“He’s horrible! Hic!” Stasi batted away the bubble and zapped the one that followed. She told Blair about Trev’s spell to keep people from harming themselves at the barrier and then his kiss, along with how he had ruined it. “He deserves warts!”
The dog whined and nosed his way into her lap while Bogie floated up around her shoulders like a furry neck roll.
“Drink this,” Blair urged, pushing a cup of tea into her hands. “And don’t stop until it’s all gone.”
“Thanks—hic!” She did as ordered then waited. She smiled then groaned as another hiccup ballooned in her chest and bubbles filled the air.
Blair shook her head. “This is more than nerves.” She took the cup from Stasi’s fingers before she could drop it and refilled it. “Drink again.”
“I’m drowning in tea!” Stasi wailed after the third cup. “Hic!” By then, the kitchen was rapidly filling up with the bubbles. Bogie reached out and batted at them, while the Border collie was happy bumping them with his nose and snapping at them.
Blair dropped into one of the chairs and took Stasi’s hands. “It’s the hearts. They’re going to mess you up big time.”
“I’m going to smack Cupid back to his creator… hic!” She covered her face with her hands. “I’m going to borrow Fluff and Puff and tell them to eat all his enchanted arrows. That’ll fix him! He’ll be out of business, that lowlife matchmaker who thinks he has the market on romance.”
“Uh, ladies.” Fergus stood uncertainly among all the bubbles that floated through him. “Did you figure out what’s going wrong?”
“Not exactly, Fergus,” Blair said. “But we’re working on it. Just be careful when any of you come over here, okay, and let us know if anyone else disappears?”
“Okay.” He nodded and vanished.
Blair turned to the dog next. “Don’t you have a home to go to?” He sat back on his haunches and lifted a paw, bobbing it up and down while he cocked his head to one side. “Oh no, you can’t stay here.” But the dog had already taken off down the hall. She ran after him. “Bad dog! You cannot sleep in my bed!”
“She’ll lose the battle and let him stay and he’ll take all the covers as he has before,” Stasi said, pulling Bogie around to sit in her lap. She stroked the dog behind his ears. He looked so blissful, if he’d been a cat he would have purred. “Closest she’s had to a man in her bed for some time.”
She tidied up the kitchen and returned to bed, noting that by now it was well after four. She felt so tired she was ready to drop where she stood. But once she was undressed and under the covers, with Bogie curled up on the pillow by her head, she lay wide-awake.
“He does a nice thing at the lake, then he kisses me,” she murmured. “How am I supposed to face him in Wizards’ Court after this? Forget that, how am I supposed to face him in this town?”
To make matters worse, when she fell asleep she wasn’t counting sheep but hearts dancing in a conga line.
***
“That dog hogs the bed,” Blair grumbled as she and Stasi ate breakfast. Both dogs had their heads in bowls of kibble. “And he snores.”
“I don’t know. I would think it would be like sleeping with a huge stuffed animal.” Stasi looked out the window and frowned. “There wasn’t any sign of snow when we were out there a few hours ago.”
Blair joined her at the window and peered out. “Wow, there are several inches out there now.” When the collie barked, she headed for the back door and opened it for him. “Typical guy. First they charm you into bed, then they eat and run without one word about calling you.”
Stasi continued staring at the trees collecting falling snowflakes on their branches. “We need to check the lake again.”
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know, but something feels very troubling out there.” She ran to the coat rack and grabbed her jacket along with Blair’s and threw it to her.
“But you said Trev cast a spell of protection,” Blair said.
“He did, but something still feels off. We really need to go back out there and we need to go now.”
“Boots this time,” Blair reminded her. “The path will be slippery with the snow.”
Her warning proved true as they slipped and slid along the path.
“The air smells odd,” Stasi commented, as they grew closer to the end of the stand of trees.
Blair wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, it smells almost like dead fish.”
They stopped short at the sight before them.
“Yowza.” Blair whistled softly.
“This is really not good.” Stasi felt her stomach sink all the way down to her toes.
They stared at a barrier that was no longer invisible to the naked eye. Now it stood crisscrossed with lines of dark green and gray, while the blue ring Trev had conjured was cracked, broken in places, and covered with splashes of black as if a strong fire had burned it. The normally placid surface of the lake was showing whitecaps, even though there was very little wind. Stasi and Blair kept their distance as they walked around the lake and found the blue ring in the same condition all the way around.
