18. Chapter 18
Z ephyr couldn’t feel her hands or her dangling feet as she hovered on her broomstick.
She watched Levina fly in furious loops around an empty field, dodging the occasional lonely tree.
Levina’s reaction time was incredible. She had good instincts, too.
Her grip strength was really her only weakness, but with the right exercises and proper rest, she would improve there, too.
“Okay, bring it in!” Zephyr shouted. She waited as Levina smoothly flipped upside down to reverse direction. She righted herself and stopped in front of Zephyr, panting and sweating in the unusually bright sun.
Zephyr normally reserved her pep talks for herself, but it was Saturday.
The race was tomorrow, bright and really, really early, so it was now or never.
It was embarrassing to recite her personal mantra in front of another person, but she needed to tell Levina something honest, something a teenager wouldn’t make fun of.
Zephyr nearly backed out of it, but she could see anticipation in Levina’s face. There was hope .
“I’m going to need you to lower your expectations here,” Zephyr commanded. “You’re freaking me out.”
Levina sat down in the grass, her broomstick laid across her lap. “I’m waiting.”
“I’m not saying shit,” Zephyr countered. Then she added, “Close your eyes. Concentrate. More importantly, don’t look at me.”
Levina shut her eyes, peeked with one until Zephyr scowled at her, and finally obeyed.
Zephyr cleared her throat. She dropped off her broom, bouncing from heel to toe, and said softly, “This is mine. All of it. The air, the momentum, the fall, but most of all, the rise.” She exhaled, then repeated, “Mine, mine, mine. Rise, rise, rise.”
Shockingly, Levina repeated it like a spell. She gave it a reverence Zephyr wasn’t sure it deserved anymore. Zephyr blew air at the few strands of her hair that had fallen out of place, relieved. Coaching was more personal than she had expected.
“I really want to win.”
Zephyr’s attention snapped back to Levina. “Good.”
“But I’m fighting with my mom,” Levina revealed. Her eyes were wide but dry. Though, if the conversation continued in this direction, Zephyr doubted that would last.
Hardly qualified to give advice, Zephyr said, “Apologize, and if that doesn’t work, a trophy always smoothed things over with my parents. It’s a great subject changer.”
None of that sounded like a perfect, or even a good , answer, but Levina eagerly latched onto it. She ran forward, hugging Zephyr so hard her back cracked. “Oof,” Zephyr gasped.
“Thank you for everything.” Levina snatched her broom and ran toward her mother’s car that was parked at the edge of the practice track. “I won’t let you down! I swear!”
Zephyr tried to tell Levina that she couldn’t let her down, but her shout was lost to the wind.
JAXON’S NUMBER HAD ONLY been unblocked for ten minutes before Zephyr received a text from him. She glared down at her phone, and though she had expected to hear from him, she already regretted letting him back into her life even an inch.
His message read, Can you meet me somewhere? We should talk.
She texted back, I’ll talk about racing. Nothing else.
Fine. I’ll be at your house in ten.
Uh, no, he would not. She punched at her phone furiously. Not there. In public. At the post office.
Weird. But fine.
Zephyr hopped up from the Post’s break room table and headed to the front counter to tap Karah on the shoulder. Karah turned away from the register with a start, and she asked, “Hey, Zephyr, you look a little nervous, which isn’t like you.”
Zephyr stared at the front entrance as she chewed her lip. “Can you take your break now? I’ll watch the counter.”
“You hate watching the counter. You can’t stand still. Also, you’re not great with the customers. What’s going on?”
Zephyr hated being so readable. In that moment, she envied Karah’s ability to maintain a sunny disposition, even with her life turned upside down. She revealed, “I have to talk with my ex.” There was no use hiding it. “I’d rather avoid an audience. Especially not…”
“Especially not the sister of the guy you took home the other night?”
