Strangers in Venice Page 39

  “Do you want me to push you back to the house?” she asked.

  He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket and then smeared the tears across the surface of the urn. “No. I’ll stay here a while. Will you take the urn though? I’m getting him all wet.” He smiled, stretching the scars on his cheek. “Abel would hate all this sniveling. For all his books, he preferred action to agony. Soon I’ll have to think of something to do, now that the business is gone. He would if our positions were reversed.”

  She took the urn and held it to her chest. “You can worry about that when you’re better.”

  “Yes,” he said, looking out into the winter-dead garden. “When it’s better.”

  Stella kissed the top of his head and turned around. The gravel crunched under foot. The urn icy cold and damp in her hands. At the top of the zigzagging stairs, the earl and Nicky watched her as she walked through the courtyard, all those windows, eyes upon her.

  She stopped at the foot of the stairs and then she decided, just like that. It wasn’t hard when it happened. It was so easy it felt like she’d decided long ago. She turned left, walking up the stairs to the earl.

  “Call London,” she said. “I’m not going home.”

  The End

  USA Today bestselling author A.W. Hartoin grew up in rural Missouri, but her grandmother lived in the Central West End area of St. Louis. The CWE fascinated her with it’s enormous houses, every one unique. She was sure there was a story behind each ornate door. Going to Grandma’s house was a treat and an adventure. As the only grandchild around for many years, A.W. spent her visits exploring the many rooms with their many secrets. That’s how Mercy Watts and the fairies of Whipplethorn came to be.

  As an adult, A.W. Hartoin decided she needed a whole lot more life experience if she was going to write good characters so she joined the Air Force. It was the best education she could’ve hoped for. She met her husband and traveled the world, living in Alaska, Italy, and Germany before settling in Colorado for nearly eleven years. Now A.W. has returned to Germany and lives in picturesque Waldenbuch with her family and two spoiled cats, who absolutely believe they should be allowed to escape and roam the village freely.

  Also By A.W. Hartoin

  Historical

  The Paris Package

  Young Adult fantasy

  Flare-up (Away From Whipplethorn Short)

  A Fairy's Guide To Disaster (Away From Whipplethorn Book One)

  Fierce Creatures (Away From Whipplethorn Book Two)

  A Monster’s Paradise (Away From Whipplethorn Book Three)

  A Wicked Chill (Away From Whipplethorn Book Four)

  To the Eternal (Away From Whipplethorn Book Five)

  Mercy Watts Mysteries

  Novels

  A Good Man Gone (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book One)

  Diver Down (A Mercy Watts Mystery Book Two)

  Double Black Diamond (Mercy Watts Mysteries BookThree)

  Drop Dead Red (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book Four)

  In the Worst Way (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book Five)

  The Wife of Riley (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book Six)

  My Bad Grandad (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book Seven)

  Brain Trust (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book Eight)

  Down and Dirty (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book Nine)

  Short stories

  Coke with a Twist

  Touch and Go

  Nowhere Fast

  Dry Spell

  A Sin and a Shame

  Paranormal

  It Started with a Whisper (Sons of Witches)