One Black Rose (4 page)

Mrs. Fritters looked at me, then looked back at Carley, her face serious. I could feel a nervous twitch in my stomach and shoulders. Had Carley just overstepped her bounds? She’d always said how nice Mrs. Fritters was, but maybe today wasn’t the day to ask her about it.

Mrs. Fritters burst out laughing. “Of course, dear. I’d love to have her. Plus, I need someone now that that girl has walked out. I’ll get the paperwork,” she said, and bustled out through a back door.

“Doesn’t she want to interview me or anything?” I asked, frowning. I didn’t have experience working at a café, but all I’d probably do was work a register, and I didn’t completely suck at math, so it should be okay. Plus, I was sixteen now.

“She already did,” said Carley. “Her criteria is whether or not you can handle listening to her talk for long periods of time, and you passed with flying colors.”

Mrs. Fritters came back with a small stack of papers and proceeded to spend the next few minutes helping me fill them out.

“Oh, here, I just need to see your ID,” she said, pointing to one of the slots that asked for it. “Do you have a passport, maybe? And look at those gorgeous brown eyes you have.” Another minute and she was probably going to pinch my cheek.

“Yeah, it’s back at the house,” I said, “in case we get to go to Canada while I’m here.”

Mrs. Fritters laughed. “Once you’ve spent some time here you won’t ever want to leave.”

“Lets go get it,” said Carley. “It’s not far, and then Mrs. Fritters can have this out of the way.” Mrs. Fritters nodded as if this was a good idea.

“Okay,” I said. Until that moment I’d forgotten about the garden, but now the thought of it slammed back into my mind. Very soon I’d be walking through it again. I felt light-headed with excitement, but I forced it away. I was seriously worried that something was wrong with me.

Carley was staring at me with raised eyebrows like I had food on my face.

“Darling, why don’t you just go?” asked Mrs. Fritter. “That way this poor girl can rest after traveling.”

“I guess I could,” said Carley.

“Actually,” I said, “I’ve been sitting all day. It would be nice to be up and about walking. I’ll just go by myself.” I stood up to emphasize this.

Carley and Mrs. Fritters looked skeptically at me.

“Are you sure you know the way? We’ve only walked it once,” said Carley, starting to stand up too.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s just a couple of streets and I’ll be right back,” I said.

“Okay, I guess,” said Carley. “I’m going to go sit with Nick while you’re gone.” She pointed out the redheaded boy she’d said hi to earlier. As soon as she looked his way, he started to wave frantically. Carley sighed. “Hurry,” she mouthed to me.

“I’ll see you soon,” I said, grinning, and took off through the door.

Outside, the early evening was growing cool. Relieved to be in the fresh air, I squinted up the street. It was dusk now, the light having faded while we were in UP UP and Away. I could just see the Roths’ house from where I stood. Without hesitation I hurried in that direction.

With every step I got happier. Everything that was wrong, my parents’ divorce, being sent away for the summer, faded away in a swirl of colorful flowers. I knew I shouldn’t cut back through the garden, not considering the reaction I had just had, but my body told me there was no other choice, and every bit of me fizzed with excitement at the prospect of being among the flowers again. Plus, Carley had said the Roths weren’t home, so it’s not like I’d get caught.

Stepping back over the white fence and into the Roths’ back yard, I felt the same rush I had felt only a little while ago, but now I could contain my emotions. They did not threaten to swamp me as they had before; I was more prepared. It was not overwhelming like the first time had been, with Carley. I could feel the pull of the flowers, now cast in evening shadows, but I no longer had the stunning urge to build a flower crown, put it in my hair, and dance around like I didn’t have a care in the world.

I looked at the house to make sure there were no lights on. It was completely dark. The garden was much bigger than I remembered it. There were more paths, and more of them seemed to lead to benches with canopies of flowers instead of back to the street. I kept trying to find my way out – it had seemed so simple earlier – but all I did was get more turned around.

