After the Summerland (The Witches of Spring Hill Book 1) (6 page)

Rowan and Brianna have
PE together and spend the hour smashing the volleyball at each other. Brianna
refuses to back down from Rowan who is obviously trying to show her who’s boss
and put her in her place. She notices how all of Rowan’s friends suck up to her
and how Rowan responds to them. It’s obvious to Brianna that Rowan is playing
games with these girls, games that
Bri
wants nothing
to do with.

Although her aunt told
her to make nice with the Alexanders, Brianna will not kiss Rowan’s ass like
all her little sheep friends seem to be doing. You can forget that, she thinks
to herself as she spikes the ball in Rowan’s direction, saying a quick spell to
hide the ball until the last minute, — hoping that it catches Princess Rowan off
guard and nails her in that pretty face of hers.

Rowan, on the other
hand, laughs inside at how hard Brianna is trying to one up her. Something is
different about her, and although she can’t quite put her finger on it, she
definitely sees that Brianna Silvan is way too confident for her first day in a
new school. There is more to that girl than meets the eye.

Rowan, not usually
prone to introspection, recognizes that something about the Silvans is stirring
up something deep inside of her. She can’t name it because she is pretty sure
she has never felt it before. It feels similar to when she was little and her
dad attempted to teach her about the herbs in the garden. It’s as if she is on
the cusp of something familiar, yet still unknown.

The volleyball comes
out of nowhere — one minute it wasn’t there and the next moment it was coming straight
at Rowan’s face, fast. Fortunately, she pops it up in the air, with reflexes
she didn’t know she had, right before it hit her. Oh yes, thinks Rowan, as she
looks at the smirk on Brianna’s face, there is definitely something up with
this girl.

As Xavier and Chloe
pass each other in the hall Chloe is aware of the electric energy Xavier is
putting off and unlike her attraction to Cian, she avoids contact with him. Xavier
goes out of his way to approach her, and while Chloe doesn’t want to be rude to
him, she senses something dark and doesn’t quite know what to do with it. Rather
than snubbing him, she makes eye contact, gives him a quick smile, and moves
on.

At least it’s more
than Rowan did in class, Xavier thinks. What is it with these girls?
They are not supposed to know they are witches, yet they act as if
they recognize his magic and block him. I hate to think we underestimated the
Alexanders, Xavier thinks to himself. He also can’t help but like what he has
learned of them, which admittedly isn’t much.

Kaiden and Cian get
partnered up in Biology where they comfortably fall into a conversation about basketball,
the latest Call of Duty video game, sisters, and baseball. Cian tries not to
ask too many questions about Chloe, but he is so drawn to her that he wants to
know everything. Before he can even finish, “So, your sister Chloe…” Kaiden
stops him, holds up a hand and says, “Off limits.” Cian understands the
protective brother bit — he is just as protective of Brianna and even Xavier,
who is his own worst enemy at times; however, he won’t be deterred.

“Look, Chloe and I had
Spanish class together and we got along great. I just want you to know that I
really do want to get to know her better and I guess, I just want your…
approval, if not friendship,” Cian explains.

Kaiden nods his head
and says, “Well, Chloe is her own person and makes her own decisions and I
trust her judgment, but if you hurt her — so help me, man…”

Cian says, “Trust me. I
have no intention of hurting her or any one of you.” Kaiden glances curiously
at his new friend and ponders on that last comment as the bell rings for lunch.

For the first time in
as long as anyone can remember the Alexanders give up their individuality and
their friends to sit together at lunch. This seems to surprise everyone,
including the Alexanders. They speak quietly to one another so no one overhears,
but they all agree the Silvans are putting off a strange vibe. Rowan’s phone
chirps signaling a new text message. Kaiden’s and Chloe’s follow suit. They all
look down at their phones to see a message from Liam.

“Looks like we’re
having a family meeting tonight,” Kaiden says.

“Interesting timing,” Chloe
and Rowan say at the same moment. They smile at each other and they all feel a
shift of togetherness that was always lacking until now.

The Silvans watch the
Alexanders and are aware of a shifting of energy coming from their direction.
“This is not good,” Xavier says.

