Excerpt: Touch of Fire

Several Years Later…

Thud.

"Aw sh…that's gonna leave a mark."

Jumping on one foot, Kat saw the culprit. The deep mahogany oak table, known to take its aggressions out on her, had managed to sneak from its current location and move to a new one. This elusive plot was executed through a long, drawn-out process, and resulted in another stubbed toe. That wasn't the surprising part. Not only did this table do the stealth operation with fast and efficient ease, but managed to get Murphy's Law to call her at that exact moment, especially when the phone was located fifty feet away in the receptionist area and didn't have an answering machine attached to it.

"Kat, are you going to get the phone?" her business and dancing partner, Adrian Jackson, yelled from the back of the studio.

She rolled her eyes and hobbled closer to the phone. "No, I'm going to wait for you to do it, Adrian!"

As she made her way to the receptionist area, the pain doubled. "Thank you for calling Dancing Spirits; how may I help you?" The voice of her long-time friend and confidant distracted her from the swelling toe. "Hi, Cassandra, what's up?"

"Kat, sweetie, are you busy?"

"Yeah, Cass. Remember, I have that benefit performance?"

"That's why I'm asking; Noah wanted to bring you food before the performance."

"That's so sweet. Tell that angel of course he can." Her god-son, Noah, was too precious for words. "I'll be here for a few more hours before heading out."

"Okay, we'll be down soon."

"Bye, Cass."

Kat placed the phone on its receiver and hopped up on the counter to better examine the site of pain. Focused on her task, she didn't notice Adrian entering.

"My goodness, woman, I'm amazed you have feet." Adrian chuckled as he filed the papers in his hand. "We should get beepers on your toes—ear-piercing shrills any time you come close to a corner. Then again, knowing you, you'd actually hit those walls with the intent of destroying those shoes."