Page 49 of Air Of Mystery
The simple sundress was a sky-blue fabric dotted with butterflies. It made my gray eyes look a tad bluer and complemented my blonde hair—casual, sexy, and summery all at the same time. With a nod of approval for my reflection, I went to the door and stepped out on the front porch as he approached the iron gate on the sidewalk.
“Welcome, Charlie,” I said and subtly gestured toward the lock. It opened with the softest click as he reached for it; he never noticed that I’d unlocked it from several feet away.
I admired him as he walked up the steps, carrying a bottle of wine. He was wearing navy shorts that showed off his muscular thighs and calves and a soft blue, short sleeve tee that accented his biceps. Seeing him made my mouth water and my hormones go into overdrive.
How did I get so lucky?I wondered. Leaning forward, I dropped a kiss right beside his mouth in greeting. “Come in,” I said and ushered him inside.
He handed me the wine. “I brought this for the meal.”
I glanced at the label. “TheTrois Amis, semi-sweet white. Can’t go wrong.”
After a quick tour of the main floor, I took him upstairs to my place. “This is a great house,” he said as he stepped into my apartment. “And I like your apartment.”
“Thank you,” I said, placing the wine on the counter. “I have a cousin, Astrid, who does interior design. She helped me with the plans and the layout of the space.”
“I’ve met your cousin Luna. She helps out Kenna at the bakery on the weekends, right?”
I nodded and went to pull the food out of the oven. “That’s right, Luna’s the second eldest of her family—like me.” I shooed him towards a barstool. “Take a seat.”
Charlie walked over and took a seat at the peninsula that separated my kitchen from the rest of the living space. “How many cousins do you have?”
“Four Golden cousins,” I said, starting to carve the meat. “There’s Soleil—we call her Sunny. Then comes Luna and the twins: Astrid and Orion.” I turned around to discover him blinking at me.
“Your four cousins all have celestial names?”
“They do, just as my sisters and I all have names that correspond with an element.”
“How so?”
“Brynn…her name is Welsh and means ‘hill.’”
“As in Witches on the Hill?”
I smiled. “More like hill as in the earth.”
He nodded and I continued.
“Then there’s me.” I pointed to myself. “Skye, element of air. Pretty self-explanatory. Then Kenna which means ‘born of fire,’ and Cordelia, which is another Welsh name that means ‘jewel of the sea.’”
“Earth, air, fire, and water,” he said. “Did your parents somehow know what element you would each have a connection to?”
“There was a prophecy. My grandmother, Althea, foresaw four daughters, each aligned to one of the elements,” I explained as I began to transfer both dark and white meat onto a small platter.
“Can I help?” Charlie half rose out of his seat.
“Sure,” I said. “You can get the wine glasses and pour us each a glass.” I told him where to find the glasses, and I dished up the food as he filled them.
“So are the elemental and celestial first names like a Witch thing?”
“More like a Golden family quirk, you might say,” I replied as I began transferring the roasted vegetables into bowls. “I have money on the table that Grandma Althea may have influenced the naming ofallof her grandchildren. You could say she’s strong willed.”
“After meeting your grandmother at Cordelia’s wedding, I can believe it.”
“Uh oh.” I winced and set the filled bowls and the platter on the peninsula. “Please tell me that she behaved herself.”
Charlie smiled as we took our seats. “She bumped into me, I took her arm to steady her, and she sort of stared right through me. Then she gave me this half smile and said, “Now youareunexpected. And exactly what she needs.”
I felt my face begin to flush.That canny old bird,I thought. When she’d first met Charlie, she must have read him and seen his future—with me.
