up to see if she was further along with digesting the announcement. She wasn’t. “Do you need help moving?” She shook her head vigorously. I set the keys on the counter. “Well, here you go. Once you’re moved in, I think you’ll be closer to work than you are now.
“Now I need something special. I have a guest coming for dinner tonight. At the new house. It’s been, um, magically programmed so that you have access without needing a key. We’d like to have beef stroganoff over wide noodles with a mixed green salad and vinaigrette, the tangy citrus kind you make.” She nodded. “Could you manage to do that by six and leave it warming? I’ll do the serving and clean up.”
“Yes. I will.”
“Okay. Super. I’ll be back for lunch. Smells good.” Seeing that receiving a gift of that magnitude had left Olivia discombobulated, I decided the kindest thing would be a quick departure so that she could process.
As I reached the shop door, she almost shouted, “Magistrate!” I stopped and turned. “Thank you.”
I smiled. “I hope you enjoy it as much as I have these past weeks.”
I hurried back to my new house, the house of my heart and dreams and soul, wanting the chance to spend a little time alone there. I opened the gate and began to memorize the pattern of the flagstone walk that led to the red front door. As I approached, I heard a soft click and stood with my mouth open when the front door opened for me just as I was within distance to take hold of the iron latch handle.
Gads. It was the best parts of Sleeping Beauty and the Starship Enterprise. My subconscious mind apparently does marvelous mashups.
After admiring my living area, I turned right to my warm and welcoming study and set my bag down. I loved every inch of it from the leather sofa underneath shelves of my favorite books and photos, to the pair of priceless Bouillotte lamps with Tôle shades on the library table, to the small fireplace at the end of the room.
I knew there were four fireplaces in the house but only two chimneys visible from outside. I also knew that those chimneys at either side of the house, which created a wonderfully symmetrical picture, didn’t line up with the fireplaces inside. But compared to other things I’d witnessed, that was minor magic I supposed.
I’d thought that I’d just peek at the first file on the stack of possible cases for Hallowstide but was immediately engrossed in the facts of the case. The sound of my phone ringing had become such an odd occurrence that I was immediately alarmed.
The caller ID said it was Olivia.
“Hello?” Before she had a chance to speak, I’d glanced at my watch and realized I was late for lunch. “Oh, geez, Liv. I’m so, so, so sorry. Be right there. Go ahead and start without me.”
I hung up without waiting for an answer, didn’t even grab my bag because… why would I need it? And jogged over to the Hallows.
For the rest of the afternoon my mind ping-ponged between reviewing cases and the impending ‘dinner’. Too much time had passed for me to remember how I’d felt on prom day or my wedding day, but I thought I was far more jumpy about the prospect of Keir’s ‘audition’, as he’d put it, than I had been on either of those benchmark occasions.
When I heard Olivia come in to start dinner, I decided to take a bubble-bath break.
I stopped by the kitchen.
“Hi Olivia.” She glanced up from what she’d been doing, going through cabinets and drawers to make sure she had everything she needed, learning where everything was. “If you need to move stuff around, feel free. If you need something you don’t see, just let me know and we’ll get it.”
“Okay.”
“Hi Romeo.”
“Good day, madam.”
“You alright over there?”
“Yes. I like it here.”
I wasn’t expecting that, but it confirmed that my instinct had been right. Yay me.
I rested my head on a rolled-up towel as I soaked in a hot bubble bath, feeling like I’d truly arrived in heaven, and tried not to overthink what the evening would bring.
After all, what was the big deal? People ‘hook up’ all the time and think nothing of it.
But you’re not one of those people, the little voice in my head chided and chanted.
When the water grew cold, I pulled on loose-fitting linen drawstring pants and topped them with the blue tunic that