Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
“Feel better?”
“Something smells good over here.”
“That’s the onions sautéing in garlic and butter. It always smells good.”
“I’m hungry.”
“Don’t worry, I’m gonna feed you.”
“Merritt, were people yelling before?”
“Yes. Your aunt and uncle don’t want you and Cole moving in with me, but that’s what I want and what he wants, and I hope you will too.”
“Will I have my own room?
“Of course.”
“Can we get a dog?”
“Certainly. I love dogs. We can go to the shelter.”
He nodded. “It’s really beautiful here, and it smells good, like rain, and the fire makes it nice and warm and… I have bad dreams,” he blurted out.
“I’m sorry.”
“But I feel like, maybe, I won’t have bad dreams here.”
“I hope that will be the case.”
“Is it okay if I call you Mere? I didn’t ask before.”
“Of course.”
“Where’s my room?”
I pointed. “Right over there.”
“Under the arch with the hobbit door?”
“Would we call that a hobbit door?” I didn’t love that. They were double doors, and nothing was round. Nothing Bilbo Baggins about it.
“It’s awesome.”
“Okay, then. Go see the room.”
He scrambled off the barstool and ran. After I was done prepping the quiche and putting it into the oven, I flipped a dishtowel over my shoulder and went to see what he thought.
I found him sitting on the floor on a thick, soft rug made from jute and cotton and wool, staring at the fire blazing away in the small hearth.
“I love that there’s a fireplace in here,” he told me. “And I’ll make sure it’s out before I leave to go to school.”
“Well, I can do that too. I got these going before I left today, and they’ve been safe for years, so even if you forget, it’s okay.”
“I won’t forget.” He lifted his head, looking up at the cave-like ceiling. “Was this room dug out of the side of a mountain?”
“Well, a hill on this far side. It felt safe to me to have it be out of the wind.”
“It was hard to see much in the dark.”
“I know. I’ll show you around properly tomorrow since I can’t imagine you’re going to school. Maybe I can get Teague to come down and walk you farther than the grounds if you’re up to it.”
“I will be, and that would be great.”
“Good.”
After a moment he said, “It’s beautiful in here. Your whole house is like—”
“Our house,” I corrected him. “You live here now, if you want. I would never force you to stay where you—”
“I go where Cole goes until I either go to college or work with him in his construction business. I already help him every summer.”
I nodded.
“You’re sure you don’t mind me being here?”
“I’m thrilled to have you here,” I assured him. “But there’s other people too, and we should get back to the kitchen so I can introduce you to Ondine.”
His eyes went wide as he stared at me.
“Goddess, what?”
“Is she magic, like Teague?”
“Yes, but don’t bring up Teague, all right? She’s not all that crazy about him.”
“What did he do?” Of course that was his first question.
“Oh, she’s gonna like you,” I told him.
As he followed me out, Cole and Ondine came out of my bedroom. Ondine’s smile when she saw Evan was big.
“Hi.” He rushed over, holding out his hand. “I’m Evan.”
“Ondine.” Her voice was silky and warm. She didn’t take his hand; instead she held out her arms for him.
Immediately, he went into her embrace, and after a moment, he took a big breath and his eyes welled with tears.
“Oh, love,” she murmured, rubbing circles on his back. “You are utterly safe here. You saw it yourself, didn’t you? When all your friends passed out but you alone remained on your feet.”
He nodded but didn’t let her go.
“And those forgotten patches of magic, those don’t show up hardly ever. I promise you, we can walk from one end of Merritt’s land to the other and won’t hit one. We might see some bears and coyotes, and so many deer, but no spooky old magic.”
“Okay,” Evan said, his voice breaking, his breathing uneven.
“Shall we go play a game until the food is ready?”
He sniffled, nodded, then took a step back and smiled at her.
“I have headsets. How are you with a flamethrower?”
His eyes got big.
“Come on.”
She led him up the stairs, chatting the whole way, and showed him the secret way to unlock her door. When it opened, a rush of briny sea air filled the house like a wave.
Cole turned to look at me, pointing up at Ondine’s room. “I wanna know what it looks like in there.”
“It looks like the bottom of a lagoon, with sunlight on top and deep water on the bottom.”
“How?”
“Unlike me, she is a magical creature.”
“Oh, you’re magic all right.”
“No. I have two forms and I can draw a boundary. That’s the extent of my power.”
“What about talking to ghosts?”