Chapter 9
Livvie
The weekends were almost boring with the construction crew gone.
The restaurant really didn’t need my help, and besides, I was paying Calvin to manage things.
I tried to stay out of the way and let him.
I spent most of my time playing pastry chef and going over the books again. For the hundredth time.
Saturday night, Liza invited me over for dinner, so I gratefully accepted. It would be a welcome break from the tension of being around Calvin and Wes. Calvin was fine, nice enough, but every time I was near Wes, my heart pounded and I wanted to jump into his arms.
Which was absolutely insane. I’d never been wanton like this before a day in my life.
After I drove to Liza and Toby’s house out in the woods, I rang the doorbell and waited.
Liza answered, took one look at me, and yanked me inside. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look awful.”
I sighed. “Thanks. You’re such a good friend.”
Liza put her arm around me and pulled me into the living room. “You know what I mean. What’s going on?”
Tears pooled in my eyes. I couldn’t tell her about the floating objects, but I could tell her the rest. “This week, I’ve started having dreams,” I said as Toby walked in.
The floating objects had been worse than the dreams by far.
The floaters always dropped when anyone else looked.
I was beginning to think I was imagining them.
At one point, I ended up crying in frustration, not sure if I was nuts or some sort of witch.
Who would I tell? Witches didn’t exist. Anyone I told would lock me up if I couldn’t make something float in front of them.
I’d started trying to do it in front of other people, but nothing happened. It wouldn’t do it when I actively tried, only when I wasn’t paying much attention.
Toby handed me a cup of tea. “You look like you haven’t been sleeping.”
“Once I have the dream, it’s hard to fall back to sleep,” I explained as I stirred my tea. “So, I haven’t been sleeping well at all.”
“What are you dreaming about?” Liza asked.
“I’m a child, and there’s a man coming to my house to try to take me away. The thing is, I know he was a man, but he looked like a wolf.”
Toby stiffened. “A wolf?”
“Yeah. Like somehow, he was a man and a wolf. Maybe that’s some sort of subliminal message.
But he keeps telling me he wanted my power and nobody else could have it.
” I shook my head and sipped my tea. “It’s ridiculous.
But in the background, there are all these screams and people sound like they’re in pain. ”
Liza reached over and blotted at my cheek with her napkin. I hadn’t even realized I’d started crying. “Sorry,” I said. “The dream is just so vivid. It’s almost like a memory.”
Liza put her arm around me. “You’ve got to be processing something. I’ll do some searching about what dreams mean. Supposedly everything in a dream means something else. Like falling means you’re anxious about something coming up.”
“Do you know what your dream means?” Toby asked.
I shook my head no, but it felt like a lie. Inside I felt like I should know what the dream meant, but the answer just wouldn’t come to me.
Their doorbell rang. I brushed my tears away so that whoever it was wouldn’t see me crying. Toby sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“What?” Liza and I said at the same time.
“I promise this wasn’t a setup.”
He headed for the door, but I had no idea what he meant until he opened it and Wes walked in.
Wes took one look at my face and rushed forward, and I could’ve sworn he growled.
“Calm down,” Toby said.
Wes cupped my face, sitting close to me on the sofa, opposite of Liza, who gingerly removed her arm from around my shoulders. “Tell me what’s wrong. I’ll do my best to make it better.”
Laughing, I wiped the rest of the tears from my eyes. He moved his warm hands from my cheeks to my neck. The heat seeped through my skin, heating me up inside. My heartbeat quickened the longer he touched me. I controlled my breathing and tried to calm my heart. “Nothing,” I said softly.
“Liar.” His velvety voice ran over my skin like a toasty blanket.
“Tell him,” Toby said.
“Why should I?” Toby telling me what to do made my hackles raise. I pulled away from Wes and glared at Toby.
He held up one hand. “I just think that honesty from the beginning would work better than the way we tend to do things, only revealing secrets after knowing each other for a long time.”
Wes’s head swung to Toby and he squinted his eyes, but I sighed. “Maybe you’re right.” It wasn’t like Wes and I were starting up a relationship or something, but still, maybe we’d be able to be friends. I didn’t know what secrets Toby was talking about though.
“Maybe we could avoid some drama,” Liza said.
“What drama?” I questioned. “They’re just dreams.” I was beginning to get annoyed.
“Let it go,” Wes muttered, looking at Toby. He turned back to me. “You need sleep.”
“Duh.” I rolled my eyes. “I’d sleep like a baby if the nightmares would let me.”
“What nightmares?” he asked with a growl.
Sighing, I bit my tongue a sentence too late. “I’ve been having nightmares about a wolf-man trying to steal my power, which makes no sense to me, but they keep me from sleeping.”
Wes looked at Toby. They both raised their eyebrows slightly. “What the hell are you two looking at each other for?” I asked.
“Is Halstead your real last name?” Toby asked out of the blue.
What an odd question. I leaned back on the sofa and gave Toby a confused look. “Of course?”
“Guys,” Liza said. “Let’s stop this conversation. Change the subject.”
“What are you keeping from me?” I asked. “Why would you ask about my last name and talk about telling secrets?” I stood and set my tea on the coffee table. “I’m getting really freaking sick of secrets. It’s getting old because I already feel like I’m losing my mind.”
I screwed my eyes shut and bit back a scream. “I just really need sleep and friends who tell me the truth.” Tension coiled in my stomach, making the back of my neck stiffen up.
“Guys?” Liza said.
I opened my eyes to find the entire contents of the coffee table floating about a foot off of it. “Oh,” I whispered. “You can see that.”
“Are you doing that?” Liza asked as Wes and Toby gaped at the cups and magazine hovering in mid-air.
“I think so,” I whispered. “I thought I was crazy. I think maybe I really am…crazy.” The blood drained out of my head, and as I fell back down on the sofa, all the stuff in the air crashed down, the teacup splitting down the middle and spilling tea all over the magazine.
Wes’s warmth poured into me. He put his arm around me and pulled me close. “Look at me.” I lifted my gaze to look into his hazel eyes. “Breathe.” His low, soft voice danced into my ears. “It’s okay. Breathe in.” I did as he said. Two seconds later, he continued, “Breathe out. Slow.”
I did. And then in and out, at his command. And somehow, the warmth, the support, his voice all helped me calm down. I could’ve leaned into him and gone to sleep, but that would’ve been a bit much.
Even though I’d calmed down, my voice shook as I tried to explain myself. “I don’t know what’s happening.” A breakdown was coming. I felt it, knew it, but didn’t know how to stop it.
“Everything is going to be okay,” Wes said. “I promise.”
Laughter bubbled up my chest. “How?” I cried. “How could it possibly be okay? I’m making things float, presumably with magic, but magic doesn’t exist!”
The room fell silent as my friends stilled and exchanged glances. Wes’s body stiffened around me. “It doesn’t exist, right?” I asked.
Liza looked from me to Wes, then to Toby. “I think we need to get Sammy.”