“I like them,” Cian
starts before being interrupted by Brianna who says, “Yeah, I do too, except
for Rowan. She is a complete bitch.”

“It doesn’t matter how
we feel about them. We have a job to do — or did you both forget?” Xavier
snaps.

Cian and Brianna roll
their eyes, used to Xavier’s short fuse. “You sound just like Aunt Selene,”
Brianna says to Xavier as she goes back to picking at her salad of iceberg
lettuce and croutons. “This lunch sucks,” she says to no one in particular. Cian
pats his sister’s arm, knowing that any mention of their aunt puts Brianna in a
bad mood.

Xavier, hating being
left out of their closeness, stands up and snaps, “Just stay focused on what we
need to do.” He walks away, leaving behind his tray for them to clean up.

Throughout the rest of
the school day, the Alexanders and Silvans cross paths many times with various
reactions to each other, sometimes attraction and sometimes annoyance, but always
with plain old curiosity. At the end of the day they are all a bit surprised,
for very different reasons, to see Liam and Selene standing outside at the curb
talking together.

Selene watched the jeep
pull in behind her and immediately decided it was the perfect time to make
Liam’s acquaintance. Although she tried to catch up with him earlier in the
day, she was forced to give up when she spotted him with his father and
grandfather. She can only pull this off if he is by himself since others would
notice her energy, especially Marcus and Peter who are very familiar with
witches.

Liam watches as the
tall blonde steps out of her Mercedes and saunters toward him. She is wearing
tight black pants and a dark purple sweater — all of which highlight the golden
blonde hair, the tanned skin, and bright blue eyes. Ah, this must be the new
woman that everyone in town is talking about, he thinks to himself, and acknowledges
that every word that has been said is true.

He can tell by the way
she is staring at him like a cougar going after its prey, that she wants to speak
to him. Before she gets to his window he steps out and greets her. “Hello, welcome
to Spring Hill,” he says, extending his hand.

“Finally, I get to meet
the famous chief of police,” she says with a wicked grin. Stay cool, Selene
thinks to herself. Being spontaneous is not one of her strong suits, but she
has spent all day looking for him and even got dressed up to pick up the kids
on the chance he would be here.

“Liam Alexander, ma’am,
it’s good to meet you.”

“Selene Silvan, and the
pleasure is all mine,” she purrs.

Her voice has just
enough huskiness to sound sexy without sounding like she spent a decade smoking,
but even so, something about her is off-putting.

“I understand you have
triplets,” she says as she leans against his jeep.

“Yes” he replies
cautiously.
Not only is
he very protective of his
kids, but the more she talks, the more unnerved he feels by her.

“I have triplets, too”
she says casually laughing. “Well actually, they’re not mine - rather my niece
and nephews, but it’s all the same, isn’t it? Anyway, I heard about you and
your kids while shopping this afternoon and I was so looking forward to meeting
another single, excuse me, another parent of triplets.”

Liam thinks how
unlikely it would be for anyone in town to discuss his family with this
stranger. Having lived here his whole life, he knows that nobody gives inside
information to outsiders — and this Selene Silvan screams outsider.

Just as he is about to
respond, he sees Rowan, Kaiden, and Chloe walking toward him,
together
. Liam can’t remember the last
time he saw them walking out of school together. Usually, they walk out with
their groups of friends and reluctantly separate as if their friends are their
true family and their siblings and father are simply filler until they get back
to school the next day.

Liam has tried to teach
them that family is the priority, always, and he encourages them to build
better relationships with each other so that they can learn how valuable they
are to one another. He repeatedly reminds them that friends come and go, but
family is forever. It seems he won’t need to add that to the conversation today
after all.

Behind Chloe, Rowan,
and Kaiden, he notices a group of three kids, who are obviously related to
Selene Silvan. He glances at her and for a moment he sees something — a glimmer
of annoyance, maybe manipulation, he’s not sure exactly, but definitely not
love.

Catching him looking, she
quickly replaces the look with a big smile and says, “Oh, look! The kids are
walking out together. Isn’t it nice that they would bond so quickly?”

