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“Some of us still haven’t met our mates yet but by all means, rub it in you three,” Ash says in a joking manner, but I can feel the tinge of sadness in his words.
Chase and Madison have already wandered off.
“Who wants to play poker?” I ask, looking around at Drew, Dustin, and Ash. The three of them nod their heads.
Ever since Dustin was nearly killed by some gambling sharks, we’ve made a point to play poker at least once a month.
“No sense in letting the bad guys ruin a good game,” Dustin said the first time he dealt out the cards after the near-death incident. “Besides that, gambling money is why we can affordour new home. We don’t want to be ungrateful to the poker Gods.” His statement had made enough sense that we all started playing again.
A game night is exactly what I need to keep my head clear, tomorrow I see Lorelei again. My nerves are practically tearing through my body. I need to calm down.
After the lunch rush,I head over to Lorelei’s with a checkbook in hand and a stupid grin plastered across my face. As I approach her shop, little bits of glass crunch under my feet and the weight of my body grinds them down to nothing.
My heart races,what’s all this?One ofLorelei’s windows is busted out completely. ‘Leave town you do not belong’, ‘witch’ and ‘not welcome here’ are all scrawled across the other window that is still intact, in terrible handwriting. Whoever did this is certainly not steady with a spray can.
Running toward the shop, I nearly rip the door off its hinges as I force it open.
“Lorelei?” I call out into the shop out of breath. Moments later she emerges from the back room. She is surprisingly calm and put together. “Lorelei, are you alright? I ask with a little panic in my voice.
“Yes, yes, just a little rattled is all.” I can hear her heart pounding in her chest. More than a little rattled then.
“Who did this?” I practically roar feeling every muscle tighten in my body as I think about anyone trying to harm this charming and kind woman who stands before me.
“I wish I could tell you but, it’s no big deal.Really.My mom warned me about this I... I didn’t listen.” Her voice wavers as she speaks.
“No big deal?” I say, “You could have been hurt!”
She makes her way closer to me and puts a trembling hand on my chest,is she trying to comfort me right now?When she’s the one who has had her shop vandalized?“I’m fine,” she assures me, “A little shaken up and not pleased about the added expense but other than that I will be alright.”
“Let me fix the window for you, for free, and I am going to figure out who is behind this,” I pull her into a hug, she stiffens momentarily before melting into me and rests her head against my chest with a relieved sigh.
“Not for free, we will trade for herbs and plants until I’ve paid you back.” She muffles into my shirt.
I inhale the scent of frankincense and rose. Her heart beats wildly against my abdomen and I wrap my arms around her tighter, holding her until her heart rate slows.
“Thank you for being here,” she says gently pushing me back and wiping a tear from her eye. “But I am fine, and I’m sure ‘Catch of the Day’ is busy, and you are needed!”
“No way, where’s the broom? We’ve got to clean this mess up.” I volunteer.
“The plastic wrapand plywood are only temporary, but it’ll help keep the shop from getting any unwanted visitors. That graffiti is not coming off, so I ordered two large panes to replace both sides of the front. Lucky for you my dad did this kind of construction work, so I know exactly what to do.” I say, rubbing the spot on my stomach, unconsciously, where there was recently a bullet lodged.
“Is that how you built your bar so quickly? Word around town is you had that whole place completely erected in only two months.” Lorelei says with interest.
“Yeah, well I’ve got a good group of friends who can follow instructions and are unnaturally strong,” I say with a wink.
“Hmm, I suppose that’s quite the advantage! Will you let me cook some dinner for you as a thank you for all your help today?” Lorelei tilts her head to the side as she asks, exposing a bit of the smooth skin on her neck.
“I won’t say no to a meal, ever, but especially not when I don’t have to cook it.” I smile.
“I was hoping you’d say something like that. I live upstairs so it’s not too long of a trek. Do you like Shepard’s pie?”
“Love it. Are you kidding me? Meat and potatoes? You can’t go wrong there.”
“You’d be surprised,” she says with a delighted grin. “Back when my gran was teaching me how to cook there were quite a few disasters involved. You could say things went incredibly wrong.”
“Glad I met you after you already knew how to cook then.” I tease.
“Oh shut up!” she says teasingly as she locks the front door and turns to me with her keys jiggling in hand. “You can follow me through the back here. There’s a staircase that leads to my apartment.”
