by Olivia Swift
“You can keep these, if you would like them,” he answered. “Most of the stuff I bought were the pulled down stone blocks from what were probably farm buildings. Some of this was just mixed up with it.”
“It could have been just found and used along with other stones,” Simon joined in. “If the slide sent the cave houses into the valley, the stones would be all mixed up.”
“They wouldn’t be valuable?” Kat queried. “Nobody would sneak into the place and steal them?”
“Wouldn’t have thought so,” Simon said. “And why would anybody move them?”
“That creamy rock with the green in it is definitely from beside the waterfalls. There are some still visible, but there was never a huge amount. I would think that ancient civilizations would have thought it was pretty special,” Meghan said.
“Well it is good to find out. Thanks,” Ben told them. “I am landscaping a garden to give people some ideas to look at. Goodness knows what else I’ll find as I go along.”
“See you next week, Kat,” Simon said as they started toward the truck.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” she said as she climbed into the passenger side. Ben raised a hand and drove away. There was a short silence and then she smiled.
“Okay, so I can do psychic. Simon is staggeringly good-looking. I don’t fancy him at all.” She paused and laughed. “And he is gay.” The last part was such a shock that the truck swerved and righted itself.
“Yes, I know you never sensed that, but his work is just so important that his private life is just—private, I guess. He is a genuinely nice man.” Ben agreed with that. He hadn’t wanted to like the man but had done so despite himself.
“So, we may have some ancient history mixed in with the pile of farm-building stones,” Kat summarized. “It still doesn’t solve why they moved, but at least we know it is a piece of history.”
“And I should rethink what I am doing with it. The different stones can be separated, and I can maybe think of something to do with the ancient ones and use the ordinary rock in the landscape part.”
“There are three lots really,” Kat added. “Natural rock, building stones, and some ancient pieces from one particular area.”
“We need to go on that picnic, and see if we can find the spot it comes from,” Ben said. “When can you have a day off?”
“Tomorrow,” she said decisively. “I can’t wait to go and explore.”
Carly was waiting to hear what they found out and said she would pass the information on. Ben said he would call later, and Kat went back to catch up the work she was supposed to be doing for her dad.
Ben drove up to his piece of land and went to look at the pile of stones. Just out of curiosity, he pulled out some of the creamy pieces and stacked them under the trailer, and then he went home for something to eat.
16
Corby walked through the house and was pleased with the effect.
“Thanks everybody, so much. We are just about there, and the grass looks really great, Evan.” Miller and Jules collected all the cleaning stuff together and left it in the kitchen where Jazz was still washing cupboards.
“If you go and collect Molly Kim,” Jazz said to Evan, “I will finish off here and come back with Carlo and Corby.”
“Okay,” Evan answered. “I’ll get some food for all of you.”
“Sounds good to me,” Carlo told him. “I just want to finish the painting in the main bedroom.” He went back up the stairs. Miller and Jules called goodbye and drove away in the car, while Corby went to help Jazz finish off the kitchen.
“I’ll kneel down and get into these bottom cupboards,” she remarked. “That will be just about it.” With her head down as she wiped the shelf, Corby did not hear the steps of somebody entering from the front door, but Jazz looked up and asked what the person wanted. The pendant at Corby’s neck gave a sudden flare of heated warning. Corby stood up, turned, and gasped as she saw her ex-husband, with a smile on his face standing in the doorway. She walked into the other room to block Jazz, but Jasmine Summers was determined, even if she was eight months pregnant, and she stepped up beside her friend.
“Who are you?” she asked. He sneered.
“The little worm hasn’t mentioned that she has a husband I suppose.”
Realization dawned on Jazz even as Corby replied. “Ex-husband, with an emphasis on the ex.”
“I hear you have come into riches, little wifey. Something that I am sure you would want to share with your husband. I hear through the grapevine, maybe there was buried gold.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Buried gold. Do you think this is still the Wild West? Corby inherited an old house, and we are cleaning it up,” Jazz retorted.
“To sell and share the cash with her husband,” he added, and then remarked that this friend had far too much to say for herself. “What about you, little mouse person? Have you still got a few feelings for the husband you threw out? It'll be nice to think you helped me get back on my feet.” Corby felt the pendant warm under her hand and drew herself up.
“I am not married to you. I am not afraid of you either. Now get out of here before I call the police.”
The man actually laughed. “They probably couldn’t find the place. They sent me to an open jail. What great idiots. Did they not think I would just walk away?”
“They can just walk you all the way back in again,” Corby replied. “Now get out.”
“Why should I? The little red-hot mama down the lane is always ready to take me to her bed. I don’t have to go anywhere.”
Jazz started to take out her phone, and Deills Malvez brought out from his pocket a small but particularly nasty little gun. Jazz gasped and stopped her hand in midair.
“Throw the phone away,” he ordered and pointed the gun directly at her.
Carlo heard the voices and came quietly down the stairs to hear what was happening. It was obvious something was wrong. His phone was out ready to call Detective James, but he stayed his hand until he knew what was happening. Corby took control of the situation by stepping in front of Jasmine. She stood tall and looked him directly in the eye.
