July (The Year of The Change Book 1) (7 page)

They were all standing by the corral where a young colt pranced around not far from his beautiful Chestnut mother. Dad looked concerned when he saw me running and out of breath. I skidded up beside him, shaking a little. He put his arm around my shoulders and I jerked my head towards the house.

Kevin walked quickly towards us as he smiled and stared at me. His eyes weren’t crazed. Maybe the fresh air helped.

The closer he got the more mesmerized I was by his angelic face. His classically sculpted features reminded me of a Renaissance painting of the archangel Gabriel. However this Gabriel was happy and perhaps a little amused at my behavior. Either way, just looking at him lifted my spirits. I couldn’t take my eyes off his smile. Too bad he had to be affected.

Dad put me on the other side of him and extended his hand. “Well, hello, Kevin. My, you sure have grown up. I hardly recognized you.”

Kevin, now as tall as both fathers, grasped Dad’s hand, barely taking his eyes off me. “Well, sir, it seems we’ve all grown up quite a bit.” His eyes caught mine before he turned back to Dad.

My jaw dropped. How badly was he affected?

Mr. and Mrs. Beck looked up with surprise and Barbara rushed over with a squeal to greet Kevin. They obviously weren’t expecting him, but quite pleased he’d come. His mom threw her arms around his waist. “I thought you had to work.”

He hugged her back. “Yeah, I did.”

Dad asked him how college was going and they had a nice discussion while he kept me positioned downwind. Kevin’s parents joined in the conversation and Kevin behaved himself by not staring at me … much. Every time I looked, he caught me ogling and I quickly dropped my eyes with a blush.

“So, thought you were scheduled to work?” Jim frowned at his son.

Kevin grinned. “I originally had to work, but wrangled a co-worker into switching shifts.” He turned to me. “I just had to see my buddy again.” He smiled.

Oddly, that rang a bell. The memory came flooding back to me. When they visited five years ago, he and I had been inseparable. We were buddies from the start and had a great time together. He beat me at everything, which torqued my competitive edge, then again he was a good sport about it and I tried to be. A smile bloomed as I remembered. I’d thought of him a lot after they left. I’d even imagined being in love with him. He was the center of a lot of my best day dreams. Unfortunately, like everyone else in my life, he’d left and never came back. He never even wrote even though I sent him two letters. Eventually, I shoved his memory out of my mind and forgot about our friendship so I didn’t have to miss him.

I looked at him more clearly. This time I saw my buddy. He smiled. Oh how I wanted to
not
be going through The Change. The emotions of wanting a boyfriend crashed over me. I wanted someone like Kevin who was kind and fun to be with. I wanted him to hold me and tell me I was special. A sigh escaped. At that moment I didn’t care about The Change. I didn’t want the gifts or talents or any of that. All I wanted was someone to love me.
Can you say pathetic?

Dad must’ve seen my expression because he shook me. To those not in the know, it would’ve looked playful. “It’s amazing how kids grow up.” I snapped out of my pity party. “You’re now a college
man
and my Sylvia here is going to be a junior
girl
in high school.” He looked less playfully at Kevin. “She’s not dating yet, but next year she’ll probably have her pick of all those Alaska high school boys.”

Subtle, yet, a slap in the face.

My cheeks burned as though he’d actually hit me.

I peeked up from my feet to see Kevin frown at Dad. When he looked at me he smiled warmly, though I could see sadness in his eyes. I wanted to reach up and smooth it away. I wanted to be to him everything The Change made him think he wanted to be for me.

He breathed in deep. “No doubt she
will
have her pick.”

No doubt The Change had his brain bound and gagged. I would have to avoid him for the duration of our visit. My heart sank and I couldn’t bear to look at him. If only there was one boy that wasn’t affected. I could be with him without fear of him going off the deep end. Just one boy, that’s all I needed. That’s all I couldn’t have.

I looked away and watched the colt trot around the corral, and the twins as they petted Mark’s horse.

Mark watched his brother with daggers flying from his light brown eyes. I wondered what Mark was mad about until I remembered he’d been affected earlier. Inside I cringed and worried about the rift I was going to gouge between the brothers. I was a walking battlefield.

Barbara turned to me. “Have you ever ridden, Sylvia?” She gestured to the horses.

