Queen of the Fireflies (Aurelia Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  Chapter Two

  Mom and I picked up pizza on the way home after closing up the floral shop for the evening. When I’m upset I eat everything in sight, so my mom didn’t bat an eyelash when I ordered a whole large pizza for myself. I couldn’t believe him! What an asshole! At least I wasn’t crying anymore.

  Mom got out the plates and glasses of water while I checked out movies on Netflix. I settled on a superhero movie (No sappy love stories tonight!) as Mom brought the food into the living room. We usually don’t eat meals in front of the television, but having your heart broken is as good of an excuse as any to bend the rules every now and then, right?

  It wasn’t very long after my mom finished two slices of veggie pizza that she fell asleep on the couch. What was going on with her? It wasn’t like her to fall asleep before 8:30, and sitting up no less. I took the empty plate from her lap, set it on the coffee table, and lightly shook her shoulder to wake her.

  “Mom, why don’t you go to bed? I’ll clean up when the movie is over.”

  “Yeah, okay,” she responded, rubbing her eyes. “I’ll see you in the morning, sweetheart. We’re opening, so we need to leave by 7:00.” She slowly got to her feet and shuffled toward her bedroom.

  That was definitely weird. I sat there staring at the tv, not really watching the movie. Maybe Mom was just getting older. She had worked hard my entire life, always had a job that required her to work long hours on her feet. Maybe the stress was starting to get to her? Whatever it was, I was here to help her as she has always done so much for me.

  That night, as I lay in bed trying to go to sleep, I thought back to who Jesse was when we met. He was always so cocky and arrogant to everyone else, but seemed to have a softer side for me. That softer side is what drew me in. We were friends and neighbors first before becoming more. It took almost an entire semester of him flirting with me before he wore me down to go on a date. I was used to guys hitting on me, but they were often discouraged when I didn’t flirt back. Not Jesse, if anything, it made him try harder. I wondered if it was just a game to him, to get the girl no one could get. That had to be it. It was the only thing that made sense.

  I rolled over and picked up my cell phone from the nightstand and turned it on. 56 text messages and 13 voicemails. I deleted the voicemails without listening to them, all from Jesse and then moved to the texts. Most of them were from Jesse, but a few were from Tessa. I couldn’t believe that I had forgotten about Tessa! She was so going to kill me! After I deleted the texts from Jesse, I read over the ones from my best friend.

  Tessa: Call me when u get to ur mom’s! Love u!!

  Tessa: Did u make it ok? Y is ur phone off?

  Tessa: Joe says Jesse is throwing shit around. Did something happen?

  The last text was sent about 15 minutes before I read it. I sighed and typed out a response.

  Me: I caught him naked with another girl this morning. We broke up.

  Tessa: What?! What an asshole!!

  Me: He came down to talk about it and I sent him packing.

  Tessa: Ok ok. I’ll fill Joe in, but if he so much as looks at me…

  Me: Fine by me. Going 2 bed. Love u, friend!

  Tessa: Love u 2! You are 2 good for him

  Man, I loved that girl. I decided I didn’t care what I had to do, but I was going to keep her for the rest of my life. I shut off my phone and rolled over to go to sleep. Tears began to fall for what seemed like the millionth time that day, and I promised myself that it would be the last time I ever cried over Jesse Allen.

  The next morning, I woke up to the beeping of my alarm clock. My head pounded like the someone was beating a bass drum in my ear. That’s what I got for crying myself to sleep.

  I got up slowly, took some aspirin, then got ready for the day. I usually picked out my clothing carefully, taking time to put it all together, but I could only manage leggings, an oversized off the shoulder white sweater and a messy top knot for my hair. I loved shopping at thrift stores and consignment shops. Not only was it cheaper, but because I liked repurposing things to make them my own. Why should I look exactly like everyone else? However, I was going for comfort over style.