Did all of Pumpkin Hollow know about that so soon? Zephyr blushed. “Did Neil tell you about us?” If Karah had been the one to find Zephyr’s lost underwear, she was switching careers today .
Karah laughed. “Gods, of course not. But it’s pretty obvious.”
Zephyr decided to not ask what made it so obvious . “So, can I have the counter for, like, twenty minutes?”
“Sure.” Karah, ever agreeable, shrugged and left for the breakroom. Zephyr thought she saw Karah’s smile waver, just for a second, but perhaps she had imagined it.
Resting her elbows on the counter and placing her chin in her hands, Zephyr waited. Jaxon was uncharacteristically on time, which meant he really wanted her to accept Blackened Salt’s offer. But why? What did he gain? Because Jaxon always made sure he gained something .
“I’ll help you pack,” he offered as he entered, though she knew from experience that really meant he’d call a moving company and leave her to do the rest. “We can be out of this one-horseshit town before the day is over.”
“I’m not leaving,” she snapped, standing up straight. “Tell Blackened Salt that I appreciate the offer, but I have to decline. This offer and any future ones.”
“You’re kidding.” His voice was flat, dead. “You’re not going to get another chance like this. Ever . You’re damn lucky that—”
“ Lucky ?” she snapped. “I’m broken . I couldn’t fly even if I wanted to. But why do you even care? After my crash, I didn’t see you. I called you over and over and got a lousy text back. Why are you making all this effort now?”
He ground his teeth. “To make up for it. Obviously. No one thought you’d stay away this long. I heard you’re the mailman ? And I saw who you’re fucking now.”
“ None of that is your business.”
“Nothing here in Smallville is worth staying for. If you’re craving blue-collar dick, find someone on your new pit crew.”
He made her want to scream, but then he’d win.
She needed Neil’s calm. Zephyr took a long breath in and out.
“I’ve seen your stats, Jaxon. It’s not looking good.
I called Darcy. She says the only sponsor you have left is dropping you.
” She cocked her head. “Did Blackened Salt offer to take you on if you convinced me to come back? That’s the only way that makes sense. ”
“You always thought so little of me,” he snarled. “Looked down on me.”
“No, Jaxon. I used to think the world of you. I used to be you.” She shuddered. “I’m not going back. That’s my choice.”
“Is it? Is it really a choice if you can’t do it, Zephyr?
” He leaned on the counter unexpectedly and she stepped back, startled.
“Maybe this town is enough for you now, but it won’t always be.
And by then, you won’t have a choice. You’ll be stuck here.
” His smile was too wide. “You still have a shine to you. You haven’t been out of the limelight long.
But that novelty will go away, and you won’t be special anymore.
You’ll be washed up. No longer the town’s golden girl.
” He reached forward in a flash, grabbing the strap of her messenger bag where it lay across her chest. He yanked the bag forward, unclipping the flap, and sliding a letter inside before Zephyr could stop him.
“When you’re nobody again , he won’t stay. Now take care of that for me.”
He released her mailbag, and she hugged it to her chest. When he finally left, Karah returned from the breakroom. Zephyr turned away, wiping frantically at her eyes.
“ That’s your ex?” Karah shook her head. “He came in here earlier, bought stationery and stamps. I got his autograph,” she confessed. “I didn’t realize who he was to you, though I’m sure Levina told me a thousand times.”
“It’s fine,” Zephyr said with a strangled laugh. “I knew he was like this. It’s just my first time being on the receiving end of it.”
“Hey, you don’t need to explain it to me . I’m in—I’ve been in love with the wrong guy before. I get it.”
“I never thought he’d follow me here. Or anywhere,” Zephyr said. She fiddled with her mailbag and shook her head. “I still have deliveries to make. I’ll see you at the race tomorrow?”
“Yes, of course,” Karah replied. “Levina’s excited, and anxious, too. But you’ve helped so much with that.”
Zephyr gave her a weak smile in return before she headed out to make her final deliveries.