Prelude to a Witch, Amanda Lee [ebook reader web txt] 📗

“Hey.” He leaned in and kissed me before I could respond. “Did you sleep okay?”

I nodded as I rubbed my face. I was not on my game when I first woke up, something he knew well. That’s when he tried to get me to promise things like staying out of trouble and ridiculous sex pledges that he found funny. I had no intention of making that promise today … although I wasn’t necessarily opposed to one of his pledges. “I slept hard. How about you?”

“I always sleep hard.”

That was true. “It’s probably because you ate your weight in beef and potatoes last night.”

“Hey, pot roast is good.”

I thought back to the dinner, which seemed to last forever. “What do you think about Hannah?”

“We talked about this last night,” he moaned. “I love you.”

“Not that. I know you love me.”

“The proposal to end all proposals proved that.”

I couldn’t swallow my smile. “It did, but I knew before that.”

“Good. I wasn’t with Hannah very long.”

“How long?”

He shrugged. “A couple months, on and off. Believe it or not, I was dedicated to being a good agent. I didn’t have much time for personal stuff. We dated, but we weren’t devoted to one another. It wasn’t like that.”

“Are you saying we’re devoted to one another?”

“I’m completely devoted to you and will be forever.”

“Oh, that’s kind of sweet.” I kissed his cheek. “I’m devoted to you too.”

“I know. I’m handsome, make a good living and give the best proposals in the world. I’m a catch.”

I laughed again, as I knew he’d intended. Then I sobered. “She’s going to be a problem, Landon.” I didn’t want him dwelling on it all day, but it had to be addressed. “She might be over you, but she’s still curious about how you ended up here.”

“Anybody who knew me back then would be curious about that.”

“Why?”

“I had intense plans back then to end up in a huge office in a big city.”

“And instead you settled for Hemlock Cove.”

“I didn’t settle,” he argued. “I found you. I fell in love ... with you and this town. I don’t want to be anywhere else. We’ve talked about this.”

“The old you would look at the new you and be disgusted,” I mused.

“I don’t know that I would’ve been disgusted. I would’ve been confused. Old me — and I’m still young and hot so we need to come up with a different way to phrase that — would’ve taken young me aside and explained about true love and how it makes everything perfect.”

I stared at his stubbled profile. “Okay, you’ve got me. You don’t have to say schmaltzy stuff like that all the time.”

“Maybe I like the schmaltz.” He dug his fingers into my side and tickled, causing me to gasp. “Don’t worry about Hannah,” he said after a few seconds, turning serious. “She might try to shrink us all because that’s her way, but this is hardly the first time we’ve protected ourselves from law enforcement invaders. We’ll be fine.”

I hoped he was right. “We should probably get dressed and head to the inn for breakfast,” I said as I glanced at the clock. “Hannah will be there, and I don’t want to risk her sitting through an entire meal with Aunt Tillie alone.”

“Good idea. We could probably go faster if we showered together.”

I shot him a dubious look. “Yeah, I’m thinking showering together will take longer.”

“Yet I’m willing to risk it. What does that say about me?”

“It says that you’re a pervert. If you want to shower together, we definitely need to get moving.”

HANNAH WAS IN THE DINING ROOM POURING juice when we joined her. We drove to the inn parking lot to be prepared for whatever the day would bring, so we entered through the front door rather than the back.

“Good morning.” Hannah greeted us with a bright smile. “Looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day.”

Landon moved around me and broke into a huge grin before I could answer. “There’s my girl!”

For a moment, I was confused — and a little horrified — but then I realized who he was talking to.

Snort. Snort.

Peg, dressed in a camouflage sweater, appeared from beneath the table and headed straight for Landon. She wriggled in ecstasy as he dropped to the floor and showered her with attention.

“I thought this conversation was going to take a weird turn,” Hannah admitted as she watched the show. “I’m both relieved and ... baffled. Is that a pig?”

“Peg,” I answered with a nod and grabbed the tomato juice carafe. “She belongs to Aunt Tillie. Landon loves her beyond reason.”

“What’s not to love?” Landon demanded as Peg jumped all over hm. “She’s my little lover.”

I watched them a moment and then shook my head. “You’ll have to excuse Landon. It’s come to my attention that he might be starved for love from an animal. I’m thinking of getting him a dog for Christmas this year.”

“Nobody needs a dog,” Landon countered as he scratched Peg’s flank. “We have Peg ... who we don’t have to take care of because she belongs to someone else. We work too much for a dog.”

“I could take a dog to the newspaper office with me.”

He stilled. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. We should adopt a really big guard dog. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about Brian Kelly showing up at the newspaper to mess with you. He would crap his pants if you had a hell hound to protect you.”

Hannah’s expression reflected curiosity. “I think I’m behind. First ... Peg the pig?” She appeared to be battling back laughter.

“She named the pig after her arch nemesis,” Landon volunteered. “Margaret Little. They’ve been trying to kill one another for eighty years.”

“More like seventy years,” I corrected.

“Ah.” Hannah’s smile widened. “That’s kind of cute.”

I could think of other words to describe it. “It’s ... just how we live our lives. Aunt Tillie is feisty. She likes messing with the neighbors. It