Something About Alice Murphy: BOOK 2

P A R T - N I N E

Chapter Nine: Moments & Memories
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Wednesday 27th March
10:02am

Alice woke up slowly, finding herself lying on her stomach with her arms tucked under her pillow. She sighed quietly, opening her eyes as her ears registered the sound of birds tweeting and a horse neighing... the cool breeze from outdoors wafting in from the window above her head.

Slowly... she began to register the faint smell of cooking and lifted her head, then turned over, seeing Magnus's side of the bed vacant. She glanced at the time as she sat up, seeing it just moving past ten in the morning and hummed. After stretching, she got out of bed and ran her fingers through her hair as she carefully walked down stairs to see where that delicious smell was coming from.

To her surprise, her gaze landed on Magnus stood with his back to her in the kitchen area, shirtless, his hair messy with a glass of water in one hand and the other shaking a frying pan with bacon on it. The sound of the sizzling and the salty smell filled Alice's nose and she crossed the space between the stairs and the kitchen area and appeared silently beside Magnus to peer over his arm at the food. "Morning," He said calmly, making Alice smile.

"You're cooking," She smiled, looking up at him as he glanced over at her.

"I'm hungry," he replied, the hint of a smirk playing on his lips. "Do you want some?" He asked, motioning with his head to the pancakes he'd made that were fresh and still steaming on a plate beside the stove.

"Yes please," Alice sighed happily, "I'll go get syrup," she smiled, tucking her hair behind her ears and turning away and walking over to the door where her fluffy slippers were waiting. She was dressed in one of the silk shirts Magnus had bought her, and because of its size it hung neatly over her body and stopped at her upper thigh.

Alice crossed the gap between the guest house and the main and entered through the back door, making her way into the kitchen which, to her delight, was empty. She searched through the cupboards, and almost jumped when the phone began ringing, it's loud ringtone echoing through the kitchen, irritating Alice's newly woken up nerves. She expected either Adam or Henry to appear to pick up the phone but no one arrived...

Eventually Alice found the syrup in the nearest cupboard to the fridge, just as whoever it was decided to leave a voice mail...

"'enry- you good for nothing son of a bitch, why didn't you tell me my granddaughter was in town to visit, you miserable, stone faced bastard?"

Alice's eyes widened as she closed the cupboard and turned to look at the answering machine in shock.

"I 'ad to 'ear from one of my ladies that you were out parading 'er through town last night as if she one of your prize damn ponies!"  Caroline's voice snapped aggressively out of the machine as Alice approached. "You better organise for 'er to come and see me this instant or I will rip you apart, the army will seem like child's play when I'm done with you, 'enry! O' and Adam, Mon cher, if you are listening to this, I 'ad the most wonderful crème brûlée at your restaurant the other night. Magnifique! My most gracious compliments to the chef. You must drop by and give me the recipe. Adieu!"

"Who the fuck was that?" Magnus's voice asked, causing Alice to jump as she turned to see him stood by the back door, looking expectant.

"My grandma," Alice replied, knowing that the heavy French accented woman had been Caroline Ouellet. Alice released a heavy exhale and smiled as she turned away from the answering machine and walked towards Magnus, lifting her hand and showing him that she'd found the maple syrup. They returned to the guest house together, and gathered up their breakfast, deciding to eat together on the table next to the window that looked out over the pathway that led to the stables...