I made little piles of cinnamon all around the salt, then handed her back the bag.
“Now what?”
She blinked a few times. “Say after me: Only good luck and positive energy flows to me now.”
With a half-smile, I said, “Only good luck and positive energy flows to me now.”
She let out a relieved breath that was a half-laugh. “Good. Now, visualize how the candle is absorbing the protective energy of the salt. The cinnamon adds a burst of good luck. Now, close your eyes and meditate for a few minutes as you replace the bad with good.”
We stared at one another for the longest time before I finally closed my eyes. Thoughts of Hollie once again filled my mind. The look on her face when she rushed into the hospital. How dark her eyes turned when she saw me without my shirt on. The way she smiled at me, and it touched her eyes.
When she spoke, she pulled me out of my thoughts.
“The candle needs to burn down completely. Once it’s burned all the way down, you’ll need to bury it in soil and say thank you.”
I reached for her hand and held it, trying like hell to ignore the fire that raced through my body at the feel of her hand in mine. “Do you feel better now?”
She nodded. “Do you?”
“If I’m being honest, I feel the same.”
A bubble of laughter slipped free from her lips, and I found that I loved that sound a whole lot.
“It’s dangerous to leave a candle going—you know that.”
“Well…,” she replied as she looked at the candle. “As long as you’re home and can watch it, it should be okay.”
I nodded. “What if I fall asleep? Who will watch it for me?”
Her tongue came out and darted across her lips. “I suppose, I mean, I could stay and watch for you. If you wanted.”
My eyes drifted down to her mouth, and it took every ounce of strength I had to keep from pulling her to me and kissing the hell out of her.
“I want that.”
“You do?” she softly asked.
“Yes.”
Her chest rose and fell, and for a moment, I thought for sure she was going to lean over and kiss me. She suddenly stood, causing the chair to scrape across the wood floor. “Are you hungry? I could make you something to eat?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the note she had been reading from. There was something else written on it, and I wanted to know what it said.
“You don’t have to make me anything, Hollie.”
“Yes, I do. I mean, I’m hungry too.”
“Okay,” I said with a smile. “I’m not sure what all I have.”
“I’ll find something. Do you need help getting back to the living room?”
“No, I’m going to sit here and…meditate for a bit.”
A wide smile spread over her face. “Wonderful! I won’t be long.”
Once she was in the kitchen, I reached for the paper, ignoring the sharp pain in my side.
My eyes went wide as I read her notes about the soap. When Hollie walked back in, she froze.