I made my thoughts known to
him.  “You’re everything a woman wants in a man.”

“And what is it,
in particular, about me that you like?”  He took my left hand and drew it up to
his mouth, holding it there as if breathing in my scent.  I could feel his warm
breath wash over my skin before he pressed his soft lips to my flesh.

“Well, I like it
when you do that,” I confessed, trying to remember to breathe and think
coherently.  “I just like how open you are about everything.  You never once
acted like you resented Tara or Utha Mae for asking you so many personal
questions.  I like that you always treat the people around you with respect and
kindness.  I like that you can cook and take care of yourself.  I like knowing
family is important to you.  There aren’t a lot of people who would be happy to
have their cousin following them around.  What is there not to like about you,
Brand?  You’re almost perfect.”  I faltered on the last word.  Of course, he
noticed.

“But something
worries you about me,” he said as a matter of fact, not a question.  “What are
you afraid of?”

“No one can be as
perfect as you,” I confessed.  “I guess I’m afraid I’ll find out what your
imperfection is and not like it.”

“You’re right,” he
said.  “No one can be as perfect as you see me.  I hope when you find my flaws
you won’t be too disappointed.”

“Maybe you should
tell me what your flaws are now and then we can have them out in the open.”

Brand chuckled. 
“No, you’ll have to find them on your own.  I’m not about to give you a reason
to think I’m anything but perfection.”

“Well at least
tell me something about yourself I don’t know already,” I prodded.  “Something
from your past.”

Brand contemplated
my request for a moment.  “Well, a long time ago I had a best friend.  We did
everything together.  A lot like the relationship you and Tara have.  Then, one
day I had to completely turn my back to him.”

“Why?”

“His father was
trying to take over my father’s company.  A lot of people got hurt and my
father told me I could never see him again.  I had to cut him completely out of
my life.”  I saw a look of sadness pass over Brand’s face as he told me this
small piece of his past. 

“Were you very
young when this happened?”

“Younger than I am
now,” he said without a hint of sarcasm.  “It was one of the worst times of my
life.”

“I’m so sorry.”  I
didn’t know what to say.  I couldn’t imagine what I would have done if Cora had
ever forbidden me to see or talk with Tara when I was younger.  What would my
life be like without her in my world everyday?

“Could we stop
somewhere before I take you back to your apartment?” he asked me, squeezing my
hand a little tighter.  “I really don’t want to let you go just yet.”

“Ok.”

We drove all the
way down the highway into the center of town.  Like most cities now a day the
downtown area was almost vacant except for a couple of bank headquarters and
local eateries and custom shops.  Brand took us to a small park one of the
local churches still maintained. 

He brought the car
to a stop in front of the cedar gazebo in the center of the park and turned the
engine off but left the battery running to power the headlights and the radio. 
He turned the radio to an easy listening station.

“Don’t move,” he
said gingerly getting out of the car and coming around to my side to open the
door for me.  He took my hand and led me up the stairs of the gazebo. 

Without saying a
word, he put his arms around my waist and we started to sway to the music.  I
don’t know what song was playing and it didn’t really matter to me at the
time.  I put my arms around his neck and laid my head on his chest.  I could
hear his heart beating in time with mine own.

The first song
ended and one I knew started to play, Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle.”  It was
then I added something to Brand’s long list of perfections:  a voice as
beautiful as he was.

He sang the lyrics
to me and it was like hearing them for the first time:

If I could save
time in a bottle

The first thing
that I’d like to do

Is to save
every day

Till eternity
passes away

Just to spend
them with you

If I could make
days last forever

If words could
make wishes come true

I’d save every
day like a treasure and then

Again, I would
spend them with you

I couldn’t help
but tear up at the gentle way he sang these words to me.  I looked up at his
face and desperately wanted to kiss him, but I couldn’t.  He had asked me to
only kiss him when I knew who my heart truly belonged to.  I couldn’t do it on
a whim.  He deserved better than that.

He was staring
into my eyes, and I knew he could see my confusion.  He lowered his head to
mine and whispered in my ear.

“Don’t look so
sad.”  He kissed my ear and continued to slowly kiss my neck down to my
collarbone.  I was finding it incredibly hard to take in a steady breath.  When
he got to my collar bone, he moved my sweater off my shoulder.  The torturous
kissing stopped, and I heard him take in a surprised breath.

