Rising Moon (The Rune Stone Trilogy) (17 page)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

             
It was a slow afternoon at the bookstore for Terra. She never minded spending her afternoons manning the store. She felt most at home and content in the shop. When she walked through the door each day it was like a welcoming hug. Her nerves calmed, and her head would clear. She had endless patience when customers would ask her dozens of questions, even when those questions all had the same answer. This was her pride and joy, even if it wasn’t her own. Her mom had opened the store when Terra was still in elementary school, with her dad’s help. It had been a part of her life as long as she could remember.

             
She loved the smell of a book. The paper gave her a sense of the tree that it came from which was an earthy smell, mixed with a metallic rubber of the ink used in the printing. Blake never believed her when she claimed she knew what kind of tree and where it was when it was cut down, and made into paper. A lot were from Minnesota, and those always smelled stronger to her. They smelled like home.

             
Terra sighed as she looked around the bookstore. Shelf after shelf was full of books. It had been a long time since they’d ever had any open spaces. Once Terra got involved with running the store she made sure the genre of the books was wide, stretching from history to romance to children’s books. They featured a large section of local authors. The subjects spanned from art, photography, travel, and fiction. Her father had been adamant on supporting the local artists.

             
She did have her small business of book repair, and that was her own. That business had been slow, but that only gave her more time to spend on the books she did have to repair. Over the last year she made an attempt to expand her business by allowing a friend of hers to build a website for her. It was a few weeks before she was contacted by anyone interested, and now last week she received two books by mail to be repaired.

             
She walked to the back of the bookstore and into the back room. She shut her purse in the bottom desk drawer as always, and then went to her corner where she had set up a workbench to repair books. Scraps of book cloth were strewn on the old desk. The three books held in book presses were drying where new spines had been meticulously glued. She removed one, and slipped the wax paper out from the inside of the covers. The book’s spine was just tight enough now, and the loose pages were securely back in their rightful spot. She carefully wrapped the book in craft paper, writing the customer’s name on the front and placed it in desk. She checked the other two books, one was ready to be taken out of the press, and the other still needed more time to dry.

             
She quickly sent emails out to the two book owners, notifying them they could pick up their old books at their earliest convenience. Two new emails from potential customers was a boost of encouragement. Her business was beginning to catch on, thanks to Owen’s website work. He had built a website for her this past winter, promoting her book repair business.

             
Owen was a master of computers, which sometimes got him into trouble. He was great at building websites and retrieving data on damaged computers, but Terra knew he dealt with some under the table jobs, hacking into places he shouldn’t be. It worried her, but she kept reminding herself that he was an adult and was making his own decisions. Even though he and Blake managed to be mischief makers since they were young.

             
Her mother again had left early because she was tired. Terra set to reorganizing the front display of photography books. She lifted her head when the bell jingled, announcing the door opening. Blake strolled in and walked straight toward her.
"
Hey,
"
she smiled, but her mind went immediately to what El had seen this morning. Did he really posses some magical strength?

             
This was not the place to confront him, when someone could overhear the conversation. She couldn’t see him breaking down and confessing his secrets to her when she held so much from him.

             
"
So, when were you going to tell me that your new friends were in town?
"
He crossed his arms.

             
Terra rolled her eyes at him and turned back to her display.
"
I don’t see that it is any of your business.
"
He was in a foul mood, and she was glad she decided to keep her mouth shut for now.

             
"
The hell it isn’t.
"
He walked around the table so he could see her face. He was bull-headed stubborn about getting his way, but growing up with him she had learned to stand her ground. Just because he physically towered over her and could throw her over his shoulder and drag her away until he thought she had a lick of sense in her, she knew he would never do that to her. He would be crushed if he ever did harm her.

             
"
You know, I’m an adult now. I can make decisions without discussing them with you or mom. I have been for a few years. Did you miss that memo?
"
she snapped at him.

             
"
I know that. Doesn’t mean I’m going to stop looking out for you.
"
He frowned.
"
I ran into Aylin this morning.
"

             
Now Terra looked at him.
"
Blake, what did you say?
"

             
"
Nothing. I was just a little surprised to see her, since no one told me that she might be crawling all over our town. We agreed that we’d stay clear of each other for your sake.
"

             
"
Nice. I’m pretty sure she walks, not crawls,
"
she smirked.

             
"
Whatever. You expecting any other guests any time soon that I need to avoid?
"

             
"
Nope,
"
she said smartly and slapped a stack of books down for emphasis. After failing at trying to make small talk with her he left giving her a short clipped goodbye. She hated what this was doing to him. If only he could understand that this was a good thing, then he would be happy for her. Instead everything that she did got his back up. All her life she had been a people pleaser, and this wasn’t sitting well with her. Maybe she would talk to Aylin and see if she could make an exception and let Blake in. What harm could that do?

