Over the course of the past few weeks, I discovered that the old Rufus, the evil one that I had known, was gone. In his place was a kind, caring man.
It had taken a while, but I slowly accepted that this new and improved Rufus could be trusted.
I know, I know, I needed to tell Rufus the truth and give him the spell.
I planned to. But I couldn’t exactly tell him over the phone, now could I?
I supposed I could, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to tell him about the spell face-to-face.
“Have you been doing okay?” he asked.
“In the course of one day I’ve discovered that Malene is my long-lost grandmother and she’s been wearing a disguise these past few years so that I wouldn’t recognize her. Turns out, she’s not a dowdy old lady after all. She’s actually kind of fly.”
Rufus sounded baffled. “And she’s only now telling you this?”
“I guess she figured it was time to reveal her secret.” I moved to the couch and sat, curling one leg under the other. “It’s not surprising, really. Peachwood itself seems to have secrets. I mean, all those spells hidden outside of town are case in point.”
“It seems to me that she should have told you this years ago. It’s almost unfair of her, don’t you think?”
My stomach twisted as guilt flooded through me. I was as guilty of keeping secrets as Malene.
“No, I don’t think it’s unfair. She had her reasons. I wasn’t too angry, and even that vanished quickly. But tell me,” I said, changing the subject, “how’re you? Where are you?”
“I’m down in the swamps. I shouldn’t be gone more than a few days.”
Great. I could tell him the truth in a few days. “Well, I hope you’re having fun.”
“It would be more fun if you were here.”
My heart jumped into my throat. Suddenly my palms were sweating and I could feel my heart pulsing at the base of my neck.Okay, Clem, time to get your emotions in check.
I tamped down the nervousness. What was wrong with me? I needed to get ahold of myself.
“Well,” I said in my most husky voice, “I don’t know if it would be more fun if I was there. I’m sure you’d try to get me to spell hunt and I’d fight you all the way.”
“That’s what would be fun about it. I like playing chase.”
I wanted to die! The man I used to hate was outright flirting with me in a devilish way. My girl parts tingled, and I was loving it.
Whew. I needed a cold drink—to toss over my head and cool the heat flaring all over my body.
I hoped that I hadn’t eaten anything that I was allergic to at the Country Buffet.
“But I did call for a reason,” Rufus continued.
Darn. On to business. “Oh, what’s that?”
“I was wondering, when I returned, if you’d like to have dinner—a real dinner, at a restaurant?”
“As opposed to…?”
“One of us cooking.”
“Right.”
I could hear the smile in his voice. “As much as I love prancing around in my kitchen in an apron, it’s not something that I’m ready for the world to witness.”
I laughed. “You in an apron? This I really need to see. Maybe youshouldinvite me over for dinner.”