  Even with the slow start that morning, I was still ready to go before my mom was, which was definitely different. I was really starting to get concerned. Mom was usually up and put together with breakfast in hand while I was still in the bathroom contouring my face. It looked like today we would be picking up breakfast at the coffee shop.

  “Mom, is everything okay?” I asked as we walked out the front door and locked it.

  “Of course! I’m just a little run-down from working 6 to 7 days a week at the shop. We really need to hire another employee,” she said. “I went to the doctor last week and it’s nothing serious, I promise.”

  I scrunched my eyebrows as I took in her excuse. No matter what she went through in the past with work, she always looked fresh as a daisy and had as much energy as I did, even as a kid. Maybe it really was about her getting older.

  But 43 really wasn’t that old.

  “I’ll tell you what,” I said. “I can stay through the summer and work for next to nothing while you and Harlan take your time hiring another worker.” Mom began to argue when I stopped her with a look. “I was already planning on taking online courses this summer and I can do them from here just as easily as I can from my apartment. Everything is all paid up through my scholarships, so I don’t need to worry about that either. Besides, you’d be doing me a favor. This way, I don’t have to run into you-know-who every time I step out of my apartment.” I honestly wasn’t too concerned about my mom’s overbearing nature, seeing that I planned on being a hermit this summer anyway.

  Mom seemed to think it over for a second before asking, “Are you sure? I love having you here, but I don’t want to interrupt your life at school. What about your internship?” I had an unpaid internship starting in August with my top pick for an architectural landscape firm. I was beyond excited for the opportunity.

  “No worries there,” I replied. “It’s all set up and ready to start in August.”

  “I’ll talk to Harlan, but I’m sure he’ll say yes. He loves you like you were his own daughter,” Mom sighed. She seemed to visibly relax before my eyes.

  The rest of the day went by without much drama. Jesse kept texting me, but I blocked his number after the third message which made me breathe a little easier. He just didn’t get it.

  I started my two online classes the following week and worked at the floral shop when I wasn’t doing school work. We split the schedule three ways- Mom, Harlan, and me, taking half-day shifts instead of just Mom and Harlan working every day. That way everyone had a day off every now and then.

  But, even with Mom cutting back on work, I noticed that she was getting more and more tired every day. She was losing weight, which really worried me, and would fall asleep whenever she sat still for too long. Finally, I had enough.

  “Mom, I think you need to go see a doctor,” I told her over breakfast one morning. “I’m getting concerned about you and how tired you are.” My mom has always been the picture of health and I was starting to worry that something was seriously wrong with her. What if the doctor missed something?

  “Hush, I’ll be fine,” Mom told me with a small brittle smile. I wasn’t at all convinced.

  “Mom, you sleep all the time and you’re losing weight! You look like death! You aren’t fine!” I put my spoon down forcefully and looked at her with a distressed expression.

  “Okay, okay,” Mom said. She knew she was in no real position to argue. I could tell she felt awful. “I’ll go to the doctor tomorrow morning if I still feel this tired, I promise.”

  My mom was everything to me and the only constant person in my life besides Tessa. I couldn’t lose her. I didn’t know what I would do if that happened.

  Mom had the day off from the floral shop, but I didn’t. I was scheduled to close, so I went in at lunch time. The afternoon went by slowly a
nd I had a lot of time to think about Mom. Of course my thoughts ran away with me and I imagined the worst. I really needed to stop doing that.

  That evening when I got home, Mom was already in bed asleep. Tomorrow. Tomorrow Mom would go to the doctor and find out what was wrong with her, and I would be there to help her through whatever it was.

  As I was getting ready for bed, I texted back and forth with Tessa about the upcoming weekend. We planned on her coming down to visit, but that might be postponed, depending on what the doctor says. Hopefully, it would be nothing.

  The next morning, I woke up to the smell of sausage cooking. I stumbled out of bed, and down the hall to the kitchen to find my mom singing and cooking at the stove. She was making an egg, sausage, and veggie scramble. Instead of looking tired and worn down, like she had been over the last few weeks, my mom looked amazing. I was completely confused.

