by Candace Colt
"It’s been a little crazy here," she said.
"I have the perfect job for you. Why didn’t I think about this before?"
Perfect intrigued her, but she’d already arranged a second interview in Boston. "Might be a little late."
"Oh, don’t worry. That was just a phone interview. You can always turn it down. I can fix all that. A woman with your talent and keen insight make you a fit."
She’d made the emotional move to Boston and mentally gone real estate hunting. Everything was planned, almost to what she’d wear on the first day.
"This better be good," Jess said.
"It is. I promise. How about working with me? My business has grown so much that I can’t handle it without help."
"Headhunter? Me?"
"We prefer to call it talent management."
Call it whatever she wants, it’s still head hunting. Corporate matchmaking.
"I don’t have a clue about this business," Jess said.
"We’ve all started somewhere."
There would be a salary and commission. Office expenses. And she could relocate to Boston whenever she was ready, or stay in Georgia and work from home. Say the word and the job was hers.
After the call, Jess showered and dressed. She had good reasons to leave Nocturne Falls. And good reasons to stay.
Head spinning, she tackled first things first; open the shop.
After the Carpe Diem staff arrived, Jess started her errand run. The DIY Depot for supplies to repair the upstairs toilets, and window caulk. Then the bank.
It had been an enormous job keeping up the house. Working with her hands all summer gave her a break from the trapeze swinging monkey troupe in her head.
But what about her grandmother? What if she didn’t return? How could she leave Nocturne Falls without knowing where her grandmother was?
Luck would have it; she found a parking place within walking distance to the bank. The worry band around her chest constricted as she sat across from the vice president.
As the letter promised, the property and inventory was hers; lock, stock, and cauldron. Every detail covered.
But the contract had to be signed no later than thirty days from the day Echo wrote the letter. "And if I don’t sign, then what happens?"
The bank official placed his glasses on the table.
"Everything remains in her name and under her control until you take ownership. But if she’s on an extended vacation, as you’ve said, and you haven’t signed on, or before the deadline, and haven’t taken ownership for any reason, this would go into court. It’s possible that this would be considered property abandonment."
A powerful swimmer, Jess was way over her head in whitewater. Not yet noon and she’d been recruited by a recruiter to be a recruiter, misplaced her grandmother, and Carpe Diem was at risk.
On the upside, she found a two-for-one sale on toilet guts.
The Hallowed Bean was a short walk, and a double-espresso Monster Mocha iced latte called her name. This time she’d finish her darn drink without interruptions from any Fords.
Though the Bean wasn’t the best place to sort through the half-pound portfolio, it had to do.
A frantic search on her phone for ‘property abandonment’ listed sites ranging from the ridiculous—a fool’s guide to abandoning a home—to esoteric legalese mumbo-jumbo.
Why hadn’t she asked more questions at the bank? Shock and denial perhaps?
Time to fast forward through the commercials.
There was a way through this, but she wouldn’t resort to it for love or money. She could take off the ring and look for the story’s ending. No. She’d figure this out like a regular human. One step at a time.
First, get home before closing. Besides, those toilet flappers wouldn’t replace themselves.
As she bundled her papers and recapped her drink, Jess spotted Pandora Van Zant seated at a small table, toe-to-toe with Ryan.
Thought this was the day the horse shipped. Was it gone already? Wasn’t he going with it? And what’s he doing with her?
Slow down, monkeys. Pandora’s a newlywed, remember? No threat. No hanky panky. And, why was she concerned about Ryan’s companions?
Compared to the drop-dead gorgeous Pandora, Jess, without a stick of makeup, in old work jeans and worn canvas shoes, looked like a rag bag. She spread her fingers and looked at her ratty nails. She needed a visit to Hair Scare for a manicure in a desperate way.
Manicured nails on the hands that would soon be dipping into a toilet tank? That made no sense. She curled her fingers into her palms.
He can’t see her like this.
As she pressed open the door, she sensed someone behind her.
"I’ll get that." A man’s deep voice over her shoulder.
Standing on the sidewalk away from the tourist crowd, Ryan gently gripped her arm. "I tried to get your attention inside." His eyes dropped to the folder under her arm.
"I saw you. With Pandora," she countered, a bit sharp. Argh. She hadn’t meant it to come out like that.
"It was business." His quizzical look confused her as he held her arm. "You have a minute?"
The clock in the town square struck the half-hour. "Not now."
He pulled his hand away, leaving her skin tingling from his touch. “I have to talk to you."
A collision with a pint-sized space trooper careened Jess into Ryan.
What undiscovered physics principle said that for every inch closer to this man’s embrace, her desire for him exponentially skyrocketed? And this was no place for an erotic meltdown.
"Can it wait till morning? My place for breakfast?" Jess asked.
Shuffling the bank folder from one arm to the other, she wondered who channeled that invitation. Nana?
Jess wasn’t ready to tell anyone that Echo Stargazer had flown the coop. The hurt was still too fresh. Eventually, she’d find a reasonable way to explain it. Not in the middle of the street.
"Tomorrow morning it is. I’ll bring something from Delaney’s. See you around eight." With a riveting smile, he waved over his shoulder.
