On Shadowed Wings (An Ash Grove Short Story) by Amanda DeWees

Author:Amanda DeWees
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: teen, young adult, magic, family, ya, series, paranormal, north carolina, romance, butterflies, high school, supernatural, natural history, college

* * *

It was afternoon when he found her the next day. She was sitting on one of the large rocks at the river’s edge, where the canopy of tree branches fended off the sun and cast a tranquil shade. The river chuckled by softly, foaming white around the rocks in its course. The rushing of the water was a soothing background for her thoughts.

“Mind if I join you?” Jim asked. His eyes looked a little heavy-lidded, and she wondered if he’d had as little sleep as she had. But besides that he looked fantastic. He was wearing a blue chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and she thought she’d never seen sexier forearms in her life.

But she couldn’t let herself start thinking that way—okay, keep thinking that way—until they got some things settled. She scooched over to make room for him next to her on the rock. “Dr. Sumner said he didn’t need me today,” she said, even though he hadn’t asked. “We had a standing arrangement for me to sit with Joy Sunday afternoon, but he’s taking her to the park himself. I have a feeling I’ll be doing a lot less babysitting this summer than I’d expected.”

“So what happened last night really did get to him,” Jim reflected. “I’m glad for Joy’s sake—and for mine.”

She wasn’t ready to pursue that angle just yet. “Do you think what we thought we saw was really there?” she asked instead. “That some kind of—of magic brought Anna back to Joy for a moment?”

He plucked a blade of grass and turned it thoughtfully between his fingers. “Magic or something close to it,” he said. “Joy and her dad seemed to believe it, and that’s the important thing. You knew her mom—did it look like her, last night?”

She nodded. “So you think Dr. Sumner saw Anna?” she wondered aloud. “Or do you think he just saw Joy surrounded by butterflies?”

“Either way, it seems like it helped. If he’s going to be there for her now a lot more than he was. So whether it was or wasn’t magic may not really be important.”

She envied him for being able to talk about the strangeness so matter-of-factly. She felt awkward and lame, but at the same time it was too important not to say. “I’d never experienced anything magic before,” she said. “But I think last night was some kind of supernatural thing. It felt… different. Not like everyday life, but like something really unusual and—and wonderful was going on. You know?”

“I definitely felt like I was in the presence of something extraordinary,” he said gravely, but when she looked into his eyes she knew he meant something else.

“It felt so unreal,” she said. He could interpret that any way he wanted to.

But he didn’t take the out. “Kissing you felt real,” he said quietly. “Felt fantastic, if you want to know. Pretty much the highlight of my week, honestly.” He thought for a moment. “Maybe even the whole year.”

The pleasure of hearing that warmed her cheeks, but she felt weirdly shy.

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