“That was the most powerful spell I’d ever seen and it was destroyed as if a first year student cast it,” Stasi whispered, as they walked back to the house. The minute they stepped into the kitchen they grabbed more coffee to warm up. “Something’s very wrong and I think we need help.”
“Agreed.”
Stasi glanced at the coffee-pot-shaped clock and noticed the time. Her first thought was not to open the store, but she knew she had to keep on as if nothing was wrong. “I’ll call Jazz today. I’ll also try Maggie. Her gift is protection spells.”
Blair nodded. “I’ll do some research on the retrograde and lunar eclipse and see if it does have anything to do with this.”
“It’s October first, town decoration day, remember?”
Blair groaned, then brightened up. “That’s right. Jake said he’d help us set up the heavy stuff.”
“Yes, Blair, think of the important things,” Stasi said dryly before heading to her bedroom to get ready.
When the women went downstairs and around to the front of the building they found a lot of activity going on. While the town’s main street wasn’t long, it featured shops geared for tourist trade and always decorated for holiday occasions. Men stood on ladders arranging orange twinkle lights over store windows and doors, while men and women wearing western clothing busied themselves decorating windows and setting out carved pumpkins, scarecrows, and hay bales. The few empty stores were draped in black and decreed to be the sites of a famous gunfight or a gruesome death. Wilson Carruthers, now in a battered hat, wore wool pants and a flannel shirt sporting a blood-spattered front where he’d been “shot.” With his matted beard and dirty face, he looked menacing and perfect for a haunted town.
Stasi had chosen a simple soft pink and blue plaid skirt and pink cotton blouse under a matching plaid fichu with a delicate cameo pin attached to her collar. Her felt spoon bonnet matched the blue in the plaid. With the snow on the ground, she opted for thermal tights to keep her legs warm and wore ballet flats. She had pulled her hair up in a simple knot with a black lace snood covering the bun. She had kept her makeup to a minimum, using only a hint of blush and a lightly tinted lip balm.
“I always liked that outfit on you,” Blair said, going for the dramatic with a midnight blue velvet riding habit and flat brimmed hat with a matching veil. A few stray curls teased her cheeks. The full skirt was looped up over her wrist, she held a riding crop in her left hand, and wore black riding boots. She looked down at Stasi’s full skirt. “But you took the hoops out.”
“I did it as a matter of self-defense. I hated hoops even back then. It seemed every time I sat down they’d fly up and smack me in the chin. I added a little ‘extra,’” she held up her fingers to form quotes, “to make it look like I’m wearing hoops.”
Blair rolled her eyes. “Yeah, we don’t want Agnes’s Fashion Police coming after you. Although, I bet she won’t be wearing a steel-boned corset or hoops.”
“I don’t know how we functioned back then.”
“I don’t know how I managed to ride sidesaddle for so many years and not fall off.” Blair grinned. “At least we’re not in the era where we’d be wearing a bustle. They were almost as bad as wearing hoops.”
“Ladies.” Jake sauntered up dressed in his usual jeans and flannel shirt topped by a denim sheepskin lined jacket. A worn cream-colored Stetson and battered cowboy boots finished his look.
“Morning, cowboy,” Blair purred, batting her lashes. “All you need is a horse.”
He doffed his hat. “Thank ya kindly, ma’am. Looks like you could use one too.”
“Shows what you know. Riding sidesaddle isn’t as easy as it looks.”
“You’ve ridden sidesaddle?”
“Just once on a dare,” she said, in hopes of covering up her gaffe. “Last time I visited one of those horse farms in England.”
“I wouldn’t have thought you’d be the type to ride.”
Blair’s smile grew larger. “Depends on what I’m riding.”
“Could we keep this conversation G-rated, please?” Stasi begged, not sure whether to laugh at her friend’s less-than-subtle flirtation or punch Blair in the arm.
“Maybe I better get to moving the heavier decorations out of your storerooms,” Jake suggested.
“Good idea,” Stasi agreed. She turned when two women wearing what had been called camp dresses from the Civil War era walked in their direction, carrying bags from Fresh Baked Goods. “Ladies.” She inclined her head.
“Martha, Jeanine.” Stasi’s smile dimmed as the women abruptly crossed the street and didn’t bother to acknowledge them. She turned to Blair. “What’s going on?”
