Page 63 of It's Holy Matrimony, Baby

“And you started worrying it was a sign.” He lets out a deep breath. His coffee cup thuds against his desk. His keyboard clicks as he wakes his computer.

“Nox says that we make our own path. I want to believe him so badly.” I shiver and wrap an arm around my waist to warm myself. “But we’ve been married twenty-two months and one week. If the curse is real, then wouldn’t things start to go wrong now? Like the trees. I don’t know how much I can take.”

“Your Nox, what’s he like?” he asks. The clicking stops. “He must be pretty damn impressive for you to be talking about the L word and sticking around.”

“He is.”

“And you’ve told him about the curse and he doesn’t think you’re crazy?”

“Right.”

“Then tell him why you’re really stressing out. I know you probably think it’ll freak him out, but I’m willing to bet it won’t.”

“But what if...” I can’t bring myself to say it. Can’t bear to think about it in anything other than a series of numbers. Forty-five percent. Three minutes and thirty-six seconds. Five percent. “I can’t.”

“You kind of have to. For your own sake. Otherwise, curse or no curse, you’re always going to be waiting for something to go wrong and if you’re going to do that, you might as well walk away now.”

“You’d like Nox,” I tell him, smiling though my eyes are watery. Having Dash tell me the same thing Nox would helps make my mind up. “You’d get along well.”

“Good. I’m looking forward to meeting him,” he says. “But now I have work to do. Call me after. Or if you need any more help with furniture.”

“I won’t. Nox is great with that. Did you know there’s something so appealing about watching a man put together furniture that I was completely missing out on. Especially if he’s not wearing a shirt.”

“Bye half-pint.” The line drops dead.

I clasp my phone in my lap while Hollander nudges his warm head against my arm until I pet him. “You agree too, don’t you?”

Hollander trills a hoarse reply that I’m pretty sure is a yes.

“You know, I promised myself I wouldn’t get attached. But you and Nox are sneaky buggers.” I hug the poor animal before setting him back on the bed. He’s grumpy and curls up with his back to me to sleep. He loves his naps more than I do recently. “Somehow I can’t imagine my life without you now.”

So how do I tell Nox? Getting up, I head into the kitchen. He won’t be home for a little bit yet, and I need to be busy. Nerves already swarm me like angry bees.

My heart slams against my chest. A woman sits at the counter on one of the stools that Nox handcrafted. Her back is to me, but it’s not Lou, and I don’t know any other women who would show up out of the blue like this. She doesn’t notice me until I’m in front of her. She’s too busy flicking through the papers in front of her. The until now unopened envelope at the bottom.

I didn’t hear her come in while I was talking to Dash. Didn’t expect anyone. Actually I’m certain I locked the cabin door. A habit I can’t shake even out here where normally there’s no one around. “H-hello.”

“Hi.” She glances up and smiles at me with pearly straight teeth. The assortment of silver bracelets she wears around her bony wrist clink against each other as she pushes a platinum curl behind her ear. “You must be Beckett.”

“I am.” I tread closer. She looks a little familiar. I’ve seen her before somewhere. Recently. “Do I know you?”

“No.” Her dark eyes are friendly as she gestures at the papers in front of her. “We’ve never met, but I can tell you’re an intelligent woman.”

“Sorry. I didn’t catch your name.” I glance at my phone. It’s still early and Nox won’t be home for a while yet. I tap out a quick message to let him know that there’s a stranger in his kitchen and send it to him. “Are you a friend of Nox’s?”

“Yes I am. Old friends. We knew each other very well once upon a time.” She climbs off the stool and moves around the counter. She’s so thin and perfectly put together. Like a supermodel. Or apple pie and ice cream before you binge on it and it gives you a bellyache. She grabs glasses and the corkscrew as though we’re standing in her kitchen and not Nox’s. “How about a glass of wine?”

It feels rude not to pull a bottle out of the fridge. Especially if she and Nox are friends.

“Thanks.” She takes it from me and pours equal measures.

I glance around the cabin. My home. Something is off. I feel like a stranger for the first time since I moved in. Like I don’t belong here. One glass and I’ll ask her to leave, let her know Nox will call her when he gets home.

“Here’s to making new friends.” She hands me a glass. Everything about her is slim. “I’m Lena by the way.”

“Lena?”

“You’ve heard of me?” She lifts the glass to her lips.

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