Cosmo was taken aback.
"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," I said. "I was only wondering, in that case, why she’d need Reiki."
"She didn't," Cosmo said.
“Curious and curiouser. That fellow certainly gets a lot of hype in town. What if she discovered something bad about him? He could have been a fraud, out to fleece the women. Or what if he's a fellow witch? And using spells to win patients?”
My mind whirled with possibilities.
"What about that mystery woman?" Cosmo asked.
“What indeed? She could have been his accomplice, or under his spell.” I scanned the list that we'd come up with. Again, Louisa's name jumped out at me. She had been very coy when it came to talking about her private life. Her way of calling Detective Stone her "acquaintance" in air quotes. Maybe there was another man in her life as well.
"I think I need a Reiki session," I said. I went onto the website to book.
It said I needed an initial consult, and only after that could the master decide what form my therapy would take.
"Do it," Cosmo said.
"All right." I filled in all my information. The slot I'd booked was the last one for the whole week. Brad definitely was Mr. Popular.
Chapter thirty-one
My alarm pinged. Duty called.
I changed the sign on the library door from "Closed" to "Open" and had to jump back as Kyle rushed in.
"You're in a hurry," I said.
He apologized. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"You didn't. At least not much." I grinned at him. “You were in a hurry. I didn't expect the library to be this popular with your age group.”
"You've got a daughter, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"Doesn't she read?"
"She does, but mostly on her phone."
"I love physical books. There's nothing more relaxing than the solid feel and the rustle of paper as you turn the pages." He broke off.
I chuckled. A jock with the heart of a nerd. Then I stopped chuckling. Maybe he was only trying to appeal to me because he wanted something. After all, he’d taken Jake's car for a joyride.
Kyle went through to the library section. He stopped to stroke Cosmo, who was once again guarding the cookie jars. Cosmo gently touched the jars with his tail.
I gave him a quick nod.Message received.
"What kind of books do you normally read?" I asked.
"Whatever your aunt recommended. I'm a huge Terry Pratchett fan."
That was another point in his favor because so was I.
"And James Herriot. You know, the British vet? He's on TV too, or rather, his books are."
"I remember those," I said.
