Free Collide by Ashley Stambaugh

She shoved the card into her coat pocket and took off after Lee.
    “Please be careful,” Tessa said in a low voice as she sat the raffle bowl back down on the front table.
    Gwen appeared behind her and motioned in the direction of Lee and Melina. “New interest of Melina’s?” she asked with a smile.
    The concern on Tessa’s face quickly disappeared as she looked at Gwen and tried to return her smile. “Yeah. I guess you could say that.”
    Lee hadn’t made it too far away from the bookstore’s stand when Melina finally caught sight of him. She called out his name and started to rush toward him, not wanting to lose him in the crowd again.
    He gave her a friendly smile, which Melina took as a good sign, until she heard his voice pipe up in her mind. I hope she’s not some crazy stalker type.
    Melina stopped abruptly and gave Lee a funny look. He thought she might be stalking him. Did she seem desperate? She shook her head slightly and gave him an innocent grin as she held her hands up in the air.
    “I’m not stalking you, I promise.” She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out his business card as she took a step closer to him. “Lee Atwood, of Atwood Jewelers?”
    He nodded.
    “Well, I wish I would’ve known that when I met you in the park yesterday. I would’ve told you how sorry I am about your father’s passing last month. Charles Atwood was a great man.” She gave him a weak smile.
    “You knew my father?” asked Lee.
    “Yeah. I think most of the business owners in town know each other. I’ve been in your family’s shop a couple of times, too, but I’ve never seen you in there before.”
    Lee rubbed at his neck as he averted his eyes down to the ground. “I wasn’t ever too involved with the store. Until now, that is.”
    Melina glanced down at his business card. “Owner and president it says here.”
    He raised his head and met Melina’s gaze. “My dad had those already made up for me before the cancer finally took him. I guess he knew it was his time even before the doctors did. It all happened so suddenly.” He wiped at his eyes as tears started to form.
    Melina gave him a sympathetic look. “I know what you’re going through.”
    Lee nodded. “Yeah, I guess you sort of do. I just have no idea what I’m doing.”
    She stepped closer, eager for him to continue and excited that he might be opening up to her. But she thought too soon.
    “I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t even know you that well. I don’t need to be telling you all of these details.”
    “We can get to know each other more,” said Melina, an eager tone in her voice. “Maybe coffee or lunch sometime? I’d love to talk more about your father.”
    “Yeah, maybe sometime,” he replied as he wiped at his eyes again. “I’ve got to go now.” He immediately turned away and rushed off into the crowd.
    His thoughts quickly became muffled to Melina, but it was obvious that he was upset. He hadn’t declined her offer of coffee or lunch, though, and now that she knew where he worked, she was going to take him up on the date. She looked down at his business card again. “You’re not getting away from me that easily, Lee Atwood.”
     

Chapter Nine
     
    Walter closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He wanted to get it right the first time, but it wasn’t going to be easy. To get the summoning stone to work properly, he had to get the wording right. He couldn’t just call out Henry, the guardian angel. Who knows how many guardian angels there were with the name Henry. But he had no other information about him other than what they had in common — Melina.
    He decided to start out by whispering Henry’s name, followed by various descriptions of Melina and the incidences she had been involved in over the past two days. It was the best he could think of. He continued to repeat Henry’s name and these phrases over and over again, along with desperate pleas for him to help.
    After several seconds had passed, he