Read Online A Promise of Fireflies by Susan Haught - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Susan Haught
Tags: Women's Fiction
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word hanging in the air.
Evan glared at her. “Mom?”
“Okay, okay.” She twisted a strand of hair around her finger. He’d always been persuasive, but she wondered when he’d become so… weighty . “After Thanksgiving I’ll tell Bernadette I have plans for an early Christmas vacation.”
Chapter Eleven
SANTA CLAUS, SLEIGH bells and pine boughs replaced pumpkins and honeycomb turkeys everywhere and as quickly as Thanksgiving disappeared, Christmas barreled in right on schedule.
So had her flight to New York.
Time evaporated over rivers and mountain ranges as the plane passed from west to east. A recent snowstorm left a blanket of snow over the New York landscape, and from the air the roads crossed the landscape in a spider web of black asphalt. Though her wristwatch ticked slowly past two in the afternoon, the setting sun painted a much different picture as the plane descended into the shadows of New York. At least Evan had reserved a vehicle with navigation, and Ryleigh was fairly certain the GPS wouldn’t steer her in the wrong direction, even though she’d already done a good job of doing exactly that without an ounce of help.
A wave of anxiety clutched her chest and whitened her knuckles as the airplane’s wheels kissed asphalt with a jolt.
The Albany terminal dwarfed in comparison to Sky Harbor, but departing the plane and stepping into the terminal on the other side of the continent was as foreign to her as an intergalactic space station. She was surprised at the ease with which she claimed her bag and walked the short distance to the Alamo counter. The Tahoe, equipped with all the gadgets a techno-whiz could wish for (useless bells and whistles for the technically challenged), was ready, and a young attendant synced the Bluetooth and briefed her on the navigation. With a smile filled with blue and gray hardware, he assured her the navigation would take her to the Brook Hollow Inn’s doorstep in Saratoga Springs without a hitch. He handed her the key fob and left her to navigate an unfamiliar world.
Ryleigh recited the instructions step by step and entered the address. The male voice that answered the instructions surprised her.
She patted the dash. “Nice touch,” she said and pulled forward, the man’s voice telling her to turn right at the airport exit. “We’ll be spending some intimate time together, Mr. Navigation, so you need a name. It’s night and vampires love the night. Barnabas.” She shrugged and turned right. “Take me to my temporary home, Barnabas Collins. I’ll share my last name with you if you promise not to get me lost.” Talking to an invisible man in the dashboard seemed awkward, but the company—invisible or not—was more than welcomed.
A half-hour later she pulled into the Inn.
The room mimicked a quaint coastal cottage in weathered blues and white, and flames danced in the fireplace with a flip of the switch. Ryleigh stepped to the deck. She shivered and tightened the pink ASU hoodie. Pearls of moonlight rippled over Saratoga Lake as the moon’s drowsy rise took dominance over the stars, the air brisk and pungently fishy. Waves lapped against the shore. Returning to the warmth of the room, she dialed her cell phone.
“You made it, huh? How was the flight? And your room?”
“Everything’s perfect, Son. The lake is gorgeous. I just wish you or Nat were here with me,” she said with an uninvited note of uncertainty.
“You’ll be fine. Ballston’s a small town. And if this Ambrose is an objectionable sort, somebody will tell you. People in Hidden Falls would. So many dubious characters wander the streets there.” Sarcasm dripped from his words. “Oh, I almost forgot. Dad called. He was pretty upset you went to New York by yourself.”
Ryleigh slumped. “Why’d you tell him?”
“Didn’t know it was a secret. He said he should have gone with you.”
Her heart faltered on the words. She stared out at the black water, moonlight
Evan glared at her. “Mom?”
“Okay, okay.” She twisted a strand of hair around her finger. He’d always been persuasive, but she wondered when he’d become so… weighty . “After Thanksgiving I’ll tell Bernadette I have plans for an early Christmas vacation.”
Chapter Eleven
SANTA CLAUS, SLEIGH bells and pine boughs replaced pumpkins and honeycomb turkeys everywhere and as quickly as Thanksgiving disappeared, Christmas barreled in right on schedule.
So had her flight to New York.
Time evaporated over rivers and mountain ranges as the plane passed from west to east. A recent snowstorm left a blanket of snow over the New York landscape, and from the air the roads crossed the landscape in a spider web of black asphalt. Though her wristwatch ticked slowly past two in the afternoon, the setting sun painted a much different picture as the plane descended into the shadows of New York. At least Evan had reserved a vehicle with navigation, and Ryleigh was fairly certain the GPS wouldn’t steer her in the wrong direction, even though she’d already done a good job of doing exactly that without an ounce of help.
A wave of anxiety clutched her chest and whitened her knuckles as the airplane’s wheels kissed asphalt with a jolt.
The Albany terminal dwarfed in comparison to Sky Harbor, but departing the plane and stepping into the terminal on the other side of the continent was as foreign to her as an intergalactic space station. She was surprised at the ease with which she claimed her bag and walked the short distance to the Alamo counter. The Tahoe, equipped with all the gadgets a techno-whiz could wish for (useless bells and whistles for the technically challenged), was ready, and a young attendant synced the Bluetooth and briefed her on the navigation. With a smile filled with blue and gray hardware, he assured her the navigation would take her to the Brook Hollow Inn’s doorstep in Saratoga Springs without a hitch. He handed her the key fob and left her to navigate an unfamiliar world.
Ryleigh recited the instructions step by step and entered the address. The male voice that answered the instructions surprised her.
She patted the dash. “Nice touch,” she said and pulled forward, the man’s voice telling her to turn right at the airport exit. “We’ll be spending some intimate time together, Mr. Navigation, so you need a name. It’s night and vampires love the night. Barnabas.” She shrugged and turned right. “Take me to my temporary home, Barnabas Collins. I’ll share my last name with you if you promise not to get me lost.” Talking to an invisible man in the dashboard seemed awkward, but the company—invisible or not—was more than welcomed.
A half-hour later she pulled into the Inn.
The room mimicked a quaint coastal cottage in weathered blues and white, and flames danced in the fireplace with a flip of the switch. Ryleigh stepped to the deck. She shivered and tightened the pink ASU hoodie. Pearls of moonlight rippled over Saratoga Lake as the moon’s drowsy rise took dominance over the stars, the air brisk and pungently fishy. Waves lapped against the shore. Returning to the warmth of the room, she dialed her cell phone.
“You made it, huh? How was the flight? And your room?”
“Everything’s perfect, Son. The lake is gorgeous. I just wish you or Nat were here with me,” she said with an uninvited note of uncertainty.
“You’ll be fine. Ballston’s a small town. And if this Ambrose is an objectionable sort, somebody will tell you. People in Hidden Falls would. So many dubious characters wander the streets there.” Sarcasm dripped from his words. “Oh, I almost forgot. Dad called. He was pretty upset you went to New York by yourself.”
Ryleigh slumped. “Why’d you tell him?”
“Didn’t know it was a secret. He said he should have gone with you.”
Her heart faltered on the words. She stared out at the black water, moonlight
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