Into the Woods Read Free Page A

devastated. Still, she was warmed to see the flash of true dismay in his eyes. A true gentleman wouldn’t reveal his feelings so easily.
    "I'm sorry to hear that." His warm eyes roamed her face. "Your grandmother was a wonderful lady. I haven't seen her in years, obviously, but I was rather hoping she might help me with a... small problem. I'm sorry to have bothered you."
    Her heart softened when he called Granny a "wonderful lady," and she couldn't help but wonder what "small problem" had brought this man to her. A rash? A persistent stomachache? Trouble sleeping, perhaps. She wanted to know, so she spoke before he could turn to leave.
    "My grandmother taught me much of her craft in the years I lived with her. Perhaps I can help you."
    Once again the man looked past her, and she knew what he saw. Tables and shelves heavily laden with books and jars of precious oils. Earthenware pots and wooden spoons. Glass jars of herbs and roots. It was a room for working, not visiting. A laboratory of sorts. There was no traditional parlor for entertaining in the Candy house, no vases of flowers or useless knick-knacks on the tables. Matilda worked at her tables.
    She had long ago accepted who she was, and she apologized to no one. Not ever. She fearlessly looked this almost-civilized man directly in the eye when he returned his full and somehow unnerving attention to her.
    "Perhaps you can," he said, determination in his voice. "Miss Candy, I need a love potion."

 
     
     
    Chapter 2

     
    For a moment, a split second perhaps, Declan had actually believed in magic. The woman who'd come to the door was enough like the Matilda Candy he remembered to give him pause, if only for a minute, when she'd said that she was the woman for whom he'd asked.
    Her small stature was the same; neither Matilda Candy stood taller than five foot two. The pigtails were the same, though he remembered gray braids instead of golden. He'd never seen the old Miz Candy wear shoes, and this one's small feet were bare against the smooth wooden floor. The eyes were... similar, a green he remembered from years ago. But as he looked closer he realized that this Matilda Candy's eyes were rimmed in darker blue.
    And those eyes laughed at him now. "A love potion," she repeated. "Really, Mr...."
    "Harper," he said. "Declan Harper."
    "Mr. Harper," she said, her eyes dancing with an amusement she could not, or would not, hide. "While it's true that my grandmother passed on quite a bit of knowledge to me, I must confess there were no love potions included. I'm sorry." She looked as if she were about to gently close the door in his face.
    To prevent that from happening, he reached out and grabbed the edge of the door in one hand. "Can I come in?" he asked. "Just for a minute."
    With a barely disguised sigh, she moved back and invited him to enter. He stepped into a room he remembered well; not much had changed. The rug at the center was a bit more worn than he remembered, and there were more books on the crowded shelves, but all in all it was very much the same. The room was magical, interesting, different, as was the woman in it.
    "I used to visit your grandmother," he began, looking around the familiar room. He'd never felt such a warm fondness for any place he'd called home. He smiled at the colored jars filled with God-knew-what, and at the books so old the spines were falling apart. "I'd spit in her potions and she'd give me hard molasses candy."
    "Really?" There was a touch of genuine interest in the woman's voice, a new lilt. "Why, just today..." Abruptly she stopped speaking, and when he turned to look at her she pursed her lips. "It's not important."
    "Mrs. Candy was always very kind to me," Declan said softly.
    "She was a kind woman."
    Intrigued, Declan studied the young Matilda Candy, looking her up and down. She wasn't what one might call beautiful, but she was very pretty, in an odd sort of way. Already he'd discovered that she had an expressive face. She smiled,