  “Mom?”

  “Good morning! I had a wonderful night sleep last night! I guess that it was exactly what I needed!” Mom beamed. “Breakfast?”

  “Sure.” I gave her a suspicious look and sat down at the table. “Thank you.” I slowly ate my breakfast and watched her the whole time, not totally convinced that she wasn’t somehow pretending to feel better.

  “Really, I’m fine!” Mom said.

  I sighed in relief. “Okay. Well, I need to get ready for work, so I’ll see you this afternoon. I love you, Mom.” I smiled with watery eyes.

  “I love you too, sweetheart,” she said with a soft smile. “Now, go get ready!”

  Chapter Three

  I couldn’t get over mom’s transformation. She went from knocking on death’s door, to the picture of health in less than 24 hours. How was that possible? I had never heard of a good night’s sleep being that beneficial, ever. But, I was happy to see her feeling better. I was so distracted by thoughts of my mom that I didn’t see the man crossing the alley, into the parking lot behind the shop, until I clipped him with the right corner of my bumper. I slammed on my brakes before I completely ran over him.

  “Shit!” I screamed as I put my jeep in park and jumped out. “Oh my goodness! Sir, are you okay?!”

  He lay on his back holding his left leg, scowling up at me with the most intense blue eyes I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t blame him for being angry. How could I have hit someone with my car?! I had never even had a ticket and here I go hitting people.

  “I’m so sorry! Let me call an ambulance.” I went back to the jeep to get my phone when he tried to get up off the ground. “Sir, please don’t get up! I’m calling for help!”

  “No need,” he told me. His voice had a hint of an accent that I couldn’t place, but sounded familiar at the same time. “I’ll be fine.” He began rubbing his thigh and turning his head from side to side. He continued to glare at me.

  “Please let me help you,” I begged, rushing over to help him up. “I feel terrible.” He jerked away from me, almost falling down again. Me being the glutton for punishment that I am, reached for him again. This time he let me help him up completely.

  “You should feel terrible,” he said sternly. “If you had been paying attention to what you were doing instead of checking your phone, you wouldn’t have hit me with your vehicle.”

  He shrugged me off and started to walk away. Before he turned his back to me, I noticed how tall he actually was. He had to be 6’5”, 6’6” which was even taller than Jesse, and he was really strong with wide shoulders too. How did I not see him? He was basically a walking brick wall. Then, I realized what he had just said to me.

  “Sir, I wasn’t on my phone, but I was distracted. I apologize.” I tried to grab his arm again to get him to stay. I needed to make sure he was alright. “Please stay here. I’m calling an ambulance.” I began dialing 911 when he took the phone from my hand. He moved so fast that I barely even saw him do it.

  “I said I am fine,” he told me again, his sapphire eyes looking down at me.

  Where did he come from? I had never seen anyone like him in my entire life. His hair was raven black, cut longer on the top than the sides and swept from right to left, with what looked like a permanent 5 o’clock shadow on his face. His strong nose and full lips made him look extremely masculine, especially with the scowl. I was mesmerized. He turned around and began to limp away.

  I was lost in thought again, this time about the stranger, when I looked up and noticed that he was gone. Then I remembered that he still had my phone. Where did he go? I looked around for a few more minutes, walking up and down the sidewalk, and down alleys, but the mysterious man disappeared. How was that possible?

  I carefully got back into my jeep and parked it in the lot behind the floral shop, still looking around for that strange guy. I was definitely curious about him and who he was, but my concern for his well-being was stronger. What if he had internal bleeding? I couldn’t have been going more than 15 mph tops, as I turned the corner, but it still should have hurt him.

  Work went by painfully slow that morning with only a few customers, so I had plenty of time with my thoughts, as usual. It was a good thing that I only had to work until lunch time, because I couldn’t handle much more time alone in my head.

