Chapter 15
Mattie stared into her teacup as she stirred in a healthy dollop of honey. She hadn’t dreamed about being chased through the woods by a bear.
Much to her chagrin, she’d dreamed of chasing after a bear.
She didn’t need a psychoanalyst to tell her what that meant. She had the hots for Gunnar. Which was stupid and dumb.
He was a shifter. Just like Aaron. And look how that had turned out.
Although the odds of Gunnar taking a job somewhere else seemed slim. Of course, she hadn’t even known Aaron was looking, so what’s to say Gunnar wouldn’t do the same thing?
She shook her head. What kind of woman considered how a man might leave her before she was actually in a relationship with that man?
Was she losing her marbles?
Blueberry would say that was a sure sign she had already fallen for Gunnar. But Blueberry loved to cause trouble and looked for any opportunity to stir things up when he could. Sometimes he was right, though.
She sipped her tea, which was strong and sweet. The way she liked her men.
Oh, stop. She rolled her eyes at her own behavior. She needed to get a grip on herself. If she went to see Alice in a state, Alice would sense it right away.
Mattie did not want to get on Alice’s radar for something as silly as a crush. Her eyes narrowed. Was that what this was? A crush? A simple infatuation? Some kind of rebound thing?
Yeah, that made sense. It was probably a reaction to everything that had happened with Aaron. Her subconscious trying to soothe the loss by shifting her attention to Gunnar.
This would pass.
Besides, she had other things to take care of, like getting those candles to Alice.
Mattie had a quick breakfast of toast with peanut butter and honey, finished her tea, and got ready for the day. Today, she went with a long, flowered top with paisley leggings. Pulling the leggings on reminded her that it was time to wax her legs.
Winter was over, spring was here, and summer wasn’t far behind. That meant shorts weather. Even the bees would laugh at her if they saw how furry she was.
She added the task to her to-do list and went to work fixing her hair. She plaited two braids at her temples, then pulled them back with a small jaw clip to keep her hair out of her face.
As soon as she was dressed and ready, she unmolded the candles she’d made the day before. She carefully wrapped each candle in Alice’s order in sheets of newspaper, one of the many reasons she liked to keep past issues of the Tombstone around.
With that done, she put the candles into two reusable shopping bags and took them out to her truck. She placed the bags on the floor of the passenger’s side, then got in behind the wheel, feeling a little out of sorts. It was so odd going places without Blueberry.
Once again, she found herself hoping he’d be home soon.
She listened to her current podcast obsession on the way to the Ellingham estate, where Alice lived. The podcast was Murder Most Foul, and the podcaster who produced it was right here in Nocturne Falls, Eamon Underwood.
The trip didn’t take long, as the estate was just on the other side of the winery’s property. She’d barely gotten into the podcast when she pulled down the long drive that led to the house. It was easily the most magnificent house in all of Nocturne Falls. Maybe in all of Georgia, honestly.
It was gorgeous, and the gardens here were breathtakingly beautiful. She was glad the garden was so well maintained. She knew her bees came here.
Halfway around the circular drive, she parked, got her shopping bags, and went to the front doors. She rang the bell and waited.
There was actually a side entrance that could be used to get to Alice’s quarters, but Mattie always felt a little odd about going that way.
Like she was sneaking in. And sneaking into an estate owned by the woman who owned the town and just happened to be a significantly powerful vampire never felt like a good idea.
Elenora Ellingham was only slightly less intimidating than Alice Bishop.
Or maybe it was the other way around.
The door opened, and a butler appeared. “Good morning, Miss Sharpe. Miss Bishop said you’d be coming.”
“Here I am.” She nodded a little too much. Visiting Alice always made her a little nervous.
“Right this way.”
She followed him down the hall, through a set of double doors, and down another hall. He stopped a few feet from a door. “I’ll leave you to it.”
“Thank you.” As he departed, she went to the door to knock.
It opened before her knuckles touched wood. Alice stood on the other side. “Good morning, Matilda.”
