Insight (Web of Hearts and Souls #1)(28)

His eyes filled with disbelief. “It has to be more than insight,” he thought quietly.

“I do. It’s one of my favorites,” he said, humoring her.

“Is Willow your princess?” Libby asked, looking back and forth between us.

“Yes, she is,” Landen agreed with a boyish grin.

“I told you princesses have green eyes,” Libby said, crossing her arms, proud of her prediction. She then looked at Landen and said, “Daddy wants to talk to you.” Landen looked down at his watch, and we waited as the seconds ticked by. Fifteen seconds later, my father opened the door.

“Landen, can you come out here please?”

Landen reluctantly stood, kissed the top of my head, and walked to the door, peering at me through the glass as he closed it. As their conversation began outside, I knew they weren’t saying anything upsetting because calm came over the cabin.

When dinner was ready, Landen and our dads came back in; the calm emotions were still with them. For Libby’s sake, the conversation had no stories of other dimensions. Instead, we listened to stories of my father and Ashten’s childhood. I felt closer to my father. I’d never realized how little I knew of him before my mother came into his life.

As we cleaned the kitchen after dinner, I could feel how happy my mother was for me. She would look at me, then to Landen, who was playing a card game with Libby. Little did she know, he was timing her responses.

Ashten walked into the kitchen, followed by my father. “I think we all need our rest. It’s been a long day, and a longer one awaits us. I’m going to sleep in the living room in case anyone makes it through tonight. I don’t want any false alarms,” Ashten said to us.

My father walked over to his medicine bag, pulled out a white tube, and handed it to me. “This is for the burn on his shoulder. It will get infected if he doesn’t treat it,” he said, glancing over at Landen.

“You’re hurt?

“It’s nothing,” he thought.

I raised my brow, doubting his words, but he just gave me a playful grin.

“Good night,” my mother said over her shoulder as she carried Libby up the stairs.

I left Landen in the living room. I could tell that he wanted to talk to his father. I stopped in Libby’s room to kiss her goodnight. She was already sleeping; it had been a really long day. I didn’t realize how hard the trip had been on her. It made me realize how fragile she really was.

I changed quickly into my pajamas—some simple cotton shorts and a white T-shirt. I then noticed my sketchbook lying across my bed with Landen’s portrait facing up. My mother must have brought it up there. I pulled out the photo album the girls had given to me, wanting so badly to tell them all about Landen, about the boy that had stolen my heart without uttering a single word.

I scooted to the center of the bed, turned to the sketch of flowers, and placed it next to a picture of the five of us. I realized that our lives were now like the flower: all original, beautiful, and living side by side, yet unaware of one another.

Feeling Landen coming up the stairs, I glanced to the hallway and saw him stop at Libby’s room. As he gazed in and watched her sleep, I could feel his confusion and turmoil; I wondered what he was thinking. He then looked down and sighed before walking to my room.

“Are you okay?” I thought when he got closer.

He smiled at me, walked over to the bed, and slid by my side. “What happened? Why is Drake looking for you?” he thought.

I looked down at my wrist to the star that rested in the loop of the Ankh. Landen followed my gaze, then looked back up at me, panicked and angry.

“I didn’t see his face when I dreamed, but I’m more than sure that Drake did this.”

I felt relieved that I could finally talk to Landen about all of the odd things I’d endured.

His anger rose so high that I could see the heat behind his dimples. I knew then not to tell him that Drake had been in all my nightmares.

“How did he do it?” he thought.

“He just touched me,” I thought, remembering the pain of the burn.

“You told your dad, and he decided to run home,” he guessed.

“He saw the star, then left. I never told him what happened.”

“That was four nights ago, right?” Landen thought, sitting forward a little.

I nodded. “Why?” I asked, seeing that was important.

“Four days ago, Livingston came crashing into my father’s house and pulled him away. They left, and only my father came back. He told us he’d found Jason and needed help bringing his daughters home,” Landen thought.

“They found my dad a long time ago, when I was six. My dad said they knew Drake was searching for me and had decided to stay there until I was older,” I corrected.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Landen thought, running his hands through his dark hair.

“Did you know about Drake? His parents, Adonia and Justus?” I asked.

Landen nodded, stiffening his jaw. “I’ve seen Drake. Marc and his brother, Chrispin, lost their mother that day. That’s all we talk about…when we are alone,” he thought, looking down.

His thoughts grew silent. I folded the album closed, set it on the side table, and reached for the sketchpad. When I picked it up, Landen slowly touched my arm and reached for the pad, pulling it closer and looking at the details of the flowers.