by Nancy Warren
Luckily, Scarlett had the day off from school, so she was helping in the shop. I’d done my best to schedule lots of help for Violet since I knew very well that I wouldn’t be around very much for the next couple of weeks, and then Rafe and I were going on our honeymoon. I couldn’t wait. I felt like my life was so very different from what it had been the last time I’d seen Jennifer. Just having her here really underlined for me the incredible path I’d found myself on, and yet looking back now, it seemed inevitable that I would end up here.
Jen was the best kind of guest. She was enthusiastic about everything and, as we drove out of Oxford, admired the scenery, the little villages we passed. As we headed towards Rafe’s place, we seemed to find more and more things to talk about.
As we approached, she said, “So here’s what I know about your guy. I know he’s a respected antiquarian book specialist”—she began ticking things off on her fingers—“and he still gives the odd lecture at Cardinal College. I know he’s very good-looking, because I saw—not exactly a photograph of him on his website—but something that showed a very handsome man.”
That was thanks to Theodore and Hester who, working together, had managed to custom-create something that was painted but very much looked like a photograph. It caught his serious, somewhat haughty expression. I loved that picture.
“Yes. That’s him.”
“Don’t let me blunder into anything stupid. I really want him to like me.”
“He will. And I really want you to like him, too. You guys are both so important to me.” I didn’t say I needed this to work, but on some level, I really felt like I did.
“And I know he’s rich.” She looked at me. “Anything I missed?”
A big one, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell her. Not yet. “You’ve got the basics.”
She looked at me. “I’m guessing, based on his experience and that photograph, he’s what, mid-thirties?”
Give or take a few hundred years. I nodded.
“So five years older than you. That’s not bad. Has he been married before?”
“Yes. Once. He was widowed.”
“Widowed is good. Brokenhearted but not bitter?”
I smiled at her. “That’s exactly how I would describe him. Brokenhearted but not bitter.”
“Okay then. I think I’m ready.”
I felt strangely nervous when we pulled up in front of the manor house. Henri, naturally, heard my car and came running like a hungry farmhand when the dinner gong goes. Jennifer was charmed by him, and I gave her one of the food pellets I kept in my car for the peacock. He stared at her for a minute with his beady eyes, took the pellet and then stood back and fanned out his tail. Poor Henri’s tail was not as spectacular as some peacocks’, but in the last little while, it had really plumped out. He was a rescue peacock who had flourished in his new environment. In some ways, Rafe was my rescue peacock. And under my care, I thought he was flourishing. Maybe that was arrogant, but I had seen the cold, distant vampire change into the loving creature he must have been when he was alive. He’d never be alive again, and I’d come to accept that, but we were going to make this work.
William must have been watching for us, because we hadn’t even put our feet on the first step towards the front door when the double doors opened and he was standing there. He stepped forward with a smile beaming on his face.
“Lucy, you’re right on time.” He held out a hand and said, “And you must be Jennifer?”
She agreed that she was, and they shook hands. So far, so good. He asked her how she was enjoying Oxford and led us inside. William was a perfect combination of friendly and welcoming while never acting like he owned the place. I didn’t know quite how he did it. It was a real art.
“Rafe is outside on the terrace. Lochlan Balfour is arriving any minute.”
“From Ireland?”
His eyes lightened in a smile. “One never knows. He doesn’t fly commercial.”
Right. I was having trouble getting used to the idea of rubbing shoulders with billionaires. Somehow getting used to knitting with the undead had been easier.
“So he just drops out of the sky whenever he feels like it?”
“Basically, yes. He’ll likely bring the helicopter. There’s a spot on the property where he can land.”
“Of course there is.”
Actually, it made a lot of sense. No doubt Rafe had a helicopter too tucked away somewhere, something he hadn’t yet told me about. I could imagine men like him and Lochlan Balfour were always ready to disappear at a moment’s notice. Secrecy, money, and the ability to flee at the drop of a hat, all that would be part of my life now, too.
“Wow,” I said. “You’ve got a full house.”
He glanced at me. “Lucy, you know I like nothing more.”
I was going to suggest that I give Jennifer a quick tour of the house, since her eyes had gone all wide and she was staring around her as though she’d stumbled into Buckingham Palace and no one had warned her, but then Rafe himself came in. He had on his most approachable expression, I was pleased to see. He shook Jennifer’s hand and said how excited I’d been that she was coming. It was true.
She was still looking around in awe. “This place is fabulous. When Lucy told me about it, I don’t know what I was expecting. But not this. This isn’t a house. It’s a castle!”
He smiled at her in that indulgent way he used to smile at me when I said things that he later told me made me sound like an American tourist.
He gave her a tour of the downstairs, and I made him show her the double walls of paintings that still tickled me. He had so many paintings that he had specially designed walls that opened out displaying a second level of artwork.
While Jen was marveling over a Monet, William came in. “I believe Lochlan’s arriving.”
Rafe excused himself and made his leisurely way out the doors that led to the back terrace. But obviously, we weren’t going to stay inside while the excitement was happening. Jennifer and I hurried behind him. We were in time to see a black helicopter land on a grass field that was part of the landscaping, but had probably been kept like that precisely for helicopters to land on. No doubt Rafe came and went that way too, when it suited him.
