Ignis (Book 2, Pure Series) (12 page)

           
I was really anxious to be done with the whole thing, but Charisse was my friend, so I pulled myself up beside her.

           
Mrs. Graebel was sitting as before, sipping from her mug.
 
I felt ridiculous, peering in at her without her knowledge, but I tried to evaluate the scene before me.
 
Charisse seemed very sure that something was wrong.
 
Had I missed something?

           
I examined Mrs. Graebel's expression as best I could.
 
She certainly didn't look unhappy—in fact, she looked calm and peaceful—almost dreamy.

           
It was true that Mrs. Graebel wasn't the dreamy type—she was very energetic and no-nonsense.
 
But perhaps the end of her marriage had taken some pressure off of her.

           
As I continued to look at Mrs. Graebel, I realized that there was something a little careless about her ponytail—and I had never seen her less than perfectly groomed.
 
I had also never seen her wearing anything like the slouchy turtleneck she was wearing.
 
I almost invariably saw her in suits, even on the weekends, and on the rare days when she took off and wasn't in suits, her taste was fashionable and somewhat severe.

           
I frowned.
 
The turtleneck looked like it was too big for her.
 
Had Mrs. Graebel lost weight?

           
"You see it now, don't you?" Charisse whispered.
 
"You can see that she's changed."

           
"Your mother doesn't like pink does she?" I whispered back.

           
"No, she doesn't," Charisse hissed.
 
"Her favorite color is black—followed closely by gray."

           
"I don't know, Charisse," I whispered.
 
"One pink turtleneck doesn't really seem like the end of the world to me."

           
Out of the corner of my eye I could see something move in the kitchen, and Charisse tugged fiercely on my coat sleeve.

           
"Duck!" she hissed.

           
We both dropped down below the ledge, and Charisse continued to stare upward as if she wished she could see through the wall.

           
"What is it?" I whispered.

           
Charisse gave me another sharp tug on my sleeve and pressed a finger to her lips.

           
After a moment, Charisse motioned firmly for me to stay put.
 
Then she crept slowly up toward the window, till she could see in once again.

           
I watched as her eyes narrowed.

           
"I knew it," she hissed.

           
I looked at her questioningly.

           
"I knew he was coming over to the house while I was gone," she whispered.

           
"Who?" I asked.

           
Charisse ducked down beside me, her eyes blazing.
 
"It's Joshua—the guy my mom is seeing.
 
He's never around when I get home, but I always have the feeling that he's only just left.
 
I see now that I was right.
 
This is what you really need to see."

           
She moved up to the window and watched again.
 
Then she motioned for me to join her.

           
I peered into the kitchen, and this time I could see a man sitting at the table across from Mrs. Graebel.
 
He was blond and good-looking, and he rested his chin on his hand as he gazed at Mrs. Graebel.
 
For her part, Mrs. Graebel's expression had grown even dreamier.
 
She had set her mug down, and she was leaning on her elbows, gazing back at the blond man.

           
I ducked down below the window ledge again.
 
I didn't feel like watching any longer.

           
Charisse glared at me.
 
"What are you doing?"

           
"This is weird," I whispered back.
 
"I don't want to do this anymore."

           
Charisse dropped down beside me.

           
"Katie, this is exactly what I brought you to see," Charisse whispered fiercely.
 
"You have to see the way the two of them interact.
 
It's just not normal.
 
It's like my mom's under a spell."

           
"I'm not going to spy on your mom and her boyfriend," I whispered back.

           
"But you have to see them."

           
"I've seen enough," I said.

           
"Well?" Charisse demanded.

           
"Well, what?" I asked.
 
It was cold, and I was getting tired of crouching down below the window like some kind of criminal.

           
"What do you think about the two of them?
 
Don't you think there's an unhealthy atmosphere there?"

           
"I think maybe it's—"

           
"Yes?"

           
I hesitated.
 
I'd almost said 'love,' but that seemed a little too strong, and such a term would surely upset Charisse.

           
I tried again.
 
"Maybe they're—happy."

           
Anger flashed in Charisse's eyes.
 
"Happy?
 
You call that happy?"

           
I tried to choose my words carefully.
 
"I know it's hard to see your mom dating again—"

           
Charisse cut me off.
 
"'Dating' is not the issue.
 
My mom is home when she should be working.
 
She's not acting like herself.
 
And that man is with her when I'm not around.
 
