Fairyrings

Chapter One: Layovers

“Riding high, I got them tears in my eyes. You know, you got to go through Hell before you get to Heaven” — Steve Miller Band

I gave my apartment a once over, and let out a sigh, my hands on my hips. Winnie, my four year old brindle and white Cardigan Welsh Corgi, paced around my feet impatiently and whined. “I know girl,” I knelt down and ruffled her ears. “Let’s go see Grandpa and Alyssa!” Winnie’s ears pricked up and she cocked her head to the side. She always did love spending time with my Dad, now she would spend a month with him.

Winnie and I left my apartment, after I double checked the lock, and I loaded her up into the front seat of my old Jeep Wrangler. It was about an hour drive to where my Dad lived outside of Portland, Oregon, and Winnie loved every second of it. For most of the drive, as the forested coastal mountains transformed into rolling hills, and eventually into the flat Willamette Valley, Winnie had her head hanging out the window with her tongue lolling in the air. I couldn’t help but smile and giggle at her a few times. I was going to miss her, miss these little moments for the next month while on my trip.

Dad was waiting for me as I pulled up outside of his house in Beaverton, arms crossed over his chest. His stern face broke into a smile as soon as I let Winnie out of the Jeep, she immediately scampered over to him, leash clattering against the walkway, and started jumping up against his thighs excitedly.

“Oh Winnie, you little hound dog,” he said endearingly as Winnie rolled over and offered her belly up for rubs.

“Oliver! Aren’t you going to help your daughter with her luggage?” Alyssa scolded as she came out the front door of their two story craftsman. She rolled her eyes as Dad continued showering Winnie with attention, then came down the walkway to my Jeep. “Hey, Celeste, it’s good to see you. How are you?” I smiled and stepped into her proffered hug, her arms briefly squeezing me. Alyssa stepped around me and hauled my large suitcase out and onto the sidewalk.

“I’m good, excited for my trip of course,” I smiled as I slammed the back door shut. We walked up the pathway to where my Dad was still crouched over Winnie, petting her affectionately. Winnie was eating up every moment.

Alyssa set my suitcase next to her and put her hands on her hips, frowning down at Dad. “You and that dog,” she said with a sigh. Dad stood and grinned sheepishly. “C’mon, y’all,” Alyssa dragged my suitcase up the front porch steps and I followed suit with my backpack and carry on luggage. Dad and Winnie brought up the rear.

I kicked off my shoes in the entry way, then left my carry on next to the big suitcase by the coat closet. The smells of Alyssa’s spaghetti and garlic bread were permeating throughout the house and making my stomach growl. Alyssa was an amazing cook, she had partly inspired my desire in going to culinary school. It had been hard accepting her into my family at first, but it wasn’t her fault my parents’ marriage fell apart. And she had always been so sweet and understanding, even during my angsty teenage years.

“I can’t believe my little girl is all grown up,” Dad said when the three of us sat down to dinner a few minutes later. I had to fight not to roll my eyes at the comment. I was turning thirty soon, and he’d been repeating this same sentiment for years. “Are you sure you want to go by yourself? You know your Mom would love to go to Ireland with you,” he said, his gray eyes sliding to mine behind wire framed glasses.

“Oh, Oliver,” Alyssa sighed. “I think it’s great that you’re going by yourself, Celeste,” she smiled at me. Dad grunted something and then took a big bite of spaghetti as Alyssa and I shared a smiled with each other.

Mom and Dad got divorced when I was twelve, and then Dad met Alyssa when I was fourteen. They got married and moved to Oregon when I was fifteen, and I spent the next two summers in Oregon. When I graduated high school, I had briefly thought about going to Oregon State University and taking advantage of the ability to get in-state tuition. But, ultimately, I decided on staying with Mom on the East Coast and attending culinary school there. Dad had always been a little disappointed with that decision, Alyssa though, was always supportive.

“Please don’t let him turn my dog into a sausage while I’m gone,” I said to Alyssa, teasing. Dad threw up his hands and scoffed, but his lips still cracked into a smile. The three of us laughed and continued dinner, the two alternating in asking me questions about my trip.

After dinner, I took Winnie for a nice long walk around the neighborhood. Thankfully the rain from this morning had given way to sunny skies filled with puffy clouds. Though, I was hoping that by the time I came back from Ireland, the rain would be completely done for the summer. I was so ready for hiking and camping with Winnie and my friends. Last year, we did this amazing backpacking trip around Crater Lake, and this August, we were planning on tackling a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail for a long weekend.

By the time we returned from our walk, the air was beginning to cool as the sun slowly set. The days were long now with the Summer Solstice in a few days.

After our walk, it was time for a tearful goodbye with Winnie, I was really going to miss my girl while I was gone. Then Dad and Alyssa drove me to PDX for my overnight flight into Dulles International Airport, where I’d spend the day with my Mom during my nine hour layover. It was going to be a very hectic couple days of travel.

