Insight (Web of Hearts and Souls #1)(23)

“Jason, your girls are beautiful. You’re a lucky man,” Ashten said, looking curiously into my eyes, then to my father.

I could feel an overwhelming anxiety and anticipation coming from them. My father told us that the others should be there soon. He then escorted us into the beautiful cabin. The entire front room, from floor to ceiling, was made of a glossy wood. The ceiling was angled into an A-frame with wide beams that stretched across the room. All the furniture seemed to complement the mountain setting. The smell of pine lingered in the air. I unloaded my tote on the counter and picked up Libby’s bag to carry it upstairs.

Libby and I found our rooms. The cabin had six bedrooms, so Libby got her own room, which made her happy. I brushed her hair and listened to her tell me of all the fun she was going to have in her new home. My mother had told her that we would have to travel very far before we could reach our new house and that all her new friends would be there. It really didn’t take much to build excitement in my baby sister.

I decided to take a hot shower. All the traveling had given me jet lag, but the last thing I wanted to do was close my eyes again. When I got back to my room and started to dress, I could not find my brush anywhere. Libby then walked in and handed it to me. I stood stunned, holding it. Libby did not often go out of her way to help me out since she was used to us taking care of her.

“I couldn’t find your sandals,” she said sadly.

“Why were you looking for them?”

She looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. “Cause you told me you needed your brush and asked if I had your sandals.”

“When did I say that?” Had I finally flipped the crazy switch?

“Just now. Mom wants you to come downstairs,” she said, crossing her little arms.

My mother topped the stairs, looked in my direction, and said, “Willow, can you please come downstairs?”

Wide-eyed, I looked from my mother back to Libby, convinced I was now delusional.

“Mom, did you send Libby to tell me that?”

Now she was looking at me as if I were crazy. Slowly, she shook her head no. I walked over to Libby, knelt down in front of her, and said, “Libby how did you know about the brush and Mom?”

I was making her angry. “You told me to get your brush. I heard Mom ask you to come downstairs.”

I felt the shock come from my mother, but it couldn’t compare to mine. It was like watching Libby take her first steps all over again. She had found her insight, but I knew she didn’t understand it. She didn’t even realize what she was doing.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I just forgot. I’m pretty tired from our trip,” I said, straightening her shirt.

Libby hugged me tightly and said, “I guess it’s okay that you’re acting weird…just don’t give me your cooties.”

My mother turned on her heels and went downstairs in shock. I rushed to follow her.

Ashten and my father were sitting on the couches in the center of the room. Their conversation quiet halted when my father saw the look on my mother’s face. She walked over to my dad and said in a low tone, “I think Libby has a gift, Jason.”

A surge of fear and denial came over my father and Ashten.

“What is it?” Ashten asked quickly.

My mother glanced in my direction. I guess she thought it would sound more believable coming from me.

Her reasoning made no sense, but I explained anyway. “It’s like she has a window in front of her. She can see what’s coming. Just now, she brought me my brush just as I began to look for it, and she told me Mom wanted me before Mom came upstairs. She doesn’t even know that she’s doing it.”

My father glanced warily back at Ashten then forced a smile as he looked at the concern on my mother’s face.

“We just need to watch her. We can’t confuse her. The insight is just now showing itself. It could grow stronger or leave her all together if we provoke her to use it,” he explained carefully.

I saw Ashten nod in agreement. I knew that they were right. I had to find my own way of understanding what I did. I think if I had known what it actually was, I would have feared it. Instead, I grew to depend on it. Then again, it would’ve been nice to have some kind of heads up that I did not fit the common mold. I promised myself I would figure out a way to make it to where Libby felt like she could ask about anything odd she felt or saw.

“Willow, I told your father that you had another nightmare,” my mother said, changing the subject. “Could you please tell us what it was about?”

I felt my stomach turn. “It was nothing,” I muttered, looking away.

Libby. Let’s talk about Libby, not Willow’s slow fall into insanity.

“Was it the same as the other nightmares?” my father asked.

I hesitated, wanting to take on the emotion of it on my own, but then I felt his genuine concern. I began in a hushed tone, “I dreamed I was in a huge home, like a palace. Libby was there, and so was Drake. There was a large crowd that cheered as we stood side by side. It was just a product of the last few days. Nothing to worry about.”

I could feel the fear coming from the three of them, just as I thought I would…if they only knew the rest.

“That will never happen. You are going home to Chara, where you will always be safe,” my father said as he sat forward.

His words were soothing and gave my mother peace, but I could still feel the unrest coming from Ashten. It was like he knew something more. He kept his eyes low, avoiding mine, and guarding his emotions.