Page 36 of In Dangerous Water

“So?” She lifted her eyebrows. “Have Brynn bring it up here when she delivers the flowers the morning of the ball.”

“We’ll see,” I said and was vastly relieved when Archer threw his bread across the table at Danielle.

Now Gabriella was on her feet to address the sibling scuffle.

Goddess bless those kids,I thought as they distracted their mother. I knew she meant well, but I wasn’t ready to think about the ball. There was still all of the upheaval for me to work through from having to hide out in Ames Crossing for a while.

However, instead of wallowing in my unhappy emotions, I sat back in my chair, ate my lasagna, and enjoyed the entertainment provided by the Marquette children.

“I’d love to,” I said.

***

Over the next several days, I made myself a new sort of routine. Since I wasn’t sure how long my ‘administrative leave’ would last, I was determined to create a new schedule and decided to do something constructive with my time off. I took long walks around the grounds of the mansion and tried to get back into daily meditation. And I even dusted off my old journal and forced myself to write something every day, jotting down whatever I was thinking in a sort of free flow journaling exercise.

Day eight as a refugee from my homeland…I began and then shook my head at my own snarkiness.

“You’re not a refugee, Cordelia,” I muttered to myself.It’s more like an enforced extended vacation.

Ames Crossing continues to be safe,I continued.The carriage house is comforting, and I feel at home here. My anxiety has lessened, and I’m sleeping better. However, as soon as I wake up, I still reach for my phone to see if Tim has left me any messages. It’s embarrassing, and yet it’s an automatic habit, from when he worked the night shift as a deputy...he would always text me and it would be the first thing I read every morning.

Funny the things you miss.

I suppose that makes me pathetic.He dumped me, and yet I continue to check my phone to see if he’s left any messages.I sighed and kept writing.Maybe I’m being too hard on myself. It’s going to take me some time. I mean we were a couple for two years...

I don’t want to shut my emotions off again and block them all out. Besides, I can only do that for a few hours at a time...if I hold it too long it’ll make me anxious and jittery.

So, I won’t.

I’ll keep taking this one day at a time and see what unfolds. This is a chance to rest. And an opportunity to reflect, reassess and renew.

Satisfied with that, I shut the journal and saw that the sun had yet to break the tree line around the estate. Grabbing my jacket, I zipped it up over my swimsuit and sweats. Philippe showed me the hotel’s pool and attached gym on my first night, and I had been taking a swim every day. I went very early in the morning, before the sun came up, as to not disturb the other hotel guests.

Sliding my feet in my crocs, I snagged my keycard, cap and goggles and let myself out. The stars were sparkling in the sky above me as I walked across the gardens. To the west the full moon was setting over the river. It made me smile to see the western sky lit in a hazy glow from the moon, while above me the sky was still deep as midnight.

By now I knew my way through the softly lit gardens very well and easily dodged the in-ground sprinklers that were watering the formal beds on the way. There was a slight nip in the air that had me shivering pleasantly. Heading around the mansion and toward the western main entrance, I let myself into the hotel lobby. The front desk clerk looked up from the monitor and gave me a friendly smile and a wave.

“Morning,” I said, retuning her wave.

I held the keycard to the lock on the pool room’s door and let myself in. The indoor pool area was a lovely set up. Atrium style windows were arranged on one wall and the other three were tiled in a pale blue color. Chrome lights added illumination onthe tile walls, and once the sun came up, the room would be flooded with natural light.

The pool itself wasn’t overlarge, however it was thirty feet in length, which allowed me to easily get in a good workout. Especially as one side of the pool was roped off into two lanes for lap swimming only.

I went and helped myself to a fresh towel and draped it over a chair off to the side of the pool, then I shed my crocs and outerwear quickly. Taking my goggles and cap with me, I went directly to the deeper end of the pool. Stepping off the pool deck, I dropped straight down into water.

The water temperature was perfect. I resurfaced and worked the cap over my wet hair, tucking up my ponytail underneath it. As I tread water, I slipped my goggles on and adjusted them automatically. Pushing off from the side of the pool, I began my laps.

While I was a bit spoiled by the pool at the aquatic center—it was an official racing size—it hadn’t been hard to alter my strokes here at the hotel. After all, this was an easy workout, not a serious training session. Since it was so early, I had the place all to myself which pleased me.

Comfortable in the solitude, the water’s magick began to work on me, and I felt my muscles warm, stretch, and loosen. After turning from the wall, I rolled over to an easy backstroke and kept going.

I was counting my strokes in anticipation of the wall, when I realized with a jolt that above me water droplets were floating, suspended in mid-air. My rhythm broke and I stopped swimming. Swinging my head around, I quickly checked to make sure no one else had come into the hotel’s pool.

“Damn it,” I swore under my breath. I wasn’t sure if my magick had slipped away from me or if the element was feelingplayful this morning. Perhaps it was a combination of the two. “I appreciate the show,” I said to the water, “but someone could walk right in here at any time.”

Which would be bad, because above the entire pool, tiny droplets of water were sparkling and shimmering in the pool room’s lights in a soft rainbow of colors.

“Disperse,” I said firmly. My jaw dropped when the water resisted me and continued to glitter in the air throughout the pool area. In direct defiance, they began to rotate in a slow clockwise motion above the pool.

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