I knew Bernie had given me sound advice, but there was only one person I knew who could cut through the bullshit better than anyone else.
I found my phone on the kitchen counter and realized it had magically appeared in the cottage, just like my clothes.
It was both frightening and intriguing to know that my uncle was a sorcerer. And that he could do things just by thinking about them.
But it was something I would have to worry about another time.
Right now, I needed to figure out what I should do about Daniel. And this whole mate business.
The trickiest part would be to ask Sela about this without giving away the secrets of Devil Springs.
I thought about it for a few minutes and decided to just call her and wing it. There was no lie I could come up with that was completely plausible, so I had to make this shit up as I went along.
My bestie picked up on the second ring.
“About time you called me,” she said. “You haven’t texted me in two days!”
“I know. I’m sorry.” I paused and cleared my throat. “Something happened here and I’m not sure what to do.”
“So, you called me?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“And you think I’ll know what to do?” Her question was incredulous and made a lot of sense.
I rarely asked Sela for advice. She would give it freely, and sometimes I listened. But I never asked. I preferred to figure out my problems on my own.
“You can get to the crux of the problem better than anyone else I know,” I said.
She guffawed at that. “What are you talking about?”
“You cut through bullshit, Sela. Better than anyone else I know.”
She laughed again. “Yeah, for everyone else but not myself.”
I sighed and she stopped laughing.
“This must be serious.”
“It is.”
“Okay, hit me with it.”
I took a deep breath and distilled what had happened this week down to its purest truth.
“I met someone while I was looking around Bethany’s store,” I said. “And it started off all wrong. But somehow…somehow, it became right. He’s amazing. He’s smart and funny. And he cooks! Better than me, even. He always makes sure that I’m comfortable and content. He considers my needs. Hell, he didn’t even have a coffee machine the first night I stayed at his house because he’s a tea drinker. When he realized how much I need coffee every morning, he had a machine delivered by that afternoon.” I paused and cleared my throat. “But he lied to me about something kind of important. I’m really hurt and upset. He hasn’t had a chance to make it right but I’m not sure I can give him that chance.”
Sela was quiet for a moment. “Is he married? Is that what he lied about?”
I laughed. “No. He’s single.”
“Did he murder someone or ask you to be an accomplice in something really illegal?”
“No.”
“Does he have any brothers?”
I frowned. “What? No, I don’t think so.”
