Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning #2)(92)

She shook her head.

"No," she reminded herself. "That's not true. He only wanted to be with me as long as he thought I was Persephone." She remembered the look on his face when he had seen who she real y was. No! Lina stopped herself, she wouldn't think about that.

She had to pul herself together. She'd been moping around like a jilted schoolgirl for two weeks. She'd been hurt before, why should this time be any different? It wasn't like she was going through another divorce.

Lina stared, unseeing, down the hal . It wasn't like a divorce. It was worse. Why did she feel Like part of her - the best part of her - was missing?

Lina remembered the night she and Hades had watched the soul mates drink from the River Lethe. He had told her that soul mates would always find each other again. But what happened if they were separated by time and worlds? Did their hearts turn into wastelands? Did their capacity for happiness erode until they were just walking shel s, going through the motions of daily living but not real y feeling alive?

That wasn't what was happening to her. Hades couldn't be her soul mate. He had rejected her. She'd just done something she should have been too old to have al owed herself to do. She'd fal en in love with someone she couldn't ever have. She'd made a mistake. She was simply going to have to get over him and get on with her life.

She'd be al right. She'd make it. Time would help it not to hurt so badly. Edith Anne whined while Patchy Poo the Pud rubbed a worried circle around her legs. Lina pushed the sadness away from her heart and straightened her shoulders. "Okay, you two. Let's make some ambrosia cream cheese."

It didn't matter how many times she read it, it stil gave her a weird feeling. The paper that the note and the recipe had been written on was from her private stationary that had CFS printed across the top in the Copperplate Gothic Bold she liked so well . The words were written in her favorite blue pen, and the handwriting was identical to her own. But she hadn't written it. She'd found it taped to Edith Anne's dog food bin the day Demeter had brought her back. She'd almost ignored it. After al , it had been in her own handwriting. She'd thought it was just an old note she'd written to herself reminding her to get more dog food, or dog treats, or other items of dog paraphernalia. Then the salutation registered in her mind, Dear Lina, and her eyes had moved quickly to the closing, Here's wishing you joy and magic, Persephone. Lina had taken the note into the living room and read it. Then, just as she did now, she thought how bizarre it was that she and Persephone's handwriting was identical.

Dear Lina,

Six months is almost completed. It feels to me that I have been here so much longer -  time passes differently in your world. Mother wil cal for me soon and I want to be certain that you have the recipe for the ambrosia. Our customers love it, and I would not want them to be disappointed.

How odd! I just realized that I cal ed them "our" customers, but I do think of them as that. Your mortals are good people. I shal miss them.

I shal not miss your wretched cat or that horrid slobbering dog, although the black-and-white beast has final y deigned to sleep with me, and yesterday the dog did bark protectively at a stranger who tried to accost me while I was frolicking beside the river.

Perhaps I shal miss them after al .

Remember to have fun with your life, Lina. You have been richly blessed

Here's wishing you joy and magic, @

Persephone

The cream cheese recipe was written neatly on the back of the note. Lina studied it one more time. She didn't want to fol ow it, but Persephone had been right, their customers did love it, and she didn't want to disappoint them either.

She refil ed her glass of pinot grigio, leaving the bottle on the counter next to the crock that she'd already fil ed with softened cream cheese. She didn't need to double check the calendar to see if there was a ful moon. Al she had to do was to glance out the kitchen window. There was no escaping it. A round white moon was hanging brightly in the clear night sky.

"Just get it over with. It's not like you're a stranger to magic." She grabbed a measuring cup from the cabinet. "And stop talking to yourself."

She put the recipe on the counter and began the steps it would take to make ambrosia cream cheese.

Persephone's recipe was wordy. Lina sipped from her glass of wine while she read it.

Fil that pretty yel ow pot -  the one that is the exact color of wild honeysuckles -  with cream cheese. Let the cheese soften. (And Lina, do not use that atrocious low fat concoction others use. Its taste borders on blasphemy.)

Lina couldn't help smiling. She and Persephone had the same attitude about cooking with low fat ingredients.

Next add one cup of your favorite white wine to the cream cheese and mix thoroughly. The specific type of wine is not important, as long as it is not too sweet. (Lina, I have grown quite fond of the lovely Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio I found in your cooler. I certainly hope Mother gives me time to replenish your supply before she exchanges us. If not, I offer my apology for depleting your supply.)

Lina chuckled. "Apology accepted." She had been total y out of white wine when she returned.

After adding the wine to the cream cheese, drink what remains in the rest of the bottle yourself. (Lina, don't underestimate the importance of this step.)

She poured herself another glass of wine after she added the cup to the cream cheese. She tried not to gulp, but she was in a hurry to get done.