“Good morning, Alice.”
The older woman stepped back. “You’re right on time. I was just making tea for us.”
“That sounds great, thank you.” Mattie was well aware it wasn’t a question of whether she wanted tea. She’d be having it. That’s just how Alice was. Not that Mattie didn’t want tea, but Alice just had a way about her. “I have your full order here.”
“Thank you. Just leave them on that table by the door. I’ll take them to the practice later.”
Mattie set the bags down.
“Have a seat. I’ll just be a moment.” Alice disappeared into the small kitchen.
Mattie took a spot on the three-cushion couch. She’d been in Alice’s sitting room before.
The furnishings were nice, and Mattie thought they were probably custom-made.
She liked the simple lines and humble fabrics, which were only humble in appearance.
In reality, the couch felt like it might have been upholstered in silk.
Near the couch there was a chair and matching ottoman where Alice usually sat.
Against one wall was a long, low table that held a small television. The floors were dark wood, and a large, colorful rag rug covered most of the sitting room’s main area.
There were shelves of books, a few exotic houseplants, some small arty objects, but no other private touches. No flowers or pictures, anyway.
There was a leather-bound journal on the little table next to the chair. Last time the journal had been green. This one was purple.
All in all, the room seemed very much like Alice. Utilitarian and no-nonsense. Gunnar would probably approve.
Very different than Mattie’s place, that was for sure.
She loved prints, especially florals, and undoubtedly had too much stuff in her place.
Her furniture was nothing special, and a lot of it had been thrifted.
There were too many throw pillows on the sofa, but she couldn’t bear to part with any of them.
Probably too many things hanging on her walls, too. As for rugs, she had quite a few of those as well.
Alice came over with a tray and set it down on the coffee table. “Help yourself. Please.”
The tray held two cups of tea on saucers with spoons, a small stack of paper napkins, a small pot of honey with a dipper, and a plate of perfect little jam thumbprint cookies.
“Thank you.” Mattie tried not to overreact, but getting to eat something that had come from the Ellingham estate kitchen was a special treat.
She added honey to her tea, then took a napkin and added two cookies to it. She put the napkin with the cookies on her lap, then picked up her tea and stirred it. All while sitting as nicely as she knew how.
There were no two ways about it. Alice made her nervous.
Alice added honey to her tea, then took the cup and saucer to her chair and sat. She didn’t take any cookies. “I do appreciate you bringing me the candles. You’ll find a check in your purse.”
“Thank you.” That was always how Alice did it.
The check just appeared. It wasn’t remotely the sort of power Mattie had.
It was so beyond her skills that Mattie didn’t even try to figure out how Alice did it.
And of course, the check never failed to clear.
She took a bite of a cookie. It was delicious.
As if the kitchen here could produce anything that wasn’t.
“I understand Blueberry is otherwise occupied.”
Mattie nodded, took a sip of tea to help wash down the cookie crumbs, and said, “I guess you heard about what happened?”
“I did. He should be home by now, shouldn’t he? Wishes have been granted.”
Leave it to Alice to sense the magic from those wishes. “That’s right, but the recipient of the wishes accidentally trapped and then freed Blueberry so …”
“That explains the unusual number of wishes,” Alice said. “Two yet remain.”
“That’s right.”
She took another sip from her cup. “The recipient is rather reluctant to make the wishes, isn’t he?”
Not surprising that Alice would know who the recipient was.
After all, if she knew what had happened, she’d probably heard who’d ended up with Blueberry.
“Reluctant is about the size of it. He made a wish last night and accidentally trapped us in his house. It took some convincing to get him to make another one to untrap us.”
“Ranger Briggs is a good man. A little set in his ways, perhaps, but he’s been alone a long time. Having a friend like you would be good for him.”
“Not sure he thinks that about me. Or anyone.”
“He will.” Alice smiled. “Soon.” Her smile faded. “He’s about to need a friend more than he realizes.”