Catalyst (A Tethered Novel) Read online

  She answered after three rings. “Honey, how are you?”

  I closed my eyes at the sweet sound of her voice, the genuine excitement. “Hey, Mom, I’m good.”

  “So, have you girls spent a lot of time at the beach? I hope you’re remembering to wear some sunblock.”

  “We haven’t really hung out at the beach during the day much. We went last night for a bonfire party with some people we met, but that’s about it,” I informed her, even though I knew exactly what her next words would be…some form of motherly concern.

  “Oh, well…how old were these people? I’m not going to be delusional about the situation, I’m sure you were drinking. I just hope you girls didn’t accept any opened drinks from anyone and you stayed together.” Her voice managed to only crack once as she spoke. I knew she wanted to freak out, but she’d contained herself well.

  “We did. We were safe about it. Promise,” I assured her. “And they were some locals who were around our age.”

  “Well, I just worry about you, you know. Things can easily get out of hand at a party like that, especially with people you don’t know. I just want you girls to be safe.”

  “I know, we are,” I said, hoping to ease her conscience for a second time.

  “How about food, did you manage to find the grocery store okay?”

  “Mom, the town is like the size of Linfrank… Finding a grocery store was a piece of cake.” Not really. I’d gotten lost once, but she didn’t need to know that. It would only make her worry more.

  “You’re right. I know.” She sighed. “So, have you decided if you’re staying the two weeks like Vera, or are you gonna stick it out for the entire summer?” I could hear the panic in her voice clearly, even though she’d tried to hide it behind false excitement.

  There was only one answer she was hoping for, and unfortunately, it wasn’t the one I was planning on giving. This was not a conversation I wanted to have at the moment with her. So, I did what any person would do… I stalled.

  “Umm, I’m not sure yet.”

  “Oh, okay” was all I got in reply.

  “Well, I should probably go. I think Vera wants to go to breakfast or something,” I lied, because I didn’t feel like being on the phone with her anymore. It was awkward—something it had never been before between us.

  “Breakfast? It’s eleven thirty.”

  I had no idea what time it was. Obviously. “Brunch then.”

  She chuckled a little. “All right, well I love you, sweetie. Have fun, but please stay safe.”

  “Always, love you too. Bye, Mom.”

  “Bye.”

  I hung up with a weird feeling floating through my gut. Things had changed between us and she had no clue. I wanted to question her on what she knew about my biological parents, but didn’t know how to broach the subject. I was hopeful the time would come one day.

  Vera stood at the bottom of the stairs, leaning against the doorframe with a piece of burnt toast in one hand and a Mountain Dew in the other. Her tank top was inside out and backward, and her hair was in a rat’s nest-looking bun on top of her head. Mascara smeared beneath her eyes, creating a severe raccoon effect.

  “God, you look like shit,” she said, eyeing me up and down. “And I was the one hammered last night, how is that even possible?”

  I chuckled at her jab at my looks, wondering if she’d taken the time to look in a mirror yet this morning. I continued past her and into the kitchen for a glass of orange juice and a heaping bowl of Peanut Butter Cheerios.

  “I didn’t sleep well,” I said.

  There was no way I was telling her what happened between Kace and me last night. She’d think I was nuts for sure. Everyone would. Even I was still on the fence about it.

  “Why is that? Did you have a little action going on last night?” She grinned at me wickedly and followed me into the kitchen. “Is that why there’s some guy’s number on the dry eraser board?”

  I shook my head and smiled as I got a glass from in the cabinet. My stomach knotted at the memory of Kace scrolling his number across the board. “How do you know it’s a guy’s number? There’s no name.”

  “A wild guess.” She leaned against the counter and took a tiny bite of her toast. “But, I know it is now.”

  I poured some orange juice and put the container back in the fridge without looking at her. “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because of the shit-eating grin on your face right now.”

  “What shit-eating grin?” I asked, trying desperately to downgrade my grin to a small smile without much success.

