A Taste of Magic (25 page)

“Kevin isn’t my boyfriend, Nate. I mean, I was dating him. But that night? Nothing happened. I’d had too much to drink, so I crashed on his couch.” I cleared my throat. “We’re not seeing each other anymore, either. In case that’s important to you.” It probably wasn’t. But I had to toss it in. You know, just to be sure.

He raised an eyebrow. “What about that other guy I saw you with? Jon?”

I laughed, trying to cover my nerves. It came out sounding like a noise a drunk hyena would make. Don’t ask me how I knew this, I just did. “He’s going to love the fact that he was right. Jon is happily involved with someone else, and even if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be interested in me.”

I so wanted to kiss Nate. His lips were way too close.

“You two seemed really tight. I’m pretty good at judging people, and it was obvious that you and Jon know each other very well.”

“Well, yeah. We do. Jon and I went to college together and we own A Taste of Magic together. Other than Maddie, he’s my best friend.” Nate didn’t say anything, so I said, “He’s like my brother. He’s my family.”

Understanding flooded Nate’s expression and, I have to say, the fact it did made my entire world brighten. Every color in his apartment became more vivid. Especially the green in his eyes.

“So you
were
dating Kevin. You’re not now, and you were never dating Jon? Do I have this correct?”

“You sound like the cop you are. But yes, you do. And I am sorry I didn’t call my grandmother. She’d just moved in, so I wasn’t used to someone waiting up for me.”

“Are you dating anyone else I don’t know about?”

“No.”

“Are you
considering
dating anyone else I should know about?”

“No.” I laughed the hyena laugh again. “But you haven’t answered my question. That woman I’ve seen you with? Who is she?”

“I do not have a girlfriend, Lizzie. Who is this woman you’re talking about?”

“You’re not lying to me, are you? Well, that would be stupid, wouldn’t it? Lying, I mean. But this woman—you two seemed close. And she called you sweetie.” Yeah, I was blubbering incoherently again. I snapped my mouth shut and promised myself to not say another word.

But then, he did the totally unexpected. He grabbed my hands and cradled them in his. The heat transferred from him to me, and tingles erupted all over my body. Not unlike the magic when I baked.

“What are you doing?”

“Describe this woman to me,” he coaxed.

“Tall. Gorgeous. Red hair. Green eyes.” Pulling away from his grasp, I said, “She answered your door one night when I came to see you. I saw her the night I invited you to dinner with me and Maddie. And I saw you and Sam in the parking lot one day waving to her as she left.” Closing my eyes, I willed my heart to calm down. “You love her. I know you do. I saw it in your face. And, I know we haven’t exactly known each other that long, and I’m not saying I love you, because heck if I know what love is anymore, but I do care about you and I did hope we’d—”

“Stop,” Nate said, interrupting, his deep voice easily drowning out mine. “Open your eyes, Liz.” His fingers brushed across my lids as he spoke.

Opening them, I forcibly held my lips together. At this point, I’d pretty much said everything I’d wanted to say, plus several things I didn’t. Better to keep my mouth shut and let him do all the talking.

“You’re right. I do love her. Her name is Julie, and she is one of the three most important women in my life.”

“So she is your girlfriend.” Even though I’d guessed this, even though I knew he loved her, even though I knew there was nothing in my future with Nate, other than possibly friendship, hearing her name, hearing him make absolute fact what I already knew made it so much worse.

Standing, I said, “Thank you for talking to me. I think it’s best if I go home now. I hope you have a great day.” What the hell? I sounded like a customer ser vice rep.

Before I could make it to the door, Nate’s arms swung around me, stopping me.

“You didn’t let me finish.”

Fine. Finish me off. We’d barely gotten started, so stopping shouldn’t be that difficult, right?

“Go ahead,” I said, resigned to hearing more about the wonderful Julie.

His lips touched my hair and his arms tightened. “Liz, I already told you I don’t have a girlfriend. Julie is my sister. She’s Sam’s mom. And you, with all your strange ideas and crazy ways, have become one of those three most important women in my life. All I want is the chance to get to know you better. To see where that might lead.”

“Your sister?” Now that he mentioned it, her eyes were a matching set to his. Wow, I’d reached a new low. Stupid, relieved, embarrassed, and gloriously hopeful—all at once. Was there a medal for that?

