Read Online The Summer Solstice ~ Enchanted by K.K. Allen - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: K.K. Allen
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but she hides it better than Iris.
“Okay, Kat. You’re up. No help this time, you’re
getting good.” Alec winks at me and the heat rises in my face.
I eye the table, planning my next move. I notice a
solid ball near the middle pocket but the white is jammed behind a stripe. If I
aim for the top of the table, it would bounce back and hit the yellow solid
right into the pocket. I firmly position myself, eyes focused.
“Whoa getting fancy,” Alec exclaims.
“Yeah right,” Iris says, as if she can’t believe I’m
trying this.
I look up at Iris just as I hit the ball, meeting
her challenge. I’ve never felt so confident. I feel the tip of my stick hit the
white ball perfectly. The white ball takes off, just missing the stripe ball,
and ricochets off the back plush green velvet. I watch with anticipation as it
successfully hits the yellow solid. The yellow ball sinks into the deep black
hole.
Alec is whooping and hollering and hugging me. Iris
and Ava stand off to the side, arms folded, and unbelieving expressions on
their faces.
As I’m laughing and raising my arms in celebration
my right fist slams into a person behind me. I turn in horror to see whom I’ve
struck.
The scruffy, troubled waiter who was taking our
order earlier is holding his nose, cringing. My mouth is wide and I step closer
to him. “I’m so sorry!” I reach for his face.
He just glares at me and walks away. I’m left with
a deep sinking hole in the pit of my stomach.
“He’ll be fine,” Alec
says and pulls me back to the table. “It’s your turn again, rock star.”
We played two more games, all of which, Alec and I
won. Iris and Ava took off in Iris’s red Fiat shortly after, fuming. I knew I
recognized their long blonde locks. They almost ran me over in the shopping
mall parking lot.
I ask for an application as we exit the Grille. “I
think I’d like to work here,” I tell Alec.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. It’s against
bar rules for employees to shark all of the customers.”
I throw my head back and laugh. There’s something
about Alec that affects me. It’s as if I’m finally myself , whoever that
is. But I’ve never been this elated before.
We are strolling our way across a walking bridge
that looks to be opening up to a beachfront. The shore sounds as if it’s taking
a beating since the wind has picked up.
“I’m sorry again – about your mom I mean.”
Alec looks at me, our shoulders side-by-side.
At first, I’m not sure how to answer him. It’s not
a conversation I’m used to having. “She kept a lot of secrets from me,” I say
quietly. “Rose has all of these photo albums and great stories of my mom, but
my mom wanted nothing to do with the Summers. It’s all just so confusing.”
Alec frowns. “Your mom never said anything? Not
even a clue as to why she kept them from you?”
I shake my head. There’s an uncomfortable sensation
in my chest, knowing that I’m telling Alec too much. I barely know him. But
he’s been the only person besides Rose and Charlotte that I have to talk to.
Iris and Ava weren’t going to be asking me to join them at sleepovers any time
soon.
I touch the heart locket I wear around my neck. “My
mom gave me this.” I hold out the necklace so he can see it. “It was a week
before she died. She took me to the mall and we picked it out. She said she
wanted me to have something that always kept her close to my heart.”
The story troubles me now because it’s the first
time I’ve thought about the coincidence of my mom passing so soon after her
gift.
Alec must sense my heartbreak because he wraps a
comforting arm around my shoulders and squeezes. “That’s a great story. You’ll
never forget her, Kat. And she’ll always be looking over you. She must have
known that you’d end up here if anything happened to her.”
I nod my head, fighting back tears. “I think so
too.”
Silence fills the dimming night’s air as we walk
along the Coast,
“Okay, Kat. You’re up. No help this time, you’re
getting good.” Alec winks at me and the heat rises in my face.
I eye the table, planning my next move. I notice a
solid ball near the middle pocket but the white is jammed behind a stripe. If I
aim for the top of the table, it would bounce back and hit the yellow solid
right into the pocket. I firmly position myself, eyes focused.
“Whoa getting fancy,” Alec exclaims.
“Yeah right,” Iris says, as if she can’t believe I’m
trying this.
I look up at Iris just as I hit the ball, meeting
her challenge. I’ve never felt so confident. I feel the tip of my stick hit the
white ball perfectly. The white ball takes off, just missing the stripe ball,
and ricochets off the back plush green velvet. I watch with anticipation as it
successfully hits the yellow solid. The yellow ball sinks into the deep black
hole.
Alec is whooping and hollering and hugging me. Iris
and Ava stand off to the side, arms folded, and unbelieving expressions on
their faces.
As I’m laughing and raising my arms in celebration
my right fist slams into a person behind me. I turn in horror to see whom I’ve
struck.
The scruffy, troubled waiter who was taking our
order earlier is holding his nose, cringing. My mouth is wide and I step closer
to him. “I’m so sorry!” I reach for his face.
He just glares at me and walks away. I’m left with
a deep sinking hole in the pit of my stomach.
“He’ll be fine,” Alec
says and pulls me back to the table. “It’s your turn again, rock star.”
We played two more games, all of which, Alec and I
won. Iris and Ava took off in Iris’s red Fiat shortly after, fuming. I knew I
recognized their long blonde locks. They almost ran me over in the shopping
mall parking lot.
I ask for an application as we exit the Grille. “I
think I’d like to work here,” I tell Alec.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. It’s against
bar rules for employees to shark all of the customers.”
I throw my head back and laugh. There’s something
about Alec that affects me. It’s as if I’m finally myself , whoever that
is. But I’ve never been this elated before.
We are strolling our way across a walking bridge
that looks to be opening up to a beachfront. The shore sounds as if it’s taking
a beating since the wind has picked up.
“I’m sorry again – about your mom I mean.”
Alec looks at me, our shoulders side-by-side.
At first, I’m not sure how to answer him. It’s not
a conversation I’m used to having. “She kept a lot of secrets from me,” I say
quietly. “Rose has all of these photo albums and great stories of my mom, but
my mom wanted nothing to do with the Summers. It’s all just so confusing.”
Alec frowns. “Your mom never said anything? Not
even a clue as to why she kept them from you?”
I shake my head. There’s an uncomfortable sensation
in my chest, knowing that I’m telling Alec too much. I barely know him. But
he’s been the only person besides Rose and Charlotte that I have to talk to.
Iris and Ava weren’t going to be asking me to join them at sleepovers any time
soon.
I touch the heart locket I wear around my neck. “My
mom gave me this.” I hold out the necklace so he can see it. “It was a week
before she died. She took me to the mall and we picked it out. She said she
wanted me to have something that always kept her close to my heart.”
The story troubles me now because it’s the first
time I’ve thought about the coincidence of my mom passing so soon after her
gift.
Alec must sense my heartbreak because he wraps a
comforting arm around my shoulders and squeezes. “That’s a great story. You’ll
never forget her, Kat. And she’ll always be looking over you. She must have
known that you’d end up here if anything happened to her.”
I nod my head, fighting back tears. “I think so
too.”
Silence fills the dimming night’s air as we walk
along the Coast,
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