  “That one right there.” She laughed, pointing at my mouth. “So, is it Kace’s number?”

  I nodded. “Yeah.” Damn she was good.

  “He came over?” She set her burnt toast on the counter and twisted the cap of her Mountain Dew off. “Did you guys do the dirty?” She raised an eyebrow at me as she took a swig.

  “I had to have someone help me get your drunk ass up to your room last night. And no, we didn’t.” I would have, most likely, but we didn’t and that was all Vera needed to know.

  “I was bad off, wasn’t I?”

  “Oh yeah.”

  She leaned against the counter and forced herself to take another small bite of toast. “I feel it this morning, that’s for sure.”

  “I bet you do,” I said, taking my bowl of cereal and glass of juice into the living room where I’d left the newspaper. I still needed to see if there was anyplace hiring, because one thing was certain—now that I knew what was inside of me, I needed to stay in Soul Harbor to figure out more about it, and that meant getting a job.

  There were only a handful of places hiring in the entire paper. If I wanted to be a telemarketer, a truck driver, or a person who sold stuff off some sketchy website online, then I had it made. Unfortunately, none of those seemed to be up my alley. That left me with Ingles stocker, gas station attendant, table busser at Fisherman’s Brew, or cashier/stocker at Spellbinding Reads.

  Fisherman’s Brew table busser was out. For sure. I didn’t even think Twila would give me an application for the position and I didn’t ever feel like setting foot back in that place again. Gas station attendant was out too, because I was not working crazy hours, which is most likely all they would have available for a newbie. Cashier at Ingles and the job at Spellbinding Reads was all that was left on the table. Either would do.

  After getting a hot shower, I headed to Vera’s room to see if she wanted to come into town with me and get the applications, but found her lying across her bed, snoring. Guess that meant I was going it alone.

  I headed to the bookstore first, because it was my number-one choice. If I was going to spend the summer here and had to work, then what better job could I find than at a bookstore by the beach?

  Spellbinding Reads was on Main Street. I pulled my Jeep into a parking space directly in front of the store. The rolling, fluttery feeling of butterflies coming to life in the pit of my stomach began as soon as I cut the engine. I’d only ever applied for a job once, when I was sixteen, but only because I didn’t want to work as a paper pusher at my parents’ chiropractic office. I’d applied at a local Wendy’s restaurant as a cashier, got the job, and only lasted about three weeks.

  Fast food had to be one of the most stressful industries to work in. All it took was one lady to toss a dime at me through the drive-through window when I’d nicely told her she was ten cents short for the burger she’d ordered to set me off and make me decide I never wanted to come back. I turned in my uniform the next day and went to work logging stuff in on the computer for my parents after.

  I’d been there ever since.

  I slicked my hands down the side of my skirt, smoothing out any creases, and tightened the hair tie holding my hair back in a ponytail, before gripping the metal handle to Spellbinding Reads’ door.

  A bell hung above the door rang as I opened it. Air the perfect temperature met my skin as the scent of lemon and some sort of spicy tea t
ickled my nose. My sandals slapped against the dark, rustic-looking wood floors as I stepped inside. A tall U-shaped desk stood along the far wall, but there was no one standing behind it. Bookshelves nearly as tall as me were lined up in neat rows in the center of the room, and larger ones that touched the ceiling lined the outer walls. Celtic music of some sort flowed through the room, creating a calming environment. A makeshift coffee bar stood in the far right corner. Fluffy, overstuffed chairs were placed sporadically through the entire store.

  This was definitely a place I wanted to work. It was a book lover’s paradise.

  “Come on in, look around, and I’ll be right with you in just a moment,” a male voice called from somewhere near the back of the store.

  “Thanks,” I called out to him, trying to pinpoint where his voice had come from. The door at the back wall?

