Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 70779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
I used my makeup to cover my dark circles and I couldn’t help thinking that if Kael hadn’t healed me, I’d be using it to cover the bruises Carlo had left as well.
The thought provoked a heavy sigh. I had thought I would never have to worry about bruises or black eyes again after I finally got divorced. I wondered if Carlo might forget me again but I doubted it. My ex was like a dog with a bone when he wanted something. Probably he was thinking of me right now and wondering again why he had ever let me go…
The thought sent a shiver down my spine and I did my best to push it away. Tucking the small makeup bag into one of the roomy pockets of my skirt, I went downstairs.
Goody Albright and Kael were sitting together at the little kitchen nook, talking. The small dinette table and chairs were completely dwarfed by the huge fallen angel—he looked like an adult sitting in a kid’s chair. When he turned to look at me, I felt my cheeks get hot with a blush.
“Er, good morning,” I said lamely.
“Good morning, Mistress,” he rumbled and I thought how beautiful his lips were and how his mouth had tasted…like warm honey.
Luckily Goody Albright was there to break the tension. She stood up with a wide smile on her face.
“There you are, my dear! I hope you don’t mind me being here—Kael let me in.”
“Oh, of course not. It’s your cottage, after all. It’s amazing how it makes things appear,” I added, smiling politely.
“Yes, I had a very strong Heart’s Desire spell put on it when I placed the magical wards,” she explained. “That’s why it’s able to manifest whatever you wish for.”
“Well, it’s been a magical night staying here,” I told her. “And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. But now I really need to get home to my shop and my cat.”
I put a hand in my other pocket for the lion-head key but Goody Albright put a hand on my arm to stop me.
“Wait please—before you go, just come to The Lost Lamb for a pastry. They have the most amazing almond croissants and to-die for donuts in the morning.”
“I really shouldn’t,” I said. But my stomach was growling and the idea of a fluffy, flaky croissant was certainly tempting.
“It will only take a minute—it’s right up the street,” Goody Albright promised. “Please come—you can meet some of the townsfolk.”
“Well…” I didn’t really want to meet a lot of new people, but I didn’t want to be rude either. She had let me stay in her magic cottage for free and all she was asking was that I come meet a few people and eat a pastry with her. I couldn’t really refuse—it would be rude.
“Please?” Goody Albright asked again.
“All right.” I nodded. “I just can’t stay too long—I need to get back to my shop. I left the back door wide open,” I added.
“It’s an hour earlier where your shop is,” Goody Albright reminded me. “You don’t want to go back in the dark, right?”
She was right about that. I would prefer to return to the shop during the light of day rather than running into someone who might have wandered in, in the dark. That decided me completely.
“All right,” I said. “Let’s go.”
“I will come as well,” Kael said. He had been silent up until now, just watching us talk. Now he rose from the kitchen nook table, towering over both of us.
“Er…okay,” I said, since he was looking at me. “But I’m going home alone,” I added.
Kael said nothing to that, he just flexed his wings which rustled quietly with the movement. I wondered randomly what it would feel like to have all that feathery softness wrapped around me…and then I pushed the thought out of my head.
Goody Albright led me out of the cottage—which locked itself automatically—and down the garden path again.
Though her garden was in full bloom with riots of flowers and ripening vegetables, it appeared to be Autumn in Hidden Hollow. The sky was a clear, deep blue and the sun was shining but there was a definite nip in the air that made me glad my blouse had long sleeves.
The towering oak and elm trees I saw all around me had changed colors—their leaves were vermillion and scarlet and gold and the air smelled spicy as though someone was burning a Halloween scented candle.
Since it was January in New Orleans, the weather surprised me.
“How can it be Fall here when it’s winter in the rest of the country?” I asked Goody Albright, who was walking beside me.
“Oh, because that’s what the Town Council set the weather to,” she said.
“The Town Council?” I shook my head. “How can they affect the weather—whoever they are?”