Page 57 of Whiskey Shivers

She helped me dress where I needed and helped get me out of and back into my sling, but overall, I was proud of myself that I’d been mostly self-sufficient with minimal aid.

I found out Alina loved to read as much as I did, and we went out on the barge to soak up some sun until it got a bit much and we found ourselves under the awning off the side of the house. The furniture out here was nice and weatherproof, and it was a comfortable spot for reading the day away and sipping iced tea which we did.

We fixed lunch and dinner together, and I laughingly failed at making a pound cake for breakfast the next day. Alina tipped it out of the pan onto a plate at my say-so, only to discover it hadn’t been done in the middle – that the toothpick I’d inserted to check it had lied!

We salvaged what we could out of that for the next morning and with the sun dipping low, popped some popcorn and watched some television – the spooky things still available, although I’d missed Samhain or Halloween.

We talked about tarot and mysticism, witchcraft and spell jars, and I felt lighter, happier, and more… I don’t know…seen,than I had in a good long while.

“Thank you for inviting me out here,” I said with a gusty sigh as the night grew late, and I grew too tired to stand it any longer.

“It’s been my pleasure,” she said and smiled warmly. “I’ve missed having a girlfriend. I mean Dorian and Marcus almost count, but not really.”

I giggled. She’d told me about her gay best friends who were getting married soon, and I’d said we had to catch one of Marcus’ shows.

Of course, his name being so similar to Mark’s had led me down that dark rabbit hole of talking about my last relationship. Alina could relate. Her last relationship before La Croix had ended on similarly bad terms.

Cheaters sucked.

We went to bed, me to the guest room and Alina trailing up the stairs to the loft area, and I sighed with contentment as I switched out the bedside lamp.

* * *

The next day,we heard the sound of an approaching boat as I watched Alina mix a fresh watercolor out of a powdered extraction that she’d made from marigold flowers.

“Shit, shit, shit. Can you go out and meet them? I can’t leave this like this.”

“Of course!” I said, and I went for the front door of the house. I stepped outside onto the barge just as the motor wound down and Louie hopped to the ladder and shimmied up the few rungs to tie off the boat.

“Well, hiya!” Chainsaw called from back by the boat’s motor.

“Hello!” I called. He handed Louie some grocery bags and climbed up after.

“Brought some stuff to make a good ol’ lunch. Where’s Alina at?”

“Oh, she’s mixing paint and couldn’t leave it,” I said, letting them into the house and calling, “Alina! It’s Louie and Chainsaw!”

“Hi guys!” she called from her office. “Gimme just a minute!”

“No worries, girl! I’m here to take over the kitchen!” Chainsaw called back and headed for it.

“No problem,” Alina called back. “Have at it!”

“Hey,” Louie said, turning to me after he passed the goods to Chainsaw who was literally getting down to work with what was in the bags.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hex wanted me to give you this,” Louie declared and handed me a quartered sheaf of folded notebook papers.

“Oh, thank you,” I said.

“You’re welcome,” he said, moving past me to go see what Alina was doing.

“Hi!” she called jovially when he entered the office, and I went to sit on the couch and opened the papers in my hand.

“You alright, Fable?” Chainsaw called out and I looked up, racked with guilt.

“Oh, yeah, um, it’s from one of my students. Alina!” I called.

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