Chapter 28
“Garden gnomes were thought to be protectors of plant life, but they were also sometimes associated with treasure. Though, specifically at night, with the lore being that they turned to stone under the sun’s light.
There’s a joke amongst collectors to always check the next day if they moved or not, and to make sure they haven’t gotten too close to your door.
Or in the case of those who keep them inside, like I do, too close to where you sleep. ”
That joke was…feeling less like a joke now that Ollie had dealt with a wax zombie coming to life… Yeah, no, he was going to banish the thought of gnomes coming to life from his mind, because, as he had learned on Halloween, it was best to not think about it at all.
“Of course, as you can imagine, most of the gnome production was wiped out in Germany during the World Wars. Which, let me tell you, has made finding antique German gnomes a pain in the—” Ollie cut off abruptly when he realized he’d been babbling on and on about something most people would likely find boring.
Clutching his large, rather heavy brown-paper-wrapped gnome a little tighter, his gaze flicked to Noble with a wince as he blurted, “Sorry!” even on spotting the smile on the man’s face. Because who knew if it was real or had just frozen on there after the man had zoned out?!
Noble blinked, his smile dropping a bit as he briefly glanced over at him. “For what?”
“Talking? Talking way too much? For going on and on about gnomes?” When his boyfriend started to outright frown, he blurted again, “Sorry!” As frowning couldn’t be a good thing.
“Ollie, why are you apologizing? Or rather, what exactly are you apologizing for?”
Didn’t…he just explain why?
“For…talking? Or I guess, more for being annoying?”
“And who exactly said that you talking was annoying? Because I know it wasn’t me. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve told you before that I like listening to you.”
Ollie’s eyes widened at that. “I mean…” he trailed off, hesitating.
Noble…had in fact said that before. Ollie remembered because, at the time, it had made him really, really happy—still did.
It was just, well, all the other times that came to mind where the people he was with had clearly wished he’d just shut up.
Problem was, Ollie usually hadn’t noticed that until it was too late.
And if those weren’t enough to make him self-conscious, then the number of times Rowden had to shut down his endless babbling while growing up would have been.
His mouth suddenly feeling dry, he swallowed. “I mean, I do talk a lot.”
“And there is nothing wrong with that. I wasn’t lying when I said I like listening to you talk, Baby.
Doesn’t matter the topic, it makes me happy to hear and see you excited.
And history obviously makes you excited.
I may not always add much to the conversation, but I am listening, and I am enjoying every moment of it. ”
He held back his tears as they filled his eyes, as a rush of this soothing warmth washed over him, seeming to pierce a strange coldness in his chest that he hadn’t realized was there. With a sniffle and a wobbly smile, Ollie rasped, “Thank you.”
Noble grabbed his left hand and brought it to his lips, placing a kiss on top before letting go. “Love you, Baby.”
“Love you too.” He giggled softly, before glancing toward his tall, red-bricked library, as Noble pulled into the parking lot. “Park near the right-side entrance.”
Noble looked over at him, brow raised as he did as instructed. “Why?”
“Oh, no reason. I just want to avoid the front stairs and head straight to the elevators. Always a risk of dropping it and all that. Not to mention, there will be less people to deal with going in the side entrance.”
People, as in, Jahla. The side entrance was his only chance to even attempt to avoid her, and the threat she posed toward his new gnome.
Jahla stared blankly at the lists she’d written on her yellow legal pad. Two very simple lists, with very concerning results. One was the reasons why she could be a witch, and the other why she couldn’t be. And ‘the couldn’t’ was looking a bit flimsy.
Under the first heading, she had listed weird dreams, followed by two dreams being accurate visions that had come true, and lastly, her ability to see and talk to ghosts…
even when Ollie wasn’t in the room. As she’d run into the ghost kitten alone the other day and heard it just fine, seemingly hours after Ollie had told her that Noble could not hear the diner ghost without him being present.
So…that was fucked. As for what other reasons, well… that was all she had…
On the ‘couldn’t be’ side, she listed…no witches in the family. That was it. That was all she could come up with.
Well… She frowned and quickly added…no grimoire. As that was something she needed to be a witch, wasn’t it? Maybe? She honestly didn’t fucking know, but it sounded like some good bullshit she could add to make herself feel better. Yep…
Groaning, she scribbled over the paper until she couldn’t read anything, before tearing the page off and spinning in her chair, intending to toss it into the shredder box, but frowned when she spotted Ollie sneaking in with Noble from the right hallway, clearly having used the side entrance.
Her eyes narrowed on the large brown-paper-wrapped object her friend was clutching to his chest—specifically, the shape of it—and as she dropped the paper in the shredder box, she loudly drawled, “That better not be a gnome.”
Ollie froze, his eyes widening like a deer in headlights. Noble, who was beside the man, holding a manila folder in one hand, glanced between them, looking confused.
“Ollie Wisteria Cross, you tell me right now that you did not just come back with another garden gnome!”
The redhead winced, before his mouth pressed into a stubborn line as he cried, “Okay, but like, I needed it!”
“You did not NEED another gnome!”
“But it’s a 1905 Bernhard Strobel garden gnome!”
Jahla scoffed, before turning her glare on Noble when the man had the audacity to say, “Surely, one more can’t hurt?”
“He literally has a large room full of them already!” she snapped. “Not to mention, he has started carving out a section in another room. He doesn’t need more!”
“Okay, but like, they only take up a small portion of that second room!” Ollie defended.
“Yeah, cause the rest of the room is full of tiny figurines!”
“It’s just one little gnome!” Ollie whined. Then his gaze frantically flicked between her, Noble, the elevators, and then back again, before he took off running down the back hall without another word.
“OLLIE, GET YOUR HOARDING ASS BACK HERE!”
Jahla just let out a long, exasperated sigh when she heard him cry out, “LANGUAGE,” from further down the hall.