The Devil's Fire Read online

  You are now leaving New Weston

  Are you sure?

  It still made me laugh.

  I stopped walking and saw Culvers Ice Cream shop. It had been a staple in this town since I was a child. They had incredibly delicious hand-dipped ice cream in all flavors. They would also mix in pretty much any topping into any flavor that you chose. They had an ice cold counter behind the glass case. They would place the ice cream on top of it and pour in whatever you wanted to add to it. Mixing and folding it as you watched on. The possibilities were endless, they had every type of nut, candy bar, fruit, and so on. It was Satan’s favorite spot to torture wannabe dieters.

  The thought of it made my stomach growl, so I headed for the shop with all intention of grabbing a couple of hot fudge sundaes for me and my mom.

  I stepped up to the door, opened it, and was immediately met with the sweet aroma. If it were up to me, I would live in here, and had when I was growing up. I couldn’t count how many times I had sat right here and enjoyed some ice cream with my dad. He would bring me down to get ice cream each Sunday. It was a ritual that had died along with him. I missed it and so many things about him. Being home was bringing a lot of memories back to me that I had long since buried.

  Grief is a strange creature that morphs over time. There are many layers to it, and as each one reveals itself to you, it forces you to deal with the loss in different ways. I don’t cry as often as I used to when I think about my dad, but the pain still marches on. I miss him just as much as the day that we lost him, and I wish that he was still here to help guide me.

  He would also be completely amused with Mom’s new outlook on life. I knew, because I was. I can often hear him when I speak. He lives on through me. I guess that kind of makes him immortal. I grinned and kept walking, thinking about him holding my hand and then picking me up so that I could see the tubs of ice cream behind the glass. The memory faded as I stepped up to the glass case alone and looked down.

  I spotted my favorite flavor, sweet cream. I stood up straight as the young girl approached me, her smile was almost perfect. It matched her jovial eyes. She looked like she may be a freshman in high school, if that. Her light red hair was pulled up into two buns on the back of her head, and large black framed glasses clung to her button nose. She was the hipster version of Princess Leia. Totally adorable.

  “Can I get two hot fudge sundaes with sweet cream—and extra Spanish peanuts, please?”

  She nodded to me, taking her large silver scoop and dipping it into the sweet cream. I tilted my head, studying her jawline and lips. Her facial features reminded me of someone that I knew very well.

  “Still a slave to ice cream?”

  I turned to see Sam stepping up to the glass case. He grinned and placed his hand on top of the glass and tapped his fingers a couple of times. My heart jumped into my throat. He was the last person that I expected to see, but one of the first that I actually wanted to.

  “Oh my God, Sam!” I hugged him around the neck as he returned my affection. The hug lasted a little longer than I intended. I started to feel awkward, so I backed away and rubbed my neck, trying to regain some sense of normalcy. I just couldn’t help expressing my overwhelming joy when I saw him. I had missed him so much, and so many things had happened in his absence.

  “Sam!” the girl yelled out. She dropped the ice cream scoop in the tub and ran around the counter. She jumped up, and he swung her around a couple of times with her arms firmly wrapped around his neck. He set her down, and she backed away from him and placed her hands on her hips.

  “Does Mom know that you’re home yet?” she asked.

  My eyebrow rose. “Maddie?”

  Maddie grinned and turned to look at me. “Hey, Abi.”

  I hugged her without hesitation. “Why didn’t you tell me that it was you?”

  She laughed at my ear. “I wanted to see if you would recognize me.” She stepped back and did a small spin in front of me.

  I shook my head, giving her a once over. “Man, no, but that’s not a bad thing.” I glanced over to look at Sam. “Your sister is getting big!” I let my eyes settle back on Maddie. I just couldn’t believe it. “The last time I saw you, you were about this high,” I held my hand up to my side and let it sit right above my belt.

  Maddie grinned, she was such a beautiful girl. She looked a lot like Sam, minus the hair color. Maddie’s was light red, like their Mom’s hair was, whereas Sam’s was light brown, like his dad’s. Maddie had the same light brown eyes as Sam did. They were gorgeous.

