“What is?” She looked at Devon when Jackson got up and left them. “What’s his thought? He’s never done this before to me. Just wandered off. Is he all right?”

  “Yes, but I think I know where his mind is going. Once we have a location on this guy, we’ll be playing with his livelihood as well.” Nicole was still confused, and it didn’t get any better when Devon left her as well, laughing like a horse.

  Frustrated, she got up and went to the upper floor of the building before she realized that when they’d been there before, there hadn’t been an upper floor. Calling for Glow, he came almost as fast as she said his name. Asking him about the stairs and what was up there, he explained to her.

  “We needed a place to store things that would be extra. Not just for the food area, but for us as well. Plus, a place for us to hide when it is busy. Come, my lady, I will show you around.” She continued up the stairs, wondering if her day would ever look up, when she reached the top. “I hope no one minds.”

  It was simply the most beautiful garden that she’d ever seen. Certainly the biggest. Flowers of every color, blooms that made her wonder what was stored within the petals. Water was flowing along a small stream-like place that Glow assured her was never going to overflow, as they were careful how they’d put it in. A large tree was there as well, its branches full of small creatures from the forest that were friendly with the faeries. Brownies were within the branches, as well as butterflies and crickets. Getting down on her knees, she watched the water flow along rocks of different colors. The small fish were moving in and out of the small currents, and seemingly not unhappy at all that they were in a man—or in this case a faerie made creek.

  “We will stay up here when the bottom is busy. Should the weather turn bad too, so that we may keep warm. Bloom suggested that we have a place to give aid to those hurt too. I thought that a daycare would be nice for the wee ones to come to when their parents are working.” She looked around at the places that he pointed out to her. “With the flowers and water, we can keep ourselves fed and clothed. There is magic all around that will keep others away. Even should a nosy person come up the stairs, we will not be seen by anyone but another one of us.”

  “This is a place that I could come for some rest and peace as well, I think.” He showed her the chair that had been brought in. There was a large pillow, big enough for her to lie on, near the creek. “I really would just like to relax for one minute. Do you think anyone would care?”

  “Nay, my lady. We’d be most honored if you were to rest for a bit. The soothing sounds of the water and the sounds of the tree will sway most anyone to rest. You go ahead and have your minute.” She nodded and stood up to go to the pillow. It seemed to grow with each step she took. “It will accommodate you nicely. Go ahead, lie down and we will all watch over you.”

  Nicole couldn’t resist lying down on the big downy bed. As soon as her head hit the furry softness, she closed her eyes. Just a minute, she told herself as she felt the pillow form around her, making her feel about as safe as she was in Jackson’s arms.

  When she woke up, Jackson was sitting in the big chair that had been pointed out earlier, and snoring. He seemed so relaxed there that she didn’t bother moving until he must have sensed that he was being watched, and opened his eyes and smiled at her.

  “This is a wonderful place to come to, isn’t it?” He nodded, and told her that he’d done a few things while she’d been sleeping. “Right now, I don’t care. I don’t think I’ve been this relaxed in a very long time. What did you do?”

  “I have a friend that is coming by the restaurant tonight to make sure your little friend isn’t able to come in. He said that he’d gladly take care of the man for dinner. I hope you don’t mind, but I also said that you’d help out with some of the baked goods for this weekend’s auction.” She said that was fine by her. “Good. Anyway, Devon is making a few calls too, and this guy isn’t going to have a leg to stand on when he tries this shit. By the way, is Mark Park his real name?”

  “Yes, I’m afraid so. He’s a professor too, so he’s Prof Mark Park. That is difficult to say three times. What other calls have you guys been making?” He asked her, instead of answering her, what she had to do at the restaurant to get it ready in an hour. “An hour? Are you kidding me? Only an hour? You should have...well that wouldn’t have worked—you were sleeping too. I have to go. And you’re coming to help me. An hour? Really?”

