Maybe I’m still drunk?
Maybe I’m still passed out at the college?
Maybe this is all a dream?
Snap out of it, Pie. If Pia were here, that’s what she would say. Life is a mystery and you stumbled into something special. That’s what this is. It’s special. I’m special.
And even though this line of thinking mostly starts out as an internal pep talk, I feel it. I do.
I like having Pia as my friend. And even though she’s missing now, I will find her. I have no doubts at all that I will get her back. And sure, this place is a little bit creepy, not to mention it has some borderline evil symbology—but Tomas is super nice. And he was right about Pell. He’s not that bad. If I have to be stuck in a curse, I could do a lot worse than those two.
And fuck it. If I really am crazy and this is all some kind of delusional hallucination or dream, then nothing can hurt me. So why not enjoy it?
Yeah. I’m going with this line of thinking.
I quickly finish curling my hair, take one last look at myself, and grab my purse.
The moment I walk out of the gate and take a fresh breath of lake air, my head clears, and most of my thoughts about insanity fade as I concentrate on how kinda cool this new life might be.
I conquered the sanctuary tonight. A part of me feels like it’s trying to throw every possible inconvenience at me that it can. But it’s not working. I’ve figured out that there’s always a workaround.
Take my phone, for instance. I can’t charge it at the sanctuary. But I can charge it in my car. And the twenty-minute ride to and from town is just enough. There is no internet, obviously, and I can’t make calls or send texts, either. But the point is, the phone still works. It still plays music and it still takes pictures.
And even though I shouldn’t be able to use the curling iron in the cottage, I can. Because I cut off the cord, stuck it inside the hot coal thingy that heats up the water, got it just hot enough, and boom. I had myself an old-fashioned curling iron. Then I put some coals on a plate, put the iron on the coals, took it upstairs, and that kept the iron hot enough to put some bounce in my hair in front of the mirror.
I feel like I took charge of things today. Maybe I didn’t find my place just yet, but I definitely found my footing and I’m now convinced that I won’t miss anything about modern technological conveniences. So I put aside my worries and get serious. If the sheriff is magical, I need to stay aware. Who knows how many curses there are out there? I could stumble into another one if I’m not careful.
And that’s the last thing I need.
There aren’t many places to park here in Granite Springs because it’s a tiny town and most of it is built on the side of a hilly mountain. Main Street is narrow and paved with bricks, one of those old-timey roads that are common in some parts of PA. And there is probably some kind of historic rule that you can’t disrupt said bricks for posterity reasons, so it has never been widened to accommodate cars and buses. This gives the downtown a bit of a claustrophobic feel and even though I’ve only been at the sanctuary for a few days, I find myself feeling uneasy in the presence of others.
I finally find a parking spot in back of the candle shop. And then I walk-jog down the hill to the steakhouse. It smells pretty good and my mouth is already watering when I open the door and practically smash into the hard, muscular chest of Sheriff Russ Roth.
“Oh, shit! Sorry!”
His wide grin is immediate and his eyes drink me in. “I didn’t mean to run into you, Pie. But I saw you coming and wanted to be the first thing you laid eyes on when you opened these doors.”
And… cue the cupid. My head is suddenly all flighty and butterflies flitter around in my stomach.
Pell was right. Russ makes me swoon.
Sheriff Roth takes both my hands, brings them up to his lips, and kisses each and every one of my knuckles and he gazes down into my eyes.
“Uhhh…” I’m at a loss for words. I want to pull my hands away, but he’s not giving them up and I don’t want this to become a fight. And… the longer he keeps a hold of them, the less I seem to care. “Hi!” I finally manage. My grin is so big, my cheeks are stretching.
Russ’s eyes slide down my body and this makes me tingle all over.