Book 1 of an Is It Love? story of a young woman with a dark secret. When that tragic incident occurred she made a choice to run away from home for good. In doing so, it brought her to a small town called Mystery Spell where she met the Bartholys and...
Two days later, we were on a plane home. Thankfully, the flight went smoothly. Everyone was exhausted and went our separate ways when we exited the airport after landing. Peter seemed to be his normal self as he carried both our luggage. Nicolae waited for our arrival outside and wasn't alone. As soon as we came into view, little Lorie ran up to give us both a hug, which caused Peter to drop the suitcases. We both laughed and returned her embrace. "Missed you too, little sister," Peter stated with affection. "You and Lydia are not allowed to leave me for that long again, you hear me!?" Lorie demanded. Continuing her rant, she said to me, "Your job is to take care of me and you not being here means you're not being a good nanny." "Lorie! They were on a school trip that was just as important," Nicolae scolded her. In the attempt to make her smile, I said, "Guess what, Lorie?" "What?" "If Peter and I didn't go to Italy, we wouldn't have been able to get you a special gift."
Peter and Nicolae smiled at me when I winked at them. Lorie jumped up and down with glee while they put the bags in the trunk of the car. "Show me! Show me! Show me!" she squealed. "Not yet, sweetie. We will when we get home," Peter assured her. On the drive home, Lorie tried to get Nicolae to drive faster, but he told her he was not going to break any traffic laws. She sat back and folded her arms while pouting. I grinned and shook my head, having realized a part of me missed Lorie's antics. Nicolae went on to ask Peter and me about our trip. Before speaking, Peter glanced at me and we nodded in silent agreement that the incident with Viktor was best discussed in private at home without Lorie present. We spoke about everything else, and while Peter spoke, I showed Lorie the pictures I took with my phone.
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As soon as we parked the car in the driveway, Lorie was out of the vehicle, eager to open her gift. "Let's bring our stuff inside first," I told her. We took our bags up to our rooms with Lorie following close behind. Trying to give us time to settle, Nicolae led Lorie back downstairs to wait for us in the living room. When we arrived Drogo had turned off the TV while Lorie sat on the edge of the couch, moving her legs and arms up and down in anticipation, and fingers extended outwards moving in a ''Gimme! Gimme!' gesture. I sat down on her left side while Peter sat to her right and placed the gift box on her lap. She spent no time ripping the wrapping paper off and flinging the box lid onto the floor. She squealed out loud when she pulled out a beautiful custom made porcelain doll made in her image. We had found that Europe still employed doll makers, who continued the old fashioned tradition of dolls looking like their child owners, so we knew we had to get one for Lorie. Peter had no trouble describing his sister's features in words without her being there, or presenting an image of her after being asked if he had one.
Lorie jumped up from the couch to spin and hop around while hugging her new doll to her chest. She then put it down and jumped in Peter's arms. "Oh, thank you! Thank you!" She stood up and came over to do the same to me. While hugging her back, I turned to see all three Bartholy brothers smiling at us. Letting go of me, Lorie grabbed her doll again and went up to Nicolae and Drogo, each in turn, to show off her gift. "That's wonderful!" said Nicolae. While Drogo held the doll, he smiled and kissed Lorie on the forehead before saying, "It looks just like you, little sister." She beamed with bright eyes and a happy smile. "Come, let's go upstairs and play with her in your room with your other dolls," he suggested, leaving Nicolae, Peter, and me alone.