“My sister.”

“Who is the third important woman?”

He chuckled. “My mother.” Dropping his arms, he turned me around to face him. “Come here. I’m ready for that kiss now.”

“You are?” I teased, still wrapping my mind around everything he’d said.

“One thing, Liz. Honesty between us from now on. No misconceptions or assumptions. For either of us. Deal?”

“Deal. That sounds great,” I said. I had no clue where it would lead. If anywhere. But at that moment, we were at the beginning. And with all beginnings there was always a chance, always a possibility. And you know what? Nothing sounded better than that.

“Come here,” he said. And I did. I walked into his arms, and his lips came down to meet mine and the world disappeared. Heat flashed instantaneously and, well, everything flat out just felt right.

How cool was that?

Chapter Nineteen

“The little line turned pink.”

Confused, I looked up from the menu. My sister and I were eating at the veggie restaurant I’d been to with Kevin. “What are you talking about?”

Alice closed her menu, her brown eyes wide with shock. “The little line. It turned pink.”

Call me stupid, but I had no clue what she was going on about. Of course, this was likely due to the fact that Nate and I had patched things up. My mind—stubborn as it was— refused to stop thinking about him. “Alice, what line?”

Reaching into her purse, she dragged out a small white plastic rectangle and pushed it across the table. “That line. And seven others. All pink.”

One glance at the test kit and I knew. “You’re pregnant? Are you sure?” My baby sister was having a baby? I didn’t know if I should jump up and down for joy or cradle her in my arms and cry. Simultaneously, I wanted to do both.

Her pale cheeks flooded with color. “Yes. Eight tests have given me the same results. What am I going to do?”

“Troy?”

She nodded. “Do I tell him?” The fear in her voice made me want to find the jerk and spell him all over again.

“No.” Oh shit, was that good advice? I mean, jerk or not, he had rights. While I preferred she didn’t say anything to him, it wasn’t my decision to make. “I don’t know. You don’t have to now. At least, not until you know what you’re going to do. Even then, it’s up to you. I’ll stand behind you, what ever you do.”

I thought of the road ahead of her, the decisions she needed to make, and it boggled me, overwhelmed me. And seeing as I wasn’t even the pregnant one, I couldn’t imagine how she felt.

“I’m keeping the baby, Elizabeth.”

Of course
. I would do the same. “Yeah, okay. That’s great. You’re going to be a mommy, and I’m going to be an auntie.” Did my happiness sound false?

Her cheeks paled again. “Mommy. God, that’s scary. It’s a huge responsibility. What if I’m not up for it?”

“You have nine months to get ready. I’ll help you. Mom will. Grandma Verda will be ecstatic.”

“Um. No. I have about seven months. I’ve ignored the signs for a while.”

“You’ve been under a lot of stress, so that makes sense. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

“What am I going to do?” she asked again.

“You’ve already decided, honey. You’re keeping the baby, right?”

“Yes. I know that. I just don’t know what else I’m going to do. It seems …” She shrugged. “Unimaginable.”

“We’ll start taking steps. We’ll find you a doctor first, then get all the information we can, and before you know it, it won’t seem so frightening.”

“Part of me wants to tell Troy,” she admitted softly.

“Why? Do you want him back?”

“No!” She shuddered. “I just think he should know, I guess.”

“But then he’ll be in your life forever. He’s not a good man.” When she didn’t say anything, I said, “You already know he’s a horrible father.”

“That’s why I haven’t told him yet.”

I leaned over and grasped her hand. “Just wait. Let yourself get accustomed to the idea first. And then, if you still want to let him know, we’ll talk about it.”

When she nodded, relief flooded me. No way, no how, did I want that man in her life.

The waitress came by and took our order. After she left, Alice said, “What’s it like living with Grandma?”

Happy to see some color return to her cheeks, I answered, “She’s not been around a lot lately. She’s with Vinny most of the time.”

Alice’s gaze slid to the side of me. “Someone’s heading this way,” she said.

“Hi, Elizabeth!”

I pivoted my head toward the familiar voice and saw Kevin approaching our table, an attractive woman I remembered from the wedding next to him. When they stopped at my chair, I forced a smile. “Hey, Kevin. How are you?”

