Page 10

We stared at each other for a minute, something flowing in the air between us. I looked away first, unsettled again.

“Royal family jewels, huh? You so sure you can trust me with that information? I’m already a known sandwich bandit.”

She tilted her head. “Yeah,” she said softly, seriously. “I’ve got a feeling you’re mostly trustworthy.”

We stared at each other for several beats again, something quickening inside me. Something that felt dangerous—something I didn’t exactly recognize but something I wasn’t sure I liked at all. I needed to break the damn spell.

“I trust you with my family jewels too,” I finally said suggestively, trying to lighten the sudden, strange mood between us. “I’d like to show them to you sometime.”

Tenleigh leaned her head back and laughed. I had wondered what her full-out laughter sounded like, and now I knew. And I suddenly understood that it would have been better if I didn’t. So much better. Because I wanted to lose myself in the sound of that laughter. It alarmed me and that same feeling came into my chest again, only now increasing. I sat up straighter, something instinctual telling me I needed to run.

Her expression seemed to change as if she could sense my inner turmoil. Ridiculous. She stood and I squinted up at her. “Come here,” she said, turning her back on me. “I want to show you something.”

I stood up and followed behind her to a large rock. I watched as she went to the front of it and ducked down, disappearing somewhere. I leaned over cautiously and saw a tiny, dark cave. Anxiety swept through my body, and I stumbled backward. Tenleigh peeked out, a smile plastered across her face.

“Come in. It’s big enough for the both of us. I want to show you something.”

“No,” I said, a bit more harshly than I meant to. The smile disappeared from her face and she emerged from the small space, nearly squatting as she shuffled along. She stood up and looked at me worriedly. I realized that my hands were fisted by my sides and my body was tensed. I relaxed, shoving my hands in my pockets.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Do you not like small spaces? I—”

“It’s no big deal,” I said dismissively.

She put her hand on my shoulder timidly, and I squeezed my eyes shut for a second before I pulled away.

She watched me acutely for just a moment. “There are some drawings on the wall in there,” she finally said and shrugged. “Really, really faint and most likely something someone did recently, but who knows? Maybe a cave family lived in there thousands of years ago.”

“Hundreds of thousands.”

“What?”

“Cavemen, they lived hundreds of thousands of years ago, not thousands.”

She put her hands on her hips. “Okay, professor.” She arched one delicate eyebrow, and I let out a small laugh on a breath.

“Come on, Princess Tenleigh, we better get back to the road before it’s pitch-black.” I went for a casual tone to my voice. Tenleigh had obviously noticed my strange behavior when it came to the small cave.

The sun had almost set and it was twilight, the sky a deep blue, the first stars just appearing. A few minutes later, we were back on the road and we walked along in silence.

Tenleigh adjusted her backpack and a book fell out of the tear on the side, the one she had closed up as much as possible with a safety pin. A fucking safety pin. That safety pin filled me with anger. “Oops.” She leaned down to pick it up just as I did and we both laughed as our heads collided. She rubbed hers and laughed again. “There’s that charm again. I’m a goner for sure.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I picked up the book and held it up. “The Weaver of Raveloe?”

Tenleigh’s eyes met mine and she nodded, taking the book from me. “I read a lot,” she said, stuffing the book in her backpack and looking embarrassed for some reason. “The Dennville library doesn’t have much of a selection so I’ve read some twice…”

“That one?” I nodded my head toward her backpack as we started walking again.

“Yes, I’ve read that one before.”

“What’s it about?”

She was quiet for a minute and I thought she might not answer me. Truthfully, I didn’t really care to hear about the weaver of whatever. She could tell me anything. What I wanted was to hear her pretty voice cutting through the cold mountain air—and I liked the things she said. She was different. She kept surprising me with the things that came out of her mouth and even though I didn’t want to, I liked it. I liked it far too much.

“It’s about Silas Marner who—”

I halted, several emotions suddenly swelling within me. Grief. Longing. Love. “Silas?”

Tenleigh stopped too and looked at me curiously. “Yeah, what’s wrong?”