A step in the right decorations.

Alexa fingered the smooth stone that she held and, for what seemed like a million times, reflected on the brief scene that had played out by the statue a few minutes ago.

Had she been hallucinating? Elizabeth was probably some witch in disguise of a sweet old lady and had placed some mumbo jumbo hex on her.

All these Angels in Mistle, it seems, were a sure way to drive you crazy in the long run, and here she was quickly heading down Looney Road.

She wanted to believe that this stone could give her the chance she so hoped for. The chance she had silently prayed for in her heart.

She was always an open-minded person who was willing to give anything a chance once the outcome did not result in any repercussions and seeing that all the Shady stranger by the statue had said was to renew Sheldon's hope and return his belief, it wasn't something bad, right?

Hell, right now, she would have preferred if all it took was a little rub and walah, three wishes granted. She sighed and leaned back against the sofa that would be her bed for tonight.

What she needed to do was get some sleep and try not to think about Sheldon, the stone or the Shady Stranger.

With her eyes closed, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly in an attempt to relax and clear her mind but her need to have her heart desire was stronger than her need for sleep.

With a groan of frustration, she sat back up and sighed. It was useless. Her heart's desire was winning, and sleep was losing.

How was she ever going to accomplish getting Sheldon to the place where the stranger had said when she knew nothing of the man and why he was the way he was now?

The stone, silly. Did he not say the stone was all she needed? She unclasped her hand and stared down at the stone, thinking that this epiphany would bring forth some magical display from the stone, but unlike the display of earlier, it remained staid and dormant.

She stared down at the deep green stone with its banding of various shades of green in dismay. Why was it not glowing? She closed her eyes and set her hand and fingers in the imitation of the infamous yoga pose and was about to go into her Om mode when she heard a clear and precise series of taps against the door.

She gasped and shifted quickly out of the position causing the stone to go flying across the room.

"Come on," she snapped in frustration.

She rushed from the sofa; it had rolled to a corner where an old blanket sat, covering a crooked stash of unknowns that she knew was held in a big cardboard box because the blanket did not cover the box completely.

She was looking frantically for the stone but realized she did not see it, however, knowing this was where it ended up.

Out of despair, she pulled the blanket from the box just as the door opened and Sheldon stepped in. She looked up at him in shock, she was so caught up in finding the stone she had forgotten about the series of knocks on the door.

"What the hell are you doing?"

The harsh sound of his voice further held her motionless, and she found her mouth opening to speak, but no words came out.

"I would clearly believe if something is covered, it's for a reason," he continued, throwing the pillow and blanket he held on the sofa.

Alexa stared at him as if he had grown two heads. She was so taken aback by his outburst that she just stood there. She backed up further to the box as he came closer to her, his strides purposeful.

"Has anyone ever told you not to snoop into people's private things?" he growled.

Alexa was brought out of her momentary shock at the words snoop and private. She glared at him, her hazel eyes now dark and blazing.

"Now you listen here. I was not snooping, and if you wanted whatever in the box to remain private, you would not have placed it in a public domain," she snapped back.

"You, on the other hand, came in without being invited; what does that say about you?!"

He stared down at her as if she had gone crazy. "I heard you said come."

She blushed at the realization that when she had reacted to the stone flying across the room he must have heard her say 'Come on' and misinterpreted.

She rolled her eyes and kneeled, hoping that the stone was not lost, but she saw it nestled in between the box and wall and in her excitement reaching for it, she bounced the box, sending some of the haphazard content to tumble out on the floor.

With the stone safely in her hand again Alexa stared down at the content on the floor.

Christmas decorations!

"Look what you've done," he growled. "I could kill Molly for this."

"It's not like I've broken anything," she said in a rather childlike voice, fearing she might have gotten the sweet and serene housekeeper that came from time to time to attend to the rooms she knew to be upstairs in any trouble.

"Who gives a damn if anything is broken," he said. "I told her to let Malachi and Sammy get rid of the box not stash it in here."

Alexa was not versed to his misgivings about his instructions not being followed by Molly so she was frowning at his consternation when she saw peeking out from under a bunch of pepper lights a marble angel.

She leaned down and stared at it. She gently took it up, surprised at how light it felt. She was in awe of its pristine beauty and the way it radiated purity.

The angel itself, for a minute, reminded her of someone. There was a familiarity to it that puzzled her. She looked at Sheldon and asked.

"Who did this belong to?"

He remained silent for a minute, then answered, "Jonas McIntosh, my grandfather."

"Was he a sculpture?"

"No," he said looking away from the small sculpture. "My beloved grandfather had that angel sculpture from a stone he said was given to him by an angel."

Alexa almost dropped the small, delicate angel at the revelation that it was too close to home for her not to be shocked.

This was too ironic and far from being coincidental.

************************************

Well, well, well what is this, another stone...given by who now?

Is this a coincidence or is something/someone setting out to make a fool of Alexa?

Let us go to the next chapter and see.

Thanks again for the previous votes and comments 😍