  I headed straight to the New Adult/Young Adult Paranormal titles shelf clearly labeled by a sign with the same design as the one hanging above the shop door outside. My fingertips brushed against the shiny new book spines filling the shelf. I pulled out a few that had titles that caught my interest, just to look at their covers. I was too nervous to actually read any blurbs and I didn’t have the money to buy anything today anyway.

  There was nothing worse than finding a book you desperately wanted to read, only to determine you couldn’t afford it at the moment. It was the same way with shoes.

  “Is there something in particular I can help you find?” asked the man who had greeted me when I walked in from behind me. I hadn’t heard him walk up, and his close presence, mixed with my already nervous energy, made me jump. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said smoothly.

  “It’s okay. I just didn’t hear you walk up,” I said, taking in his features. There was an odd familiarity about him, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

  He was older, probably in his early to middle forties with short-cropped hair slightly speckled by gray. His eyes, a deep green, were fixated on me in a way that made my skin prickle with goose bumps. I didn’t like it. It was almost as though he were staring at some incredibly fascinating animal that was supposed to be extinct when he looked at me. A large black cat caught my attention as it jumped from on top of a bookshelf behind him and into a chair before hopping down to the floor and strutting to the desk at the back of the store.

  “I get my sneakiness from her, I guess.” He pointed in the direction of the cat and then folded his arms across his chest. “That’s Sage; she’s sort of like the store mascot.” His steady eyes dropped to the book I was holding. “I haven’t read that one yet, but I’ve heard good things about it,” he said, pointing to the book.

  I glanced down to see what book I’d grabbed. A cover with a girl dressed in a black dress with feathers floating all around her gleamed up at me. “Oh, you read these types of books?” I asked, his confession striking me as odd. I didn’t know why though. He obviously worked in a bookstore. Of course he read the stuff he sold.

  “How else would I be able to recommend books similar to others if I didn’t at least make an attempt to read some of the books I sell?” He grinned like I was some small child asking a stupid question regarding why the sky was blue.

  “Well, that makes a lot of sense, I guess.” I put the book back on the shelf and readied myself to ask for an application.

  “You aren’t going to get it?”

  I shook my head. “It’s one I’ve wanted to read for a while now, but I actually came here because of the ad in the paper.”

  His eyes lit up, but in a weird way. “Really?”

  “Has the position already been filled?” I asked, praying silently that it hadn’t. I loved the ambiance of this place.

  “No, it hasn’t. In fact, I just put the ad in the other day. You’re the first person to apply,” he informed me and then headed toward the desk in the back. “Follow me and I’ll get you an application.”

  I followed him to the desk and then stood, wondering where I should put my hands, wishing I’d just worn shorts or at least a skirt with pockets. My eyes swept over the novelties resting along the edge of the desk—colorful bookmarks with tassels, dozens of those little lights that attached to e-readers, pens, magnets with what looked like a picture of his cat with a little saying written in the same scrolling script as the signs above the selves. I picked one up and read it.

  Books are word windows… Open one and see where its magick may take you.

  “My name is Admer, by the way. I own this little place,” he said as he continued to riffle through stacks of paperwork and books littering his desk. “I don’t really need you to fill out an application. I just need it so I can ask you a few questions and get all of your general information.”

  I didn’t understand what he meant. “Oh, okay.”

  He paused in his search and glanced up at me, his eerily steady eyes meeting mine. “I’m saying you got the job.”

  My pulse spiked as a sudden lightness centered in my chest and then spread outward, making my limbs tingle. “I got the job?” I asked unnecessarily, unable to believe I’d gotten it so easily.

  “Of course.” He nodded with a small smile and then resumed his search. “I need someone who enjoys reading …which seems to be you. Ah—here it is…” He held up a piece of white paper. “And besides, you were the first person to ask about the position… I’m a firm believer in the old saying first come, first serve.”

  I smiled. “Well, thanks.”

