A Breath of Magic (25 page)

She nodded. Thank God. But then she centered her attention on Verda. “I love you, Grandma. And yes, I’ll help you. But please, please don’t take that dream as gospel. That’s all I ask. Okay?”

Verda squeezed my shoulder. “I’m not digging my grave. So quit worrying. And I’m not sharing the dream with you all. It’s mine, and it’s private. But I will definitely need all of your help. Because part of what I have to do is find the woman your brother is going to marry and get things moving for them. Otherwise, they’ll never find each other. And it’s critical that they do.”

Elizabeth piped in then. “Which brother? Joe or Scot?”

“Your stubborn-as-a-mule brother.”

Oh, she meant Scot. I adored Scot, and for a while had played around with the idea of dating him—back before I knew we were family, naturally. But even then I realized it would have seemed like dating my brother. If I had one.

Verda leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, and then followed suit with Alice and Elizabeth. “I’m done talking about this. But you girls had the right to know this much. When the time is right I’ll share more.” She retook her seat, straightened her shoulders and gave us each a look that dared us to argue. No one did.

Before someone else made any type of a startling revelation, I took advantage of the quiet and looked at Elizabeth. “Did Ben come to A Taste of Magic to talk with you?”

Elizabeth’s gaze slid to Verda’s. “Yes, he did.”

“Did he talk about me? Ask you questions about the magic or anything like that?”

Her mouth twitched. “No, Chloe. The bakery his firm uses went out of business. He wanted to know about our prices, and if we would do weekly deliveries for meetings with clients.”

“Th-that’s all? He came to you solely about business?”

“Yes. I own a bakery. He had a need for baked goods. Because of you and whatever you told him, he thought of my bakery. That’s it, sweetie.” She pushed a long strand of hair behind her ear. “He…uh…he looked sad, though. And if you think about it, there are tons of bakeries in Chicago. And…well, he’s the CFO, right? Isn’t it sort of odd that he would arrange something as rudimentary as buying pastries?”

Hope flared up. But Verda quashed it. “Stop filling her head with what you think, Lizzy. The man came for baked goods. That’s all you know,” she said in a firm, no-nonsense tone.

Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “But Grandma—”

“It’s time for us to leave, don’t you think?” Verda stood and grabbed her granddaughter’s hand. “You brought me here. You can take me home.” Then Verda sort of pushed and shoved Elizabeth out of the room.

When they were gone, I blinked. One tear and then another trailed down my cheek.

“Oh, sweetie,” Alice said. “It’s only been a few weeks. Liz is right. There’s no reason for Ben to have gone to
her
bakery. Just hold on to that for a while.” My friend helped ease my strangling disappointment. “Besides, you have us.”

I laughed through my tears. “This is true. You’re not throttling me for giving Verda her magic back. I should be happy enough with that.”

“You deserve to be happy, period. And no, I’m not going
to throttle you. I’m worried about Grandma, but I’m going to use the same thought process on her that I’m using with Rose.” A soft smile touched Alice’s lips. “Just take it—”

“One day at a time.” I finished her statement for her, thinking I should use that philosophy myself. “You know what? I’ll be fine. I managed to get my hopes up, and the fall hurt. But nothing has changed. Nothing is worse than it was this morning.” And some things, such as my friendship with Alice, were better.

“Mind if I stay a while?” I asked, thinking that the comfort of my best friend would chase more of the clouds away. “Ethan and Rose aren’t home yet, so we could hang out. If you don’t have other plans.”

Something I couldn’t identify crossed her expression. “Sorry, sweetie. I do have other plans tonight.” Her gaze hit the clock on the wall. “Actually, I need to…ah…start getting ready. And really, you should go home. In case Ben calls.”

Yeah. Right. Go home and wait for Ben to call. I did that nearly every night. “You really have plans?” I asked.

She nodded. I didn’t quite believe her, but if she wanted me to leave, I’d leave.

She walked me to the front door, gave me another hug and then nearly shoved me out. “Sorry to be in such a rush, but…well…”

“You have plans. Right. Got it.”

I left then, trying to ignore the hurt. Possibly she was still fretting over Rose, and with the information about my magic, maybe she wanted to try to reach Miranda.

I nearly turned around to find out if I was right, when Elizabeth hollered my name. Her car was parked in the street, and she gestured for me to come over. Curious and concerned, I crossed the front lawn.

“Is there something wrong with your car?” I asked when I reached her.

She shook her head. “Grandma’s upset. She won’t talk to me, and she doesn’t want to talk to Alice. She thinks you’re mad at her, and won’t go home until she clears the air.” Elizabeth wrung her hands together in worry. “Can you”—she flipped her head toward the car—“get inside and try to cheer her up? Nate’s waiting for me.”

