Something Magical (Witches of Hawthorne Grove Book 1) (17 page)

I
'll pick
you up at the shelter on my way in
, the the text said.
I. Have. Surprise.

Kaylee switched off the engine and reached over to pick up her purse from the passenger seat but she didn't get out of the vehicle. She couldn't. Not yet. Jordan had a surprise for her? Last night he'd mentioned picking her up for lunch on his way back from Center, but he hadn't said anything about a surprise. Of course that may have been because she'd told him she couldn't do lunch because of her promise to meet Daniel at Huntingdon's, but … darn it, what was the surprise? Swiping her thumb across the screen of her cell, she texted back:
What is it
?

She knew Daniel was waiting for her inside the coffee shop, and she was already ten minutes late, but she couldn't seem to make herself not wait for Jordan's answer. When it came, it was exactly what she expected it to be:
Not telling. You'll have to wait and see.

“Grrrr
!
” she grumbled at his reply, but she was smiling. Jordan had a surprise for her! Curious as a child at Christmas about what he might have picked up for her, she pushed open the door of her black SUV and stepped out. Slipping the strap of her purse over her head, she closed the door and locked it, then hit the touch screen on her phone again and typed:
I can hardly wait, but I suppose I must
!
Can I have a hint
?

His 'hint' was cryptic:
It's … different
.

Different?

She waited for more, but no other words appeared on her screen so she tucked the phone into her back pocket and started for the coffee shop with an extra bit of spring in her step, her mood now in total contrast to the dread she had been feeling earlier about this meeting with Daniel. She managed a total of three steps before she thought about Jordan's text again and felt a grin tug at her lips. For some reason, she suddenly wanted to bounce into the store on her tiptoes, hopping like a kangaroo with the phrase
Jordan has a surprise!
sing-songing repeatedly from her lips, but she managed to temper her excitement and childlike glee—somehow.

Pushing open the door in the most adult-like manner she could muster at the moment, Kaylee bit down on her smile and waved to Sam, but it sprang right back into place when she turned around to scan the shop for Daniel. He was sitting in a booth near the window facing the parking lot, so he had to have seen her come in, but he hadn't made a move to greet her other than to tip his head back in acknowledgment when their gazes met.

With an internal groan, she made her way over to the booth. “Sorry I'm late. One of the other volunteers at the shelter had an appointment he couldn't miss and I couldn't get away until about ten minutes ago.”

Daniel stood up right when she was about to sit down, which put their bodies in far too close a proximity for her comfort. She stepped back, but he slid his arm around her waist to steady her, pulling her closer just like he would have done four years ago...before he'd left her for another woman and almost ruined her life. It felt wrong.

All the happy excitement she'd felt only moments before fizzled away, leaving behind an unsettling kind of queasy feeling deep down in her stomach. Her smile disappeared and was immediately replaced with a scowling frown of disapproval.

Pushing out of his reach, Kaylee slid hurriedly into the seat opposite him, fighting back the urge to wipe away the disturbing effects of his touch. “Alright, Daniel. I'm here. There is no one looking over our shoulder, no one listening in to whatever it is you want to talk to me about. What was so important you needed to meet me here alone to say it?”

“It's not right.”

For a minute, she thought he was talking about the way he'd put his hands on her a moment ago and she was about to agree when he said, “I'm back where I started, but it's not the same, Kaylee. Nothing feels
right
. Not without you.
We
are not right.”

Uneasy now, she asked, “What do you mean? Daniel, there is no
we
—”

“But there
should
be,” he insisted. “We were going to get
married
, Kaylee. Married!”

The way he emphasized the word made her want to cringe. How ironic, she thought. Too bad he couldn't have felt this way four years ago. But none of it mattered. Not now.

“Remember how excited we were? And that dress...beautiful. I'm sorry I never got to see you in it.”

Gripping her purse in one hand, she started to stand, but Daniel waved her back.

“I know I did you wrong, sweetheart, and I know you were hurt. I get that. But I can't help but think how good we were together and—I think we should try again, you know? Not immediately. I know you'll need a little time to readjust, but I'm home now and I've apologized, and ... I just want it
back
. I want it
all
back. I want
us
back, what we had before, Kaylee.” There was a pleading look in his eyes, one that begged for her to trust the sincerity of his gaze and his tone but, unfortunately for him, it was a look in which she no longer believed.

