Page 43 of Monster Among the Roses (Fairy Tale Quartet 1)

Biting my lip, I took the marker from her and wrote above her phrase, adding:

Shaw and…

She snorted and pressed a ha

nd to her mouth, holding in a laugh. “Now you have to change my was to were.”

I looked up, reread everything, and flushed. “Oh yeah.” Lifting the marker again, I marked out the a-s after the w and added e-r-e above it.

When I stepped back to check out the result, I winced. “Oh, great. Now it looks like total shit.”

“Yeah,” Isobel agreed, nodding. “Maybe you should put those shelves up to cover it.”

I shook my head at her dry sarcasm, even though I was still amused by her witticism. “Smart-ass,” I muttered, biting my lip to hold in the grin.

Then I lifted the drill, and bored a hole through the wall of Porter Hall’s library.

chapter

FOURTEEN

Weeks passed, the library transformed, and a routine sprouted between Isobel and me. We’d run, I’d take my dream shower—I was becoming increasingly spoiled by those showers—then we’d eat breakfast together after everyone else had eaten and cleared out of the kitchen, and after that, it was off to the library for renovation time. In between the woodworking part, we painted the walls a glossy eggshell color and installed more lights.

I asked Isobel if she wanted me to find some professional painters and electricians to take care of that part, but she’d admitted she liked this do-it-ourselves thing we had going on. It made it more meaningful to her. That had me grinning until she added, “Besides, you’re such an anal-retentive perfectionist, I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

So I read more books and learned about wiring, and it ended up I only electrocuted myself twice before all the new lights were installed.

We were finishing the last bookshelf one Tuesday when Kit skipped merrily into the library, calling my name, except it sounded a lot more like he said Saw because of his missing front teeth. “Mom said to tell you—”

But then he caught sight of Isobel on the other side of the room, adjusting the space between shelves, and he ran out again.

I huffed out a breath and set my hands on my hips. “That kid pisses me off. I hate the way he acts around you.”

“Oh, give him a break,” Isobel chided, not even looking my way as she lowered the shelf another inch. “I’d be afraid of me too if I were him.”

Shaking my head, I stared at her as she worked, amazed she could defend someone who never treated her right. “Has anyone actually ever forced him to get to know you so he can realize you’re perfectly normal?”

She finally glanced my way and lifted a mockingly insulted eyebrow. “Only perfectly normal, huh? How depressing.”

I sighed and then grumbled, “You know what I mean. He shouldn’t be allowed to treat you like that.”

“It’s fine, Shaw. Leave it be.”

“No. Not unless you can look me in the eye and one hundred percent tell me his behavior doesn’t bother you.”

She turned to look me straight in the eye, only to frown. After a sniff, she muttered, “I said it was fine.”

“He’s creepy, if you ask me.”

With a laugh, she shook her head. “Creepy? Because he’s scared of a scary-looking woman?”

“You’re not scary-looking, and yes, creepy. The first day I met him he was drawing a dead animal with blood pouring out of it with sidewalk chalk on the patio outside the kitchen.”

She shrugged. “Sounds like a typical little boy to me.”

I sent her a get-real scowl. “I never drew pictures of bloody things.”

“I have a feeling you weren’t a typical little boy, either.” That was true, but it disgruntled me to think of how accurate it was. “I think I remember a couple gruesome drawings by Ezra a time or two.”

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