Something's not right."

           
"I don't know why your mom is home when she's usually at work, but—"

           
"Katie, you know, there's more than one reason why I wanted you to see my mom today, and I'm glad you got to see her with Joshua—that's the way you look when you're with William."

           
"You're really not helping your case with that," I said.

           
"It's true," Charisse hissed furiously.
 
"That's the same dreamy, lost look you get when you're with William.
 
William and Joshua are both the same.
 
They're both trouble.
 
And I heard William was seen with you at school today.
 
He's got no right to be in our school."

           
I very nearly jumped to my feet, but I stopped myself in time—Mrs. Graebel and her boyfriend would surely see me.

           
"Charisse, I'm going back to the car.
 
I'm not doing this anymore."

           
"Don't you dare leave!" Charisse hissed.

           
But I was already moving along the back of the house, still crouching down.
 
I didn't care particularly if Charisse was following or not.
 
I would wait by the car, and if she didn't show up, I would just walk home.

           
But as I reached the end of the wall, someone stepped into my path, and I was forced to stop short.

           
I looked up.
 
In front of me was the blond man from the kitchen.

           
Charisse ran up beside me and grabbed me by the arm, pulling me back.

           
"You leave her alone!" Charisse shouted.

           
I turned to look at her.
 
There was a look of genuine fear on her face.

           
"Hi, ladies," the man said pleasantly.

           
I turned back to look at the man before me.
 
He smiled, and it gave him a youthful, boyish look.

           
He was wearing a coat, and he held out a gloved hand to me.
 
"Charisse I know already, but I don't believe we've met.
 
I'm Joshua Martin."

           
I reached my hand out automatically to take his, but Charisse grabbed my arm and pulled it back down.

           
Joshua gave Charisse a rueful look and pulled his hand back, brushing it over his hair.

           
"What are you doing out here?" Charisse asked.
 
She continued to grip my arm and her eyes were wary.

           
"I might ask you two the same thing," Joshua said lightly.

           
The words were clearly intended as a joke, but I felt Charisse stiffen.

           
Joshua looked down, and then gave Charisse another rueful look.

           
"Okay," he said.
 
"I can see this isn't going too well.
 
Let's start over again."

           
He turned to me and put a hand to his chest.
 
"I'm Joshua Martin.
 
I'm a friend of Charisse's mother."

           
"I'm Katie Wickliff," I replied.
 
"I'm a friend of Charisse's."

           
"It's nice to meet you, Katie," Joshua said.
 
He pointed a thumb over his shoulder.
 
"It's pretty cold out here.
 
Would you girls like to come inside and have something hot to drink?"

           
"No, we wouldn't," Charisse said sharply.

           
Joshua nodded his head and looked around.

           
"Just out of curiosity—what are you two doing out here?"

           
"Why do you want to know?" Charisse snapped.

           
Joshua spread out his hands.
 
"Well, you know, it's just a little weird, Charisse.
 
You and your friend here are hanging out beneath the window instead of coming into the house like normal people—"

           
"How did you know we were under the window?" Charisse interjected sharply.

           
"Water vapor, Charisse.
 
We saw your breath rising up past the window.
 
Your mom asked me to come outside and see what was going on.
 
And then, I see the two of you sneaking along the back of the house here."

           
Charisse bristled.
 
"You have no right to ask me what I'm doing at my own house.
 
You don't belong here.
 
Come on, Katie.
 
We're going back to the car."

           
Charisse tugged on my arm and pulled me around Joshua, giving him a wide berth.
 
She dragged me into the neighbor's yard.

           
I looked back.

           
I saw Joshua throw up his hands in frustration.

           
"I wouldn't do anything to hurt your mother, Charisse," he called after us.
 
"I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, either."

           
Charisse continued to pull me along by my arm.

           
Joshua shouted after us again.
 
"You know, it's not so terrible if your mother relaxes sometimes."

           
Charisse drew in her breath sharply.
 
She broke into a run, dragging me with her.

           
We ran until we reached Charisse's car.
 
She scrambled to pull the door open and jumped inside.

           
I hurried into the car.
 
Charisse quickly locked the doors.

           
She twisted around and searched the street behind us.
 
Then she fell back against her seat.

           
"He didn't follow us," she breathed.
 
She closed her eyes.

           
I glanced back.
 
The street behind us was indeed empty.

           
I turned back to Charisse.
 
"What is going on with you?"