Chapter Twenty-Two
He could have made it awkward. He could have asked questions. He could have accused her of using him to find her “epiphany” or started an uncomfortable what-do-you-want-out-of-this-relationship conversation. He could have said no.
But he didn’t.
Jack cupped her face in his hands and lightly brushed her lips with his.
He then drew back and looked into her eyes, and she felt something inside her melt, like chocolate in the oven. Calisa covered his hands with hers, and she leaned in to kiss him.
Kissing her back, he stepped forward until their bodies touched, and she felt the warmth of his skin through the fabric of their shirts.
He wound his hands through her hair, and she wrapped hers around the back of his neck.
His lips were soft. Her breath matched his breath, her heart thudded fast against his, and she felt aware of every inch of her skin, as if her entire body were vibrating.
The kiss deepened, and she pressed herself against him as he gathered her closer.
She was within his arms, and that’s all there was—the outside world may as well have ceased to exist. It felt as if everything had condensed to just this moment and just the space around their two bodies, so close that they were one breath, one heartbeat.
The kiss ended, and Jack looked at her as if he never wanted to stop looking at her. She reached up and tucked a strand of his hair behind his ear. She knew she was smiling goofily, but she couldn’t seem to stop—and didn’t want to.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi,” he said back.
She wondered what she should say. There didn’t seem to be words big enough to hold everything she was feeling. She felt as if she were floating.
“Do you want to try the door?” he asked.
Door?
Calisa stared at him blankly. Oh, right, the portal! She stepped out of the closet doorway, pulling him gently with her. She liked the way her hand fit in his, like it was meant to be there, puzzle pieces that clicked together.
She pulled the closet door shut.
“Open,” she said to it softly.
And then she opened it—and the portal swirled blue, filling the doorframe.
Jack squeezed her hand. “You did it.”
“Wow.” Calisa gawked at the shades of blue that spun and danced in the watery portal. She reached out and touched it lightly with her fingers. She wasn’t imagining it. It worked! A part of her was shocked, but another part simply felt content, as if of course it worked. “We need to tell Kendra.”
“Right. Yes, we do.” He didn’t release her hand, and they headed together for the stairs. Her head was still spinning, and she felt as if she could float down the still-damp steps without needing to touch them. With her free hand, she held on to the handrail. Every step, she glanced at him.
I should say something. About the kiss. About him. About us.
She should tell him it wasn’t about the portal, that it meant something to her—obviously it did or the portal wouldn’t have opened.
An epiphany. She’d felt a change within her, which wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t fallen out of love with Ethan…
and into love with Jack. And in love with this place. And its magic.
A very nice change.
She wondered if she’d scare him off if she used the word love this quickly. She wondered if he thought it was just about the portal. She wondered if it had been just about the inn for him, or if the kiss had felt as magical to him as it did to her.
Jack released her hand and sloshed into the sitting room. Puddles were everywhere, soaking the rugs and covering the floor in a watery sheen. All the towels he’d left were soggy lumps. “Kendra?”
She hadn’t stayed outside, where she could drip harmlessly on gravel and grass. Instead, Kendra was curled, morose, in a chair. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, and seawater was sloughing off her.
Calisa wanted to say, You can stop your temper tantrum now, except that wasn’t fair, since she had no way to know how seriously the sea witch needed to return home. She cut straight to the point: “Your portal is open.”
Gasping, Kendra shot to her feet—seawater sprayed everywhere in a fine mist—and then she bolted toward the stairs, hitching her skirts up so she could run faster.
Calisa heard a cry of relief—and then silence.
Jack grinned, and then his smile faded as he surveyed the sitting room.
“Guess I need to figure out how to get saltwater stains out of upholstery. Fresh water? Carpet soap? Probably should start with sopping up the new puddles…” Carrying the wet towels, he trotted out of the room as he talked and returned with his arms full of fresh, dry towels.
Sure, yes, of course, they should clean the sitting room—the rugs were soggy with seawater—but…
“Or we can try to open more broken doors. See if Auntie Zee is behind any of them.” She thought of his father and wondered which door he was behind—but Auntie Zee herself hadn’t been able to reopen that portal.
First find Auntie Zee. That felt achievable. And necessary.
“Oh, whoa, yes! Auntie Zee!”
