A Vision of Green (Florence Vaine #2) (15 page)

He gazes down at me, eyes all ablaze. I shift away and mumble an apology, but he only gives me a knowing smile and breathes not a single word.

“
Flo honey,” says Hayley, making her way over to us. “My lord, I never realised how deep your ability ran, you don't just read auras, you heal them. You've made such a difference for Derek, you should be very proud. A few of the ladies want to book readings with you, what do you think?”

“
Um...” I trail off, my frantic eyes looking to Frank, perhaps in the hope that he'll provide me with the right answer. The right excuse.

“
Maybe take their names and tell them you'll contact them when you have a date. I don't think Flo's prepared to dive right in the deep end just yet,” he suggests. I sigh in grateful relief.

Hayley gives me a warm smile and puts her hand on my shoulder. “You're feeling a little drained, huh? What you did for Derek was wonderful, but I get why you might be hesitant to begin giving readings full throttle. I'll take their names and hold them for you until you feel ready. Does that sound okay to you Flo?”

I nod. “Y-y-yes that's perfect, thanks Hayley.”

She gives my shoulder a final squeeze, slips a fifty into my hand, from Derek apparently, and goes back to talk to the group of women who want to book with me. I let out a long breath and shake my head.

“
Come on, let's get you home,” says Frank, placing his hand lightly on the small of my back and leading me out the door of the bookshop.

“
By the way, what did you say to Bill earlier on when I w-was doing the reading? I saw you whispering something in his ear.”

Frank gives me a mysterious but amused look. “Nothing
too
extreme. I just said I'd cut off his balls for him if he didn't keep his mouth shut.”

My mouth forms an “O” shape in surprise, but I don't say anything. Not
too
extreme my arse.
It's funny though, when you think about Bill's confidence instantly deflating at Frank's words.

We get into the van and begin the short drive back to the house. My mind is spinning with what I did for Derek tonight. What if my fixing his aura is only temporary? What if his colours eventually return to that murky dark blue and he comes seeking me out, demanding to know why my work didn't last? I feel someone's hand on my knee and it drags me out of my thoughts.

“
Stop,” says Frank. “I can see the worries swirling around in that head of yours. If you don't want to do another reading for the rest of your life then that's your decision Flo. Don't let Hayley or any of those women push you into doing something you're not ready for.”

“
It's not them, it's just...it's so much responsibility. I'm basically fiddling around with people's emotions in the hopes that I can set them right. What if I inadvertently touch on something I'm not supposed to and break it while I'm fixing the stuff on the surface?”

Frank's eyes leave the road for a second to meet mine, they penetrate deep before he glances away again. Goodness, there was so much meaning in that one look and I can't even begin to translate it.

“
If you want my personal opinion, I think you should hold off on all of this, at least until you're finished school. Also, you've got enough issues of your own to get past before you go and start dealing with other people's. Wait until you're in a better place, psychologically, and then think about helping people.”

What does he mean by “psychologically”? God, he must think I'm an absolute mess, which I kind of am, although it's also a little bit of my own fault since I let him think that my screwed up head is the reason I broke up with him.

“
You're completely right,” I reply, staring out the window at the dark streets as they zoom by.

Gingerly, his hand leaves my knee and my heart quits racing. I hadn't even realised how fast it was beating until Frank stopped touching me.

The van slows down then and I look out to see we're parked in front of Gran's house. Oh no. Parked
in front
of Gran's house. I told him to pick me up at the end of the street, but we never got around discussing how he would drop me back home. My heart starts up again for a whole different reason. I study the windows and notice that the inside of the house is dark, no lights on at all. Perhaps Dad went out to the pub with Sal or something. I can't let him catch me being dropped off by Frank again.

“
Thanks for coming with m-m-me tonight,” I tell him quickly and rush out of the van.

“
Hey Flo, wait a second, can't I get a hug goodnight?” Frank asks, leaving the van too and coming around to meet me. Crap. Crap. Crap. My eyes slide back to the darkened windows of the house. I cross my fingers on both hands and pray that Dad's either sleeping or out somewhere.

A hug seems like a kind of intimate request, but I'm so flustered that I simply throw my arms around his neck and pull him close to me. I try to let go quickly, but Frank holds on, the contours of his body pressed flush against mine.

“
See how perfectly we fit,” he says against my hair and then finally releases me. I almost stumble as I pull away from him.

“
S-s-see you in the morning,” I mutter as I hurry up the steps to the front door. Frank gets back in the van and waits until I'm inside the house before pulling away.

The hall is pitch black when I get in. As I fumble around for the light switch my hand suddenly makes contact with something that feels like fabric, and beneath the fabric, a body. I jump away in fright and bang my head off the wooden banister of the staircase. I don't have to ask who's there because I can smell him again. My dad's trademark boozy, drugged up, unwashed scent.

My eyes haven't adjusted to the dark yet, so I can just barely make him out. He's obviously been standing there for a while and can probably see me far clearer. He grabs a hold of my wrist and twists it to an unnatural angle so that I can't escape him.

He pulls me close and his cold voice seethes, “Did you think I'd let you get away with lying to me Flo? Did you think I wouldn't find out?”

“
I d-d-didn't lie,” I whimper, as his awful breath drifts over my face.

