Read Online The Cottage on Pumpkin and Vine by Kate Angell - Free Book Online Page A

upon it for a good twenty minutes before returning upstairs. She’d left disappointed. No image.
    The man who’d taken souvenir iPhone photos of the yard also peered deeply into the crystal sphere. His eyes rounded. “A baby,” he murmured. “My wife and I have been trying to have children. Maybe there is a little one in our future.” He walked off in a daze.
    Cade hefted the armchair near the sunroom and carried it across the hardwood floor. He was about to set it down when Archie popped up, got underfoot. Cade tripped, set the chair down hard. He accidentally bumped the marble-top table with his hip. The crystal ball tipped on its stand.
    He and Grace simultaneously lunged for the ball. He touched it first, saving it from rolling onto the table. From dropping to the floor. As he held it on his palm the ball felt weighty. Warmth seemed to emanate from it, and a gray mist swirled in its depths. He couldn’t tear his gaze away. What he saw then, he soon wished he hadn’t. It made no sense. An unidentifiable dark-haired woman, her back to him, a small black cat tattoo on the side of her neck. The image was gone as quickly as it had formed. He carefully returned the ball to its stand. Archie rubbed against his ankles.
    â€œCrazy cat,” he mumbled, “jumping out at me.”
    â€œHis way of getting you to look into the crystal ball.”
    â€œIt was intentional, really?” He didn’t believe for a second the big cat had timed that move. It was pure coincidence.
    â€œMaine coons are mystical.”
    He considered Archibald more of a menace. The big boy scratched the toe of his boot. Leaving claw marks.
    Grace was expectant. “You received a message.” She waited for him to share.
    A message that made no sense. He tucked it away, kept it to himself. No need for Grace or Amelia to read more into the woman and her tattoo than was there. “Nothing of importance.”
    She pursed her lips, and he awaited her argument. None was forthcoming. Instead, she nudged him toward the door. “You were on your way out.”
    That he was. “Later.”
    He had no doubt he’d be back again bright and early. He departed then. Outside, and the yard came alive. The air seemed to breathe Halloween. The orange twinkle lights cast an eerie glow. The spider, zombies, and gargoyles had him looking over his shoulder, twice, on his way to the moving van. He climbed in, drove home. Went on to shower and change his clothes. Then headed for The Thirsty Raven.
    He entered the tavern long past happy hour. The place was packed. He knew everyone, and everyone knew him. Orange and black streamers hung from the rafters. Hinged cutouts of ghosts and skeletons were tacked to the walls. Halloween dogged him like a hellhound.
    He took his reserved seat at one corner of the bar. He winked at Dakota, communicating a request for his usual. A Sea Dog and loaded burger. She passed his order to the fry cook. Brought him his beer.
    Leaning over the counter, she awaited his kiss. A ritual between them for as long as he could remember. Instead of locking lips, he eyed her neck. She wore a V-neck sweater, her skin visible. “Have you gotten a recent cat tattoo?” he asked her.
    She scrunched her nose. “No ink.”
    That eliminated Dakota as the woman in the crystal ball. Then who? he wondered. Time would tell. Or not. He still wasn’t convinced he hadn’t imagined the whole thing. He kissed her lightly, more cheek than mouth. Dakota eased back, surprised, yet smiling.
    â€œWho is she?” She feigned jealousy.
    â€œShe, who?” He skirted the real issue.
    â€œThe woman you want to kiss more than me.”
    He and Dakota had always been honest. They were friends with benefits. Sex was sex, with no future promises. He took a long pull on his beer, shrugged, “There’s not much to tell.”
    â€œToo early in the relationship,” she assumed.