“You two make skating look easy,” Caden said.
“Hey.” Isaac jerked his head up the way guys do to say hello. “You going out there?”
One glance at Caden’s hiking boots and I knew the answer to that question before Caden shook his head.
“It’s not my thing,” he replied.
“I know that feeling,” Isaac muttered as he clomped his way over to the bench and sat.
Running into Caden was actually a good thing. It created the perfect opportunity for me to quiz him about Natalie because, even though the magical evidence pointed to Natalie choosing not to be found, I had to know if he knew anything about it. If he said she was okay, I’d let it go.
“I got the job,” Caden said.
“Congrats! What will you be doing?” Isaac asked as he unlaced his skates.
Caden leaned against the wall, elbows on the ledge, and told Isaac about the position with my dad. Praying the calming spell would relax Caden enough to answer a few questions honestly, I whispered the incantation. My jaw muscles relaxed, confirming I’d at least gotten the spell right. Isaac stopped halfway through removing his skate and glanced at me, head tilted to the side.
I pretended not to notice and asked Caden, “Did you come here to watch everyone skate?”
“Nah, Ben’s mother said he and Mark might have taken their girlfriends here. I thought I’d check it out.”
I tramped over to the bench and sat, loosening my laces in an effort to act natural.
“We haven’t seen them,” Isaac said, putting his gym shoes back on.
“Me neither. I was just about to leave when I spotted the two of you.” Caden shrugged. “Figured I’d stick around to say hi.”
“You know, I’d guess Ben and Mark are at Lauren’s,” I said. “According to Sarah, Lauren came up with a few more places Natalie may have gone. Personally, though, I think she’s with her secret admirer. He had to have been at Ben’s party.” I turned to Isaac. “I still can’t remember her talking to anyone outside our circle. Can you?”
Isaac’s brow furrowed. “No.”
“How about you, Caden? You look like the type of person who notices everything.” It was true. Half the time I’d seen Caden, he was observing his surroundings. “Did you happen to notice anyone out of place?”
“Everyone I saw looked to be having a good time.”
“Except you.” I inwardly groaned that I hadn’t used my inner voice. Maybe I was a little too calm. But since I’d said it, I figured I might as well ask my next question. “Why was that?”
“Madison,” Isaac hissed.
Caden held up a hand. “It’s okay. Natalie was her friend. I can understand her being upset.” He looked at me. “But, as I told you the night of the party, I was looking for someone. When I saw she wasn’t there, I left. No offense, but high school parties aren’t my scene.”
I sighed. I was so sure Caden knew more than he let on.
“You really have no idea who Natalie might have met up with?” I pressed, wishing more than ever the calming spell had included a built-in “can’t lie” feature.
“Didn’t we just have this conversation—” Caden slid the sleeve of his jacket up and checked the time on his watch “—twenty hours ago?”
There was something weary in the way he’d said it.
“You’ll tell me, though, if you hear from her?”
“Yes, Madison. I’ll tell you if the girl the entire town is looking for calls me, but the odds of that happening are slim to none.”
“Why’s that?” I challenged.
“Because we didn’t exchange phone numbers.”
“Oh.”
Caden removed his sunglasses, revealing eyes as dark as coal. “Madison, I’m not the bad guy here.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“You’re acting as if I am.”
“Am I? I’m sorry.” I looked down at my skates as I removed them, trying to think of a diversion. My next thought tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop it. “You know, it’s funny that before last week we hadn’t met, yet now I keep running into you.”
The glint in Caden’s eyes seemed to ask,
I then felt both of them staring as I switched to my sneakers, but my spell had me too relaxed to care. With my shoes tied, I stood, skates dangling from my hand.
Isaac took them from me and asked, “Ready for that hot chocolate?”
“Yeah.”
He held out a hand to Caden. “It was nice seeing you.”
“You too.”
They shook.
“What was that about?” Isaac asked on the way to return his rented skates.
“What?” I replied innocently.
“Take your pick: the third degree you gave Caden, the calming spell you cast, or why you think Caden likes you.”
“I don’t think he likes me!” Or at least I hadn’t until now. But I needed to stick to facts, the important ones. “What I
Isaac placed his skates on the counter and turned to face me. “I didn’t miss the look he gave you, Madison. You guys hung out yesterday?”
“No. He came by the house to apply for the job. I talked to him for, like, one minute.”
“When you asked about Natalie.” He rubbed the back of his head. The muscle in his jaw twitched. “Why do you think he had something to do with her disappearance? Help me understand that, because right now it looks like you want to date the guy.”
Isaac’s scent changed to steel. He was jealous of Caden, and I supposed I had that coming. I couldn’t help wondering if my spell was the only thing keeping him from losing his temper.
I rested my hand on his arm and looked into his eyes. “I don’t like Caden. I like you.” I stepped closer. “And I don’t think he’s interested in me like that. My instincts are telling me not to trust him, that there’s more to him than meets the eye. Don’t you think it’s a little weird that he’s suddenly always around? At school, the party, here.”
“I didn’t, but now I wonder if he’s really looking for Ben or if he’s looking for you.”
“He’s not looking for me.” I stuffed my hands in my jacket. “And I’m sure he knows something that he’s not telling us.” If there was one thing I knew, it was to trust my intuition.
Isaac stepped in front of me. “Madison, you’re doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Jumping to conclusions with no solid proof.” Isaac didn’t have to tell me what he was alluding to: I had once thought he’d been behind unexplained events in Gloucester. “Just because you didn’t know someone until a few days ago doesn’t mean no one knew him or that he’s bad news.”
“I know,” I said, letting the last word drag out a couple seconds, “and after what you said about Natalie not wanting to be found, I was convinced she ran away. But then Caden does or says something that rekindles my doubt about him, and I get this feeling.” I smacked Isaac’s arm when his eyebrow snaked upward. “Not that kind of feeling. It’s more like a warning bell that goes off. A sixth sense or something. I don’t know how to explain it.”
The fact that Caden checked on Ben while Dan was away at college would normally make him a nice guy in my book. So why did I think there was more to him than Adopted Big Brother?
“You don’t get a weird vibe from him?” I asked.
“The only vibe I’m getting from Caden is that he’s competing for your attention.”
I looped my arm through Isaac’s. “I told you, I like you. Not Caden or anyone else. You. So out of all the things you might worry about, don’t let it be our relationship. Okay?”
He studied me a moment and then replied, “Deal.”
At the Jeep, Isaac deposited my skates in the back. “The guy doesn’t have evil powers, Madison. I would have felt it if he did. You’d taste it in the air.”
