I smirked as I opened the door and held it open for him to follow. Upon turning to close it behind me, I was about to offer coffee when I found my back pressed against my door and Keir pressed against my front, eager to pick up where we’d left off before dinner. Apparently, the embers had continued to smolder during dinner because it took mere seconds for my body to fully rally a primordial sense of mating urgency.
How surprising it was to have those feelings at my age! I supposed that the shared chemistry must be off the charts for me to be combatting wild abandon like somebody newly legal to vote. It was hard to think when my body had taken control, being busy with feverish kisses made more feverish by wandering hands and magic shawls being pulled away. I started to protest when the shawl was tossed aside like a vintage store rag, but remembered Esmerelda saying it would take care of itself. And besides, I had more pressing matters.
After what was perhaps history’s shortest, most frenzied ‘makeout’ session ever, I ducked out of the embrace and said, “Maturity checkpoint. That’s enough forward momentum for one night.”
Keir dropped his hands and turned to me with eyes that glittered in the soft lamplight. “We’re adults, Rita. We’re also friends with feelings for each other. Friends who want to be lovers. It’s time.” I opened my mouth to speak, but he put a finger to my lips. “I’m not going to insist tonight.” Pausing just long enough to make sure I was paying close attention, he continued, “But soon.”
With that he reached behind him, opened the door and was gone. On their own my fingers found their way to touching the puffy lips he’d just teased into ecstasy and left tingling. It was time to come to terms with the stark truth. Aging might mean being more careful, logical, and analytical, but those things couldn’t save me from unknowns like adventure. And Keir Culain.
Nobody ever intends to make bad choices.
I recalled the old carnival saying, “You pay your money and you take your chance.”
Keir deserved a romance with somebody who wasn’t too afraid of hurt and disappointment to take a chance. Surely there was a lesson to be taken from the jealousy that had risen to the surface so quickly when I thought he was interested in someone else. The lesson was that I wanted to pay my money and take my chance.
I thought about calling him to come back, but decided I’d surprise him the next day. With his own room. Lochlan had said I could make changes to the plan while the creatrix was here.
Glad to be in my house, alone, I was looking forward to what the journals would reveal. But first I needed to talk to Evie. I knew it would be mid-afternoon, after classes. I hoped she’d pick up. I made myself an echinacea tea with honey, took a deep breath, and called.
“Mom?”
“None other.”
“How are you?”
“Better than you think.”
“That’s good. I still can’t believe Dad’s divorcing you. At your age!”
Did she mean ‘my age’ because I’m so young or ‘my age’ because I’m at the end of days? It was impossible to tell.
“Um, well, sometimes these things are for the best.”
“Yeah. Sure. I like your positive spin.”
“No, really. As a matter of fact, I’ve made a big decision and need to share.”
“Okay.”
“Well.” I took a breath knowing the rip-the-band-aid-off approach worked best with somebody like Evie. “I’m staying. Over here. I’m the proud new owner of an antiques shop in a little village in Cumbria.” When she said nothing, I added, “I have a house.” When silence persisted, I said. “I have a car.”
I decided to wait her out. Eventually she’d get tired of the silence and respond.
“It’s not good to make big decisions when you’re in the middle of an emotional crisis. Everybody knows that.”
“I’m not in the beginning, middle, or end of an emotional crisis.”
“See. That’s the crisis talking. Of course, you are. So, you’re trying to run away to Brigadoon.”
“First, Brigadoon is fictional. Second, it’s in Scotland. And, third, I’m not. Running away that is. Honestly. Your dad and I should probably have gone separate ways twenty years ago.”
She gasped. “What? You mean my whole life has been a lie?”
I had to give it to her. My kid always had a full tank of drama.
“No, Evie. Your life has been good as gold. My adult