He shoves me away from him and I fall to the first step of the staircase. He switches on the light, and a vague thought dawns on me that it would have been less frightening if he had left us in the dark. He's wearing a stained crumpled t-shirt and boxer shorts. Clearly he and Sal spent the entire day in bed, off their faces on whatever they could get their hands on. His bloodshot brown eyes cut into me like a knife, his mouth contorted with disgust, as if
I'm
the disgusting one in this situation.

“
Well then, if you didn't lie explain to me why the exact same knobhead you promised you weren't going to see again just dropped you off. Unless he has an identical twin and you're doing the both of them, I'm going to go with my gut instinct and say that you thought you could pull a fast one on me.”

A sudden, unaccountable burst of anger flows through me. I've really had enough of his psycho crap. “I'm not explaining myself t-t-to you, you're not even w-worth my attention. Take a look at yourself Dad, you're a f-fucking disaster. You're miserable and the only happiness you can get out of life is dragging me down with you.”

He moves so quickly then that I feel the sting of his slap before I've even noticed him lunge at me. He's breathing heavily, eyes cloudy with rage, rage he seems to be trying to hold back with whatever minuscule amount of self control he might have. I hold my hand to my cheek. His gaze darts overhead when he hears Sal moving around upstairs. Then the landing light comes on and Sal peers down at us from the top of the stairs. I glance up at her, all she's got on is a string top, a pair of knickers and two fluffy purple slippers.

“
What's all the noise about Terry?” she asks as she groggily rubs the side of her head.

“
Nothing love, go back to bed,” he answers, taking a step away from me.

Sal stands there silently for a moment, taking in the scene before she says, “Yeah, I think I'll get a cup of tea first,” and then she starts making her way down.

She passes by us both, a look on her face that's half suspicious, half completely oblivious. I'm just thankful she decided to get up and interrupt us before Dad might have given me a whole lot more than a slap across the face.

“
I'll give you one more chance Flo,” my dad says in a low voice after Sal's disappeared into the kitchen. “A fresh slate. You stop seeing that boy from here on out and I'll forget about what happened tonight. And don't think I don't remember the other chap who dropped by to see you, you can cut him off as well. What's his name anyway?”

Other chap? Then I remember how Josh had come over here to see me, and Dad had welcomed him in with open arms because he'd been high.

“
His name's Josh Carter, b-but you don't have to worry about him, he's not really a friend anyway,” I mumble, saying far too much, while Dad's eyes narrow thoughtfully.

“
Carter? Is he Simon Carter's young lad?”

I shrug. “I don't know, probably.”

Dad slaps a hand on his thigh, a sudden smile gracing his narrow mouth. “Well now isn't that a turn up for the books. Scratch what I said, you can see Carter's son whenever you want. We go way back, used to be good pals in our school days.”

Well that makes perfect sense. Josh's dad's an arsehole, my dad's an arsehole, they're a match made in arsehole heaven. I wonder if that's the friend Dad mentioned going to see, the one who told him all about what I've been up to since moving in with Gran. Actually no, I remember Dad referring to his friend as being female so that can't be right. And how would Josh's dad know anything about me anyway? I'm going to have to find out who this woman is, because it's a little creepy that she was practically spying on me all this time and knows all about Frank and his foster brothers and their situation.

My heart gives a strange little flutter as the tension drains away from the air between me and Dad. Not two minutes ago he was ready to beat the living daylights out of me. Now he's happy as can be.

“
You tell your friend to tell his dad Terry Vaine is back in town and that he better get himself over here and have a drink with me before the end of the week,” he says.

After a beat he goes into the kitchen to join Sal, leaving me alone on my step with one sore cheek, a nervous headache and the knowledge that I'm going to have to do a far better job of keeping my distance from Frank.

The next day at school Layla and Ross are back. Ross having finally recovered from his encounter with Diana and her coven. I know this because Layla grabs me as I'm walking down the corridor and practically squeezes the life out of me with her hug.

“
Flo, I missed ya daar-ling,” she says with a false fancy voice and surprising affection. Previous to this, she's been consistently hot and cold with me. But now she's grateful, I can see it in her colours. She feels the need to thank me for how I found Ross in the basement of the hospital and restored his aura so that he wouldn't die.

Layla's a tall girl and very slim, with long poker straight jet black hair and hazel eyes. I feel like a short stump next to her. She's got tight ripped jeans on, and a black tank top underneath an oversized white shirt with the sleeves folded up to her elbows.

I don't know what to say so I settle for, “M-missed you too, how's Ross?”

She shakes her head at my awkwardness. “He's great, guess what?”

“
Um..what?”

“
Ross agreed to come with me on a trip to France to visit my parents during the mid-term. Isn't that great!” she exclaims.

Layla's one of those girls with wanderlust, too vibrant and full of life to possibly stay in one place. Especially not a town like Chesterport. If you don't count the supernatural occurrences, it's the epitome of ordinary for her. Layla's biggest problem with Ross is that he doesn't share her passion for travel. Seemingly his dalliance with the witches caused him to change his view.

“
It is, how long are you going for?”

“
Two weeks, the mid-term break lasts a fortnight starting next Friday,” she answers, one arm still around my shoulders as we walk along on our way to the final class of the day, P.E.

I'd completely forgotten that the mid-term break was coming up. My stomach sinks. Two whole weeks at home with Dad and Sal is going to be a complete nightmare. We stop just short of the door to the girls' changing rooms. I notice Josh standing nearby, talking with some of his friends. He gives me a lascivious grin, which I determinedly ignore, focusing my attention on Layla.

“
Sounds like it's going to be lots of fun for the two of you,” I say to her.