Page 32 of Amethyst Queen
Chapter 28
Dante snuggled with Amalee as they watched Julie and Baxter on the floor. The visit with her mother had gone better than he could’ve expected. He wasn’t lying when he told her dad he intended to marry her. He’d bought a ring two years ago and planned on proposing when she left town.
“It’s getting late. We should get them to bed.” Dante pressed a kiss to her head, “Plus, I’d like some alone time with you.”
Stretching, Amalee gave him a cheeky grin, “And what kind of alone time are we talking about?”
Leaning toward her, he pressed his lips to hers, “The kind that could lead to more children.”
“Julie, Baxter,” Amalee stood quickly, “Come on, guys, its time for bed.”
Julie stood, taking Baxter’s hand in hers and started toward the stairs. Amalee reached down and lifted Baxter into her arms and tugged Julie’s hand into hers.
“You know, Julie,” Amalee peeked at her, “If you’d like to pick out your own room tomorrow, we could decorate it however you like.”
“No, thank you. I’d hate to do that when my brother is coming for me soon. Can I just stay with Baxter?”
Dante gave Amalee a sad glance, “Of course you can, sweet girl.” He ruffled her head as they walked up the staircase together.
After getting Baxter changed into pajamas, Amalee sat on the edge of the giant bed the two of them shared. Julie felt safer sleeping in the same bed as him, so it wasn’t a shock she’d turned down having her own room.
“Amalee,” Julie whispered, “Could you read us a bedtime story? My mom used to read one to me every night.”
Dante sat down in a chair near them, “That’s a great idea. I’d love to stay and listen.”
“Fine… why don’t you go over there and pick one out.” She pointed out the small bookcase to Julie.
She watched as she pulled three books from the shelf and carried them over. “Wow… that’s a lot of stories.” Amalee giggled, eliciting a chuckle from Baxter, who was snuggled under the covers.
“I couldn’t decide. You pick for us.” Julie crawled onto the plush mattress and tugged the blanket to her neck.
Amalee smiled, “all right, let’s see what you got. Ah,” she thumbed the first book, “Alice in Wonderland. This was one of my favorites.” Moving it to the bottom of the stack, “And Beauty and the Beast… another brilliant choice. Geez… this will be hard. Let’s see what you picked for the last one,” Amalee slid the last book out. Her breath caught as the leather book came into view. “Julie… these were all on the shelf?”
“Yes… did I do something wrong?”
“What is it, Amalee?” Dante stood behind her.
“It’s the journal.” Amalee held the leather-bound book up for him to see, “It was on the fucking kid's bookshelf the whole time.”
“Fuck.”
“You said a bad word.” Julie’s eyes were as round as the moon, her fear reverberating through the room.
“Shit,” Dante moved to her side of the bed, “I’m sorry, honey. It’s ok. You just found something important that we’ve been searching for. You did good, baby girl.”
“I’m not a baby,” she grumbled.
“You're right. I apologize.”
“How about I read Beauty and the Beast? Just a couple of chapters… ok?”
Amalee tucked the journal beneath her leg, afraid it would disappear again. Every fiber of her body was screaming to run out of there and tear it open, but she knew reading the story to Julie was far more important. Pushing aside the churning nerves in her gut, she forced herself to read the tale of a beautiful woman who fell in love with a beast.
