Soothsayer: Magic Is All Around Us (Soothsayer Series Book 1) (14 page)

“Alright.”

I turned on the camera to make sure everything was charged and ready to go then switched it off and put it in my bag. Picking up the stepladder and the rest of my gear I turned toward the Gator. The vehicle had only two seats in the front and a small bed in the rear like a tiny open air pickup truck. I put the stepladder on the wooden bed and the rest of my equipment on the front seat. Matthew came back through the guest entrance carrying a case of water with a binder balanced on top.

“Do you need help?” I asked out of courtesy, he clearly didn’t need any.

“Naw, I’ve got it. Thought maybe we might get thirsty being out in the sun all day,” he noted

“And that warranted a whole case of water?" My eyebrows rose on my forehead as I looked at him.

“You can never have too much water.” Matthew smiled as he put the case in the back beside my stepladder and climbed into the driver’s seat. I moved my bag off the seat so I could hop on as well.

“Alright,” he said, flipping open his binder. “Here’s a map of the grounds. Where would you like to start?”

I looked at the map, noticing the estate pressed up against a pretty large hill that might give me a great view of the whole winery from above.

“I want to start down here in the fields, but I want to make our way up to the top of this hill. Is that possible?”

“Anything’s possible,” Matthew said with a chuckle and snapped the binder closed with one hand.

“Alright, then let’s get to it.” I smiled back.

The engine revved to life and my body vibrated as we set off. The day progressed pretty smoothly. Matthew helped me with my stepladder and held the light diffusers whenever I asked. I could see why the Deardons kept him around. He really helped a lot and was an absolute pleasure to spend time with. His carefree attitude was infectious and I soon found myself joking and laughing along with him. Ever since Robert saved me I’d been afraid and cautious, but being with Matthew eased that fear a little. We zipped through the fields, stopping here and there when I asked. I snapped pictures of everything, knowing I would go back through them later and edit out the ones that weren’t that great. In my business, more was always better.

We were slowly making our way to the top of the hill when Matthew stopped the Gator under a large tree. We’d been out in the sun for a few hours and both of us were beginning to feel its effects. My shirt clung to my shoulders and stomach with sweat and I had already gone through three bottles of water. Matthew looked like he had just gotten out of the shower. His ponytail looked dipped in grease from all the sweat pinning his hair to his head.

“Do you want to get out of the sun for a bit?” Matthew asked. I couldn’t be sure but it looked like there was excitement in his eyes.

“Sure, what’d you have in mind?” I asked.

“What makes you think I have something in mind?” He put his hand to his chest, feigning shock and surprise.

“Let’s just say its instinct.” I eyed him but couldn’t keep a smile from forming.

“You must have good instincts,” he said, grabbing another bottle of water. “Come on, it’s just up here.” He nodded.

“What is?” I asked and followed him out of the shade of the tree and back into the sun.

“You’ll see.” He gave me a playful look over his shoulder.

We soon approached a small shack just ahead of us. It looked like it had been restored recently but still showed signs of being exposed to the elements. Ivy crawled up the sides and over a small, square window on the right wall. It was very quaint, but something about it instantly made my guard go up. Matthew seemed nice and all but I really didn’t know anything about him. Could this be a trap, a way to lure me to a hidden place after spending the day sedating me? I took another hesitant step in the direction of the shack.

“Seriously, where are you taking me?” I tried to keep my voice light.

“Just trust me,” he said, turning around to face me. “This is something you’ll definitely want to get a few pictures of.”

“I hardly think the Deardons hired me to take pictures of a shack, or what’s in it.”

“It’s not the shack itself.” His eyes twinkled with sweetness. “It’s what’s underneath it.”

“Underneath?” I frowned, looking at him like he was crazy.

“Just come on.” He stepped toward me and grabbed my hand.

“Hey!” I yelled as he jerked me forward.

Matthew just laughed and pulled me inside the shack. It was empty except for a few garden tools and a large crate in the corner. He released my hand before he reached for a hook in the floor and pulled. The hatch door creaked as he lifted it open. I stepped to the edge of the opening and froze.

“You okay? You’re not claustrophobic are you?” Matthew asked, seeing my reaction.

“What… oh, um, no,” I replied, stumbling over my words.

A set of stone stairs below me led into what looked like a tunnel. Lights hanging on either side of the rough stone walls illuminated the narrow passageway. It looked just like the corridor Robert had led me through after he healed me.

I finally looked up at Matthew, who was watching me with curiosity. “Where exactly do these stairs lead?” I asked, trying to mask the apprehension building inside me.

He looked me over, all the playfulness gone from his face. “It leads to the cellar where we age the wine,” he answered, frowning. I could tell he was trying to understand the sudden change in my demeanor.

“Oh, perfect.” My voice squeaked with relief.

“You sure you’re okay? You seem a little off.” There was a slight tension to his voice.

I laughed away his observation. “Can you blame a girl for being reluctant when a man she hardly knows drags her into a shack and opens up a creepy looking door in the floor?” I put on my best smile, hoping the joke would deter any further concern.

