"You think I could have blocked it all out on purpose?"
"Maybe. No one would blame you if you did. It isn't like you had any contact with anyone back here for the last twelve years to remind you of your life here."
"Do you think we could catch up again soon to talk?"
"That is a certainty. School is back on Monday."
"School. I'm not sure I'm ready for a new school."
"You'll be fine. Kat and I'll be there. You'll fit in just fine."
Alexandria cringed at hearing Kat's name; it brought back visions of Bran leaving her bedroom that morning.
"Have I missed something?" River asked, noticing the change of the expression on her face.
She shook her head, shaking a jasmine flower from her hair. "No."
He leaned across the table and picked it up, tucking it back into her hair, his hand lingering softly on her cheek. Alexandria caught her breath; she could feel her cheeks turning red, her heart skipping a beat. What was it about the boys in Ferntree Falls that made her lose her faculties with just one touch?
He held her gaze. There was so much he wanted to tell her. If he opened his mouth now, though, sitting with her here like this, he was afraid that he might say too much and scare her away. But wasn't it already too late to be worrying about such things? If the way he had seen her looking at Bran last night was any indication, he was most certainly too late. Their almost kiss was an indication of that, too.
River jerked his hand away from Alexandria's cheek as though he'd been burned by a flame.
"I'm not with Bran," Alexandria blurted.
River looked at her. "What?"
Alexandria felt herself shrinking down into her seat, groaning inwardly. "Nothing. I don't know why I said that... Just forget I said anything. It's hot in here, isn't it?" she said, trying desperately to change the subject. "Are you hot? I'm hot..."
"Very," he replied, a smile finding its way to his lips as Alexandria shrank farther down into her seat.
"Buttermilk blueberry pancakes with cream and maple syrup, and two cappuccinos," the waitress announced, placing the plates and two mugs of steaming coffee down on the table. "Enjoy your meal. Anything else you'd like, just give me a shout."
Chapter 7 – Gypsies, Vamps & Spells.
Alexandria chastised herself all the way home from the pancake parlor, her cheeks still burning every time she thought about what she had said about Bran. And now there was River… What with a house to fix up on a meager inheritance, a ghost as a friend, a vampire as a boarder, and a new school, the last thing she needed was boy trouble of any kind.
She slowed the car as she drove through the gates of Witchwood Estate. In front of the house stood a quaint Gypsy wagon and, nibbling from an overgrown flowerbed along the side of the house, was a beautiful piebald stallion with a long, flowing mane and white feathering covering its lower legs. She turned off the ignition a short distance away, not wanting to spook the animal, and slid out of the car. Did they still call themselves Gypsies? she wondered. As a child, she'd always been enthralled by the stories her father had told her about Gypsies. She had always imagined their lifestyle to be romantic and exciting, in a mysterious kind of way. She walked slowly towards the feeding animal, her hand outstretched. "Beautiful boy," she murmured, checking to make sure the horse was, in fact, a male. "Big boy," she murmured. The horse slowly lifted its head to look at her nonchalantly, continuing to munch lazily on a wad of grass. The horse nodded his head in an agreeable way as she ran her hand across his cheek, then combed her fingers through the beautiful, white mane. He stomped his hoof then, making her giggle.
"I will leave you to your food," she said, patting him on his broad chest. She glanced at the wagon again, fighting the urge to take a quick peek inside. Standing at the front door, she pushed it open apprehensively, wondering whom she might find waiting for her inside.
"Here she is now..."
She followed Andrew's voice into the kitchen.
"God, what happened to you? You look like you've been pulled through a bush backward," Kat exclaimed with a contemptuous look, her hands on her designer-swathed hips. As always, Kat looked as though she had just stepped off the covers of a glossy fashion magazine, regardless of the amount of alcohol she had consumed the night before. Her skin glowed beneath perfectly applied makeup, her long, dark hair shone, but it was her eyes that Alexandria noticed above all. Kat's eyes seriously sparkled, as though a light had been switched on. Did they sparkle because she was in love with Bran, too, Alexandria wondered, feeling an ache in her chest.
"I got caught in the storm," Alexandria said, feeling like a drowned rat in Kat's presence. She raked strands of her damp hair behind her ear, sending a shower of limp jasmine petals onto the floor. She tilted her head to examine the fair-haired woman sitting at the breakfast bar with Andrew. "Do I know you?" she asked, recognising the woman from somewhere. Colourful bangles decorated her arm, and long strings of beads hung jumbled around her neck. A real life Gypsy, Alexandria thought, excited by the notion. She motioned towards the front door with her hand. "Is that your horse and wagon outside?"