“And you'll do it with pizazz.”
Layla pirouetted then posed with one hand and one foot out in front of her. “Of course.”
The screen went fuzzy, and everyone looked at the modern day Layla, stunned by the vivacious and intelligent little girl they'd just discovered.
Layla blushed and shook her head. “I was a goofball.”
Quin laughed as he kissed her red cheek. “Yes you were, and too cute.”
“That's an understatement,” Caitrin whispered. “That was the most beautiful bit of film I've ever seen.”
“I bet Katherine never stopped laughing,” Daleen quietly noted.
Layla shrugged and fidgeted with the tips of her hair. “She did laugh a lot, but that was her personality. It didn't have anything to do with me.”
“I'm sure it had everything to do with you,” Serafin disagreed. “You were an entertainer, a comedic genius at the age of seven, and cute as a button.”
“I wasn't like that around everyone,” Layla confessed. “Katherine was the only person I felt comfortable enough with to be whatever I wanted to be.”
Morrigan took a shaky breath and wiped at blossoming tears. “That was so special, sweetie. I could watch it a million times and never get tired of it.”
Layla laughed as she magically pushed play. “How about we watch the next part instead?”
Everyone's attention returned to the screen as Layla and five other girls danced onto a stage in matching silver and blue leotards. Layla was the smallest in the bunch, obviously the youngest, but she led the others as she flawlessly performed a gymnastics routine.
Quin looked from the angel on film to the one in his arms and noticed her aura slowing as her lashes dropped and fluttered back up. He kissed her head while cuddling her to his chest and dimming the lights, and before the dance recital was over, she was asleep.
He and her grandparents stayed put, wide awake and raptly watching every moment recorded on the pile of video tapes. They stifled their laughter so they wouldn't jar Layla awake, but occasional tears flowed as they viewed more than a decade of birthdays, holidays and events. They watched her get her driver's license on her sixteenth birthday, just in time for Katherine to surprise her with keys to her first car. They saw her dressed for prom, and watched her walk onto a football field in an evening gown to be crowned homecoming queen. They witnessed her valedictorian speech and the opening of six college acceptance letters. And she gracefully crushed the competition in every sport she played. At sixteen, she blew an unsuspecting audience away as Shakespeare's Juliet, and at seventeen, she mesmerized an entire town when she emerged from the choir to sing a solo at the induction of Gander Creek's new mayor.
Her aura didn't show up on film, but Quin could tell when it touched the unwitting people around her, and this was particularly true with Katherine. Between the accomplishments, Katherine recorded lovely moments with just her and Layla, and on more than one occasion, Katherine had quietly gasped and reached for her cheek or heart, tears swelling in big brown eyes as a smile curved her lips. She had to be feeling Layla’s aura at the time, and though she didn’t understand it, she obviously loved it. Layla would curiously watch the reaction, but then Katherine would continue with the fun and games, compelling her daughter to do the same. They’d dance in the living room, sing cheesy karaoke, or put on fashion shows and skits.
The most recently recorded tape was only half-filled, and it ended with Layla disregarding an acceptance letter to NYU, because she wanted to head west, not east. The screen went fuzzy, and everyone looked at her – a woman now, thrust into a new world and a new identity, but the lively and fun person she’d been on the videos was still in there, stifled by worry and fear yet willing to step out when the world needed her.
The morning sun crept through the windows as Layla’s grandparents waved goodbye and left, but Quin didn’t move. Vanishing his and Layla’s clothes, he used magic to rewind the video to her graduation speech. Then he laid his head back and closed his eyes, falling asleep with her voice in his head and her body in his arms.
Chapter 18
Guthrie couldn’t have cut it any closer and kept his skin intact. The sun crept over the horizon less than five minutes after he landed in the Clatsop State Forest and directed his unit to the sleeping quarters.
“Find a place to sleep then report to the boss for inspection.”
Guthrie turned away, and his gaze flashed over Lynette, who hadn’t spoken to him since he kicked her out of bed. He couldn’t blame her, and it was just as well. Her silence in all matters would make their lives easier… and perhaps longer.