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“I didn’t realize . . . he’s Annabel’s grandson. I hadn’t spoken to her in years, but your uncle made the connection . . .”
She’d stopped listening. The same person Birdie had asked about the Cheld was the grandmother of the guy who’d broken into the shop.
Yeah. That was so not a coincidence.
“Birdie,” she interrupted. “You said your friend—”
“Acquaintance. She’s as loony as a bat.”
Batshit crazy.
Her aunt often toned down her use of modern idioms.
“OK, acquaintance. You said she didn’t know anything—”
“Other than that story I told you, about the murderous medieval Englishman and his association with that word. Cheld. That’s what she said. But I still think it’s strange.”
“I agree, it’s odd. Lawrence and I will look into it.”
Her aunt didn’t say anything to that, and she didn’t press her. Birdie obviously thought dating a vampire wasn’t the best idea.
“Ahh, Uncle Jim is ready to go. Call if you need me.”
“Will do,” she said, hanging up.
Her mind reeled with possibilities. Tossing her pride to the wayside, Toni was preparing to call Lawrence when the door’s bell jingled.
If she hadn’t known him, Toni may have fainted at the look Kenton leveled at her as he walked into the shop.
There were two Kenton Morleys. One, the pristine, sport-coat-wearing Englishman who presented himself as a pillar of society, capable of mingling with the upper echelon, which, in Stone Haven, meant the mayor and the town’s largest investors.
And this Kenton. The one who looked every bit the vampire. Dark, foreboding, and most definitely dangerous.
“Is Alessandra OK?”
Kenton’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
Toni let out a breath. She hadn’t heard from Alessandra either, and she’d thought perhaps something was wrong. It wasn’t like her friend not to check in with her after a date. “I’ve been trying to reach her all morning, but she’s not—”
“Answering her phone,” he said, pulling said phone from his pocket.
“Oh. Why do you—”
“She had a meeting at the university this morning and forgot it. I’m headed up there shortly.” He smiled. “For a tour.”
“Thinking of enrolling?” she teased. Of course she knew why he was going. Alessandra was due to start her new job at the university in just a few weeks.
“No, are you?” he shot back.
She’d been thinking about nothing else, well, besides Lawrence, this past week. Knowing what she wanted and acting on it were two different things, just like they’d discussed, but she’d finally come to a decision. A surprisingly easy one.
“No.” Toni sat on the stool behind her with authority. “As a matter of fact, I am not.”
He raised his brows. “No?”
It was common knowledge Toni had been waffling back and forth on the topic for years.
“No. In fact, when I go home tonight, I’m deleting my application from my computer. Because Lord knows I won’t be starting from scratch once it’s gone. Those things are a pain in the ass.”