  His whole family was pretty. It had just taken Sam a little longer to blossom. Maddie was just stunning right out of the gate.

  Sam laughed as he reached up and moved his hand through his hair. It was getting much longer on the top, but I liked it on him. His thick framed glasses looked very similar to Maddie’s. I didn’t see him in glasses very often. He wore them all of the time in school. They suited him and made him even cuter than he already was. His white t-shirt looked good against his skin. He looked like he may have gotten a little bit of sun. It gave him a healthy glow, but it didn’t look fake. I looked down at his dark jeans, ripped up at the knees and red converse sneakers.

  “I know, it makes me nervous,” he pointed a finger at her. “No boys, right?”

  She blushed and bit her lip. “Quit it,” she muttered to him.

  “Leave her alone, Sam,” I said quietly while I laughed. I looked back toward Maddie and winked at her. “Ignore him.”

  Maddie walked back behind the counter and tapped her hands on the top of the glass. “Oh, man—hot fudge sundaes, right? Sorry.”

  “Totally cool,” I said. She turned to finish up my order.

  I looked at Sam and cleared my throat, shoving my hands into my back pockets. It didn’t occur to me just how much I missed him until he walked in. I just wanted to grab his hand and run outside with him, telling him everything that had occurred, but he spoke up and ruined my impulsive fantasy.

  “So, visiting your mom, huh?” he asked, it was obvious, but I could play along to ease the nervous tension.

  “Yeah, I’m staying for the remainder of the summer, taking a break from everything.”

  He nodded, sliding his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “Well, I’m here for a couple of weeks, vacation. The lake festival, of course. I skipped it last year, and my mom had a fit.”

  “Yeah, the festival, I’m going.”

  “Oh yeah?” he asked as the bell went off at the door and Liv came strolling in.

  Sam turned and smiled at her as she waved to him. She eyed me, and I waved too.

  “Liv, huh?” I asked very quietly.

  He glanced back at her as she approached us. “Yeah—we, uh—”

  Liv stepped up and hugged him from behind and then slid in under his arm as I nodded to her. Maddie set my hot fudge sundaes on the counter. I looked at them and then back at her.

  “Liv—Hi.”

  She grinned, placing her hand into Sam’s that rested on her shoulder. She intertwined her fingers and locked them in. “Hey, Abi.”

  I looked at Sam and then walked to the register and paid for the sundaes. I turned back with both of them in my hands and had no idea what I should say.

  “Well,” I looked down at the ice cream in my hands, “I better get back before they melt.”

  “Okay, I’ll swing by later,” Sam said as I walked past him. “Sounds good, bye—bye Liv.”

  I walked out, using my back to open the door. I could see Sam look back at me as Liv leaned in to stare at the tubs of ice cream. He waved. I lifted a sundae and almost dropped it. He started to walk toward me as I regained control. The frustrated sigh escaped my lips.

  I rolled my eyes and walked out, leaving my awkward feelings at the door and Liv right along with them.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  MAGIC MIKE

  _________________________

  I returned home to see my mom sunbathing in the yard. She wore a small red b
ikini that barely covered her goods. I couldn’t even complain about it. I wasn’t upset about her new found freedom. Maybe I was just a little jealous of it. She was totally comfortable in her own skin when I felt like mine was getting tighter and tighter, cutting off my circulation. I paused and stared at her as she sucked on a red Popsicle. The men worked on her roof above us. I didn’t see Brad anywhere. I was kind of relieved.

  She moved it in and out of her lips while she watched the men working without any shirts on. Their sweat drenched skin glistened in the sunlight. She paused and pulled her large black sunglasses down to expose her smiling eyes. I could die, truly I could. She acted like a horny teenager. She finally noticed me. She pulled it out of her mouth and wagged it at me. “You should change into your bathing suit and lay out with me, you’re pale. The sun would make you feel better.”

  I looked at my arms. “I like pale, I also have these,” I waved the sundaes in my hand, and she perked up. She dropped the Popsicle as I expected her to do. She would never turn down ice cream.

