Page 35 of Herbs & Hex-breaking

I headed for the barstools, chose one and sat. That seemed like the safest place to be. Dex moved competently around his kitchen. He had water on to boil in no time at all and pulled a bagged salad kit from the fridge.

He filled a glass with ice, poured some water into it, and placed it in front of me.

“Y’all were super busy today,” he said.

“Yeah,” I said. Reaching for my pendant, I began to slide it back and forth on the chain.

“There’s no need to be nervous, Kate,” he said gently.

“I’m not.”

He gave me a look. “You’re fidgeting.”

Caught, I dropped the pendant.

“I peeked over through the connecting door a few times,” he said, “and saw that you had a long line at your check out counter. More then once.”

“The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving always are wild,” I said while Dex dumped the salad in a bowl across the island from me. “Toni came over to lend a hand for a while this afternoon. That helped Taylor and me get the line moving. That and I also gave out lots of free mulled cider.”

“Smart.”

“It always puts folks in a good mood.”

“I could smell the cider and mulling spices all the way over in the bookstore,” Dex said, tossing the salad. “In fact, I can still smell it on you.”

“Really?” I lifted the sleeve of my shirt and took a sniff. Sure enough, it did smell faintly of cloves, cinnamon and apples.

I glanced up and discovered that Dex was watching me closely. It made me narrow my eyes in suspicion. In response, he simply sent me a friendly smile and continued with his dinner prep.

“What are your plans for the holiday?” he asked easily.

“Dinner with my family at my parents’ house.”

“They live in Birmingham, don’t they?”

“They do.”

“Will Circe and her family be there as well?” he asked next.

“Yes,” I said. Her sisters Artemis and Andrea, and their parents—my Uncle Stavros and Aunt Rhea—and our grandparents.”

“Your family kept with the Greek name theme, didn’t they?”

“They sure did.”

“Do you have any siblings?” he asked next.

“A brother, Percy.”

Dex grinned. “Is that short for Perseus?”

“It is,” I admitted with a half-laugh.

Dex took the pasta off the heat and turned to dump it into a strainer in the sink. “Well, it beats the hell out of Beauregard.”

“What are your plans for the holidays?” I asked him as he transferred the noodles and poured in the sauce.

“I don’t have any,” he said. “I’m going to stay home and watch football.”