The Rules of Magic (Practical Magic 0)(58)

Vincent was charmed by the child, but when he glanced at his watch he stood up. “I’m late,” he said.

“For a very important date?” April said, blinking.

“Indeed,” Vincent said. “I’m involved with someone.”

“Don’t tell me you actually care about someone?”

“We’re not supposed to, are we?” Vincent joked.

“No,” April said. “We’re not.”

Vincent grinned and kissed the little girl good-bye on the forehead, then went out with his dog, two shadows spilling into the night. “See you when I see you,” he called over his shoulder.

“See you when I see you,” Regina called back.

“He’s still the same,” April said.

“Not completely,” Jet said. There was no need to go into details and hurt April any more than she already was.

“Vincent is Vincent, thank goodness,” Franny said as she started in on the dishes.

April shook her head. She pulled her daughter onto her lap. “Will he ever grow up?”

“Yes,” Jet said. “And we’ll be sad when he does.”

In the morning, the cousins were gone. Regina’s drawing of a black dog and a black cat had been left on the kitchen table. Franny had it framed later that afternoon, and from then on she kept it in the parlor, and even years later, when she moved and left almost everything behind, she took it with her, bundled in brown paper and string.





PART FOUR





Elemental





She saw Haylin walking down the path. At first she thought she had conjured him, and perhaps he was a ghostly image of himself, but no, it was Hay. He was so tall she spotted him right away, wearing the same denim jacket he’d had since he was fifteen. Franny sat on the rock, knees to chest. She was a mess and damned herself for being so. The last time she’d seen him, she’d caused a scene in the hospital. Now she vowed to be calm and collected. She had lost him, so her heart shouldn’t be thudding against her chest. It was over, and she should be happy that he had been saved from throwing in his lot with an Owens woman.

She wore old sneakers and jeans and a black and white striped T-shirt she’d found in the ninety-nine-cent bin at the thrift store where they’d sold their mother’s beautiful clothes. She hadn’t even brushed her hair that morning.

Haylin spied her and waved, as if they’d seen each other only hours before. He came to sit beside her. “Don’t tell me you’ve been waiting here all these years?” Franny laughed out loud. Hay smiled, pleased he could make her laugh. But his hurt made him say more. “I know you haven’t been waiting for me. I’ve come here every time I’m home and you’re never here. So I gave up on us.”

Franny threw a hand over her mouth as if holding back a sob. Her eyes were rimmed with tears.

“Franny.” He hadn’t really wanted to hurt her.

“I’m not crying, if that’s what you think,” Franny responded, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

“I know that. Do you think I’m an idiot?” They both laughed then. “Don’t answer that,” Hay said with a grin.

He was attending Yale Medical School, Franny’s father’s alma mater. It made perfect sense that he would become a doctor. He had always wanted to do good in the world. And it made sense, too, when he revealed he’d placed distance between himself and his family.

“I don’t go home anymore,” he said, morose as he always was when thinking about his heritage. “It’s like a fucking mausoleum with my father getting richer on the war, and my mother drinking so she won’t go berserk because she’s married to him.”

“Where do you stay when you come to New York?” When Hay glanced away, Franny knew. “Oh.” She could barely bring herself to say it. “With Emily.”

“You remember her name,” he said, surprised.

“Of course I do. Emily Flood, your roommate.”

“You don’t usually take note of people.” He flushed when Franny threw him a deadly look. “Well, you don’t!”

“Of course I took note of her, Haylin. How could I not?”

“Yeah,” Hay said, feeling more like an idiot than ever.

“So where is she? I’m shocked that she lets you out of her sight. Maybe you’d better run on back to her.”

“I don’t understand why you’re mad,” Hay said, frustrated and unwilling to bear her anger. “You’re the one who didn’t want me.”

“I had no choice! I had my brother and sister to see to. There was the accident to deal with. Or do you blame me for that?”

Franny stood up with the intention of leaving. When Hay took her arm, she glared at him. But he was looking at her the way he used to, when he was the only person in the world who really knew her.

“Don’t go yet,” he said.

“Why? You’re with Emily.”

“I am,” Haylin said.

“And do you blame me for that, too?”

She was heartless. The Maid of Thorns.

Haylin shook his head. If only he would stop looking at her like that. So she took it further.

“Well I’m glad you’re with her,” Franny said. “You’ll be happier than you would have ever been with me. She’s normal!”