  She pushed her sunglasses back, and they covered her eyes. She held her hand out and flexed her fingers a few times. I placed the sundae in it, hoping that it would distract her and stop her from visually molesting the men on her roof. She grinned as she licked her lips. It was the best ice cream in town, minus her own. She took the long red plastic spoon and shoved it into the creamy goodness. “Vampire. You would never know that you grew up in the country.”

  I sat down on the green lawn chair that sat next to her own. She grinned as I leaned back, and she handed me a large pair of black sunglasses that looked just like hers. I slid them on and then I took a bite of my dessert, letting the red spoon linger on my tongue. It tasted so good, just as I imagined that it would. I chewed on the peanuts, quickly swallowing and responded to her.

  “I didn’t grow up in the country, this is just a small town, Mom.”

  She grinned, taking a modest bite and letting her lips press against the spoon. She pulled it out, and nothing was left on it. “Still, it isn’t like New York.”

  I had to agree. I took an enormous bite of my ice cream.

  I decided to share my closely guarded secret. “Mom, I’m a virgin.”

  “Like I didn’t already know that, Abi.”

  I looked over at her as she lowered her sunglasses to the tip of her nose. We both laughed.

  “Abi, it’s okay. I mean, I thought that maybe you would have fixed that when you were in school, but obviously you didn’t—and Jack Landon, he surprises me. I may respect him just a little bit more now, but he did you absolutely no favors. I almost wish that he would have, you know.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Fixed it? Being a virgin isn’t a problem, Mom. And no, Jack and I, well—we did things, but we didn’t do that.”

  “I have to disagree with you, honey. It is a problem.”

  “No it isn’t,” I said as I took another delicious bite, wrapping fudge around the edge of my spoon. I leaned back and ate it, enjoying every incredible burst of flavor in my mouth.

  “Oh yes, it is. Until you do this, you will make irrational decisions. Like Jack Landon, he is one of those things that wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t a virgin.” She looked down at my crotch. I adjusted on the lawn chair and crossed my legs.

  “I didn’t find Jack attractive because I’m a virgin. I just—I don’t know, he intrigued me. He was different, and I was—I guess that I was nearing the end of my schooling and the thought of meeting someone and having a relationship finally started to matter.”

  She leaned over toward me, completely ignoring my admission about him. “They can sense it, not all men, but the Landons? Oh, trust me, they can. It’s like they have virgindar or something, it’s ridiculous.”

  My eyes widened. “Oh my God, Peter took your—”

  She interrupted me as she pointed her plastic spoon in my direction. “We aren’t talking about me. We’re talking about you.”

  “Man, what a way to lose it.”

  She took off her sunglasses and set them on her lap. She looked as if she may be immersed in memory. “Peter and I had a strange, yet highly arousing, relationship. He showed me things that I can’t even repeat to you.”

  “Oh, I can imagine,” I muttered as she reached over and slapped my arm.

  “Anyway, I think that you need to let Brad just, you know.” She took a bite of her ice cream.

  I crinkled my brow. “Brad is not going to just, you know, anything on me.”

  “Why not? He’s a beautiful man, with that hair and those arms. I’m sure it would just set everything straight with your chi.”

  I lowered my hot fudge sundae. “My what? My chi? You have got to stop reading these books Mom, seriously. My virginity is completely up to me to do what I want with it.”

  She sighed, “He won’t appreciate it, Abi. He just won’t.”

  “By he, you mean, Jack, right Mom? Well, as you know, Jack and I are not together.”

  She turned to face me. Her expression told me that she didn’t believe me at all.

  “Anyway—I, we’re not.” I got up and started to walk away from her.

  She put her sunglasses back on. “I won’t ever stop being your mother, Abi.”

  I gripped my sundae tightly in my hand and headed toward the house. I hate to think that she may be right about Jack. Maybe he would’ve never appreciated it. Maybe it was all part of the game that he so loved. But, it’s one thing to suspect something, but to hear someone say it was excruciatingly painful. It was the last thing that I wanted to hear.

