King 02 - Breathless (20 page)

“It’s Tasmyn’s birthday,” Amber explained happily.

“Seriously? Cool. Happy Birthday, Tas,” he said, grinning. “You know in my family we have a tradition on birthdays…”

I heard what was coming and hurried to circumvent it. “I don’t do birthday traditions,” I informed them all, deftly moving to put Amber between Rafe and myself. “I appreciate you all, but you know I’m a low key kind of girl.”

They all rolled their eyes at me in unison, and I merely smiled.

Rafe joined us for lunch; Amber had invited him for brownies. I caught him gazing at me several time, and I struggled to close out the thoughts I heard. They reminded me too vividly of our ride home, and I remembered that I never had researched his family. I put it on my mental to-do list for the weekend.

After school, I drove home at a leisurely pace, the top down and my music as loud as I could reasonably allow it while driving through town. My mother was working on dinner when I got there, and she seemed very distracted.

“Tas, why don’t you go lie down and have a nap before dinner?” she suggested.

I looked at her in astonishment. A nap?

“Are you planning on keeping me up late tonight? What kind of party do you and the Sawyers have in mind, anyway?”

“No, silly, but I have a lot to do. I want everything to look nice for your birthday dinner.”

A suspicion began to form in my mind. “Mom, you didn’t do anything crazy, did you? No surprise party or anything like that?”

She heaved a sigh and looked at me impatiently. “Tasmyn, I know you don’t like surprise parties. And do you really think I could pull something like that off around a person like you, with your abilities? You’d hear it in Amber instantly. Or in Marly. No, I just want to have a nice dinner, and I want you to have some time to yourself. Shoo now.”

I gave up and shooed. In my room, I straightened my desk and found a book to read. When my cell phone rang, I grabbed it in anticipation. Michael hadn’t called me all day, which wasn’t unusual, of course, but I thought maybe on my birthday... at any rate, the readout showed an unfamiliar number, and I answered cautiously.

“Happy birthday, Tas!” A familiar voice sang out the words.

“Anne!! Well, hello, stranger!” I teased.

She giggled. “I know. My mom says the same thing. I never call. But I’ve been emailing you!”

“I know, and I appreciate it. It sounds like you and Jim love school?”

“I really do. We’re both crazy busy all the time, and my aunt keeps me jumping, but it’s totally worth it. We’re together, you know, and that’s all that really matters.”

A lump formed in my throat, and I struggled to push it down. “I’m so glad to hear it, Anne.”

“But that’s enough about me. This is your day! Tell me what’s been going on!”

I hesitated only briefly, considering what I could share with Anne and what I couldn’t. In the end, I told her about my classes, about Cara being moody, and about Rafe Brooks.

“Brooks? And you said he’s from an original carnie family? Hmmmm… oh, I think I know his grandparents.”

Aha! Here could be my opening.

“Do you remember which carnie they came from?” I tried to keep my voice casual. Anne was mostly clueless about the present day activity of King’s first families.

“I think… maybe the magician? I’m not really sure, though. There was a guy who some people got upset about—they accused him of being a thief. Said that he would do his tricks and then they would realize their wallets were gone. But I don’t know, I might be thinking of someone else.”

This seemed to fit. If Rafe had the ability to manipulate people’s minds, as it felt he had done with me, perhaps his ancestor had used the power for less than honorable purposes.

Anne and I chatted for about half an hour and she promised to be better about keeping in touch. After we hung up, I lounged on my bed with my book and enjoyed a couple of hours of peace. Maybe my mom had a point, I mused. It was nice to have some downtime.

Shortly before dinner, I got dressed, putting on a simple black and white cotton white dress that my mom and I had bought this summer. Nana’s pearls looked perfect with it, I thought with a smile.

I wandered into the kitchen. Good smells were everywhere, and I lifted a pot lid.

“Watch it there, miss!” My mother scolded, coming up behind me. “You look so pretty. Don’t get anything on your dress.”

“Can I help?” I asked, looking around at the prettily set table.

“Nope. Daddy should be here shortly—oh, that must be him now!” We heard the door open, and my father ducked his head into the kitchen to say hello before he went to change his clothes.

“What time did you tell Marly and Luke?” I perched on a chair by the table and nabbed a cracker from the plate of crudités my mom had set out.

“Oh—six-thirty. I imagine they’ll be here—” The ringing doorbell interrupted her, and I felt a jitter of nerves spike through my mother. I raised one eyebrow. It wasn’t like my mom to stress over a little dinner like this, and Marly and Luke had been our guests frequently over the past year. She was just acting odd.

“Tas, why don’t you get the door?” she suggested, reaching into the oven to pull out a tray of rolls.

I slipped from the kitchen through the living room and reached for the door. As I did, I picked up that same odd humming that I had earlier in the week. I giggled a little, thinking of poor Marly with that song still stuck in her head.

I threw open the door prepared to tease her about it. And instead, I stood there open-mouthed and breathless.

On my front porch, behind a large bouquet of pink roses, stood Michael.

To my utter mortification, I immediately burst into tears when I saw Michael.

Luke laughed and shook his head at me, but Marly clucked sympathetically.

“Oh, stop laughing, Luke! The poor thing, we took her by complete surprise—” And then she grinned, too. “I can’t believe we pulled it off! I was sure I was going to slip!”

