Page 11 of Guarded by the Gargoyle (Hidden Hollow #3)

9

WILLOW

T he first thing I did was run a bath in the huge claw foot bathtub. I found some bubble bath pearls that were all different pastel colors in a crystal goblet under the sink and dropped a few in. Soon the tub was filled with scented foam and I was just about to climb in…when it occurred to me that a glass of white wine would be just the thing to sip as I relaxed in the tub.

Deciding to test Goody Albright’s promise that anything I wanted would be waiting for me in the kitchen, I turned off the water and went downstairs.

I kept a wary eye out for Kael, but the big gargoyle was nowhere in sight—until I reached the kitchen. Then I saw him through the window. He was still standing outside the front door with his muscular arms crossed over his broad chest.

It occurred to me that he looked like a bodyguard watching for intruders or any other threats that might come in the night. I was slightly irritated that he was still there—I had hoped he might wander off and find someone else to “protect”—but I confess, I wasn’t as unhappy as I might have been. After so many years of abuse and then the concerns of living alone in a big city, it was kind of nice to have someone watching over me.

Not that he’d been watching me for long, I reminded myself. When I drew the magic doorway that would take me back home tomorrow, I was going by myself. He would not fit in around The French Quarter.

Okay, well, actually he probably would . People would probably just assume he was a street performer trying out an especially elaborate costume for next Mardi Gras. But that didn’t matter because he was not coming home with me.

Putting the giant gargoyle firmly out of my mind, I peered in the refrigerator which looked like an old-fashioned rounded one from the 1950s on the outside but turned out to be state-of-the-art when I swung open its retro door.

Like the cottage, the fridge was bigger on the inside than the outside. It looked big enough to store food for a family of eight. And sure enough, sitting on one gleaming white shelf was a bottle of really nice Chablis.

I took the bottle out of the fridge and put it on the counter. Then I went hunting for a bottle opener.

I found one in the first drawer I opened—was that the cottage supplying me with what I needed again? I thought it might be. I put the bottle on the kitchen island and began to try opening it.

But something must have been wrong with the cork—I couldn’t get the twisty silver corkscrew to pierce it no matter how hard I tried. I was just about to give up when my eyes caught on the broad gray back outside the window again.

Should I?

I hesitated for a moment, but Goody Albright had seemed to think that Kael was perfectly safe. I shouldn’t trust the judgment of a woman I’d only met that night, but somehow I did. Maybe because she’d been Pop-pop’s friend. At any rate, the big gargoyle claimed he wanted to serve me and Goody Albright had promised that no one could come into the magical cottage unless I asked them in. So it should be safe to at least hand him the bottle and ask him to open it.

I decided to go for it. My bubble bath was getting cold and I really wanted a chilly glass of Chablis to sip while I relaxed in the claw foot tub. Taking a deep breath, I walked over and opened the front door.