Page 41 of Fated Midlife Christmas
“I think maybe I can. It’s like interruptions in how I’m seeing the rest of the room.”
“Then let’s see what you can do with it. It might help to close your eyes again.” Lars pushed her right hand out a little further. “The threads are easier to deal with. They’re small, and they’re already in the right shape to return to the ley lines.”
Her back rested easily against his chest. “Okay. What do I do?”
Lars had noted as soon as they’d arrived that the excess ley energy he’d packed down into the earth the previous night had already dissipated. That was going to make this much easier than if he’d had to get it moving manually. That also meant the ley lines were well on their way to repairing themselves.
“Lift your hand up and around, like you’re going to catch them,” he told her, guiding her the whole way. “Then push your hand back down into the earth, then out.” Now he moved her hand laterally, parallel to the floor.
“That seems too easy,” Amanda protested.
“I will be honest. It’s a lot easier since I’m here to help. The first time you do it on your own, you wonder how it ever worked at all. I think you can do it, though. How do the threads feel now?”
“Like there are fewer of them. I’m worried I’m just making that up because I think that’s how it’s supposed to feel.” A bit of tension knotted her shoulders.
“No, you’re right,” Lars soothed. “Let’s work on the rest of them.”
He coached her through pushing the energy into the earth, one long thread at a time. The larger masses of energy, the ones that he’d shoved to the side for lack of any better place to put them, were a bit trickier.
“Have you ever spun wool?”
“Um, no,” she said with a laugh. “Have you?”
“Yes, actually. I told you about how much knitting my mother’s family did. Some of them also raised sheep and made the yarn, which supplied the knitting business. My mother only did it for fun, something to remember the old ways, but she was good at it. The process here is similar.”
“Then I guess I’ll learn how to spin wool and ley lines at the same time,” Amanda joked.
They worked together, pinching off a small bit of the energy, twisting and wrapping it in on itself until it made a long strand. These were thicker than the threads they’d already dealt with, but they were just as easy to put where they belonged once they were in the right shape.
The work came easily to him, and she was a good enough student that she didn’t make it any harder. The only difficult part for Lars was being so close to Amanda. She was his mate, the person he was meant to be with. Their souls recognized each other, and they’d even been able to communicate telepathically when they were both in their animal forms. He knew exactly what that meant when it happened, but the threat of Mary Riddle had caught most of his attention. Now, though, as they finished cleaning up the mess there, he could only think about how little time he had left in Salem and the fact that he’d be spending so little of it with her.
“Last one,” Amanda said. Whether she realized it or not, she was practically doing them on her own now.
Regretfully, he took his hands from the backs of hers and stepped away. “I knew you’d be able to do this.”
“Don’t give me too much credit. I only did it with your help.” Her cheeks were pink and her eyes glittered, looking truly satisfied.
That only made him think about a different time she’d looked satisfied. Doubt, conflict, and heartache consumed him all over again. “Still, you’re a natural.”
Lorelei knocked on the doorframe, since the door itself had been badly crushed by Mary’s violent tantrum. “How’s it going?”
Lars took one last look around the room to be sure he hadn’t missed anything. “All done.”
“Really? Oh, you guys are going to get me started thanking you all over again,” Lorelei gushed.
“You can thank us by reaching out whenever you need it,” Amanda told her. “Our Sisterhood is very serious about being friends.”
“Okay. You guys are great.” She walked with them to the front door, opened it, and paused. “You’re a really cute couple, by the way. I noticed it when you first came by, and I just wanted to tell you that.”
The pink in Amanda’s cheeks turned a bright red. “Thanks,” she said stiffly. “We’ll talk soon.”
As Amanda drove him back to the clanhouse, Lars had to keep reminding himself that nothing had changed. They’d had a good time there, sharing intimacy on a whole new level, but she’d already made it plain how she felt about a long-distance relationship.
Nothing had changed, no matter what Lorelei or anyone else thought.
16
Amanda inhaled deeply.The air was filled with the scent of the herbs and fruit that decorated the Yule tree. As soon as she’d walked in the front door, she could smell mulled wine, baked goods, and hot soups. “There’s nothing like the smell of home during the winter solstice.”