“Say you'll give me—give
us
—a second chance.” Daniel's hand found hers over the table. His fingers squeezed hers and Kaylee's eyes squeezed shut. He must have taken her shocked silence for hesitation because he said, “We had something special, you and I.”

“No. No,” she finally managed to deny, snatching her fingers from his grasp. “For a long time, I really thought we did. As shameful as it is for me to admit it,when you told me you were mine alone and that you promised to love me forever, I believed you. You really had me fooled, Daniel. So much and so well that when you first left, I thought I might literally die. But that's gone now.”

And it really
was
gone, she suddenly realized, and her eyes snapped upward, stunned because it was the truth. She hadn't even noticed the change, but it had happened just the same. In a single instant of revelation, there was no more guilt over thinking she'd been at fault somehow for their breakup, that she hadn't been woman enough to keep him. All the loneliness and grief she'd felt, the months of bitter depression and loneliness, every bit of it and all of the pain simply vanished, disappearing like a thick veil of dark mist that had been whisked away, leaving her almost breathless with relief. It washed over her in waves as the truth of what she had said resonated in her head.

Miraculously, against everything she had believed possible after Daniel had walked out on her four years ago, she realized she was mended—at last. Her bruised and broken heart
had
healed and right then, at that very important moment was when she finally realized she was free. Free from the past. Free to go on with her life. Free to love and be loved. Free to be with Jordan...because she loved him.

Like the fragile glass surrounding the antique snow globe she'd picked up at Seville's the day she and Jordan had met, the delusions she'd suffered under before he came into her life had been shattered, and she had Jordan to thank for it. True, she'd once thought Daniel had crushed her, but the truth was he'd only made her shut herself away. But then Jordan had come along, and like a fledgling that relentlessly pecked away at its shell from the inside, he had slipped into her heart and opened up her hardened exterior, freeing her to once again be the warm, loving woman she truly was.

Jordan had released her; he'd made her free to be herself, and the enormity of that, of the gift he had already given her almost took her breath away. Her now steady gaze met Daniel's and held. “Whatever we may have believed we had together before, it wasn't love and it wasn't real. I know that now. I know because this...
this
is different. So very
different
.”

She thought about Jordan's text, the clue for the surprise he had for her, and her lips turned up slowly in an ever-widening smile. Whatever it was, it couldn't possibly compare with the beauty and magnitude of emotion flowing inside her right now. She
loved
Jordan! She loved him and she wasn't afraid to admit it. Not anymore.

* * *

J
ordan was whistling
a catchy tune when he finally came out of the gift shop where he'd had Kaylee's gift packaged, and wrapped, and then tied with a big frilly bow. It was nestled in a thick pile of finely shredded paper in the bottom of the heavy craft bag he carried but he was still careful not to bump it against anything as he settled it in the seat of his truck on the passenger side. The thing was fragile and he didn't want it to break before she even got to see it.

He could hardly wait to get back to her, to see her face when she opened the package and saw what was inside, but when he rounded the tailgate, he was surprised to see Daniel Sutton leaning casually against the fender of his truck, and he sighed. Why was it that every time he got excited about something problems were wont to crop up everywhere, all determined to cause a delay.

“Sutton,” he said, tipping his head slightly in greeting before he opened the door and climbed up into the drivers seat. He would have closed it, too, but Daniel's hand shot out, stopping it in mid-swing.

“Stay away from her, Parker,” he demanded, and Jordan's brows rose.

“From whom?”

“Don't play dumb with me, man. You're a genius. I'd say figure it out but we both know you already know who. Stay away from Kaylee. She's mine, got it? Always has been. Always will be.”

Jordan could feel his lips curling upward in a derisive smirk. He bit back a chiding laugh. This one wasn't worth it. “Might want to check with Kaylee about that. I'm pretty sure she has a different opinion on the matter.”

The jerk had the gall to cross his arms over his chest without moving out of the way so Jordan could close his door and he smirked back. “She didn't give that impression when we were having coffee together a little while ago.”

As he was sure Kaylee's ex had intended, Jordan felt the slicing sting of jealousy rip through him at the thought of her being anywhere near this man again but he tamped it down. If he was ever going to win Kaylee's trust after what Sutton had done to her, he knew he'd have to afford her the benefit of doubt. “You're lying.”