“I think I might actually be offended,” he said and smiled back before heading down the stairs.

I breathed a sigh of relief and followed close behind. “You are not.”

We descended the stairs, going deeper and deeper underground. Neither one of us spoke while we walked. I was too focused on putting one foot in front of the other while trying to stifle the memory of traversing a similar corridor with Robert. We reached the bottom of the stairs and entered a short tunnel that opened up into a fairly large room.

“This is my favorite place on the property,” Matthew explained.

“It’s beautiful,” I said, taking a look around.

My voice echoed against the crude, high ceiling. The walls didn’t look like they had been man-made either. The whole room resembled a cave, like someone had dug out all the dirt and rocks and left a big empty space behind. Our shadows danced in the thin light from bulbs spaced evenly apart, making the room glow with a soft, yellow aura. Each breath filled my lungs with the faint smell of wood and freshly-turned earth. Racks upon racks of bottled wine had been stacked against the walls and I shivered a moment with the noticeably cooler temperature.

My camera had been hanging around my neck so I reached down and turned it on. I adjusted the shutter speed, white balance, and ISO ratio so I could capture the cellar just as it was without a flash.

Matthew sat down on a large crate against the wall and started telling me all about the cellar and how it was built. Pride and affection laced his every word.

I roamed the room taking pictures of every nook and cranny. I let my hand graze over a few bottles of wine when suddenly everything shifted.

Matthew stood next to me placing bottles on a shelf. I waved my hand in front of his face but he didn’t see me. I walked around the shelf to where he’d been sitting just a moment ago, but the crate was empty. When I returned he was still stacking bottles and whistling to himself.

“Hey stranger,” a familiar voice said behind me.

Matthew looked up and a knowing smile spread across his face. “Fancy meeting you here,” he said walking past me.

I turned around to see who had caught Matthew’s attention.

“Brett?” I blurted, my eyes bulging out of my head.

Neither one of them acknowledged me as Matthew picked Brett up and kissed her.

“You’ll never guess what’s happened,” she said as he placed her back on her feet. “We found her, we found The Waker.”

Just like that, I was once more standing there with my hand frozen on a bottle of wine. Matthew continued chattering away about the cellar’s history. I walked toward him, where he was sitting on the crate again.

What the hell just happened? And was Matthew like Robert? Did he know something about this whole Waker business?

I looked back at the rack of bottles and then where Matthew and Brett had been standing just a moment ago.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Matthew asked, hopping off the crate and walking toward me.

“Nothing, I just thought…” I paused. What did I think? This wasn’t the first time I spaced and saw something strange; seemingly every time Robert touched me my imagination went into hyper drive. But this, this was different. It wasn’t a memory or a daydream, so what gives? What was happening to me?

“Violet?” Matthew asked, placing his hand on my shoulder.

“Yeah, I just thought I saw something,” I said, shaking off the image of him and Brett.

Matthew’s brow creased and he looked down at me with those big green eyes. His expression was serious but there was a calmness that radiated off of him. As I looked up at him, I heard Brett's words echo in my head, 'We found her, we found The Waker.' My lungs contracted and an overwhelming need for fresh air gripped me. 

“I got everything I need down here. Why don’t we head back up,” I suggested, looking toward the exit.

“Right, let’s go on up then,” he replied, giving me a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

I didn’t say another word as I followed him back the way we’d come. I couldn’t shake off the image of him and Brett together. I wanted to ask if he knew the Maxwells but was too afraid of what his answer might be, and in turn what that would mean for me.

As we walked up the stairs, I studied Matthew in front of me. Was it possible he was like Robert? Nothing about him indicated he had any special abilities, but I hadn’t noticed anything different about Robert the first time we met either.

“Just crazy,” I said under my breath.

“What’s that?” Matthew asked as he extended his hand to help pull me up the last few steps.

“Nothing, just talking to myself,” I replied, shaking my head.

“Self-talker.” He chuckled. “Me too, keeps me from going crazy.”

A shaky laugh escaped my throat and I took a deep breath as the fresh air hit me, “I think all the talking to myself might actually be making me crazy.”

“You seem pretty normal to me,” he said, looking back at me with his playful grin firmly in place.

“Great, I must really be nuts then,” I laughed off the jitters and we hopped back in the Gator. If Matthew was like Robert and he did know something about The Waker, I sure as hell wasn't going to bring it up while I was alone with him. He may be close to Brett, but that didn't mean I could trust him.

“You’re too good looking to be crazy.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and a few strands of hair fell out of his ponytail and across his eyes.

We both laughed and joked around the rest of the way up the hill. Keep your friends close and enemies closer, I thought. Either way, I wasn't going to let on that I knew anything and really what did I know? It was late afternoon by the time we parked and a soft glow of light sat over the whole winery. I walked around the top of the hill, getting pictures at different angles. The fields looked like long, elegant fingers splayed across the grounds. The staggering size of the estate played out before us. Matthew had talked about how large this place was but seeing it from above was magnificent.