  “Sam is here with Liv, Avery.”

  “Shut the front door, Abi.”

  I fell back on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. I held the phone tightly to my ear.

  “I’m dead serious. I just ran into them at the ice cream shop.”

  Avery laughed. “Was she licking his cone?”

  I closed my eyes and placed my hand over them. “Oh God, no, she wasn’t. You sound like my mom. I’m going to need for the sexual innuendos to end.”

  “Wait, what? Your mom? Is she still attacking men all over town? The insanity.” Avery laughed, she was obviously mocking me.

  I let my hand fall on the bed. “You wouldn’t believe the shenanigans that are going on here.”

  “I can’t believe that you use the word shenanigans to describe anything.”

  I sat up and shook my head. “I’m serious, my mom’s vagina is now in charge of everything. Everything! I’m not kidding.”

  Her laughter made me smile. I hit the speaker button and set my phone down on the bed. I sat up and walked to the window. I looked out at my mom lying there in her red bikini. I would have never guessed that she would become this way, not in a million years.

  I could hear Avery munching on something. “I’m going to need details.”

  “If you’re eating popcorn then you’re totally prepared for this story.”

  I heard another crunch. “I’m hunkered down. Give it to me, babes.”

  I looked back at the phone and wrung my hands. Then I turned and stared at my mom as she stood up and stretched her arms out to her sides. She bent over and touched her toes. I could hear someone almost fall off of the roof. I leaned out of my window and saw a foot dangling over the side, then it disappeared. Her lady bits were going to murder these men working on the house. I swear.

  “Well, she is having all kinds of sex and learning how to set her down under free. You know, her—vagina,” I whispered the last word like someone would hear me. “It’s on a rampage like Godzilla.”

  She laughed so hard I started to laugh with her. I covered my mouth and turned back toward the phone. It was funny. I just hadn’t had a moment to process it at all.

  Avery tried to catch her breath as she spoke to me. “Pusszilla, I can see it now. Terrorizing people and tossing cars.”

  “Okay, it’s kind of funny, now that I’m talking about it with you.”

  “Oh my God, honey, I’m thrilled
for her.”

  I sighed and sat down next to my phone. “Then Sam shows up with Liv.”

  “Okay. Yes, Sam and Liv—what’s up with that shiz?”

  I laid back and placed one arm above me and one on my stomach. I gently tapped it.

  “You called him about me, and now he’s here, don’t you think that’s odd?”

  She paused. “Well, not to be rude, but if he was there for you, then I think he would have left Liv behind.”

  I bit my lip. “No, I didn't think that at all. It isn’t like that, Avery.”

  She sighed into the phone. “It's a shame, Sam is yummy.”

  I covered my face and groaned. I let them fall to my sides. “Oh my God, maybe my mom is right.”

  Avery chewed on some more popcorn and crunched into the phone. “About what?”

  “About this problem that I have.”

  She hesitated. “You mean, being a virgin?”

  “Yeah. That.”

  “Well, Abi. I told you that it was a condition.”

  I sat up and stared at the phone. Avery’s beautiful face stared up at me, and I hit FaceTime. She answered it and smiled at me while chewing.

  “There you are, I don’t know why I keep forgetting about this feature on the phone,” I said as I crossed my legs and placed my chin on my open hand.

  “Because you’re a girl, you want hair done, make-up did. It’s natural.”

  I nodded to her. “I miss you so much, when are you coming here?”

  She put some popcorn in her mouth and chewed quickly. “Next weekend, I think—yeah, I should be able to swing it.”

  I squealed, and she tilted her head. “It’s so good to see you happy, babes.”

  I rubbed the side of my neck. “Well, I don’t know what I am right now, but coming home was a great idea. Marc was right.”

  She cleared her throat. I let out a long sigh. “And you, you were right too.” I added.

  She nodded. “Thank you, I usually am. It gets annoying.”

  I grinned. “So, I guess I have a date.”

  She dropped the phone and then scrambled to pick it up. Her eyes were wide when she returned to the screen. “A what? With who and when?”