Read Online The Shoppe of Spells by Shanon Grey - Free Book Online Page B

considered. So many things hadn’t been considered. Suddenly, he was pissed at them for dying.
    “Let’s get out of here.” His voice was edgy. “We’ll go get something to eat. You’re probably hungry.”
    As if by suggestion, Morgan’s stomach rumbled. Her hand went to her stomach. “I’m not hungry,” she started to say. Her stomach gave another loud protest.
    “It’s natural to be hungry afterward…” He was just relaying what Thom had told him…he didn’t know for sure. It was his first time as well. He’d been taught. And practiced with Mel. But never the real thing. As long as they were alive, nothing happened.
    He walked to the door and reattached the top and bottom and stood waiting for her. She walked past him and stepped into the bright sunlight, stopping just out of reach. She waited for him to precede her. He led her around the side of the building, along a plant-lined path to a high front gate. She stopped several feet behind him.
    “Are you going to walk behind me all the way to Abbott’s?” he asked.
    “Just don’t touch me,” she said.
    “Okay. I’m sorry about that. We aren’t quite in sync yet.”
    Before she could question him, he opened the gate and waited for her to go through.
    “Stay here, Meesha,” he called over his shoulder. The dog sat.
    “She’s not going to sit there the whole time, is she?”
    He smiled for the first time. “Trust me; she’s just putting on the good girl act for you. I wouldn’t be surprised to find a plant or two uprooted when we return.”
    Morgan smiled back and seemed to relax a little. Yet, the way she hugged her purse to her side, she looked as though she was ready to bolt. After all, what did she owe him, or this town? They needed her; he needed her. He would have to make her understand.

    Morgan studied the way his brows drew together when he thought. He looked as though the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. She would give him the courtesy of listening. If she didn’t like what he had to say, she was out of here. No one had cared about her before; why should she care about them now. This whole thing unsettled her. Yet, she had a feeling he held the answers to her night terrors, as well as other things. Things she wasn’t even aware of—yet. However, she wasn’t making any promises, other than listening.
    She was busy silently reaffirming her convictions when they stepped out onto the sidewalk. This was the first time she had walked around during the daylight. It was bright and airy. The well-tended median erupted in a profusion of color. The fountain shot water high into the air, letting it splash down into the basin. A toddler, closely watched by his young, very pregnant mother, raised back his arm and threw a coin with all his might. The coin fell short of the fountain. The young mother gingerly placed a hand under her burgeoning belly as she bent to retrieve the coin. Handing it to her child, she gently urged him a little closer and clapped heartily when the coin plopped into the water. In a motion belying her ungainliness, she quickly grabbed his arm as he tried to follow the coin into the fountain. He pointed at the fountain, tears streaming down his face. Drying his tears, she spoke softly to him. Morgan watched him take another coin, scrunch up his little face in concentration, close his eyes, make a wish, and toss the coin. This time it clinked as it hit the upper lip before splashing into the water. Beaming, he took his mother’s hand and they crossed the street.
    Happy chatter preceded two teenage girls exiting a boutique near the woman and child. They stopped, made much over the little boy, and then bounded down the block to catch up with their friends. All perfectly normal activities for a hot summer day in a small town. She relaxed a little more as they crossed the street and began walking under the shade of the overhanging trees.
    “Ruthorford is a very old town,” Dorian told her. “Originally considered