Stepping
Stones (The Stone Series, #1)
Release Date:
08/25/15
Urban Fey
Press
Summary from
Goodreads:
Onnaleigh
Moore is part of a plan—and it isn’t hers. When her brother dies in a car
accident, Onna is desperate to preserve the tatters of her family. Any hope of
finding normalcy vanishes when her mother runs off and her dad turns to booze
to numb his pain. Onna’s grief is crippling, but the boy who showed up just
when she needed him is helping her cope.
Everett’s presence is comforting, though he knows things—Onna’s name just before they met, where she lives, and sometimes he comments on thoughts she doesn’t say aloud. She pegs him for a stalker, or maybe psychic, but the truth is deadlier than she imagines. As their feelings for one another deepen, Everett confesses a horrifying secret: Onna’s brother is only the beginning of the plan, and some fates are worse than death.
Add to Goodreads
Everett’s presence is comforting, though he knows things—Onna’s name just before they met, where she lives, and sometimes he comments on thoughts she doesn’t say aloud. She pegs him for a stalker, or maybe psychic, but the truth is deadlier than she imagines. As their feelings for one another deepen, Everett confesses a horrifying secret: Onna’s brother is only the beginning of the plan, and some fates are worse than death.
Add to Goodreads
Divorce.
The word burrowed deep in Onna’s chest,
barbed like the sharp quills of a porcupine. The sting radiated from her heart
into her lungs, her head, her hands. She knew she should stick around and
listen to her parents’ stumbling apologies and paper-thin explanations, but she
couldn’t.
She burst through the front door into
dazzling sunshine. The sky hung endless above her from horizon to
horizon—perfect, crisp blue. She glanced back at the windows, rooms hidden by
curtains and blinds. Houses were facades, masks to cover pain and heartbreak.
She could stare at the glass all day, where cheery vines and flowers spilled
from window boxes, and never see past the guise. Even now, her parents were
probably sitting in cruel silence, debating how to avoid each other until one
of them moved out.
It made her sick.
Sliding into the driver seat of her
Grand Am felt like stepping into a sauna. End-of-summer heat collected in the
car and made the interior stifling. Onna cranked the windows and cursed her
parents for not buying her a car with automatic anything, and the air conditioner was broken. Her dad promised to fix it
four months ago. Guess he was too busy planning the divorce to get around to
it.
Onna pressed her phone to her ear
before she backed out of the driveway. Caleb answered on the first ring.
“Baby sister,” he said, a smile in his
voice. The knot around Onna’s heart eased. “What’s shakin’?”
She pictured him on the balcony of his
apartment in Traverse City, feet propped on the banister, staring out over Lake
Michigan. She stayed with him for two weeks in July, spending her days sprawled
on the beach with a book in her hands while Caleb studied for medical boards.
At night, they prowled the town and sampled swanky restaurants, and Cora,
Caleb’s girlfriend, took Onna dancing at a beachside club.
“Caleb—” Onna said, wondering how to
break the news.
“They finally told you.”
Onna nearly dropped the phone. An angry
honk sounded from behind her, and she realized she’d stopped at a green light.
Muttering, she passed through the intersection and pulled into a parking lot.
The convenience store was dead, the lot deserted. The relentless heat drove
everyone indoors where there was air conditioning and iced-tea and Saturday
afternoon movie marathons. Neon signs advertising beer and cigarettes flickered
in the window. The attendant inside leaned over the counter, watching her.
Returning to her conversation with
Caleb, she hissed, “You knew?” The pause was long enough to serve as Caleb’s
confession.
“Don’t be upset, Leelee.” He fell back
on her childhood nickname, even though she’d asked him to stop. Onnie, Leelee,
Leigha—her name, Onnaleigh Evelyn Moore, was too easily shortened. “They fell
out of love,” Caleb continued. “We can’t expect them to stay together if
they’re unhappy.”
“Easy for you to say, you don’t live
with them. You didn’t see how Dad looked at Mom. You didn’t see him cry.” Onna
closed her eyes. Tears burned behind her lids. She wished she were with Caleb
now. He’d tell her a dirty joke or let her drink half his six-pack. He’d make
it bearable.
Her parents always laughed about Onna’s
devotion to her older brother. Whenever she hurt herself as a child, she ran to
Caleb. From the time she could walk, Caleb was the one who kissed her scrapes
and chased the boogeyman from beneath her bed. Even now, she called him with
breakups and bad grades and for advice about everything. He was the only
twenty-five-year-old male Onna knew who would listen to her ramble about boys,
makeup, and what color dress she wanted for prom.
