Key of Valor
Page 2
And now, nearly ten years after she’d first held him, first promised him she would never let him down, she was moving forward again, with her son. She was seeing to it that Simon had more.
Zoe McCourt, the shy girl from the West Virginia hills, was about to open her own business in the pretty town of Pleasant Valley, Pennsylvania, with two women who’d become as much sisters as friends in two short months.
Indulgence. She liked the name. That was what she wanted it to be for the clients and customers. It would be work, hard work, for her, for her friends. But even the work was a kind of indulgence, as it was labor they’d all dreamed of doing.
Malory Price’s arts and crafts gallery would occupy one side of the main level of their sweet new house. Dana Steele’s bookstore would stand on the other. And her own salon would spread over the top floor.
Just a few more weeks, she thought. A few more weeks of remodeling and freshening up, of setting up supplies, stock, equipment. Then they would open the doors.
It made her belly jump to think of it, but it wasn’t only fear. Some of those jumps were pure excitement.
She knew exactly how it would look when it was done. Full of color and light in the main salon, then softer, relaxing tones in the treatment rooms. She would have candles set around for fragrance and atmosphere, and interesting pictures on the walls. Good lighting to flatter and to soothe.
Indulgence. For the mind, the body, the spirit. She intended to give her customers a bit of all three.
On this evening, she drove from the Valley where she made her home, and would make her business, into the mountains. Where she would face her fate. Simon brooded a little, staring out the window. He wasn’t happy, she knew, that she’d made him wear his suit.
But when you were invited to dinner at a place like Warrior’s Peak, you dressed for the occasion.
Absently, she tugged at the skirt of her dress. She’d gotten it at the outlet for a good price, and hoped the deep purple jersey was appropriate.
Probably should’ve gotten something black, she mused, to be more dignified and sober. But she so enjoyed color, and for this event she needed the punch of it for confidence. Tonight was one of the most momentous nights of her life, so she might as well go outfitted in something that made her feel good.
She pressed her lips together. Now that her thoughts had circled around to what she’d tried to avoid thinking about, she had to deal with it.
Just how, she wondered, was she going to explain to a nine-year-old boy what she’d been doing—and more, what she was about to do?
“I guess we’d better talk about why we’re going up here to dinner tonight,” she began.
“I bet nobody else is wearing a suit,” he muttered.
“I bet you’re wrong.”
He turned his head, slanted her a look. “Dollar.”
“Dollar,” she agreed.
He looked so much like her, she thought. Sometimes it just struck her with a kind of fierce and possessive joy. Wasn’t it funny that there was nothing of James stamped on that face? Those were her eyes, that was her mouth, her nose, her chin, her hair, all tipped just the slightest bit to make them Simon.
“Anyway.” She cleared her throat. “You know how I got that invitation to go up there, a couple months ago? And that’s where I met Malory and Dana.”
“Sure, I remember, because the next day you bought me PlayStation 2, and it wasn’t even my birthday.”
“Unbirthday presents are the best.” She’d been able to buy Simon his heart’s desire with part of the twenty-five thousand dollars paid to her for agreeing to . . . the fantastic.
“You know Malory and Dana, and you know Flynn and Jordan and Bradley.”
“Yeah, we hang with them a lot now. They’re cool. For old people,” he added, with a smirk he knew would make her laugh.
But she didn’t laugh.
“Something wrong with them?” he asked quickly.
“No. No. Absolutely nothing’s wrong.” She chewed her bottom lip as she tried to find the right words. “Um, sometimes people are sort of connected, without even knowing it. I mean, Dana and Flynn are brother and sister—well, stepbrother and stepsister, then Dana gets to be friends with Malory, and Malory meets Flynn, and before you know it, Malory and Flynn fall in love.”
“Is this going to be a sloppy love story? Because I might get sick.”
“Be sure to lean out the window if you do. So, Flynn’s oldest friends are Jordan and Bradley, and when they were younger, Jordan and Dana used to . . . date.” It was the safest word a mother could think of. “Then Jordan and Bradley moved out of the Valley. Then they came back, partly because of this connection I’m getting to. And Jordan and Dana got back together and—”
“Now they’re going to get married, and so’s Flynn and Malory. It’s like an epidemic.” He was turned to her now, and his face mirrored preadolescent pain. “If we go to those weddings like we did Aunt Joleen’s, you’re probably going to make me wear a suit, aren’t you?”
“Yes, it’s one of my quiet pleasures, this torment of you. What I’m trying to show you is that each of us turned out to be connected, one way or another—to the others. And to something else. I haven’t told you much about the people who live at Warrior’s Peak.”
“They’re the magic people.”
Zoe’s hand jerked on the wheel. Slowing, she pulled off to the shoulder of the winding road. “What do you mean by ‘magic people’?”
“Jeez, Mom, I hear you guys talk when you have those meetings and junk. So are they like witches or what? I don’t get it.”
“No. Yes. I don’t know exactly.” How did she explain ancient gods to a child? “Do you believe in magic, Simon? I don’t mean the card trick kind, but the kind of thing you read about in stories, like Harry Potter or The Hobbit.”
“If it wasn’t real sometimes, how come there are so many books and movies and junk about it?”
“Good point,” she said after a moment. “Rowena and Pitte, the people who live at the Peak, the people we’re going to see tonight, they’re magic. They come from a different place, and they’re here because they need our help.”
“For what?”