             
Terra closed the shop and locked up at five, pulling on her fleece jacket to walk home. Although she owned a car, she preferred walking while the weather permitted it. When the land became a frozen tundra then she would use her vehicle. She had only taken a few steps away from the store when she stopped in her tracks. Across the street, looking away from her was a faerie. She wore a long flowing skirt that rippled in waves around her legs. She had a blue haze around her, and Terra knew she was a water faerie. Each time the sound of a wave crashing into the shore traveled up the street to where they stood the haze around her pulsed. It wasn’t as bright as El and Aylin’s, but it was visible. When Terra took another step the woman looked over her shoulder and locked eyes with her.

             
The woman nodded in acknowledgement and Terra smiled. She turned back to the direction of the water and Terra sighed. As used to she was at seeing Aylin and El, it was still a shock to see the glowing fae in her town, out in the open. The differences between humans and faeries were so obvious to Terra. A faerie doesn’t have to look down to watch her feet to step over an obstacle like a tree root, or a rock. She knows her surroundings without looking. Humans spend a lot of time watching their feet when they walk.

             
Faeries also don’t fidget. They can stand perfectly still for long lengths of time, listening and breathing as opposed to the constant movement of humans. She didn’t notice this until this past summer when she went back into the woods near her home and found her field of bluebells. She stood at the edge, watching the light play with the soft petals for hours. When she made a movement she let out her breath, and her limbs were stiff. Terra hoped that one day she would get used to running into others, that it wouldn’t be a jolt each time.

             
Turning the first corner she heard her name called from across the street. She looked over in time to see Owen crossing the street toward her. So far she had successfully avoided him, keeping the conversations short since she’d been back home. She wasn’t ready to answer a dozen questions as to why she had run away.
"
Hey Owen,
"
She smiled up at him.

             
Owen was a man of contradictions. His square jaw, high cheekbones, and smooth skin reminded her of the advertisements of the gorgeous men in cologne and jean ads in magazines. His black hair was just long enough to tie back in a ponytail. One didn’t have to stretch the imagination to know he had a muscular build under his fitted shirts and low slung jeans. His eyes were ice blue and were always friendly toward her. He looked the part of a male model, but he never would have considered that for a profession.

             
Not native to Lancaster Bay, his father had moved him here when he had been five, shortly after his parents went through an ugly divorce. His dad always wanted to live a quiet simple life raising their son. His mother thrived in the city, climbing to the top of her company to become C.E.O. His dad had tried living in the city for a few years but knew in the end he couldn’t live that life. His mom didn’t have time to raise a son and pursue her career. It had been an easy decision for her to give full custody to Owen’s dad. When Owen had been ten he admitted to Blake that he doesn’t remember what his mom looks like, and hadn’t spoken to her since his sixth birthday.

             
In spite of being deserted by his own mother, Owen grew up to be a caring, generous guy that was completely loyal to Blake. Both their dads had worked at the lumberyard, while Mary, Terra and Blake’s mom, took care of the kids during the day. There had been more nights than not that they would all gather around the dinner table together.

             
Owen had been as good to Terra as Blake was, standing up for her when she needed it, and teasing her when she became an awkward teenager. It had been mortifying the first time she was kissed by a boy because they had hidden behind the schoolhouse and Blake and Owen busted her. It took a long time for her to live that down.

             
She and Owen shared a common interest in a wide range of books. He loved reading as much as she did, or at least he used to before he became obsessed with computers. He had borrowed books from the library as often as she did. The librarian had caught onto their interests early and would hold special stacks for the two of them.

             
"
I haven’t seen much of you since you’ve been back.
"
He fell into step with her.

             
"
Yeah, it’s been pretty crazy for us with Mom sick, and running the bookstore. You know,
"
she shrugged.

             
"
Sure. I hear she’s getting better.
"
He shoved his hands in his pants pockets.

             
"
Oh, um, yeah.
"
She nodded.

             
"
Blake said you have some friends in town.
"
He didn’t notice the heated look he got from Terra.
"
We should all get together. You know, like old times.
"
He nudged her with his elbow.

             
"
Old times with new friends,
"
she said.

             
"
Exactly.
"
He winked.

             
She hated to admit that it was nice talking to him. He was always so upbeat; she began wondering why she had spent time actually avoiding him.
"
Actually, that sounds like a great idea. I’ll talk to Blake.
"
Maybe Blake would warm up to Aylin and El then too.

             
"
Leave the sourpuss to me.
"
Terra couldn’t stop herself from laughing.
"
He has been a grump lately, huh?
"
She nodded in agreement. Owen was feeling bold, so he stepped in front of her, stopping her walk.
"
Listen, I’m going to be in town for awhile now, maybe you and I could grab dinner sometime.
"

             
She smiled up at him.
"
Maybe we could. Catch up on old times. I bet Blake would be up for it too.
"