“Of course!” I didn’t hesitate. I slid into the backseat of Elizabeth’s car. Verda sat in the front, in the passenger seat, and her head was bent forward. I couldn’t see her face, but her shoulders were shaking. God, I felt horrible—and I didn’t even know why.

I patted the back of her head. “Verda? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, Chloe!” she wailed. “Everything is…is…”

Alice eased in the other side of the car, joining me in the backseat. “Elizabeth got me. What’s going on?”

My door slammed shut. Before I could blink, before my brain wrapped around whatever the hell was happening—again—Elizabeth crawled into the driver’s seat. That’s when I got it.

“Oh, come on! I do not need another intervention!” I screeched. “And if you all wanted to talk to me, we were just together. Inside Alice’s house!”

Very calmly, Verda craned her neck so she could see me. “But Ethan and Rose will be home soon, and it’s obvious that you’re dealing with some issues regarding Ben. You need our help, Chloe!” Returning to her prior position, she whispered to Elizabeth, “We have the goodies taken care of, don’t we?”

I didn’t hear Elizabeth’s answer.

“Why is this necessary?” I demanded of Alice. “I’m doing okay!” Mostly, anyway.

“Because we love you.” She pressed her lips together. “Deal with it, Chloe.”

Yeah, well, I loved them too. But this kidnapping thing was seriously getting out of control. Big time. I tried to console
myself with a few facts as Elizabeth maneuvered the car out of Alice’s neighborhood: I had my clothes on, I had plenty of money on me for cab fare, and…well, I wasn’t engaged to the wrong man this time. Still, I scowled out the window. I’d once wanted a family. Now, like it or not, my family liked to kidnap me.

Elizabeth drove us to the historic hotel where my prior intervention had taken place. About ten minutes into the commute, a blind and perhaps stupid hope rose inside of me. That hope increased when we didn’t stop in the lobby but went directly to the room—the same room as before, by the way—and Verda dragged the key card out of her purse. I believed to the tips of my toes that Ben would be waiting inside.

When Verda unlocked the door and pushed it open, I shoved my way in first, totally expecting to see Ben lounging on the bed. He wasn’t. Nor was he anywhere in the room. Just that fast, all of my anticipation evaporated. My shoulders slumped as I crossed to the four chairs that were set up: three in a half circle and one in the middle. Apparently, this really was another intervention. Yay.

Even in my distress, I noticed that the same care had been taken as the last time. Candles flickered, adding a soothing ambience to the space, soft music played and yes…there was a box of cupcakes in the middle of the table. So Verda had her goodies. Again, it seemed so much more like a scene set for seduction than for whatever they had in store for me.

“Okay, we’re here. Who has the baby rattle?” I asked, choosing the center seat. “Let’s get started.”

Verda, with a pleased smile, perched in the chair directly in front of me. “No baby rattle tonight. I think we’re past that. Don’t you, Chloe?”

“Sure.” I waved my hand at Elizabeth and Alice. “Sit down. What are you waiting for?”

Alice arched an eyebrow but did as asked. “You’re handling this quite well.”

“Much better than our first go-around.” Elizabeth also took a seat. “A lot has changed since then, hasn’t it, Chloe?”

“Yep. So…who wants to go first? What questions are going to be asked of me?” I crossed one leg over the other and bobbed my foot in the air. “Let’s get moving.” I shot Verda a grin. “Unless you’d like a cupcake first?”

The wrinkles around her eyes deepened as she laughed. “I’ll have one later. But we don’t have all night, so yes, let’s get this show on the road.”

“I’m ready,” I said. “I don’t have any secrets, there is nothing I’m hiding, and other than missing Ben I’m quite content with life at the moment. So…what’s left?”

Alice spoke up. “You’re still sure of your feelings for him?”

“Yes. I’m one hundred percent positive that I love and miss him.”

Elizabeth leaned forward. “So if you could, you’d like to smooth things over. Is that right?”

“Yes,” I repeated. “Of course I would.”

“Too bad he isn’t here. If he were, would you be happy to see him?” Verda reached into her handbag. “Not that he is. I’m just wondering if we should call and see if he’d come on over. Maybe if we all talked to him together, he’d have an easier time understanding our gift.”

“If he were here, I’d be thrilled to see him. But no, Verda. We are not calling him and asking him to come over. And you are not to call him on your own with any of this. Okay?”

“But why not? I don’t see how it would hurt anything,” she pouted.

Suddenly, I had a very bad feeling. “You didn’t call him already, did you?”

“No! I wouldn’t do something like that without your permission, Chloe.” Verda’s hand remained in her purse, as if she clutched something she wasn’t ready to pull out. “Why…I would never take it upon myself…”

“Give it up, Grandma. You most certainly would. It’s one of the reasons we love you,” Alice interjected. Focusing on me, she smiled. “But unless she’s done something I don’t know about, then no, Grandma hasn’t called your Ben.”

