I Will Set Your Valentine On Fire

Maureen Atsali Romance

If there was anything I hated more than sentimental holidays…
It was Anthony Kent.
The whole town called Dorothy Kent “Aunt Dot”, but she actually was Tony’s great aunt. He was two years younger than I was, so we had practically grown up together.
There was a long list of people who had made my life miserable in amount Tabor, and Tony’s name was right at the top of that list. He was the one person I had really hoped I would NOT encounter while I was back in town.
“You know, Aunt Dot, if the cafe is still open, maybe it would be best if I just head back to Rutberg…”
“Now, Myra, don't be hard-headed!” Aunt Dot scolded me. “Why pay all that money and commute all that way when there is a perfectly good apartment to use? In fact, I’ll call Tony right now!” She leaned over and grappled with the miscellaneous items on her side table until her slightly arthritic fingers found her smart-phone. The fact that my 80 year old aunt had a very new and very high tech phone was surprising. What was even more shocking was that she knew how to use it - very well. No matter that she seemed to have misplaced her glasses, she used voice commands and ordered the virtual assistant, “Call Tony!”
“Hello?” I heard Tony's voice loud and clear. Aunt Dot had the volume turned up so high it was practically on speakerphone. Was she losing her hearing too?
Just the sound of his voice, after all these years, made the hair stand up on my arms. It was deep and smooth. Exactly the kind of voice you would want to narrate a dirty, s.exy audio book. It sounded like hot fudge melting cool sweet vanilla ice cream.
Which only made him more despicable.
“Tony! It’s Aunt Dot. Listen, Myra is here. She’s going to stay over the cafe. Give her the spare key.”
There was a long pause on the line before Tony replied. “Okay, Aunt Dot. Just send her to the cafe. I’ll be here.”

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