Read Online Canyons of Night by Jayne Castle - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jayne Castle
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do with the fact that you’ve never married?”
“It’s complicated.” She swallowed some more wine. “Let’s just say that, as far as professional matchmakers are concerned, I’m a difficult match.”
“So you did go to an agency?”
“Oh, sure, I went with the best, at least the best one for a member of the Arcane Society.”
“Arcanematch?”
“Yes.”
“I take it that didn’t go well?” he asked.
“I was reminded that no match is ever one hundred percent guaranteed perfect and that goes double for strong or extremely unusual talents. Turns out I fit both categories. Evidently that makes for a para-psych profile that has too many unknown or unpredictable elements.”
He frowned. “You told me that your ability was useless for anything except reading aura rainbows and tuning antiques.”
“That’s all it is good for. I happen to have a heck of a lot of talent for doing it.” Time to change the subject, Charlotte thought. “What about you? Ever try a match-making agency?”
“Remember that Marriage of Convenience I mentioned?”
“Yes.”
“We met through a matchmaker. The counselors said we had an eighty-two percent compatibility rating.”
“Not bad for a strong talent,” she said.
“But not exactly a slam dunk, either. Susan and I didn’t want to take any chances. We decided to try an MC first.”
“Good plan, since it turned out you two weren’t a great match. What happened?”
“Things changed,” he said. “I changed. Let’s just say I no longer fit the profile that I had registered with the agency.”
“I see.” She didn’t but it was obvious she wasn’t going to get any more information out of him. Fair enough. This was a first date, after all. There were protocols.
For some reason she’d had a hard time making up her mind about what to wear to dinner that evening. It should have been a simple decision, given the venue—a backyard barbeque. Slade’s weather-beaten cabin stood in a clearing on a tree-studded bluff overlooking a rocky beach and the dark waters of the Amber Sea. In the near distance a scattering of islands, some so small they were no more than oversized rocks, floated in the mist.
The temperature had been in the mid-eighties all day. It was just now starting to dip down into the seventies. The sun would not set for another three hours. Her wardrobe selection should have been a no-brainer. Jeans, a pullover top, and maybe a sweater to wear when she walked back to her own cottage later in the evening were the obvious choices. But she had dithered, rummaging around in her small closet far too long before choosing jeans, a dark blue pullover, and a sweater to wear on the way home.
First-date syndrome, she thought. A woman never outgrew it. She wondered if men had the same issues. If Slade had agonized over his own attire this evening, there was no evidence of it. At least he was not wearing his uniform. That boded well, she thought. He was dressed in jeans, a dark shirt with the sleeves rolled up on his forearms, and a pair of low boots. She was pretty sure that he had shaved again, too. There was no sign of a five-o’clock shadow.
“No such thing as a hundred percent in anything, I guess,” Slade said. Satisfied that the salmon was off to a good start, he put the spatula aside and picked up the bottle of beer on the table. “Are you good on the wine?”
She glanced at her half-full glass. “Fine, thanks.” She picked up the glass and took a small sip. “Something I’ve always wondered.”
He looked at her. “Yeah?”
“How did things work out for you at the FBPI?”
Slade lowered himself onto one of the picnic table benches. “Good, for the most part. You could say I had a talent for the work.”
“What, exactly, did you do for the Bureau? I realize you were a special agent, but what kind of bad guys did you go after?”
He was silent for a time. Then he started to talk. “Here’s how I work, or how I used to work. Set me down
“It’s complicated.” She swallowed some more wine. “Let’s just say that, as far as professional matchmakers are concerned, I’m a difficult match.”
“So you did go to an agency?”
“Oh, sure, I went with the best, at least the best one for a member of the Arcane Society.”
“Arcanematch?”
“Yes.”
“I take it that didn’t go well?” he asked.
“I was reminded that no match is ever one hundred percent guaranteed perfect and that goes double for strong or extremely unusual talents. Turns out I fit both categories. Evidently that makes for a para-psych profile that has too many unknown or unpredictable elements.”
He frowned. “You told me that your ability was useless for anything except reading aura rainbows and tuning antiques.”
“That’s all it is good for. I happen to have a heck of a lot of talent for doing it.” Time to change the subject, Charlotte thought. “What about you? Ever try a match-making agency?”
“Remember that Marriage of Convenience I mentioned?”
“Yes.”
“We met through a matchmaker. The counselors said we had an eighty-two percent compatibility rating.”
“Not bad for a strong talent,” she said.
“But not exactly a slam dunk, either. Susan and I didn’t want to take any chances. We decided to try an MC first.”
“Good plan, since it turned out you two weren’t a great match. What happened?”
“Things changed,” he said. “I changed. Let’s just say I no longer fit the profile that I had registered with the agency.”
“I see.” She didn’t but it was obvious she wasn’t going to get any more information out of him. Fair enough. This was a first date, after all. There were protocols.
For some reason she’d had a hard time making up her mind about what to wear to dinner that evening. It should have been a simple decision, given the venue—a backyard barbeque. Slade’s weather-beaten cabin stood in a clearing on a tree-studded bluff overlooking a rocky beach and the dark waters of the Amber Sea. In the near distance a scattering of islands, some so small they were no more than oversized rocks, floated in the mist.
The temperature had been in the mid-eighties all day. It was just now starting to dip down into the seventies. The sun would not set for another three hours. Her wardrobe selection should have been a no-brainer. Jeans, a pullover top, and maybe a sweater to wear when she walked back to her own cottage later in the evening were the obvious choices. But she had dithered, rummaging around in her small closet far too long before choosing jeans, a dark blue pullover, and a sweater to wear on the way home.
First-date syndrome, she thought. A woman never outgrew it. She wondered if men had the same issues. If Slade had agonized over his own attire this evening, there was no evidence of it. At least he was not wearing his uniform. That boded well, she thought. He was dressed in jeans, a dark shirt with the sleeves rolled up on his forearms, and a pair of low boots. She was pretty sure that he had shaved again, too. There was no sign of a five-o’clock shadow.
“No such thing as a hundred percent in anything, I guess,” Slade said. Satisfied that the salmon was off to a good start, he put the spatula aside and picked up the bottle of beer on the table. “Are you good on the wine?”
She glanced at her half-full glass. “Fine, thanks.” She picked up the glass and took a small sip. “Something I’ve always wondered.”
He looked at her. “Yeah?”
“How did things work out for you at the FBPI?”
Slade lowered himself onto one of the picnic table benches. “Good, for the most part. You could say I had a talent for the work.”
“What, exactly, did you do for the Bureau? I realize you were a special agent, but what kind of bad guys did you go after?”
He was silent for a time. Then he started to talk. “Here’s how I work, or how I used to work. Set me down
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