Chapter Ten
Since we didn’twant to ruin the rest of the ren faire for everyone else, Sophia agreed to dispose of the bodies in the barn, as well as the three giants I’d killed in the woods earlier. Finn stayed behind to help her, while Bria drove Owen and me over to Jo-Jo’s salon.
We had to wait until Jo-Jo finished with her latest round of clients, but the dwarf healed Owen and me with herAir magic and sent us on our way. We ended up back at my house late that afternoon.
Owen was in the den, talking on the phone to Stuart Mosley at First Trust bank and trying to figure out just how much money Darrell had stolen and if he could get any of it back. While he hashed things out with Stuart, I went into the kitchen to make dinner.
Last night, I’d brought home some of the faire foodthat Sophia and I had prepared, and I quickly reheated the pulled chicken in some of Fletcher’s barbecue sauce.
While the chicken was warming up, I microwaved a couple of potatoes until they were almost done, then sliced them in half and scooped out most of the insides. I combined the potato innards with sharp cheddar cheese, sour cream, green onions, and crumbled pieces of crispy applewood-smokedbacon. Then I refilled the potato boats with the mixture, sprinkled them with even more cheese, and slid them into the oven to finish baking.
After everything that had happened today, I wanted some warm comfort food, and barbecue chicken and twice-baked potatoes seemed like a good place to start.
I also sliced, buttered, and toasted some of Sophia’s sourdough rolls in the oven and threw togethera green salad filled with cherry tomatoes, carrots, and red onions and topped with a creamy blue-cheese dressing.
I had just finished putting everything on the kitchen table, along with a pitcher of raspberry lemonade, when Owen came in, sat down, and set his phone aside. I sat down with him, and we both tucked into our food.
The sweet and spicy barbecue chicken. Potatoes loaded with cheeseand bacon. The warm toasted rolls. The crunchy, crispy salad with its blue-cheese tang. The fruity tartness of the lemonade. It was a delicious combination of flavors, aromas, and textures, and I enjoyed every single bite. Owen did too, judging by the fact that he went back for seconds, just like I did.
We didn’t talk much during the meal, just enjoying the food, each other’s company, and thefact that we had both survived another dangerous situation that we probably shouldn’t have.
“What did Stuart say?” I asked after we’d taken the edge off our hunger.
“He agreed to let me access Darrell’s accounts on Monday so I can recover some of the money he stole.” Owen sighed and set his fork down. “There’s not much left of it, though. Only a few thousand in his checking account. You wereright about him spending it all. I’ll have to cover most of the difference out of my own pocket.”
“No, you won’t.”
He frowned. “What? Why not?”
I jerked my head over at one of the kitchen counters. “Because Sophia stopped by while you were talking to Stuart, and she brought you some presents.”
Owen followed my gaze. Celeste’s swords were sitting on the counter, along with the rook pin thatDarrell had been wearing on his cloak.
“How is that going to help?” Owen asked.
“The rubies in the swords and the pin are worth quite a bit. We can go to Darrell’s house tomorrow, break in, and loot the rest of his stuff. It shouldn’t be too hard to find some buyers for his collectibles. I’ve already got Finn working on it. He’s pitching it as an estate sale, and he’ll run everything throughFirst Trust. I don’t know that we’ll get all your money back, but we should be able to recover a good chunk of it.”
Some of the tension eased out of Owen’s shoulders, and a smile spread across his face. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”
“Not nearly enough,” I teased. “You know, a girl does like to hear those things from time to time.”
His smile widened. “Well, I’ll be sure to mentionit more often, then. At the very least, every time you save me from ren-faire assassins.”
My heart squeezed tight at how close I’d come to losing him to the Black Rook and Pirate Queen Celeste, but I winked, not wanting to ruin the lighthearted mood. “I’ll hold you to that. And there is something else you could do for me.”
“Name it.”
I stabbed my finger at Celeste’s swords. “Make me a pairof those. Just in case we ever do run into more ren-faire assassins. You never know in Ashland.”
Owen nodded, and his eyes narrowed, as if he was already mentally designing the weapons. “Two silverstone swords. With long, sharp, plain blades. And some sapphires fitted together in the hilts to form your spider runes.”
I could already see the weapons in my mind, and I knew they would be just asexquisite as the knives Owen had made for me. I grinned. “You certainly know the way to this assassin’s heart.”
For dessert, wehad warm oatmeal-cherry crumble topped with vanilla-bean ice cream and drizzled with my homemade chocolate sauce. After we finished, Owen cleared the table while I lit a fire in the den. Then we curled up onthe couch together, our arms wrapped around each other, staring into the bright, cheery flames and lost in our own thoughts.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I finally asked. “About Darrell? I know the two of you weren’t all that close, but what he did still had to hurt.”
A betrayal by someone you knew and considered a friend always left a far deeper mark than a random attack by a stranger.