Riding horses had been my favorite thing to do. In the wide open spaces all around the dry desert land and surrounding dusty dirt roads outside of Houston, Texas I was as free as a bird.

“Yes, I used to ride all the time when I lived with my grandparents.”

“Well then, I’m sure the boys wouldn’t mind taking you riding.” She glanced over at Kevin with a twinkle in her eyes.

Kevin didn’t waste time and jumped on the invitation. “I’d be glad to take you out.”

I looked at Dad who frowned.

Kevin spoke to Dad. “We have a very gentle mare, she would be safe.”

Dad didn’t have to say anything. I had to be the one to decline. I didn’t want to, I wanted to go for a ride and have some fun with Kevin, to flirt and be playful. I wanted Kevin to chase me and I wanted to let him catch me. Sigh.

Instead I was dutiful and lied. “That’s very nice of you, but I’d rather not.” Another lie told for the sake of The Change. I didn’t like the taste of it on my tongue.

His smile turned down. “Well, if not horses then I could take you for a ride in my new car and show you the area.” His smile was back with enthusiasm. He had a very alluring smile with the most beautiful full lips.

Mentally I shook myself.

I wanted to go for a ride with him, but once again I was dutiful. “I really don’t want to be in a car, but thank you for offering.” After a glance at Dad I looked down at my big feet and felt like such a heel when Kevin was being so nice. I hoped that he could see that I really did appreciate his offer.

I needed a way out and Dad was no help. He and Jim were back talking about some Nebraska vs. Oklahoma game that was coming up. Sue had wandered off to keep the twins out of trouble. She didn’t want any part of this.

Barbara came to my rescue. “I can imagine with all the driving ahead of you the idea of being in a car isn’t very appealing.” I really liked Barbara. “How about cards or board games?” It sounded safe. “’Sides, we have air conditioning in the house. It’s more comfortable.”

It wasn’t all that bad outside. It had been a good ten degrees hotter when we left Oklahoma

“That sounds like fun.” Enthusiasm was hard to muster. I would have rather stayed outside. I would have rather done a lot of things, but couldn’t. I peeked at Kevin and stifled a groan.

He wasn’t frowning any more. I was sure he preferred his idea of the car ride. “Yeah, we have lots of games.”

Too bad I couldn’t explain all of this to him so he didn’t think I was such a wet blanket.

Mark and Randy heard our plans and came over with the twins trailing behind. They wanted to play, too. We all walked back to the house, Mark and Kevin on either side of me. With one last look over my shoulder at their beautiful horses, I was forced by The Change to go inside on such a beautiful day. Dad gave me a ‘be careful’ look and stayed behind us.

Gram told me I would have to give up much this year. December couldn’t come soon enough. I missed my grandmother.

Inside the house, the guys tried to lead me down to the basement.

I stopped abruptly at the top of the stairs, both hands clutching the handrail. “Uh … Can’t we play up here?” My face heated with those pathetic words.

The others looked at me like I was crazy. I backed away towards the living room where my bodyguard was headed.

Mark piped up. “It’s cooler downstairs and we have a game table.”

“Uh, ya’ll go ahead. I’ll go read my book.” Kevin stayed by my side as I kept backing up. I swallowed hard.

It was obvious they weren’t thinking well of me. Doing this was the pits and I could only hope The Change would keep them from hating me.

Kevin looked at me puzzled. “We can play upstairs until dinner time.” He talked to his brothers as he kept his gaze on me, studying my face with concern.

“I don’t want to put ya’ll out.” Kevin’s deep eyes sucked me in and a part of me wanted to rebel, a part that wanted to be free to have fun and enjoy being liked.

Mark put his hand on mine and I cringed back. “It’s no big deal, come pick out a game and we’ll bring it upstairs.” He motioned to the basement as he tugged me toward the steps.

I slowly pulled my hand from under his. “Ya’ll go ahead and pick something. I’ll play whatever you want.”

My blush radiated through me like a neon sign blinking ‘Loser … Loser’. Would this day ever end so I could hide in bed and cry myself to sleep?

The adults settled themselves in the living room. Dad watched our every move from the edge of his seat. I could see how hard it was for him to concentrate on what Jim was saying as he tensed, ready to save me.

