Chapter 2
Chapter
Two
Nine Months Later
This is the summer.
Which was obvious to Pearl as she’d packed up her stuff from her dorm room and had arrived home in Harmony Glen last night. It was clearly summertime, and she’d just finished her first year of nursing school.
So, saying the statement over again in her head was a bit repetitive, but she also found that giving herself these pep talks in the mirror every morning helped with her resolve.
Especially in the past year, when some things about college seemed extra challenging. She’d state the obvious, stiffen her spine with courage and resolve, and overcome it.
When she wanted to shore up her courage to tell her mother and her brother Finn that she was off to college in the city, she’d done this. Now she was giving herself a pep talk because this was the summer she would finally tell Phineas how she felt about him.
How she’d always felt about him.
Pearl’s heart was racing a mile a minute, and she glanced down at the beautiful beach-glass bracelet he’d given her in August last year at the going-away party Sven and Magnus had thrown for her at Room with a Tomb.
Phineas had snuck off, but had left her this gift.
She knew that he’d picked all the beach glass himself and made the charm, and because of that, it was one of her most cherished gifts. She knew he felt bad about his homemade gifts because he didn’t have a lot, but that didn’t matter to her.
It never did, because it was the thought and care that went into it.
She really hoped that wasn’t what was holding him back from ever asking her out. Phineas had pride, she understood that, but she was also done waiting. There was one thing she’d always wanted.
There was only one person who completely owned her heart.
And that was Phineas.
Pearl sighed, softly spinning the bracelet absentmindedly on her wrist.
After Mercedes caught the bouquet, and exploded it with her magic, Pearl had turned to look for Phineas where she left him. She’d been hoping he’d ask her for another dance, and maybe then she could tell him how she felt. Only, when the whole thing with the bouquet was done, Phineas was gone.
She’d been home that whole week and helped Mercedes with a séance, which caused Sven to see spirits and eventually break his curse and his former love’s curse too, but Phineas hadn’t been around at all. It was like he was in hiding.
She’d even gone to his swamp a couple of times, but he wasn’t home.
Ever.
Eventually, she’d gone back to school.
He was around at Christmas, but not much, and he’d been a wee standoffish. Actually, he’d been standoffish since Finn and Margaid’s wedding. She thought things had been progressing so well when they danced together at the reception.
Something had changed and she wished she knew what it was, because she missed her friend. Any time she tried to corner him to ask him about it, he claimed he had to go.
And her texts to him were left unread or he responded with one-word answers, like good or fine.
It was frustrating and she was annoyed with him.
So yeah, this was the summer she would put it all out there. She was going to tell him how she felt, even if he didn’t reciprocate.
“Pearl, breakfast is ready!” Mom’s call from the kitchen echoed down the hall of their apartment at the back of Monster Catch Bait and Tackle.
“Coming,” Pearl responded. She took one last look in the mirror, made sure her braid was neat, set her shoulders back in determination, and left her room.
Her mother, Hetty, was buzzing around the kitchen, humming to herself as she whisked a bowl of eggs before pouring them into the frying pan.
“Mom, I thought you said breakfast was ready?” Pearl teased.
Her mom just shrugged and laughed. “Well, the coffee is ready. The eggs won’t take long.”
Pearl poured herself a cup of coffee and then sat in a chair at the table, tucking one leg under her. “Do you need any help?”
“No. I can manage. Besides, I’ve missed making you breakfast since you’ve been at college. I only got to take care of Mercedes for a month before she moved in with Magnus at the dead-and-breakfast.”
“Are you mad about that?” Pearl was completely teasing because she knew her mom wasn’t angry about Mercedes and Magnus falling in love.
“No.” She turned and slid some fresh scrambled eggs onto Pearl’s plate. “I’m very happy she came into Magnus’ life to break his curse and ultimately helped to break Sven’s too.”
Originally, Mercedes had been the only one to see the spirits at Room with a Tomb. One of the local haunts was Sven’s former love. It was the wonky séance Mercedes performed that allowed Sven to reconnect with his love and break his curse.
Of course, now everyone who stayed or visited the dead-and-breakfast in the former funeral home could see the ghosts.
“Ah, yes, the revenant Flo. I have yet to meet her,” Pearl said. “They didn’t come over at Christmas.”