She frowned. “I don’t know, but it doesn’t feel right.”
“Miss Romanov, do you want me to help you put your lights up?” a boy asked, also dressed as if he’d lived during the town’s beginnings.
“Thank you, Tyler, we appreciate your offer.” She smiled back.
“Tyler Madison, you get back over here!”
He snapped to attention. “Mom? I was just helping—”
His mother ran over, grabbed his hand, and glared at Stasi as she pulled her son away.
“You stay away from my son,” she hissed, dragging the protesting boy off.
Stasi was stunned. Blair swore under her breath.
“Ladies.” Trev walked up, looking twenty-first century in jeans and a rust colored sweater topped with a dark brown leather jacket. “Don’t you two look as if you’d stepped out of a history book.”
“You’ve been to the lake again,” Stasi said, noting his grim features.
“What? No, I saw the two of you being snubbed.” He turned to Stasi. “What about the lake?”
“Whatever kind of magick powers you may think you have, the barrier shattered the spell you cast.” She went on to explain what she and Blair had found earlier that morning.
Trev’s features darkened even more. “No one and nothing should have been able to interfere with that spell.”
“Maybe not everyone reads your rule books,” Stasi snapped.
“Good one,” Blair muttered.
Trev held up his hands. “Truce. Tell you what, let me string those lights for you, then I’ll go take a look at the lake.”
Stasi was tempted to refuse his offer. She knew Jake would be only too happy to help them put up the lights. Or they could even use magick and have them up in a wink, but they tended not to use their power too obviously.
“It’s for both shops,” Stasi said. “And we accept your offer.” She noticed someone else she had considered a friend crossing the street rather than approach them. The snub hurt a great deal, but she wasn’t about to show it.
While Trev busied himself checking the orange and white twinkle lights before stringing them up, Stasi set out period underwear in the display window, showing a corset, crinolines, and bloomers along with a few lace-edged chemises popular in the late 1800s. She draped a string of pearls along the bottom shelf and arranged a silk fan and two tiny embroidered silk purses there also.
Blair put out toys from that same time period, including two porcelain dolls with ringlet curls and silk dresses, a set of soldiers dressed in blue and gray, and various pull toys. The center of the display was an old-fashioned rocking horse. A discreetly placed sign in a corner explained that the items on display weren’t for sale.
Trev studied her window. “Serious collectors would kill for those.”
“They can try, but it won’t do them any good. I have a few people who come up here every now and then hoping to buy some of the antiques I refuse to give up.”
“Such as Felix,” Stasi said. “Her Kit-Kat clock. It’s just as well, since few would understand why their clock would talk to them. Most of this we only bring out for special occasions.”
Trev looked around, seeing tourists stroll down the sidewalk, stopping at some windows to look in at the shop owners in their period dress. It looked like any other day in the small mountain town, but the three could feel the shifts of unnatural energy in the air and the awareness that something was very wrong and needed to be corrected before something truly bad happened.
“I don’t like this.” Stasi rubbed her hands along her arms.
“Did you call Jazz and tell her what’s been going on?” Blair asked.
“I left her a voice mail and asked if she’d come up early.” Stasi felt a strange prickling sensation along the back of her neck. “Excuse me.” She held a handkerchief to her lips as she hurried into her shop.
“Oh no.” Blair grimaced.
“What’s wrong?” Trev felt torn between following Stasi to see what was wrong and seeing what he could learn from Blair.
She looked around, then leaned in. “Stasi lived in Salem Village from 1691 to 1693. She was a companion to an elderly widow.” She nodded at Trev’s shocked expression. “It was pure luck she was never accused, because many thought she was too pretty and too sweet and witchcraft must be involved. Alda Gibbons, the woman she worked for, lost her husband to the sea. He was a ship’s captain, and his ship went down during a storm on the return trip from England. When the accusations began, Stasi knew it would look worse if she left, so she dampened her powers as much as possible and kept a very low profile. Luckily, the town respected Alda and I believe that helped Stasi. But still, she was there during that terrifying time and she’s refused to erase those memories.”
Trev ducked his head. “Excuse me.” He turned to Stasi’s shop.
