by Morgana Best
I tried to force myself to concentrate. He droned on and on in a monotone, pushing the hard sell. “So then, are you excited about the automated email system? It’s great, isn’t it?”
You were telling me about the automated email system? I wanted to say, but instead said, “Could you explain it to me again, in a potted summary?”
He leant closer, his overpowering aftershave making me want to gag. I liked citronella, but not when it was tainted with what smelled like tar and permethrin. “When the potential guests make a reservation,” he said excitedly, “the system sends them an email to confirm their booking. It sends them another email a week before their arrival to get them hyped about the Bed and Breakfast—you know, it sends them some local attractions, things they can do here. Then after they leave, the system sends them another email asking for a review.”
I had to admit it sounded good.
Alex smiled at me, a fake smile used by those given to the hard sell. I had met enough of these types in my temp jobs in Sydney. “It’s an all-in-one reservation system that automates everything for you, all the communications, freeing up your time. Everyone in the business needs hotel reservation software.”
“How much does it cost?”
Alex reached for my hand, but I snatched it away. “The initial cost is not what you should consider,” he said in an oily fashion, winking at me. “Rather, it’s how much time and money it will save you. Once the template is set up, all communications are automated. You don’t have to stress about when to email the guests. Great, isn’t it?”
“Only if we can afford it,” I said pointedly, risking a quick glance at Lucas. A sharp pang of jealousy hit me—his and Lila’s heads were close together. Lucas appeared to be whispering to her. I know I had been told that vampires were immune to the magnetism of a vampire like Lucas, but I wondered if that were true. I certainly seemed to have fallen under his spell.
Right at that moment, a waiter appeared with an ice bucket and a bottle of cheap bubbly. Clearly, Alex didn’t have an expense account.
After the waiter left, Alex made a toast. “To us.”
“I haven’t decided to go with your firm yet,” I pointed out politely.
Alex winked and tried to look down the top of my dress. “I wasn’t talking about the software.”
I narrowed my eyes and left my glass where it was. Did this slimeball think I was interested in him?
As he leant closer, his aftershave emanated from him in waves. At least no midges, those particularly nasty biting insects that frequented coastal waters, would trouble me over dinner.
“Do you see anything you like?” He winked again, and I was beginning to wonder if he had a sore eye.
“I haven’t had a chance to look at the menu yet,” I said. “We only just got here.”
Alex laughed as if I had said something uproariously funny. “I wasn’t talking about the menu,” he said, his voice dripping with what I assumed he thought was a seductive tone. His hand clamped down over mine, and I snatched it away.
“This is a business dinner,” I said. “If you think otherwise, then dinner will have to come to an end.”
Alex looked shocked. “But I thought…”
“You thought what?” I said icily.
“Are you saying you’re not coming back to my motel room after dinner?” He seemed incredulous.
I was gobsmacked, struck speechless. The nerve of the man! I sat there with my jaw dropped open.
I intended to leave at that very moment, but he jumped to his feet first. He walked around to me.
I recoiled as he bent down and whispered in my ear, “You little tease! Just as well I didn’t spend my money on an expensive dinner, all for nothing!” With that, he stormed off, leaving me staring after him.
Before he was halfway to the exit, Lila Sanders overtook him and pushed him out of her way. She was clearly furious.
I automatically turned around to look at their table, but it was vacant.
I became acutely aware of a presence standing next to my table. Lucas.
“It appears we have lost our dinner dates,” he said. “May I join you?”
“Yes,” I squeaked. I was still shaken by Alex’s behaviour. I waved my hand to the newly vacated seat. “Please do.”
Lucas took his seat opposite me. “Are you all right?”
“Let’s just say I won’t be ordering software from Alex’s company.”
“I see.” Lucas spun the menu around. “So this was a business dinner?”
“Apparently, only one of us thought so. That was the problem.”
“What a coincidence.” Lucas laughed.
“Oh, you too? I thought she was your girlfriend,” I said without thinking.
