One Black Rose (2 page)

“Do you live here year-round?” I asked, watching as trees flew past the windows.

“Just in the summer,” said Holt. There was something guarded about him, but I wasn’t sure what it was since he was being so nice. He obviously wasn’t going to volunteer anything. I’d just have to ask a lot of questions.

“Do you know Carley?” I wanted to know.

“Nope,” said Holt. “I haven’t actually met a lot of the people around Castleton.”

“Why not?” I asked. Since he had answered all of my other questions I expected him to answer this one as well, but he avoided it.

“Do you see that building there?” he pointed to a red brick building on the passenger side of the car. “It’s the best pizza place ever.”

“What’s it like?” I said, looking at the brick building until it was out of sight.

“It’s Italian,” he said. “It’s great.” There was a pause. Then he said casually, “We should go sometime.”

I looked at him sharply, but his face was placid. I couldn’t tell if he had just asked me out or not.

Since I couldn’t think of anything to talk about I said, “Did you notice those girls staring at you?”

“What girls?” he asked. I wasn’t sure if he said that to act like he hadn’t seen them gaping at him or if he genuinely had no idea that a bunch of cute girls outside the airport had thought he was hot.

“The ones who thought you were cute.”

“Oh, and who were mad at you for getting in the car with me?” he asked knowingly. “Yeah, I saw them.”

“So, they thought you were cute. Why didn’t you offer to give one of them a ride home?” I persisted. I wasn’t sure what was making me do this, but I was trying to understand why a perfect stranger had suddenly decided to help me out so much. “You’ve saved my life today and now you’re driving me home. Why?”

He gave me a big smile.

“You like explanations?” he asked.

“I just think it’s weird,” I said. Plus, he owed me some answers.

“I liked that you were so relaxed about what happened earlier,” he said finally, his eyes on the road.

“What do you mean?” I asked. What I didn’t want to tell him was that I wanted to know why he had bypassed a bunch of pretty-looking girls, all of whom had spent some time getting dressed that morning, for me, who looked like I had just rolled out of bed and left the house, because I had. The next time I fly I promise to put on a pair of jeans, I thought fiercely.

“With the guy falling,” he said. “You didn’t make a big deal about it. Most girls would have been all over me thanking me, but you just sort of shrugged it off.”

I realized that Holt thought I had acted cool. I guess there was a first time for everything. But I wasn’t the type of girl that would get all over a guy, particularly one I didn’t know. In fact, I wasn’t the type of girl who would get all over a guy I did know, as evidenced by the fact that I’d never had a serious boyfriend and didn’t go to parties and hook up.

“Does that make sense?” he asked finally, when I just sat in silence.

“Yeah,” I said. I could easily see how girls would fall for him. He was very attractive and even more so when he smiled, but it wasn’t just that. There was something else about him. Those girls had walked outside and it was like they couldn’t help but stare. “I guess.”

Before he could say anything else my phone rang. I checked the screen as Miss MIA herself Carley’s name popped up.

“Hey,” I said, looking over at Holt as I answered. I tried to remind myself that she might not have been blowing me off. She might be lying injured in a hospital bed somewhere. I couldn’t be mad yet.

“SO sorry,” she said. “I totally just fell asleep.”

“You fell asleep?” I asked, trying to keep the incredulity out of my voice.

“I had a really long day yesterday,” Carley said defensively. “Where are you?”

“I’m in a car on the way to your place,” I told her, looking away from Holt because he had started to laugh and I didn’t want to start as well. I sucked at confrontation and I knew I wasn’t going to tell Carley off for leaving me at the airport.

“I’m SO glad you got a cab,” she said with relief. “I would have felt awful if you were just waiting there for me.”

I should have corrected her that I hadn’t gotten a cab, but I didn’t. I wasn’t sure how to explain Holt anyway.

“I can’t wait to see you!” she said excitedly. I knew by the quick way she said it she wanted to get off the phone. Carley was bored easily. Once she had heard that I was alright and that more importantly she wouldn’t have to do anything, that she could just lie on the couch and I would materialize, she was done with the conversation.

“See you soon,” I said.

“Bye!” I hung up and rolled my eyes.

“So, that was Carley?” said Holt drily.

“She can’t wait to see me,” I informed him.

Holt laughed, relaxing back into his seat and holding the steering wheel with one hand. “I’m sure she can’t.”

I felt awkward and didn’t know what to say next. Whenever I felt like that I always shifted the conversation to the other person. “So, back to why you offered to give me a ride,” I said, still feeling like he hadn’t answered my question.

“Because you were relaxed,” he insisted. “You didn’t make a big fuss. You didn’t stare.”

I realized with a start that he was used to girls staring, so the fact that I hadn’t had surprised him.

“I didn’t know ignoring guys actually got them more interested,” I muttered.

“What did you say?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I said quickly.

He shook his head at me, and that was the end of that topic.

It was about half an hour’s drive to Carley’s and we talked the whole time, mostly about summer and food, two of my favorite things. We both loved food and agreed that we would try anything once. We talked about food we liked and restaurants we loved. I quickly realized that he knew a lot more and had been to a lot more places to eat. He talked knowledgeably about wines and different types of cheeses. I LOVED cheese, but I just had basic knowledge: cheddar was yummy and Swiss was addicting. Whereas he went into great detail about cheeses I had never heard of -- like brie de Melun, Beaufort, and Abondance -- their origins and how they were made. I realized that it would be a lot of fun to eat a meal with him.

He asked a lot of questions about me and steered clear of questions about him. At first I liked that he took such an interest in me and my life instead of boasting about all the cool things he did, but eventually I wanted to hear something about him.

 “So, you don’t think saving my life the way you did and then giving me a ride is at all odd?” I asked.

