Arianna Rose: The Arrival (Part 4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the faint chatter.
    “What up, guys! Jason’s cooking!” he called and gave them a thumbs-up.  “Better hurry if you want to eat ‘cause I’m starving,” Dane added.  He smiled widely and dimples deep enough to place nickels in appeared at the center of both cheeks.  He wore a hooded sweatshirt and baggy jeans that hid his fit physique, but beneath his loose-fitted clothing, everyone knew he was solid.  “Later!” he said.  He rubbed a hand over his dark hair that was buzzed closely to his scalp then tugged his hood over his head and dashed out the sliding glass doors of the living room to the expansive cedar deck beyond it.  There, two picnic tables had been set with tablecloths, plates, glasses and silverware. 
    “It’s so nice to use something other than paper plates,” MaryAnn commented. 
    “Hey mom,” Beth said to MaryAnn.  “You know Jason.  He makes his turn to cook an event.”
    “Yea h, he’s a regular Martha Stewart,” Avery, Beth’s younger sister, chimed in and rolled her eyes.
    “Don’t let him hear you say that,” Beth advised her sister.
    The family resemblance among the Parker women was remarkable.  MaryAnn was slender and not much taller than Beth and had the same delicate features.  Her wavy hair was styled in a neat bob and she wore khaki cargo pants and a T-shirt.  Arianna did not know how old MaryAnn was, but if she were to guess based on her appearance alone, she would say MaryAnn was in her late-twenties.  The finest of lines creased her eyes and were the only vague hint of her true age.  Her sons were twenty-one.   Beth was eighteen and Avery was eleven.  Logically she could not be in her late-twenties.  But her youthful appearance argued she was not a woman nearing middle age. 
    Avery looked like a miniature version of Beth and even had her surly look of disdain down pat.  Though she was only eleven, she was poised and wise beyond her years. 
    “He can’t touch me,” Avery smirked cockily.  “My powers are growing by the minute.” She shrugged as she followed Arianna, Desmond and Beth out onto the deck.
    “Those are some tough words from a pint-sized witch without her powers,” Dane goaded her.
    “Shut up!” she fired back.
    “Okay you two,” Dr. Adam Parker’s voice said soothingly.  Beth’s unassuming father appeared and carried a large tray of sticky buns. 
    “Look at those buns,” Arianna said and licked her lips as she eyed the heaping tray. 
    “You’d better be talking about the maple-glazed treats Adam is carrying,” Desmond’s voice whispered, his lips close to her ear. She was about to retort with a snappy comeback when Desmond smiled and raised his brow as if to say, “See, I made a funny, sassy comment.”  He was divine. 
    She simply smiled at him and shook her head slowly, her reply lost. 
    Desmond chuckled and whispered in her ear again.  “I love you,” he breathed before making a beeline for the kitchen to help bring drinks to the table.  Arianna started to follow , but Adam told her to sit and relax.  She couldn’t help but feel guilty.  Though helping with the breakfast preparation wasn’t the biggest deal in the world, letting her and Desmond live there for the last five months was. 
    Shortly after leaving Maine, Beth had suggested they return to her parents’ home.  Arianna had been against it from the start, arguing that she would not put more innocent lives in danger.  She was a woman with a bounty on her head.  No one was safe in her presence.  But Beth had countered that her family was anything but vulnerable as they possessed powers as well.  After a lot of bickering back and forth, Beth had persuaded Arian na to spend one night.  That had been five months ago. 
    The Parkers had insisted she stay, that she would be safe.  But Arianna knew she was still hunted, a point that worried her endlessly.  She just hadn’t been found yet.  Each day she remained living and training at the compound