Read Online Healing Hands (The Queen of the Night series Book 2) by Laura Emmons - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Laura Emmons
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I’d picked my jaw up off the floor, I happily joined Corey and served myself.
Ginger and Rock had done a fabulous job of making the house inviting. After dinner we said good night to Evan and Fiona. Rose told us the satellite connection wouldn’t be installed until after New Year’s Day, but Corey and I amused ourselves by setting up the entertainment center in the den anyway. I grabbed a pillow off of the couch which still had my mom’s scent and took it upstairs with me. Then I unpacked a bunch of boxes in my new bedroom. For the first time in what seemed like forever, I slept in my own bed with my own bedding.
Chapter Nine
Saying Goodbye
To my relief, the next morning I had access to my whole wardrobe, so I pulled on a favorite sweater and a pair of corduroy pants. Elastic bands allowed me to draw my chocolate brown locks into a pony tail before heading downstairs.
Evan had already started making muffins with Ginger. Rose promised to go grocery shopping while we shopped for beads. She slipped Evan a bunch of money and told him to stop by the mall to get us clothes for the funeral. I’d forgotten about it and felt guilty about finding moments of pleasure.
Evan looked straight at me and said one word only. “Don’t.” It was like he could read my mind. He crossed the room and stood in front of me. With two fingers he lifted my chin and made me look straight into his eyes. “Your mother would be happy you’re settling in here.”
I nodded and tried to hold back the tears. A few of them escaped and rolled down my cheeks.
“Oh Maggie,” Evan sighed and grabbed me in a huge bear hug.
I squeezed my face into his chest gratefully.
“Oh, disgust me!” Corey had entered the room and stood just behind Evan. He’d put his finger into his mouth and made gagging noises.
Evan let me go. One of these days I really was going to smack my brother. He looked like he’d finally gotten a good night’s sleep, so I forgave him his snarkiness.
“Can we go now?” he said impatiently.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Corey grabbed a muffin and we headed out the front door.
***
The bead store was a fantastic business dedicated to the craft hobby of making jewelry with beads. A rainbow array of natural stone beads hung on hooks all around the walls of the large space. Cabinets, which reminded me of old-fashioned typesetting cabinets, sat side-by-side on the floor. Drawers with cubby separators held thousands of different beads. Corey was a trooper and posed for Evan and me with almost all of them while we checked to see how each type of stone affected his magical aura. Of course, he struck various movie star and superhero type poses, so other shoppers and the store clerks looked at us with trepidation, but we didn’t care. In the end we found a unique combination of stones that repressed the magical layer from Corey’s aura.
We ended up buying strings of beads made from lapis lazuli, black lava stone, white turquoise, conch fossil, and sponge coral. The gold flecks of pyrite in the lapis made his entire aura slightly larger, but the black lava made it smaller, so the combination worked well. We figured we could make up a story about Corey liking patriotic jewelry since all the beads were red, white, blue or black. If that didn’t fly we’d tell them we were from southern California and shrug like that explained our behavior.
Afterward, Evan took us to a mall and we found clothes our mother would have approved of for this most solemn occasion. Corey complained the entire time. I knew he hated shopping, but his angry behavior had little to do with clothes. The mundane task irritated me, too. I just wanted to crawl in a corner and alternate between bouts of crying and sleeping. That’s why Evan patiently urged us to keep going. In the end, we got dress shoes to go with Corey’s new suit, since he’d grown out of his old ones and didn’t return home until dinner time. After dinner, Rose showed me how to do the
Ginger and Rock had done a fabulous job of making the house inviting. After dinner we said good night to Evan and Fiona. Rose told us the satellite connection wouldn’t be installed until after New Year’s Day, but Corey and I amused ourselves by setting up the entertainment center in the den anyway. I grabbed a pillow off of the couch which still had my mom’s scent and took it upstairs with me. Then I unpacked a bunch of boxes in my new bedroom. For the first time in what seemed like forever, I slept in my own bed with my own bedding.
Chapter Nine
Saying Goodbye
To my relief, the next morning I had access to my whole wardrobe, so I pulled on a favorite sweater and a pair of corduroy pants. Elastic bands allowed me to draw my chocolate brown locks into a pony tail before heading downstairs.
Evan had already started making muffins with Ginger. Rose promised to go grocery shopping while we shopped for beads. She slipped Evan a bunch of money and told him to stop by the mall to get us clothes for the funeral. I’d forgotten about it and felt guilty about finding moments of pleasure.
Evan looked straight at me and said one word only. “Don’t.” It was like he could read my mind. He crossed the room and stood in front of me. With two fingers he lifted my chin and made me look straight into his eyes. “Your mother would be happy you’re settling in here.”
I nodded and tried to hold back the tears. A few of them escaped and rolled down my cheeks.
“Oh Maggie,” Evan sighed and grabbed me in a huge bear hug.
I squeezed my face into his chest gratefully.
“Oh, disgust me!” Corey had entered the room and stood just behind Evan. He’d put his finger into his mouth and made gagging noises.
Evan let me go. One of these days I really was going to smack my brother. He looked like he’d finally gotten a good night’s sleep, so I forgave him his snarkiness.
“Can we go now?” he said impatiently.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Corey grabbed a muffin and we headed out the front door.
***
The bead store was a fantastic business dedicated to the craft hobby of making jewelry with beads. A rainbow array of natural stone beads hung on hooks all around the walls of the large space. Cabinets, which reminded me of old-fashioned typesetting cabinets, sat side-by-side on the floor. Drawers with cubby separators held thousands of different beads. Corey was a trooper and posed for Evan and me with almost all of them while we checked to see how each type of stone affected his magical aura. Of course, he struck various movie star and superhero type poses, so other shoppers and the store clerks looked at us with trepidation, but we didn’t care. In the end we found a unique combination of stones that repressed the magical layer from Corey’s aura.
We ended up buying strings of beads made from lapis lazuli, black lava stone, white turquoise, conch fossil, and sponge coral. The gold flecks of pyrite in the lapis made his entire aura slightly larger, but the black lava made it smaller, so the combination worked well. We figured we could make up a story about Corey liking patriotic jewelry since all the beads were red, white, blue or black. If that didn’t fly we’d tell them we were from southern California and shrug like that explained our behavior.
Afterward, Evan took us to a mall and we found clothes our mother would have approved of for this most solemn occasion. Corey complained the entire time. I knew he hated shopping, but his angry behavior had little to do with clothes. The mundane task irritated me, too. I just wanted to crawl in a corner and alternate between bouts of crying and sleeping. That’s why Evan patiently urged us to keep going. In the end, we got dress shoes to go with Corey’s new suit, since he’d grown out of his old ones and didn’t return home until dinner time. After dinner, Rose showed me how to do the
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