I realized that I was lost in the garden.

Just as I was starting to panic, a light popped on in one of the first floor rooms. I was so shocked at the idea of being discovered that I stumbled. I could hear a dog starting to bark frantically. Quickly righting myself, I looked around to make sure no one had seen me, and I almost screamed. Eyes were looking back at me out of the darkness.

A man stepped towards me through the shadows. “Can I help you?” he asked in a strained voice.

I forgot the noise of the dog as I realized I’d been caught trespassing and was probably in big big trouble. Worry trickled down my back and shoulders. I could see only a dark outline of the man facing me.

I definitely hadn’t been expecting anyone, and certainly not someone whose hair was so light blond that it turned a white gold color in the moonlight. I had never had a physical reaction to someone that sent shivers up and down my spine even though I couldn’t see his face clearly in the shadows. He had a silent intensity about him that pushed me away and at the same time made me want to know more. To make matters worse (if you could call it bad to be alone with an attractive guy surrounded by flowers), I was pretty sure he was staring at me.

I shrank away. “I’m sorry. Um, I’m new around here. Visiting for the summer. My friend said this was a shortcut, but now I’m lost.” I drew breath so that I could continue my completely stupid rambling, but before I could say anything else he smoothly cut me off.

“It’s fine. Let me show you out.” He made no move to touch me, but instead turned on his heel and continued up the path, leading me out. I still hadn’t gotten a clear look at his face.

He knew exactly where he was going. His footsteps never hesitated as he chose one path after another. I followed numbly. Now the flowers I passed meant nothing. They were mere shadows in the night. I no longer heard the frantic dog’s barking or worried about being lost in the garden. All I concentrated on was the back I was following.

He led me right to the place that Carley and I had come through earlier, resting his hand on the fence. He still made no move to touch me and didn’t offer to help me over. Now in the open, with the moonlight, I could see that he had green eyes with flecks of silver and a slight but strong build. I gaped. I knew this face. I’d just seen this face earlier in the day. I was looking into the eyes of Holt.

“What are you doing on the Roths’ property?” I demanded.

I must have surprised him because he just threw his head back and laughed. “I am a Roth,” he said. “My name is Holt Roth.”

Feeling disoriented, I managed to get over the fence. When I was safely on the other side, standing one street away from Carley’s house, I turned back to look at him. He was standing there, his hands in the pockets of his khakis, still watching me.

“Sorry to startle you,” he said. “I didn’t want to scare you.”

“Oh, no, I’m great,” I said. “I’m sorry again. For trespassing,” I added, even though I knew it sounded ridiculous. I had trespassed. He could probably have me arrested. I was lucky not to be shot. I was lucky he hadn’t loosed the dog on me. He should be furious that I might have ruined his garden. Hell, if he hadn’t come along who knows how long I could have wandered around lost.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said in a light voice, but he still did not move away. “I told you we’d see each other again.”

“At least you have my name for the records if you want to have me arrested for trespassing,” I said. I think I was in shock.

A ghost of a smile passed over his face.

“I don’t think you have to worry about that. Have a good night, Autumn.” And with that he turned around and disappeared among the flowers.

After I’d met Holt Roth, there was no way I was going back to UP UP and Away through the Roths’ garden, so I took the long way around through the streets. It was fully dark by then, and when I passed the front of the Roths’ house there were no lights on anywhere. My emotions were all over the place. I knew Carley had talked about the Roths, but why didn’t she tell me that Holt was one? Was it her idea of a joke? That would be just like Carley. Feeling more irritated than ever, I headed back to UP UP and Away.

When I got back to the café, I showed Mrs. Fritters my passport and we finished the paperwork. She asked if I could come by tomorrow for a quick training session, and I promised that I would. Meanwhile, across the room, Carley and Nick were deep in conversation. When I joined them I could barely hear what they were saying over the band that had started playing. I had no chance to ask Carley about Holt. Despite my long day of travel, the three of us stayed and chatted until well after midnight. Then, to my great relief, Nick gave us a ride home and I didn’t have to worry about cutting back through the garden and again running into the unsettling Holt. I also chose not to tell Carley that I’d met him and probably come close to being arrested.

