Page 82 of Roses Are Dead
“Is everything okay?”
The intense stare fell away as Bear looked inward. “Not really, but that’s a me problem.” He ate a little more. “The food’s good. I appreciate it.”
“I’d planned for more, but I got sidetracked today.”
“By what?” His tone had gentled. I was loath to ruin the moment with my afternoon, but if I kept it secret, it would blow back on me.
I set the fork down carefully. “After I got breakfast cleaned up and did some cleansing spell work, I took a walk down to the river again.” For an unknown reason, I smiled. “The dock’s almost completely gone now.”
“I’m surprised it didn’t break while you were dancing on it.”
“I wasn’t dancing.”
He chuckled quietly. “That would have been a nice bonus, just saying. Me fishing you out of the water all naked and shit.” He peeked at me through his heavy eyebrows and licked his lips. The mischief in his expression displayed blatantly.
“I was going to pick berries but someone was on the path.” I paused, parsing the subtle lie for truth. “Not exactly on the path, more like taking the path to get here. I hid.”
His forkful of food fell back onto the plate when he froze. “Who?”
I weighed assumption versus fact. “I think it was Carl, but since I hid really well, I didn’t get a good look.”
“And?”
This was going south quickly. “I worked my way back here through the woods, so I wouldn’t be seen, and got a little lost. When I finally made it to that hill behind the house, someone was in the yard. I waited until they left before coming back.”
“Probably a good idea. Anything missing?”
No. Nothing was materially missing. “My blanket sense of security?”
There was silence between us.
I continued because he needed to know more before he walked out there and discovered it for himself. “You’ll see it tomorrow, but Carl, or whoever it was, dug a pentagram in the yard and scattered my shit all over to make it appear like I was using black magic. And, you will need to watch your step. He scattered some presents for us.”
I left the table to collect a caltrop he’d dropped. “I found seventeen of these in the grass.”
Bear took it from my hand and admired it for a moment. “Nasty fuckers. I used a bunch like this to hijack a semi-truck. Seventeen, you say?”
I nodded, ignoring his admission of a crime.
“They sell ’em online in twenty packs.” He tossed it to the table.
That meant there were three more out there. “Be careful then.”
He laughed as if the danger was nothing. But it was very real.
20
Bear
My damn stomach was going to ruin me faster than my dick was. I’d walked in with every intention of laying down the law. And that witchy woman had food ready. Hot food. Fresh off the stove. It sapped the vinegar right out of me.
Worse? She’d been trapped outside with that asshole, or some other asshole I’d pissed off lately, who’d been sniffing in my lawn and laying down booby traps. Fucker.
I picked up the caltrop I’d tossed down.
“I think Sketch has a metal detector.” He bought one for his son a while back. It had to be somewhere in his junk pile.
“That would be helpful.” Rose picked at her food. I made sure she was eating it before I took another delicious bite.
