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CHAPTER TWELVE

I hit the door running and then rushed down the street with my head down, not making eye-contact with anyone. My only goal was to go straight home and never go into that horrible grocery store ever again!

Unfortunately, I was headed in the wrong direction—a fact I didn’t realize until I was halfway down the main street across from a bakery called The Lost Lamb.

I stopped abruptly when I realized my error and looked in the window. The place was crowded with customers of all kinds—both humans and non-humans—and the girl behind the counter looked harried and run off her feet as she tried to wait on all of them at once.

Just then someone tapped me on my shoulder.

“Hey—sorry about what happened back there,” a low, rumbling voice said.

Whirling around, I saw the Orc again.

“You!” I exclaimed, finding my voice at last.

“Yeah, it’s me again.” He shrugged, his big, muscular shoulders rolling with the gesture. “Look, don’t be too mad at Chester—he’s hard of hearing—that’s why he shouts like that.”

“Well what he was shouting wasn’t true!” I exclaimed.

I was relieved to find my words flowing somehow, because I wanted desperately to explain myself.

“I never wanted to buy that…that stuff . I was just curious, that’s all.

I’ve never seen anything like it for sale back where I live. Or, er, where I lived before.”

He rumbled laughter.

“I imagine not, if you were living out in the human world.”

“I was,” I said stiffly. “And I’m beginning to think I ought to go back to it.”

“No, don’t do that.” He shook his head earnestly. “If you were drawn to Hidden Hollow, it’s because you belong here. Only people and Creatures who have magic or are magic can pass through the barrier.”

“You didn’t seem to think I belonged yesterday,” I pointed out sharply.

“Yeah, I know.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I really am sorry about that. Did you get the apples?”

“Well…yes,” I admitted grudgingly. “And the note. It was nice of you to apologize—most guys wouldn’t do that.”

“It was the least I could do after scaring you and chasing you up the hill that way,” he said. “I’m Azo’rath, by the way, but you can call me Rath.”

“Rath,” I repeated. “I’m Sarah.”

He smiled, a surprisingly charming expression considering his tusks. I thought again that he was handsome…for a supposedly mythical creature.

“I know your name—your Grandmother talked about you a lot. She was really proud of you.” He held out a hand to me. “It’s nice to meet you, Sarah.”

Tentatively, I held out my own hand and watched as it was swallowed up in his much larger one. As we shook, I felt a kind of warm tingle run up my arm. It passed through my whole body, making my nipples tight and the spot between my legs was suddenly hot and wet.

I jerked a little at the strangely sexual sensation and looked up at Rath.

“Hey—did you do something to me?” I demanded, pulling my hand out of his.

“Did I what?” He frowned down at me.

“What was that feeling?” I demanded. “That…that weird tingling?”

He shook his head.

“I don’t know. I felt it too, though—I thought it was your magic.”

“I don’t have any magic,” I said impatiently. “Or at least, I don’t think I do.”

“Your Grandmother used to brag to me that you were going to be a very powerful witch,” he remarked. “How can you not have magic?”

“I don’t know.” I shook my head. “I don’t know anything about that side of myself. In fact, until I got here yesterday, I had completely forgotten all about this place—and all about my Grandma too.”

It was a lot to admit to a stranger I didn’t even know, but somehow the words just poured out of me.

Rath’s face grew serious.

“In that case, someone must have put you under a memory-loss spell. Do you know who would do that to you?”

I shook my head.

“I don’t know anything about anything . I just opened a door and found myself here yesterday. I mean, I’m getting these flashes of memory but I still don’t know what I’m doing here or why I forgot my Grandma until it was too late and she was already…already gone.”

I was surprised to find that my eyes were stinging with tears as the words came out. But the longer I was here in this strange new place, the more I remembered how much I had loved my Grandma and the more I missed her.

Most human guys would have made a quick excuse to get away when I started crying. But Rath didn’t run. He leaned down from his great height to get a little closer and murmured,

“Hey, I’m sorry. I miss her too. Would you let me buy you a cup of coffee and we can talk about it?”

Mutely, I nodded. It wasn’t that my words were stuck again—for some reason, they flowed easily around the big Orc.

But I was afraid that if I spoke, I might start bawling.

Also, the chilly wind was beginning to get to me, despite the thick gray cardigan I was wearing.

A cup of hot coffee sounded really good.

“C’mon. Let’s go to Goldie’s—they have the best coffee in town,” Rath said.