“Oh yeah? I asked her about it, actually, how she felt about me and about you. Seems like she's changed her mind, now that I'm home again, and who can blame her? I
was
her first choice, after all.” He pulled out a cell phone and held it up to Jordan. “Proof's right there. All you gotta do is hit play.”

Jordan took the cell, his piercing gaze casually sliding away from the challenging gleam in Sutton's eyes to the time stamp on the recording. It correlated to just minutes after he'd texted Kaylee about the surprise he was bringing her, but he was so sure Sutton was lying about having had coffee with her, he hit the play button anyway.

Kaylee's soft voice drifted out and Jordan bit back a curse.

“Whatever we may have believed we had together before, it wasn't love and it wasn't real. I know that now. I know because this...this is different. So very different.”

Jordan stiffened. There was something there, something in her tone, in the breathless way she'd said those words that made him uneasy but he would never admit it to this gloating little creep. Sure, he felt wounded she'd had coffee with her ex and hadn't bothered to tell him about it, but that was just male pride. He was also almost positive the bit of conversation Sutton had recorded had a meaning far different from the one he wanted him to believe but just for a moment, uncertainty clouded his reason.

Still, he managed a glare. “Out of context, Sutton. Care to tell me about the rest of Kaylee's side of the conversation, and how she feels about you recording her without her knowing? I'm sure there was more, right? Or was this the best you got?”

Ignoring Jordan's questions, Daniel snatched the phone out of Jordan's hand. “Like I said, stay away from her.”

He turned to walk away at the same time Jordan's phone buzzed with a text notification. He flipped it easily out of its case and glanced down at the screen. It was from Kaylee:
Had coffee at Sam's but I'm back at the shelter now. Can't wait to see you – I have a confession to make. Dying to see what you're bringing!

Doubt reached up and punched him in the gut and he punched it back.

Fine, he thought. So Sutton hadn't been lying about having coffee with her. Sam's was a public coffee shop and he was sure Kaylee had a good reason for meeting him there, but … why hadn't she mentioned anything about it to him—either today or last night?

D
riving
past the shelter without stopping was one of the hardest things Jordan had done lately, but he needed to think without distraction and Kaylee was the one distraction he wasn't yet prepared to face. Granted, she was a good kind of distraction, but right now the doubt churning in his gut was making him crazy. If he were to stop, to pick her up now, he knew he'd be a total grouch.

The last thing he wanted to do was accuse her of something she hadn't said, or done, or even felt, but uncertainty was riding him hard after his unexpected meet-up with Sutton and he had to be sure he was prepared to deal with seeing her, being with her, to hearing her answers to his questions—no matter what they might be—before he saw her again. If she'd decided to reconcile with Daniel ...

Less than fifteen minutes later, not even bothering to wait for the doors on the garage to open so he could drive inside, Jordan pulled into his driveway and killed the engine on his truck. Grabbing the package from the passenger seat, he hopped out, whistled for Sarge, and went up the walk to the front of the house instead of going in through the side door, as had become his habit. He'd barely made it inside when his cell phone signaled he'd received a text from Kaylee:
Was that you I saw drive past about fifteen minutes ago?

Ignoring her text for the moment, he went through to set the surprise he'd picked up for Kaylee on his kitchen table, then came back to close and lock his front door before he stopped in the middle of the living room and just stood there, staring down at his phone again. He should answer her, but if he replied back
yes
, she was going to want to know why he hadn't stopped and he didn't think he could tell her. Not yet. He wasn't even sure of the reason himself.

No, that wasn't true. He
was
sure. He'd found out she'd spent time over coffee with her ex and jealousy was gnawing at him, along with doubt and not a little bit of fear. The question he had ignored earlier came back to annoy him. What if she had decided to reconcile with Daniel? Was this the reason for her no strings policy—she'd been hoping Daniel would come back all along? Had she held out with him in hopes she and Daniel could be together again?

He realized all he had to do was ask her. She would tell him the truth—even if he didn't like what she had to say. It was mustering the courage to ask that had him wavering over whether or not to answer her text. Finally, he slid his thumb across the face of his phone to wake it and texted back:
Yes. Had something to do first.