“They’re in the honeymoon phase.” Mom slid the rest of the eggs onto her plate and then set the frying pan back down on the stove. “I can’t blame them. I just miss them all. The winter was harsh. Lots of blizzards and roads shut down.”
“I remember.” Pearl hugged her coffee mug. “So, Phineas was kind of trapped then at the swamp?”
A sly smile curled on Hetty’s lips. “I suppose he was. He doesn’t drive and if Finn couldn’t get to him, then he was stuck at home. I wish he’d move into town.”
“His parents left him that home.”
Mom sighed. “I know. Your father and I always talked about adopting him formally, but we couldn’t track down his relatives.
The courts said we had to make contact with southern officials, and they were the ones that insisted on finding a relative, only we couldn’t, and Phineas didn’t know anyone.
Gill men are always on the move. It always made me sad he was out there, but he loved it so much.
I guess it was his connection to his late parents. ”
“I get that.” Pearl took a bite of eggs. “Oh, these are good.”
“They’re from Liana. Just don’t tell Finn that’s where they’re from. You know he has a problem with chickens.”
Pearl giggled, thinking about how everyone else teased her brother because he was scared of chickens, only it was male chickens in particular.
Roosters, or the other word they always used, but Pearl was not going to even put that word in a context where she associated it with her brother.
Still, it was funny when they would tease Finn and he’d roll his eyes and toss his mane.
Unlike her brother, she looked human most of the time.
She rarely took on her unicorn appearance, except when it was a full moon.
During the full moon when she was at college, Margaid or her mom would come to stay with her and make sure she didn’t run amok.
It was too dangerous to be alone. Female glashtyns were rare, and the fact they took on a unicorn appearance made them desirable for unsavory individuals.
Tallowfield was full of witches and wizards who would like nothing more than to get their hands on her and harvest her blood or her horn.
It was just easier to stay as normal looking as she could.
Though, there was something freeing about being a unicorn and running through the forest and fields under a moonlit sky. It was just the unknown dangers lurking about that didn’t let her live like that.
She always had to be on her guard.
“Well, these eggs are fabulous, and the next time I run into Liana, I’m going to let her know.” Though she wasn’t sure when that would be, because if she got a summer job at the hospital, she’d be very busy.
Pearl couldn’t practice medicine yet, she wasn’t a nurse, but she could do candy striping type of work and filing at the hospital for the summer. That way she could get her feet wet, so to speak, and gain experience.
“If you’re heading to the hospital, would you mind dropping off a basket of things for Magnus and Sven at Room with a Tomb?” Mom asked.
“Of course. Mom, you don’t have to ask. You know I’d do anything for you.” Pearl finished her breakfast, kissed her mom on the top of her head, and placed her plate in the dishwasher.
“You are the sweetest child a mother could ever ask for.”
Pearl laughed softly again. “I think Finn is a pretty good child of yours too.”
“He is.” Mom sighed. “Just so stubborn. Like his father was.”
“He is that, but I think Margaid has softened him.” Pearl smiled to herself as she thought of Finn and Margaid. To be honest, she was a bit envious of them and their love, because she wanted that.
She wanted that with Phineas.
She wanted to feel protected and safe.
And, eventually, she wanted a family of her own.
Even though the thought of leaving her mother alone here was heartbreaking, she still wanted that proverbial happily ever after. She wanted the little house, the white picket fence, the kids and the career.
Pearl wanted a partner and someone to share her life with and she knew without a doubt that was Phineas.
Even though her dad died when she was young, she never forgot the love her parents shared. Now, seeing Finn have that with Margaid made her heart ache for the same.
And she was going to make it happen by telling Phineas exactly how she felt about him. The problem was, he seemed to be avoiding her.
“You’re staring off into space,” Mom remarked. “What’re you thinking so intently about?”
“What I’m going to say to human resources at the hospital.” Pearl plastered on a fake smile. “Though I’m sure June, who is a nurse, will put in a good word for me. She knows I’m in college to be a nurse and I plan to practice nursing here.”
“What about midwifery?” Mom asked.
Pearl cocked an eyebrow. “Are you expecting babies anytime soon in Harmony Glen?”
A sappy, dreamy expression crossed her mother’s face. “I live in hope.”
“I would love to become a nurse practitioner and a midwife, but I want to work as a nurse and save up money to afford the schooling to get certified for both those things.”
“I could help and I know Finn would—”