“You are a vile and wicked man, Deills Malvez. You destroyed one baby, and I will not let you do the same thing again. Shoot me if you like. It’s me you hate so much.” She heard the intake of breath from Jazz but had no way of knowing where Carlo was. “I have a new life and a man I love very much. You can’t hurt me anymore.”
Carlo took in the information about the baby and stepped out of the stairwell.
“Not much of a man to shoot women,” he said in a much calmer voice than his insides were feeling.
“This is the man, I suppose,” Malvez sneered and looked Carlo up and down derisively. Carlo stepped up beside Corby and tried to put the women behind him, but Corby had the bit between her teeth. Jazz was motionless.
“Go on, Deills Malvez, shoot us, all of us. You are a big man behind a gun or with a weapon to hit women.” She held on to the pendant fiercely and felt Carlo move up beside her. Both of them were shielding Jazz from the gun.
“By the time you shoot one of us, the others will take you down.” Carlo paused. “And believe me, I will kill you if you harm this woman that I love.”
“Maybe you would like to pay me off?” Malvez suggested. He seemed unaffected by their threats and defiance, and the gun waved around from one to the other. Corby remembered that he knew very well how to use a firearm. She was about to dive for his legs and hope that Carlo would grab the gun when a blow from behind pushed Malvez forward and he stumbled down. The gun fell to the floor, and Corby grabbed it and stood up, pointing it at her ex-husband. But she had no need to do anything, because Caroline Macvay had the most vicious-looking, sharp-edged spade that Corby had ever seen and the first blow had been across the back of his neck. The second one took another slice, and Carlo stopped her from delivering any more stokes.
“You’ll kill him,” he told her, “and he’s not worth going to jail for.”
“This piece of dirt is not going anywhere,” Caroline said determinedly and wielded the spade just in case. “He said he had a score to settle with his ex-wife, but I knew he was up to no good. That beast was just using me for a convenient place to stay. Told me I was just an old bag and I made him feel sick. Good job I was curious and followed him here. The spade was the only thing I grabbed as I came out.”
She raised the spade again, but Carlo took it out of her hand.
“Be very tempting to shoot him in the knees,” Corby suggested, moving toward the man bleeding in front of her. “You’ve done that to people in the past, haven’t you, Deills?” Jazz had recovered her phone and was calling the police. Caroline calmed down, and Malvez seemed to be unable to get up. “I suppose we need an ambulance as well,” Corby said. She was the calmest person in the room. “Although maybe he is better bleeding to death.”
Jasmine was about to call again to get an ambulance when she grabbed her abdomen and fell down with a loud cry.
“Oh my God,” Corby said. “The baby. Carlo you stay here. I’ll drive to the hospital. She needs to go now. Come on Jazz. Make it to the car.”
“This piece of dirt is not going anywhere,” Caroline said determinedly and wielded the spade just in case. Corby got Jazz into the car and drove as fast as she dared to the hospital emergency entrance.
“Help me,” she cried to the nurse on duty. “My friend might lose her baby.” The staff rushed out with a stretcher, and Corby cried with relief as the medics took over and she was left to wait. Then she called Evan and Kim. After that, she sank into a seat and tears rolled down her cheeks. An assistant took her into a little room and gave her a cup of coffee, and she sat there waiting until Carlo found her and wrapped her in his arms.
“How is she?” he asked, but she didn’t know.
“The police have him,” Carlo told her. Evan came in at a run, and they couldn’t tell him how Jazz was. He went to find a doctor, and a nurse brought him back.
“Five minutes. The doctor will be here. She is going to be all right.” The doctor came in still wearing his scrubs and told Evan that his wife was recovering and they had a healthy baby girl. “They are both doing well.”
“Oh, thank you, Lord,” Corby cried and let the tears flow uncontrolled.
“Go and sit with her,” Carlo told Evan and held on to Corby until the shakes subsided.
“You are the bravest woman that I have ever known,” he whispered into her hair. “I love you more than I can say, and I will make up for everything that monster put you through.” She turned to look at him through the tears and smiled as she touched his face with her fingertips.
“I never knew what love felt like before, but I do now. I love you too, Carlo—to the moon and back. I wouldn’t even admit it to myself in case it all disappeared.”
Kim and Rob appeared in the little room, and they told them that Jazz and the baby were both doing well. Kim tiptoed away to see if she could see her sister, and they told Rob about Deills Malvez. Kim came back to say that Jazz was awake, and they could tiptoe in to say hello for two minutes. Corby wiped her face with a tissue and popped her head around the door. She got a watery smile from Jazz, and Evan waved her in.
“You were amazing, Corby,” Jazz told her. The tiny baby was in a crib to the side. “All of us are grateful to you.” Corby went over to the baby in the crib and touched a little finger with her own.
“Welcome to this crazy world, little one.”
“The nurse will throw you out in a minute, but this little girl is not just ‘little one.’ Your great-great-great-great-grandmother gave you strength today. The baby will be Corina Sutherland. What do you think?”