Kevin stepped between Mark and me. “You guys go down and pick something, Sylvia and I will get the table ready.”

Mark glowered at his older brother and didn’t move until Randy and the twins pulled him down with them.

My dad relaxed and enjoyed his adult conversation as he watched me accompany Kevin to the dining room. I kept an arm’s length between us for safe measure. We had the table cleared when the others arrived. They picked “Bible Pictionary” and “The Farming Game”.

Kevin pulled out a chair for me next to the seat he’d chosen at one end of the table, which is why I walked to the other end. Before Mark could react Randy sat to my right and Tim plopped into the seat to my left. Tam immediately sat on Randy’s right which left Mark scowling at the seat Kevin had pulled out for me. Kevin didn’t look happy, either. I grinned at both of them and their smiles were a bit weak.

I’d never played the Farming game. We set it up and the boys proceeded to teach the twins and me how to play. It was an intriguing game that had me believing farming was a lot harder than farmers made it look. It was interesting to see how my choices fared through the different seasons. Surprisingly, I was the top farmer in the end.

Mark gathered his game pieces. “You’re a natural Sylv. You should be farming here in Nebraska.”

I smirked at him. “Now why would I want to farm in Nebraska when I could farm in Oklahoma?” I shouldn’t have teased, but I’d finally relaxed and was having fun. The lightheartedness was a nice change.

Mark opened his mouth, but Kevin cut him off. “Because …" He held my eyes in his. “Everything is better in Nebraska.”

His warm eyes melted me to the seat and for a brief moment I believed he was right. I was ready to settle in right here. Nebraska was the perfect place to live, far better than Alaska. I could sleep in Kevin’s room since he was at college and was sure Barbara wouldn’t mind. I could feel myself being sucked into my fantasy as I fell into his eyes.

Tim poked me. “Hand me the money, Sylv.”

I snapped out of the trance and gathered my game pieces, putting them in the box, being careful not to look at Kevin. That little part of me that wanted to rebel stomped her foot.

Bible Pictionary was next. I didn’t know if my ability to draw would kick in, almost afraid it would. Tim rolled the high number and went first. He drew a blob and Tam immediately said sheep. I’d always thought they had a psychic link and that just proved it. They laughed at the rest of us with our mouths open.

We went clockwise around the table. Mark was next and groaned when he read the drawn card. He huffed and growled under his breath when we didn’t see what his square and lines represented. The time ran out and he threw the card on the table. It read ‘Arc of the Covenant’. He scowled as Kevin drew a card.

Kevin’s drawing was very rudimentary, nonetheless, I could tell what it was, or guessed right. “Mount of Olives.” Everyone looked at me stunned. They must not have had a clue what it was.

Tam went next and Tim got it with two squiggles.

I shook my head. "They're almost freaky some times."

The boys agreed.

Randy took the pad of paper from Tam as he shook his head and grinned. He stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth as he concentrated. He persevered and just before time was up Tam yelled “Walls of Jericho!”

I looked at Randy’s drawing again. I didn’t know how she got that from misshaped squares. Tam was definitely psychic.

When it was my turn I drew the card with ‘scriptures’. This was easy, even before The Change I could have drawn this. I would just draw a plain book and let them guess, that would be simple and safest.

My talent wasn’t into simple or safe. It drew two books, one laying open half over the other. Everyone was quiet while they watched the details take shape. The top book had well used tabs sticking out, marking pages that had neat notes in the margins. Next, male hands touched the top book, as though in the process of turning a page. On the pinky finger was a silver ring with the letters C, T, R. The ring had a small nick in it and the band was bent a little on the side.

When finished I looked at everyone. No one guessed. The boys just stared at the drawing. I added ‘The Holy Bible’ to the bottom book - a blatant disregard for the rules - yet no one took a stab at it. Tim and Tam watched the others, waiting for the boys’ reactions. From the look on their faces I could guess they’d picked this game just to see what I would do. They looked from boy to boy waiting for something to happen. They knew my drawings could cause trouble. I gave them both a dirty look. They just smiled back in return. Sometimes those two could be evil.

Kevin took the picture and looked at it closely. I couldn’t read the expression on his face. Did he like the picture or did it freak him out? Unease crept in.