Putting one big, warm hand at the small of my back, he guided me carefully across the street to a small restaurant. He held the door for me and when I went inside, I was greeted by the warm, delicious scent of freshly brewed coffee and some kind of fresh baked goods with cinnamon.

The restaurant was set up like a classic 1950s diner with vinyl booths and metal tables. There were even little tiny juke boxes—one on each table—where you could put in a coin and pick a song.

Half the restaurant was clearly set up for humans and the other half was obviously for the non-humans I had seen. There was a tall table with no seats around it which must be for centaurs to stand at. And there were several oversized booths where the table would probably come right up to my chin.

A blonde waitress in a short skirt bustled over to us and looked up at Rath.

“For here or to go?”

“For here,” he rumbled. “Can we get a half and half booth?”

“Lucky for you, one just freed up. Follow me.”

She led us down the row of human sized booths until we came to the end. The booth here had one human sized bench and on the other side the bench was much larger—clearly meant for someone Rath’s size.

“Thanks,” he said as we got seated across from each other. The table came up to just under my breasts, but other than that, it was a good compromise. Clearly the businesses in this town knew how to accommodate the non-human residents.

“You wanna minute to look at the menu?” the waitress asked us.

Rath looked at me, his eyebrows raised. But now that we were in the presence of the waitress, I found it impossible to talk again. I nodded mutely.

“Two coffees for now, and sure, we’ll look at the menu,” he said easily. “Thanks, Goldie.”

“You got it, big guy.” She produced a couple of plastic laminated menus and slapped them on the table in front of us. “Be back in a minute with your coffee,” she said, and bustled off again.

“Okay, what looks good?” Rath rumbled, picking up the menu, which looked tiny in his big hands. “You hungry?”

“Maybe a little,” I admitted cautiously. “What do they have that smells like cinnamon in here?”

“Probably fresh cinnamon rolls from The Lost Lamb,” Rath said. “Goldie gets all her desserts and baked goods from them—she says it saves her trouble when she can just concentrate on the savory side of the menu.”

“A cinnamon roll would be good then,” I said, thinking how delicious the sugary pastry would taste with fresh brewed coffee.

“Sounds good.” Rath nodded.

Just then the waitress—who I guessed must also be the owner, since her name was Goldie—came back with a fresh pot of coffee and two mugs.

One of the mugs was much larger than the other—she set it down in front of Rath and gave me the normal sized one.

In her other hand she had a pot of cream which she also plunked on the table.

“Okay, what can I getcha?” she asked, digging a pad and pen out of her apron pocket.

“Ladies first.” Rath gestured at me courteously. Unfortunately, the presence of the waitress had trapped my words again. I put a hand to my throat and felt my face go red with shame. God, I hated it when this happened!

Rath frowned as though he didn’t understand and I shook my head at him and touched my throat again.

“Sweetie? You all right?” Goldie leaned down to get a look at me. “You want some water?”

I nodded swiftly. Anything to stop this embarrassing scene!

“Be right back,” she said again. As soon as she left, Rath looked at me.

“Are you okay? Got something stuck in your throat?” he asked, anxiously.

I shook my head and found that I could talk again.

“No—I have a condition called Selective Mutism,” I explained as rapidly as I could. “I…I can’t talk in certain situations. I’m sorry,” I added, feeling both ridiculous and helpless.

“Hey, no…” He put a hand over mine comfortingly. “Don’t apologize,” he said. “I’ll order for you—okay?”

Though I didn’t feel the sexual tingle I’d had when we shook earlier, his hand was still warm and I noticed that his nails were clean and neat, which I liked. I always noticed a man’s hands—or in this case, an Orc’s hands.

I nodded gratefully.

“Okay. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Goldie came back with two glasses of ice water, which she plunked in front of us. I took a sip of mine while Rath ordered.

“Two cinnamon rolls,” he told her.

“You want human sized or Creature sized?” she asked him.

“Hmm…” He looked at me. “How hungry are you?”

I waved a hand in the air indicating so-so and he nodded.

“One human sized roll and one Creature sized,” he told the waitress.

“Coming right up.”

She left and once more I found myself able to talk.

“What did she mean by ‘Creature sized?’” I asked him as I fixed my coffee—lots of sugar and lots of cream.

“Oh, don’t you know about Creatures?” He looked surprised.

I shook my head.

“No, I’ve been living in the ‘human world’—remember?”