Hold Tight (The Embrace Series) (12 page)

Caden leaned against the wall, elbows on the ledge, and told Isaac about the position with my dad. Praying the calming spell would relax Caden enough to answer a few questions honestly, I whispered the incantation. My jaw muscles relaxed, confirming I’d at least gotten the spell right. Isaac stopped halfway through removing his skate and glanced at me, head tilted to the side.

I pretended not to notice and asked Caden, “Did you come here to watch everyone skate?”

“Nah, Ben’s mother said he and Mark might have taken their girlfriends here. I thought I’d check it out.”

I tramped over to the bench and sat, loosening my laces in an effort to act natural.

“We haven’t seen them,” Isaac said, putting his gym shoes back on.

“Me neither. I was just about to leave when I spotted the two of you.” Caden shrugged. “Figured I’d stick around to say hi.”

“You know, I’d guess Ben and Mark are at Lauren’s,” I said. “According to Sarah, Lauren came up with a few more places Natalie may have gone. Personally, though, I think she’s with her secret admirer. He had to have been at Ben’s party.” I turned to Isaac. “I still can’t remember her talking to anyone outside our circle. Can you?”

Isaac’s brow furrowed. “No.”

“How about you, Caden? You look like the type of person who notices everything.” It was true. Half the time I’d seen Caden, he was observing his surroundings. “Did you happen to notice anyone out of place?”

“Everyone I saw looked to be having a good time.”

“Except you.” I inwardly groaned that I hadn’t used my inner voice. Maybe I was a little too calm. But since I’d said it, I figured I might as well ask my next question. “Why was that?”

“Madison,” Isaac hissed.

Caden held up a hand. “It’s okay. Natalie was her friend. I can understand her being upset.” He looked at me. “But, as I told you the night of the party, I was looking for someone. When I saw she wasn’t there, I left. No offense, but high school parties aren’t my scene.”

I sighed. I was so sure Caden knew more than he let on.

“You really have no idea who Natalie might have met up with?” I pressed, wishing more than ever the calming spell had included a built-in “can’t lie” feature.

“Didn’t we just have this conversation—” Caden slid the sleeve of his jacket up and checked the time on his watch “—twenty hours ago?”

There was something weary in the way he’d said it.

“You’ll tell me, though, if you hear from her?”

“Yes, Madison. I’ll tell you if the girl the entire town is looking for calls me, but the odds of that happening are slim to none.”

“Why’s that?” I challenged.

“Because we didn’t exchange phone numbers.”

“Oh.”

Caden removed his sunglasses, revealing eyes as dark as coal. “Madison, I’m not the bad guy here.”

“I didn’t say you were.”

“You’re acting as if I am.”

“Am I? I’m sorry.” I looked down at my skates as I removed them, trying to think of a diversion. My next thought tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop it. “You know, it’s funny that before last week we hadn’t met, yet now I keep running into you.”

The glint in Caden’s eyes seemed to ask,
Do you really want me to comment on that?
right before his gaze moved to Isaac. I looked next to me to find Isaac gaping at me.

I then felt both of them staring as I switched to my sneakers, but my spell had me too relaxed to care. With my shoes tied, I stood, skates dangling from my hand.

Isaac took them from me and asked, “Ready for that hot chocolate?”

“Yeah.”

He held out a hand to Caden. “It was nice seeing you.”

“You too.”

They shook.

“What was that about?” Isaac asked on the way to return his rented skates.

“What?” I replied innocently.

“Take your pick: the third degree you gave Caden, the calming spell you cast, or why you think Caden likes you.”

“I don’t think he likes me!” Or at least I hadn’t until now. But I needed to stick to facts, the important ones. “What I
know
is that he showed up and a girl went missing.”

Isaac placed his skates on the counter and turned to face me. “I didn’t miss the look he gave you, Madison. You guys hung out yesterday?”

“No. He came by the house to apply for the job. I talked to him for, like, one minute.”

