Read Protected by Stone (A Paranormal Romance Novel) for Free Online

Chugging the juice, I exhaled with a grin. “A doctor and a cook, why are you living alone again?”
    His chuckle was indulgent, but it lacked the normal heart he seemed to have. My shame at wondering if I'd overstepped wasn't allowed to linger. “I didn't notice it at first, not without my glasses, but you look so much like Tessa. Are you nervous at all about seeing her home for the first time today?”
    “Not really,” I said, gazing out the window at the lush forest nearby. “I'm kind of... curious? Relieved, even, I guess. This news was weird.” I thought about Grault almost knocking my door down. “Really weird, actually. But it came at a good time.”
    “Oh? How so?”
    Poking at my empty plate, I kept staring at the world outside. The smell of the morning air was invigorating. “Mn. Maybe it's too personal, I don't know.”
    “No, no,” he whispered, “don't worry. Go on, if you feel like talking about it.”
    I felt the frown spread, didn't bother to try and halt it. “I've just had a run of bad luck, is all. Good things don't happen to me. I didn't even think the letter Tessa sent was real, how awful is that?” For a second, I shut my eyes, wondering if he'd speak. When he didn't, I glanced at him. “A new place to stay, a new job, it's all sort of perfect.”
    “Perfect,” he repeated. The way his eyebrows lowered, his flicker of concern, it made my heart jump. “Farra, this new job, is it... is it taking over that house?”
    I bobbed my head, loose hair tickling my neck. “Yeah. I'm going to become the caretaker. Though, I mean, I admit I don't know the first thing about taking care of a house, or its tenants.” Setting the fork down, I gave him a brittle smile. “I figure I'll give it a shot, and if it doesn't work, I can just sell the place. Right?”
    He opened his mouth, then closed it quickly. “Farra, I don't think selling that house will be so easy.”
    “What, why not?” I hadn't even considered that to be an issue.
    Pushing back his chair, Dirk gathered up the plates to put in his small sink by the stove. “I think you'll just need to see for yourself. Your grandmother's house is special, to say the least.”
    Special. Why does that not sound like a good thing? Unsure how to respond, I went the path of least resistance. “I guess I'll go grab my things, then.”
    ****
    H e closed the door behind him, I noted he didn't bother to lock it. Hm, must feel confident no one would dare steal from him.
    In the bright day, I had a much better appreciation of the town. It had the comfortable feel of a pair of jeans you never wanted to toss out.
    Glancing over my shoulder, I noted Dirk's home (and business) were almost in the center of the village. I had just wanted to gauge the distance of things. Instead, I caught my first glimpse of something shiny on his roof.
    “Hey,” I said, slowing my backwards walk. “What's all that up there?”
    He followed my eyes, smiling proudly. “Ah, that's something special. Solar panels. Pretty clever aren't they?”
    “Do you not have an electric grid here?”
    His laugh wasn't rude, but it made me blush anyway. “We do. I just like to be self sufficient where I can. I do things my own way, that's all.”
    Nodding thoughtfully, I gave the roof one more curious squint. The sun made the edges sharp, blinding me to the point of spots. Rubbing my face, I focused instead on our trek. Especially when we broke away from the smooth road in the town. Then, the line of trees was quick to welcome us in.
    I'd had very few outfits in my backpack. Thinking I'd be meeting with Grault—as well as an unknown number of tenants—I'd picked the nicest thing I had.
    Now, stomping along the dirt path between snagging branches that insisted on tearing at my light blue summer dress, I regretted the decision.
    “Sorry about this,” Doctor Colton mumbled. He was walking slightly ahead of me, one hand gripping his walking stick while the other kept tugging at the brim of his