I paused after turning off my Bug, listening to the tick of the engine cooling and savoring the simple welcome of light shining from the windows of my small home. The soft, yellow glow gently outlined the dark leaves of the magnolia by the corner and cast the delicate ironwork of the porch railing into relief.Declan’s big pickup truck was parked in front. We’d been spending far more time at my place than his lately, partly because my air-conditioning worked better. We also spent many evenings, after the worst heat of the day had faded, working in the gardens. I was a bit proprietary about the herbs and certain other plants with magical uses, but Deck enthusiastically tended the vegetables and kept the lawn manicured, saying he missed having a yard since moving into his apartment. Now he was puttering around in my little kitchen, and I wanted nothing more than to settle in for supper and tell him about my weird, weird evening.Mungo bounded to the ground as I gathered my tote bag from the passenger seat.
