Deadly Night by Heather Graham Page A

think she should fix him with a divorce, if he really hurts her.”
    Fawn nodded gravely. “Still, a little prick…” Then she was all happiness again, bidding them goodbye and promising to return.
    As soon as the door closed behind her, Mason turned to Kendall. “What’s up with you?” he asked. “She could have changed her mind while you just stood there, staring at her credit card. Have we decided we don’t want to make money here?”
    “No, no, I’m sorry. I guess I’m a little tired,” Kendall said, apologizing quickly and realizing how lucky she was to have employees who were also friends. She had known Vinnie practically forever; they had gone to grade school together. Mason had appeared the first day she opened the shop. He’d been working in a place closer to Jackson Square, and he’d admitted he had come to check her out. She had been fumbling around awkwardly the next day, trying to figure out how to watch the front while doing a private reading, when he had returned. With a wink, he told her that he had seen it in the cards—she was going to need help. He’d worked for her ever since, and with some part-time help from Vinnie, they ran the place themselves and did very nicely. Katrina might have done them in—not that they had lost much merchandise, but because the city had all but gone into a coma—except for the fact that they had so many loyal customers, so they had been able to re-open quickly and maintain enough business to support themselves until the tourists started coming back.
    Amelia had even let them do readings at the plantation for the brief period before they could reopen the store itself.
    She felt another pang for the woman who had done so much for her and closed her eyes tightly for a moment. Amelia had lived a long life. She had seen so much, war and peace, people both good and bad. Given her age, her death had been sad, but not tragic; it had been inevitable.
    Kendall suddenly realized Mason was staring at her again. “I gather it didn’t go well with the princes come to take over the castle.”
    “Don’t be so dramatic.”
    He pointed a finger at her. “You resent them.”
    “I don’t. Really.”
    “Liar.”
    “I’m just sad that Amelia never got to meet them and be surrounded by love at the end.”
    “Kendall, she never knew them. She did know you. And she was loved. Heck, we all loved her. You, though…you were special to her. It was as if you lost a grandmother. Then, to have these usurpers come in, well, it has to be a bit traumatic.”
    “I had to go and hire a psychology major.” She sighed.
    He laughed. “I imagine they’ll sell immediately.”
    “No.”
    “No?”
    “They say—at least the two younger brothers say—they want to fix the place up.”
    “And live in it?”
    “I guess.” It occurred to her then that they’d never actually mentioned anything about that part of it.
    He looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, “That won’t work.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “The princes have arrived—but there can only be one king of the castle. Everybody knows that.”
    “Well, who knows, maybe they won’t live there after all. They said they want to preserve the house, use it for some kind of benefit and then make it into a place where they can do community events.”
    “You’re kidding,” Mason said skeptically.
    “I’m just telling you what they said. How should I know what they’ll really do?”
    “You’re growling,” he warned her.
    “I am not growling. My tenure at Flynn Plantation is over. Done. Finis . I have to move on. I have a life.”
    Mason started to laugh. It was truly irritating.
    “I have a life,” she repeated more firmly.
    “Let’s see…you work. You have a few drinks with Vinnie and me occasionally. You occasionally see a few friends. Female friends. You have a cat. A cat, Kendall.”
    “A great cat, if you don’t mind,” she told him. “Hey, it’s not easy, keeping this place open. And I like my life.