Page 7 of Safe in Shadow (Pine Ridge Universe #22)
I t may have been her imagination, but Grace felt like the next few days passed smoothly.
Getting out helped. Not out of the house and into the grounds—the eerie feeling seemed to intensify the further she went into the woods—but traveling to pick up old wingback chairs in need of reupholstering, faded loveseats, and discarded chaise lounges was pure therapy.
Except for her abysmal lack of thought about groceries.
“Gosh darn it.” Grace looked down at her sweat and grass-stained clothing.
Her hair was a giant tangled ball on the top of her head.
“I’ll shop tomorrow.” She’d pick up something hot and easy to eat tonight.
Something that could pass for homemade. If she ate one more microwaved meal or slice of cold pizza, her stomach would probably file for divorce.
Grace tapped her phone as it sat in its mount on her dashboard. She was returning home through Pine Ridge. Her GPS offered a list of restaurants at the push of a button.
“Six whole restaurants! Whoa, move over, New York City. What a riot of nightlife you’ve got here,” Grace muttered.
She swiped past a coffee shop, pizzeria, Chinese restaurant, Mexican place, and sushi bar.
The River House was the only restaurant that looked like it would offer her something she could pass off as home-cooked.
Grace kept one eye on the sparsely populated road and the other on her phone.
She tapped the button that offered to call the restaurant and soon heard a man’s warm, cheerful voice crackle through the car’s hands-free system.
“The River House, how may I help you?”
“Um. Yes. I wanted to pick up an order, please.”
“All right, we can help you with that. What would you like?”
Oh. I suppose I should have looked at the menu, huh? “What are the specials?”
“Tonight we have a baked manicotti, a grilled red snapper, ricotta-stuffed portobello caps over pasta in a pesto cream sauce, or a roasted rosemary half-chicken.”
Don’t have a food-gasm on the phone with the nice stranger. Grace realized the pathetic fast food nuggets she’d grabbed between appointments had done little to fill her up. The list of “real” food made her mouth flood. “Um. Wow. That all sounds so good! I don’t know what to pick.”
“You’re new in town, huh?” the voice chuckled.
“How can you tell?”
“Regulars usually know exactly what they want, and they make sure to tell me all their customizations. You can order from the menu, too. We’ve got salads, burgers, steaks...”
“I want the manicotti.”
“Okay. Side salad and garlic bread?”
“God, yes.”
Another warm burst of laughter. “Dessert?”
“Mm. Do you have pie?” Grace asked wistfully.
“Pecan, peanut butter silk, cheesecake, or cherry.”
“Cherry.” But I want them all.
No. Don’t blow your money on pastry, girl. Get your rear in gear and get to the grocery store. “That’ll be all.”
“All right. That’ll be twenty-seven dollars and ready in about twenty minutes. A name for the order?”
“It’s Grace. Thank you.”
“Grace. Good, see you soon.”
Grace switched back to her GPS. The restaurant was only five minutes away. Fifteen minutes to kill, and a mental engine that refused to shut off... “I guess I could cruise around the town. See what attractions I could recommend to the townie types of guests—when I finally have beds to put them in.”
As Grace drove slowly through the heart of town (which was only a few blocks of intersecting streets and their offshoots), she noticed dozens of charming little stores and several vacant spots.
She knew the layout of the main streets and roads enough to find the grocery store and knew where the college campus of Pine Ridge NYU was.
She didn’t know there was a beautiful, festive street fair in a big, empty lot between two of the store-lined streets.
“Ooh. What’s this? What events go on in May?
I really do need to look at the Chamber of Commerce website for this place.
Fall leaves, pretty mountain scenery, and Victorian architecture are nice, but that’s probably not enough. ..”
Grace parked her SUV carefully in the back of The Pine Loft Coffee Shop.
It seemed to be closed, and she figured that made sense as it was already getting dark.
In the periwinkle and purple-streaked sky, twinkling lights were strung from pole to lamp post across the crowded lot.
Stalls selling everything from jewelry to fudge and apple cider were in neat rows.
People milled and waved to one another, calling from one end of the lot to the other as they spotted their friends.
This—whatever this is—is bed-and-breakfast gold.
And— Four matching antique dining room chairs?
“Oh!” Grace almost ran into a ridiculously tall man in a hooded sweatshirt that hid his face as she tore towards a stall adorned with pink signage and four-leaf clovers.