Lochlan Balfour emerged from the helicopter. He wore dark jeans, a turtleneck T-shirt, and a blazer. He carried an attaché case. While we watched, a second man emerged and unloaded a suitcase. William hurried out to help. Lochlan, meanwhile, strode forward towards us, lifting one hand in a wave. The sun caught his hair, glinting gold.
Jennifer leaned closer and whispered, “I feel like I’m in a James Bond movie. You did not warn me you were surrounded by rich, powerful, gorgeous men. I might have to sit down.”
I’d become so used to them, I’d almost forgotten what it was like at first. Wait till she saw them together. Dark and light and both incredibly good-looking. Introductions were soon made, and then we sat out on the stone veranda. It was beautifully shaded with wisteria but still felt open and airy, and we had the most beautiful view of the grounds. Olivia had outdone herself. I knew she’d been working night and day and had even hired some extra helpers to make sure the gardens and grounds were at their best for this very special day that was coming up. Naturally, talk quickly turned to the wedding. William, presumably having sorted out the luggage, came out and offered drinks.
“Champagne, I think,” Rafe said, looking at me. He knew my weakness for champagne. I turned to Jennifer, who seemed to also think that was a spectacular idea. From the speed at which one of the vintage bottles of champagne that were kept in Rafe’s cellar appeared, perfectly chilled and with four crystal wine flutes, I suspected that he and William had already talked this through. William popped the cork, poured the wine, and then Lochlan raised his glass. “If I may, I’d like to propose a toast to the happy couple. This is an Irish toast that seems appropriate.
“May joy and peace surround you
Contentment latch your door
And ha
ppiness be with you now
And bless you ever more.”
He ended it by saying, “To Lucy and Rafe.”
Jen echoed the toast, and then we all sipped our drinks.
“I hear you’re from Boston,” he said to Jen. “A lovely old city.”
“It is, though not as old as Oxford.”
I was really impressed with how cool Jennifer was, considering that sitting down with a tech mogul like Lochlan Balfour wasn’t exactly an everyday experience. But we didn’t talk about him or his businesses or computers. We talked about the wedding, mostly, then a little about current events.
We ended up staying outside for lunch and moving to an outdoor table. William served steak tartare to the vampires. The raw beef didn’t look appetizing to me, but at least they could eat with us. William said to Jennifer, “I asked Lucy, and she thought you’d prefer something cooked. This salmon was flown down this morning from Scotland. It’s served with a light dill sauce.”
“Looks delicious,” Jennifer said. And it was.
After lunch, Rafe said, “There’s a very curious alchemy text I’d like to show you, Lochlan. Get your opinion on it.”
Jennifer, who’d obviously grown very comfortable with the company and maybe even more outgoing than usual thanks to the champagne, said, “Ooh, is that part of your work? I’d love to see it.”
Rafe paused only for an instant before saying in his usual suave manner, “Of course. Come along.”
So the four of us trooped into his office, where he had all the most modern tools of his trade and any number of valuable volumes kept in a temperature-controlled case. He brought out the alchemy book that we’d found so puzzling.
Lochlan turned a couple of pages, looking as puzzled as I had. “But this is modern, surely?”
Obviously, Rafe didn’t want to suggest that it had a spell on it since I hadn’t had a chance to tell him yet that my old friend had also turned out to be a witch. He said, “What else do you notice about it?”
Lochlan turned a few more pages. “It’s more obscure than most alchemical texts. Of course, I remember what Paracelsus used to say. Everything is poison, it just depends on the quantity.”
Oh dear. Of course Lochlan could have known Paracelsus personally, back in the Middle Ages or whenever he was around practicing alchemy. But this really wasn’t helping Jennifer’s first impression of my fiancé and his best man.
As brightly as I could, I said, “Why don’t we leave you two to it? I really want to show you the upstairs.” Even I could hear the fake, brittle tone.
But Jennifer completely ignored me and stepped closer. She did a very strange thing. She took her hand and just hovered it above the pages, not touching it as I had done. Then she closed her eyes and leaned her whole body in.
“What are you—”
“Shh.”
I shut up. The other two both glanced at me, and I shrugged my shoulders. I had no idea what she was doing.
Then she stepped back and, almost as though coming out of a trance, looked at me. “Lucy, could I see you outside for a minute?”
“Of course.”
Oh, this first meeting was so not going the way I’d hoped it would.
I left two baffled vampires and took my best friend back into the corridor. “Sorry about that,” I said. “They get a bit intense.”
“Lucy. That book is spellbound.”
“I know.”
“What’s going on?” She looked at me, and I had a hard time holding her gaze.
“What do you mean?”
“Who are those two? They’re not witches, are they?”
“No, they’re not.”
She was looking at me, her faced creased in some emotion I couldn’t name. Consternation? Horror? Plain curiosity?
“Lochlan Balfour talked about Paracelsus as though he’d known him. I remember studying him in chemistry. I barely remember it, but didn’t he live in like the Middle Ages or something?”