She had his attention and interest now, she knew. The interest that took him into the stories she’d mentioned, X-Men comics, and the role-playing video games he loved.
Zoe McCourt, the shy girl from the West Virginia hills, was about to open her own business in the pretty town of Pleasant Valley, Pennsylvania, with two women who’d become as much sisters as friends in two short months.
Indulgence. She liked the name. That was what she wanted it to be for the clients and customers. It would be work, hard work, for her, for her friends. But even the work was a kind of indulgence, as it was labor they’d all dreamed of doing.
Malory Price’s arts and crafts gallery would occupy one side of the main level of their sweet new house. Dana Steele’s bookstore would stand on the other. And her own salon would spread over the top floor.
Just a few more weeks, she thought. A few more weeks of remodeling and freshening up, of setting up supplies, stock, equipment. Then they would open the doors.
It made her belly jump to think of it, but it wasn’t only fear. Some of those jumps were pure excitement.
She knew exactly how it would look when it was done. Full of color and light in the main salon, then softer, relaxing tones in the treatment rooms. She would have candles set around for fragrance and atmosphere, and interesting pictures on the walls. Good lighting to flatter and to soothe.
Indulgence. For the mind, the body, the spirit. She intended to give her customers a bit of all three.
On this evening, she drove from the Valley where she made her home, and would make her business, into the mountains. Where she would face her fate. Simon brooded a little, staring out the window. He wasn’t happy, she knew, that she’d made him wear his suit.
But when you were invited to dinner at a place like Warrior’s Peak, you dressed for the occasion.
Absently, she tugged at the skirt of her dress. She’d gotten it at the outlet for a good price, and hoped the deep purple jersey was appropriate.
Probably should’ve gotten something black, she mused, to be more dignified and sober. But she so enjoyed color, and for this event she needed the punch of it for confidence. Tonight was one of the most momentous nights of her life, so she might as well go outfitted in something that made her feel good.
She pressed her lips together. Now that her thoughts had circled around to what she’d tried to avoid thinking about, she had to deal with it.
Just how, she wondered, was she going to explain to a nine-year-old boy what she’d been doing—and more, what she was about to do?
“I guess we’d better talk about why we’re going up here to dinner tonight,” she began.
“I bet nobody else is wearing a suit,” he muttered.
“I bet you’re wrong.”
He turned his head, slanted her a look. “Dollar.”
“Dollar,” she agreed.
He looked so much like her, she thought. Sometimes it just struck her with a kind of fierce and possessive joy. Wasn’t it funny that there was nothing of James stamped on that face? Those were her eyes, that was her mouth, her nose, her chin, her hair, all tipped just the slightest bit to make them Simon.
“Anyway.” She cleared her throat. “You know how I got that invitation to go up there, a couple months ago? And that’s where I met Malory and Dana.”
“Sure, I remember, because the next day you bought me PlayStation 2, and it wasn’t even my birthday.”
“Unbirthday presents are the best.” She’d been able to buy Simon his heart’s desire with part of the twenty-five thousand dollars paid to her for agreeing to . . . the fantastic.
“You know Malory and Dana, and you know Flynn and Jordan and Bradley.”
“Yeah, we hang with them a lot now. They’re cool. For old people,” he added, with a smirk he knew would make her laugh.
But she didn’t laugh.
“Something wrong with them?” he asked quickly.
“No. No. Absolutely nothing’s wrong.” She chewed her bottom lip as she tried to find the right words. “Um, sometimes people are sort of connected, without even knowing it. I mean, Dana and Flynn are brother and sister—well, stepbrother and stepsister, then Dana gets to be friends with Malory, and Malory meets Flynn, and before you know it, Malory and Flynn fall in love.”
“Is this going to be a sloppy love story? Because I might get sick.”
“Be sure to lean out the window if you do. So, Flynn’s oldest friends are Jordan and Bradley, and when they were younger, Jordan and Dana used to . . . date.” It was the safest word a mother could think of. “Then Jordan and Bradley moved out of the Valley. Then they came back, partly because of this connection I’m getting to. And Jordan and Dana got back together and—”
“Now they’re going to get married, and so’s Flynn and Malory. It’s like an epidemic.” He was turned to her now, and his face mirrored preadolescent pain. “If we go to those weddings like we did Aunt Joleen’s, you’re probably going to make me wear a suit, aren’t you?”
“Yes, it’s one of my quiet pleasures, this torment of you. What I’m trying to show you is that each of us turned out to be connected, one way or another—to the others. And to something else. I haven’t told you much about the people who live at Warrior’s Peak.”
“They’re the magic people.”
Zoe’s hand jerked on the wheel. Slowing, she pulled off to the shoulder of the winding road. “What do you mean by ‘magic people’?”
“Jeez, Mom, I hear you guys talk when you have those meetings and junk. So are they like witches or what? I don’t get it.”
“No. Yes. I don’t know exactly.” How did she explain ancient gods to a child? “Do you believe in magic, Simon? I don’t mean the card trick kind, but the kind of thing you read about in stories, like Harry Potter or The Hobbit.”
“If it wasn’t real sometimes, how come there are so many books and movies and junk about it?”
“Good point,” she said after a moment. “Rowena and Pitte, the people who live at the Peak, the people we’re going to see tonight, they’re magic. They come from a different place, and they’re here because they need our help.”
“For what?”
She had his attention and interest now, she knew. The interest that took him into the stories she’d mentioned, X-Men comics, and the role-playing video games he loved.
