A Life Earthbound (19 page)

Liam was dancing with Capri, the two of them smiling and laughing with that cheerfulness they both seemed to thrive on. They looked natural together, so much so that when Capri had returned to Euphora, Rhiannon had half expected the two of them to fall for each other. Certainly, they would have been good together, but instead Capri had found Rian, and Liam had…well, he had served as a brother figure, just as he seemed destined to do.

Blythe had lured her bounty hunter onto the dance floor, and they were dancing slow, wrapped up as close as possible, staring into each other’s eyes with such intensity and crazed adoration that it made her uncomfortable to watch. That kind of blatant, exposed passion had never made sense to her, and she supposed it never would.

She spotted Sierra, donned in her ocean blue silk dress, dancing with her arms around Tobias’ neck. He had his hands awkwardly placed on her waist, but his eyes were locked on her face. He had been infatuated with her younger sister for as long as she could remember, and ever since Sierra had figured it out, she’d done nothing but toy with the poor boy’s heart. She dangled herself out like a carrot to him, and just when he thought he was finally going to get a bite, she’d skip away laughing. It really was vile, but Sierra seemed to find it all highly amusing and entertaining.

At least she had never led Liam on that way, Rhiannon reminded herself contentedly. She’d broken it off clean and precise, with no loose ends that could attempt to tie themselves up again. And ever since that day, any time he had attempted to get close to her again, she’d politely refused him, no matter how hard it was to see the anguish and hurt in his eyes. She’d told him to stop waiting for her, and the fact that he continued to push at her, albeit more softly now, was more his problem than her own.

She’d made her intentions clear. How he chose to act was not within her realm of control. All she could do was govern her own mind and her own carefully locked heart, and see to it that nothing shot through and shattered her meticulously structured life again.

The gardens behind the castle were much different than those in the courtyard. Where the courtyard garden was verdant, neatly trimmed and ostentatiously beautiful, the back gardens were almost forgotten, growing wild and untamed over three acres of land, with white birch trees lining the outside perimeter.

There was a path that wound its way through the tall wild grasses, organically formed by centuries of wandering feet. While most paid no mind to these back gardens, Rhiannon felt a special connection to them, if only because they were essentially forgotten and filled with lost secrets of times past.

Along the path, wild roses bloomed, thorny and beautifully untamed, a sharp contrast to the perfect blooms in Thea’s rose garden in the courtyard. And as Rhiannon strolled through the tall grass, an oval shaped wicker basket in her arms, she tenderly picked the roses and tucked them in the basket, intending to use them for a centerpiece for the dining table.

As she snipped a stem, she’d kneel down and lovingly help mend and re-grow what she had taken. Such was her gift, to bestow beauty back to what had been lost.

Thea was in one of her melancholy moods that day, and so she had conjured up misty clouds to hover over all of Euphora. The resulting fog and light drizzle made the back gardens seem even more enchanting and mysterious, and Rhiannon enjoyed the cool feel of light rain on her skin.

The birds and other animals that so joyfully inhabited the courtyard seemed averse to the back gardens, as though they did not feel comfortable there. It only heightened the overall atmosphere with its heavy silence, the only exception the sound of Rhiannon’s legs brushing the grass as she walked.

Since Liam’s birthday party the evening before, Rhiannon had not stopped thinking of the events that had taken place. Clearly her mother cared so little about her husband that she would blatantly flirt with yet another man right in front of him. What her motives were, Rhiannon had no idea. Burke Callahan was a happily married man. Though, from the way he’d looked at her while they had danced, she would almost beg to differ.

But what was her mother’s motivation to get close to Burke? Surely she wasn’t prepared to orchestrate a second affair so soon after her tryst with Brock was exposed and she was disgraced in the eyes of her husband.

It also seemed strange that Burke had asked both her mother and Thea about her character and abilities. Why should he be concerned with her when she hardly knew him, and she was just one of the many people who lived on Euphora? What was it about her that interested him so much?

That was the real question, she supposed. Why were her mother and Burke Callahan getting so close, and why did she have a sneaking suspicion that she was at the center of whatever it was they were doing together?

Suddenly, behind her, she heard the strumming of an acoustic guitar.

When she turned toward the sound, she spotted Liam sitting on the steps, his brand new guitar in his lap and his hand skillfully moving across the strings.

He grinned up at her, his expression playful and a bit sheepish. “I thought I’d play a song for you while you work.”

She was about to let him know that she preferred the silence, but before she could say anything he jumped into a song he often played just for her.

She felt a smile tugging at her lips so she turned away so he wouldn’t see. She continued walking through the grasses, enjoying his song, even though she resolutely disagreed with its message.

Only the good die young…hmmph. She was convinced that wasn’t true. What was wrong with a person dedicating their lives to something more than just themselves? To have a desire to contribute and make a difference in the world, and not live in rash self-interest and self-indulgence? Surely Liam could see that her life had purpose, and that it was purpose that centered her and made her whole. She couldn’t imagine how anyone could live without it.

So if being a good, hardworking, dedicated individual meant that her life would be unfulfilled according to this songwriter’s standards, then so be it. She wouldn’t want to live any other way.

When he was finished, she glanced over her shoulder at him.