“Good,” I said. “If and when Ben is ready to see and talk to me, he knows how. And I really want to know when”—I swallowed—“
if
that day comes, that no one pushed him into it.”

“Fair enough.” Elizabeth gave her grandmother a wide-eyed look. “I think, with what Chloe has said, we’re ready for the next step.”

Next step? “What…uh…do you mean?”

Verda’s eyes sparkled. My bad feeling came back. “I did some more research on the World Wide Web and learned about a new meditation technique. It’s called”—she screwed her mouth into a pucker—“the blindfold technique. What you do is sit with a blindfold on and think about whatever’s troubling you. Oh! You’re also supposed to have earplugs in. I nearly forgot about that.”

“And why would I want to do this?” I asked as calmly as possible.

“If you can’t see or hear the world around you, then you have no choice but to focus on your inner struggles. It’s a great way to find peace.” She did the lip-pucker thing again. “Or so I read. Will you try?”

“You’re serious?”

“Of course. We love you, Chloe! This is a safe place. You can trust us.” Verda batted her lashes. “Open yourself to the possibility!”

I pressed my lips together and tried not to laugh, nodding
toward her handbag. “I take it you have earplugs and a blindfold in there?”

“Yep.” Verda’s entire body quivered with excitement. “I came prepared.”

I couldn’t fathom how blocking out the world and thinking about Ben would give me any sort of peace, but I also didn’t mind humoring Verda. I gave an exaggerated sigh. “Sure. I’m game. Hand them over.”

She did.

Before blinding and deafening myself, I glanced at Alice. She was smirking at me, and amusement danced in her eyes. My lips twitched. “You think this is funny?”

“I think it’s cute. Really, really cute.”

I stuck my tongue out and then tied the blindfold around my head, covering my eyes. “How long am I to do this for?” I asked into the air.

“Not long, dear.” Verda’s voice reached my ears. Strangely, she sounded farther away. As if she stood across the room. “Not long at all.”

“Well, pat me on my shoulder or something when the time’s up.” I stuck the earplugs in and gave myself a few seconds to become accustomed. My hearing wasn’t completely blocked, but the sounds were greatly muted. I breathed in and out, trying to relax. I hadn’t intended to think about Ben, about how much I missed him or how disappointed I was that he hadn’t contacted me, but his face appeared in my mind. I saw those bluer-than-blue eyes and my heart skipped a beat. God, I loved those eyes.

The deep rumble of his voice wove into my memory next, and the husky, raspy sound of his laugh. A chiseled jaw, strong cheekbones and, oh, the masculine, muscular beauty of his body. A sigh gushed out of me. Somehow, Verda had been right. Thinking about him this way, without the distractions of the world, softened everything inside.

I let my imagination play, pictured him in my bed, in those skin-tight boxer briefs, recalled each intimate moment of that night. Heat whirled in, fast and furious. Wow. I was good at this. Scary good. Because not only could I sense Ben’s presence, I could almost smell his clean, masculine scent.

The night with Mari slipped in then, and the recollection of the love, sorrow and strength in Ben’s eyes as he said good-bye to his daughter took me to another place. Every part of me that had relaxed tensed up again, and the agony I’d tried so hard to set aside rolled in. Yes, my life would be fine without Ben. Yes, I could exist without his voice, without his touch, without his laughter. But I didn’t want to. How could I? A man who was able to give and love and believe so fully, and let the person he loved the most in the world go because it was better for her, was one man in a million. A zillion. And I’d never, for the rest of my life, meet another man like him.

Tears filled my eyes, but the blindfold captured them so they couldn’t flow down my cheeks. But they were there, and while no one else could see me crying, the release of those tears somehow, in some way, transported me to yet another place. I would always love Ben. I would never stop hearing a knock on my door or the ringing of my phone without my heart pausing, without everything inside of me hoping that he was on the other side. I would never stop wishing I’d handled things differently. But I would also, for the rest of my life, cherish every single second I’d spent with him. Those moments were precious and beautiful and had changed me.

A hand skimmed along my knee, breaking into my thoughts. Apparently, Verda had decided I’d focused on my inner struggles long enough. I swallowed before removing the earplugs. I gulped back a sob before untying the blindfold, before wiping the fabric across my eyes to soak up my
tears. I closed my eyes, knowing the light in the room would seem overly bright. Also, I wanted to treasure what I’d just experienced before joining the reality of the world again.

A thumb grazed along my jaw. My breath locked in my lungs.

“Open up, Red. I need to see those beautiful green eyes of yours.”

My jaw fell open, but I kept my eyes glued shut. Was I hallucinating? Oh, please, no. A choked sob escaped my throat. The thumb moved to my cheek, and fingers spread into my hair. This moment, the realization of it, almost became too much to bear.

“I don’t think I can,” I whispered.

