Promises to Keep (4 page)

Lucy headed to the back of the restaurant with
Presley not taking her eyes off her.

“So Presley what are you going to draw for Aunt
Sadie?”

She didn’t respond but now seemed more interested in
the little boy at the next table who was probably just a little older than her.
Well, not so much him, but the teddy bear he was playing with.

“You like teddies?” Sadie asked her.

She didn’t respond, and didn’t even turn to look at
Sadie. The next thing she knew the bear was levitated out of the boy’s hands.
He watched it float higher in the air, his mouth wide open as it hung there.

Sadie looked around, sensing that another witch had
to be present in the restaurant. She tried to key in on that someone, but
couldn’t. And usually she was spot on knowing a fellow witch from a mortal.

The bear was heading their way, and she noticed
Presley’s index finger making circles to bring it in for a safe landing on her placemat.

Sadie went cold. Presley was the witch. No, it
couldn’t be true.

“Teddy,” said Presley, turning and showing it to
Sadie.

“That’s very naughty. It’s the little boy’s bear and
you have no business doing that,” said Sadie.

She grabbed it, but Presley moved her finger upward
and the bear shot out of Sadie’s hand and landed back on Presley’s placemat.
The force had been so strong it had even given Sadie a slight shock to her
hand.

It was impossible for Presley to be this strong
without training. Brad wasn’t a warlock and Presley’s birth mother hadn’t been
a witch. None of this made any sense.

Sadie took two gulps of her tea, burning her mouth
in the process and suddenly felt her stomach turn.

She knew how this was happening. Sadie had taken her
to the Other Realm when she was a baby to protect her. She’d been warned and
these were the consequences.

There would be lots of trouble. She might lose
Perfect Pairing and
she
…

Keep
calm.

Sadie rummaged through her purse, pulling out the
Christmas card Lucy had given her. She studied the photo again.
The cat.
She recognized the cat. He was from the Other
Realm. The cat was Presley’s familiar. That’s why he’d stayed so close to her.

Sadie was in no end of trouble and she had to get
the child under control.

Snatching the teddy from Presley’s hands before the
toddler realized it was gone; Sadie marched over to the little boy and put it
in his hands.

She turned back to look at Presley. They were locked
in battle, eyes glaring at one another. Presley raised her finger in the air,
Sadie did the same.

“Okay, little one, you’re about to get your first
lesson in witch warfare.”

Presley circled her finger, lifting the bear up out
of the little boy’s hands. Sadie flicked her finger, forcing it back. The
little boy watched as the bear jumped out of his hand and then back.

Sadie had never known a witch to be this powerful at
such a young age. Presley, finger posed, caused the bear to rise from the table
again.

Someone was going to see what was happening. Lucy
might even see what was happening, and until she had the matter under control,
Sadie couldn’t have anyone knowing about Presley and her powers.

“Okay, little one, this is going to hurt you and
make your hand tingle, but it’s for your own good.”

Sadie snapped her fingers, causing the bear to fall
back to the table. Presley began crying and kicking her legs on the back of the
high chair just as Lucy returned.

“What’s happened,” said Lucy, hugging her.

“I heard her mumble something about a teddy,” said
Sadie, looking at Presley and shaking her head.

“Your
teddy’s
back at the
hotel,” said Lucy, trying to calm a sobbing Presley who now had everyone’s
attention. “I’ve never seen her like this before.” “Maybe she’s coming down
with something.”

Sadie sat down and took another sip of tea. How was
she going to deal with this situation? Presley would need training to do
good
with her skills, instead of bad things like take other
children’s toys. To do that she’d need to go to the Other Realm. That meant
Sadie would have to sit down with Brad and Lucy and tell them everything.

Chapter
Five

“Ms. Sutton…I mean, Sadie.”

Sadie turned and headed back to the reception desk
where Hayley was holding a piece of paper out to her.

She just wanted to get back to her room and collect
her thoughts. Today had been one of the worst of her life. The whole business
with Presley had been her fault. And after their lunch, Sadie had just wanted
to go to the Other Realm and hide for a while. She’d gotten out of afternoon
shopping with Lucy by saying she had a headache, but tonight they’d invited her
to dinner at the hotel where the family was staying.

“Is everything okay?” asked Hayley.

“Yes, yes, just a sudden headache.”

“Would you like me to bring you up some tea?”

“That would be wonderful.”

“Someone from your head office
called and said to tell you that your supervisor will be stopping by next
week.”

Sadie gulped. That would be Nadine from the
Department of Love. If she knew about Sadie’s disaster, she’d been finished.

Sadie turned to head up to her room.

“I’ll bring that tea right up,” Hayley called after
her.

Sadie went to her room and sat on the bed. She
pulled out the Christmas card and looked at the photo again. Such a lovely
family and her impulsiveness that night when she’d taken baby Presley to the
Other Realm had ruined everything for them.
 

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

Sadie smiled as Hayley carried in a tray bearing a
tea pot, floral cup and saucer, and a plate of cookies. She placed them on the
bedside table.

“So what have you been up to?” asked Sadie, pouring
herself a cup of tea.

“I signed up for some business classes at the local
community college. And I’m going to buy a Christmas tree tonight. The local fire
department’s selling them to raise money for a food bank.”

“Really, the fire department?”

Maybe today wasn’t such a disaster after all. Sadie
recalled that Cole had told her he worked as a volunteer fireman. Yes, these
two could be a match made in heaven. Maybe with a little of that, and a little
of this, it could be by sheer coincidence that Cole would be working the tree
lot tonight and the two of them would meet.

“You look happy all of a sudden,” said Haley.

