Interrupted Magic by Karla Brandenburg

Author:Karla Brandenburg [Brandenburg, Karla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Karla Brandenburg
Published: 2021-03-22T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Cassandra put a hand beside her mouth and whispered to me. “I’ll catch Lisa up. It isn’t gossip when it’s friends who care about you. In the meantime—” she cocked her head, “—I think you need to make yourself scarce.”

I glanced at Lisa. “I’ll call you later and fill in the blanks.”

She huffed, glancing from me to Cassandra, then shook Ian’s hand. “Lisa Frazier. Brynn’s best friend. I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are.”

“Ian Oliveiro.” He shot me a nervous glance.

I grabbed Ash’s cat carrier and my purse. “We’d better go.”

Ash leapt into her transport and we left the boutique.

“Okay, which way?” I asked him. “Your turn to find my house.”

He closed his eyes and inhaled before glancing at the treetops. “I always loved this town. Straight out of a history book.”

“That it is.”

“To be fair, you stopped to ask for directions,” he reminded me.

“True. In Hillendale, we get around via interconnecting footpaths. I’ll get you started.”

As we walked along Broadway, shopkeepers stood on the sidewalks, hands on hips.

Ian leaned in to whisper. “Why do I feel like I’m on display?”

“Small town life. You are.”

“I’m not used to calling attention to myself.” His tone indicated he wasn’t happy.

I steeled myself for an uncomfortable conversation. “Time for that long story. I’ve already told you how I ended up in Hillendale, right?”

“I’m sensing you left out a critical detail.”

I had. Kyle. If Ian and I were the real deal, I had to trust him. “I told you I was engaged.”

“And that the wedding was called off.”

I nodded. “I was engaged to Kyle.”

“The man who nearly got run over.”

Again, I nodded. We walked on in silence and at the trail that led from the footpath to the weeping beech tree, he stopped.

He pointed to the tree. “We were here in our dreamwalk. The enchanted tree.”

“Yes.”

He wandered off the path and I followed.

“You can feel the energy.” He faced me. “I’m guessing the fact you kissed me in front of that woman in the shop has something to do with Kyle.”

I swallowed my fears. “I may have mentioned this is a small town. Everybody knows everybody else’s business. I do my best to keep my personal life private, but sometimes gossip is the quickest way to spread the news.” I hesitated, and then dove in. “The town knew about the broken engagement. They didn’t know we’d gone the extra step and ended things permanently. They do now.” I went on to explain how business had suffered the last time Kyle and I had broken up.

He frowned. “I’m not sure I appreciate being a visual aid. Why would you make matters worse?”

“Right now, they can’t get any worse. Cassandra and I are planning to sell.”

He returned to the footpath, stopped at the next fork in the road. He took one step the wrong direction, then righted himself as he glanced at the chimney decorations. “Too easy,” he said, pointing out the triquetra.

“It does call attention to itself. Although not like a castle.”

He held his palm up.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.