“Jealous?”
I narrowed my eyes at him, not knowing how to respond. Truth be told, I was awfully relieved that he wasn’t there with Lila on a date.
A waiter appeared to take our orders. “I’m sorry. I’ll have to leave,” I said to the waiter.
“Since we’re here now, why don’t we have dinner?” Lucas said.
“Together?” I said in surprise. Lucas didn’t respond, so I nodded. “Sure.”
I had already decided what to have, and apparently Lucas had too, because we gave our orders swiftly.
“Well, this isn’t how I thought the night would end,” Lucas said after the waiter had left. I raised my eyebrows, so he pushed on. “Lila wanted to interview me, and insisted she could only do it over dinner. The way she’s been throwing herself at me, I was quite concerned, but it was either that or a tour of the winery. I thought this would be the lesser of two evils. At least this is a public place.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You always think women are throwing themselves at you.” I regretted the words as soon as I said them, but Lucas did not appear to take offence.
He shrugged. “It’s just pheromones. I’m not concerned about it, by any means. It was explained to me once that I have certain pheromones that simply attract women to me in a chemical fashion. It’s nothing to do with my looks. And as I’m sure you are aware, it’s nothing to do with my charm.”
I had to laugh at that. He certainly hadn’t tried to turn his charm on me at any point—quite the opposite, in fact. When I had first met him, he was nothing if not downright rude. “Well yes, I did think you were quite arrogant, the way you thought all women were throwing themselves at you. Oh, and I have seen women throw themselves at you,” I added hastily.
“Yes, but you didn’t,” he said speculatively.
I was at once afraid. Was this all a trap? Was he trying to find out if I was a vampire or a Shifter? According to the aunts, only vampires and Shifters were immune to the type of vampire that Lucas was.
And the aunts had been deathly afraid Lucas would find out they were vampires. Had they committed some past crime? Some cold case? And was Lucas on their trail?
I made a weak attempt to deflect. “All the women in the room are looking at you right now,” I said, “and they have been all night.”
“And all the men in the room have been looking at you all night,” Lucas said. His manner was flirting, but I wondered if there was more to it. There had to be, given he was a Cleaner.
“So it was just a business dinner with Lila?” I asked him.
He quirked one eyebrow.
I pursed my lips, but before I could think of something witty to say, he spoke again. “And yours was purely a business dinner, too?”
“Jealous?” I said.
He laughed, and then looked at the bottle of bubbly. He pulled a face. “I think we need some of my wine. What do you think?”
“That would be lovely.” I could do with some Witches’ Brew right now. My stomach churned and every nerve in my body was on full alert. Here I was, having dinner with the object of my desire, a man who nonetheless was a dangerous killer, according to my aunts and Linda.
Lucas looked thoughtful. “When I made it clear to Lila that it was strictly a business
dinner that was going nowhere, she took offence and left in a huff.”
“That was about the same time as my dinner date realised it was purely business and it was going nowhere,” I said. Why had Lucas invited me to dinner? Was he attracted to me? Or was he using me to find out information about my aunts? The aunts had stressed that he must not know they were vampires.
And, if Lucas didn’t know I was a vampire, and the aunts had assured me of that, then he didn’t want a relationship with me. Still, his presence was entirely too intoxicating to concern myself with such unpleasant matters.
A loud sound emanated from Lucas’s pocket. He ripped out the phone, read the text, and tapped a response. He put the phone back in his pocket and leant forward. “I must apologise for that, Pepper. I consider it rude to take a phone to dinner, but that was my emergency phone. I’m afraid I’ll have to cut our dinner short. I have to attend to this emergency.”
“At the winery?” I said, my dismay at our night ending overriding my commonsense. Of course, this was a Cleaner emergency.
Lucas did not respond. “Would you like me to take you back to Mugwort Manor?” he asked. “Or will you stay and eat?”
