Summer Of My Secret Angel (18 page)

I snatched the clock from my nightstand to
check why it had gone off in the morning when I had set it for—

“Midnight?”

My stomach dropped, my mouth sagged open.
Both clock hands were aimed up.

A picture of Cogsworth, the living pendulum
clock from
Beauty and the Beast
, sitting on my nightstand
danced through my mind, the hands on his Disney face spinning
madly. According to this overgrown pocket watch, it was twelve
exactly.

I couldn’t make any sense of it.

A frown pulled my brows together and I cut a
glance to the French door, as if the answer to my confusion lay
just outside. But what was there to see, other than the familiar
scenery of a few trees in the garden and five hectares of vine?

Julian.

At the moment, a lot of things didn’t make
sense, but most of all him. Every time he came within an arm’s
reach, jittery feelings swamped me. And this went far beyond the
average crazy. There was something very
not normal
about the
guy.

Since I’d already missed my flight
home—again—I thought maybe I should delay the escape for a little
longer and instead do some detective work. Considering the nice
time I’d had with him the previous night, I supposed I could
survive a few more days in this place. Maybe a week even. Of
course, it would be my first priority to stay out of the dragon’s
reach. But finding out more about Julian tempted me sorely. My
stomach went all bloomy at the thought of spending a few more days
around him.

From a drawer, I picked out a pencil and
paper and started scribbling a list. After all, this was the first
step Sherlock Holmes would take to resolve a case—take notes of
anything unusual. It took only a couple of minutes to jot down
everything weird about Julian.

There was the surreal happiness he infected
me with every time he touched me. I stared at the wall in front of
me for a moment. Was feeling happy so bad?
No, no. Stay
focused.
I blinked and returned my attention to the list.

Next point was the revitalization of my
mother when no one was watching—or when he
thought
no one
was. The awkward incident last night, when he tried to see the
world through my eyes and I almost turned into an aura-sucking
vampire. And of course, his strange behavior when he put the chick
back in its nest—the crouch before takeoff. Was there anything
else?

Flying
.

No, the dream was too weird to mention.
Maybe the alarm clock? I pursed my lips. I could hardly blame it on
him that the alarm went off at the wrong time. Grabbing the clock,
I examined it from all sides. For the past five minutes, it had
worked accurately; the minute hand was pointing at one.

Tapping the pencil against my pursed lips, I
spun in the chair and thought of what else I could jot down about
Julian. But a knock on the door made me jump right out of my seat.
Rushed by panic, I shoved the list into the drawer and slammed it
shut.

“Come on in!” My voice resonated with the
awkward feeling of being caught.

Marie’s friendly eyes peeked into my room.
“Oh good, you are up. I was concerned when you did not come down
for breakfast this morning.”

“Yeah, sorry, I slept in. The alarm went a
little crazy.” I shrugged and held the clock out to her. “It didn’t
wake me at the right time.” Which should have been hours ago.

“Do not worry. It is Saturday, you are
allowed to sleep in. Are we still on for a girls’ day out?”

Now that I had decided to stay for a little
longer, the idea of spending a few hours with Marie alone appealed
to me. It would be nice to get to know this friendly woman with her
ever beaming face. Also it came to me that she had known Julian for
a much longer time than I had, and she might come in handy on my
expedition to discover his secret. The longer I thought about it,
the more I believed he had one. So why not mix business with
pleasure? Marie could at least answer some questions for me.

Step two of resolving a case:
investigate
.

A broad grin crept to my lips. “Sure. What
did you have in mind?”

Marie stepped over the threshold, but didn’t
let go of the door handle. “Would you like to go to town? I have to
stock the fridge for next week and I could use some help. Afterward
we could go shopping for you, have lunch together, or get ice
cream.”

Shopping for me?
Lady, I’ve got no money.
And you don’t want to be seen with a criminal.
But ice cream
sounded fabulous. We had never gotten any in the orphanage, and to
run off with a cone in one hand had actually been a very bad idea.
After I’d lost the entire load on a spectacular escape through Hyde
Park a couple of years ago, I’d refrained from repeating that silly
act just for one sweet lick.

