“It did turn out alright.” She preened a little.
While we ate, their two dogs appeared in the doorway to the living room. She’d left the oven open, so both warmth and smell filled the whole house. Both dogs stared at our plates. “Can I give them a tiny bit?” I asked.
“Mr. Chips and Mrs. Miniver aren’t allowed to beg,” she said.
I chuckled. The labradoodles were the last in a long line of pooches named after classic movie characters. “They’re not begging. You’ve trained them well.”
Ange cut off a slice of chicken breast and divided it into small pieces. “Only this once, and because Bex is asking,” she told the dogs. They wagged their tails as she put down two bowls on their feeding mat.
“I swear they understand every word,” Nick said.
I shot them a glance. Mr. Chips and Mrs. Miniver gulped down the food.
No, I must stop wondering about every living soul I encountered.
“Are you okay with sleeping in the old house already?” Ange asked once we’d finished the main meal and tucked into a berry cheesecake. I’d opted for coffee to go with it. “Otherwise, you’re welcome in our guest room. Cosmo, too. Our dogs get on well with him.”
“Thanks, but I’m okay, I think. Raincheck?”
“Promise you’ll come or call if there’s anything we can do?”
“Will do.”
“And if you need a doctor, or a friend, I’m here as well.” Nick reached for Ange’s hand.
“I appreciate that.” I yawned.
My friend scanned me. “You must be shattered. Do you need something to sleep?”
I shook my head. Ange exchanged a glance with her husband. “I don’t mean pills. But I’ve got an amazing herbal tea. Your aunt gave me the recipe.” Her tone changed from concerned to enthusiastic. Second to her passion for her art was her interest in Wicca and holistic methods of healing body and soul. I had a thought so obvious that it should have hit me days ago. Of course Ange was a witch. The only question was, could she help me share the responsibilities Cosmo had listed, especially when it came to healing? She’d already started down that road anyway.
Some of Nick’s patients had been wary of his wife and her views, until they wrote her off as a well-meaning dabbler. He, on the otherhand, encouraged her. After all, he’d studied for a year with a traditional Chinese doctor. If you came to see him, you were as likely to be treated with acupuncture and acupressure as with pharmaceuticals. Or, possibly, with my aunt’s tea blends. I accepted a small amount of the mixture. A long chat with Cosmo was definitely due.
She accompanied me to the car. “When are you going to reopen the lending library?”
“In a day or two.” As soon as Cosmo told me to.
“I’ll see you then. I assume I can continue the meditation group?”
“Of course. I’m sure my aunt would’ve expected me to keep everything as it was.” I didn’t mention that I’d forgotten all about Ange’s weekly afternoon sessions. She ran two groups, one for young moms who needed de-stressing, and one for women of a certain age. The quiet reading area was used for that.
Fog swirled through the night air as I drove home. It could have been my imagination, but I thought it formed a witch hat.
Chapter nine
“Wakey, wakey.”
I threw off my blanket.
Cosmo gave me a disdainful look. “That’s what you wear at night?”
“Excuse me?” I might be willing to learn how to be a good witch from my furry familiar, but I drew the line at him criticizing my pale blue flannel pajamas dotted with small cows. They made me happy. Also, they were a birthday gift from my daughter, for my fortieth birthday, back when everything seemed so normal.
I sat up. My gaze fell upon the digital alarm clock on my nightstand. “Six o’ clock? Do we need to do the moon thing again, now we’re back in the house?”
“The early bird catches the worm.”
“And the early cat catches the bird?”