Alyssa hugged me tight as the three of us stood outside the TSA line. People hustled by us in the busy airport with the iconic carpet underfoot, and it was loud, but I was so giddy with excitement I didn’t care. Dad stepped in when she pulled away with his own bear hug. “Promise me you’ll be careful?” He said earnestly. “You’re the only kid I got, after all,” he said teasing. Alyssa smacked his shoulder playfully.

“She’ll be alright, Oliver. Won’t you Celeste? You’ve always been pretty tough,” she winked and then hugged me briefly one last time. “But do at least check in every once in a while,” she said softly to me before pulling away.

I smiled and nodded, “Of course.” With a sigh I turned towards the security line. “Well, I should get going. See you guys in a month!” I ginned and shouldered my backpack, joining the long line of people waiting to go through security. Once through TSA, I turned towards them one last time and waved. Then I was off to grab a coffee from Peet’s before hanging out at my gate for the next hour and half, waiting for boarding.

I managed to sleep for a couple of hours on the plane, which was better than nothing, but I still felt very tired when I stepped off the plane. It was bright and early here at Dulles, and the airport was relatively quiet as I made my way for the tram that would take me from the concourse to the terminal where Mom was waiting for me.

It felt almost surreal to be back here. I had been living in Oregon now for a little over a year now and hadn’t come back east yet. If I remembered correctly, the last time I was here was when Logan and I were leaving for my best friend’s wedding. I sighed, and for a moment I let the memory sweep me away as I stood on the tram.

We had been together for a couple years already, but this was our first big trip together. My best friend Natalie was getting married at her fiancée’s grandmother’s house in California. A beautiful minty green victorian mansion that sat along the Pacific Ocean south of San Francisco. The wedding had been wonderful, and everything had seemed so good with Logan while we were there. But…when we came home his behavior started to change. He became more aloof, almost secretive. I was worried at first, but when I expressed my concerns to Natalie, she brushed them off, saying that’s how Bryan had acted shortly before proposing to her. Oh, how wrong she’d been.

The train shuddered to a stop, snapping me out of my reverie. I collected my carry-on bag andleft the memories behind.

Mom was waiting for me with a big smile on her face as I emerged through the doors and into the baggage area. Her graying chestnut hair was longer now, reaching down to her shoulders, and her blue eyes lined with crows feet sparkled in excitement. She didn’t waste a moment, I had barely stepped through the doors when she rushed over and threw her arms around me.

“I’ve missed you so much, honey,” Tears pricked at the corner of my eyes as I snuggled into her shoulder and inhaled her floral, herby perfume that was so ingrained into my childhood. Scraped knees, breakups, friend drama, she had always been there for me with a warm hug and soothing words.

“I missed you too, Mom,” I finally said back. She held me arms length away from her, looking me over with those eyes of hers that never missed anything.

“You’re looking a little thin,” she said with a frown after her once over.

I rolled my eyes then said, “I’ve only lost like, twenty-five pounds, Mom. If anything I think I look healthy now.” Mom nodded after a moment with a small smile. “Now let’s get going to grab my bags then get some breakfast, I’m starving,” I tugged her towards the baggage claim area eagerly.

We were finally on the road twenty minutes later, me in desperate want of some fried eggs and bacon.

After breakfast we headed back to Mom’s home in Leesburg. She lived in the cutest little colonial style home in the historic downtown. It had been amazing growing up here so close to DC and being surrounded by all of the history in the area. Although I couldn’t help but notice how much it had already changed in the year I’d been gone.

I trudged up the stairs to my childhood bedroom where I planned on taking a nice nap before having out with Mom some more. This was my only chance to see her, my layover on the return trip was in New York; so I really did need to make the most of this layover.

When I woke from my nap I felt much more refreshed. I stretched out in my bed, loosening my limbs from sleep. I changed from my sweat pants into jeans and tossed on a fresh shirt as well before joining my Mom downstairs where she was watching some soap opera on TV.

“Did you have a restful nap, Celeste?” She asked me, her lips breaking into a soft smile as she glanced away from her soap.

“Yes, thank you. Now the one thing on my mind is some food,” I said and rubbed my belly playfully. Mom laughed and stood from the couch, walking into the kitchen through an archway. I followed behind praying mentally that she would cook something up for lunch; she was such a good cook and I had missed her food. While I was a great baker, I only went to culinary school for pastry and baking, and so cooking was not as much my forte.

When I stepped into the kitchen I saw that she already had vegetables out and pots waiting on the stove. My spirits soared. Yes!