Liam looks back at the
kids. Where only a moment ago there was a recognizable gap between them, it now
seems that they are indeed walking together. Feeling somewhat “fuzzy,” Liam
shakes his head, feels a wave of nausea, and looks at his kids again seeing
that the gap is back. Definitely something strange going on, he thinks to
himself.

“What is Dad doing
talking to that woman? And why does he have that weird look on his face?” Rowan
asks.

“Does anyone else feel
a little — nauseous?” Chloe asks.

They all look at each other and pick up their
pace to get to the car and distance themselves more from the Silvans who are
keeping pace behind them.

“What the hell is Aunt
Selene doing?” Xavier asks. “She always rushes these things — look at how fast
they are walking now,” he says gesturing to the Alexander triplets. “They can
see the spell she’s cast and the reaction their dad is having. Anyone with half
a witch sense can.”

Cian doesn’t say
anything, secretly glad that his aunt has the patience of a small child. She
would be much more dangerous if she took the time to think through her actions.
More time to manipulate, hurt, damage.

Brianna shivers as she
watches her aunt change from wicked witch to doting aunt in a moment.

“Hello kids — I hope
you had a good day at your new school. It looks like you made some new friends,”
Selene croons.

Xavier gives her the
“lay off” look and hops into the passenger seat of the car before she can say
anything more. Cian and Brianna follow suit, Brianna hesitating slightly as she
passes her aunt’s line of vision.

The Alexander kids
observe all of this and watch Selene move in closer to their dad and rub him on
the shoulder while saying, “Well,
I
look
forward to seeing
you
around.” She
turns to go back to her car, leaving behind the cloying scent of cloves and vanilla.

“Well, that was weird,”
Liam says as he climbs in the jeep.

“Dad, something very
strange is going on,” Kaiden starts before being interrupted by Liam who says,
“I know, son. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

Rowan, Kaiden, and Chloe
look at each other, and then look at their dad, each reflecting internally on
the events of the day. They know it will be difficult to come up with just the
right words to explain what happened at school today. Liam starts the jeep and
heads home to the house on the hill.

When they get home they
quickly climb out of the jeep, but before they can even close the door, Liam
says, “Just leave your backpacks in the jeep — we’re going back to the clearing
to talk.” He watches their individual reactions and finds that Chloe looks as if
she is expecting this, Rowan looks extremely nervous, and Kaiden looks excited that
something is happening.

Chloe is not surprised
that the conversation is going to take place in the clearing. She has always
been aware of an ‘energy’ when she is back there by herself. The strong energy
connects her more fully with the earth and herself. Nowhere else is her
connection more powerful than in the open space between the rocks at the very back
of the yard. Walking through the garden, she waves her hand over the herbs that have grown since the last time she was out here. She looks over at Rowan to see if she notices,
but Rowan looks uncomfortable and completely out of her element.

I hate being outside,
Rowan thinks to herself. I would rather be anywhere but back here. Why couldn’t
we have the family meeting inside in the family room or around the kitchen
table like normal people? Never feeling an affinity for the outdoors, she
spends as little time out here as possible. For once she wishes she were more
like Chloe, who seems to bloom right in front of her, just like the flowers
that Chloe tends so carefully year round. Why all the way to the clearing?
she
wonders, as she moves through the shadows cast by the
tall pines and evergreens.

Kaiden is excited to be
going back to the clearing. We haven’t all been back here in years, he thinks
to himself. When they were young Liam would take them back here to play, but
since they’ve grown up there never seems to be the time or interest, other than
on the part of Chloe who spends time back here alone. He has thought of joining
her, but something always seems to get in the way: a game, basketball practice,
video games, his friends, or even homework.

The clearing is through
the gardens and past the edge of the yard. Rock outcroppings, boulders, and a variety of trees
form a large circle before the yard gives way completely to the dense woods. The temperature is moderate year round since the tall pines,
evergreens, and oak trees surrounding the clearing keep the area shaded in the
summer and the large boulders keep out the cold winds in the winter. At some
point, a makeshift fireplace was carved into the stone to add heat to the
clearing on the coldest winter days or the cool spring nights.