While he was picking up savories from the bakery, he could bring a gallon of understanding. Her news would top anything he had.
Chapter Nineteen
Jess swung hangers across her closet rod looking for something that didn’t make her look like a home-repair TV host.
Something nice; not too nice. This wasn’t a fancy-schmancy affair. But she had invited Ryan to her house and it qualified as a real date.
Even with the high probability of it all melting away, she applied mascara, eyeliner, and coral lip gloss. Who was the giddy woman staring at her in the mirror? The same woman who’d stormed off the estate? But something kept tickling her heart that Ryan told her the truth. Nana perhaps? She could hope.
In the back of her closet was Ryan’s jacket. She held the sleeve to her nose. It still held the scent of his cologne. What was that ‘something important’ he had to tell her?
Maybe she should wear the boho-girl dress that she wore the first time Ryan kissed her. A one-time-only outfit and besides, too costumey.
She grew up in Nocturne Falls, but dressing up like Halloween gave her heartburn.
Her meager selection didn’t include frilly day-wear. White capris and a sleeveless teal top would work fine.
Gypsum jacked up mercy. Why bother? The man had seen her in grubby work clothes and absolutely no clothes.
Ryan was due any minute and the whole reason for playing dress-up. She dashed to the kitchen where Crealde perched in the sink, running a paw across the window.
She should be furious with the huge fur-ball-with-legs shedding everywhere, but watching him make little cat barks and swipe across the glass at a squirrel on a limb was too funny.
"Out for you, bud." She lifted him to her shoulder and nuzzled his furry face. "Careful what you chase after; you might just get it. Then what?"
The
screen door latch wiggled in her hand. "Come on. Is there nothing left around here that works?"
Add that to the list of whatever else planned to disintegrate today. Ryan and Crealde passed one another on the stairs.
"Morning," he said through the screen. "That’s quite a big cat."
A pop followed by his stunned look at the broken door latch in his hand squeezed a laugh from Jess.
"Welcome to the crumbling house of horrors," she said.
He placed a bakery box on the kitchen table set with Nana’s everyday dishes.
"I can fix that door," he said.
She shrugged and gestured to a seat. "I’ll deal with it later." This place had to get spiffed up to sell, but her time and energy were about gone.
As she scanned the croissants, sweet buns and fruit tarts, her mouth watered. And perhaps a little bit for the man across from her.
Their fingers met on the same pastry.
"Sorry," he said.
"You first." Such a nice homey exchange. No one would guess they’d made love or, that she told him she never wanted to see him again.
As Nana would say, ‘details, details.’
But, politeness was about to take a nosedive. He just snatched the only Ravishing Raspberry tart in the box.
In a gallant gesture, Ryan cut it and placed half on her plate. "I owe you. Remember the day I took all your onions?"
She was losing ground on her resolve not to fall for a man who had just shared heaven. After taking a bite, jam dribbled down her chin.
He handed her a napkin. "Good, aren’t they?"
Discretion tossed to the wind. Jess devoured her half tart, a whole croissant, which she slathered in butter, an apricot filled bun and a second coffee. Ryan barely touched his.
She didn’t care what he thought about her ravenous appetite. The splurge was justified. She’d be on her feet in the shop and home repair mode after closing. And probably pull an all-nighter reviewing legal documents.
Besides, gooey sweets helped distract her from a missing grandmother and the man sitting across the table. Apart from that, the pastries were damn delicious. And so was he.
"So where’s Echo this morning?"
His question knotted her overfull stomach.
"Running errands," she lied.
"I bet she’s not looking forward to you leaving."
Her Nana’s disappearing act was an odd way to show it. "More coffee?"
Ryan covered his cup. "Will you take a walk with me?"
He hit that one far outfield. "If you like." Though his reason escaped her.
The drought in full sway, the county was still hot as Hades. But not in Echo’s garden.
Jess glided her hands over the bushes growing along the flagstone path. Would new owners appreciate these grounds as much as her grandmother does? Or, past tense. Had.
"The further we walk, the further we seem to be from town," he said. "We’re in the middle of a forest, and we only walked a few yards from the house."
"She planned it that way." With help from the fairies.
The path wound through a thicket until it ended where stones surrounded a fire pit.
Cobalt blue bottles hung throughout the trees and showered midmorning sun around them.
Jess’s heart tugged. This was her grandmother’s sacred circle.
Sometimes Echo spent the night in this place communing with her guides. Was this the spot where she’d been convinced to walk into the ether?
Ryan took a seat on a wooden bench, his hands clasped between his knees. "I need to explain."
She sat across from him. "I don’t want to go through this again."
"Can’t blame you. My mother can be pretty snarky."
Snarky. What a creative word. "She certainly has a strong will."
Ryan stifled a laugh. His eyes searched hers, leaving unfinished sentences.
She spun the ring around her finger vowing not to surrender.
"It was her idea to keep you and Connor apart, but I wouldn’t have any part of it. You have to believe me."
Jess found a stick and dug around in the pit. Nothing had burned in here for weeks. She did believe him. But this wasn’t the barrier.