“I’m great. This is my sister, Kathy. Kath, this is Elizabeth, a friend and one of my clients. You guys didn’t actually meet at Keith’s wedding.”

I introduced Alice, who barely responded, but come on, who could blame her? I noticed Kevin glance at Alice with interest. Under other circumstances, I would have maybe set them up. He was a great guy. But I didn’t think Alice would be in the mood for a date.

He smiled. “Thank you for the granola bars. I really enjoyed them!”

“I’m glad you got them. I’m sorry I didn’t see you when I dropped them off, but you were busy with a client.” The night Nate and I made up I’d put together a batch of home-baked granola bars, with a little magic, for Kevin. I’d used the same spell I’d used for Jon. You know, to erase any after-effects from the brownies. Just to be sure. I should probably do the same thing for Nate, but something kept stopping me. Things were good. Happy. And part of me didn’t want to know if it was only because of magic. I’d have to deal with it at some point. I knew that.

But not yet.

After a few minutes of chit-chatting, Kevin said, “We should get to our table.” He bent down, as if he were going to hug me, but then stood back up. “It was great seeing you! I hope you’re not giving up on your workouts.”

Well. “I wasn’t sure. Because of, you know.”

His eyes softened, and I remembered all the great things I’d seen in him. But even with that, I didn’t doubt my decision for a second.

“Just come on in. It will be great.”

The waitress brought our food, and Kevin and his sister went to their own table. I turned back to Alice. “Honey, how are you feeling?”

“Sick. Scared. Miserable. Excited. Freaked out.” Biting her lip, she said, “Does that answer your question?”

Clasping her hand in mine again, I tried to instill as much positive energy into my words as possible. “We’ll figure it out. You’re not alone.”

“Then why do I feel so alone?” The tremors in her voice made my heart crack in two.

“I don’t know. I don’t know.” But as I sat there, across the table from my sister and her unborn baby, a glimmer of an idea whisked through me. For the moment, I set it aside.

“You’ll be terrific, Alice. You’ll see.” Eyes filled with doubt met mine, but she didn’t argue, just pulled her hand free.

“Wow. I’m really going to have a baby.” Alice shook her head, as if clearing cobwebs, and her body rippled with a shiver. “You don’t seem nearly as surprised as I feel. How can you be so calm?”

“I don’t know,” I said again. Probably, though, it was because of everything I’d experienced lately. Once you knew ghosts and magic were real, there wasn’t much left to surprise you.

Quietly, we picked at our lunch, neither of us in the mood for further conversation. When we went our separate ways, me to work, Alice to start looking for doctors, I hugged her as tightly as I could.

“I love you. I’ll stop by later tonight,” I murmured. And then, I watched as she shuffled to her car, head down, looking about as lonely and pitiful as a person could get.

Me? I just wanted to make her world a better place.

Nate and I stood at the last furniture store on my list. We’d been shopping for a good part of the day, and I’d already found almost everything I needed. Now, I was after the perfect couch.

“What about this one?” Nate asked, plopping down on a bright orange one similar to my parents’ Naugahyde version but in leather.

“Orange leather? Not in this lifetime. I kind of like that one, though.” I pointed to a soft camel-colored sofa against the back wall of the furniture shop.

“I thought you wanted color.”

“I do. But not orange.”

“Well, let’s go take a peek, then.”

As soon as I sat on it, I knew it was
the one
. Envisioning morning coffee and the newspaper, afternoon novels, and evenings curled up with a blanket, I nodded in satisfaction. “This is it. I love it.” Glancing at the price tag, I winced. Today was taking a huge bite out of my wallet. But after a year of mourning, it was worth it.

“What else do you need?”

“Aren’t you getting tired of this? I can come back another day.” He’d tolerated my wandering from store to store like a champ, but I didn’t want to push it. You know, that whole men and shopping thing.

But then he surprised me. “I’m having a good time. Besides, it’s cool I’m helping you. What’s next?”

My stomach twirled at the affection in his gaze. A little secret here: I was falling hard and fast. God help me. Biting my lip, I said, “Actually, that about sums it up. Other than a few pictures, maybe.”

“Didn’t you say your sister was an artist? You should have her paint you something.”