“When you asked about Natalie.” He rubbed the back of his head. The muscle in his jaw twitched. “Why do you think he had something to do with her disappearance? Help me understand that, because right now it looks like you want to date the guy.”

Isaac’s scent changed to steel. He was jealous of Caden, and I supposed I had that coming. I couldn’t help wondering if my spell was the only thing keeping him from losing his temper.

I rested my hand on his arm and looked into his eyes. “I don’t like Caden. I like you.” I stepped closer. “And I don’t think he’s interested in me like that. My instincts are telling me not to trust him, that there’s more to him than meets the eye. Don’t you think it’s a little weird that he’s suddenly always around? At school, the party, here.”

“I didn’t, but now I wonder if he’s really looking for Ben or if he’s looking for you.”

“He’s not looking for me.” I stuffed my hands in my jacket. “And I’m sure he knows something that he’s not telling us.” If there was one thing I knew, it was to trust my intuition.

Isaac stepped in front of me. “Madison, you’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

“Jumping to conclusions with no solid proof.” Isaac didn’t have to tell me what he was alluding to: I had once thought he’d been behind unexplained events in Gloucester. “Just because you didn’t know someone until a few days ago doesn’t mean no one knew him or that he’s bad news.”

“I know,” I said, letting the last word drag out a couple seconds, “and after what you said about Natalie not wanting to be found, I was convinced she ran away. But then Caden does or says something that rekindles my doubt about him, and I get this feeling.” I smacked Isaac’s arm when his eyebrow snaked upward. “Not that kind of feeling. It’s more like a warning bell that goes off. A sixth sense or something. I don’t know how to explain it.”

The fact that Caden checked on Ben while Dan was away at college would normally make him a nice guy in my book. So why did I think there was more to him than Adopted Big Brother?

“You don’t get a weird vibe from him?” I asked.

“The only vibe I’m getting from Caden is that he’s competing for your attention.”

I looped my arm through Isaac’s. “I told you, I like you. Not Caden or anyone else. You. So out of all the things you might worry about, don’t let it be our relationship. Okay?”

He studied me a moment and then replied, “Deal.”

At the Jeep, Isaac deposited my skates in the back. “The guy doesn’t have evil powers, Madison. I would have felt it if he did. You’d taste it in the air.”

Like Isaac had felt my powers even before I’d known I had any—and how I’d always been able to taste his, even before I’d known what it meant.

“That’s why you shook his hand,” I said.

He shut the tailgate. “It’s the quickest way to know if someone’s like us.”

“So you don’t trust him either.”

“For totally different reasons than you.” He put his arms around my waist. “But I guessed what you were thinking: Natalie disappeared and magic doesn’t reveal anything about her whereabouts, so maybe someone with powers took her. Caden’s this guy you don’t know much about. On the surface, it’s easy to accuse him of foul play.”

That just about summed it up. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other.

“Josh had seen Dan and Caden together last year, before Dan left for college.” Isaac gave me a reassuring squeeze. “But since he gives you the creeps—he does give you the creeps, right?”

“Yes!”

“Then we’ll keep an eye on him.” Isaac brushed my lips with his. “Let’s get out of here.”

Chapter 11

Kill Me Now

Saturday, Kaylee and I drove to Peabody to look for dresses. Two hours and three stores later, we’d finally found several real candidates. I stood in the three-way mirror, trying to decide if dark green was my color.

“Isaac really thinks Natalie ran away from home?” Kaylee asked from her changing room.

“His parents do too. She can be a bit impulsive, jumping into things without thinking them through.”

“I guess.” Kaylee stepped in front of the large mirrors and modeled a shimmering sand-colored strapless dress that hugged her curves as if it had been custom made for her. “But if I was going to disappear, I’d at least tell you.”

“You’d better. What do you think?” I twirled in a circle, causing the smooth satin of the slip-style dress I wore to fan out like a trumpet.

