Unleashed (13 page)

Cordelia grimaced. “My two cousins moved in a few months ago when their father died. It’s been an adjustment for everyone—but you know, family.”

“Yeah.” She knew only too well. The only family she had left was a trigger-happy grandfather she couldn’t relate to. But Cordelia had obviously had a life here—one she’d put on hold. So they had that in common.

“So shall we get started?” Cordelia said, sitting up.

“Sure.” Katelyn was grateful for the topic change.

Cordelia dug some books out from underneath her bed while Katelyn fished in her backpack for the library book, which she still hadn’t told Mrs. Walker she’d taken.

“My trip to the library was a preemptive strike,” Cordelia announced. “I checked out a bunch of books before anyone else got to them. Most of the really good local stuff hasn’t made it onto the Internet yet.” She dropped the books on the bed and spread them around so that all the covers were visible.

Katelyn glanced at the titles of some books. “
Arkansas and the Civil War. The People Rule: A History of Arkansas
. This is the really good stuff?”

Cordelia grimaced. “Kind of boring, huh?”

“I thought we were going to do the school. Because it’s haunted?” Katelyn said, prompting her.

“Can’t. I saw Maria at the library and she and Jackson called dibs. Her aunt has some old yearbooks or something. I don’t think there’d be much left for us.”

“Well, what about some other ghost story? Tri—I heard there are all kinds of stories about scary stuff up here in the mountains.” She was determined not to mention Trick’s name around Cordelia again.

Making a face, Cordelia resolutely picked up a book. Katelyn read the title on the cover:
A History of Arkansas: From Spanish Settlement to Prohibition
. “I’m not really big on supernatural stuff,” she said apologetically. “I scare easily. My dad says I’m the biggest baby on the planet.”

“Oh. Well, what about your family? Do you have a big mystery? Where your granny’s special pumpkin pie recipe came from? Or when you came over from the Old Country, something like that?”

“Oh, gosh, we’re boring as heck,” Cordelia said with a smile, but her voice sounded a little strained. Katelyn picked up on it and wondered if maybe the Fenners had a scandalous past of some kind. Kimi’s mother had told Katelyn that people in the South took a lot of pride in their families—who “their people” were. Californians tended to be a lot more rootless.

“Maybe you can find something in this,” Cordelia said, handing the book over to Katelyn. “I guess I’m just not feeling like an investigative historian today.”

Clearly the unexpected appearance of Cordelia’s sisters had upset her. She seemed much more subdued than she had been at school. Glancing at the pictures of a laughing Cordelia with her cheer squad, Katelyn thought the Cordelia who sat across from her on the bed looked almost like a different person.

“I’ll give it a shot,” Katelyn said as Cordelia idly pulled out the handout for their project and read it. Katelyn flipped to the table of contents of the book and skimmed it. Her eyes widened with excitement when she came to “Buried Treasure.”

“Cordelia,” she said, “what about this?” She tapped her finger on the words. “Spanish treasure, outlaw booty, hidden mines.”

“Shake your booty,” Cordelia sang softly.

Katelyn thumbed her way to the chapter. She began to scan the text. “Spanish settlements … Let’s see.… Whoa, look at this. Did you know Hot Springs was run by the mob in the thirties? Hidden mines … gold mines. Oooh, a hidden gold mine.”

“That might be good,” Cordelia said. “There’s gold in these thar hills.”

Katelyn smiled and kept reading. Suddenly the words “Wolf Springs” popped out at her. She followed along and then read aloud. “ ‘The tiny Victorian village of Wolf Springs, a miniature jewel in the crown of the nearly untouched towns dotting the Ozarks, is well known by treasure-seekers for the lost silver mine called the Madre Vena.’ ” With a grin, she looked up at Cordelia. “Score!”

To her surprise, Cordelia looked a little pale, drawing up the left side of her mouth in an expression of distaste. “Silver? Gold’s … 
cooler.
” She imitated Mr. Henderson’s un-Southern accent as she said the word.

“Yeah, but the Madre Vena mine is right here,” Katelyn pointed out, surprised Cordelia hadn’t made the connection. “It’s in Wolf Springs.”

“So they say,” Cordelia replied, sounding dubious. “How old is that book? It’s probably been found by now.”

