Gramps muttered something under his breath that sounded like – “I’d like to see that.”
“What’s that,” Birch asked, pouring more coffee.
Gramps smiled widely. “Nothing.”
“I think I’m going to take off after this cup of coffee,” Birch said, slipping his phone back into his pocket.
“Alright. I think I’ll have breakfast at the Inn.”
“Do you want me to drop you off?”
“Nah,” Gramps answered. “I’m just going to take it slow today.”
“I’ll give you a call a little later today.”
“Sounds good.”
* * *
He was on the lake in his cruiser for the third day in a row, and Birch could tell there was a bitter chill in the air, which probably meant colder weather and snow would soon be on its way.
Birch inhaled an unsteady breath as he approached the island in the cruiser, because his view of the island made it appear magical, as if it was some kind of dreamscape that he’d always carried in his mind.
As he came closer the island, he noticed one thing was missing from the beach.
Where was the dead body? He couldn’t help thinking that there was some significance to the fact that it wasn’t there.
But then Birch glanced upward, hypnotized by the gracefulness woman who was diving into the water.
And then there was the fact that she was wearing nothing at all.
When he didn’t her head pop back up out of the water, he became concerned, speeding up the cruiser and heading straight toward the dock nearby.
Quickly shutting down the engine, he took a second to loop a rope from the bow to a post jutting off from the pier before rushing towards the area of the lake where the woman had dove into the water.
He heard her voice called out dryly from the water. “Is there some particular reason that you’re here? I don’t recall sending out invitations.”
Birch finally got a glimpse of her, where she was skimming the water near in an alcove.
“I thought something was wrong,” Birch muttered. “What in the world are doing diving into the water when it’s got to be only around forty degrees?”
“That’s none of your business, considering the fact that I was a championship diver.”
Birch blinked. And then he was noticing there was something else that was pretty strange as he stood here on the sand. It felt like it was about sixty degrees as opposed to the forty degrees it had been before he’d reached the island. “Why does it feel so much warmer here on the island?”
“It’s magic,” she answered in that sarcastic voice of hers again. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to get out from the water.”
This time, Birch smiled widely. “No. I don’t mind at all.”
“Very funny,” she growled. “Why don’t you get on your way and go wherever you were planning on going?”
“But I was planning on coming here.”
“Why?” she snarled.
“I want to work for you.”
“Doing what?”
“How about we sit down somewhere and talk about it?” he replied. “I brought some coffee and pastries from the Dragonfly Pointe Inn.”
“Alright,” she muttered. “I’ll meet you up at the house. Wait by the front door, so I can go in through the back. Give me about fifteen minutes.”
“No problem. I need to go secure my cruiser, so it’ll take me a few minutes anyway.”
Rather than answer she made her made her way through the water and around he corner of the large rock she’d been leaning against.
Birch was frankly amazed at the reaction he was having after seeing her. He felt drawn to her like he’d never been drawn to another woman in his life. He was definitely intrigued, although he’d been skeptical at first about the fact that Gramps and the Cappella women seemed to look at their relationship as a matter of fact. Birch wasn’t going to be pushed into doing something he didn’t want to do of his own free will. It just wasn’t natural.
Returning to the cruiser, he secured it further, reaching for the box containing pastries and coffee.
He made his way along the pathway. It was amazing how well kept everything on the island appeared to be. It was definitely a sanctuary and living here would be like living in a world of their own. Birch realized that he’d known his way to the house without even having to search for the path.
Yes, there was a familiarity about this place that couldn’t be denied, and he felt a sudden yearning to come home.
Home?
Yes – sometime, somehow, he’d been on this island before.
It ended up being about twenty minutes before he was knocking on the front door of the house. He turned, admiring the view of the surrounding lake from the house, which was rather amazing. Birch felt as if he was high on a cloud.
The door opened, and there she was, looking more beautiful than any other woman he’d ever met in his life.
Birch swallowed. She was wearing some kind of loose flowing gown, and she was tall and slim, but curvy in all the right places. Statuesque would probably describe her best.
And those legs…
She cleared her throat, and Birch found himself looking into the most beautiful pair of sea green eyes he’d ever seen. She was breathtakingly beautiful.
“I’m Birch Delveaux.”
“And I’m Ariella Cappella,” she answered softly, staring into his eyes like she was feeling slightly taken aback herself.
“May I come in?”
She motioned him into the house. “Let’s sit in the kitchen.”
Birch walked inside. Everything was in beautiful condition, and there was even a grand piano near a huge fireplace in the large living room off to the right.
As she led him through the house, strolling past a wide grand staircase, Birch stared around him in amazement, although everything seemed so familiar somehow.
“It must have been some effort moving that piano into the house.”
Turning, she suddenly smiled. “I was thinking the same thing myself this morning.”
And Birch stilled, staring into her eyes. She seemed to have some kind of crazy hypnotic effect on his senses, and he felt as if he was drowning in the pools of her eyes.
That was when he knew with certainty, he would be willing to move heaven and earth to make this woman his. It was meant to be.
Chapter Eight
Ariella had never been so attuned to a man in her life, but she wasn’t going to let him know that. It might freak him out if he knew she could hear his thoughts, and what she heard was giving her plenty of reassurances.
Birch was what was missing from this island. It felt like paradise, sure, but she sensed that he had always been destined to be here beside her. Not just because he was meant to protect her from what was coming, but somehow, Ariella was supposed to protect him as well. They were meant to work together in defeating this dark force that would not only destroy the lives of each and every one of their kind, but also allow evil to invade the world. Contrary to what her mother and aunt had believed, Ariella had spent a lot of time studying the book. While others such as Ariella had been roaming the earth for centuries to keep civilization on an even keel, the evil force was determined to rule the world, destroying humans by any means possible. The devastating effect of human error would be escalated. Climate change, violence instigated by racial inequality and death and disease from plague and virus would eventually eradicate the human population to all but those who were willing to pledge their allegiance to evil.