She almost smiled. He’d been as flustered as she was.
“Think of how happy she’s going to be when she learns that you inherited her ability,” Jack said.
“She might even forgive us for blatantly violating every single rule she’s hammered into me since my dad and I came here.
” Using a towel, he began excitedly and haphazardly dabbing at the seawater.
“But if she’s behind a closed portal, she could be anywhere. Where do we even start?”
Calisa saw a flicker out of the corner of her eye, and she glanced out the window.
The stone statue had drawn closer to the porch.
She must have been eavesdropping—the window was open, and Jack and Calisa hadn’t kept their voices down.
She could have heard every word. Could she be trying to enter? Did she want to help?
Trusting her instincts, Calisa crossed to the front door and opened it. “Do you know where Auntie Zee is?” She deliberately turned away, watching through the sitting room entryway as Jack spread towels over the damp rug to soak up the excess water. On the lobby wall, the smoky mirror was dark.
When she turned around, the statue’s head was dipped down. Yes.
Oh wow. Why didn’t I think of this sooner? She knew why she hadn’t: living statues weren’t supposed to exist. Asking one for help just wasn’t something she’d normally think to do. “Jack?” Calisa called.
Dropping a towel onto a chair, Jack trotted over to her.
“She knows where Auntie Zee is.” To the statue, she said, “Where? Can you point?” To Jack, she said, “Turn around. She’ll answer if we aren’t looking.”
He turned around with Calisa.
A second later, Calisa peeked back at the statue. “She’s pointing!” Straight behind them, toward the kitchen. “One of the cabinets? The pantry? The supply closets? Washer-dryer closet? Do you want to come inside and show us?”
“She can’t do the stairs,” Jack said. “It’s the pedestal.”
Her ankles flowed into the slab of granite at her base. Of course she couldn’t do stairs. She’d need to be carried. “Would it be okay if we helped you inside?” Calisa asked.
Both of them turned away, then looked back.
The statue had inclined her head yes.
Together, huffing, Calisa and Jack hoisted the statue inside the foyer and set her down. She was far heavier than she looked, and Calisa wondered where she’d come from—had she been made this way? Who’d made her? How and why had she come here? All more questions than they had time for now.
She turned away, and when she looked back, the statue was pointing again, more clearly, toward the kitchen. They hauled her into the kitchen and positioned her facing the stove. From there, she pointed into the corridor of supply closets. Again, they dragged her forward.
Finally, she pointed at a single door: the third closet on the left.
Calisa grinned. This was it! They were going to find Auntie Zee!
She swung in front of Jack and kissed him again. He kissed her back, sweetly and deeply, his arms cradling around her.
In a murmur, he asked, “Do you think we need to kiss every time you open a portal?”
“Is that a problem?” she asked, between kisses.
“Definitely no, but”—he kissed her again—“you already unlocked your power. Your mom implied that was a”—another kiss—“onetime thing.” Now he kissed her neck, light kisses like a hummingbird drinking nectar.
She felt her heart flutter like it had wings.
“You should be able to open portals”—more kisses—“on your own now.”
“Are you interrupting this with logic?”
“Um, no?” He kissed her lips again.
This time, when they broke apart, Calisa stepped back with her hand on his chest. “Stand near me and think nice thoughts.” Her head felt as if she were swimming, and she swayed a little.
He was right: Mom-Kate had said that it took an epiphany to unlock the power, but there was nothing about needing an epiphany each time she tried, so these kisses were, theoretically, wholly unnecessary.
I regret nothing.
She approached the closet door and opened it onto shelves of folded sheets and quilts. Clearing her mind as best she could, she ran her fingers over the doorframe, touching every inch as her mom had instructed her.
She then closed the closet door.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Steve had waddled into the hallway. He must have come in through the front door—they’d left it open when they hauled the statue inside. He plopped down next to her and nibbled nonchalantly on his hind talons.
“If it doesn’t work…” Jack began.
“It will work,” Calisa said. “It will open.” As she said the word, she pulled open the linen closet door, and a silvery shimmer swirled within the doorframe.
“Oh wow,” Jack said behind her.
“There’s no guarantee Auntie Zee is on the other side,” Calisa cautioned him. “The statue could be wrong.” She glanced back at the statue, who had put her hands over her eyes while they’d been kissing.