Seaspun Magic Read Online Free PDF Page B

came all right, but it's not him. He's not tall, he's not dark and he's not handsome, so it can't possibly be the right one." Arianne laughed.
    "I didn't say he was going to be tall, dark and handsome. All I said was that—"
    "Yes, yes, I know!" Arianne interrupted hastily. "But this is Jill's bed-and-breakfast booking, that's all."
    "And he's not handsome?"
    "Not in the slightest."
    "Well, what does he look like?"
    "Oh, mother! Quite ordinary, really, except he must have broken his nose once. It's a little crooked. And he does have distinctive eyes, like—" she thought for a second "—white jade or.. .lucid green ice."
    "He doesn't sound a total loss...."
    "I'm sure he's... um... he's..." Arianne searched her brain for a suitable adjective, but none came to mind. "Interesting."
    "That bad, huh?" Jill added her voice to the conversation, using another telephone.
    Erin was over the worst, she reported. They would be coming home next Saturday. She clarified that the sixty-five dollars did not include dinner, and as far as she knew, Leo Donev was single. Wishing Arianne good luck with her unwanted guest, mother and friend signed off.
    At a quarter to twelve the front door opened and the accompanying wisp of ocean wind that found its way inside the house blew the candle out.
    Arianne looked up from her knitting needles. Her guest was shrugging out of his leather jacket. Then he kicked his Wellingtons off and, at her casual nod of welcome, entered the living room, bringing in with him the freshness of the great outdoors. He went right to the cookies she'd brought in earlier for him. "Help yourself," she coaxed, slightly sarcastic, and indicated a coffeepot plugged in nearby.
    He chose a cookie, and his eyes alighted on the cat." I might have known you'd have a black cat," he said, smiling back at her, munching on the cookie.
    "Purely coincidence."
    "I wonder..." he drawled, running his eyes over the pink bathrobe that swathed her from the chin down. She was nestled into the pillows of the chair she had offered him earlier. With the mass of her dark hair piled up and caught by a few haphazard combs and a tangle of curls escaping down the back, she hardly looked a witch; more like a young girl up later than she ought to be.
    Being the center of his regard was unnerving, she found. It was rather like being bathed in the headlights of his car again. His pale eyes, instead of being cold, seemed hot. Green ice that seemed to burn as it touched her.
    He reached for another cookie and settled down on the couch.' These are delicious. They must honestly be the best I've ever had."
    "I have a friend who makes his living selling cookies, and he sends me a care package now and then, since he
    won't divulge his highly secret recipe. Would you pass
me one?"
    He handed her the plate. "'A friend'?"
    "Well, he's a cousin, actually." Arianne nibbled appreciatively. She could handle a bit of conversation now. In fact, she was looking forward to it. She hadn't lied when she'd told her mother he was(interesting.'' A great curiosity to learn more about him had seized her. Dozens of questions fought for first place.
    When the telephone rang it was so unexpected that she jumped slightly. No one but her mother ever phoned this late, and she'd had no hint of this call.
    "'Larry'?" she asked vacantly a moment later." Oh, yes. 'Larry'! Hello, Larry."
    Leo glanced at her; she wished he wasn't sitting right there and that she wasn't sitting there, either.
    "I'm calling for Don, actually," Larry explained. He was a fellow officer of Jill's new acquaintance, Don Richards. They were headquartered at the huge modern naval base not far away on Whidbey Island.
    "Oh... yes?" Arianne prompted. The last time Don had come to see Jill, he had brought his best buddy, Larry Barnes over to meet Arianne. It was a disgusting bit of matchmaking, but for the brief hour that she saw him, Larry had been pleasant and fun, and as a bonus he was tall, dark and handsome!
    "I was