“I think it is wonderful,” Corby told her and kissed Jazz on the forehead. “Get well soon so I can spoil this little Corina.” She took Carlo’s hand and they walked outside to his car.
“How did you get here?” she asked, because she had used the car.
“Caroline.” He laughed. “And she never made a pass at me at all.” Still chuckling, they drove back to the apartment and sank into each other’s arms on the sofa.
“What a day,” Corby said. “Work, then the house, then the attack, and then the baby. I need a week off to recover.”
“But you used the power, and you found the strength. You faced up to him and sent him packing.”
She held the pendant. “Great-great-great-Gran Corina, I hope you can see all of this. We solved the mystery, and you gave me the strength.” The pendant warmed against her skin, and she took his hand and put it on the turquoise. “She knows, I think.”
“And little Corina is born and has your name,” Carlo added, and the stone warmed again. “There is one other thing,” he added and slipped onto the floor on one knee. “Corby Santana, will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?” She held out her arms to hold him close, as the answer was yes. The stone warmed and tears welled in her eyes.
“Happy tears, my darling. Happy tears for happy ever after.”
THE END
Copyright © 2018 by Olivia Swift
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
1
Katarina sat at the little workbench with the daylight bulb in the lamp shining on the bracelet she was making. She loved being left in the shop when Carly Sutherland had to be elsewhere. The shop was a delight, and the jewelry that Carly made was so pretty and different, that she had a goodly number of returning customers who had taken it to their hearts.
As well as the pieces of semi-precious items, there was stock on display made by other crafters. The handmade soaps and candles filled the whole place with fragrances. There were wooden trays, plaques, and bowls with artistic designs, and paper flowers in delightful glass vases. Recently they had bought some bottles that had been upcycled with paint and swirls of rustic-looking string. Katarina loved them and wondered if she should copy some of them for herself. There were plants near the door and containers that could display them. She had already copied the smooth stones with little pieces of art on them.
Kat’s dad owned the sign-writing business next door, and she hoped she had inherited his artist’s flair. Her talent was more for making pretty things rather than actual paintings, but she could make sweet little pictures.
Carly was now trusting Kat to make the simpler pieces that sold very quickly because the price was good. The bracelets were a case in point, and she had little boxes of black-and-silver stones that went together and then were twisted around to make a sort of braided rope. Fixing the catch and loop to make the bracelet fasten was the hardest part, and she was concentrating very hard when the door tinkled.
“No customers?” Ben’s voice asked. “That is unusual.”
“Hi, Ben,” Kat said without looking up from the catch. “Just let me make sure this is secure and then we can have a coffee.” He watched her head bent over the twisted set of beads. The dark curls fell over what she was doing. She flicked them back with one hand as she looked closely at the bracelet and gave it a little tug to make sure it worked. Like Carly, she now wore oodles of the jewelry and had at least six bracelets on her arm. She looked up and smiled. That always did something strange to his insides, and he knew that she had no idea of the effect she had.
Ben Carruthers was tall, blond, well muscled, and had shoulders that many a weight lifter would have given an eyetooth for. He was the gentlest man imaginable despite his size and strength. He and Carly, who owned the jewelry shop, had worked together at Jazz Summer’s garden restoration business. Now that Jazz was married to Evan Sutherland, and had two small children, he had taken up the slack and completed the jobs that Jazz couldn’t manage. It seemed very unlikely that he would ever feel at home in a pretty little jewelry shop, but he had stepped
in to help Carly out from time to time where he enchanted the older lady customers.
If the truth were to be told, he quite enjoyed it. It was a complete change to his day job, and he got to see Katarina even though he knew she never took any notice. He often found it useful to talk about the garden work with Carly from time to time. Katarina always knew that he came to chat about garden work with Carly. Carly had clued in a long ago that the garden queries were just an excuse to see Kat, but she liked to keep up to date with her old work colleagues. The door tinkled and two ladies came in.
“Oh, Ben’s here,” the first one said. “Hello, my favorite shop assistant.”
“Gertie, stop flirting. The man is younger than your grandchildren,” her friend scolded. “Hello Katarina,” she added as Kat came to see if she could help. “I need a gift for someone with a new house.”
“These are new here,” Katarina told her and pointed out some wooden items that had been made to look distressed and well-worn but had the lovely shades of turquoise and pale pink that were so popular. The woman picked them up to look at them, while Ben brought down a plant container that the other woman could not reach. He went through the door and started to make the promised coffee as Kat made the sales and exchanged pleasantries with the two customers.
“Those older women sure go for your charms,” she joked with him as she came into the room. He grinned and told her it was the younger ones he had trouble with. “How’s the new garden doing?” she asked, to change the subject, and he told her that he was having an immense load of stones delivered later in the day.
“They came from the old stone buildings and walls that were demolished over by the waterfalls,” he explained.
“They should look wonderful,” Kat answered. “They are quite old. Are you going to make a whole new landscape? Will there be enough to do that?”
