“You got it. I’ll have Layna email it to you.”
“But that’s not the reason I called.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, no. Um… I have a… well, I had a vision…”
Eagan braced his hip against the counter. “A vision.”
“Mm hm. A perk of the job.”
“Oh. Like a Theresa Caputo thing?”
“What? The human medium? No. It’s nothing like that.” She paused. “Well, maybe it’s a little like that. Look, I just wanted to tell you something that might come in handy soon. God, maybe this was a mistake,” she muttered.
“Wait. Your vision was about me?”
“Duh. You think I’d just dial you up to chat about my freaky psychic crap? Listen, you make a mean marsala, but we ain’t tight like that.”
“Agreed.” He tucked the phone against his shoulder and moved into the dining room to sit on one of the polished wood benches. “So tell me about this vision.”
“Well… I can’t. It doesn’t work like that.”
Eagan rolled his eyes. “Good god, woman. Will you tell me what you need to tell me?”
There was a harsh low growl from the other end of the line, and then Destiny’s muffled voice. “It’s okay, Diz. He’s just anxious.”
Eagan frowned. Was he anxious? The way he was gripping the phone made it seem like he was. Yeah, okay. He was anxious.
“Listen, okay,” Destiny rushed out. “When you find the book that doesn’t belong to you… read it.”
“What? That’s the message you have for me?”
A sigh came over the line. “I’m new at this, okay? It’s the best I’ve got. Just… read it.”
Eagan shook his head, completely baffled by the conversation. “Yeah, alright.”
“And send that recipe.”
“Got it.”
“And get some sleep.”
“What?”
“Meh. I figure everyone could use a little extra sleep.”
Eagan closed his eyes, exasperated. “Goodbye, Destiny.”
“See ya.”
He hung up, and set the phone on the table, leaning forward on his elbows.
What the hell kind of foreseer was Destiny anyways? Clearly she wasn’t any good at this Elder thing yet.
Eagan stared out the picture window. It was dark outside, nearing 10 pm. The only light was from the string of electric lanterns around the perimeter of the lodge. Guests and employees alike had taken to their rooms for the night.
He should get home himself. But too much time in the cabin only reminded him how alone he was. How much he was missing.
“You got a good thing going here,” Eagan murmured under his breath. And it was true. He did have it good here. They all did. But that didn’t keep him from wanting more.
He spun the phone on the table top, watching as it slowed to a stop before repeating the process.
A clatter from the kitchen had him jerking to attention.
“Damn it, Layna. Don’t touch my shit. I’ll put the phone up. Go to bed.”
There was no answer.
“Layna?”
Eagan stood from the bench and creeped toward the back entrance to the kitchen. He eased the door open, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Stepping in, he scanned the prep area. His heavy chef’s knife lay on the tile floor.
Eagan let out an exhausted sigh. He must’ve set it too close to the edge, causing it to fall.
He strolled over to his work station and began packaging the chopped veggies for the walk-in. As he worked, his nose burned.
“Damn onions,” he muttered to himself.
Walking to the freezer with his stack of containers, he nearly tripped over his knife. He bent to pick it up and tossed it in the wash sink. Eagan frowned as he reached for the handle of the walk-in.
There was a smudge of dirt. Not dust. Dirt. Dark, like the mud from the creek bottom. He was sure it hadn’t been there earlier. He was the only one here, and he sure hadn’t been to the creek recently.
The back of his neck prickled with the sense of danger. Their thief was here, and Eagan’s cat wanted out to fight.
Not here. Not in the lodge. No turning in the lodge.
But before he could come up with a plan, the door to the storage closet burst open and a small dark figure shoved past him, sending the containers of onions to the floor.
“Shit!”
Eagan spun, reaching for the figure, managing to grasp one mud-covered arm. He jerked angrily, and the intruder gasped, turning to gawk at him from under the bill of a ratted baseball cap.
His breath froze in his chest.
Golden eyes fringed in long dark lashes stared back at him. Muddied round cheeks sat above the most luscious set of rose colored lips he’d ever seen. Lips that were parted in shock. And probably pain.