Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 47359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 237(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 237(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
“But your grandfather was stubborn,” Lara said with a smile. She was a sucker for a love story, though she preferred the ones with happy endings.
“Determined,” Michael corrected. “And as my grandfather has explained time and again, my grandmother was too much of a spirited beauty to simply walk away and forget. He told me that he knew from when he first laid eyes on her that he loved her, and there was no way he would ever live life without her.”
“I guess the gypsies had other ideas.” Lara’s eyes turned wide. “Wait. I think I found the spell that was used on him.” She left her wine glass on the small table beside the chaise and hurried to the nightstand, snatching up the old, battered spell book. She sat on the chaise and carefully thumbed through the worn pages. “I recall reading a few words before I dozed off. I curse his soul. Here it is—” she shook her head. “Parts of the curse are in another language. Here you must know it. Read it.”
Michael took the book from her hand. “Not now.”
The distress in his eyes had her offering an apology. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
He turned and placed the book on the side table. When he turned back around, he asked her a question she had to stop and think about.
“What would you do if the person you loved from the depths of your soul was forbidden to you?”
After some contemplation, she said, “I wonder about love in today’s world. I sometimes think that love has become a word that is thrown around so easily that it has lost the sacred power it once held. I think sacred love has become rare and if I found someone who I loved from the depths of my soul I would fight with all I had, so I would never lose such a blessed love.”
“You would be determined.”
“Not only determined but committed to such a rare love.” She laughed softly. “And patient, since, no doubt, a love so strong would have its challenges.”
“Yes, it would, but I am confident that you would be up to the task.”
Her brow knitted and she tilted her head in question. “You barely know me and yet you have confidence in me?”
“You are like an open book to me that I have spent the last several hours reading and thoroughly enjoying, and I am eager to read more.”
She couldn’t help but wonder if the ending of the book would be a happy read for either of them, for what could the end possibly bring?
“It is after seven. I suggest we continue our talk while having supper,” he said, holding his hand out to her.
She took it and the familiar spark his touch ignited sent a sensual quiver through her body. She tempered it as best she could, but she realized that it was getting more difficult to do so. Her body was demanding what her mind was fighting and, most unexpectedly, her heart was joining in.
“I should change,” she said, stepping away from him, needing a bit of distance.
“Nonsense. Stay as you are...comfortable. Tonight is not for formality. We’ll enjoy our meal in the room off the kitchen.”
Lara couldn’t stop a smile from surfacing and admitting, “I’d like that.”
“Let me slip on a shirt and socks, though I fear I have no polka dot ones.”
Lara laughed and stuck out her foot. “I have dozens.”
They left the room together, though Lara waited in the hall. Michael didn’t take long. He returned wearing a black knit shirt that, of course, had to cling to his every muscle and curve.
They hurried off to the kitchen. Lara selected one of the pre-prepared suppers in the freezer and popped it in the microwave while Michael fixed a plate of raw veggies and fruit. He also chose a Pinot Noir from the wine rack, and they soon were ensconced in the comfortable room off the kitchen, sitting across from each other as they enjoyed supper together.
Lara couldn’t recall the last time she had felt so relaxed with a man. She found it hard to believe that it had been only this morning that they had met. They talked and laughed more like old friends than new acquaintances. He was easy and interesting to talk with and seemed so...human.
“You were never frightened growing up amid all those gravestones?” he asked, settling back in his chair with his wine glass in hand.
“No, never. I was so young when my father got the position as the caretaker. I didn’t understand what a cemetery was. My father would take me with him on the riding mower when he cut the grass.” Lara smiled. “At first, I thought the headstones were doors and I would knock on them and asked to come in. Then I began talking to the deceased, calling them by name. Then one day my dad found me at one of the burial ceremonies talking to the widow of a man who had just been buried. He apologized to the elderly woman, but she told him it wasn’t necessary that I had made it easier for her to leave her husband’s graveside since I had promised her that he would not be alone that I would keep him company and talk to him every day.