“I like the low scoop back on you,” Kaylee commented.

I moved my hair to the side, revealing bare skin all the way down to my waist. “I don’t know. I want to wow Isaac.”

“If that doesn’t have his eyes glued to you all night, nothing will.” She ran her fingers over her hips. “Do you like?”

“Josh won’t be able to keep his hands off you.”

She smirked. “That works for me.”

I ducked back into the dressing room to try on the next dress. “You know, guys get off so easy.”

“How’s that?” Kaylee asked. From how muffled her voice was, I could tell she was changing too.

“They can wear the same suit as last year.”

I let the green dress fall to the floor and slipped into a corset-style crimson one. A matching ribbon crisscrossed in the back, leaving just enough skin to be elegantly sexy. The soft silk traveled over my waist, down my hips, and to the middle of my thighs before flaring out. “I’m going to need your help with this one.”

Kaylee exited her dressing room, wearing a cute black number. Her lips puckered when she saw me.

With one hand keeping the dress from sliding down, I looked at my stomach. “What? Does it make me look fat?”

“No. I wish I had found it.”

I scoffed and turned my back to her. “Tie me up, will you?” I held the side of the mirror as she pulled the ribbons, securing the fabric in place. “That one’s cute,” I said, pointing with my chin to her reflection in the mirror. The dress had a gold strap that went over one shoulder and around her ribcage just under her boobs. “Josh will love you in either dress.”

She stepped back, letting me know she’d finished helping me. She held her hair at the back of her head as she twisted to admire her reflection. “I’m not sure which I like better.”

“I don’t know what the other one looked like, but the jaw of every guy in the room will drop with that one,” a deep voice said from behind.

Kaylee and I spun to find Reed watching us. He smiled awkwardly. “Hi.”

“Ah, hi,” I stammered.

Kaylee nudged me with her elbow.

“Oh! Sorry. This is my best friend, Kaylee. Kaylee, this is Reed. He applied for the job with my dad.”

“The one Caden got?” Kaylee whispered.

“Yep,” I replied out the side of my mouth.

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I needed new boots for work.” He held up a shopping bag. “The two of you are hard to miss. Your dates are lucky men.”

“Thanks.” Kaylee took one last look at herself in the mirror before exclaiming, “I’m getting this one.” She dashed back into the fitting room.

“Wait!” But it was too late. I could hear her unzipping her dress to take it off. “I can’t get out of mine without help,” I muttered. I turned to face Reed. He looked as uncomfortable as I felt.

“I got the job,” he said.

“That’s great.” Dad must have decided two assistants were better than one. “When do you start?”

“Monday. I think we’ll be gutting the doctor’s office.” He slipped a hand into the pocket of his flannel jacket.

“Dad told me you know how to make custom cabinets.”

“I’m good with wood. I think that helped tip the scales in my favor during the interview.”

Yep, I was sure of that because my dad wouldn’t hire someone for his flawless skin and piercingly good looks. Jarring my appraisal of his features was a steady crinkle sound coming from his pocket. My gaze dropped to where his hand had disappeared.

“Would you like one?” Reed asked, pulling two pieces of candy out of his pocket. They looked like the same chocolates Dad had bought.

“Oh. No, thanks.” But even as the words left my mouth, my hand twitched, ready to take the tiny treat from him.

Reed held his hand a little higher. “I got them from your house.”

My stomach let out a faint rumble that I hoped he didn’t hear. “Sure, thanks.”

Afraid the chocolate would melt and I’d get brown fingerprints all over the dress, I stuck the entire thing in my mouth. It was as good as I remembered.

“School dance?” Reed asked with a glance at my dress.

I nodded. The simple movement had my brain swimming in my skull, reminding me it had been hours since I’d eaten. I rested a hip against one of the tan chairs to steady myself and looked at the dressing rooms, wondering how long it would take to change into jeans and a sweater.