During Caleb’s drawn out silence, a
vintage, kelly green Mustang pulled into the convenience store lot, all sleek
lines and muscle. Onna groaned as the driver, instead of choosing a space near
the entrance, pulled in next to her at the far corner. She wiped her eyes and
debated rolling up the windows. There was nothing worse than crying in public,
except having a witness. In the end, she settled for glowering at the driver as
he emerged.
Much like his car, which was a
sex-machine with four wheels, the guy was hard lines and hotness. He wore board
shorts and a blue t-shirt over dark, olive skin. A longish crop of unruly brown
hair hung to his eyebrows. Black aviators perched on a straight nose.
Onna swore she felt his gaze on her
face. She sank lower into the seat and her cheeks heated. The guy nodded in her
direction before crossing the lot and disappearing into the store. The
doorbell’s jangle reached her ears, followed by Caleb’s worried voice.
“Onna? Hello?”
She swallowed, heart thudding against
her ribs in a frantic dash to be free. The Grand Am’s vents blew hot against
damp cheeks. She propped her door open and gulped fresh air. Who is that guy?
“I’m here,” she said, peeking over the
seat back. She lost sight of the guy between the shelves.
“Cora and I are coming home next
weekend. Can you survive until then? I have some time off saved for a special
occasion, but I wouldn’t mind spending it on you.” In the background, the
excited tone of Cora’s voice rose, and Caleb mumbled, “It’s Onna.”
There was a moment of deafening static,
and then Cora was on the line. “We’re engaged!”
she yelled.
Onna squealed. “You’vegottabekiddingme!”
“Not kidding.
He got me a rock. I can hardly hold my hand up.”
“Lies,” Caleb said, voice far away.
Another rumble of static and Caleb spoke again. “She was supposed to wait until next weekend.” His voice
distorted as if he covered the mouthpiece with his palm. “You were supposed to wait... You know, wait. Should I spell it for
you?”
Cora giggled and Caleb’s voice lifted
to full strength. “Keep it to yourself. With everything going on…” he trailed
off and suddenly Onna was back in the living room, seeing her mom glare at her
dad while tension churned around them.
“Right,” she said, forcing brightness
into her words. “Congratulations, Caleb.”
“Thanks. Hang in there. At least school
starts soon. Senior year.” He faked a sob. “My baby sister’s growing up.
Anyways, call me if you want to talk. Cora and I are headed out to tell her
parents. She thinks her dad will chase me with a shovel.”
Onna was horrified. “He wouldn’t.”
“That’s what I said,” Caleb agreed,
laughing.
“He’s got a shotgun,” Cora yelled.
She’d just hung up when the guy came
out of the store carrying two jumbo blue slushes. Prickles crawled up Onna’s
neck. She tossed her phone onto the passenger seat and closed her driver door.
When she looked up, he was outside her window, dripping plastic cup held
through the opening. A red swirly straw sat atop the melting blue drink.
“You looked like you could use this,”
he said, leaning down so his face filled her open window. His mouth curled in a
sexy smile that made Onna lose conscious thought. She wished she could see his
eyes, but the lenses of his glasses were so opaque she couldn’t guess the color
behind them.
“Uh—thanks?” she said, hoping he’d go
away.
He pushed the drink closer. The sharp
sting of cold condensation falling onto her bare legs jolted her from the
stupor. She took the slippery cup, burning fingers brushing his freezing ones.
Her stomach tickled.
“See you around, Onna,” he said,
standing.
She watched him climb into his car. He
rolled down the windows—also manual—giving her a view of an all leather
interior and shiny four-speed shifter on the floor. The guy put the straw of
his slush—also red swirly—to his lips and drank deeply. Onna thought she would
die before that sip ended. Then he smiled, backed neatly around her car, and
tore out of the parking lot.
About the Author
Kacey Vanderkarr
is a young adult author. She dabbles in fantasy, romance, and sci-fi, complete
with faeries, alternate realities, and the occasional plasma gun. She’s known
to be annoyingly optimistic and listen to music at the highest decibel. When
she’s not writing, she coaches winterguard and works as a sonographer. Kacey
lives in Michigan, with her husband, son, and crazy cats. Along with her
novels, Reflection Pond and Antithesis, Kacey's short fiction can be found in
Sucker Literary Vol 3, and the upcoming Spark Vol 7, Ember: A Journal of
Luminous Things, and Out of the Green: Tales from Fairyland.
Author Links:
Cover Reveal Organized by:
No comments:
Post a Comment