Edge of Shadows (Shadows #1) by Cege Smith Read Free Book Online

like any other day.
    At noon the door opened. Ellie’s replacement for the afternoon shift had arrived.
    “How are you today, darlings?’ Linda Jordan said in her smooth Southern drawl as she swept in the front door.
    Six months ago, Linda had wandered into Ellie’s shop inquiring about the little handwritten Help Wanted sign in the window. Ellie still had no idea why someone like Linda Jordan wanted to work in a coffee shop.
    While Kevin made her feel sloppy, Linda made her feel downright frumpy. Linda was ten to fifteen years older than Ellie, but she exuded a quiet confidence and sense of style that made people take notice of her. Today her strawberry blond hair had been pulled back in a tasteful chignon. She was wearing ivory pearls that complemented a soft blue silk blouse paired with a black pencil skirt and exquisite-looking black pumps. And the unusual thing about Linda was Ellie never saw an indication of her aura. So she was an enigma to Ellie in more ways than one.
    Linda had shared in her job interview that she was recently widowed, and had been clunking around her house with nothing to do but boring charity work. Then she saw the sign in the window of Ellie’s shop and pondered on it for a few days. Linda thought the little coffee shop was just so charming, and told Ellie that she thought it would be wonderful to come in and socialize with the community for a few days a week.
    Trying to balance the hours and increased business between her and Kevin was getting out of hand, and Ellie had desperately needed the help. Linda’s desire to just work a few days a week lined up perfectly with what Ellie could offer. She said yes, figuring that Linda would quit after recovering from her bout of temporary insanity.
    Instead, Linda had completely endeared herself to the customers and Kevin. She always had a smile and word of encouragement or advice for anyone who was down. Ellie would find her sitting with the customers after her shift ended, regaling them with stories about her extensive travels. Ellie now thought that Linda would work for free if times got rough and she couldn’t afford to pay her anymore.
    Less endearing was the Mother Hen role that Linda assumed with Ellie. After the divorce was final and Jake finally left her alone, Ellie decided that she needed a break from dealing with the real world. The colors and energies required to interact with people was just too much to bear. So she had retreated inside her head a great deal of the time, and Linda had been doing everything she could to pull Ellie back out. Ellie hated the way Linda meddled in her life, even though a little voice in the back of her head said it was for her own good.
    Kevin beamed as Linda made her way behind the counter, and the two did a cheek to cheek kiss. Ellie refused to admit that Linda and Kevin’s closeness sometimes made her jealous. They made the interaction seem so easy. Linda turned to Ellie, who tried to clear the scowl away before they could see it.
    “Oh, Ellie. You are much too young to be so unhappy. At this rate you are going to be a bitter old woman before you’re thirty-five,” Linda sighed before going in back to drop off her purse.
    Ellie saw Kevin smile behind his hand and then cough in an effort to hide it. “What?” she demanded.
    “Linda’s right,” he answered. “I know you went through some rough stuff with Jake, but that part of your life is over and done with now. You have to snap out of it and start living again. Meet new people, take a class, get out a little bit more.”
    “That is so easy for all of you to say,” she said. You can’t see what people are feeling every minute of every day and have that knowing start to drive you insane. Oh, and your ex-husband wasn’t completely psychotic, she wanted to say.
    Kevin raised his hands in mock surrender. “Don’t take it out on me and Linda. We’re your friends and we are worried about you. We want you to be happy, Ellie.”
    Ellie closed her