“Um…” I glanced up to where the vicar was talking with Jane and Sheryl by the altar. He saw me on my phone and frowned. “I want to tell you all about it, but there isn’t really much more to tell since last time…”
“Since you kissed Aragorn?” Kelly teased.
I paused, remembering Arthur’s strong lips against mine, the way his kiss tore my breath away.That was an amazing kiss.
We hadn’t gone any further, even though we both wanted to. Arthur didn’t think it was fair on the others.
What would I tell Kelly? Not about the witchcraft, obviously, or the fae. She’d have me committed. But did I tell her about sleeping with Corbin and Rowan, about Flynn and Corbin, Flynn and Blake? Unlike me, Kelly believed in our parents’ religion. Would she understand? Would she think it was awesome or would she be concerned I was throwing it around like the Large Hadron Collider? Would she condemn me to hell?
Would it just sound too much like I was showing off my fabulous new life?
You’re being ridiculous. This is Kelly, my sister. I have to tell her something.
I needed more time to figure it out.
“I shouldn’t talk here. The vicar is giving me a filthy look already. Can I call you back a little later?”
“Sure,” Kelly said brightly. “I want to hear all the gory details. Bye, sis!”
She hung up. I stared at the phone, in awe of how well she seemed to be handling our parents’ deaths and her new living situation. She always had it so much better than me.
Kelly was the laughing extrovert, the girl who could insert herself into any social situation with a smile and flirtatious remark. It was no wonder she was coping okay, even with Uncle Bob and Aunt Florence’s craziness. Unlike some people I might mention,shehadn’t fallen into bed with several guys in order to deal with her loss.
Jane came bounding back just as I clicked the phone off. “You’re not supposed to talk on that in here,” she said.
I shoved the phone in my pocket. “Since when do you play by the rules?”
“Since Sheryl here has fandangled me a baptism the day after tomorrow,” Jane grinned. “And it happens to occur on my mother’s regular appointment with her golf instructor, so she won’t even be able to come.” She lowered her voice. “I managed to wrangle a name out of her of another village harlot with an unbaptized child.”
“Excellent.” I handed Connor back to her. “I’ll just get my purse and we can go.”
When I went back to the front of the church, my purse wasn’t on the seat.Odd, I swear I left it right here. I bent down to check under the pew in case it had rolled off somehow, but it didn’t seem to be there, either.
“You lost it?” Jane asked, shifting Connor to her other shoulder.
“I swear I left it here when I got the phone call.” I frowned, glancing around the church. The only people inside were the vicar and Sheryl, and unless the vicar was hiding my purse under his robes, I couldn’t see how either of them could have taken it.
“I’ll check at the back.” Jane ran off. I got on my hands and knees and peered under the nearby pews. Surely it couldn’t have gone far? It wasn’t as if it had legs or was magically imbued like Aladdin’s carpet. I thought of the four magical protections inside, and a lump of panic rose in my throat.
Had a fae escaped our warding spell? Had one of them snuck in to steal my purse so we’d be unprotected?
“Er, do you need some assistance?” the vicar asked, although his voice implied he thought our problem was beneath his concern.
Now I was getting frantic. My stomach churned as I crawled around between the pews, pawing under every surface.It’s not here. The fae have it, but what are they going to do with it?—
“Oh, here it is!” Sheryl popped her head up from the next pew. She held up the strap of my purse in triumph.
“Thank god!” I explained, ignoring the vicar’s stern face as I raced toward Sheryl.
“It was hiding behind this pillar,” Sheryl explained, pointing to one of the large gothic arches lining the nave. “It probably rolled off and skidded on the floor. The marble gets quite slippery. Last week, Mabel’s heel came right out from underneath her and she took quite a tumble. The poor dear nearly had to get her other hip replaced.”
Sheryl dumped the purse back in my hands. It rattled as all my things clattered about.
“Thanks!” I replied. “For everything, really.”
“You’re welcome, my dears. Please come back any time. There’s a weekly service schedule on the church noticeboard, and everyone is welcome.” Sheryl said that last bit with a glare at the vicar.
Jane was smiling as we pushed our way through the door. “I’ve never felt this good after spending time in a church,” she said, bouncing Connor’s stroller down the shallow steps.