“I thought we could make shepherds pie together in honor of your trip to Ireland,” Mom said and grabbed a chefs knife from a drawer next to the oven. “I already have the mashed potatoes ready, so we just have to make the filling and pop it in the oven. Will you prepare the celery carrots and onion for me?” I smiled and nodded, then reached into a cabinet by the sink for a cutting board. Honestly, I’d probably be sick and tired of food like this after a month, but right now I didn’t care about any of that. I was just glad to eat my Mom’s home cooking.

While I was dicing Mom started heating oil in a skillet, taking the onions and tossing them in once I was done with those. I finished dicing the carrots and celery and she began browning the meat, again taking the veggies from me when I was done dicing. She took over cooking completely from there, thankfully. Frankly, I was still pretty tired from my flight, and it didn’t help that there was a dull headache forming behind my temples. My attention was dragged away from that, however, as a knock came at the front door.

“Would you mind getting that honey?” Mom asked looking over from the stove. “I ordered something from Amazon the other day and that could be it.” I padded back into the living room and over to the front door. But when I swung the door open, it wasn’t a delivery man standing on the porch.

My face broke into a grin as I took in the woman’s curly black hair, brown eyes, and her own grin with that gap between her front teeth I always thought was adorable. “Natalie!” The two of us squealed and I pulled her through the door and into a bear hug. “What are you doing here? I thought you had to work.” I stopped as a chuckle came from the kitchen. Of course. “The two of you planned this, didn’t you?” I raised a knowing brow at Natalie and she shrugged, smiling the whole time.

“You know your Mom, she wanted you to have a good homecoming, and she wasn’t going to let me miss it because of work,” Natalie said in her sultry voice. She then clapped her hands together and brushed past me into the kitchen. “Now where is this feast I was promised?”

“All of your adventures on the west coast look amazing,” Natalie said as she stuffed a bite of shepherd’s pie in her mouth. “Those pictures you posted of Crater Lake were mind-blowing. I can only imagine how cold that water was, though,” she said with a laugh.

“Oh, yeah, it’s freaking freezing,” I agreed with my mouth full. I wish I could box this pie up and take it with me, it was so, so good. “But also so worth it. On a hot day after the hike down the the lake, all you really want to do is jump in. Plus, with how steep the hike back is, it’s a good idea to cool off.”

“I’m just glad you found a couple of friends to go on these backpacking trips with. I would be worried sick if you were out there alone,” Mom said, her brow slightly knit.

“Thank God for social media, am I right?” Natalie bumped my shoulder. That’s so true, I don’t think I ever would have met Alice and Heather if it hadn’t been for Facebook. “Just so long as you don’t replace me with them, we’re fine,” she continued with a wink.

“Girl, you know that no one could ever replace you,” I grinned back at her. The meal continued on like this until I was absolutely stuffed. Between the full belly and good company, I couldn’t have asked for a better layover between flights.

Natalie and I had a misty eyed farewell after we all cleaned up the kitchen together. I was going to miss her, but I was also glad that we had time to see each other.

“Don’t forget to text my updates while you’re there, especially if there’s a cute guy involved.”

I smiled and nodded. “Of course. If I’m swept off my feet by some Irish lad, you will be the first to know.” I frowned in confusion as Natalie glanced around behind me and then leaned into my ear, whispering.

“Logan sent me a message on Facebook asking about you the other day.” My heart thudded to a stop in my chest. “I guess he and that girl broke up and he wanted to know when you would be in town next,” she leaned away and flipped her hair over he shoulder. “I told him I wasn’t sure, obviously. No way am I letting that snake near you again.” Natalie shook her head in disgust. “Besides, didn’t you go on a date with that guy Trent last week?” Again my heart thudded in my chest, but for an entirely different reason.

“He…stood me up,” I said glumly. “This is the second time that’s happened this year.” Natalie frowned and shook her head in disgust once more.

“Fucking men,” we said together. Both of our faces cracked into smiles and we giggled.

“At least you have Bryan and he isn’t a total douche,” I patted her on the back then ushered Natalie out onto the porch. “Now you know I don’t want to rush you off, but I’m going to have to head to the airport soon.” Natalie pouted and pulled me into another hug. “I know, I know. It’s just so hard having my bff on the opposite side of the country. Bry and I will definitely come visit you this fall.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” I said with a final tight hug. Natalie scampered down the stairs and to her Honda sedan parked on the street.

“Celeste!” Mom’s voice called from inside the house. “We have to leave in a half hour, better make sure you have everything ready.”

“Coming!” I looked up and down the tree lined street before turning into the house and closing the door behind me. A honk echoing down the street as Natalie pulled away from the curb.

My thumb hovered over Logan’s name in the Facebook search bar as I sat at the airport bar, the temptation and curiosity gnawing at me. Now back at Dulles, I had an hour and a half to kill until my flight for Dublin began to board, and I couldn’t get what Natalie had told me out of my head. Should I have told Logan that I was going to be back here for a few hours? No, that would have been silly. I was lucky there had been time to see Mom and Natalie at all to begin with.