I was grateful for his concern, especially given the fact he was in a terrible hurry. “I’ll stay,” I said. “And I have Aunt Agnes’s car. I thought I might need to make a quick getaway.”
“I’m sorry about tonight, Pepper. I’ll make it up to you.”
“That’s fine,” I said, trying not to let my disappointment show. “You can’t help an emergency.” It was only after he walked away that I realised he had nothing to be sorry for. I watched him hand the waiter a wad of cash and nod in my direction, before hurrying out the door.
Chapter 20
When the aunts called me and told me to go to breakfast the following morning, I suspected they knew I’d had dinner with Lucas—almost. Thankfully, they either didn’t know, or they knew and didn’t mention it to me.
Aunt Agnes greeted me at the door. “Linda has a migraine this morning.”
“She’s been very stressed what with Paul being murdered, and being a suspect and everything,” Aunt Maude added.
“Migraines are from eating too much chocolate, not from stress,” Aunt Agnes snapped.
“No, they’re not. They’re from stress,” Maude said. “I know it’s true because it was on the internet.”
I resisted rolling my eyes. “Aunt Agnes, why did you ask me for breakfast this morning?”
Aunt Agnes looked surprised. “We always enjoy having your company, dear,” she said.
I suspected there was more to it, but I knew there would be no point asking. She wouldn’t tell me the truth.
“What are you doing today, Valkyrie?” Aunt Dorothy asked me.
“I’m going to buy some cushions for the vacant cottage I’m working on,” I told her. “Budget cushions, of course.”
Aunt Agnes nodded. “Valkyrie, we’re all so happy that you agreed to join us in the business. Why, in a short space of time, you’ve overhauled the website and installed a new booking system.”
“And all that with two murders as well,” Maude added.
I waved their praise away. “I’m enjoying it. And I have to find another booking system, I’m afraid. I hope you don’t mind me changing the themes in the cottages.”
The sisters exchanged glances. Aunt Agnes was the first to speak. “No, we understand that we can’t decorate the cottages in our own taste. We have to make them horribly bland, just like the consumer wants. Isn’t that right, Dorothy?”
Dorothy nodded. “Yes, the customer wants plain, so we’ll give them plain.”
I hardly thought the Hamptons beach theme I was installing in the cottages was bland, but at least they weren’t fighting me on it. “If you don’t mind, I want to paint the bedroom in that cottage.”
“So the consumer doesn’t want one wall red, one wall mustard, and one wall navy blue with Game of Thrones scenes?” Aunt Agnes asked in disbelief.
“No, everything has to be painted white from now on,” I said firmly. “Every wall in every cottage has to be painted white.”
“But…” Aunt Maude began, but Agnes waved her hand to silence her.
“Valkyrie knows best. What was good taste in our day is no longer good taste. Fashions change, Maude. You should know that.”
I doubted that their taste was ever in fashion, but I kept silent on the matter. “If I find suitable cushions and have time to spare, I’m going to see where green potatoes are available for sale,” I said.
“What a good idea, Valkyrie.” Agnes dropped her knitting and rubbed her hands in delight.
“Let us know if you find something, won’t you,” Aunt Dorothy said.
“Of course I will. Still, the police have probably already looked into that.”
“The detectives have been quite slack on this case,” Aunt Agnes said, “but they’re probably worried about that serial killer down south.”
“Oh yes, I saw that on the news late last night.” Only a few hours from here, missing persons had been discovered, washed up on beaches. At first, the police thought they were victims of shark attacks, but now they suspected a serial killer, according to the news.
“That makes sense,” Maude said, looking up from her knitting. “Paul’s murder seems to be a one off grudge murder. His murderer isn’t likely to strike again, whereas the other murders are ongoing.”
“How do you know Paul’s murder is a one off murder?” Aunt Agnes said. After a moment, she added, “Although I suppose you do make sense for once, Maude.”
Aunt Maude appeared to be struggling to decide whether that was an insult or a compliment, but continued knitting anyway.
