Free Spellbound by Michelle M. Pillow Page A

Jane reached for the tomato decorations and placed them back into the crates. Of course, if Mrs. Callister had called them fruit, she would have argued that culinarily speaking chefs recognized it as a vegetable because it was used for savory dishes. The ole busybody shut her mouth. Jane took the small victory…well, until Sean took it away from her.
    “My apologies, Jane, but I agree with this lovely lady here. They are legally vegetables,” Sean said, smiling his charming smile at Mrs. Callister. “The Supreme Court ruled on the matter at the end of the nineteenth century.”
    “I heard that,” Mrs. Callister said, clearly lying. She gave Jane a superior look. “Which is why I always say vegetable. Without law, we’d be uncivilized barbarians.”
    “Excuse me.” Jane walked away to help other customers. Let Mrs. Callister and Sean start their little twisted self-loving romance. She didn’t have to watch it unfold.
    When she glanced back around, Sean was handing Mrs. Callister the basket full of tomatoes without taking payment for them. The woman beamed as she hurried away with Jane’s merchandise. “Thank you, young man. Such fine manners.”
    “Hey, what, no, wait,” Jane finished her transaction with the customer and made a move to stop the thievery. The last thing she wanted was for Mrs. Callister to think she was getting freebies from Jane’s business.
    “Ah, let her be, Jane, they’re only tomatoes. I told her I’d take care of the bill.” Sean bit into the vegetable-fruit he held. “Mm, these are good. You should be a farmer.” Before she could answer, he winked at her. “I’ll pick you up tonight at six. Wear something—” he gestured at her old jeans and T-shirt, “—not this.”
    “I can’t. I have an important job starting tonight. I’m landscaping for—”
    “You’re so adorable, Jane. Planting flowers can wait. We’re family. I’ll pick you up at six.” Sean left without paying.
    Jane pressed her hands flat on the table, lowered her head to stare at her dusty boots, and took a deep breath. She didn’t want to go to dinner with Sean, but how could she say no? Her father had wanted her to get along with her stepbrother. He’d tried to teach her the importance of family—even if you didn’t always like them, they were yours regardless.
    “You don’t look like a bean nighe .”
    Now what?
    Jane frowned and slowly lifted her head. Malina MacGregor made a show of giving her a long once over. Jane found herself straightening and self-consciously smoothing out her T-shirt.
    What is with today’s fashion police? she thought. Heaven forbid, I didn’t dress up for the freaking farmers market.
    Where Jane’s nails were trimmed short, and her hands had calluses from hard work, Malina appeared to be a designer-clad princess. Jane’s hair was pulled back, more of an afterthought than a fashion statement. White, almost silvery streaks through dark hair framed Malina’s face. Jane wore a little makeup, mostly out of the habit to hide any signs of being sick. Malina looked as if she employed an entire team of stylists.
    “But Aunt Cait was right. You do have an aura about you.” Even Malina’s softly accented voice was perfect. “Though I pried, she didn’t tell me much, and I had to check you out for myself.”
    Jane touched her hand. The cut had healed completely. “I didn’t have a chance to thank her.”
    Malina placed her finger on a tomato and ran the tip over the skin of the plump fruit. “How did you do it?”
    “What?” Jane furrowed her brow in confusion. She watched the woman’s finger. “I guess I just have a gift for gardens. Plants I understand.”
    Malina gave a small laugh. “You know what I mean.”
    “No,” Jane shook her head. “I really don’t. Is this about my receiving your family’s landscaping job? Iain hired me because I’m assuming he talked to people and learned I’m very good at what I do. That’s how I did it . But not to worry. When