I released a sigh and clicked on his name. Oh. So it was true that they had broken up, about a month ago apparently. At least according to his relationship status update. Well, if it had been that long, then surely he could have messaged me himself if he had truly been interested. I flagged down the bartender, “could I get another vodka soda, please?” He nodded and shuffled off to pour my drink.

Fucking Logan. I hated that it had been this long and he still found his way into my thoughts on an almost daily basis. Usually it was just small things. Like, a song by his favorite band would come on the radio, or I’d see the same car he drives while out. But sometimes, most often at two in the morning, the thoughts and memories became a lot. Too much. But maybe that’s not a big surprise when you thought the person was your soulmate.

We met shortly after I graduated from culinary school and I was working at my first fine dining restaurant, some uppity place in DC. He was the cute sous chef, and I was just the pastry apprentice. I had never thought he’d show interest in me in a million years. But then one day he was on his way to the walk-in freezer, which involved walking past the pastry stations, and he heard me lamenting to the pastry chef about my dream to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. Logan stopped in his tracks and said, “Oh yeah? I hiked the Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland sections the summer after high school.”

I was instantly taken with him.

Once we started officially dating we became inseparable pretty quickly. So much so that HR told us that one of us had to find a new job. I couldn’t bear the thought of Logan quitting his sous chef job with him only being a few years away from becoming a chef himself, so I took the fall. It took a few months, but I was eventually able to find a job at a local bread bakery. Logan was of course grateful, but a small part of me remained bitter about the whole ordeal.

For our one year anniversary Logan booked us a room at Skyland Resort in Shenandoah National Park, it had been so dreamy. We hiked to White Oak Falls and walked through Big Meadows after driving along Skyline Drive; even now it was a fond memory.

“Your vodka soda, miss,” the bartender said. I snapped into focus out of my thoughts and smiled awkwardly.

“Thank you,” I said. I stared at the drink in my hand and then glanced back at Logan’s profile on my phone. “Fuck,” I said under my breath, and then downed the rest of the vodka soda, setting the glass down hard on the counter. I closed the Facebook app on my phone then slipped a couple dollars under the glass for the bartender.

“Was that your boyfriend?” A voice came from beside me as I stood from the bar. I startled, my hand flying to my chest. The girl standing before me chuckled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I just saw that cute guy on your phone, but yet your face was so sad.”

“Oh,” I said plainly. “Um, no, that wasn’t my boyfriend. Well, he was my boyfriend, he’s my ex now,” I babbled. She nodded in understanding. The girl looked to be a few years younger than me, probably around 25, and she was wearing a flow-y black dress with trumpet sleeves and a pentacle necklace. Her makeup was flawless.

“Ah, I see,” she said nodding in understanding. “That’s good, because from what I can see your whole world is about to change.”

I wrinkled my brow in confusion. “Excuse me?”

“Oh right, I’m so sorry,” she hurried on. “Sometimes I look at a person and get premonitions of them. Kind of like Alice from Twilight.” Uh, what the Hell? “And when I saw you sitting over here from over at my gate, I saw flashes of you going on a great trip.” I had to physically stop myself from rolling my eyes at her. She must have been able to see the apprehension on my face, regardless and laughed softly. “I know, that sounds like total hogwash with us being at an airport, but at least hear me out.

“I saw rolling green hills and a stone circle between the mountains and sea. Then you were dancing in a great hall with a handsome man, and walking through a garden arm in arm at night. It all seemed quite magical.” I stood and listened silently. “However,” her face turned to a frown. “There was a strange feeling of pain and defeat before turning sweet once more. After the garden it’s mostly black.” She shrugged and smiled awkwardly back at me.

“Well,” I started after a moment. “I am going to Ireland where there are plenty of green hills and stone circles.” I shrugged back at her and her smiled brightened. “But me dancing with handsome men seems pretty far fetched,” I laughed lightly and also a little awkward. Did this girl actually think she was psychic or something?

“That’s a big trip!” She exclaimed. “Just try to be open to all the possibilities the Universe may throw your way, okay?” She swung the backpack she was wearing off her back and rummaged around in it for a moment. “Aha!” She said and then pulled her hand out with a business card in tow. “If you have any questions or want to reach out at all, here’s my card. Enjoy your trip and be ready for your world to change!” She dropped the card in my hand then spun around on her heel walking away down the concourse, her dress flowing behind her.

That was weird. I stood there frozen in place for a few seconds, staring at the card in my hand. Esther Sokolov, Psychic and Witch is what it read with her number below. I shook my head and left the bar for the main concourse, tucking the card into the my pocket as I walked. Witches being real or not, she had known I was going to Ireland, and that was something, I thought.