The white, flowing letters proclaimed “Chloe’s Curiosities—Yesterday’s Treasures and Secondhand Pleasures. ”
“Excuse me! Excuse me, hi.” Grace shoved and wriggled through the crowd to get to Chloe’s Curiosities.
The woman who turned to face her had skin so pale that it was almost green, and white-blonde hair that billowed out behind her as she turned.
For a second, Grace forgot about the dining room chairs lined up in front of a stack of used dishes, books, and old picture frames. A prickling, uneasy feeling settled over her and landed in her chest, sinking in and reminding her of the foreboding feeling she had at Hilltop—only worse.
Something was off.
The strangely tall man with the hooded features.
A flash of red eyes in the crowd.
A clip-clopping sound like hooves on pavement—but there were no horses.
And this woman with the broad smile and lilting voice seemed to scream otherworldly.
“Miss? Did you see something you liked?”
“Huh? Oh! The-these chairs. Can I have them? I mean, how much are they?” Grace stammered, backing away. The woman’s voice made her ears vibrate.
I’m having low blood sugar. That’s all. I need to eat. Everything will be fine once I eat.
“The set of four for one hundred.”
“Oh, wow! That’s amazing. My car is stuffed right now, but I can come back tonight after I unload,” Grace said as she decided on the spot. “How late are you open? When does this flea market operate?”
The woman laughed. “We’ll be here all night!
We’re open every night, but some nights you’ll find tons of stalls, and other nights you’ll only find a few.
In the winter and bad weather, there are slim pickings.
But—” the woman handed her a small business card that she seemingly snatched out of nowhere.
“I have another location, just a few blocks up on the second floor above Mad Hatter Music. If you like those chairs, I have the table to match.”
“That’s awesome!” Grace temporarily forgot the strange floaty feeling in her head and the heavy feeling in her eyelids.
“Any furniture that’s in good shape and not too modern is what I’m looking for.
I’m renovating Hilltop House to turn it into a B&B.
I originally thought about having one big table for the dining room, but then I thought—sometimes you don’t want to ruin a romantic weekend by talking with total strangers.
I think I’ll get about eight tables and spread them out in the dining room and maybe some in the sunroom—solarium, the Victorians called it.
And—why am I rattling on? Uh. Sorry. Do you take credit cards?
” Grace stopped speaking and reached into her jeans for her wallet.
“A girl who loves decorating and secondhand furniture? We’re kindred spirits. Sure, I take cards. Also, since it’s your first purchase, you get 10% off. That’ll be ninety bucks—when you collect.”
“How much is the table?”
“I’ll throw it in for fifty. I hate to see a furniture family split up.” The owner smiled. “I’m Chloe, by the way.” She patted the sign with a smile.
Grace nodded and licked her lips. Her unease wasn’t lessening—but she was forcing herself to ignore it in favor of making a good deal and getting information. “I’m Grace. What other attractions are around here? Local events and things like that?”
“Well, in the fall, Pine Ridge is the place to be! Apple Fest in September, Pumpkin Fest in October, Halloween events like the parade and a big ball up at White Pines. Then, of course, there are always concerts in the park and a big Fourth of July picnic for the town and the Labor Day cookout... It’s a nice place. ”
Grace swallowed a polite rejoinder as a large, dark shadow seemed to spread over her, swooping against the rising moon. “What the hell was that?”
To her surprise, Chloe looked equally freaked out, but not about the giant shape that had rustled overhead. No, she was looking at Grace with a confused, alarmed look on her face. “You saw that?”
“I don’t know what it was, but yeah, of course I saw it! What the heck was that? You have owls the size of Hondas around here?”
Chloe blinked, mouth open. “I’ll see you shortly, Grace. Do you have room to pick up the table tonight?”
“Uh. Yes. I think so.” Grace frowned, brow furrowed. Her mouth itched, like other words were meant to come out—but she couldn’t form them.
Chloe nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving Grace’s, her voice soft but seeming to throb in the night air. “You go home now. Unload.”
But that’s not right. I have to go get food. I wanted to look around the open-air market.
Grace heard her voice replying, “Right. I’ll unload. I’ll be back soon. Table and chairs.”
WHEN GRACE SAT BEHIND the wheel of her car, the strange fog lifted from her mind.
“What the fuck Jedi mind trick was that?” she whispered, pushing her key into the ignition with shaking hands. “We were talking about... Hell, I don’t know what we were talking about. Something in the sky...”
Her stomach suddenly growled, and she remembered food. She just needed food to kill the strange, eerie feeling.