Gnomes of Suburbia Read Online Free

he got into her mind?
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Chapter Five
    When Abby woke the next morning, everything was quiet. She felt calm, serene, but still, it was too quiet. The sounds of the city were gone. Winnipeg wasn't huge, but it was still larger than the tiny town of Sargent. She immediately got up and started to make some noise, anything to break the silence. When she had a cup of coffee in front of her and was seated at the counter of her kitchen drinking it with a CD playing in the background, she could finally relax. And think.
    Ah, nothing like moving into one's own home. At long last she had a place to call her own. No upstairs neighbour stomping like an elephant and no one behind a wall who liked to have domestic arguments at the top of their lungs. She had never felt right with the noise and clatter of the city, but here, she could breathe.
    The peace and quiet might take some getting used to, but she loved it as much as it disturbed her. Taking her coffee with her, she went into her workroom and started to unpack. First her big book and then her gnomes.
    Having their little cheerful faces around her would make her feel more at home. She took them out of their crates one by one and smiled as she lined them all up. Harbinger was her bondage gnome, kitted out in black leather, zippers and studs. She had even put a zipper running up his pointed gnome hat. His name had been a play on words. A sex related gnome meaning things to come . She hadn't been able to pass it up. His creation had spurred on the wave of creativity that had spawned the others. Even Bitsy.
    She checked to make sure that the tutu of the ballerina gnome was intact. It had come loose in transit so she brought her over to the worktable that Verne had set up for her and got to work on repairs.
    Hours passed before she looked up and it was something making noise outside that had distracted her. Specifically something knocking on her door.
    Wiping her hands on her jeans, she blinked and stumbled to the front door. Holy crud. If this is what the church canvassers looked like in this neighbourhood, she was going to convert. She didn't even care if squirrel shaving was one of the requirements. Sign her up.
    She finally remembered to open the door and smiled at her visitor. “Uh, hello?"
    "Hiya. I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Alexander Desmith and I live next door in Number Seventeen.” He held out his hand for her to shake. His palm was warm, firm and he held her hand carefully. He almost seemed afraid to touch her or harm her by the contact. That was a little weird.
    "Hi. I am Abby. Uh, Annabeth Hanover. I just moved in.” She was babbling. She couldn't help it. Blonde wavy hair, baby blue eyes and a body that had to work out at least four times a week. He was amazing to look at.
    When he smiled, he was even prettier. “I know. Laura told me to present myself or face her wrath.” No fair. He had dimples and a strangely familiar silhouette. Ah well.
    She smiled back, her heart racing and blood pounding through her veins. “Laura is rather intimidating, isn't she? She has demanded that I learn to swim.” Something occurred to her, “I'm being terribly rude, would you like to come in for coffee?” She remembered that hers was a few hours old. “I was just about to put on a new pot anyway."
    "That would be great. Having Laura pounding on my door the instant that I got back from a business trip was a little intimidating.” That mind-smacking grin was back and she could almost feel the air around her trembling with energy.
    She found herself backing away from him, down the hall and all the way to the kitchen. She was so going to slap herself once he had gone.
    She went about the mechanics of making coffee. “What do you do for a living if you don't mind my asking?"
    "I am a consultant. I sweep in when things are going wrong and try and sort them out.” He perched his chin in his hands as he leaned on the counter. “I know it's