“I’ll get dressed and meet you downstairs in
a minute.”

The corners of her mouth tugged up. “But you
are dressed,
chérie
.”

“Oh, right.”

Marie chuckled and left.

Swirling back to my desk, I shrugged out of
Julian’s hoodie and took a final deep breath of its scent. Mmm,
this sea breeze cologne was the stuff that dreams were made of.

Downstairs, the remnants of a small
breakfast Marie had served were visible, and she urged me to sit
down at the neatly decked table with violets in a small pot in the
middle. I’d barely swallowed the first draught of coffee, when
Albert walked in and joined me at the table with a quirky look upon
his face.

My gulp echoed through the room. Should I
ask him why he was staring at me, or just pretend not to notice?
From the plate in front of me, I stole a croissant and tore off a
small piece, while my eyes remained on my uncle’s face. Slowly, I
shoved the bite into my mouth.

Albert nudged the glass of strawberry jam
toward me then laced his fingers on the table. “How did you like
your first two days in the vineyard?”

“It’s okay, I guess. It’s just work.” I
shrugged and dipped the knife into the jam, then smeared it on my
pastry. “I really liked the dirt scanner,” I said in between bites,
and a grin slipped to my lips.

Albert unbuttoned the cuffs of his white
shirt and rolled up the sleeves. “
Oui
, that is my favorite,
too.” His voice had dropped a notch and he mirrored my grin, which
gave me a strange feeling of connection to this man.

With another sip from the hot drink, I
washed the croissant down. “Is there no one tending to the shrubs
today?”

“Saturdays and Sundays we normally run
shorter shifts. Today Valentine and Henri are working outside.
Everyone else can take the day off. Although, I might take a look
later and make sure everything is okay.” He cast a sideways grin at
my aunt, who snorted in response.

“Of course you will be out there later. When
has there ever been a day in the past ten years that you have not?”
Marie’s loving tone didn’t match her accusing words.

Albert pulled her to his side and planted a
kiss on her palm. “But you knew that well when you married me.” He
chuckled. Then he turned his gaze back to me. “I watched you work,
Jona.”

“So?” If he intended to tell me off for not
giving my best in the vines, I would have to enlighten him that
this was, after all, slave labor and he should be happy I helped at
all.

“It seems you had a good time out there,”
Marie teased as she eased into the corner seat next to me.

Taken by surprise, I arched a brow, but
didn’t find the right words to contradict her. Maybe because she
was right.

“And you really were a great help,” Albert
continued. “You may not be too happy about the way you came to
France.” He curled his lip and scratched his head, appearing
slightly uncomfortable. “But it seems like you are going to stay
with us for a while.”

A very short while.
I licked a drop
of jam from my middle finger, then leaned back and crossed my arms
over my chest. My eyes darted from one to the other. What next?

“Your aunt and I do not want to force you
into anything, but we could do with another pair of hands on the
vineyard, especially in this busy season. So we wanted to ask you
if you would like to do this as a real job. Just for as long as you
will be our guest.”

I liked how my uncle put it. Unlike everyone
else, he understood this was only temporary quarters and not
my
new home
.

“We will, of course, pay you for the work.”
Marie gave a reassuring nod which, together with her words, made my
jaw drop to my chest. “How does two hundred euro a week sound to
you?”

For about thirty seconds I said absolutely
nothing but struggled to come back to my senses. “Did you just say
two hundred?
Euro?
”

The dragon must have forgotten to mention I
was bound by law to be their slave until my birthday. Old Abe
definitely hadn’t said anything about payment when we last met.

Albert nodded, pulled his wallet from the
back pocket of his trousers and slipped out a one-hundred euro
note. He placed it on the table then shoved it toward me, just like
the jam before. “This is your salary for the past two days.”

Or, as I liked to call it, my ticket back to
England.