  “All right, now let me ask you some boring questions regarding your address and such.” He pulled out a hard case from in his front pocket and retrieved a pair of small-circled, wire-rimmed glasses. “Oh wait, I didn’t let you know the hours. I’m so sorry; my mind seems to be a little overworked today.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “We open at ten in the morning and close by four during the week and six on Fridays and Saturdays. We’re closed on Sundays. But I won’t need you for all of those days. I’ll probably have you work three days a week, possibly four. How does that sound?”

  “Great!” I said with a little more enthusiasm than I’d intended.

  “All right, now on to the boring stuff,” he said, lifting the paper up so he could better read it.

  When I got back home, Vera was awake and sitting on the couch watching TV. We didn’t have any cable or satellite, but we did have movies that I’d thought to bring. She was watching one of my favorites, Superbad.

  “Where have you been? I walked around this house searching for you for like an hour before I realized your Jeep was gone. This place is huge!” Vera said as I flopped down beside her on the couch.

  I grabbed a throw pillow and sat it in my lap, tucking my feet beneath me. “I went job hunting and landed one at the first place I applied,” I bragged.

  Vera paused the movie. “So, it’s official. You’re staying for the summer, then?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I think I am.”

  There was too much I needed to learn from Kace, too much I didn’t know. I couldn’t leave now.

  “Awesome, because I’d love to head back out here, even if it’s just for a weekend, before I get settled in at the dorms. One last go around with summer.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

  I grinned at her. “That would be awesome.”

  “Where did you land the job at? Anyplace cool?”

  “That bookstore, Spellbinding Reads.”

  Vera made a gagging noise. “Ugh, it would be the only stuffy bookstore in town and not someplace of actual value…like a clothing store where you can get a wicked discount, or even a shoe store.”

  I hit her with my pillow. “It works out for me. I’ll be getting ten percent off any books I want to buy and I get to read while on the job any book I want for free.”

  “Anyway…” she said, completely ignoring my awesome discount news, as she switched the movie back on. “What do you want to do for dinner? I’m starved.”

  We ended up going to a restaurant on a comp
letely different side of town than Fisherman’s Brew. I made the excuse of not wanting anything seafood—which was hard to find in a beachside town—but in all honesty, it was because I didn’t want to be anywhere near Twila, Stina, or Theo. There was something unsettling about all three of them, and it went deeper than the little threats they’d directed my way the other night and their odd stares.

  Instead, we chose an Italian restaurant, which seemed a little out of place in the beachside setting. But who were we to judge? A large green sign hung above the front double doors that read: Colette’s. The place was small and dimly lit, but the smell that filled your nose upon entrance was heavenly—fresh-baked bread with just a hint of garlic.

  “Bread…real, fresh-baked bread…this place is speaking my language. Good thinking, Add,” Vera said as she inhaled deeply while we waited at the door to be seated.

  “I know,” I agreed.

  We were both self-proclaimed bread heads. The type of people Dr. Oz labeled with a wheat addiction. If you wanted to kill either of us in the most agonizing way…take bread from our diet. We’d die, for sure.

  “Table for two?” the dark-haired hostess asked with a smile. There was a slight gap between her two front teeth, but on her it worked. Some people were like that.

  “Yes, please,” Vera and I both said at the same time.

  “Right this way.” The hostess turned and we followed her through the restaurant to a booth nestled in the back.

  I slid into the seat, feeling the cool leather against my bare legs. Our hostess passed each of us a menu and a rolled-up thing of silverware.

  “Janelle will be your waitress tonight. I’ll send her over to take your drink orders in just a moment.” She smiled before walking away.

  “This place is cute,” Vera said, glancing around.

  I nodded in agreement. Low-hanging pendant lights swirled with deep reds and glittering golds hung from the ceiling above our table, giving off just the right amount of light. The walls were painted a textured beige color and genuine paintings hung at each booth. Ours was a gorgeous picture of an alleyway someplace in Italy, or so I assumed. It was one of those paintings that had depth to it, almost 3D looking. You could tell it was something someone had painted and not a photocopied poster like you could buy at Wal-Mart.