Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 67614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
All I can do is nod.
“Then, you told me you had a crush on me, too. And you kissed me. And you’ve been so sweet to me.”
“But?” I ask against her fingers.
“I…I don’t know. What’s going on between us, Giles? Because if it’s just friendly flirtation and stuff, I need to know.”
I take her hand and kiss it, then press it to my chest so I can reply.
“I don’t usually kiss my friends like I kissed you earlier. And I don’t bring them flowers. I don’t think about them all damn day when I’m at work, and, well… You get the idea.”
She simply watches me with those gorgeous eyes.
“I’m glad you don’t want to go to dinner with Lad. Because if anyone’s going to take you out on dates, I’d like it to be me. I know we have a lot on our plates with a three-hundred-year-old curse to lift and a homicidal supernatural maniac to find, and I don’t want to pressure you into anything too fast, but I—”
Goddess, now what do I say? I love you? I need you? I want you with me forever? I’ve known her for most of her life. But this? This feels like a lot.
“I get it,” she says and smiles. “And I think we’re on the same page.”
“Well, good.”
“As long as you don’t plan on seeing anyone else either.”
I laugh and lean in to breathe her in. “Sweetheart, you’re all I see.”
Suddenly, a door slams upstairs, startling us both.
“Maybe Molly’s jealous,” Breena whispers, but her fingers shake as she reaches for me.
“Hmm.” I cock my head and listen. I don’t know why, but that didn’t feel like Molly. “There are days I wish I was a medium.”
“Not me.” She shakes her head. “I don’t want that particular gift at all.”
We go quiet again, but the house seems to be even quieter.
“Must have been Molly,” I say at last.
Still, my instincts tell me that something is just…wrong.
And I don’t know what it is.
“Hello, darling.”
Mom kisses my cheek and then bolts through the door, heading straight for Breena.
“Hello, sweet girl. Oh, I’m so excited to see you!”
“I’m so glad you’re home,” Breena replies and opens her arms for a hug from my mom. Then, the two are off, talking a mile a minute.
“They’ve always gotten on well,” Dad says with a smile as he comes inside so I can close the door behind him. “I think it’s because they’re so much alike.”
“You’re probably right.” Dad hugs me and then claps me on the back. “I’m glad you two are home.”
“Me, too. It’s always good to see the family but being gone for too long makes me twitchy. How—?”
He stops cold and tips his head as if he’s listening.
“What is it?”
My dad is a powerful medium and empath, and he just always knows.
It was a huge pain in the ass when I was a teenager.
“Interesting.”
I follow his gaze up my staircase. “What?”
“Molly’s telling on you.” Dad laughs and then turns to me. “Congratulations.”
“On what?”
“On Breena.”
I shake my head and then narrow my eyes at the empty staircase. “Not cool, Molly. Not cool at all.”
Dad laughs again as he follows me through the house to the back patio, where I have the grill set up and ready for some chicken.
“I think it’s past time you noticed her,” he says when we’re out of earshot of the women.
“I’ve always noticed her.”
His face registers surprise. “You didn’t do anything about it.”
“She’s a lot younger than me, Dad. And then life took over.”
“Your mother has said for years that you’re meant for each other. Fated.”
“Someone could have said something to me.”
“And miss all the fun? Not on your life. Now, tell me about the work you’re doing on the curse.”
And so, as the chicken cooks on the grill, I fill him in on the Tapestry of Fate Breena’s already started on.
“I can’t believe it’s been in the Book of Shadows and here in my house all this time.”
“You found it when you were meant to,” he insists. “I have some other grimoires and Books of Shadows from other family members in my basement. I’ll take a look at them.”
“Can I borrow them? It’ll go faster if the six of us pore over them.”
“Of course. You can pick them up anytime. I’ll have them ready.”
“Thanks.”
“What’s taking so long out here?” Mom asks as she and Breena join us outside. “We’re starving.”
“It’s almost done.”
“Breena shared her coconut cake recipe with me in exchange for my strawberry preserves recipe. I can’t wait to bake that cake tomorrow. If it turns out well, I’ll make another for the Beltane celebration.”
“There’s still so much to do to get ready for that,” Breena says and nibbles her bottom lip the way she always does when she’s nervous. “I feel like we’ll never get everything done. And I’m in the thick of the tapestry now. Both Lucy and Lorelei have been bringing me more textiles every day, but it’s such a laborious process. I don’t know how I’ll find the time to get ready for Beltane.”