“Please?” His other hand caught mine, and he squeezed. “Trust me, Red. Open those eyes.”

So I did. But my heart stopped beating. My lungs refused to take in air. I lifted my chin and stared into the bluest eyes I’d ever seen—a vast, endless ocean—and in that second my heart thudded once, twice, and then began beating again as I came alive under Ben’s gaze.

I blinked, half-afraid he wasn’t real, that somehow my brain had conjured him up and he was nothing but an illusion brought on by my hopes and Verda’s special brand of therapy. But no. Ben
was
here. And he was looking at me with that smile that melted my bones.

“You’re not going to faint again, are you?” Concern etched his features, and he muttered a soft curse. “I worried this might be too much for you, but Verda insisted. I just wanted them to kidnap you and bring you to my place.”

“Y-you wanted them to kidnap me?” My shock was beginning to fade. “This was your idea?”

Pulling away, he took the chair that Verda had been in. I scanned the room to see if the Gypsy brigade remained in residence. They didn’t.

“Not all of it. But I remembered your tale of the first kidnapping”—a flash of humor glinted in his eyes—“and I came up with this grand scheme of romancing you.”

“Romancing me?” I squeaked. “The last time we saw each other—”

“I know.” He whisked a hand over his jaw. “I was kind of a jerk. It was a lot that night, Red. I don’t know if you can forgive me for bolting out of there, but I couldn’t come to grips with everything you told me. After saying good-bye to Rissa…it was just too much.”

“I get that. Totally. But what changed your mind? What made you decide to”—I sucked in a breath—“romance me?”

His jaw tightened, and myriad emotions flickered through his expression. “I left that night knowing my feelings for you hadn’t disappeared. But I was angry and hurt, and didn’t know what to believe. So I went home and moped. Went to work and moped. Went to see Gabe and punched him again”—he blinked—“and moped.”

He’d moped. About me! And his feelings…“I know my spell worked, Ben. I promise you that. I absolutely removed every other spell I ever cast on you.”

“I believe you. I felt something that night. I don’t know if I can explain it, but while my feelings remained the same, a sort of release came over me.” He shook his head. “I didn’t
have
to be with you. My choices were mine. But I still
wanted
to be with you. Does that make sense?”

Happiness and hope and love swarmed in. “Yes. It means that my spell gave you your will back, your freedom, but that you…you still care about me.” I thought of something else, though. “You were very sure you couldn’t be with someone who had that type of power. Wh-what do you think about that now?” I awaited his answer with bated breath.

“Your magic is a part of who you are. And you’re the woman I can’t get out of my thoughts.” Again, he rubbed his jaw. “I guess what I’m saying is—”

I’d heard enough. Somehow, he’d found a way to accept me for the person I was, so there was no reason
not
to tell him the truth. “It’s okay, Ben. I gave my power up.” At his curious and startled glance, I gave him an abridged version of my recent past.

I figured he’d be relieved. Happy, even. But he frowned. “I wouldn’t have asked you to do that. Ever, Red.”

“I’d decided before I told you anything about my gift that I didn’t want that specific power anymore. It scared me. This was my choice, and had very little to do with you. With us. It was about me, and the type of person I want to be.”

He stared at me. “You did this for you and for no other reason?”

I laughed, and a solitary tear fell from my eye. “Yes. But if the side effect turns out to help us, that makes me even happier.”

“Honestly, it doesn’t make a difference. I’d already made up my mind when I contacted Elizabeth.” He winked. “About romancing you.”

Even though everything he’d said so far was good, amazing and thrilling, he hadn’t tried to touch me again and he hadn’t actually said what those feelings of his were. I guess, silly as it might sound, I wasn’t there yet. I wasn’t to the point of believing that we were going to be together. That we were going to be okay. So yes, I definitely wanted to hear about his plan to romance me.

“You said you punched Gabe?”

A rough laugh emerged. “I went to see him, because I wanted to try. For Rissa. He pointed out that I’d never punched him over Sara, but that I hadn’t hesitated in doing so over you. Over ‘just a kiss.’ ” Ben growled. “Just a kiss! His hands were all over you. My temper flashed, and I saw him touching you again, and I swung at him before the thought even processed.”

A glow of pleasure whipped into me. “How’d Gabe take that?”

“He laughed his ass off. We ended up talking.”

“And?”

Ben shrugged. “We have a long way to go, but we’ll see. Right now, though, I’m more focused on us. I contacted Elizabeth with my idea, asked her if she could arrange another kidnapping and bring you to my house. I had this idea of a tent in the backyard, with the stars above us, a bottle of champagne…but then I met Verda.”

I grinned, imagining. “So this was her idea.”

“Yep. She said she wanted to be positive that you’d want to see me, and not just lug you off to my house without that assurance.” He waggled his eyebrows. “And she meant that, but I also think she loved the idea of putting one over on you again.”