The little red devil on my left shoulder
rubbed his hands while his horned head bobbed with conspiratorial
snickers. If Albert meant what he’d said, and I could endure
another week in this house, I might be able to walk off with three
of those pretty green bills in my pocket.

To make sure none of them would go back on
their offer, I gave both a daring glance before my hand slowly
crept forward to snatch the money.

“You agree?” My uncle’s mien did a good
imitation of his wife’s beam.

I nodded slowly, still unable to utter a
single word.

“Great. Now, I wish you two a nice day.” His
gaze switched between me and my aunt. “I will be out in the
vineyard and see if Henri needs a hand with the scans.” He winked
at me then turned to silence Marie with a kiss before she could
tell him off in her sweet manner.

As he disappeared through the door, Aunt
Marie sighed and planted her chin on her palm. “He is
incorrigible.” The devoted spark in her eyes had me wondering if
she already missed him.

“If you are finished, can I get you to clear
the table while I shove a load into the washer?”

“Sure.” When she was gone, I hummed my
little melody as I stored the butter and jam into the giant fridge
then cleaned my plate. Water soaked into my shirt and, after
rubbing the front dry, I bounced into Julian on the way out of the
kitchen.

If he hadn’t wrapped his arm around my
middle so fast to prevent me from falling, I might have taken a
vase from the waist-high credenza down with me. Marie certainly
wouldn’t have liked that, so I was happy to find myself in Julian’s
hug instead.

But this was definitely not the only
reason.

“Whoa, sorry,” he said, although his
tightening grip revealed he was anything but. Also a smirk
undermined his credibility a little too much.

I liked it when only one corner of his lips
came up and he quirked his brows. All that was missing was the
growl of a tiger that had claimed his victim.

For a fraction of a second, a very scary
thought crossed my mind. What would happen if I took his face
between my hands and pulled his head down for a kiss?

Are you nuts
?
You don’t do
kisses.

Right. A kiss meant giving up protection and
showing affections. And this was something I could never let
happen. When my stance was steady again, I shoved against Julian’s
chest, wrenched out of his embrace, and silenced the part of me
that pleaded to stay in his arms just a little longer. “Get off.
You’re crushing me.”

He tucked his hands into the pockets of his
black pants and gave me a suggestive glance. “Sorry. I guess
there’s no immediate danger on the ground floor.”

“None that would break my neck if I
fell.”

Ignoring my snappy tone, he leaned around
the doorframe to survey the kitchen. “Is your aunt around?”

“Doing the laundry.”

“I am here, Julian!” Marie climbed the
stairs from the cellar and approached us, a basket full of freshly
laundered clothes braced on her right hip while her hand clasped
the brim. “What do you need, dear?”

“Can I borrow your car? I need to get
something from town.”

Marie’s gaze darted to my eyes and back to
him. Then her lips pursed. “Actually, Jona and I are going to town.
You could come with us.”

Julian frowned, luckily not at me but at my
aunt. “I thought you two were going to have a ladies’ day. I don’t
want to disturb.”

Fingers laced behind my back, my mouth
curved. “You’re not disturbing.” Oh my god, had I really just
invited him? And with that silly sweet voice? Pivoting to Marie, I
gave her an expectant look. “Right?”

Can someone slap me
?
Hard,
please.

“Not at all.”

Julian’s eyes traveled to my side before his
head inclined. “Okay,” he agreed slowly. “I’ll just check on your
mother and then meet you two outside.”

When he walked past me his eyes still fixed
mine with a stare as though he doubted my good will and expected me
to start laughing any second at his silliness to fall for my
joke.

A sweet grin was all I granted him. “Hurry
up.”

“That was very nice of you,
chérie
,”
my aunt approved after Julian had disappeared in the dragon’s
hole.

Shrugging it off with one shoulder, I turned
on my heel and sauntered outside. My grin spread wider and wider.
Inwardly, I jubilated at the thought that Julian would be around us
all day with no chance to run back to Charlene every half an hour.
Oh, today was shaping up to be one fine day indeed.