When he went inside, he found her seated on the high-legged stool behind the counter. She had taken off her bonnet and sat there with her head resting on her arms. Horace squatted next to her, stroking her arm and muttering words in a long dead language. His wings rustled together with a raspy sound. Bogie floated around her, whimpering and moving in to offer comforting kisses. And then there were those red hearts mocking him.
“This isn’t Salem, Stasi,” he said quietly, leaning across the counter to rest his hand on her head. He inhaled a faint scent he knew to be wholly her own.
She lifted her head a fraction of an inch. “Blair told you.”
“She’s worried about you.”
She groaned. “I will turn her into a pigeon.”
“Fearful people do strange things, but mortals are a lot more advanced nowadays.”
“Sure, they hire wizards to sue witches. Hic!” She glared at the bubble that floated in the air. Bogie nosed it and it disappeared.
Trev chuckled. “You seem to do that a lot when I’m around.”
“Go away. Hic!” She slipped off the stool and headed for the stockroom.
Trev followed her partway and watched her pull a bottle of water out of a small refrigerator.
“I’m going out to the lake and take another look around,” he announced. He ran the back of his fingers down her cheek. “Have dinner with me.”
She stiffened. “I thank you for helping us, but don’t you think our having dinner out would be wrongly construed if Carrie found out?”
“The only one seeing it that way is you.” He took a step forward. “Have pity on me, Stasi. I really do hate eating alone.”
“I’ve seen the looks women around here give you. You wouldn’t be alone for long. The Sit ‘N Eat is your best bet. I won’t say Ginny will protect you, but she’ll make sure you have a hint of privacy. But if you feel brave enough, try Grady’s. It’s more a honky-tonk at night, so you might have to fight for your dignity.”
“Then protect me.”
She sighed. “You won’t stop, will you?”
He grinned, aware he was wearing her down. “No, I won’t.”
“I close the shop at six.”
“I’ll pick you up at seven.” He left before she had a chance to change her mind.
***
Trev zipped up his jacket and tucked his hands in the pockets against the frigid air as he took the trail around Stasi and Blair’s building. With the snow and patches of ice on the ground, he was grateful he wore hiking boots appropriate for the rough ground.
“Not a good day for a walk.”
Trev stopped and looked over to see the town handyman standing near the back steps. His shearling-lined jean jacket was buttoned up against the cold and Trev envied the dark-haired man’s flannel-lined jeans. He wouldn’t have minded a pair of those right now.
“I have to admit that when I want to kick back I’m more tempted to head to Tahiti or the Caribbean for scuba diving and wind surfing,” Trev agreed, echoing the man’s relaxed stance. “Blair doesn’t know the truth about you, does she?”
Jake grinned. “That woman is so smart and so quick-witted, but I have to say there’s times she totally drops the ball.”
Trev grinned back. “You ever plan to tell her?”
Jake looked off into the distance. “I’m sure the time will come, and she’ll want to kill me on the spot for keeping it from her. Some relationships aren’t meant to progress too fast. I know she’s interested, and I feel the same, but for now, it’s kinda fun this way.” He moved forward, walking with Trev. “What about you and Stasi? Even I can see there’s something brewing there.”
“Wizards and witches don’t make a perfect pair,” Trev said simply. Even though there was a time-honored edict that wizards and witches don’t mate, there were still red hearts floating over Stasi’s head, along with a matching set over his, but Trev didn’t feel like going into details.
“I’m sorry your spell didn’t work out at the lake,” Jake said, walking beside him.
Trev shot him a sideways look. “You know about that?”
“Stasi told Blair.”
“And?” He wondered if she’d also told her friend about the kiss.
Jake’s teeth flashed white. “Some things it’s best not to mention.”
He froze just as they reached the end of the stand of trees ringing the lake.
“What do you sense?” Trev asked, trusting the other man’s perception more than his own.
“Something dirty, cruel,” he murmured, walking more slowly now, then stopped. “Whoa, something did a real number on your spell.”
Trev walked around Jake and stared at the now visible barrier around the lake, which looked armed to the teeth with the crisscrossed strips of magick and the ruins of the protective ring he had constructed to protect mortals from stumbling onto the barrier and being harmed in the process. Now, it was as if whatever had created the barrier wanted everyone to know about it. And he guessed who would be the first to be blamed.
Jake watched Trev approach the barrier, then stop when flames licked around the bottom edge. He backed up to a safe distance and watched the flames die down, but he sensed that they lingered in the ground waiting for an unwary victim.