“Alright, I think I’ve got everything,” I declared, heading back toward Matthew, who waited patiently by the Gator. He looked so at ease, leaning back, sipping on a bottle of water, that I couldn’t help myself. I lifted my camera and took a quick picture. “Okay, now I have everything.”

“Hey, I wasn’t ready for my close up,” he said and spilled water down the front of his shirt as he sat up.

“You’ll never be more ready than you are when you’re unprepared.”

“That’s actually kinda deep,” he said, raising an eyebrow my direction.

“Not just a pretty face,” I laughed. He turned the key over and we headed back down the hill.

We made much better time coming down than we did going up. I hadn’t realized how many stops we’d made along the way.

It was just after five-thirty when we arrived back at my car. Matthew helped me put all my gear in the backseat. I held onto my camera so I could get a few shots of the interior and grabbed my laptop off the front seat so I could put everything together for Mrs. Deardon.

“Thank you so much for all your help today,” I said to Matthew.

“It was my pleasure, Violet,” he said, touching my shoulder for just a second.

“The pleasure was all mine. I haven’t had that much fun in a long time. And you have no idea how much I needed it.” I waved as he walked back to the Gator. A feeling of ease and calmness washed over me. Despite my reservations toward Matthew after the cellar, I had to admit, he was a nice guy and it was really nice spending the day with him.

I walked inside, set my computer on the bar and pressed the power button. While it booted up I walked around taking pictures of the interior. I made sure to get a few pictures of the beautifully intricate sign hanging above the front desk as well as pictures of the wine bottles, labeled and ready for purchase.

Once I got everything I needed I sat down at the bar and popped the memory card in my computer. I went through the hundreds of pictures, quickly cropping and editing the ones I liked and passing over the ones I didn’t. I paused when I got to the picture of Matthew. Cropping it a little I saved it to my desktop so I could add it to my collection of candid’s later. By the time I finished going through everything and doing my first round of editing, it was just after seven. Satisfied with what I had produced, I grabbed my computer and headed around the front desk to the back office.

“Mrs. Deardon, I have everything for you to take a look at,” I announced as I walked into the back room.

“Let’s see what you’ve got,” she said, motioning for me to come in and have a seat.

I stepped into the office, and to my horror found Robert standing toward the back of the room, leaning against a stack of boxes. A jolt of emotions went through me, half furious to see him and the other half, the stupid half, delighted. I chastised myself for being excited; there was no reason for me to be happy to see him. And how did he know I was here anyway?

“You? What are you doing here?” I asked, dropping the professionalism.

“I needed to talk to Meredith about a few things,” Robert said, perfectly innocent. Like him being here was just a coincidence, right.

At the mention of Meredith’s name, I realized she was watching us from her seat behind her desk. I took a deep breath and turned toward her, trying to regain control.

“When you’re done, I have everything ready for you to take a look at.” I turned and started to leave.

“I’ll let you ladies work,” Robert said and stopped me. “I’m going to see if I can find Matty.” He stood and motioned for me to take the floor.

“Matty? You mean, Matthew?” I asked, sitting down.

“The one and only. I haven’t seen him in a while. Thought I’d say hi and catch up while I wait for you.”

“Wait for me?”

Robert cleared his throat. “Yeah, Annabel dropped me off. I figured I would just catch a ride back with you,” he said with a charming smile. He knew I wasn’t going to start a fight and argue with him in front of Meredith.

“Fine. I’ll meet you out front.” I gave him a look that made sure he knew I wasn’t happy about this.

He gave me a charming smile in exchange for my glare and then turned his attention to Mrs. Deardon. “It’s been good talking to you, Meredith. Please give Scott my best.”

“I will. He’ll be thrilled to hear the news,” she said with a nod.

“And I’ll see you in a bit,” Robert said, giving my shoulder a quick squeeze as he walked out the side door.

“Alright,” Meredith said when Robert had left the room, “let’s see what you’ve got.”

I suppressed a huff of distaste and returned to my professional demeanor. I had work to do.

Putting my computer on her desk I turned it so we could both see the screen. We went through all the pictures I’d selected and Mrs. Deardon tagged the ones she wanted prints of. It didn’t take long to go through all the photos and I was proud of the job I had done. Some of the photos I had taken, especially the ones from the top of the hill, were so beautiful I planned on putting them in my portfolio. Meredith had said at the beginning of the day that she wanted the pictures to have a magical, romantic feel to them and it didn’t take much effort on my part for them to portray that perfectly.              

“You really have a gift,” Meredith said when we’d finished.

“Thank you, you have a beautiful winery,” I said, shaking off the compliment.

“It's kind of wonderful, isn’t it?” She sighed and a proud smile pulled at the corner of her lips.

I returned her smile and nodded in agreement.

“Well thank you so much for all your hard work.”

“Of course. I’ll set up a dropbox with all the pictures and email you the link in the next couple of days." I extended my hand to shake hers and she gripped my fingers tightly.