Free The Summer Solstice ~ Enchanted by K.K. Allen

his arms still wrapping me like a blanket.
    We’re standing in front of Summer Estate’s back
entrance now, facing each other. “I had fun today. Thanks for asking me to join
in.”
    Alec shakes his head. “No. Thank you for being on
my team. You picked pool up quite well.”
    I grin, happy that he is impressed. “Well I should
go.” I hesitate to walk away, unsure of when I’ll see him again.
    “Do you run?” He asks me.
    I nod and tilt my head. “Why?”
    “I’m looking for a running partner. It’s more
motivating,” he grins. “Would you want to run with me? I like to go after
dark.”
    My heartbeat quickens. “Okay.”
    “Tomorrow?” He asks, a hopeful look in his eyes.
    I smile and nod, not trusting myself to answer. Oh,
Alec Stone. Who are you and what have you done to me?
     

Chapter Five
    The restaurant conversation between Alec, Iris, and
Ava weighs on my mind the next morning. But I’m not sure what disturbs me more
– the conversation between my peers, or the fact that I could hear every
word.
    There were only two scenarios that I could come up
with – two of which made sense anyway. One, my hearing has improved
greatly – so great that I could hear over all other voices in the
restaurant. Two, I’m going crazy and made the entire thing up in my mind. I
vote for the latter. But could I have really created an entire conversation in
my head? My mom’s death has been hard on me. There have been a lot of changes
in my life in just the past three months, let alone two weeks. There.
Justified.
    Exhausted from a restless sleep, I have a hard time
eating my breakfast. Rose sits there long after she’s finished her meal,
staring at me. She waits until I have eaten a good portion of my eggs before
speaking.
    “How was your shopping trip yesterday?”
    “Good. Thank you for my things. I can repay you. I
was considering what you said about finding a job. I think it would be good for
me.”
    “Don’t be foolish. You don’t need to repay me.”
Rose’s harsh voice causes my fork to slip from my hand and land on the
porcelain with a clank.
    Confused, I look up at her. “Okay, but I’d still
like to get a job.”
    Rose nods. “I appreciate that, Katrina.” She sighs,
which confuses me deeply. I wait
for her to continue. “But we have plenty of money. In fact, Charlotte will take
you to the bank this week to open your checking account.”
    “Rose, I know you have the money but I would really
like to do what I can for myself. This is all so new to me. And I don’t want to
lose sight of who I am because I’ve suddenly come to live with my rich
grandmother.” I close my eyes tightly, knowing that I need to rephrase. “I’m
sorry, Rose. You are being so generous, but I need to be comfortable.”
    “You are stubborn like your
mother. You know, her and I had this exact same argument.”
    I raise my eyebrows, interested. “Really? When she
came to live here?”
    Rose has a look of amusement on her face. “Not
exactly. When she first arrived it was a temporary situation until we found
where she came from. But the story with finding her parents became complicated.
After a few months of us caring for her, we decided to make it official and
offer her a permanent home. She accepted of course. We had become a family. But
she made a point of not trying to spend family money outside of this house.”
    I am proud in this acknowledgement and smile. “I
must get it from her.”
    Rose nods. “Yes, I suppose you do.” Then she
shrugs. “If it’s a job that you want, if it will make you feel good, then let’s
go job hunting.”
    “” the Island Grille, I got an application
yesterday.” I wait for her to get upset but she doesn’t.
    “Okay. But just request something part time. You will
be busy soon with – other things. I don’t want a job taking you away from
that stuff.” She’s swats an invisible fly. “You will understand when the time
comes.”
    I still don’t understand what the deal