help
navigating the forest.”
“I’ll go with you,” Xandra’s
father says. “I know where Julienne found most of this stuff.”
That will make things a lot
easier. If he does not purposely get me lost in the forest to keep me away
from his daughter, that is. As the Angel writes her list, I attire myself in
warm boots, jacket, and hat. Handing me a piece of paper with more than a few
items on it, I walk outside behind the floating spirit.
Chapter 9
“You’re in love with my
daughter, aren’t you.” Not a question, a statement. We’ve been walking along
in silence for the past five minutes, so his voice in the quiet of the snowy
forest is surprising.
I had planned on having
Xandra be the first person I spoke this out loud to, when I built up the
courage, but I have to be honest with him. “Yes, I am.”
“We have kept our family
isolated from most of the world in order to keep her safe all these years. So,
there are a lot of things she’s naïve about that most girls her age aren’t.
She’s never dated, let alone had a boyfriend before.” I am aware of all of
this, but I believe it is important to let him have his say without
interruption. “She’s in love with you, too, though I don’t know if she knows
that yet.”
He’s quiet for a moment as
he points to an area where wolfs bane grows. I squat down to dig under the
snow for salvageable leaves. “I am afraid that her innocence may play a part
in her feelings for you, and I do not want you, or her, to be hurt by that.”
Um, I was expecting this to
be a ‘back off from my innocent daughter’ speech. Not a ‘my daughter’s going
to break your heart’ speech. Standing up, I turn to him. “I fear the same
thing, as well. I am hoping that she continues to love me as her experience
with the world grows, but I am not naïve. I understand that first loves are
not always lasting loves.” I do not really understand that, but it seems like
the right thing to say at the moment. “I can assure you that her feelings for
me are truly what is in her heart. Magic does not lie. It can be manipulated
at times to make things appear different than they are, but it can never change
the truth.”
He crosses his arms over his
chest as he puzzles over what I said. “What do you mean?”
“I took a chance this
morning, when Xandra worked the mojo bag spell. I know the spell and how it
works. If she did not feel true love for me, I would have been tossed around
the room just as her grandmother was.”
He chuckles. “That was
quite a sight. I don’t know if any of us said thank you to you for fixing that
mess.”
“No thanks are needed,” I
say as we start moving again.
“So, you were that sure of
my daughter’s feelings?”
“Not completely.”
He gives me an approving
look. “Well, I do admire your courage.” We walk along in silence for a few
minutes again before he says, “I think you are good for her.”
My turn to ask, “What do you
mean?”
“We raised her to be strong
willed, knowing that someday she would have to defend herself as she is now.
But, that is not always a plus when it comes to dealing with people who are not
your enemy. She is intelligent, but very stubborn. She is beautiful, but has
a dry, sometimes sarcastic, sense of humor. And she never lets a thought slip
past without saying it out loud.”
My turn to chuckle. “Yes,
all of those things are true.”
“Yet, you stand by her side,
ready to defend her from the world, all the while not taking any of her crap.
You challenge her. She needs that.”
I’m getting a little
embarrassed now. “Her good qualities more than make up for her not so good
ones.”
He laughs and puts a cold
hand on my shoulder. It’s like someone put an icicle in my coat. “Well put.
Up ahead is where you’ll find some St. John’s wort.”
He lets the subject drop and
we spend about
navigating the forest.”
“I’ll go with you,” Xandra’s
father says. “I know where Julienne found most of this stuff.”
That will make things a lot
easier. If he does not purposely get me lost in the forest to keep me away
from his daughter, that is. As the Angel writes her list, I attire myself in
warm boots, jacket, and hat. Handing me a piece of paper with more than a few
items on it, I walk outside behind the floating spirit.
Chapter 9
“You’re in love with my
daughter, aren’t you.” Not a question, a statement. We’ve been walking along
in silence for the past five minutes, so his voice in the quiet of the snowy
forest is surprising.
I had planned on having
Xandra be the first person I spoke this out loud to, when I built up the
courage, but I have to be honest with him. “Yes, I am.”
“We have kept our family
isolated from most of the world in order to keep her safe all these years. So,
there are a lot of things she’s naïve about that most girls her age aren’t.
She’s never dated, let alone had a boyfriend before.” I am aware of all of
this, but I believe it is important to let him have his say without
interruption. “She’s in love with you, too, though I don’t know if she knows
that yet.”
He’s quiet for a moment as
he points to an area where wolfs bane grows. I squat down to dig under the
snow for salvageable leaves. “I am afraid that her innocence may play a part
in her feelings for you, and I do not want you, or her, to be hurt by that.”
Um, I was expecting this to
be a ‘back off from my innocent daughter’ speech. Not a ‘my daughter’s going
to break your heart’ speech. Standing up, I turn to him. “I fear the same
thing, as well. I am hoping that she continues to love me as her experience
with the world grows, but I am not naïve. I understand that first loves are
not always lasting loves.” I do not really understand that, but it seems like
the right thing to say at the moment. “I can assure you that her feelings for
me are truly what is in her heart. Magic does not lie. It can be manipulated
at times to make things appear different than they are, but it can never change
the truth.”
He crosses his arms over his
chest as he puzzles over what I said. “What do you mean?”
“I took a chance this
morning, when Xandra worked the mojo bag spell. I know the spell and how it
works. If she did not feel true love for me, I would have been tossed around
the room just as her grandmother was.”
He chuckles. “That was
quite a sight. I don’t know if any of us said thank you to you for fixing that
mess.”
“No thanks are needed,” I
say as we start moving again.
“So, you were that sure of
my daughter’s feelings?”
“Not completely.”
He gives me an approving
look. “Well, I do admire your courage.” We walk along in silence for a few
minutes again before he says, “I think you are good for her.”
My turn to ask, “What do you
mean?”
“We raised her to be strong
willed, knowing that someday she would have to defend herself as she is now.
But, that is not always a plus when it comes to dealing with people who are not
your enemy. She is intelligent, but very stubborn. She is beautiful, but has
a dry, sometimes sarcastic, sense of humor. And she never lets a thought slip
past without saying it out loud.”
My turn to chuckle. “Yes,
all of those things are true.”
“Yet, you stand by her side,
ready to defend her from the world, all the while not taking any of her crap.
You challenge her. She needs that.”
I’m getting a little
embarrassed now. “Her good qualities more than make up for her not so good
ones.”
He laughs and puts a cold
hand on my shoulder. It’s like someone put an icicle in my coat. “Well put.
Up ahead is where you’ll find some St. John’s wort.”
He lets the subject drop and
we spend about
Similar Books
