Page 16 of Hallow Hill at Halloween: Part One

“You’re still at it?” he asked.

I turned in his direction. “Why? How long has it been?”

“Over two hours.”

“Shut up.”

“Can’t argue with your watch.”

I looked down at my wrist.Egads.I’d been sucked into a magical time warp.

“Sorry. Guess you want your room back.”

“Well…”

“I got sucked in.”

“It happens.”

“Hmm. I’ve seen enough to be informed.”

“Really? What’s the conclusion? Does Rita rule?”

“Funny.” Rising from the chair, I pointed with my index finger. “I surrender control.”

He smiled. “You’re welcome anytime. I just need to get some numbers in.”

“Bets,” I said. “You mean bets.”

“Bets are numbers.”

“Sure.” I gave him an air kiss on the way by.

It was the occasion of the last scheduled Legendary Lunch before commencement of the Samhain Court. Olivia had dashed out for some last-minute ingredient that she couldn’t find in my kitchen. I told her we could do without whatever it was and no one would know the difference, but Olivia is a perfectionist. Especially when it comes to protecting her chef reputation.

Lily had delivered a centerpiece, as she always did. And, while all of her floral designs were outstanding, I loved some more than others. This was one of those that was photograph worthy. In fact, I had a photo file in the cloud titled Lily’s best.

It was a handle-less wicker basket of English ivy, smothered with fully opened orange daylilies, butterfly milkweed, and sweet pea.

“What are you doing?”

Having thought I was alone in the house while Olivia was gathering her supplies for lunch, I jumped at the sound of Keir’s voice.

“Sorry,” he said, “didn’t mean to cause a fright.”

“Then don’t stealth around with silent kitty paws.” His smile told me he appreciated the word salad, but not the “kitty” reference. “I’m taking a photo of the flowers.”

“Whatever for?”

With a shrug, I said, “I’m keeping a record of Lily’s best efforts. They’re all so special… I guess I don’t want them to be unremembered.”

“Lovely,” he said sincerely while conveying at the same time that he could not care less. “Saw Lochlan in the lane.”

“Oh?”

“He said he’d like to pop by a few minutes early for a chat about one of the cases.”

“I haven’t read them all. Is Lochlan on the list for today?”

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