I patted her shoulder. “It’s okay. You don’t have to pretend to be impressed.”
“Thank goodness, because I was wondering how this whole doorknob thing was going to work.”
“I can understand that. Picture this—there’s a long sliding door like we’ve discussed that can be pushed aside to reveal the dining room. But instead of having a typical barn-style slider, we put this doorknob in one of the doors. It might look a little weird, but this will be the effect, once you move the doors out of the way.”
I pressed the knob through one of the bars on an existing stable door. Praying that the magic would still work with my makeshift knob hole, I opened the door. “Show me Paris.”
The space inside the stable shimmered with magic. It looked like bright, colorful raindrops were falling in the chamber. As they fell, the magical rain revealed a scene.
It was afternoon on a Parisian street. People wandered by—couples with arms linked, an older woman walking her dog. In one corner of the scene a café bloomed. A waiter carried a tray with sparkling water. People in sunglasses who wore all black chatted with one another.
How cosmopolitan—to wear all black. It made me rethink my current wardrobe of jeans and a plaid shirt.
Hadley gasped. “Is that really Paris?”
I grinned so hard my face felt like it would burst at the seams. “It sure is. Don’t you love it?”
“I do…but how?”
I clicked my tongue proudly. “It’s a magic spell that shows what’s happening any place you want in real time. Isn’t it cool?”
She clapped her hands. “It is so cool. I love it! I had heard the magic was coming back to Peachwood, but this is amazing.”
Ah, so word was getting out about magic returning to our little town. Even though that was the case, I still wasn’t comfortable with the world knowing that Lady could talk.
“I’m just glad we were able to snag it before someone else did.”
“Me too. So tell me, can they see us?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. But we sure can watch them, can’t we?”
“It’s so cool. Does it just do landscapes?”
“That’s what Lance implied. It will show you cities, countrysides—you name it and you’ll see it.” I glanced down at the notebook I had in my hand. “Come on. There’s a lot more that I want to show you.”
“I can’t wait.”
Hadley and I started going over plans. It was like we were sisters from another mister—we were so in sync in style and ideas. I would toss out a concept, and Hadley would find a way to expand on it. She wanted the old barn’s style to be farmhouse chic with a touch of country comfort.
“Done,” I said.
We blabbed on and on. Two hours later I had an entire to-do list and a schedule that I would, of course, have to shore up with Liam. But I was convinced that we could get started on the demolition fairly quickly—in fact, within the next few days.
“I hope,” Hadley said, “that you won’t be working the day of the apple-picking contest.”
I scoffed. “Are you kidding? That’s one of my favorite days of the year. No way would I miss it.”
“Do you have your team ready?”
“Well, uh, sort of.” Did Rufus count? I hadn’t asked him, but maybe he would say yes? We had dinner plans tonight. It would be the perfect time to ask. “Yeah, I mean, I think I do. I just need to verify it—him,I mean. He’s not anit; he’s a him.”
Hadley laughed. “And this ‘him’ apparently has you all tied up in knots?”
“Oh no.” I waved away her suggestion. “It’s just, I haven’t technically asked. Not that I’m nervous. Because I’m not. I just have to find the time to, you know, do the asking.”
“Well”—she gave my arm a friendly squeeze—“I wish you luck and hope that I see you and your ‘him’ tomorrow at Daddy’s. It should be a lot of fun. I think Crystal’s going to be there. Hopefully there won’t be any hard feelings.”
My stomach condensed. Oh, there would be hard feelings, all right. There would definitely be some hard feelings.