  Harlan came in the front door carrying a iced coffee from the coffee shop next door, exactly at one o’clock. He was wearing his usual button-down shirt and dress shorts, with a smile from ear to ear. Baby, his golden retriever trailed behind him, wagging her tail. She came over to me and laid down on top of my feet. She always did that whenever I saw her.

  “Hey there, Shortcake! How’s it going?” He exclaimed. I gave him a small smile, pet Baby behind her ears, then told him about my morning. I recounted everything, even running over the most gorgeous guy I had ever seen.

  “I hit him with my car and all I could do was stare at him like a creeper,” I whined. “He was easily the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen.” I gently nudged Baby out of the way and picked up my bag off the floor.

  “Well, it sounds like you’ve hit your quota of big things happening in one day. Maybe you should go home and go to bed,” he told me with a twinkle in his eye.

  “Yeah, maybe,” I responded. “But, I really need to know if he’s alright. I don’t think I’ll get any rest until I know.”

  “You have a big heart, sweetie. But, I think he was probably okay if he was able to walk away. Go on and get out of here. And don’t hit any more people with your car!” I playfully punched his arm and gave Baby a belly rub before leaving out the back door.

  As I got into my jeep, I saw that my cell phone was sitting in the cup holder between the front seats. The doors were locked and the windows were rolled up. How could he possibly get into the car without setting off the alarm? I looked around the parking lot one more time, cautiously, before getting in the front seat and turned on the jeep.

  I drove around Savannah looking for any sign of the man from earlier that morning. After about an hour of searching, I decided to stop for lunch. I picked up a sandwich and bottle of water at a local deli, and drove over to Forsyth Park. I loved coming to this fountain ever since Mom and I moved to Savannah 4 years ago.

  Mom moved us around the country ever since I was a baby. I was born in San Diego, California, but I have since lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Joliet, Illinois, and Bangor, Maine before settling in Savannah. Mom told me that she wanted her daughter to experience new things in new and interesting places, but as I got older I felt like the moving around was because of something else. She always got jobs that were easy to pick-up and leave without much notice and we always rented apartments. Until Savannah.

  I was 16 years old when we moved here and Mom immediately bought a two-bedroom cottage just outside of the city. She worked at a diner where she met Harlan, who was and still is a regular there. They talked a lot about plants and flowers, and over time, Harlan proposed that they go into business together. It took some convincing, but she agreed. My mom left the diner and opened a floral shop with Harlan.

  I asked
my mom over winter break my Freshman year of college why she decided to settle down in Savannah. She just shrugged her shoulders and said, “It was time. It felt right.” That was the only explanation I got.

  I sat at a bench near the fountain, opened the wrapper to my sandwich and took a bite. Forsyth Park really was one of the most beautiful places I had ever been. Here I didn’t have to think, just admire the beauty of it all. I really needed to bring my sketch book here one day, if I ever remembered to bring it with me. Everyone who visits the city for one reason or another ends up in Forsyth Park, so I thought it would be a good chance that my stranger would too.

  I waited around the park for about two hours before calling it quits and going home. I had a research paper to start on anyway. I threw away my trash, got in the jeep, and steered it toward home.

  Stopped at a red light, it felt as if someone was watching me. I turned my head to the left and saw the stranger standing at a bus stop, watching me with a conflicted look on his face. He seemed to be trying to decide something while he looked at me. My window was already rolled down so I began to yell for him, but before I could get any words out he turned and walked the opposite direction. I tried to turn my jeep around, which wasn’t easy with city traffic, and finally changed directions. By the time I did he was gone again.

  Pulling over in another parking lot, I began to think about this mysterious stranger again. Who was he? Where did he come from? I had never seen anyone like him. I had definitely never reacted to anyone like I did him, not even Jesse. But no, I was taking a break from guys, especially after Jesse. He was probably more of a ladies’ man than my ex was anyway. I could just imagine all of the women that fell all over him. Decision made, I told myself that he wasn’t the guy for me.