Oddly my hand took the paper back and drew a small black rectangle, above the books, with 'Elder Beck' on it and a small metal cylinder on a keychain. Kevin swallowed hard and stared intently at the drawing.

Mark looked up as Barbara walked through the dining room on her way to the kitchen. “Hey mom, come see what Sylv drew.”

Uh-oh.

She peered over Kevin’s shoulder. “That’s very good, Sylvia.”

Sue must’ve heard Mark for she came quickly into the room and looked at the drawing. She frowned at me. All I could do was shrug. Sue didn’t like when I drew pictures. Mainly because my drawings usually caused trouble for her.

Kevin pointed to the ring with his left hand. Barbara sucked in a breath and looked at me. The look on her face was an odd mixture of surprise and perplexity.

I worried about what was going on here. What did I do now?

“Where’s yours?” She whispered to Kevin

“In that small shoebox in my closet.” He whispered back.

She glanced at me and said nothing.

Yep, I definitely did something wrong. Now, how to make light of the picture so they wouldn’t keep thinking about it? There was something there that had significance.

“I don’t know what’s so good about it, no one even guessed what it was and the time has run out.” I feigned stupidity, something that was very easy for me.

They all turned their eyes to me and I automatically felt uncomfortable. I feebly pulled the corners of my mouth up.

Kevin smiled before he laughed. “You can’t expect us to guess with this level of talent, since there’s no guessing to it. They’re scriptures.”

I rolled my eyes, pretending relief. “Finally! I was beginning to worry it had been too vague.” I knew it was anything, but vague. Luckily it made everyone laugh and dispelled the tension. Even Sue eased up her frown, a little.

Kevin looked at me with awe. I doodled on another sheet of paper, afraid of falling into his eyes again. He got up and took my drawing to his room. When he came back he noticed the doodle I’d tossed to the side and asked if he could have it too. I said yes and he took that to his room as well. It had only been a simple sketch of two young guys in white shirts and ties with name tags … Smith and Jones … very generic.

Barbara announced dinner was almost ready and the table would need to be cleared and set. I was ready to eat -- I was always ready to eat. My stomach had been grumbling at me for over an hour and I was surprised the boys hadn't made fun of me. I wasn’t sure how I was going to contain myself and only eat like a normal person. The one good thing about it was I would get to eat in peace, unlike lunch in Crete. At least I hoped I would.

With the game put away and the tables set, we brought out the food. Kevin and Mark insisted on helping me which made space at a premium. Randy and Tim also got in the way. It was a wonder something didn’t get dropped or spilt. The adults, Kevin, and I sat at the main table while the others sat at a card table. Kevin had designated the folding table the ‘kids’ table. Mark fumed the whole time. He knew if Kevin hadn’t been there - as he wasn’t supposed to be - Mark would’ve sat at the ‘
adult
’ table. I couldn’t blame him for being mad and felt sorry for him. Tim vied for his attention, while Tam hung on every word Randy said.

It was obvious Tam had a serious crush on Randy and I kept getting in the way of his attention. Randy’s eyes would wander to me and he only half listened to her. There was nothing I could do about it, except apologize later. I apologized a lot these days.

Barbara, being a very good cook and used to feeding athletic boys, piled the table high. I watched closely how much I ate, wanting all the while to eat a whole lot more. Sue also kept a close eye, shaking her head if she thought I took too much. If I did, no one seemed to notice. Kevin especially didn’t notice as he kept up a steady monologue about his life at UNL and his job. Dad seemed impressed and Barbara beamed at her son. Although Kevin was bragging, I didn’t mind. He’d worked hard for what he’d achieved.

After dinner, Jim took Dad and the guys out to the barn to do some evening chores while we ladies cleaned up the meal. With the guys out of the way clean up went quickly. It was nice with just us females in the house. I relaxed and listened to Barbara talk about a rodeo that was coming up in a couple of days. It would’ve been fun to go to a rodeo. I hadn’t been to one since I left Texas. I thought perhaps Barbara was trying to talk Sue into staying a few more days. She should’ve saved her breath. Dad had us on a tight schedule and The Change meant I couldn’t stay here so close to three boys, not to mention a whole rodeo of guys to run from. The Change ruined everything.