“Are you trying to tell me something with that song?” she asked, amused despite herself.

“Maybe.” He grinned, rising to his feet. She watched with carefully guarded eyes as he loped lazily across the garden toward her, slinging the guitar over his shoulder so it rested at his back, held by a leather strap. “Though I’ll bet you find nothing wrong with being a goody two shoes.”

He slung his right arm over her shoulders casually and led the way as they began to walk. She tried to ignore the tingling discomfort she felt from his casual affection.

“There’s too much stress involved in breaking rules,” she informed him, keeping her eyes ahead and her hands conscientiously clamped around the handle of her basket.

“Hmm…see, I beg to differ,” he began, smiling up at the gray and misty sky. “It’s liberating to not worry about consequences or rules and just go with what feels right.”

Pursing her lips, she found she wholeheartedly disagreed. “But then you don’t consider what effect your actions have on others, or on the future. It may feel right to run off to Ireland for a week on a whim, but what about work, and the burden that puts on others who now have to pick up your slack?”

“Is that someplace you’d like to go, Ireland?” he asked, looking at her curiously.

She bristled at the question. “Not necessarily, it was just the first example that popped into my mind.”

“It would suit you, that place.” His eyes were glued to her, even though she refused to return his stare. “The rolling green hills, dark trees, fields of purple heather and misty fog. Ancient castles filled with even more ancient secrets…”

She thought of the field of barley her father had taken her to that summer long ago, and how much she’d loved it. While Ireland’s fields of green may be enchanting, she’d take her fields of gold.

“In case you didn’t notice, we have a green field right here, with flowers and fog. And an ancient castle. I have no need for Ireland.” She chanced a glance up at him.

He only smiled. “I myself prefer being out at sea. Put me on a sailboat, cruising through the Atlantic to go deep sea diving and I’m in heaven.”

She tried to hide the shudder she felt at the very thought. “I don’t trust boats, much less one without a motor.”

“Why not? It’s perfectly safe.”

She snorted before she could stop herself, but she didn’t quite laugh. His eyes widened at the sound, but she spoke before he could say anything. “Boating accidents occur all the time. Did you know that on average there are nearly five thousand boating accidents in the United States alone each year? And, between seven and eight hundred people die in those accidents.”

“Why in the world do you know that?” he asked, amazed at the information she stored away in that avid mind of hers.

She paused, debating whether or not to tell him the truth. Deciding it wouldn’t hurt, she explained. “When you and your father went fishing last year and you told me you were planning on renting a boat, I read up on the statistics and passed them along to your mother, just so she was aware of what kind of danger you were getting yourselves into.”

“Wait.” He stopped mid-step and stared down at her, eyebrows raised. “You’re the reason we ended up fishing on the shore instead of in a boat?”

She met his eyes, her expression a bit haughty. “You should be thanking me for saving your life.”

“Do you know how much I was looking forward to that boat ride?” He stared at her disbelievingly. “I’d wondered why my mom was so freaked out by us going. In fact, she hasn’t let me go out boating since. I should’ve known...”

She felt a hint of remorse, but her reasoning forced it aside. “She had a right to know what her husband and son were doing.”

His face changed, his eyes brightening as he grinned. “You were worried about me, Rhia. I’m humbled.”

Caught off guard, she scrambled for something to say. “I would have done the same for any of the Council. Someone has to be responsible.”

“Then why didn’t you present some kind of death stats chart to my dad when Blythe went sky diving?”

Caught again, she grimaced. “Like any amount of reason has ever stopped her from doing as she pleases.”

“Is that such a bad thing?”

“It is when it negatively affects one’s life, family, or work.”

“Okay, but not everything that’s fun is harmful.”

“But I would argue that many things that are harmful are fun, or else why would people do them? Such as sky diving, drinking in excess, riding a motorcycle…but in the end, all a person is doing is risking their lives and everything they’ve worked for or their family has worked for, all for a brief moment of fun. I’m sorry, but I don’t see how that one moment is worth it.”

He watched her, silently taking in her words. When he spoke, his deep blue eyes filled with a mixture of pity and sorrow.

“For someone so logical, you seem to miss the entire point of living. Life is nothing but risks, and the risks are what make it worth living. There must be things that you want, but are too afraid to take. Maybe it would be good for you to take them, before it’s too late.”

“I’m not like you, Liam,” she said, her eyes betraying none of the uneasiness she felt at his words. “I don’t waste time with unreasonable wants, and certainly nothing that requires I risk everything I am to attain it.”

“No,” he said dully, his hands gripping her shoulders, bringing an awareness to her eyes that hadn’t been there before. He pulled her to him, so his lips could graze her temples and he could breathe in the rich scent of sage in her hair. “You never waste time on anything that doesn’t fit into your neatly organized life, Rhia. Not even me.”

They’d been through this before, several times over the years. But she had never told him, not once, the reason for her ending what had been between them. She thought that if he knew, he would only fight harder to keep her, thinking that it hadn’t been her decision, but her mother’s. It was easier this way, to convince both him and herself that she didn’t want him, that she didn’t need him.

“Liam, you know this can’t happen,” she said evenly, taking a cautious step back in retreat. His hands fell from her shoulders and he stared at her with dull pain in his eyes.

“Why won’t you let me in?”