“Well, I had better get going,” I said. “I’m not looking forward to painting that room, because it’s going to need a few coats. I’ll buy the cushions first, because that will give me some incentive to finish it. Aunt Agnes, may I borrow your car, please?”
“Of course, dear. You know where the keys are.”
The cat did not seem keen to go into the cat carrier basket, so I opened the door and threw in some little cat treats. She went in like a flash after that, and I shut the door. She meowed her protest so loudly that I could have sworn it was a Siamese cat speaking.
I had no idea which vet to go to. There were five separate veterinary clinics in town, so I drove to the closest.
The receptionist at the desk gave me a friendly smile. “My aunts have been looking after this cat for ages,” I said. “They said they took her to a vet some time ago and there was no microchip. Could you please double check? If she’s not chipped, I’d like to get her vaccinated and wormed.”
“Sure. Just take her into that room and I’ll be with you in a moment.”
The cat was still meowing loudly, so I deposited the carrier basket on the table and spoke to her.
Soon the lady came into the room with a scanner in her hand. “So she’s been scanned before?”
I nodded. “Yes. My aunts said she was in quite bad condition when she turned up at their home. They thought she was a stray.”
She threw some cat treats on the table, and then opened the door. The black cat stepped out and then ate the treats. She seemed quite happy. The nurse spoke nicely to her and ran the scanner over the back of her neck. “It doesn’t seem as if she has a microchip,” she said. “I’ll just try down her shoulders. Sometimes they slip.” She did that too, and then turned to me. “No, definitely no microchip. How long did you say your aunts had her?”
“A year or so, I’d say. Or perhaps less, they didn’t really remember.”
“Normally, I’d say that the cat should be impounded and your aunts could claim her if no one else does, but since they’ve had her for so long, I suggest you just take her home and keep her.” She winked at me. “It looks like you’ve got yourself a cat,” she added.
“Can I have her vaccinated and wormed?”
She nodded. “The vet will be with you
in a moment. What’s her name? For our records.”
“Um, she doesn’t have one yet.”
She laughed. “I’ll just put your name down, and then call us when you think of a name.”
I said that I would, and then the vet came in. She was nice, and soon had the cat weighed, vaccinated, and wormed with very little fuss.
This time, the cat went back into the basket, although she made the most dreadful sound on the way home. I drove straight up to my cottage and carried her inside, and then let her out. “Welcome to your new home,” I said to her. “Okay now, what’s your name?” I laughed, thinking I would probably end up as eccentric as my aunts.
The cat sat and glared at me. “What about Gathinthias?” I asked her. She frowned in response. “Or Hecate?” With that, the cat meowed.
“So you prefer Hecate? I do have a degree in Classical Literature, so I have to give you an ancient Greek or Roman name. Gathinthias was a woman who tried to stop Hera’s plan—Hera was Zeus’s wife, by the way—to prevent the birth of Hercules. Gathinthias was changed into a cat as punishment.”
The cat yawned and looked entirely bored. “Okay then, what about the name Hecate? It’s a good name for a witch’s cat. Hecate is a goddess of crossroads and witchcraft, among other things. Gathinthias was her servant.”
The cat meowed and licked her paw. “I’ll take that as a Yes,” I said. “Unless you have objections, you will be called Hecate.”
Hecate walked in the direction of the food bowl. “One problem sorted,” I said aloud. “Now for the cushions.”
I worked on the website all afternoon, planning to hit the shops that evening after dinner. I was looking forward to some enjoyable time to myself to look around the shops. When I had lived by myself, I had been lonely, but I had come to enjoy my alone time. Now that I was around people again, and as much as I enjoyed their company, I enjoyed the time to myself even more.
I stopped at a large furniture store and easily found a parking spot outside. It had been a hot day, so I figured people were tired after a long day at the beach. Lighthouse Bay had five beaches, but the one I preferred was the one next to Mugwort Manor.