  Since all the prep work had been done earlier and the faeries were willing to help, she was open and ready at five minutes until five. Nicole had also taken a walk around the new patio setting, and had suggested that they make it as calming as the place she’d slept in. It might make for better customers, she thought. All in all, Nicole was happy with the place that she could come and create in. Happy also with the people that she worked with.

  There were two faeries working for her. They were not small like the others, but tall like her. They were fast too, she’d discovered, and having them help her on the line not only kept her mind calm, but straight as well. By the time the first slow down came, she was as relaxed as she’d been waking from her nap.

  Devon joined her at a little after eleven. They’d been closed since ten, but she’d been making dinner until then. Nicole asked him if he was there to do the dishes, joking with the big dragon. Instead of laughing, he told her that he had someone he wanted her to meet. She was pulling on a clean apron and walking out the door from the kitchen with him when he told her who it was.

  “He’s the critic from the New York Times. He’d like to tell you what a wonderful and delightful meal he had.” She stopped and looked up at Devon. “See, I can help too.”

  Doubling up her fist, she hit him right in the nose. As he dropped to the floor, having tripped over the mat that was in the front of the prep table, Nicole made her way out to the dining room alone. She was thinking of all sorts of ways she was going to make the man suffer when the man at the table started singing her praises as soon as he saw her.

  Chapter 13

  Jackson was thrilled with the way things were going. The sales were much higher than he’d been told each piece might go for, and the gems were drawing quite a bit of interest as well. They’d had nearly four thousand people come for the preview, and he thought that there were twice that many of them here now. Security was tight, so he wasn’t worried about anything walking off.

  The dining area was packed. Even pulling out some of the tables and chairs from the restaurant wasn’t handling the overflow well, but people were in great moods. Children were there, but few of them to cause any unnecessary issues. A place this huge with antiques in it was not a place for children to be running around.

  Going behind the counter to ask if anyone needed a break, he ended up pouring cheese over chips for a little while. Nicole was there as well, taking money for pies that she’d brought in, as well as other items that she’d been working on all week to help out with. He was glad now that she’d gone slightly overboard. They’d be lucky if they made it much longer, the way things were going.

  The color guard was there too, selling their candy bars for a buck. Afraid that with all the pies that they had, the girls wouldn’t sell all that many, he had purchased them all and told them to resell them. So far they’d made three trips to the school for more of the treats, and their leader was placing another order in the morning. Things were working out for everyone, he thought.

  “Oh, Lord William. I cannot thank you enough for this. And the tip jar was such an amazing idea. We’ve gotten more than enough for not just the new band uniforms, but we also might be able to purchase some new equipment as well. I cannot believe this is going so well.” He told Mrs. Roman that it was their pleasure. “And the buses? I don’t believe that we not only have more buses than I thought we’d ever have, but we have four of them. And they’re all brand new. No more getting halfway to a game and having to wait on a tow truck to rescue us.”

  “We help out where we can, and this was something that we all agreed was possible.” He poured four more chip concoctions and pulled nine pickles out of the jar to be sold. Jackson couldn’t believe that people actually ate these things.

  “I’m glad now that we made this a two day auction. I’m thinking that at the rate we’re going, we’ll have to do next weekend too.” He watched as Devon took over for Nicole so that she could leave for her job. Devon turned to talk to him as he waited on his chips. “Grandmother is going over to help Nicole for a while. With all these people around, she thought that she might be able to use some help tonight.”

  “We’ve already talked to Mr. Holland, and it is set up for next weekend too. I thought I told you.” Devon said that it didn’t matter. “Oh well. Anyway, I was talking to some other friends of ours, and they have a bunch of shit to get rid of as well. Estate things that they no longer want to look at.”

  “I know that feeling. Before I met Kelly, I was ready to close up the house and move to something more in town. Then I got to thinking about all the stuff that has been there for generations. But she loved it.” He said that Nicole loved what they’d kept as well. “Have you been out to see Connor’s home? Jackson, it looks like it was just put on this earth from the early eighteen hundreds. Even the wallpaper is classy looking.”