Holt glanced over at me. “Listen, Autumn, I didn’t save your life. I don’t know what you think you saw, but the guy tripped and I caught him. That’s all. He was never going to hit you.”

I stared at him. That wasn’t what had happened at all. One second he’d been falling towards me and the next second he hadn’t, and it was thanks to Holt. I knew that in my bones. He just wouldn’t admit it and I wanted to know why.

“Are you serious?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

I saw frustration and exasperation in his gaze, but also a little bit of pleading.

“Alright,” I said. “I don’t know why you won’t just tell me, but I’ll forget about it.” For now.

There was something very odd about Holt. Maybe Carley knew something about him; I’d ask her once I finally saw her. Castleton was a small town. She had to at least know someone who knew him.

When we got to Carley’s house Holt got out of the car and started to help me with my luggage. “Thanks again,” I said, taking my suitcase from him.

“No problem,” he said.

“So, am I going to see you around town?” I asked. He hadn’t said anything else about getting pizza, but I knew I wanted to see him again.

“Definitely,” he said, smiling again.

The front door of Carley’s house banged open and my errant friend came bounding down the steps. She had long blond hair and plump cheeks, which turned a bright red when she smiled.

As soon as she saw Holt she skidded to a stop.

To my complete astonishment she screamed, “OH NO, not you!”

 “Carley, what’s wrong?” I cried. Her eyes were fixed on Holt.

She shook herself awake, as if she was coming out of a trance. “Wh-wh-at? Nothing!” she stammered.

Holt raised his eyebrows. Apparently he had no idea why Carley had just screamed at the sight of him.

“Holt, this is Carley, Carley, Holt is the person who gave me a ride from the airport,” I told her. Carley couldn’t even form a proper sentence. She just kept staring.

“I should get going,” he told me, and opened his car door. “I’ll see you again soon.” He waved goodbye. Carley stared after him like she was in a stupor.

“What was that about?” I asked her.

“What?” she asked. “Oh? Nothing. I was just surprised. Sorry! Just forget about it. Anyway. You’re finally here!!!!” she squealed, running towards me. “This is going to be the best summer ever,” she continued, beaming at me as she hurried to help me with my luggage. As she grabbed my stuff, her curly blond hair flopped over one shoulder and her big brown eyes sparkled at me. Her lips were bright red from all the makeup she had on. After she’d ditched me at the airport she must have spent a lot of time getting ready instead of actually coming to get me.

Pushing thoughts of Holt aside I grinned, happy to see her and happy to be at her house at last. Carley gave me a hug, and my nose bumped into her shoulder. She must have had a growth spurt since last time I’d seen her. Now she was just as much taller than I am as everyone else.

“It’s beautiful,” I said, pushing a strand of my light brown hair out of my eyes so that I could look around. “I’ve never seen so many flowers everywhere.”

“Yeah,” said Carley. “That’s the Roths. They love flowers.”

“Who are the Roths?” I asked.

Carley grinned mischievously “You’ll see. Anyway, my parents always wanted a summer place here,” Carley commented she lugged my suitcase up her front steps. “They love Maine.”

I could see why. The weather was perfect, sunny and warm but not humid and all I could see in every direction was trees.

“Come on. We have to get you settled in so we can head over to the UP UP and Away. The lady who owns it, Mrs. Fritters, said that you could probably work there this summer.”

Oh yeah, my parents wanted me to get a job this summer. Awesome.

We were inside now, and Carley was chattering away about the house. It looked like the L. L. Bean catalog had exploded inside with a nautical theme. The furniture was striped blue and white, with wooden coffee tables and matching drapes. The rug was red.
Very patriotic.
The walls were covered with pictures of boats, and framed on the shelf was a piece of rope tied in some elaborate knot.

“Where are your parents again?” I asked, not remembering what she’d said in her last e-mail.

“Oh, they went to England to visit Charlie for a couple of weeks. They’ll be back. Will your parents mind?”

I shook my head and smiled. “They can’t mind what they don’t know.”

Carley raised her eyebrows, which were the same fine blond color as her hair, and gave me a playful grin. “You aren’t going to tell them?” At this point we’d gotten through the living room with my luggage and Carley was leading me up the stairway.

“They’re too busy fighting to notice,” I replied. I was careful to keep my voice neutral. I didn’t want Carley to think I was upset that my parents were talking about divorce, that they didn’t want me around for the summer while they figured it out and that I had to sit there and act like I wasn’t bitter.
No, not bitter at all. Not even a little bit.

Carley looked at me skeptically, but didn’t say anything. “So, this is my room,” she said, pointing to the room we were passing on our right. I stared. The room was small but cozy, with a pink chair in the corner, a pink cover over the bed, which was pushed against one wall, and a dresser. The floor was bare wood except for the pink rug that was right next to the bed. Stacked neatly in the corner were rows and rows of shoes.

“Nice,” I said. I meant it. It was very Carley. We had known each other for four years, since we were twelve, and her favorite color had always been pink.

“Your room is next,” said Carley as we headed further down the hall. My room, as it turned out, was at one end of the second floor of the house and had a slanted roof. Under the slanted part was my bed, with a green cover.
Color coordination has to be a theme in her family. My mom would never do this.
I actually liked my room. Carley set my suitcase by the dresser and beamed at me.

“What?” I asked, setting down my backpack and responding to Carley’s unspoken excitement.

“It’s just going to be awesome here. Just the two of us,” she said. “I have a lot of friends around here. I’ll be able to introduce you to some of them tonight.”

“Great,” I said. I tried to sound convincing, but I wasn’t so sure how this summer would go. I liked Carley. She was one of the few friends I could stand for long periods at a time, but her family clearly did things differently from mine, and I wasn’t sure how that would turn out.