“My God, Lilly.  I
didn’t realize…”

“Oh,” I flipped my
sweater back over my shoulder to hide the bruises there.  “It’s nothing. 
They’ll be gone soon.  I’m a fast healer.”

Brand cradled me
against him in a gentle hug, being careful not to squeeze me too tightly.

“Come on,” he
said, reluctantly letting me go.  “I should get you back home.  You need your
rest.”

I didn’t want the
moment to end but neither could I hide the fact that I was indeed tired.

When we got back
to the apartment, Tara was standing in the doorway arms crossed over her chest
and tapping a foot in impatience.

“Well it’s about
time,” she said when I got out of the car.

“It’s all my
fault, Tara,” Brand was ready to take whatever Tara wanted to dish out.  “I
just wanted to be alone with Lilly for a little while.  If you’re going to be
mad, yell at me not her.”

I could see Tara’s anger fade.  She hadn’t really been mad, just worried.  She was like that.  Always
hiding behind her bravado when she didn’t want people to see how fragile she really
was.

“Don’t worry about
it,” she said.  “I just worry too much about that girl sometimes.”

Brand gave me a
kiss on the cheek and told me he’d be picking me up for school the next
morning.  I tried to protest, but he wouldn’t take my no.

I watched him get
into his car and drive away.  I turned to go into the apartment and heard
another car crank up in the parking lot.  Turning to see who it was, I saw
Will’s Honda Civic back out of a parking space a few cars down and leave.

Chapter 8

Brand was at the
apartment bright and early the next morning at exactly seven.  He brought Tara
and me some freshly baked croissant rolls with egg and bacon he cooked himself
that morning.

“Oh my God,” I
said taking a bite out of one of the rolls.  “These are delicious.”

“Well, if you two
ever marry,” Tara said with her mouth full of croissant, “at least I know one
of y’all can cook.”

I was glad the day
was Monday.  It meant I would have two classes with Brand.

Dr. Floyd’s dry
rehash of Chapter 2 in our biology class did little to distract me glancing in
Brand’s direction frequently.  I tried to concentrate on what the teacher was
saying but all I could think about was the feel of Brand’s lips against my skin
when he kissed me the previous night.  I could feel my heart start to race and
my hormones course through my body like molten lava.  I desperately wanted to
drag Brand out of the classroom and have my way with him back in my apartment. 
But when I thought of the reason preventing me from doing what I wanted, it was
like a tidal wave of cold reality washing away my romantic fantasies.  

I had to find out
what was going on with Will.  I had to decide if I even cared whether or not he
might have feelings for me.  Even if he decided he liked me again, would it be
enough to erase the heart ache I had endured since that one perfect night on
the beach?  When I thought of Will, I felt a heaviness press against my chest,
suffocating me.  Was it because I still loved him or was it because he was too
late?

Brand walked me to
my English comp. class and said he would be waiting for me after class so he
could walk with me to my next class, which was general chemistry. 

“You know I can
walk across the street by myself,” I assured him.

“Humor me.  I’d
feel better knowing you weren’t by yourself.  Plus,” he said in a subdued tone
looking at me with his smoldering silver-grey eyes, “it gives me a good excuse
to spend more time with you.”

How could I argue
with that logic?

Tara, Michelle,
and Nora were already in their regular seats in the classroom when I arrived. 
I decided to try and be nice to Nora for Michelle’s sake.  I liked Michelle and
knew from a previous conversation with her in physics lab that she and Nora had
been friends for a long time.  Personally, I thought Nora’s reasons for keeping
Michelle around were all selfish.  She seemed like the type of person who only
wanted ‘friends’ who seemed beneath her in looks and social stature to boost
her own self-importance.

Michelle and Nora
asked me about my car accident and came to the same conclusion that the police
had: it had to have been a drunk driver.  Not wanting to talk about my
disastrous weekend anymore, I refocused everyone’s attention onto Nora, which
didn’t bother her in the slightest.  She was her own favorite subject after
all.

“How did your date
go with Elliot?”  I asked.

“Horribly.  Can
you believe he wanted me to pay for my share of the meal after we ate?  I mean,
seriously.”

The exasperated
look on Nora’s face made me want to laugh, but I kept myself from doing it.  Tara on the other hand felt no such need for social grace and laughed until tears shimmered
in her eyes.

“It’s not that
funny,” Nora huffed and turned back around in her seat.

Poor Michelle
looked at me beseechingly.   I could tell she wanted me to make Tara stop laughing at her friend.  So, I thumped Tara on the side of the head to get her
attention.