My mother, who had come into the room behind me, was beaming at us all.

“I know! I was a nervous wreck all afternoon. I was so sure she’d hear something I thought by accident. Well, come in, all of you, don’t stand out on the porch!”

Marly and Luke followed her, but Michael and I remained where we were. He pulled me into his arms as I continued to sniffle.

“Are you really surprised?” he whispered into my ear.

I exulted in the feel of him against me. “Can’t you tell? I’m not
that
good an actress.”

He chuckled and his lips moved over my hair. “That’s true.”

I realized suddenly that we were still standing in the open door, and I took Michael’s hand, leading him to the porch swing and closing the door behind us.

“Okay, tell me everything! When did this happen? How long have you known you were coming?”

He laughed again and tugged me closer. His arms were wrapped around me, and I leaned against his chest in contentment.

“Let’s see… well, last week, I got to talking with my botany professor—the one who’s giving the test on Monday? I mentioned that I had been planning to come home for your birthday, but that now I couldn’t. I’m doing pretty well in that class, and I think the professor likes me. So then Monday, when I came into class, he called me up front and asked me if I thought I could possibly be ready to take the test on Friday morning—today, he meant. I said I thought maybe I could be, and he told me that he was willing to let me take it today so that I could come spend the weekend with you.”

“That’s incredible! He really must like you.”

“So I was going to tell you Monday night, and then I thought... I’ll make it a surprise. My mom was going crazy! She said she had to keep avoiding you all week. And every time I talked to you, I was afraid I would accidentally say something, so that’s why I didn’t stay on the phone very long. I was so excited, I was having a hard time keeping it to myself.”

“You all did an excellent job of it. I was totally in the dark.”

He shifted to kiss my cheek. “Do you know how hard it is to surprise someone who can hear thoughts? This is probably the first and last birthday surprise I’ll ever be able to give you, and it’s only because I was too far for you to hear me.”

I snuggled closer. “It was the perfect birthday gift. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

He trailed a finger around my cheek, and I shivered in pleasure.

“How much longer until dinner, do you think?” he murmured against my hair.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on hearing the minds inside the house. Marly’s was the easiest to pick up.

“They’re having hors d’oevres and perfectly content to let us have some time alone,” I reported.

“Good.” Taking me by the shoulders, Michael turned me to face him. “Then maybe I have time for a birthday kiss?”

“I think we can work that in…” My voice trailed off as his lips covered mine, at first with the same hesitant sweetness I’d always known from him, and then with an increasing intensity and passion. I responded to his urgency, tilting my head and reveling in the feel of his back beneath my hands. I could hear his thoughts so clearly that they might have been my own, and I savored that intimacy that I’d been missing so badly.

I think we might have stayed there for hours, wrapped in each other’s arms. But I heard my mother, who was tactfully thinking quite loudly as she approached the front door, and reluctantly pulled away just as she leaned out onto the porch.

“I hate to interrupt, but I’ve worked hard on this dinner, and it’s getting cold. You two have all weekend! Let’s eat.”

Dinner was so much better than I could have guessed it would be. We laughed about Marly’s desperate ploys to keep from giving away the surprise, and she vowed that she never wanted to be in on another secret from me again. My mother brought out the cake, covered in lit candles, and they all sang to me, as Michael held my hand tightly within his own.

Then it was present time. Marly and Luke gave me an antique edition of Shakespeare, which thrilled me. Michael rolled his eyes.

“Great,” he moaned. “As if she doesn’t already know all the plays by heart.”

I stuck out my tongue at him. “It’s a wonderful gift, and I love it,” I told Marly. “Thank you so much.”

Then Michael handed me a small wrapped box. I looked at him in confusion.

“What’s this?” I asked. “I thought you being here was my gift.”

“Well, look on this as a bonus,” he suggested. “Come on, open it up.”

I carefully unwrapped it and gave him another exasperated look when I saw the velvet box. “Michael! You shouldn’t spend your money on me,” I scolded half-heartedly. Then I opened it. Inside were nestled an exquisite pair of pearl drop earrings that almost perfectly matched Nana’s necklace.

“Oh, they’re beautiful,” I breathed. “How did you know?”

“I called your mom and asked what they were giving you,” he answered smugly. “Do you like them?”

“I love them!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms around him before I remembered that we weren’t alone. None of the others seemed to notice, though, and Michael kissed me on the cheek and whispered, “I’m glad. Happy birthday.”

We sat around the table late into the evening, chatting and enjoying being together. I felt more whole and complete than I had in a month as I sat with my hand within Michael’s. When the Sawyers stood to leave, Michael rose, too.

“Can’t you stay a little longer?” I entreated him.

“Tasmyn, it’s late,” my father reminded me. “And Michael had a long drive today. Let him go home now and get some sleep, and tomorrow you two will have the entire day together.”

“That’s right,” Marly agreed. “No work for either of you—part of your birthday gift, Tas. The day is yours.”

Reluctantly I walked Michael to the porch again as the adults lingered discreetly behind us. He pulled me against him once again, and I raised my lips for a kiss. His hands tangled in my hair as he held my head, and I could hardly breathe when we broke apart.

“See you in morning,” he whispered. “I’ll be here by eight. Be ready!”