Kiss Me Forever/Love Me Forever. Rosemary Laurey
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Название: Kiss Me Forever/Love Me Forever
Автор: Rosemary Laurey
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Эротическая литература
isbn: 9781420114546
isbn:
That was one place she would not serve tea in.
Among the musty damp and cobwebs in the shed, she found old tools, a wheelbarrow, and a near-antique lawn mower. Grabbing a wooden basket that fit comfortably over her arm, Dixie marched back to the flower garden and worked clearing the rose beds until the light started to fail. Tired and aching about the shoulders, she made it to the Barley Mow an hour before closing.
“Thought you weren’t coming tonight,” Vernon said as she came in. “Alf’s got a nice veg curry.”
Dixie agreed on the curry and sat by the window, disappointed Christopher wasn’t there. Never mind. An evening alone would give her time to think.
Fat chance! Sleazy James sat himself in the chair opposite. “Well, hello. What have you been doing with yourself?”
Doing a bit of gardening and just happened to discover these eighteen-inch-high stone phalluses. Do you know what they’re used for? wasn’t a good opener. “Clearing the garden while the cleaners took care of the house,” worked better.
“Don’t ruin your hands,” he said, running his fingers over hers.
Dixie pulled back her hand and clasped her glass with such determination that the table wobbled. She’d have walked out there and then but Vernon appeared with her curry.
“You’ve got a healthy appetite,” James murmured, with a smirk that irritated more than the innuendo.
“I came in to get dinner,” Dixie replied, fork poised.
“Nothing like a bit of company while you’re eating.” Dixie stopped mid-chew, hoping the knee contact was accidental. “How about dessert somewhere later?” James asked.
This time Dixie almost bit the fork. Accidental, her foot! The jerk was groping her knee. That did it! With both hands under the table, Dixie tipped the table away from her; curry, rice and the better part of her Guinness landed in James’s lap.
“Oh! I’m so sorry,” Dixie lied as James squawked for a cloth. “The table just wobbled.”
“Here you are, Mr. Chadwick,” said Alf, handing him a towel. “Let me get you another, Miss LePage,” he went on, as Vernon picked up the unbroken glass.
“No thanks, I had most of it. Sorry about the mess.”
“No problem. Not your fault. These tables! I should have seen it coming.” He looked her straight in the eyes. “It’s not the first time something like this has happened.”
Dixie decided she really liked Alf. “Since I’ve managed to half-trash your pub, I’d better go home.” She paused. “And maybe you should call me Dixie.”
Alf smiled and held out his hand. “I’ll be glad to, Dixie.”
Eight members and two novices sat around the black oak table watching the burning ash twigs in the copper brazier. One of the black candles dripped wax on the polished tabletop. Ida leaned forward to wipe the splatter.
Sebastian frowned. Couldn’t the old woman wait? If she’d touched the brazier…The coven needed all the strength it could muster. Below numbers for years, the two novices were their most recent hope. Some hope! Maybe Sally held more promise than James. She could hardly have less.
Emily droned the incantation and stopped as the twigs crumbled to ash. In the silence she placed the gold ring on the ashes. After the prescribed pause, Sebastian stood and blew a long, deep note on a narrow pipe.
As the echoes faded, Ida asked, “What progress, James? What did you find?”
“Not a thing. I swear there’s nothing there. I’ve been through that house three times and the old book room volume by volume. What we’re looking for isn’t there.”
“Really?” She didn’t sound impressed. “Sally, what about you?”
She had none of James’s bored confidence. She fairly bounced at the prospect of speaking. “I looked when I cleaned the house. I think James is right about the papers. I saw nothing. But…” She paused for effect. Sebastian despised cheap theatrics. “I did discover something. She refused to let me clean out the book room so I wondered if she was hiding something. I got as good a look as I could. No papers, but I found an interesting stack of books. A bunch of old books about magic and Wicca and spells.”
“I wonder if she’s as unschooled as we believe,” Ida said. “Who knows what knowledge she inherited. Maybe her grandmother…”
No one seemed happy at the thought.
Ida placed her wrinkled hands on the table. Eyes turned to her. “We need to find out what she knows and then we can plan. Perhaps recruit her?”
Sebastian’s mind raced in the ensuing silence. “I think not. The woman LePage is a problem and unreliable. First she seemed willing to let me handle the sale and send her the money. Then, out of the blue, she comes over to spend a week and see her property. Now she’s moved in, started spring-cleaning and developed an interest in certain books. The next thing, she’ll start exploring the grounds….” He paused to let that fact sink in. “To make matters worse, the vampire is cultivating her friendship.”
“The vampire we can take care of. We know the date of his creation. Let that be his destruction,” Ida said.
“We can’t kill him!” Sally’s voice shuddered in the silence.
Emily, who’d been silent, placed her hands on the table. “My dear,” she said, smiling at Sally, “one can only kill the living.”
Sebastian looked across at Sally and James. Weak links, both of them. They needed forging to the coven. Dealing with Marlowe would tie them both up tight.
After dropping off the books to be valued and discovering a grocery store big enough to equal any at home, Dixie went home to bake. She planned on making brownies for Christopher as a “thank you” for lunch. It just seemed a neighborly thing to do.
Back home, unpacking groceries and stacking them in the closets along one wall, she found one door didn’t open. It appeared painted shut. One more thing to get fixed. Later. Today, she had baking to do.
The brownies cooled on the window ledge; they smelled sweet and chocolatey as Dixie washed up and put everything away. By the time she washed, changed into a clean tee shirt and put on fresh lipstick, the brownies were cool. Dixie piled them onto a plate of rose-patterned china, covered them with plastic wrap and set out for Dial Cottage.
“Hi there!” Dixie called up at the open windows. Christopher had to be in. His car was parked behind the hawthorn hedge and the upstairs windows were open, but there was no answer. She strolled round the back, rapped on the back door and tried the knob and the door swung open. She stared into the darkness of the interior and called, “Christopher, it’s Dixie.” He wasn’t there.
Uncomfortable at standing uninvited in his empty kitchen, Dixie decided to leave the brownies and go. She’d see Christopher later at the Barley Mow and explain. She scribbled a note on the memo pad from the phone, tore СКАЧАТЬ