Burning in a Memory by Constance Sharper Read Free Book Online Page B

caught a glimpse of more leggings, but it didn’t matter so long as he thought he saw something he wasn’t allowed to see. He almost wrecked the Mustang when he finally pulled up.
                  “When will I pick you up?” he asked before she could get out.
                  She feigned a laugh, but it sounded bitter, even to her. “I’ll get my own ride.”
                  Quickly, she hopped out of the car and dashed for the building. He only drove off when she showed no signs of turning back. She stopped under the canopy of the front door for a moment, wringing out her hair and beating the mud off her wedges. There was little she could do to fix the soaked foundation or eyeliner that ran, but she tried her best. Then she finally opened the door and walked straight up to the hostess booth.
                  A young man met her there and led her to a small booth in the back. She settled in and thanked him before scanning the other patrons. The place was relatively empty. A few old men mulled in the corner. A guy and his teenage date in sat the next booth over. She’d been so busy sizing up the other patrons in the parlor that she was surprised when Charlotte appeared at her table. The woman slid a steaming mug onto the table.
    “Consider it on the house,” Charlotte said.
    Adelaide reached out and wrapped her hand around the ceramic, the distinctive scent of chocolate reaching her nose.
    “Thank you,” she said. “It’s nice to see you again.”
    Charlotte took the opportunity to slide into the other side of the booth. With the parlor so quiet and calm, the woman really had nowhere else to be in that moment.
    “Nice to see you too, darling. But something tells me that it wasn’t the good food that brought you back today,” the woman said.
    “No, but the food didn’t hurt to give me motivation to run through a rainstorm.”
    “That’s sweet. Not many of my patrons are okay with getting soaked these past few days.”
    Adelaide took a long, deliberate sip of cocoa. The heat from the drink raced all the way down to her stomach. The break also allowed her to size up the woman for a second time. She had a mother’s kind face, but Adelaide still felt uncomfortable with the older mage. She wasn’t sure how to broach the subject, but Charlotte did it for her.
    “I want ed to show you at least some courtesy after the last time you were here. My son, Tony, is a hot head, and you didn’t deserve the way he treated you. But I don’t feel like you should keep coming back here. You won’t find what you are looking for.”
    Adelaide felt the immediate tinge of aggravation but kept it off of her face. The old mage watched her to see if it sunk in.
    “You mean I won’t find Adam?” she clarified.
    “What I’m saying is that you shouldn’t be here looking. You would do well to stay away from Adam,” Charlotte added bluntly.
    Adelaide abandoned the cocoa and leaned back in the booth. The place was empty enough now that there was little risk of her voice traveling, so she raised it a bit.
    “With all due respect, I feel like that’s something Adam should have told me. He ’s my friend,” she said.
    Something flashed across the woman’s face but disappeared just as quickly. Adelaide continued before the mage could get another word in.
    “I also don’t think I deserve to be shunned so quickly. I passed all of Tony’s tests, right? You admitted yourself that you sized me up,” Adelaide said.
    The woman suddenly laughed , and the loud chuckle caught Adelaide off guard. Then Charlotte leaned into the table.
                  “I sized you up long enough to see the way you look. Add that sly smile of yours and Adam’s status as a red blooded twenty-something. We had to interrupt it or you two would go from barely knowing each other to very much knowing each other.”
                  Adelaide cringed. She’d usually respect someone for being