Heir of Earth (Forgotten Gods) (19 page)

“I’m really sorry about the other night. My friends can be idiots sometimes.” Lucas’ words echoed around the cement walls of the wash rack, startling me and the new horse I was tacking up.

“Oh,” I gasped, spinning on my heel to face him. “No worries. It’s fine. April already told me that,” I offered a cheerful smile and shrugged my shoulders to dismiss the earlier encounter as if it hadn’t been horribly embarrassing for me. Encouraged by my welcome, he quickly grabbed the brush I offered and began grooming the new horse with me. An awkward silence filled the room. Conversation had never been difficult between Lucas and I, but standing there I could almost
feel
him struggling to find something to say. Several times, Lucas looked at me and started to say something. Every time he stopped and turned back to the horse. I knew he had something on his mind, so I remained silent and smiled at him as I always had whenever his eyes met mine.

In April’s mind, my first festival had been a huge success—I had danced with the one guy in Clonlea every girl was dying to dance with. It didn’t matter to her that the only reason he had danced with me was because he felt some weird protective pity a big brother might feel for his homely little sister.

After Dayne DeLaney’s seemingly bi-polar behavior at the dance, I had decided he was not going to get the chance to break my heart. I had convinced my mind that forgetting him was a good thing. My body, on the other hand, refused to listen. My resolve to forget him would’ve been easier if I hadn’t had to see him at the barn everyday. Of course, he still had the same effect on me he always had—I felt tingly in all the right places and managed to make a total fool of myself if an opportunity presented itself. But despite my rebellious body, I kept from falling at his feet like some rock star groupie.

I had also decided April was right about Lucas. He was the perfect kind of guy for a summer fling. So I forced myself to fill my brain with thoughts of Lucas and forget about Dayne. As if that was possible.

“So…do you forgive me enough to dance with me at the next festival?” Lucas finally got up the nerve to ask as a slight blush and a hopeful smile spread across his face. I was still new to the dating thing, but I was pretty sure it meant he liked me.

“Of course. I would love to,” I said, releasing the hoof I was picking out. We exchanged another smile as I wiped at a stray hair with the back of my hand. I was having trouble getting the hair because my hands were caked with dirt from the muddy hoof. Lucas reached over and tucked the unruly strand behind my ear. His hand lingered against my cheek a second longer than it should have.
See?
I told myself. This whole forget about Dayne thing was going to be super easy. We continued on in silence, but it wasn’t awkward anymore.

When Lucas’ arm rubbed against mine as he was reaching to brush the top of the horse’s back, he stopped. His arm rested comfortably on my shoulder and he took a step closer. Just inches away from me, the weight of his eyes made my ears blush and my belly begin to somersault with nervous anticipation.
Was this it? Was I finally going to get kissed?

“Faye, I really like…” his whispered words caught in his throat, interrupted by a flurry of movement at the wash rack entrance. We both turned to see Dayne leading LeSheen into the open stall beside me. LeSheen’s huge body, and Dayne’s presence, stifled every bit of courage my words had given Lucas. Lucas quickly dropped the brush back into the bucket, flashed me an embarrassed smile, and mumbled something about getting back to work.

“Was I interrupting something?” Dayne said with his back to me. I heard him swallow a laugh.

“Nothing,” I said shaking my head and staring at the floor over my shoulder, refusing to look at the guy I was trying to hate. Dayne never tacked up in here, and his presence made the place feel unfamiliar. I tossed a brush toward the bucket. It clattered off to the side even though I usually never missed, and we both reached down to pick it up at the same time. Dayne was quicker than me, and was standing, holding the brush out to me, before I made it to the ground.

I slowly stood back up and reached out for the brush, but just as I was about to grab it, he pulled it away. Without even thinking about it, my head jerked up to his and my brow pulled into a deep question mark. A devilish little grin played on his lips. I was totally caught off guard by his behavior. Aside from the festival, he hadn’t said two words to me since I had worked at Ennishlough that weren’t instructions about the horses. And now he was teasing me? In normal girl-boy world, teasing usually equaled flirting. But this wasn’t normal girl-boy world; this was me and my exquisitely perfect boss. Danger signals flared somewhere in the distance, but my body refused to listen to my mind. That was all it took for me to become putty in the hands I had vowed to pretend didn’t exist.

I looked down at the brush he held out in his hand. My eyes slowly traced up his arms, over his shoulder and up to his eyes. I studied his face, looking for an explanation as to why he was suddenly being so…
nice?
His smile widened, sending me into near cardiac arrest, as he handed me the brush. As if nothing had just happened, he turned back to LeSheen and continued tacking up.

“Thank you,” I sputtered at his back, the slight trill of shock clearly making my words sound more like a question than a statement. What had just happened? This was new territory for me. I knew what the basic rules of boy-girl world would suggest this interaction meant. But that was simply impossible.

“Where are you riding today?” He asked casually, obviously not as affected by me as I was by him.

“Um…out to the eastern pastures,” I said, thankful that half my brain was able to form words while the other half still obsessed with what had just passed between us. I snapped back from my silent musings and turned to groom the horse in front of me so he wouldn’t see the effect his simple gesture had.

“Yeah, that’s a nice ride this time of day,” he agreed. A chorus of squeaky leather and jingling girth buckles ended with a solid thud as he slung a saddle onto LeSheen’s back. Maybe Dayne was bored and looking for a friend? Anyone would get lonely living in a castle by themselves. There was no way the little old lady he lived with could offer much in the way of company. Aside from LeSheen, Dayne didn’t have any friends in town. Maybe he had decided I was the lucky one?

