Eye of the Storm (The Charmed) by Dianne Nutting Page A

stayed in. Jaden didn’t want to be selfish but couldn’t help it, he didn’t want Kayla to know Chase slept here most nights. After the bed was changed he removed everything resembling Chase from the room and placed it in a box. He took the box to his room, he felt guilty but the last thing Kayla needed was to feel emotional about Chase.
    He walked back out and saw Kayla looking at the pictures on the wall in the hallway. She stopped at one, Jaden peeked over her shoulder and laughed.
    “What is it?” Kayla was looking at a picture of feet coming up out of the water next to a boat.
    “We went to Montana one summer. Chase pushed me out of the boat. Dad took the picture.”
    “Guys only trip?”
    “Yeah, it’s only ever been us though. With Chase’s parents leaving all the time it was always just us.”
    “How come Chase never dated much?” She was looking at another picture of Chase and Jaden smiling. “I mean, I used to think it was because he was supposed to…uh, were um…”
    “Supposed to be married?”
    “Yeah. Now I know it’s not that, so why didn’t he? I mean, you dated all the time.”
    “Well, yeah…I dated a bit, but not all of it was real.”
    She gave him a quizzical look.
    “A lot of the girls I dated just wanted to be near Chase. Once I caught on I tapered off with the dating.”
    “You dated Celia for a while.”
    “Yeah, she was around for a while.”
    “Two years Jaden, that’s more than a while. What happened?”
    “Kind of just grew apart. Anyway, I made the bed up, come on.”
    Kayla realized she had just made Jaden a bit uncomfortable and regretted asking.
    Jaden showed Kayla the room and the bathroom. They said goodnight and Jaden went next door to his room. He lay in bed that night listening to the sounds of cars going by. Celia had been the hardest hit on him. After two years of dating she had approached Chase and told him she was in love with him. It was the story of his life. He couldn’t resent Chase, he was his family, but it got tiring always being compared to someone who everyone thought was perfect. His thoughts drifted to Kayla, he worried she would never get over him enough to see what else life had to offer. His mind lingered over her in the next room. Why did Kayla know so much about them but they knew very little about her? To find out she had been alone every summer was a shock. Kayla came into their circle around ten, so she had been alone for four years before that. What did it do to a person to have to face that every year, and at such a young age, and what her uncle had done to her? Jaden closed his eyes. It had been a long day of mulling things over.

Chapter 6

Pike Place Market
    S am walked into the very busy Pike Place Market. Vendors selling their wares lined the aisles. Jewelry, hair ribbon extensions, hats, clothes, shoes, paintings, you name it and it was there. He glanced to the left across the street. There was a person looking at him, he turned his head away. Maybe it was just his mind playing tricks. The guy was sipping on some coffee. He looked at the store and noticed it was Starbucks, the very first store with a line going out the door and down the sidewalk. Looked to be a tourist spot here. Sam darted through the crowd just in case coffee man was indeed trailing him. Sam saw what he was looking for. Just to the right of the fish throwers was an old set of rickety stairs. He jogged down them two at a time, continuing to another floor below until he spotted what he was looking for. The book store was located in the back right corner, tucked almost out of sight. He walked in, turned the door sign to closed, and locked the door.
    An old woman came out from a doorway in the back that was covered by beads. “Sam, thank heavens! Hurry into the back before someone sees you.” She motioned for him to switch the light off and Sam darted through the small eclectic store. He spied books under glass on the verge of destruction, stones were in bowls