"She’s short on diplomacy, but she had a point. You and I—"
"Let me finish what I came here to say." He moved to kneel beside her. "I’m not good at small talk. You think there’s a future for us?"
On his knees asking about their future? A sudden whirlwind tossed the leaves around them as his question spun in her mind. What could she say that wouldn’t hurt him? That was the last thing she wanted.
"Ryan. What about your mother? She’s wedged like a boulder between us. You really think that would change?"
Ryan’s face clouded. "I can handle her." The sadness in his voice undermined his promise.
No matter how hard she tried to weed them from her thoughts, Solange’s words had taken root.
"A falcon and a human. What kind of life would that be?"
"I’m not like Connor who changes as the mood strikes. And I can’t imagine a life without you."
How could she tell this man, who should carry a weapons’ license for those deadly dark eyes and long eyelashes, that the point wasn’t who shifted or why? It was the whole bizarre idea of people changing into animals that freaked her out.
He cupped his trembling hands around hers.
"What I’m trying to say, Jess, is that I’m in love with you."
Chapter Twenty
Jess gasped for air, hoping it would resuscitate her. Ryan’s rock-steady gaze and grip around her hands blew any chance to evade the question.
The man sure the hell wasn’t good with small-talk.
A branch above them cracked and fell to the ground, barely missing them as it landed in the fire pit. Shaking, Jess bolted up and tossed the broken limb into the brush.
Ryan laid his hand on her arm. "Okay?"
"Just a little rattled." Less about the dead branch; more about how what he’d told her changed everything.
She scanned overhead. "Guess I need to hire a tree man, too."
"This wasn’t exactly how I’d planned this." He picked a twig from her hair.
She put her arms around him and rested her cheek against his chest. His heart raced alongside hers, at breakneck speed.
Did he honestly think that they could be compatible? So endearing. So naïve.
She loosened her hold. The absolute truth, loving him terrified her.
"Ryan."
He closed his eyes and bowed his head. "I understand."
"It’s not what you think." Though it was. "Things aren’t going so well in my world."
Jess jammed her hands into her pockets. Time to tell someone that Nana’s skipped town. Crossed the ridge to the next village. Eloped with a leprechaun. All more plausible than the truth.
She took a long breath. "Nana’s not running errands." At least not in this world.
She could melt at the caring look in his eyes. Gentle. Kind. And full-throated sexy.
"Then where is she?" He asked.
"I don’t know."
"What do you mean you don’t know?"
She wished for a sane answer. "I came home two days ago and she was gone. Not a trace." Aside from a letter and a journal.
"Is she staying with someone?"
"No."
"Her pickup’s in the driveway. She couldn’t have gone far. Did you call the sheriff? Two days is a long time at her age."
The urgency in his questions reignited her panic. Time to explain or he’d have Sheriff Merrow here in a Nocturne Falls minute.
"You need to sit down. This might be hard to believe," she said.
"This is Nocturne Falls. Try me."
Jess tucked a handful of hair behind her ear and swallowed. "Nana is clairsentient."
"Not news."
"And she has spirit guides."
"So does half the
town."
"I think she’s crossed to another dimension with her Tai Chi teacher."
He squinted. "Well, that’s a little different."
She brushed a stray leaf from her shoulder. "Nana transferred the Carpe Diem to me."
His right eyebrow raised. "That’s serious. What’s this do to your plans?"
Foul them up. "I can’t think straight." About this or love.
"Jess, have you tried looking for her with your gift?"
Sweat bloomed over her. How could she admit that she hadn’t? He’d think she was a fool, or worse. She cast her gaze to the ground and shook her head.
She’d spent her adult life trying to be a regular human, and all summer keeping an arm’s distance from everyone in Nocturne Falls. Humans work through problems using their own wits, not magic.
Right. Sure. Who was she kidding?
She was petrified to call up images. When she was young, random visions were so real that they’d made her ill. Before discovering the ring’s blocking effect, she’d thought she would go crazy.
"I’m afraid to try. I don’t know what I’ll see," she said.
"If I stay with you, would that make it easier?"
The only way to find out was to try. "Promise you’ll be here even if something weird comes through? I haven’t done this in a long time."
He stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I’m not going anywhere."
She slipped the ring from her finger and waited. And waited. Not a single picture came through.
Hello, out there. It’s me. The clairvoyant. Hanging out to dry here. Anybody listening?
"Nothing’s happening." She covered her eyes, forgetting the ring was in her hand and sending it tumbling. Ryan found it and handed it to her.
She stuffed the ring into a pocket. Had her denial been so intense, for so many years, that she could no longer manifest visions?
What about seeing her grandmother’s empty bedroom? Was that clairvoyance? Or was it her Nana’s gift working through the magical cards?
Thoughts tumbled like confetti around her. Maybe she was Alice after all, and she’d walked through the looking glass.
How could her Nana let her think she was clairvoyant if she wasn’t? Unless it was her grandmother’s way to help a little girl cope with grief and loss. No. She’d been accepted into Harmswood Academy. She’d proven it to the admission committee. The gift was real; rusty, but real.