“But if it hasn’t been, we should totally do it,” Katelyn insisted. “Didn’t you say Mr. Henderson was an archaeologist? He would love us.” She went back to the first couple of pages of the book. “This book’s only a year old,” she announced. “Oh, come on, let’s do it.”

“Well …,” Cordelia said, sounding reluctant. Then she swiveled her head suddenly, as though she’d heard something. “We should be going before it gets any later. We can talk about this in the truck. It’s a long drive.”

Katelyn frowned, puzzled. They’d just gotten there. What was the point in getting together if it was only for ten minutes?

“If we have extra time, we can hang at your place, right?” Cordelia said. Her voice rose a little at the end. She was even tenser than she’d been when she’d seen her sisters’ cars.

“Sure.” At least, Katelyn hoped it would be okay with her grandfather.

They packed up their bags and headed back toward the courtyard. As they crossed it, Katelyn heard the roar of a motorcycle pulling up outside.

They were almost to the door when it crashed open, making her jump. Framed in the doorway in front of a blaze of sunlight, a tall guy in aviator sunglasses froze. His face was sharply angled, his jaw square, and cheeks and chin stubbly with a five o’clock shadow. His wavy chestnut hair was flecked with gold. A black leather jacket stretched across broad shoulders; powerful thighs were encased in tight black jeans.

He raised a black-gloved hand, pulled off his sunglasses, and looked Katelyn over, eyes lingering. They were deep, deep blue, the color of a California summer. Katelyn’s heart began to pound. He was gorgeous, so sexy it almost hurt to look at him. He unzipped his jacket to reveal a simple black T-shirt pulled across his chest.

As though in slow motion he walked forward, pulling off his gloves, one finger at a time. Katelyn had to tilt back her head to look up at him when he stopped in front of her; he had her beat by at least a foot. Without taking his gaze off her, he stuffed the gloves in the pocket of his jacket.

“Kat, this is my cousin Justin. Justin, this is Kat. She’s new here.”

Katelyn held out her hand, willing him to take it just so she could feel his skin touching hers. His mouth twitched. He slid his hand around hers, consuming it, and gripped tight. Her skin tingled where it touched his and she parted her lips slightly. He was bending down toward her, his lips nearly touching her cheek. Then he inhaled sharply, as if he were catching his breath, and she jerked, but he kept tight hold of her hand.

What the heck?
She blinked as he pulled away just enough to meet her eyes.

“Hello, Kat.” His voice was low and a little hoarse.

What did he just do
?
Was he going to kiss me
?

He still held her hand in his, and as he continued to stare into her eyes, she felt an aching sensation in the pit of her stomach. She wanted with everything that was in her to throw her arms around his neck, press her body against his, and kiss his lips.

No, she didn’t just want to; she was
going
to. Her free hand was already moving up around his neck when she heard footsteps and a voice suddenly shouting, “Stranger!”

5

“S
tranger!” the voice shouted again.

Justin pulled away and Katelyn sagged slightly even as she turned to identify the speaker. A guy with a thick neck that met his chin was standing just inside the door, dressed also in jeans and a leather jacket, a motorcycle helmet dangling from his left hand. His mouth was wide, and his eyes were like Ping-Pong balls. With his right hand he was jabbing his fingers at Katelyn. He began to make a soft whining noise of distress.

Cordelia moved swiftly to the newcomer’s side and gently took his arm. “I’m sorry, Jesse. I wasn’t expecting you home or I would have told you she was coming.” Her cheeks were red. “I
thought
you two were coming back tomorrow.”

Katelyn blinked, still slightly dazed, and forced herself to focus on Jesse. He looked a lot like Justin, although a bit shorter, and with fuller lips.

“Pretty stranger,” Jesse said, now grinning at her.

“Yes, Jesse,” Justin said without turning to look at him. “She is very pretty.”

Cordelia looked over at Katelyn. It was obvious that Cordelia hadn’t caught Katelyn’s reaction to Justin. And Katelyn was still so bewildered that she turned her back to him. Had
Justin
known she’d been on the verge of throwing herself at him? Her heart was thundering, and she was sweaty. And still very, very confused.

Okay, what just happened
? she thought.

“Kat, I want you to meet my other cousin, Jesse,” Cordelia said. “Jesse, this is my friend Kat. She’s new here and needs friends.”

“Hello, Jesse,” Katelyn said softly, focusing her attention on him.

