Love, Magic And Mystery - Karina McRoberts

A Magical Fantasy Book Series

Love, Magic And Mystery by Karina McRoberts

Series Excerpt

Come morning, Mari discovered her guest sitting outside on the back porch. Hmm. Thought he’d have slept in a bit.

She’d spent an anxious, mostly sleepless night. Wondering and worrying. Fearing. Badly needing a pee, she’d finally convinced herself to get up and sneak to the loo.

But with the brightness of day she decided to approach the situation with a fresh attitude. Surely all would be well. She kept consoling herself that Dr. Sakhálin would never have put her in any danger.

Mari resolved to be bright and cheerful. “Good morning, Michael!”

“Good morning, Ms. Linden.”

“Oh please, it’s Mari. Call me Mari.”

“Sure.” He smiled warmly, if a bit crookedly.

Hmm, now that’s a good sign. “Sleep well?”

“Not too bad.” The smile was gone, replaced by something Mari couldn’t fathom. Something not warm.

Uh oh, touchy again. I’d better just back off. Still, there’s breakfast. The gift of food; she remembered from her sociology days.

“I wasn’t sure what you might want, but there’s toast and cereal. I even got in bacon and eggs, although I don’t usually eat them myself. And coffee of course. Good coffee.”

And there was that look again. Hollow. Haunted! Threatening?

“I’ll be fine.”

No smile. No thank you. And something very dark.

Mari jolted; stabbed by cold fear.

Or at least disequilibrium. She just wasn’t sure. But the complex churning of emotions forced her off the porch and into the garden.

Damn, maybe it’s my heart again. I’d better take it easy. For God’s sake don’t let him rile me!

Throughout the morning he continued sullen and aloof. Whenever she could get a word out of him, it was in the form of a terse snap. By mid-morning she’d had enough.

Attempting to be civil, she announced, “I’m going down to my bookshop, Michael. It’s Saturday, and even though it’s hot, a few customers usually call in. There’s plenty of food. Help yourself. See you later.”

He did not reply; his look unfathomable.

Mari's neighbour Connor had returned her dogs early in the morning. They were fine with Mike and he showed them affection; this was a good sign. Mari was sure it was OK to leave for while.

Probably do him good, but for me, this boy's too much Jekyll and Hyde! I need to call Laura.

It was getting quite hot, but Mari felt she needed to walk; diffuse her pent-up emotions. When she reached her bookshop she was boiled and sweaty, and too tired to be angry any longer.

“Oh. Hi, Mari. I didn’t expect you in today. Are you alright? What did you do, walk? I know you love to walk, but it’s so hot! Here, let me get you some water.”

“Here you are.”

Mari drained the glass greedily.

“More?”

She nodded.

The second glass began to touch the sides.

“How are you this morning, Kerry dear?”

“I’m good, Mari. But sorry, only one customer all morning! Italian guy. I think. Anyway, very pleasant, but he didn’t buy anything. Guess he couldn’t read English.”

“Well, thank you for coming in. I’ll be here for a while, so you can toddle off.”

“Oh. Alright then. Just call whenever you want me to come in.”

The young woman took her leave as Mari poured herself a third glass of water and sat down behind the counter of Mari’s BookNook, her wonderful literary retreat in the heritage pharmacy building.

After attending to some unnecessary tidying, she began to muse on what she was going to do with her shop. Business wasn’t exactly booming. But try as she might to focus on her failing enterprise, her mind kept reverting to the Michael Harker problem.

“I must be doing something wrong; saying something that triggers some ill-feeling.”

Mari’d allowed her self-talk to resume full-swing, now she was alone. “Been by myself much, much too much.”

But she wasn’t going to make the effort of correcting the habit, not at the moment. “I need to focus on him.”

She placed a call but was unable to contact Dr Sakhálin. Leaving a message, Mari turned to her beloved books.

“Better get busy. Now I’ve done the right thing. Her court. She’ll call when she gets a chance. Probably catching up on her sleep, poor thing.”

Mari trolled through her considerable collection of lovely books; dusting, revering, enjoying. She could spend hours like this.

Books In This Series

The Palace Of The Stars (Love, Magic And Mystery Book 1)