Page 52 of Demon Loved
At least she thought it was all right to think of their connection in those terms now that they’d shared several kisses.
“I suppose I’m just seeing where it all goes,” she said, which was about all she could tell her mother at this point. “Maybe we’ll enjoy each other’s company for a bit and then go our separate ways. The only thing I know for sure is that he’s a good guy.”
Hayley tilted her head, and one end of the scarf tied around her ponytail slipped over one shoulder. “You tried looking into his mind?”
“No,” Bree said a little more severely than she needed to. The sharpness in her tone probably arose from the realization that she actually had considered doing that very thing and then had decided against it. It just hadn’t felt right.
Also, there was the very real possibility that she wouldn’t have been able to manage it at all. She might have possessed a baker’s dozen of talents, but getting any one of them to cooperate at a given time was problematic at best.
“I just know he’s a good person,” she went on. “He’s shown it to me in dozens of little ways. We might not have known each other for very long, but we’ve spent a lot of time together. If he was playing me, I have to believe I would feel it.”
For a long moment, her mother didn’t say anything. Then she raised her shoulders ever so slightly, not in a shrug but in a sort of acknowledgment that Bree most likely knew better than she what was going on with Bill Garrett.
“Are you seeing him again soon?” Hayley asked, apparently deciding that she needed to go with the flow on this one for now…and also realizing that she’d provide a shoulder to cry on if necessary.
Bree doubted that was going to happen. Even if she and Bill came to nothing in the end, she just wasn’t the sort to indulge in histrionics when a relationship fell apart.
Then again, if any person had the ability to crush her soul when he walked away, she had a feeling Bill Garrett was that man.
She didn’t want to think about that, however.
“Tonight, I think,” Bree said. “He was going to call me after I was done with my students late this afternoon.”
“Then I suppose we shouldn’t expect you for dinner this evening,” Hayley said.
Bree wouldn’t let herself feel too guilty about that, not when she’d been there just this past week. Although her parents would have liked to have both their kids at the house for Tuesday dinner as often as possible, they all knew that wasn’t feasible a lot of the time.
“So, what’s Dad up to today?” she asked, thinking it was high time they changed the subject.
“A little of this, a little of that,” her mother replied. “He mentioned he was going to meet with Angela and Connor and the other elders today, but he didn’t say why.”
That bit of information wasn’t too unusual. The elders and the prima and her consort got together to talk at least once or twice a week when Connor and Angela were in Jerome, and Bree had noticed that those meetings had only increased in frequency after the Collector came on the scene and they had to make doubly sure that the artifacts in their possession were well warded. She had a feeling no one was too thrilled about the extra security measures, especially after the McAllisters had thought the episode with the Escobars was now safely behind them and they could breathe a little easier.
Apparently not.
But since she was just a peon in the greater scheme of things, no one had found the need to discuss such matters with her in depth. It wasn’t as if she had a great talent for creating warding spells or could pop off a quick fireball in case Angela and Connor’s house was physically threatened. The only thing she could do — the same as the rest of the McAllisters — was to keep her guard up and make sure she reported anything out of the ordinary.
There hadn’t been much out of the ordinary in Jerome lately, that was for sure.
Well, except Bill, she supposed, but he was an ordinary sort of extraordinary. He was just a guy, after all. Yes, one who made her heart do a funny little dance and who was the most amazing person she’d ever met, but still, he was a civilian, and the world was full of those.
“I guess let me know if the meeting was about anything important,” Brianna said, and her mother nodded.
“I will.” She went over to her daughter and gave her a quick hug. “You two have fun tonight.”
“Absolutely.”
A smile, and then Hayley let herself out the door. The whole time, they hadn’t been interrupted by any customers…it was a very slow day…but almost as soon as she left, an older couple came in and began inspecting the paintings that hung in the main part of the gallery. They had the air of those who didn’t want to be disturbed while they browsed, and Bree was just fine with that.
She hated pushy salespeople.
Holding back a sigh, she reached under the counter and brought out the box of invoices to be filed.
16
Belshegar might have been surprised by the swiftness with which the meeting was organized, but if there was anything he’d learned during his friendship with Elena and his brief time among the Castillos, it was that witches could act with surprising speed when sufficiently motivated.
Levi had told him to go back to the hotel while he contacted the other elders and Connor Wilcox and Angela McAllister, but Belshegar had been there for less than an hour when his phone beeped to reveal a brief message.
