Free Ablaze by Tierney O’Malley

wants, and if I let her, we might come up with an understanding on how to keep our time
fun and exciting while waiting for the king's ransom."
    " If you let her?"
    "What can I say? I'm not cheap."
    "Maybe, but I have the assumption that
you would jump at every opportunity to score an afternoon delight."
    Dylan laughed. "An afternoon delight.
Sounds like it could be a title of a book. So you wanna wait?"
    "No. I can walk."
    "You sure?"
    "Yup."
    "Where are your sandals?"
    Angel looked down at her feet. "Dang, I
forgot. And my purse. I'll go--"
    "I'll get them later. Let's go up to
your room first. Keep up, princess."
    Dylan continued walking and didn't stop
until they reached the door at the end of the hallway. "This will be your
room." He opened the door and walked inside. "Small, but clean. I
hope you like it."
    Angel followed him, and was surprised to see
how neat the room was. A charming floral printed quilt covered the bed. It was
luxuriously oversized and complemented the pale pink color of the bedroom. Two
accented and two quilted decorative pillows with the same prints completed the
ensemble. Everything looked new. Angel turned to look at Dylan. "What a
charming room. Is this where my grandpa stayed?"
    "Yes, but this room looked different
when he stayed here. Tony and I fixed it up a bit."
    "You mean you and Millionaire Tony
painted this room pink."
    "Girls like pink."
    "Not this girl. I prefer blue, especially
royal blue. Still…pink is nice. I like it." She walked toward the corner
of the room where a small table with spindly legs stood. On top of it was a
turquoise vase, layered with colorful coral, kelp, and sea life. In it was a
bundle of freshly cut assorted flowers. "This is an amazing looking vase."
    "Made by Seattle's local artist. They
have a shop here called Avalon Glassworks."
    "Really? I want to see it. Maybe
tomorrow I could visit the shop."
    "We'll add it to our things to do while
you're here."
    "You're taking this guide job
seriously, huh?"
    "I wouldn't want your grandfather to
think that I can't do a simple task of keeping you happy here."
    "Manfred would never ask if he doubted,
even infinitesimal, your capability of being a good host."
     "Trusting people you hardly even know
runs in your family, huh?"
    "I guess." Angel walked over to
the partly opened window. "Nice view of the market."
    "One of the major factors on why Manfred
bought this place was that he liked the view here." Dylan stood beside
Angel, then opened the window very wide.
    "Manfred's parents owned a Mom and Pop's
kind of store in a busy neighborhood like this. I can understand why he would
pick this place."
    "Watching all the action down there is
like watching a movie. Everyday you'll see something different."
    Angel pointed at the row of flower vendors
busily rearranging their display. "Is that where these flowers came from?"
    "No." Dylan leaned over the window,
turned sideways, and pointed his finger to the left. "See that lady there?"
    Angel leaned over, too. The window was not
big enough for two people to lean over so her back pressed on Dylan's chest. He
made room for her, but with his height and build, they still had to squeeze in.
Warmth seeped from Dylan's body to lick her back. Ignoring the sweet sensation of
having him too close to her, she pointed her finger at the woman carrying a
wicker basket. "I see a lady in a brown skirt holding a bouquet asking
people walking by her to buy her flowers."
    "Yeah. Her name is Fiona. She has five
children. The youngest is only five. Her husband lost his job at Boeing. He
then got sick and died of a heart attack. They lost everything. Fiona is the
only flower vendor who can't afford to pay a space to sell her flowers so she
stands in that spot every day."
    "And you're helping her by buying her
flowers."
    "Yes. And she's nice."
    "How about offer her a job?"
    "I did. She's a waitress here at night.
Her fourteen-year- old watches his brothers and sister while Fiona works."
    Angel turned