Don't Give Me Butterflies by Tara Sheets

Author:Tara Sheets
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zebra Books
Published: 2019-05-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Kat stood in the middle of Emma’s attic, surrounded by a sea of dusty boxes, steamer trunks, and various odds and ends from the Holloway family’s past. Emma and Juliette had invited her over to spend Tuesday night participating in what they called “Operation Family Tree,” a project they’d been working on for the past two hours. Kat had agreed, hoping it would help her focus on something other than her tumble down Lusty Lane with Jordan Prescott yesterday evening.

“So, what exactly are we looking for again?” Kat asked, edging around a dusty carousel horse.

To say the attic was odd would’ve been a vast understatement. It was crammed to the brim with Holloway heirlooms, and it had a strange way of changing and shifting, depending on where Kat was standing. The changes were so subtle, she didn’t notice them at first. When she passed the old carousel horse, the air smelled of candy apples and popcorn, and when she ran her hand over the wooden horse’s side, she swore she heard the faint sound of laughter and carnival music.

A dainty floral chair smelled like fresh roses, and when Kat brushed past an oil painting of a leopard, she thought she heard it purr. There was a cuckoo clock with a mechanical bird that popped out whenever she passed by, and a sun hat that sounded like the ocean when she placed it on her head.

It was as though each item in the attic was individually hand-dipped in Holloway memories, and those memories rippled outward, melding together, when touched. Kat was fascinated. She felt as if she could spend an entire month in the attic and never grow bored.

Emma and Juliette were much more blasé about it. Tonight they had only one goal: to find a missing link somewhere in their ancestors’ belongings that would connect Kat to the Holloways.

“We’re looking for a family album. Or family photos. Or anything remotely family-ish.” Juliette’s muffled voice came from behind a dressing screen in the far corner. She emerged with an armful of clothing heaped so high, it obscured her face. “I can’t believe how much the Holloways have accumulated over the years.” She dumped the pile of clothes on top of several boxes. “I mean, look at this stuff, Em. It’s like the Queen of Sheba left her wardrobe here.” She held up a white gauzy dress with a gold snake for a collar and Egyptian-style hieroglyphics around the border.

Emma was kneeling under one of the attic windows, going through a cardboard box of what appeared to be dishes. “I think that’s from one of the aunts. Grandma once told me we had a relative who was all into stage acting and opera.”

Kat navigated her way around stacks of boxes, toward Juliette’s clothing pile. Beautiful gowns in rich shades of emerald, sapphire and amber twisted around sparkling skirts, embroidered scarves, and elaborate headdresses. She lifted a blue velvet gown and held it up. Even in the weak attic light, the dress glowed like a crown jewel.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.