He didn't bother to add that thinking about her, about them, and why he was no longer content to leave things as they were was the something he'd desperately needed to do before he could see her again. She didn't reply right away, so he put his phone down on the coffee table beside one of the antique letter boxes she'd recently filled. This one had become his new remote control caddy, and the one on the little round table by the stairs was for his pocket stuffs. She'd pointed out how perfectly placed it was—he could empty his pockets before he went upstairs for bed and return whatever he needed the following morning when he came back down.

Looking around at all the boxes now placed in strategic locations around his house, he finally realized why he'd been so obsessed with buying the things in the first place. They were symbolic of himself, of how he'd felt for so long now it was almost second nature. Nice on the outside but on the inside? Empty.

Like him, most of the boxes showed outward signs of wear but each one was still warm and genuine and beautiful, he supposed, in its own way. Outside, there were definite signs of life. But there had been nothing on the inside—of the boxes or his heart—until the day he'd bought the box with the dog tag inside which had led him to Kaylee.

That was the day everything changed.

He
had changed. Instead of a soul looking for a box to fill, his heart had became a box in want of filling … and Kaylee had done it. She had come into his life and slowly filled his heart the same way she had filled the empty boxes—with caring, with surprising insight into his soul, with sweetly endearing, unforgettable little bits of herself—one piece at a time, until the boxes, his heart, his home—everything he possessed—was filled with love.

Turning, he glanced at the bag on his table and thought of the antique box and the surprise carefully cradled inside—the one he had picked up at Seville's. This one, he had altered. He'd done it with Kaylee in mind, out of his love for her—though he hadn't realized it at the time, and he'd done it because he wanted to make her happy.

Finally, he understood that was what he'd wanted for a long time—ever since he'd first seen her that day outside Seville's. He wanted to make her happy because he loved her. He had believed she was coming to care for him, too. Wasn't that what she had meant when she'd told him the place for new beginnings was in their hearts? But then Daniel had showed up, and … Scooping up his phone, he swiped it with his thumb and started typing.

* * *

H
alf an hour later
, Jordan led her through his living room and into the kitchen. He hadn't said why he'd come home before picking her up at the shelter. In fact, he hadn't said much of anything on the ride over—only that she could make her confession later, that they both needed to talk, but he wanted to give her her surprise first. He refused to give her another hint about what it was, too, no matter how many times she asked—and she had asked more than once.

“Can I peek now?” she asked, but she didn't dare move her hands for fear of ruining the surprise before he was ready.

“No, not yet. I have to open the bag. Keep your eyes closed, Kaylee Dean. No peeking!”

“But I've been waiting all day to see what you got! You know I have no patience when it comes to things like this,” she said, her eyes still closed and dutifully covered with both hands.

When he finally allowed her to lower her hands, Kaylee was stunned to see the letter box he had bought at Seville's sitting open on the table. It would never close again, for inside sat a replica of the snow-globe she had purchased that same day.

“I know you said the snow globe was nothing special, that it shouldn't mean anything to you because you hadn't had it long, and yet you were in tears when it shattered. I took a chance that you just hadn't figured out your attachment yet.” He shrugged. “The interior bits are a little different in this one but it's got the same house and trees and the scene is mostly the same. I hope that's okay?”

“Oh, Jordan, it's beautiful!” Her hands slid lovingly over the new glass globe, over the letter box he'd bought the day they'd met outside the antique shop that now served as a base, and she shook her head to help fight back the tears that threatened. “It wasn't the scene inside that drew me, anyway. Not really. It was more what I felt, what I thought I could believe in, whenever I looked inside.”

“Oh? And what was that? Come on, you can tell me,” he teased with a friendly nudge to the shoulder. “We're friends, remember?”

Glancing up at him, she said, “It was the same thing I felt every time I saw or heard or thought of
you
—”

Her voice cracked and she looked away, focusing on the globe rather than the way his eyes darkened at her words. She didn't have the words to explain. How could she tell him the snow globe had come to represent everything Daniel's defection had denied her? How could she make him understand when she looked in the globe, the fragile glass surrounding her heart hadn't felt quite so confining anymore?

Somehow, it had made her feel as if it were okay to dream again, to trust, to believe in love, in the possibility and promise of a happily ever after—for her, and so she had. Thanks to him. Like the fragile glass surrounding the scene inside the snow globe, all the fire, passion, and love inside her heart had been encased with fear of being hurt again—until Jordan had come along and shattered the hardened exterior, freeing her to be herself again, to be the warm, loving woman she truly was.