He finished tacking up and the clip clop of LeSheen’s hooves echoed down the barn aisle as he began to leave. I don’t know why I said it. The words were out of my mouth before I even knew they were in there.

“Do you want to ride out with me?” I was glad my back was to him. A hot blush crept from my ears to my cheeks, and I closed my eyes in mortification. Apparently my mind had decided to rebel along with my body, despite my decision to forget him.

Dayne paused, and for a moment I feared he might actually accept. What would I do then? I couldn’t possibly focus on riding a horse with him beside me.

“Nah. I’ve got to check some fences on the west side,” he answered and walked on.

I fell against my horse.

Stupid, stupid girl!
I thought. Of course he didn’t want to ride with me. I knew that. I had known that ever since I met him, but what I didn’t understand was why my subconscious kept forgetting. I shook my head and continued tacking up, relieved that he wasn’t around to watch me.

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining without a cloud in the sky, which was a rare occurrence. I circled around the eastern fields and turned the new horse, Sterling, on one of my favorite trails that led to a beautifully clover-covered mound deep in the woods. Lucas had always seemed a little wary of the place, said the souls of Ireland’s famed Sidhe were rumored to walk there at night.

After reading all about the Sidhe in Phin’s notes, I was as intrigued as ever—and as skeptical. It was easy to be so brave when the sun’s brilliance had chased away the mysterious fog that seemed to hide Ireland’s secrets from the world. Besides, Lucas said the Sidhe roamed at night. It was daylight, and I was pretty sure my horse was fast enough to outrun anything that might come after me.

We were trotting down the vine-draped trail when one of the afternoon rain showers I had grown accustomed to began sprinkling down. I knew it wouldn’t last very long and continued on instead of heading back to the barn. When the sweet fragrance and bright colors of the clearing appeared like a light at the end of the tunnel, I slowed my horse to a walk.

The shadows of the forest gave way to sparkling, sun-drenched foliage, and I saw that the afternoon shower was special. The raindrops fell fat on the earth, but the sun still shone brightly in the sky, making the droplets glisten and gleam as they danced to the ground below like tiny, heaven-sent diamonds.

I smiled, remembering Rose called them fairy showers. Local legends told the story of a man walking in a rain shower while the sun was shining ages ago. He came upon a woman sitting on a rock and weeping into her hands. The woman was more beautiful than the many wonders of the world, and when she turned to him he recognized her as the enchanting fairy queen. She was startled to be discovered and stopped crying immediately. A moment later she vanished, and the rain shower did as well. The story spread far and wide, and now anytime the rain falls in Ireland while the sun shines, everyone mumbles well wishes to the sad fairy queen.

That was one of the many things I was beginning to love about Ireland. In America, we would just dismiss it as a summer shower and go about our day. In Ireland, they saw the beauty in a simple shower and created a glorious story to match.

The clearing was small, but it got enough sunlight for fat clumps of clover to grow. Puffs of emerald leaves dotted with dark crimson and bright white flowers covered the mounded earth completely. The rain coaxed an edibly sweet scent from the little flowers, wafting up to greet me. Inhaling deeply, I dismounted and tied Sterling under a tree. I pulled the hot, black velvet cap from my head and released my hair from its bun.

A shower like this was too beautiful to waste. I ran out into the little clearing, letting the enchanted tears of the sad fairy queen soak me to my skin. My hair hung loose around my shoulders, swaying happily as I ran to the middle of the clearing. The droplets soaked through my tee shirt and the soggy ground squished beneath my boots.

The sun was hot on my skin making the raindrops feel as cold as snowflakes cooling the burn. I opened my mouth and a few of the raindrops found their way inside. The sweet taste of clover mingled with the earthy wetness in my mouth. It was heaven. I closed my eyes and flung my head back further. My arms instinctively went out to my sides, and I began to twirl round and round in the falling fairy tears. I spun faster and faster, not caring at all where I was going, until my clumsy feet tripped over each other.

Helpless to catch myself, and not really caring if I did, I tumbled down to the carpet of lush wetness at my feet. Soft leaves from a clump of clover caressed my wet cheek and I sighed happily. I rolled onto my back rubbing my arms and legs back and forth at my sides, making a snow angel in the deliciousness of sweet clover.

My silly laughter echoed around the clearing. I felt like a little schoolgirl, but I didn’t care; no one was around to see my foolishness. I settled back among the cool tufts of clover and let the rain fall on my face, washing away the dust of the barn and any worries that may have been floating around in my head.

A rustle of movement in the edge of the clearing briefly captured my attention and I knew Sterling had broken free from the tree, unable to resist the tempting green clover at his feet.

“I don’t blame you boy. I couldn’t resist either,” I said to the horse without bothering to move from my sunbather’s repose in the rainy sunshine.

When he snorted like he smelled danger on the wind, I sprang to attention just in time to see him shy away from something and bolt from the clearing, back up the trail we had come down.

“Sterling!” I yelled after him and jumped to my feet. Of course he was headed back to the barn, as any frightened horse would, but that left me without a ride home. “Sterling!” I called again, knowing it was useless as the thunder of his galloping hooves quieted into the distance. He wasn’t coming back. “Great!” I shouted and kicked at a tuft of clover with my boot.

Another rustle of movement came from the opposite edge of the clearing and I realized Sterling and I hadn’t been alone. I spun around, expecting to see a stray dog or a little lost sheep. When my eyes landed on what had spooked Sterling, my body instantly wanted to run just as he had. My blood turned to ice, and I stood paralyzed, facing a danger so unexpected my brain struggled for comprehension.