Warrior of the Ages (Warriors of the Ages) Read Online Free PDF Page B

iron railing. The feeling of following her heart instead of her head taunted her. She’d fallen in love with both a house and the idea of running a business in a place that Brenda had dubbed a “ghost town”. Closing her eyes against the moonlight, enveloped in the scent of lilacs, Beth willingly allowed her dreams to pull her back to laughter and good food, away from common sense and logic.
    The dull metallic thud of a slamming dumpster lid woke her up. Beth scrambled to her feet, tugging her big t-shirt to make sure she was decent. An older man stood in the alley behind the furniture store, and though she waved at him, he didn’t notice her. Peeking over at the restaurant, that supposedly wasn’t, she found it blank and empty as always, however, a new row of daffodils now ringed the red tulips rioting around the house. Really? Who planted flowers before dawn? She’d been hoping to spot the landscapers, her grass needed cut and she wanted to hire someone. In the middle of crawling back inside the window, Beth noticed her own grass and stopped, one foot inside and the other out. Then she hurtled through the window and dashed through the labyrinthine rooms of the huge old home.
    Slamming out the front door Beth looked around in disbelief. Her grass had been cut, not a single dandelion remained, and hundreds upon hundreds of purple crocuses now grew thick all along the front of the house. Those flowers had absolutely not been there yesterday. Squatting beside them, Beth tugged on a plant and it lifted easily from the earth. It had definitely been freshly planted. Standing abruptly she jogged through the damp grass in her slippers, racing to the house next door. Determined to get answers she stormed right up to the front door and started pounding on it. Not a sound came from inside, not even the echo of her own banging. Beth stood, still hammering away, when Brenda teetered up the sidewalk in her sparkly pumps.
     

     
    “SEEMS TO ME you’d be glad they did your yard work for free.”
    “Maybe I should,” Beth griped, “but I’m not. They trimmed the flowers off the bushes, and why would they do yard work at night anyway, and why would they ignore me when I knock on their door? I know they were in there.”
    “I don’t get you. They’re probably at work or afraid to open the door the way you were banging.” Brenda opened a bottle of lotion. “Wow, this is nice. Where on earth do you get all this stuff? More important, who do you think is going to buy any of it?”
    “The restaurant next door would be interested in a lot of things I have, if they would stop ignoring me. It’s rude.”
    Brenda plunked the bottle back on the shelf. “Oh my gosh, would you stop? You should open this shop downtown or in Beechwood, it’s too upscale for Willowyth anyway.” Meandering towards shelves stacked with tiny paper boxes, she started to open and sniff the contents.
    “It will all work out.” Beth said with confidence. She felt that truth deep in her heart even while she had absolutely no idea how on heaven or earth that was ever going to happen.
    Brenda turned to grin at her, her hair looked terrific thanks to the box she’d taken home the day before. “Kind of like, ‘If you build it, they will come’? Good luck with that.” She dropped the box she’d been examining. “Oh gross! What is this stuff?” Turning from the shelves, she covered her mouth with a hand, gagging.
    Laughing, Beth hopped up and rescued the discarded box, folding the wax lining closed and putting it back on the shelf. “I know, and if I told you about this tea you’d think I was nuts.”
    “I already think that,” Brenda mumbled through her hand.
    The comment hurt slightly, especially since Beth knew Brenda wasn’t kidding.
    “Nobody would put that near their mouth, Beth. I work in a coffee shop so you can trust me on that.”
    Squaring her shoulders, Beth insisted, “It’s one of those things only guys can appreciate. Like hunting