“What did you feel, Kaylee?” His words were low, rough.

She felt the gentle nudge of his finger beneath her chin and glanced up into his eyes, fighting the sting of tears that wanted to cloud her own. She even tried to smile but it came out all wobbly and she had to suck in a breath to keep from bursting into tears. Finally, she managed to get the words out around the thick lump of emotion swelling in her throat. “Something magical.”

She felt his fingers slide into her hair an instant before his lips touched hers. Her breath escaping on a contented sigh, she rose up on her tip-toes to better fit her lips to his while her arms slid around his waist, but she barely noticed anything beyond how perfect it felt to be held by him.

Kissing Jordan just felt right. When she was in his arms, the world and all its problems fell away, leaving only the two of them and a sense of contentment she'd never experienced before. It felt so wonderful she never wanted to step away from his embrace.

But then, he broke the kiss and the confusion, the questions she saw in his eyes when she opened hers brought her crashing down to earth real fast. “Jordan?”

Stepping away, he let his fingers twine with hers. He cleared his throat. “This would probably be a good time for me to hear your confession.”

Her confession? She remembered her text and could immediately feel the blush coloring her cheeks. “Oh, that.”

Jordan tilted his head, giving her a quizzical look. “Yes, that. Does it have anything to do with your ex?”

Kaylee frowned. “Not really, but why would you ask that?”

Jordan let go of her hands and folded his arms over his chest. “Because he cornered me in a parking lot in Center this afternoon to give me a message. He even played a bit of a conversation between the two of you he said he recorded while you and he shared a coffee today at Sam's.”

Kaylee's brow rose. “We had
separate
coffees and … a message? What message?”

“It was more a warning, really. To stay away from you. He says you chose him first and now you want him back. Is that true, Kaylee? Do you want to be with Daniel again?”

“What? No! Why would I want … wait a minute. You said he
recorded
our conversation? Well, if he played back to you what I actually said to him you already know I would never—” She broke off. “He didn't record everything I said. He played a selective bit of our conversation and … you believed him, didn't you? You believed I wanted him back.”

Jordan leaned back, his hip propped against the edge of the table. “I didn't want to, Kaylee. I didn't believe you would meet him without mentioning it to me, either, but you did, and it
was
your voice I heard on his cell phone, saying things like 'It wasn't love before' and 'This is so different'.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he scowled at her in confusion. “Damn it, Kaylee, I see that accusing look creeping into your eyes, and I don't like this any more than you apparently do, but what was I supposed to think?”

“That I was telling him what I felt for him in the past wasn't what I thought it was? And that I was explaining the reason I knew it wasn't what he'd believed it to be was because of how different I feel when I'm with
you
?”

Kaylee could feel her anger rising in reaction to his lack of trust and she suddenly felt like lashing out. “But you and I, we are just
friends
, right? And as my
friend
, you should have been happy for me. You should—”

“I
love
you, Kaylee.”

In shock at his bluntly stated announcement, her eyes whipped up to meet his. He didn't move. His expression didn't change one tiny bit, not even when he repeated the words.

“I love you. And when I hear from that creep that you've spent time with him, I find myself in an awkward position—one where I just want to break things—and I hate it. I don't like what knowing you've been with him—even for something as innocent as coffee—makes me feel inside, in here,” he said, slamming his palm against his chest. “And I don't ever want to experience it again.”

She looked away, hesitant and uncertain whether or not she should believe him.

“That was to be my confession, you know?”she said finally, her tone wry. “Not that I had coffee with Daniel today, but the other. I didn't even realize it until I was sitting at that table with him, wishing I was with
you
the entire time. But it was there that I finally understood, finally realized why it didn't bother me that he'd come back. Why I wasn't wracked with torturous indecision and why I didn't feel the pain of our breakup the way I had before.”

Jordan peered at her. “Wait. I think I missed something. What, exactly, did you realize?”

“How much I love you, Jordan H. Parker, retired billionaire ex-IT guy,” she said, and her smile practically lit up the room. She walked over and leaned against him, sliding her hands up his chest to his shoulders. “I love you, and knowing how wonderful
this
feels, the way I feel for you, I'm almost ashamed to admit that I don't think I ever really loved Daniel at all. Well, not as anything more than a friend.”