She couldn’t quite get enough of calling it their house. They’d bought the run-down two-story log home in the mid-sized Pennsylvania town almost seven months ago and worked hard to turn it into a cozy and comfortable retreat. She took a moment to admire it before climbing from the car. While she’d been busy with the home itself, Alex had turned the grounds into a showplace. Who knew, but she was living with quite the landscaper.
After popping the trunk of the car, she grabbed her backpack and used her key to enter. “Alex? I’m home.”
Footsteps walked above her in their bedroom. “I’ll be right down. How was class?”
“Good,” she yelled back. “Hey, Diego, how’s my little guy?” She rubbed the head of the big dog that had bounded up to greet her. Diego was still just a big ham of a puppy, who didn’t understand quite what to do with his size.
After a few licks and woofs of pleasure, he went to go investigate the pattern of sun coming in through the window. Genevieve picked up the mail sitting on the foyer table. She rolled her eyes to discover it bereft of bills. When she and Alex had started living together, she’d been adamant that she’d pull her own share of their living expenses. Genevieve didn’t want anyone to say she was mooching off him, and thanks to her frugal living for the past few years, she had a healthy bank balance. Unfortunately, if she didn’t get to the mail fast enough, bills had a magical way of disappearing into space. When she asked about them, Alex would turn an innocent expression her way and suggest the mail nymph ate them. Then he’d start kissing her, and touching her, and pretty soon…
Genevieve sighed in fond remembrance and dropped her heavy backpack on the ground.
She had brought up the idea of starting a pre-med track at the local college a couple of months ago, to channel her abilities and interests into a more legitimate profession, and much to her delight, Alex had wholeheartedly championed her. She only had another semester to go before she could start applying to medical schools.
And she had to say, they had a lot of fun with the pair of pompoms she had picked up at the campus store.
Living with Alex was bliss in a lot of other ways as well. Their home was isolated enough that she wasn’t overwhelmed by too many people. She had made enough good friends to keep her happy and busy. As for her old friends, Alex had a small barn built out back to keep Barney.
After quitting the police force in Harrison, he’d decided he wanted to try something different. An old friend told him about a start-up non-profit that helped teens who were recovering drug addicts. The job they’d offered seemed tailor-made for Alex’s personality. The hours were flexible, the pay was decent, and he could get back to doing what he loved: feeling as if he was tangibly helping people. Lately, he’d been making noises about taking some classes himself to become a certified counselor. Genevieve approved, completely.
Thudding footsteps on the stairs behind her heralded his arrival, and she turned with a smile. Looking yummy in only a pair of jeans, his hair and chest still damp, he walked over to give her a lingering kiss.
“You’re home early,” he murmured against her lips.
Her arms crept up to wind around his neck. “Thought you might want to try out that new Jacuzzi.”
“Mmmm, sounds good. The family’s coming in tonight, though.”
Genevieve smiled, loving the way he called his mother and brother “the family” or “their family” never just his family. What a family it was. Though Alex’s immediate family was small, he had a slew of relatives. She’d met a virtual dizzying array of aunts, uncles and cousins over Christmas. They’d asked insanely nosy questions about Alex’s and her relationship, where they’d met, and even when they could expect some kids. Genevieve had had the feeling she would have been lynched if she’d admitted she was on the pill. It had been awesome.
Alex’s mother was a short, round little thing with a breathy voice, a tendency to hug, and a will of iron—necessary, she had confided in Genevieve, when dealing with the Rivera men. She and Christina had clicked instantly when they met.
Alex’s brother, on the other hand…
Genevieve leaned back and eyed Alex suspiciously. “Is Linc going to ask me if I’m willing to sign a prenup again?”
Alex shrugged with a sheepish smile. “Maybe. But you can just offer to show him your bank statements again.”
“Yeah. Only your brother would have insisted I actually produce them.”
Alex chuckled and then held something out for her. “Here.”
Genevieve accepted the envelope. “A-ha! I knew you got to the mail ahead of me. What’s this?” It wasn’t a bill, she realized, but a letter. The postmark read Puerto Rico.
“You remember my cousin?”
“Which one? After the first hundred, I started to lose track.”
He smiled, but his gaze was watchful. “Maria. The one I told you about.”
Ah. The midwife from Puerto Rico, the one who the others in the family regarded with awe. Yes, they’d met during the holiday festivities, and Genevieve had realized that Alex hadn’t been lying. She hadn’t needed to read the other young woman’s aura to know she possessed power, probably on par with or more than Genevieve did.
The pretty woman had looked a bit stunned when she’d shaken Genevieve’s hand, so she knew the surprise hadn’t been on her side alone. “Why is it addressed to me?”
“’Cause I took her aside after she met you. I wanted to see if she could read your aura.”
Genevieve blinked. “Could she?”
“Yup.” He nodded at the envelope. “I asked her not to tell me, but to write down what she saw. You’ll see I didn’t read it. It’s still sealed.”