“You can’t destroy it, can you?” he asked.
Trev shook his head. “Not without some potent help. And with no idea what created this, I wouldn’t even know who to ask.”
“What kind of magick do you think it is?”
Both men turned at the sound of the feminine voice. Stasi stood at the end of the path. In deference to the cold morning, she wore a brown wool cloak with the hood pulled up over her hair. There was a determination stamped across her delicate features that Trev hadn’t seen before.
“You don’t know, do you?” She moved forward, not slipping once on the snow even though she still wore the fragile ballet slippers. “Neither of you know what monster is out there frightening people into thinking Blair and I are evil and turning our beautiful lake into this horror.”
“Hey, I just ran into Trev and came along for company,” Jake explained, looking easygoing and with no evidence of the sharp intelligence he’d shown Trev a few moments ago. “He was trying to explain this to me.” He pointed to the lake. “Man, anyone comes out here they’ll think aliens have landed or the lake monster finally decided he wanted to be alone.”
“The lake monster?”
“A local legend,” Stasi said. “Sometimes you can look out and see bubbles or a shadow of something in the middle of the lake, but there’s never been a problem with anyone out there fishing. Kids come out here on a dare to find the monster. So far, no one has succeeded and not one child has been eaten.”
Trev turned back to the barrier. “It needs to be hidden or at least masked.”
“No offense, Trevor, but you weren’t very successful the last time,” Stasi said sharply.
He ignored her as he moved toward the barrier again. Jake walked with him, his boot heels crunching on the icy ground.
“Is the lake a tourist spot during your festivities?” Trev asked. “Any ghost tours given out here?”
Stasi shook her head. “All the ghost walking tours are in town and at the local cemetery. They feel it’s more colorful. The lake monster legend isn’t even talked about much except among the kids. I think they’d prefer to keep this place their own secret.”
“Can you cover the barrier?” Jake asked.
“I can try. Considering what happened last time, who knows? But this time I’ll study the structure more and not just show off,” he murmured.
Stasi stepped back. “I must return to the shop.” Her speech turned more formal as if she had mentally stepped back in time. She turned around, her cloak flying around her ankles as she walked away with both men watching her.
“You need to come up with some serious mojo to force Caustic Carrie to back down on the lawsuit,” Jake said. “If you don’t you’ll never have a chance with Stasi.”
Trev turned away from the enticing sight of Stasi walking away. “I’m not allowed to do that. Besides, as I said, wizards and witches don’t mix.”
“An old wives’ tale,” Jake scoffed. “There’s another witch that will tell you just because they say one thing doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Especially since she’s with a vampire.”
“Amazing a vampire would stay with a witch, since blood taking is so important a ritual for them with their lovers,” Trev said, surprised. It was well known that a witch’s blood was poisonous to a vampire. Any vampire who dared take a witch’s blood would suffer a serious case of heartburn at the least and death at the worst.
“Then you don’t know Jazz Tremaine and Nick Gregory. They’re playing the odds and so far, they’re winning. And no way he’d try to take even a taste of her blood. She throws a mean fireball,” Jake added, following Trev as he moved closer to the barrier, then started walking around it.
Trev studied the ground, watching how the flames would immediately lick the ground if they moved even an inch closer to the barrier. Even as the blaze increased the air remained cold.
“Fire but no heat,” he murmured.
“More damage that way,” Jake commented. “If you don’t feel the heat you don’t realize how badly you’re burned until it’s too late.”
Trev deliberately moved a step closer. The flames shot higher, still not providing heat but something more sinister that Trev could only sense. It took some time for the facts to pop up in his head, but when they did he knew he was facing something more than he had expected.
“Not burned. Melted,” he said finally. “You don’t feel any heat, so you’ll venture too close. Once you’ve gotten within its range, the fire will lick at your skin and instantly melt it like wax. By the time it’s finished, you’ll be nothing but a puddle on the ground. It will even melt your bones.”
Jake grimaced. “Sounds like something out of a bad sci-fi or horror movie. The Lake That Ate the Town.”
“This isn’t normal magick.” Trev crouched and picked up a small stone. He arched back and threw the stone as hard as he could. The men watched the stone hit the barrier and bounce back so hard and fast it buried itself in a tree trunk. “If the stone had hit one of us we’d probably be cleaved in two.”
