Tangled Roots by Denise D. Young

Author:Denise D. Young [Young, Denise D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Denise D. Young

Cassie

Nick was quiet on the drive back to the farmhouse, his lips twisted into the frown he’d worn last night, when he sensed my magic.

The farm seemed sleepy in the summer sunlight; the shutting of the car doors almost sharp in the quiet.

Too quiet.

Something wasn’t right, and not just my time jump. My head was reeling because that short jaunt into town had shown me just how much everything had changed. The magic in Willow Creek was off. I should’ve felt it before. Slumbering. And yet…when Nick and I were together long enough, our magic collided like two stormfronts.

Nick unlocked the back door and we stepped inside. The screen door whooshed with a creaking and hissing of hinges, then with a clang as it finally shut. The air inside was blessedly cool, but I felt confined, cooped up.

I brushed my hair, now hopelessly tangled from the freak storm, away from my face.

Nick watched me.

I laughed. “What?”

“Crap. I don’t even know.”

“Say it.” Despite the push and pull of Nick—drawn together one second, the next pushed away—I felt comfortable around him.

He turned, studying the oak table with its farmhouse chairs. A stained-glass chandelier hung above and a wide window looked out over the fields and the deep blue mountains beyond.

I approached him from behind and wrapped my arms around his waist. I’d never been this way before—so bold. Bold with magic? Yes. Bold with a man? Never.

But somehow, Nick made it okay. Even if he said no to something I did, I knew he’d be kind about it.

“These mountains, Nick. They’re in you. In your voice, your heart, your soul. And in your magic.”

I felt his breath quicken, though I couldn’t see his face.

“That’s what scares me.”

“Why?”

“You don’t know…” His voice cracked. “You weren’t there that night. You didn’t see what I saw.”

“Do you want to tell me?”

I leaned my head against his back, my cheek against the damp fabric of his t-shirt. He sighed, and it rippled through me.

“You’re exhausted,” I said, and I didn’t mean from the events of the day. “You’ve carried so much for so long.”

His shoulder muscles jerked, then relaxed. “Yeah. Magic is an open secret in this town, you know. I’ve always felt like a freak.”

I squeezed his waist and wiggled against him. “They love you.”

“Who?”

“Everyone.”

“That’s just because I helped Carter.”

“The little boy? No. Even before, the waitress—Paige, I think—she saw me looking at you. They don’t love you because you’re Ginny’s grandson or Maeve’s son. You’re just a part of this town.”

“She told you that?”

I smiled. “Not in those exact words, but something to that effect. And I saw that couple beside you, the way they talked to you.”

He relaxed into silence. The afternoon sky was bright and cloudless, but there was a stillness in that which I found unsettling. I couldn’t shake it. Something was waiting for us.

Nick shook off my embrace and turned. He gazed down at me—easily five-ten where I was scarcely five-foot. His expression was somehow fierce and gentle at the same time.

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