Read Online Stormfront (Undertow Book 2) by K.R. Conway - Free Book Online
Authors: K.R. Conway
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Apparently it was smashed.
I had never seen Ana so withdrawn. So hurt.
The way she carried her pain almost looked like guilt.
Honestly, I was angry that she was called at all – she’s eighteen for crying out loud and it’s Thanksgiving! But then I realized that there was no one else to call. It was just Ana – no parents, no relatives, no trust fund to ensure she could make it in this world.
She had nothing, but she did have Mae and me. She had Raef and MJ, and most importantly she had Kian.
Kian, who she wouldn’t even say a word to when we got in the car. I felt so bad for him.
I was sure he thought he had done something wrong, and in his face I could see the worry that Ana was going to pull away from him once again. I couldn’t even begin to fathom what they had experienced together the summer they met. The ultra-highs of true love falling away to the devastating lows of her father’s death.
She even admitted that she had called Kian a murderer. I knew she now regretted what she had said to him, but Ana was still on the mend. She was strong and determined, but I suspected that one cruel summer had changed them both, and not completely for the better.
I looked over my shoulder to Ana as Raef drove through the town’s winding roads. She was looking out the window at the homes that slipped by, many packed with out-of-state cars. They belonged to family members from all over the country, who were coming home for Thanksgiving.
No one, from anywhere, would come for Ana. But she was home now, with us. She would always have a family with us, as strange and unlikely as we all were together.
As I turned back to look out the windshield I caught Raef’s eye and he mouthed the words, You okay?
I nodded and he laced his free hand in mine over the center console of the Jeep. His thumb traced a small, endless circle on my hand as we drove.
After a few minutes we finally made it to the cemetery, and Raef asked Ana where her father’s plot was, but Ana, her eyes glassy, just shrugged. “I haven’t been here since he was buried. Everything looks different. I should have come before. It took a tree falling on his stone for me to come out here.” She sniffed.
I leaned back toward her. “Hey – your Dad understands. Life gets in the way and it’s hard to come here. He doesn’t want to cause you pain,” I said, but the second the words came out of my mouth, I wished I could take them back.
Ana gave a choked, brittle laugh, “You definitely didn’t know my father, Eila.”
Raef cleared his throat. “I’ll go find the groundskeeper. He can tell us wherever we are supposed to go.”
Raef got out of the Jeep and headed for an office-like building , and soon he was walking back with a map in his hands. He climbed in and shut the door against the cold, handing me the map so I could direct him. Ana stayed silent in the back, her eyes trailing over the many stones, some as old as Raef’s time. Something occurred to me then.
“Do you think any of your family is buried here, Raef?”
He gave a shrug. “Maybe. Possibly. My parents and my sister moved to Virginia before I was turned, however. I would think they would be buried down there.”
“Did you never contact them after you were turned?”
Raef gave me a look that questioned my logic, “No. By the time I was able to control the more dangerous side of my new personality, it had been more than a year. My parents assumed something had happened to me, though I did hear they were trying to find me. But then I realized I would never age. I would never eat, marry, or have children. The son they knew was dead. Contacting them was not an option. They eventually sold our farm to another family who renamed it CatBird Farm.”
CatBird Farm was where MJ’s family bought all the supplies for their ice cream shop. I was stunned. The land had belonged to Raef’s family? I was about to reply, but Ana’s small voice spoke up.
“This looks familiar,” she said,
I had never seen Ana so withdrawn. So hurt.
The way she carried her pain almost looked like guilt.
Honestly, I was angry that she was called at all – she’s eighteen for crying out loud and it’s Thanksgiving! But then I realized that there was no one else to call. It was just Ana – no parents, no relatives, no trust fund to ensure she could make it in this world.
She had nothing, but she did have Mae and me. She had Raef and MJ, and most importantly she had Kian.
Kian, who she wouldn’t even say a word to when we got in the car. I felt so bad for him.
I was sure he thought he had done something wrong, and in his face I could see the worry that Ana was going to pull away from him once again. I couldn’t even begin to fathom what they had experienced together the summer they met. The ultra-highs of true love falling away to the devastating lows of her father’s death.
She even admitted that she had called Kian a murderer. I knew she now regretted what she had said to him, but Ana was still on the mend. She was strong and determined, but I suspected that one cruel summer had changed them both, and not completely for the better.
I looked over my shoulder to Ana as Raef drove through the town’s winding roads. She was looking out the window at the homes that slipped by, many packed with out-of-state cars. They belonged to family members from all over the country, who were coming home for Thanksgiving.
No one, from anywhere, would come for Ana. But she was home now, with us. She would always have a family with us, as strange and unlikely as we all were together.
As I turned back to look out the windshield I caught Raef’s eye and he mouthed the words, You okay?
I nodded and he laced his free hand in mine over the center console of the Jeep. His thumb traced a small, endless circle on my hand as we drove.
After a few minutes we finally made it to the cemetery, and Raef asked Ana where her father’s plot was, but Ana, her eyes glassy, just shrugged. “I haven’t been here since he was buried. Everything looks different. I should have come before. It took a tree falling on his stone for me to come out here.” She sniffed.
I leaned back toward her. “Hey – your Dad understands. Life gets in the way and it’s hard to come here. He doesn’t want to cause you pain,” I said, but the second the words came out of my mouth, I wished I could take them back.
Ana gave a choked, brittle laugh, “You definitely didn’t know my father, Eila.”
Raef cleared his throat. “I’ll go find the groundskeeper. He can tell us wherever we are supposed to go.”
Raef got out of the Jeep and headed for an office-like building , and soon he was walking back with a map in his hands. He climbed in and shut the door against the cold, handing me the map so I could direct him. Ana stayed silent in the back, her eyes trailing over the many stones, some as old as Raef’s time. Something occurred to me then.
“Do you think any of your family is buried here, Raef?”
He gave a shrug. “Maybe. Possibly. My parents and my sister moved to Virginia before I was turned, however. I would think they would be buried down there.”
“Did you never contact them after you were turned?”
Raef gave me a look that questioned my logic, “No. By the time I was able to control the more dangerous side of my new personality, it had been more than a year. My parents assumed something had happened to me, though I did hear they were trying to find me. But then I realized I would never age. I would never eat, marry, or have children. The son they knew was dead. Contacting them was not an option. They eventually sold our farm to another family who renamed it CatBird Farm.”
CatBird Farm was where MJ’s family bought all the supplies for their ice cream shop. I was stunned. The land had belonged to Raef’s family? I was about to reply, but Ana’s small voice spoke up.
“This looks familiar,” she said,
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