Free Mythe: A Fairy Tale by P J Gordon Page A

sighed. “My sister, Emily, says the boys are starting to call, too. Andy, my brother-in-law, doesn’t like that at all!” Manda chuckled.
    “Well, he’d better get used to it I think,” Stacey grinned. “She’s very pretty. She looks a lot like you.”
    Manda blushed and took a drink of water.
    Stacey laughed and sat back down on the arm of the chair. “So, why didn’t you bring Robbie tonight?”
    “Oh, he’s camping. He won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon. He’s been...”
    Manda was interrupted by the entrance of Richard and Josh. Both were wearing jeans and t-shirts and their hair was damp. Stacey froze. Her eyes were as wide as saucers.
    “Hi, Manda!” Josh greeted with a pleased smile.
    “Hi, Josh,” Manda said, standing and returning his smile. “This is Stacey Johnson, David’s girlfriend. Stacey, this is Josh Raines.”
    Josh offered his hand to Stacey. “I’m very pleased to meet you, Stacey. David told me a lot about you.” Stacey shook his hand timidly, with a stunned look on her face.
    Richard, who had entered behind Josh, smiled at Manda and a wave of warmth washed through her. “Richard, this is Stacey. Stacey, this is Richard,” she said a little breathlessly.
    Richard turned his smile toward Stacey and shook her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Stacey. Happy birthday.”
    “Thank you,” Stacey beamed, recovering her composure. She shook Richard’s hand, taking a step closer to him. Manda noticed that she didn’t release his hand. “And thank you for dinner.”
    “You’re quite welcome,” Richard replied. “Just a little something to make up for taking up so much of David’s time lately.”
    He extracted his hand smoothly from Stacey’s grasp and took a step closer to Manda. Stacey shadowed him and he glanced down at the blonde woman, amused.
    “Where’s David?” Josh asked. He took a bottle of water from the table. “And your date?”
    “Well, Katie left her jacket in the suite and she and David went to see about getting it back,” Manda explained. “They should be back soon.”
    “Your niece, Katie?” Richard asked, smiling at Manda again.
    “Yes. I had to bring her, of course. I couldn’t jeopardize my status as ‘best aunt in the world’ after all. I think you helped me secure a place in the hall of fame tonight.”
    “Glad I could help,” Richard chuckled. He looked toward the door then, a fraction of a second before David and Katie walked through. “There they are now.” Josh crossed the room to greet David, and then turned his brilliant smile on Katie as David introduced her. The girl looked star struck. As Manda had suspected, Katie melted in the face of Josh’s charm.
    “That’s your niece?” Richard asked, surprised. “How old is she?”
    “Thirteen,” Manda answered.
    Richard cleared his throat and Josh turned to look at him quizzically before turning back to Katie. “She looks much older than thirteen,” Richard said quietly to Manda. Josh nodded at something David or Katie said that Manda must have missed.
    “I know,” Manda sighed. “Thankfully, she’s very level-headed. Smart, too.” Josh, David, and Katie joined the rest of the group, gathered around the coffee table. Richard positioned himself to Manda’s left, while Katie stood to her right.
    After introducing Katie to Richard, Manda asked her niece if they had found Jonathan.
    “Yes,” Katie replied happily. “David found someone with a radio who called him and he said he’d bring my jacket to us here.”
    “Did he take good care of you?” Richard asked, shaking David’s hand.
    “The best. Thanks,” David answered. “It’s been a great evening.”
    “Did you like the concert?” Josh asked Manda eagerly.
    “It was amazing!” Manda told him honestly. “You guys are incredible.”
    Katie giggled. “When Richard sang Resolute it gave Aunt Manda chills,” she said with a grin.
    “Katie!” Manda protested, blushing and elbowing Katie.
    “Well, it