Before I went to bed Carley said something about the three of us going to the beach the next day, but I was so tired I barely heard her.

The next morning dawned bright and sunny, which was why I was in bed with a pillow stuck firmly over my head. After everything that had happened the night before, I had a hard time getting out of bed and getting to UP UP and Away for my introduction with Mrs. Fritters.

When I finally did manage to drag myself to the shower, the cold water at the start of a hot day helped to wake me up. After I’d gone downstairs and found no sign of Carley (since the door to her room was closed, I figured she was probably still sleeping), I again set out for UP UP and Away.

My talk with Mrs. Fritters about the job went by quickly. I’m pretty sure she would have hired me even if I had said that when I used to work as a cashier I’d been accused of robbing the place or skimming off the top. She needed the help, and since I’m friends with Carley she was predisposed to like me. I’m sure that if I’d told my mother about it, she would have given me a lecture about how even when finding a job as a cashier it’s all about who you know, which would have annoyed me.

When I got home, Carley was throwing towels, magazines, and sunscreen into a beach bag. She was in a bright pink bathing suit with a white see-through cover up. I went upstairs quickly to change into my own bathing suit, which was a solid dark blue. I grabbed sunglasses and my iPod, threw on a white and green cotton summer dress, and headed back down.

As soon as Carley and I went out onto the porch to wait for Nick, he pulled up. Since Carley’s house was across the street from the ocean there was beach in every direction, and by eleven a.m. the three of us were stretched out on towels by the water, enjoying a perfect summer day.

Almost instantly Carley looked like she had gone to sleep. Lying on her stomach, with a hat propped over her head and her headphones in, she looked like she had no intention of moving for hours. I looked over at Nick. He was propped on one elbow, playing some game on his phone. There was a white streak of sunscreen on the side of his face. I pointed it out to him and he sheepishly wiped it away.

“So, Nick, what do you know about the Roths?” I asked, trying to keep my tone casual. Judging by the quick look he gave me, I had probably failed completely.

“Already bitten by the Roth bug, are you?” he asked, looking up from his phone and grinning.

“What does that mean?” I asked, flipping through the pages of a magazine without really looking at them.

“It means that every girl that sees a Roth swoons,” said Nick, dramatically putting the back of his hand to his forehead. “I don’t know how they do it, but girls love them.”

I cleared my throat. “Are the Roths all boys or something?” I asked, sitting up with my arms as props.

“There are three brothers. I think. I can’t remember all their names, but the oldest is Holden or something like that.” I could tell Nick really couldn’t care less about this subject. “I’ve seen every girl in Castleton try for him, but I’ve only ever seen him with other Roth girls or the Cheshires.”

“Actually, it’s Holt,” Carley piped up as she rolled over to look at us.

“Oh, so you wake up to talk about the Roths?” Nick asked, eyeing her.

Carley grinned and sat up. “Definitely.”

Nick rolled his eyes and went back to playing games on his phone.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked her. I’d been waiting all day for my chance to confront her about yesterday, so it came out more harshly than I meant it to.

“I just thought it would be funny,” she said awkwardly. “I didn’t realize you really didn’t know. Sorry.”

I glared at her, but she ignored me.

Carley looked at me and continued: “Holt is the oldest Roth. I think he’s like twenty-two. His brothers are about our age. I don’t know as much about them. Holt is pretty well known around here. Mostly as a heartbreaker. Every new girl that comes into town sees him and goes crazy. He’s gorgeous. Easily the most attractive guy I’ve ever seen. Of course, probably part of that is that he’s never been interested in anyone. Like what Nick says, I never see him with local girls. I didn’t want to tell you all that, because you seemed to like him yesterday.”