“She’s stressed right now. Maybe later.” I’d seen Alice several times since that day at the restaurant, and she seemed to be doing better. She wasn’t her old self. Not yet. But I was happy to see her moving forward. Even better? She hadn’t contacted Troy yet. Thank God.

After I purchased and arranged for delivery of the couch, we headed out into the early evening. Excitement at all the changes in my life put a bounce into my step. Within a few short weeks, my apartment would be furnished, painted, and decorated. I couldn’t wait.

And me and Nate? Things were good. I didn’t allow myself to question if maybe—just maybe—they were
too
good. That question? I wasn’t ready to answer it. So I didn’t.

Procrastination? Maybe. Denial? Probably. What ever you wanted to call it, I was in it up to my eyeballs. Again, I let the worries slide away. At the moment, the only thing I wanted to concentrate on was the evening ahead of me.

After Nate unlocked the door to our building, I followed him in. We still hadn’t had mind-blowing, crazy, hot, make-my-knees-melt sex, but I planned on remedying that situation as soon as possible.

“Want to come in?” I knew Grandma Verda was at Vinny’s, so I had the place to myself. At least for a few hours.

“I was hoping you’d come to my place. I have the night off.” He brushed a kiss across my lips. Soft. Sweet. But with the promise of more.

“I didn’t think you’d ever ask. Let me go in and leave a note for Grandma, and I’ll be right over.”

Fifteen minutes later, I waited for Nate to answer my knock. Only he didn’t. He couldn’t have changed his mind already. Could he? I knocked again and waited some more. Still no answer. Maybe he’d been called in to work? But you’d think if that was the case, he’d have let me know. I mean, he had to pass my apartment door to even get outside.

Finally, because I didn’t know what else to do, I tried opening the door. It opened. Ha! I’d have to razz him about leaving his door unlocked. I stuck my head inside and yelled, “Nate? I’m here.”

I heard a
thump thump
, followed by, “Liz? Can you come back to the bedroom?” Weird. His voice sounded muffled and far away. But hey, if he wanted me in the bedroom, who was I to argue? I wondered if he was lying on his bed, waiting for me. Possibly naked. Anticipation and a tiny bit of nervousness tickled their way through me.

The few steps to Nate’s bedroom only increased the tickles. And then, right before I crossed the threshold, a hard shiver rolled its way down my body, from my head to my toes. But he wasn’t on his bed. And I didn’t see him anywhere else in the room, either.

“Nate?”

More thumping. “In here! Let me out. I’m … um … stuck.”

I swiveled my head, trying to decide where
in
was. “Where?”

“The closet. Let me out of the closet.”

My nervous ness fled. Humor replaced the anticipation. I approached the door. “You’re stuck in the closet? Really?”

“Rescue me,” he said, laughing.

“I’ll need to see some ID. To ascertain you are who you say you are.” Oh my God, this was just too much fun!

“Normal protocol for this sort of situation is a strip search. I’ll expect nothing less.” The hot, sexy drawl of his voice ignited a slow burn deep in my belly.

“A strip search, huh? I’ll see what I can do.” Kind of cool— getting to play hero for the cop. I twisted the door handle slowly, barely noticing the dampness on my palms. When I swung the door open, I laughed. Poor Nate was squashed in the closet. With about a dozen boxes stacked around him.

Disentangling himself, he held the crush of boxes back while stepping out. In a quick move, he shut the door. I heard a few boxes tumbled behind the door, and I laughed. “I thought you were all unpacked?”

“I am. Well, sort of. Most of that stuff needs to go into storage.” He wrapped one arm around my waist. “Thank you for rescuing me.”

“You’re so very welcome. I’d say we’re even now. You’d have been stuck in there a long time if I hadn’t come over.” I tried not to laugh again. “How’d you get in there anyway?”

“I was cleaning up before you got here, and some of the boxes fell out. Apparently, the doorknob is broken on the inside, because the damn thing wouldn’t open again.” He kissed my nose and then my forehead.

“But how’d the door get closed to begin with?”

A sheepish grin hit his face. “I was trying to keep more boxes from falling. I was just going to ease my way out. That didn’t work so well.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m glad you’re here. In more ways than one.”