  “I’ve not been there yet, but Nicole has. He wanted her ideas on the kitchen. It’s still very retro, but she helped him add and hide things so that it looks authentic to the eye.” Devon told him that he’d heard. “I’m thinking very hard on what we talked about when I decided to open this warehouse up. I know that I did this on a whim, but I think I could really enjoy running this sort of place. I do know antiques well, and Nicole and I love to travel. We’re going to buy us a big moving house, a motorhome, and go to estate sales and such to buy low and sell high. It would be a good trip and a way for us to unwind for a while.”

  “Kelly said to me last night that she needs a project to do. Grandmother has been trying to get her to join some of her little clubs, but Kelly isn’t into that. Bryce is teaching her a little about witchcraft, but she said that she’d never be as good as Bryce. She wants something of her own, she told me.” Jackson gave another person a break and ended up at the sales counter this time. Asking him what Kelly had in mind, he said she was working on it. “I did caution her about pacing herself on things, that she was going to be around for a long time, and she just waved me off. I don’t think any of the women—well, maybe Bryce—get what the long time they’re going to be alive actually means.”

  “Doubtful.” The auction was still going strong when he and Devon made their way over to where Nicole was at the restaurant. She was busy, but she seemed to have a handle on it. Asking her what they could do to help, she asked if they knew how to bus tables. “Both of us do, as a matter of fact. You’d be surprised what we have done in our past lives.”

  “Good, go and bus. I have two men down, and I don’t want to have to go out there and bus them myself.” She was in a good mood for as busy as she was, so he and Devon dressed like the rest of the staff and went to the dining room. Lo and behold, Mark Park was trying to get in.

  “I said that I’m a friend of Ms. Fitzpatrick and she asked me to come by and sample some of her line. It will only take a moment.”

  Devon asked him if he wanted to take care of him or could he. As the man went on and on about seeing Nicole, Jackson decided to take this on.

  “Can I help you? I’m one of the owners.” The man looked at him and tried to dismiss the people that had been hired specifically to keep Mr. Park out. “I don’t believe that my wife has ever mentioned you.”

  “Well, I don’t know how she would since I haven’t any idea who she is. I would like to speak to Nicole. Her and I are good friends, and after that sham of an interview she gave last night, she asked me to come and see if I could improve her line for her.” Jackson didn’t move. “Do you understand English?”

  “Better than you do, I’d bet. Yes, I remember you now. Mark Park. The idiot who thought to have her fired from her job here. I don’t think you want to bark up that tree, buddy. My wife is doing very well here.” He asked him who his wife was. “Nicole and I are married. She’s Lady Nicole Fitzpatrick William, Duchess of Willow, Queen of Red Dragons.”

  Park staggered, just enough that he fell into Jackson. Before standing him up straight, he felt the several vials that he had stashed all over his body. Pulling one of them out of his pocket, Jackson read what it said.

  “Arsenic? Why do you think that this poison will improve my wife’s cooking?” Jackson had made sure that he said it loud enough for those around them to hear. Not just the staff, but the patrons as well, including Devon’s grandmother. She asked him what was going on. “This man. He claims to be Nicole’s friend and that she asked him to come in and improve her line of food tonight. Then I find this on him.”

  Susanna took the vial and held it up to see into it. Handing it back to him, she looked at the man in front of them both. Mr. Mark had met his match in the form of a little lady with a dragon running over her skin.

  “What do you think you’re doing here, young man? Coming to poison people?” She looked around the room that had grown silent since she started talking. “This is the man that I’ve been telling you all about. The one that wants to hurt my good friend’s patrons. Why, I just don’t know what to do now. Does anyone have any ideas?”

