shop they stopped in that Gawan not only realized exactly what he was dealing with in an In-Betwinxt Ellie, but in the meddlesome lot of annoyances that resided in his keep.
Gawan gave a push to the bookstore door, which boasted a big, piney Christmas wreath lavished with pinecones, nuts, and ribbons, and a bell announced their arrival.
Mrs. MacGillery, the bookstore owner, sat behind a large, polished mahogany podium, which served as her cashier's counter. She glanced up, glasses askew, and she blushed an alarming shade of red. Then she patted the sides of her hair—also askew—into place, looked directly at Gawan, and batted her eyelashes.
"Bore da, Mrs. MacGillery," Gawan said with a nod.
Mrs. MacGillery giggled. "Oh! Bore da to you, too! I do love to hear you speak the old Welsh.
Good to see you this fine misty morn, Lord Grimm! How is that wicked rogue Nicklesby? Do tell him to come by for a visit. Quite the witty one, he is, and keeps me in stitches. Oh! I've something for you." She slipped down from her matching high-perched mahogany stool and came toward him.
A wee thing, compact in stature, with brown hair shot with gray and coiffed rather high. "It only just came in yesterday. Now where did I put it?"
Mrs. MacGillery walked straight through Ellie, who stood to Gawan's left.
Ellie sucked in a breath, made a sort of choking noise that Gawan didn't fancy at all, and stared, wide-eyed, at Mrs. MacGillery.
"Wow. She can't see me," Ellie said, mostly to herself. She held her own arms out and studied them, as if trying to see if she could see them. Gawan smothered a smile with his hand.
"Aha!" Mrs. MacGillery said, and he and Ellie both jumped. Mrs. MacGillery pulled a heavy leather-bound volume off the shelf from one of the expansive bookcases lining the old shop. "Here it is, right under me nose! All the way from Snowdonia!" She turned, crossed the wood-planked floor, her heels clacking with each step and her long plaid swishing side to side. Again, she made to pass right through Ellie, who artfully dodged the woman this time.
A snort and a laugh erupted from the back of the store.
"Methinks she's besotted, I do," Sir Godfrey said as he materialized, perched on the step of the bookcase ladder. He waved a hand, foppish ruffles fluttering. "The way she flitters about, cheeks turning a blistering blaze and such."
"Aye," agreed Christian of Arrick-by-the-Sea, who now leaned against a large stone hearth with a roaring fire. "She's definitely taken wi' you, Conwyk." He pointed. "Look you there how her eyes beat."
"Lord Grimm?" Mrs. MacGillery asked.
Gawan glanced at her, and indeed she batted her lashes furiously.
Ellie snorted.
"Er, aye," Gawan said. He accepted the book he'd ordered a few weeks before: Early Welsh History.
"Obliged." He pulled out his wallet and paid for the tome.
Mrs. MacGillery smiled and patted her hair once more. "My pleasure as always, Lord Grimm."
More snickers from his ghostly mates erupted, and Gawan forced a smile. Christ, how he hated to be referred to as lord. He'd begged her before not to do such, but she insisted. "Right. Uh, Mrs.
MacGillery, have you by chance happened upon a young woman recently, say, in the past fortnight or so? An American, mayhap?"
Her brows furrowed as she thought. "The past fortnight, you say? Hmmm," she said, tapping her chin. "Odd time of year for tourists, for a certainty. Although," she said, still pondering, "let me see ..."
Mrs. MacGillery snapped her fingers. "I've got it! A young American girl did stop in. She wasn't here for very long, though. Lovely girl, with striking blue-green eyes—"
"What did she want?" Gawan asked.
"Ask if she gave her name," Ellie said.
"Or where her bloody lodgings were," Sir Godfrey added.
Godfrey, Christian, and Ellie all drew closer to the bookstore owner.
"Well, a book, of course." She strode across the floor, back to the podium, where she reached down, then lifted a rather old-looking volume. "This
Gawan gave a push to the bookstore door, which boasted a big, piney Christmas wreath lavished with pinecones, nuts, and ribbons, and a bell announced their arrival.
Mrs. MacGillery, the bookstore owner, sat behind a large, polished mahogany podium, which served as her cashier's counter. She glanced up, glasses askew, and she blushed an alarming shade of red. Then she patted the sides of her hair—also askew—into place, looked directly at Gawan, and batted her eyelashes.
"Bore da, Mrs. MacGillery," Gawan said with a nod.
Mrs. MacGillery giggled. "Oh! Bore da to you, too! I do love to hear you speak the old Welsh.
Good to see you this fine misty morn, Lord Grimm! How is that wicked rogue Nicklesby? Do tell him to come by for a visit. Quite the witty one, he is, and keeps me in stitches. Oh! I've something for you." She slipped down from her matching high-perched mahogany stool and came toward him.
A wee thing, compact in stature, with brown hair shot with gray and coiffed rather high. "It only just came in yesterday. Now where did I put it?"
Mrs. MacGillery walked straight through Ellie, who stood to Gawan's left.
Ellie sucked in a breath, made a sort of choking noise that Gawan didn't fancy at all, and stared, wide-eyed, at Mrs. MacGillery.
"Wow. She can't see me," Ellie said, mostly to herself. She held her own arms out and studied them, as if trying to see if she could see them. Gawan smothered a smile with his hand.
"Aha!" Mrs. MacGillery said, and he and Ellie both jumped. Mrs. MacGillery pulled a heavy leather-bound volume off the shelf from one of the expansive bookcases lining the old shop. "Here it is, right under me nose! All the way from Snowdonia!" She turned, crossed the wood-planked floor, her heels clacking with each step and her long plaid swishing side to side. Again, she made to pass right through Ellie, who artfully dodged the woman this time.
A snort and a laugh erupted from the back of the store.
"Methinks she's besotted, I do," Sir Godfrey said as he materialized, perched on the step of the bookcase ladder. He waved a hand, foppish ruffles fluttering. "The way she flitters about, cheeks turning a blistering blaze and such."
"Aye," agreed Christian of Arrick-by-the-Sea, who now leaned against a large stone hearth with a roaring fire. "She's definitely taken wi' you, Conwyk." He pointed. "Look you there how her eyes beat."
"Lord Grimm?" Mrs. MacGillery asked.
Gawan glanced at her, and indeed she batted her lashes furiously.
Ellie snorted.
"Er, aye," Gawan said. He accepted the book he'd ordered a few weeks before: Early Welsh History.
"Obliged." He pulled out his wallet and paid for the tome.
Mrs. MacGillery smiled and patted her hair once more. "My pleasure as always, Lord Grimm."
More snickers from his ghostly mates erupted, and Gawan forced a smile. Christ, how he hated to be referred to as lord. He'd begged her before not to do such, but she insisted. "Right. Uh, Mrs.
MacGillery, have you by chance happened upon a young woman recently, say, in the past fortnight or so? An American, mayhap?"
Her brows furrowed as she thought. "The past fortnight, you say? Hmmm," she said, tapping her chin. "Odd time of year for tourists, for a certainty. Although," she said, still pondering, "let me see ..."
Mrs. MacGillery snapped her fingers. "I've got it! A young American girl did stop in. She wasn't here for very long, though. Lovely girl, with striking blue-green eyes—"
"What did she want?" Gawan asked.
"Ask if she gave her name," Ellie said.
"Or where her bloody lodgings were," Sir Godfrey added.
Godfrey, Christian, and Ellie all drew closer to the bookstore owner.
"Well, a book, of course." She strode across the floor, back to the podium, where she reached down, then lifted a rather old-looking volume. "This
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