More Than Magic Read Online Free PDF

her.
    Wonderful, just what she needed. An unexpected guest, and without Ouida around to run interference. All because she couldn’t even manage her email.
    “Okay.” Trish came back on the line. “His name’s Nick Crowe. Passed the background check with flying colors.”
    “Not one of our regulars?”
    “No. But he had lots of great references. Recovering from an illness of some kind. Bringing his own supplies. Willing to cook all his meals for himself up there,” Trish recited patiently. “I’m reading from the email I sent you.”
    “But Ouida’s off.” It was a half-hearted excuse. They offered a breakfast buffet every morning in the sunroom and a cookout or special buffet on weekend nights, in addition to selling individual picnic lunches and providing cooking classes featuring the farm’s herbs.
    “Willing to cook all his meals for himself.”
    “But the reputation of the farm. I mean, the organic—”
    “I went through all that with him. He said he wasn’t looking for a health spa.”
    “Health spa? Health spa ? What, with massage and—and—” Grace sputtered.
    “Yeah. Definitely a city guy.”
    “Great.”
    “He’s writing a book or something and I think he wants to keep a low profile—get off the beaten path,” Trish added.
    “Well, mission accomplished.”
    There was a snort on the other end. “And I suspect he’s late because he got lost and wandered around trying to find you.”
    “If they get lost that easy, the—”
    “—mountain don’t want ’em,” Trish finished. “But your Pops never turned anyone away who eventually found their way to the gate, as I recall.”
    “True,” Grace conceded.
    “So, are you really all by yourself up there in the back of beyond?”
    Grace managed a grim smile. Trish was, despite her mountain-savvy, a city gal herself. Asheville was nestled in the mountains, but it was still quite the cosmopolitan place. “I’ll be fine. Assuming your guy really is an upstanding citizen. Besides, I have Pooka and my trusty 12-gauge security system.”
    “Well, I’d prefer that you had a nice hunk of human security system up there. But don’t worry, he checked out. He may be an unwelcome guest, but he’s certainly not a dangerous one.” She paused. “And he’s quite a hunk himself.”
    “Uh huh.” Grace was skeptical. Trish thought pretty much any guest with a Y-chromosome was a hunk. “I thought you said he’d been sick.”
    “Well, he’s a bit pale and thin for my taste, but definitely a charmer. Too bad Ouida’s not up there. She’d have him bulked back up in no time.”
    “So, he doesn’t look like he’s still ill?” Grace probed.
    “No. I mean— Well, he was only here for a bit. He looked a little jetlagged, is all.”
    Grace relaxed, but only slightly. “Well, thanks Trish. Sorry about the confusion and interrupting your sleep.”
    “It’s okay. I have some of your ‘night-night’ herbs around here somewhere.”
    “Glad to hear it,” Grace replied. “I’ll be sure to send you some more.”
    “Thanks. Take care, Grace.”
    “You too.”
    She ended the call and signaled Pooka to stay on the porch as she continued on up the stairs and through the front door. It was a shame the mountain hadn’t discouraged their unexpected guest. But, seeing that he was apparently the bookish sort, perhaps she could persuade him that this was not really the best place for his writing pursuits.
    “Welcome to Woodruff Herb Farm, Mr.—” What did Trish say his name was? She sighed and shook her head. “‘Mr. City Man’ as Jamie would say. Welcome to Woodruff Herb Farm, Mr. City Man. We have black bears, coyotes, foxes, wild boar, and the occasional mountain lion up here.”
    Grace went into the farm office, retrieving her shotgun from the gun safe and slinging it over her shoulder. Then she went down the back stairs into the cabin storage to retrieve a cloth-lined basket full of linens, towels, and sundries as well as the cabin keys,