Page 77 of Welcome to Fae Cafe

She walked for thirty minutes before a speckle of white floated down and landed on the tip of her nose. She went cross-eyed watching the snowflake melt. She lifted her hand to catch another one, cracking a faint smile. Snow was responsible for so much joy in her life. It brought outdoor adventures, cozy sweaters, hot drinks, sweet pies, and Christmas. But it was also responsible for deep, numbing pain. Kate’s favourite memory was in the snow. So was her worst one.

Kate redirected her course and headed toward one of the last parks in Toronto still populated with trees. She clutched her arms to herself and broke into a jog when her teeth began to chatter. It still took another ten minutes to reach Grandma Lewis’s house.

The familiar smells of baking and herbal tea drifted out of the warm home, flooding her on the porch stairs. Kate knocked, hiding her smile before her grandmother would answer the door and see it.

“Come in!” the old woman called from the kitchen.

Kate pushed through the door with a relieved sigh as the soothing heat of the house encompassed her. She slid off her coat and hung it up, shaking off snow and chills. Grandma Lewis was already holding two mugs of freshly steeped tea in the kitchen, and Kate laughed.

“How did you know I was coming?” she asked.

Her grandmother blinked. “I didn’t.”

The front door squeaked, and Kate turned toward the foyer as a deep, masculine voice filled the house that made Kate forget where she was.

“Grandma Lewis,” he said as he nudged the door shut behind him. Two full grocery bags hung from his grip. “They didn’t have any brown sugar, so I got…”

His words halted when he noticed Kate standing there. One of the bags almost slipped from his fingers.

He stared at Kate. Kate stared at him.

“Katherine,” Grandma Lewis said, carrying the tea past her, “this is Cress.”

27

Kate Kole and The Fae Prince

“Where are my glasses…?” Grandma Lewis searched with a full spin before releasing an exasperated sound. “Oh, for heaven’s sake. I left them out on the bench!”

The silence was torturous. The air was thin. Neither Kate nor Cress moved a muscle as the old woman hobbled to the front entrance of her home, pulled on her coat with shaky hands, opened the front door with a squeak, carefully stepped out, and shut the door again.

Then they both moved.

Kate grabbed the nearest picture off the windowsill and held the frame up with its pointed corner aimed toward Cress. But he wrapped an arm around her to trap her, and used the other to tear the picture frame away before she could swing it.

“I’ll kill you if you touch her!” Kate shouted at him.

Cress tossed the picture back on the sill and slapped a hand over her mouth. “Quiet, Human! She’ll hear you!”

Kate tried to squirm from his grip. Her arm broke free and she snatched the mug of tea off the kitchen table. Cress barely grabbed her wrist in time to stop her from drenching his face with freshly boiled water.

“Queensbane!” he cursed when he yanked the mug away and droplets splattered his hand.

The front door squeaked open and the two split apart—Cress shoved her away, and Kate caught herself on the table, resting against it and wiping the hair from her face. She forced a smile as Grandma Lewis came in, glasses in hand.

Cress leaned back against the wall. He brought the mug to his lips and took a long, careful, slow sip of tea.

“I was just about to teach Cress how to make cookies. If you want to stay a while, Katherine, you can try them when we’re finished,” Grandma Lewis said.

“Of course, Grandma.” Her pointed stare flickered to Cress. “I won’t be going anywhere.”

“What about the café? Isn’t today your big launch?” Grandma Lewis opened the fridge and pulled out the milk.

Kate spoke through thin lips. “It’s well taken care of by threeexceptionalworkers.”

Cress’s turquoise eyes flickered up to her, and he glared.

Grandma Lewis set an armful of cutlery that looked freshly washed on the kitchen table. The moment the old woman turned back around and headed toward the towel hanging on the stove, Kate slid a dull knife over from the pile and shoved it up her sleeve.

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