He didn’t appear to hear her. Katelyn took a step forward and repeated herself.

“The lady said hello,” Justin said. “She’s a nice lady. It’s okay.”

Finally Jesse lifted his eyes, took a couple of quick steps forward, and kissed her cheek, then retreated.

Startled, Katelyn looked at Cordelia. Cordelia made a grimace of apology, and Katelyn smiled to let her know she hadn’t minded. Then her glance flicked over to Justin. He was staring at her, the left side of his mouth quirked upward, a thumb looped in his front pocket.

“I’m taking her home now,” Cordelia went on. “So we’ll be out of your hair.”

“We can manage dinner,” Justin said to her. He turned back to Katelyn and gave her a slow smile. His teeth were very white. “Welcome, Kat.”

Katelyn searched for words, but Cordelia had already grabbed her by the hand and was dragging her out the door before she could respond. As she climbed into the truck, Katelyn couldn’t help looking back. Justin stood in the doorway, watching them go. A trail of heat flashed up her back and spread across her shoulder blades. And before she knew it, Cordelia had eased the truck out and they were shooting up the driveway.

As the truck rattled along the dirt path, the spell slowly dissipated.

Cordelia was saying, “I’m sorry. Jesse is … special.”

Katelyn nodded. She was embarrassed that Cordelia thought she cared about that. But it was a good cover to explain how flustered she was by Justin. Just replaying the last minute or two gave her goose bumps. Good ones.

“He seems like a sweetie,” Katelyn assured her.

“Yeah. Jesse is great, but he’s never going to be able to be on his own. That’s okay, though. Family takes care of each other.”

Cordelia downshifted as they started up the steep grade. She flicked on an iPod, which Katelyn hadn’t noticed, and it began to play through the speakers.

Her brain hit an instant replay of what had just happened between her and Justin, and this time the memory of his scent penetrated her brain. He smelled like the
ocean
. Salty, plus that indefinable whatever-it-was she inhaled when she stood barefoot in the sand, closed her eyes, and lifted her face to the sun.

“Is the cheek kissing a family thing?” Katelyn asked, trying to sound casual. Now that she’d had a chance to process everything, she’d realized that Justin had been millimeters away from kissing her cheek, too. He’d stopped himself just in time.

Cordelia made a face. “I know it’s weird. We can be a bit touchy-feely sometimes. Sorry about that.”

So it is a family thing
, Katelyn thought, disappointed. But it hadn’t felt like it. It had been too charged, too intimate.

“Please. I come from the land of the air kiss,” Katelyn said, struggling to mask her confusion. “And my mom was French.”

Cordelia clenched her teeth and smiled. “Again, sorry. I thought we’d have the place to ourselves this afternoon and you met half the family instead.”

“Your sisters are freakishly weird,” Katelyn admitted, wrinkling her nose. “Jesse is sweet and Justin’s … intense.”

Cordelia’s face darkened. “He’s always been that way, ever since we were kids. Since his dad died, though, he’s letting that side show more.”

So Justin had lost his father, too.…

“What about his mom?”

“Died when Justin was a baby,” Cordelia said, squinting through the windshield. “My mom’s dead, too.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Katelyn said, surprised. She hadn’t met many other people who had lost parents, like she had.

“I don’t even remember her,” Cordelia said quietly.

“At least you have your dad still,” Katelyn said, faltering.

“Yeah. Gotta love Daddy.” She cocked her head at something she saw. Katelyn tried to follow her line of vision, but the sun was in her way.

Katelyn’s mind wondered. She wondered how Justin had been coping with losing both of his parents and if he resented living with Cordelia’s family the same way she resented living with her grandfather. He was old enough to be on his own. Then she thought of Jesse and realized that he was probably doing it for him.

It gave her a tiny, momentary thrill that there might be someone else out here in the middle of nowhere who understood what she was going through.

“What happened to their dad?” she asked, then realized maybe asking was rude.

“It was a hunting accident,” Cordelia said simply, but she suddenly looked pale and she wrapped her hands tightly around the steering wheel.

Katelyn wondered how close Cordelia and her uncle had been and decided not to push any further. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”

“No, it’s okay. I guess I haven’t really had anyone I could talk about it with.” Cordelia flashed her a shy smile, and Paulette’s warning came to mind.