  Chairs scraped across the floor. Silverware clanged together as men and women alike began to stand up. One man even pulled out a badge, saying that he was with the FBI, and that they frowned heavily on that sort of foul play. Park was backing up, saying that he’d been mistaken.

  He was pushed and shoved out the door. By the time he was on the sidewalk, there were perhaps thirty people standing over him, each of them shouting at the man about the best meal they’ve ever had, and didn’t he read the Times? Jackson simply went back to busing tables and trying his best not to laugh too hard. But he was worried about what Nicole was going to say when she figured out what was going on in her dining room.

  When she did arrive on the scene, she had a big cleaver in her hands. He was positive that she’d never thought about what was in her hand when she left the kitchen—at least that was what he told himself—but she didn’t have any trouble brandishing it at Park when he was being put into the cruiser.

  The police had pulled eighty-five vials from his shirt pockets and other areas on his body. There was also a bag of urine and one of shit. What he planned to do with those was anyone’s idea, but he was gone now so no one cared. As soon as the dining room was back to having a nice meal, he went to the kitchen with a load of dishes.

  “You all right?” She nodded at him and looked up from the steak she was putting on the grill. There were tears in her eyes. “Oh honey, don’t cry.”

  “I’m not. Well, I am, but not sad tears. Did you see the look on his face when I stood over him with the cleaver? I swear to you, Jackson, it couldn’t have been any better if he’d only shit himself.” Nicole was laughing hard as she filled up the grill with meat. “Tomorrow the camper comes, did you know?”

  “I did. Did you want to take it on a dry run?” She nodded, and he decided that he just could not love this woman any more than he did now. But when she stiffened, he did as well. “What is it?”

  “Kelly. She’s in labor.” He wanted to go to her, but he knew that he was needed here more. There wasn’t anything they could do for Kelly until she had the hatchling. Only to protect her, as she was a dragon that would be in distress. “Bloom. Go to the castle and protect Kelly. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  The rest of the night seemed to drag on, but nothing was happening with the egg so they didn’t leave the restaurant. It needed to look like a normal night, nothing unusual going on. Because to do so might reveal with the magic of her birthing, and there would be all kinds of idiots around to harm them both.

  Devon had left as soon as he’d been made aware. So had Susanna. It made them short again, but Jackson was glad for the extra load to keep his mind off of things going on. It was that or climb the walls waiting for the last of the people to leave the restaurant.

  At nine thirty they were closed up and the last of the patrons had paid and were gone. The kitchen was a mess, but Nicole promised her staff that she’d return to clean up. They were all so excited to have a newborn baby born—as if the other fifty of them wasn’t enough—they were rushed out the door.

  “What sort of baby will Kelly have? I mean, they’re both dragons, correct?” Jackson nodded at her. “Then will she have an egg? A baby that is still a dragon?”

  “Being that they’re both dragons, Kelly will have an egg. It will be small when she delivers it—about the size of a newborn baby. But, and this happens quickly, as the time gets nearer to the dragon hatching, the egg and the dragon inside will grow to be very large. Much larger than a small pony.”

  Kelly was walking around, having a cup of tea when they arrived. She was calm, greeted them nicely, and asked if the restaurant had done well tonight. Wearing a pair of jeans and a shirt of Devon’s, she didn’t seem to be in any kind of stress at all. Devon, however, was a mess.

  His dark hair was up all over his head. He’d been pulling at his face too, and it was slightly bruised in a couple of places. Of course, the punch to his face from Nicole was healed, but it still made Jackson laugh when he thought of it. Also, his clothing looked as if he’d been sleeping in it for a month or more.

  “What is wrong with you, man?” Devon glared at him, and started to do the same to Nicole but changed his mind. “You look as if you’re the one having a hatchling tonight.”

  “She won’t listen to me.” Jackson asked him what it was he wanted Kelly to do. “I want her to have this baby right now instead of taking her time—”

  Kelly simply cleared her throat and Devon’s mouth shut with an auditable snap.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17