“It must be these delightful cookies,” said Sadie,
taking a second bite.

****

“I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t an emergency.”

Cole’s hand gripped the phone.
Him
manning the Christmas tree lot.
Didn’t everyone know by now that he’d been shopping for a tree when he’d gotten
the call that night? Why had Fred, the fire chief, called him of all people?

“Glen’s suddenly came down with a sore throat and
feels like shit. I can’t expect him to be out in the cold for any length of
time. I’d do it, but we have to visit my mother-in-law in the hospital. She had
her hip replacement surgery yesterday.”

Sweat broke out on his forehead. He’d do anything to
help these guys and the department so he couldn’t bring himself to say no, even
if it was going to be sheer agony for him. Maybe he’d take a book along to read
and wouldn’t think about where he was, or look at any of the trees.

“Okay, what time do I need to be there?” asked Cole.

“Six and you can close at nine.”

Cole knew Eileen was taking the kids out shopping so
he didn’t have to worry about finding someone to supervise them at the last
minute.

“Thanks for doing this, Cole. I really appreciate
it,” said Fred.

“Sure, anytime.”

He pressed the end call button. Maybe this would
make or break him. He looked out of the window and noticed it had started
snowing. The temperature gauge on the fence said it was hovering near the
freezing mark. Heading upstairs, he wondered if he should put on his thermal
underwear. And taking along a thermos of something warm to drink would probably
be a good idea, too.

He sat on the bed, glancing across at the photo of
him and Amanda that rested on his bedside nightstand. He took a deep breath, hoping
he’d make it through the night.

****

Sadie took a deep breath before knocking on the door
of Brad and Lucy’s hotel room. She couldn’t face them over dinner, so she’d
slyly told them she had a gift certificate to one of the top restaurants in
Casper and wanted them to go while she babysat Presley. Brad had accepted
straight away, saying it had been months since he and Lucy had been out on a
‘date’.

The whole thing was perfect. Brad and Lucy could
enjoy themselves, and Sadie could spend some time alone with Presley to
evaluate the situation more.

Brad opened the door to her.

“Perfect timing, because we’re
just about ready.
Come in and make
yourself
comfortable,” he said.

Sadie walked into the room and saw Lucy wearing a pretty
floral dress and putting on her earrings.

“Sadie,” said Presley, pointing at her.

She was already dressed in her PJs and was jumping
up and down on the bed.

“Hey, hey, sit down nicely or Sadie will make you go
to bed early,” said Brad.

Presley sat down and grinned at her father.

“She’s had her bath, and she’s eaten, so don’t let
her talk you into giving her more,” said Lucy.
 
“Let her watch TV for a bit, and she won’t go to sleep without her teddy
and you reading her a story. Her books are over on the table there.”

“I’d choose the shortest one possible,” whispered
Brad. “And don’t try and cut out parts because it’s uncanny but she knows when
you do it.”

Sadie smiled. “I know we’re going to have a fun
evening together, so off you both go and have a wonderful time,” she said,
handing them the gift certificate.

Lucy leaned over and kissed Presley. Brad did the
same, but made an exaggerated smooching sound which made Presley giggle.

Both Presley and Sadie blew them a kiss as they went
out of the door.

“Okay Presley, let’s find something to watch, and
then we have some work to do.”

“Toons,” she said.

Sadie guessed she meant cartoons.

“Okay, let’s see if we can find one.”

Sadie flicked through the channels and found one
about a dog and cat.

“Kitty, kitty,” said Presley.

Sadie sat on the bed and Presley scooted up beside
her. Sadie wrapped her arm around the girl’s shoulders.

“Now I know all about your powers, but you have to
learn to channel them into good things for other people. Tonight we’re going to
work together and do some magic for two people who are about to meet for the
first time.”

 
Presley
twirled her finger.

“Wait until I’ve given you permission to do that.
 
Just think maybe one day you’ll take over
Perfect Pairing for me.”

Sadie brushed Presley’s hair out of her eyes. Wouldn’t
that be something if it actually happened? When Sadie was ready to retire,
Presley would step in and pair couples just like her parents.

“Okay now, close your eyes tight,” said Sadie,
holding Presley’s hand. “Their names are Cole and Haley.”

Sadie felt Presley’s hand squeezing hers tighter as
Sadie raised their hands in the air.

****

Cole clapped his hands together. Despite wearing
gloves, his hands felt like two blocks of ice. They’d been busy for the first
hour, but then it had slowed down to just a handful of people who had wanted to
browse more than buy. For the last fifteen minutes there’d been not one
customer, which wasn’t a good thing for him because the memories of that night
were trying to invade his thoughts.

Pulling out the book he’d brought along, he was
determined not to let his mind wander to the past. He settled down in the chair
in the warming hut and turned up the heater one more notch.
 
He read the first few lines more than once,
trying his best to get into the story and not his own head. Maybe the radio
would have been better company than the book. He had to give the story another
try. He tapped his foot as he read, putting his hands over his ears as if
shielding bad thoughts from getting into his brain via that route. That wasn’t
any good either and his hands were getting colder.

Hearing a car pulling up, Cole glanced up and peeked
out of the door he’d left slightly ajar. A young woman wearing a bright red pea
coat was walking toward the lot. Besides the vivid color of her outer wear, he
noticed her red hair sticking out from the fur-lined hood.
Little
Red Riding Hood.
He smiled, wondering why he’d thought of that. She
stopped and looked at a few of the smaller trees and then headed toward the
hut. He glanced down, willing himself to get back to his book, but his
curiosity had been put on alert. He watched as she got closer. She was pretty.
Not just pretty, but gorgeous in fact.