“That still doesn’t tell us what kind of magick it is,” Jake said.
“It’s got to be some kind of power from the earth, but it’s nothing I’m familiar with.” Trev glanced at him. “Feel like a hike?”
“Sure.”
As the two men, each bearing his own special form of magick, walked along, they found a common denominator. They both were fascinated with a witch, and each had their own reason for keeping their distance. Even if they knew deep down it was a losing battle.
***
“So, girlfriend, tell all. What are you going to wear on your date with the wizard?” Horace asked as Stasi closed out her register. It had been a slow day, so it wouldn’t take her long. “You’re not going to wear one of those sack dresses are you?” He cast a derisive look over her period costume. “Now, if you were in Regency clothing, I’d say fine. At least they showed off the bod, but what you’re wearing covers too much.” He tapped a claw against his chin. “Maybe you could borrow something sexy and sassy from Blair. She’s got some outfits that could qualify as pretty good slut wear.”
“I have very nice date clothes,” she pointed out. “And Blair will make you suffer if she hears you calling her clothes slut wear.”
“Honey, you haven’t been on a decent date in ages and as for getting laid…” he paused, “well, that’s been even longer.”
“I am not discussing my sex life or lack thereof with you.”
He perked up. “Will you tell me if the wizard nails you? Come to think of it, maybe you won’t have to tell me. Maybe you’ll just float in here wearing that post-coital glow. Oh wait! You’ll have your phone with you. Maybe you could take a few pictures for my scrapbook. Hey!” His arms and legs windmilled in the air as Stasi picked him up by his wings and gave him a little shake. “Not nice!” He glared at her.
“Then stop acting gross.” She held him a couple of inches above the counter then released his wings.
Horace fell to the counter and rolled over. He stood up in a crouch, rubbing his butt.
“You used to be nice,” he muttered.
She picked up the moneybag and noticed Bogie had already disappeared from his bed. “Good night, Horace.”
“Just remember, it’s okay to give a little tongue with a kiss,” he called after her.
“I’m telling Jazz to bring Fluff and Puff with her,” she caroled as she left the shop, flipping the sign to Closed and locking the door. She smiled as she heard Horace’s wails of outrage. The gargoyle and the bunny slippers had major issues.
She met Blair, who was also closing up shop.
“Do you want to go down to the Sit ‘N Eat?” Blair asked. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like cooking or even heating up.”
“I—ah—I’m having dinner with Trev.” Stasi looked across the street, so she wouldn’t have to see her friend’s reaction.
Blair’s lips widened in a knowing smile. “Really?” she drew out the word. “I wonder how this date will go.”
“It’s not a date.” She rounded the side of the building and headed for the stairs leading to the top floor.
“He asked you to dinner?”
“Yes.”
“And I’m sure he’ll pick up the check.”
“He better.”
“Then it’s a date. This is worth me nuking something for dinner. What are you going to wear?”
“Considering it’s going to be thirty degrees tonight, I’m thinking something warm.” She picked up Bogie, who had greeted her at the door. Since he wasn’t fond of cold weather he usually transported himself from the shop to the apartments.
“Maybe this time you can convince him to persuade Carrie to drop the lawsuit.” Blair followed Stasi into her bedroom and headed for her closet, examining the contents. “I have just the thing.” She left the room.
“I prefer to cover my legs, thank you very much!” Stasi twisted and waggled her fingers at her back. The hooks released and she quickly peeled off her clothing. “It’s not a date!”
“You know, in mortal court you wouldn’t be allowed to have dinner with the opposing attorney. I say you go for it. Enjoy your night out—and this is the perfect way to enjoy it.” Blair entered the room carrying a hanger in one hand and a pair of shoes in the other.
Stasi stared at the soft wool pants and jacket in a rich shade of periwinkle. What made the outfit outstanding was an off-the-shoulder lace top in dark lavender. Only the thinnest of nude colored fabric separated her skin from the elegant lace, so it would look as if she wore nothing underneath. Once she took off the jacket, she’d be dressed in a way to tease a man’s imagination. Blair held up a pair of come and get me stilettos that perfectly matched the outfit.
Stasi’s lips broadened in a smile as she imagined adding her favorite pearl pendant and earrings to it.
“Oh yes, this will do nicely.”