Tempting The Dragon. Karen Whiddon

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       Chapter 3

      Tears filling her eyes, Jade grabbed her water glass and began chugging, too late to help Aunt Agate, who had just begun to feel the burn. What the heck had they put into that thing—peppers?

      One glass of water wasn’t even close to enough. Jade jumped up, sprinting for the table where plastic cups had been stacked near water pitchers and ice. She filled two glasses, drinking one down and refilling it, before carrying them back to the table. Handing one to her aunt, she watched while the older woman drained hers before giving her the second.

      “Oh, my,” Aunt Agate finally gasped. “Guess we know who made that, after all.”

      All around the room, people were digging into the gorgeous cobbler. “It seems we never learn,” Jade commented, her voice as dry as her still-burning throat. All around her, people gasped, reaching for their water glasses and shooting murderous looks at the oblivious pair of cooks, who continued to eat and chat happily.

      Finally, Jade figured everyone had eaten—and suffered—enough. Taking a deep breath, she tapped her fork on her water glass for attention. “As I’m sure most of you know,” she began, well aware how fast gossip traveled in this town, “a photojournalist is here asking questions about Libby.”

      Her mother and her aunt exchanged knowing looks. “The handsome stranger,” Amber put in. “And I could tell by the way he looked at you that he found you attractive, as well.”

      Both Pearl and Sapphire glowered at her. Several of the other relatives whispered behind their hands to one another, which reminded Jade her lack of a man in her life had been a topic of conversation for quite some time.

      She used to find the pointed comments hurtful. These days, she simply ignored them.

      Jade managed to shrug. “I don’t know about that, but we’re not here to discuss my love life.” Or lack of, she amended silently. “I need direction as to what to do about Libby. If he finds out about her and does a story, we can say goodbye to our privacy and hello to a wave of tourists.”

      Another standing argument in both town and her family. People were equally divided. Some wanted to capitalize on the monster in their midst, while others insisted on leaving things the way they’d been for centuries.

      “That old debate again?” Jade’s uncle Jack, Auntie Em’s husband, huffed. “Why do you want to go and ruin a perfectly good family get-together with that nonsense?”

      “Yeah,” her cousin Coral, who hated her name, seconded. “Can you just finish up whatever you have to say so we can go?”

      “This is important, everyone. A photojournalist is asking about Libby. I need to know what, if anything, to tell him.”

      This time, her grandmother spoke. When Opal addressed the family in her matriarchal voice, everyone paid attention. “In all my years of taking care of Libby, not once did word about her existence leak beyond this town.”

      The accusation seemed clear, at least to Jade. In fact, everyone in the room swung their heads around to stare right back at her, accusation in their expressions.

      As if she’d already failed.

      And it didn’t matter that she’d never asked for this job. It had been expected of her from the moment she’d been born.

      The last thing Jade had ever wanted was to be put in charge of taking care of Forestwood’s resident lake beast. Libby had resided in the cool, deep depths for as long as anyone could remember, and the Burnett family had always been her caretakers. Libby personally chose whom she wanted and when. Since Jade’s mother, Amber, was still young and vibrant, Jade had figured she’d had at least ten more years before being asked to take on the task.

      Thus when Libby gave her approval for Amber to retire from her duty and pass the chore down, Jade had been completely unprepared. Worse, Amber had said nothing other than a terse “Good luck.” Evidently, training wasn’t one of the perks of the job.

      Jade had been caretaker since she’d turned twenty, nine years now. In the beginning, she’d often resented that fact. These days, she felt more comfortable, more at ease with her role, which mostly consisted of being Libby’s friend. Maybe in the beginning, when Libby had first come to Forestwood, the role had been one of a protector, Jade wasn’t sure. Every decision, even those made by the Burnett family in a family meeting, had to be run by Libby before being implemented. In truth, Jade privately thought the family meetings were all for show. And an excuse to get together and eat.

      “I’m doing the best I can,” she muttered to herself through clenched teeth, while she tried to figure out what to say. “I think I’ve done well СКАЧАТЬ