Page 130 of Of Flames and Fallacies

Cole spots me. Completely withdrawn from whatever conversation he was in with another man. Captivated, his gaze devours every inch of me, his mouth parted in awe. The man has to repeat whatever he said to Cole, and I break our eye contact at Celeste’s laugh ringing out amongst a group. A sigh of relief escapes me when I recognize Archie and Melaina gathered with her. I gather my skirts and inch down the stairs. For a split second, I imagine missing a step and tumbling all the way down to the bottom. Miraculously, I make it to the main floor without tripping.

Celeste glows as she approaches me. “Kat! You look exquisite.”

I smile. “Thank you, you look lovely, as well.”

She hugs me and hands me a glass of red wine. “I was about to come fetch you. I forgot to tell you where we would have dinner. I’m glad to see you found it!”

Archie gawks at me as I hug him in greeting. He’s dressed in formal wear, colored in rich plums with his sandy blonde hair swept back from his face.

I squeeze his shoulder. “And look at you! You look handsome.”

His cheeks redden at my compliment. I exchange greetings with Melaina, who is wrapped in orange creams accentuating her bust. Her black hair is pinned back, a shimmer of color on her eyelids.

“How is your room? Are you comfortable?” Celeste asks me.

“Oh, definitely. It’s a generous room, thank you. And a wonderful view of the gardens.”

“I’m glad to hear it! Mel actually has a funny story about those gardens.” Celeste smiles with a glint.

Melaina shakes her head, blushing. “Absolutely not.”

“It’s a good one, and she would get a kick out of it!” Celeste whines.

“Then you tell it, Cece.”

Celeste takes the bait as Melaina shakes her head and begins to cover her face with her hand. “When Mel first came here, we used to play in the gardens all the time. You know, tea parties and what not. And one day she turned to me and asked, ‘Do you believe in angels?’ and I had to, of course. Who doesn’t believe in angels? She then asked if I had ever seen agardeningangel here,” Celeste sputters with a laugh.

“What’s so funny about that? Are you saying angels can’t have hobbies and indulge in gardening?” Archie asks.

We all burst into a fit of giggles.

“What?” he prompts again as he looks wildly from woman to woman.

I smile at Archie. “I think she had mistaken gardening angels for guardian angels.”

Archie nods his head in understanding as it clicks. Melaina jabs a quick elbow at a snickering Celeste who tries not to crumple.

I glance back and forth between the two women. “So you two grew up together?”

“Unfortunately. Friends since we were…what? Ten you say?” Melaina looks to Celeste for confirmation.

Celeste crinkles her nose with unbound affection, warmth tugging at her smile. “Something like that. But I don’t know if I would use the word ‘unfortunately.’ I’m glad we did.”

“How did you two meet?” Archie asks.

“Our fathers were good friends. Her father was second in command to mine. They spent a lot of time together, so in turn we also spent a lot of time together,” Celeste answers.

“And now I can’t seem to get rid of you.” Melaina glares playfully at Celeste.

Celeste bumps her with her hip.

“Anyway, is your brother going to be here?” Melaina glances around.

“Why? Still interested?” Celeste teases.

Archie shifts uncomfortably, and my stomach drops.

A faint blush creeps to Melaina’s cheeks as she whips her head toward Celeste and swats her arm. “Absolutely not!”

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