Free Shadow of Time - Book 1: (Paranormal Romance) by Jen Minkman Page A

between them.
    “Josh, could you come over here for a minute?” Emily called out. She was still helping Nick with his notes.
    “Yep.” Abruptly, Josh whipped around and walked up the steps. Hannah listlessly prodded the barbecue coals with a pair of ton gs, trying to breathe evenly. He was driving her absolutely insane . This whole situation was.
    As she put on the first burgers, Hannah scanned the sky for stars. Dusk was setting in. In the east, a pale crescent moon rose in the cloudless firmament.
    “I bet we’ll see a lot of stars tonight,” sh e said hopefully to Josh, who just put some bottles of sauce on the table next to the barbecue.
    “ You like star-gazing, right?”
    Hannah nodded. “ As a child, I could find all the constellations in the night sky. I knew all their names, too.”
    “Me too. T he Diné don’t have the same constellations, though. You want me to teach you a few?”
    “Sure !” For all she cared, Josh could teach her how to add and subtract. As long as he wasn’t distant or cold toward her. So far, the day had been wonderful in that respect, though.
    At six o’clock, Ben and the neighbors proudly carried a bucket full of fish to the barbecue.
    “I’ll gut those in a minute,” Josh offered when Ivy and Amber handed him the catch of the day. They all shook hands and introduced themselves.
    “Hi, I’m Emily Begay. Hannah told me you are going to study natural medicine,” Emily said to Amber. “I just finished my studies, actually!”
    Within minutes, Amber and Emily were engaged in deep conversation about medicinal herbs used by the Diné on the reservation. Nick put away Ben’s laptop and helped getting the food ready.
    By the time it was really getting dark, everybody sat on the lawn in front of the cabin enjoying the grilled trout. Meanwhile, Ben was playing some golden oldies on Hannah’s guitar.
    “ What kind of food should we bring along to the rodeo tomorrow?” Nick inquired when they were all sitting around the campfire after dinner.
    “Everything but alcohol,” Josh said.
    “Is that a taboo in your culture?” Ivy asked.
    Josh nodded. “It is officially forbidden in Navajo Nation. On the rez, they call it tó tsi'naa'iiáhí – the water that drives the mind crazy. I stay away from it as much as possible,” he said pointedly.
    “You have bad experiences with alcohol?” Amber asked, picking up on his tone.
    Josh hesitated . “I’ve seen a close relative slowly going to ruin because of the stuff,” he finally said in a taut voice.
    Hannah frowned. Who was Josh talking about? She knew all members of his immediate family, and they definitely weren’t alcoholics.
    Ben gave his friend a n equally confused look. “Who are you talking about?”
    The circle of friends around the fire fell silent, and in that silence, Josh shrugged noncommittally. “Never mind,” he mumbled, a guarded expression on his face. “You don’t know him.”
    Ben decided to drop the matter. He looked away and started to tell Nick about last year’s rodeo in Naabi’aani, clearly trying to ignore Josh’s strange remark.
    When the heat of the fire became too much for her, Hannah leaned backwards on her elbows to cool off. Josh leaned backwards beside her and eyed her questioningly. “Tired?”
    “A bit.” She felt languid from staying close to the fire for so long, staring into his eyes from up close, the two of them breaking the circle around the flames.
    “Too tired for star-gazing?” he continued.
    “I’m never too tired for that.”
    Josh looked up. “We can’t see anything from here.”
    Hannah paused. “No,” she admitted.
    “Come on,” he whispered, climbing to his feet.
    Hannah’s heart started to thump in her chest. She scrambled up too, wincing slightly. The backs of her knees still stung like hell. Taking a few hesitant steps, she stumbled after Josh to the side of the cabin.
    “Y ou okay?” he asked.
    After the bright firelight, her eyes had to get used to the