Burning (Brotherhood of the Blade Trilogy #1) (29 page)

“Oh! I don’t care about that.”

“
I worry that you would. It’s not so much indecision on my part as it is caution.”

She nodded. “I’m an old soul for a lot of reasons. Don’t let my young human shell fool you. If I was a cat, I would have already used up about seven of my nine lives.”

That gave him a chill down his spine. “Do you want to talk about that?”

“
I doubt it,” she said, so softly that he almost didn’t hear her.

He was still watching her when she got to the end of the block and turned back to see if he was still there.

He waved and she waved back. He was scared. He felt almost sick that she was about to leave his sight.

She said something, but he couldn’t tell what. Sam cupped a hand to his ear.

She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted down the block, “I like you!”

“
I like you, too!” he shouted back, contrary to his usual quiet demeanor. A neighbor opened a screenless window and stuck out her pink curler-studded head.

“
Jesus-Mary-n-Joseph, get a room, would ya? Better yet, get married. We’re tired of smelling your stinkin’ bad cooking all the way over here!”

“
Hi, Maeve Foster!” he called cheerfully. “Sorry about the garlic soup last week. Something went wrong with the recipe. Too much garlic.”

“
I’ll say,” she grumbled. “Next time you make up a vat of garlic soup, let me know it, so I can be sure to go on vacation!”

He laughed. “Guess what? I met someone!”

“I saw her. She’s too young. Saints preserve us. I’ll alert the media with a headline: Attorney Sam Gold Dates Teenager.”

“
I’m sure she’s at least thirty,” he said. “And I’m mostly a bookseller.”

“
Good to know.” She paused. “I made cabbage rolls. You like those. Come on over and hang out with Cindy and me.”

He pantomimed rubbing his belly. “I do like your cabbage rolls, but I had a huge lunch. Thanks, though. I’ll take a rain check.”

“All right! Don’t be a stranger!” She smiled at him and waved, before she slammed the window closed again. He waved back at the neighborhood window shouter. She was a little bit of a curmudgeon, but she did make a lovely corned beef and cabbage every St. Patrick’s Day and always brought him some of it. He adored Cindy, her little granddaughter who played in the garden next to his and peeped through the wrought iron fence to tell him what books she liked best.

Momentarily distracted by his neighbor, when Sam looked after Jessie again, she was already gone from his sight. He felt bereft at the way she had left: without a kiss.

You should have offered her the couch
, said the angel on his shoulder.

A spear of cold fear and regret stabbed through him. “Why?” he asked out loud, but the angel didn’t reply.

Sam went into his house and put his hand on Jessie’s mended book. He put
The
Princess and the Goblin
in the roll-top desk and told the Twins, “Not only does she like me, but she really is coming back. Guaranteed. She loves this book. And she likes me. A lot. I noticed you guys like her, too.”

The cats wound their sinuous bodies around his legs and meowed plaintively.

“Let’s eat!”

Sam tried not to trip over them, or over the sliding piles of books, on his way to the kitchen cabinet for their canned food, several hours later than usual. They tried to trip him as he popped open the cans and doled out their cat food. Cats were vindictive like that. They knew what time they were supposed to eat, and this wasn’t it.

The angel said in his ear,
She’ll be back in a few hours.

Sam was stunned. “What do you mean she’ll be back in a few hours?” he blurted aloud.

Just what I said. She’ll be back tonight!
The angel added,
You’d better clean your room, do laundry, and take out the garbage. And clean the cat boxes, for goodness’ sake.

Because his angel never lied, he did all of those chores and finally fell into bed after midnight, exhausted and puzzled.

Finding Jessie
is available at:
Amazon Kindle

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About the Author:

Eve Paludan lives in Los Angeles, California. Her first book,
The Romance Writer's Pink Pages: The Insider's Guide to Getting Your Romance Novel Published
, was published by Prima. The book went on to become a popular series (three editions) and two of the editions became #1 bestsellers for Writer's Digest Book Club. After stints in the software and technology industries as an editor/writer for productivity and children's software, a web designer of commercial sites, an editor of scholarly work at a state university, and a newspaper employee, she returned to her true passion: novelist. She now writes fiction and edits for bestselling authors. Please visit her at
evepaludanbooks.com
.

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