I loved that her sense of history was about as good as mine. “I think so. He didn’t exactly say that he knew him—”
“Don’t toy with me, Lucy. We’ve known each other too long.” She took in a deep breath. “I’m just going to ask. Are they vampires?”
She said it the way she might have asked if they were Republicans or Catholics. Not shocked, just curious. I nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It’s not exactly the easiest thing to share with anyone, even my best friend. I didn’t know how you’d feel or how you’d react. I thought we’d meet today and you’d get to know him and then I’d sort of slip it into the conversation later.”
She dragged me back to the terrace, and we sat back down. She glanced around to make sure we couldn’t be overheard. “Lucy, are you sure about this?”
And I heaved a huge sigh. “See? That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. I knew you’d say this. You have to get to know Rafe to understand how amazing he is. And how happy he makes me.”
“I could see that right away. You two are crazy about each other. It’s just that you’re going to get old.”
“Do you think I don’t know that? And he’s not? I fought this for two years. But I don’t want to fight it anymore. I love him. He loves me.”
“Well, if he makes you happy, that’s all that matters. And, realistically, he’s the one with the most to lose.” She settled back. “It’s a lot to take in.”
“Tell me about it.”
“So how old are they?”
“Lochlan’s older. I don’t know exactly how old, but he was a Knight of the Garter, and I think that was in like the 1200s. I know that Rafe got turned into a vampire when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne. He worked for her. He was a spy or something. That’s how he got killed, and then saved by a vampire right before he died.”
“Wow. I guess they’ve seen a lot.” She laughed. “Weird to think of a vampire running a high-tech firm. It’s so forward-thinking of him. Rafe’s work makes a lot more sense. It’s easier to imagine a vampire in dusty, book-lined corridors than in Silicon Valley.”
“And yet they’re great friends.”
She settled back. “Okay. Are there any other big secrets you need to tell me? Because I’d rather get it all out in the open right now.”
Oh my gosh, where to begin. “Well, Meri, an Egyptian grad student who you’ll meet tomorrow, is really a two-thousand-year-old witch.”
“Wait, what? Witches don’t live two thousand years.”
“This one did. She got cursed and trapped in a mirror, and I rescued her.”
“I’ll think about that later. What else?”
“Um, so my shop is home to a pretty special knitting club.”
And then I told her all about the vampire knitting club. Her eyes grew round, and when I told her that they were my friends and that they were making my wedding dress, she burst out laughing.
“The older I get, the more I discover that the world is full of the most amazing things. So you’re marrying a vampire, some of your best friends are vampires, and one of your guests is a two thousand-year-old witch. Okay.”
“Oh, and one of the members of the vampire knitting club is also my grandmother.”
“What?” She picked up her glass. “I am going to need some more champagne. Oh, and I’d really like to meet your grandmother.”
And that made me so happy. Because I couldn’t tell my own mother about Gran being alive. Mom was too strange about her magic. She’d rejected it her whole life, and now I suspected it was too late for her. She’d been nearly destroyed when a demon used her own magic against her, but Mom had somehow wiped the entire incident out of her mind. But to have Jennifer meet my grandmother—that was amazing. I’d told Gran so much about my best friend and my best friend so much about my grandmother. It just felt right.
Olivia appeared with a pair of pruning shears in her hand, and I called her over to meet Jen. “Olivia is William’s sister. She keeps the grounds and is also doing
our flowers for the wedding.”
“That’s amazing. It’s going to be so beautiful. If you want any help, I love gardens and flowers. I’m a willing pair of hands, and I come free,” Jen told her.
Olivia laughed. “What first-rate qualifications.”
“You don’t have to help with the wedding,” I said when Olivia had left to get back to work.
“I want to. Besides, it will give me something useful to do when you’re busy working.”
Chapter 9
The next day, Violet called in sick. She sounded so extravagantly sick, with a terrible cough and croaky voice, that I was sure she was faking.
I called Pete, since Meri didn’t have a cell phone, and asked if she could help in the knitting shop. She agreed and sounded quite pleased at the prospect. Jennifer helped me open up. That didn’t take long, so we stood there chatting until Meri arrived. With her was my mother.
She fussed over Jennifer and wanted to know about all the happenings at home. When customers began to arrive, I suggested they go next door and have coffee at Elderflower. They both seemed happy to go out for coffee. Mom said, loud enough that I could hear, “And Jennifer, you can help me plan the hen party.”
I’d already regaled Jen with my horror over Mom’s determination to have a hen party and my equal determination not to have one, so she sent me a laughing glance over my mother’s shoulder.
“I’m counting on you,” I said, hoping she could hear me.
Jen didn’t come back, so I assumed she’d gone sightseeing.
Meri and I worked well together and were enjoying a successful day when Rafe came in later that afternoon looking grave. “Lucy, can I speak to you in private?”
Meri was comfortable enough that I had no problem leaving her alone for a while.
Once we were upstairs, Rafe said, “Where’s Violet?”
“She called in ‘sick.’” I put the word “sick” in air quotes. “I think she’s having a poor Violet day. I’m not sure she wants to be single anymore, and it’s hard to watch people you care about getting married. She’s been so grumpy lately that it was almost a relief for her not to be here today.”
