Page 49 of Bewitched By the Sea Monster
I turned. Melany and her partner were at the door to their cottage, a mere two lots down from ours. Close enough to make out their shapes in the fog, although I had to squint to make sure it was them. And then I smiled, even as my bones gave an exhausted grind.
Because I liked them. Genuinely. Melany with her vibrant joy, and her partner with her gentle snark. They were good people. Granted I didn’t reallyknowthem, but sometimes you didn’t need to memorize a person’s life history to know you’d found a friend.
“Good afternoon!” I waved at them. “Having a good trip so far?”
“Lovely.”Melany gave a contented sigh. “We just returned from the fields. Sarah was drawing the will-o’-the-wisps!” Melany motioned enthusiastically to her partner, who smiled and held up a worn leather sketchbook.
“I don’t know that this does them justice though.” Sarah tapped her sketchbook against her thigh.
“They were sogorgeous.Especially in the fog like that.”Melany heaved a dreamy sigh. “And so is your drawing, love. I can’t wait to see it painted. I hope you’ll not sell this one.”
“This one is all for you.” Sarah’s mouth quirked into a warm smile when Melany made a happy sound. “Anyway, just because I’m a curious nosey body, I have to know, where have you two come from?” she asked Jackson and me.
“The alicorn stables,” we answered in unison.
“Ohhhh, the tour?” Melany trilled. “How was it?”
“The stables are gorgeous,” I said.
“We’ll have to do that.” Melany turned to Sarah, who shrugged, smiled, and said, “Sure thing.”
“And maybe we should find the will-o’-the-wisps tomorrow?” I looked at Jackson, who rolled his shoulder.
“I know it’s a bit warm and muggy and all, and not reallyhot teaweather, but would you two like to join us for a cup?” Melany asked. “Or acuppa, as the Brits call it. I love how that rolls off the tongue.”
The pain gnawing at my bones gave a particularly vicious munch, preemptively scolding me for the words it knew I would say. “A cup of tea soundsfabulousright now.”
Melany grinned.
Jackson’s brow pinched.
I took pity on him. “I’m sure you’d rather not chitchat with us gals, huh? That’s fine, you don’t have to. Maybe you can figure out which bar fare we’re gonna have for lunch?”
“You sure you’re up for a tea visit?”
No. I want to sprawl out on the bed and zonk out untilat leasttomorrow.
“I won’t be long. Fifteen, twenty minutes tops.” I stood on my toes, dropping a nuzzling kiss to his lips.
“Do you want greasy orextragreasy for lunch?” he asked.
My stomach balked. “Hmmm, tough choice. But I’ll have to go with plain greasy.” I flashed what I hoped was a smile and not a grimace, as I strolled across the gap of stony terrain that separated our cottage from Melany and Sarah’s.
“I’m so tickled we caught you today.” Euphoria warbled off Melany in big, galumphing waves as I approached. “I was telling Sarah this morning that you were such a dearand we needed to kidnap you from the hubby at some point.”
“We wouldn’t have actually kidnapped you.” Sarah gave my shoulder a friendly pat as she ushered me into their cottage. “But wemight’veheld you under ransom.”
This time, my smile felt a little looser because their happiness was infectious.
“Apologies for the disarray,” Melany added once we shuffled through the door.
Their cottage was a different color—canary yellow and sky blue—but the interior layout was exactly the same as ours. It had a morelived-infeel though, with clutter on the kitchen counter, clothes strung over the back of the couch, and food scattered over the coffee table. It was inviting. Made it feel more like a home, rather than a generic isle cottage.
“We’ve never been much for housekeeping.” Sarah dumped her sketchbook onto the sofa.
“I like it,” I said. “My mom had a saying that a house wasn’t a home until it’d been broken in with some clutter.”
“Oh, well we have more than ‘some clutter’here.” Sarah laughed. “I like everything out in the open, so I don’t forget it.”
