Witch Is The New Black (24 page)

Tears stung her eyes at the mention of her mother and this mysterious woman she’d never know, and whom Eddie had come upon by dumb luck.

Baba used tender fingers to wipe her tears away. “Seeing Eddie with the book could only mean one thing—he’d known Marie. Somewhere, somehow. So I traced his every move since her death as we searched high and low for him, and that’s when I found out about her relationship with your mother. The rest was a bit of a puzzle your friends here in Paris solved all on their own.”

She’d never be able to thank them enough for finding her. “And the book? Am I the new guardian of the book? Because you might want to rethink your strategy on that. I do set barns on fire, you know.”

Baba cackled her familiar laugh. “You have to keep the book because you’re the most powerful blood witch, but I promise you, it won’t be without guidance from me personally.”

“You know, we should talk about backup plans. Is it me, or is it crazy to leave this book of everything, as Eddie called it, just one person’s responsibility? It’s been lost for almost thirty years.”

Baba patted her hand with reassurance. “We’ll put a plan of action in place.”

Her chest tightened, but she had to know. “And Doris?”

“I’ll wipe her memory clean. She’ll be back in Boston without a clue in no time flat.”

Then the question she dreaded most. “Eddie?”

“I promise you, Bernie, Eddie will pay dearly for what he’s done. I’ll see to it.”

What he’d done. She scanned the area surrounding the farm—blown to smithereens. The barn’s roof was missing and one wall was blown out, small mountains of dirt were littered with rubble, and the chicken coop that housed Miss Prissy was a mangled mess.

“Speaking of what Eddie’s done, I think I’d better go see how I can help. I can’t believe we survived that.”

“Do you know how you survived the explosion, Bernie?”

Her brow furrowed. “Magic? But I don’t remember doing a damn thing.”

Baba smiled. “That’s because your magic is that powerful. You sensed distress and fixed it. You used the magic you learned with the people who’ve come to love you.”

“But Ridge’s father put a spell on the farm and no one can use any serious magic.”

“Then I guess that goes to show you just
how
powerful you are. Somehow, in all that mess with Eddie, you must have remembered a transportation spell. It’s what saved you and Ridge, and even Eddie and Doris. It’s an amazing feat, Bernice. You’ve learned well. I guess sending you here to shovel horseshit wasn’t such a bad thing after all?”

Bernie let her head fall back on her shoulders as she barked a laugh. This explained so much. The demise of Betty-Boop. Setting the barn on fire. All of it. “Baba knows best, eh?”

Baba slapped the table with the palm of her hand, a grin on her lips. “Damn right she does. Now whaddya say we go figure out how to raise a barn with that hunk who has googly eyes for you?”

Bernie giggled, rising from the bench and holding out her hand to Baba, her heart full, her throat tight. “I’m in.
All in
.”

They walked hand in hand toward the house, where Ridge and everyone sat on the now lopsided steps and in chairs, beers in hand, laughing and talking.

And as she made her way up the steps of Ridge’s porch, and he handed her his beer, tucking her under his arm and dropping a kiss on the top of her head, she knew she was home.

Right here in Paris, Texas.

Well, then. Yippee-kay-aye-a.

Chapter 16

Two months later…

“S
hhhh!” Flora ordered. “They’re comin’!”

Ridge chuckled, holding on to Bernie’s hand. “I can hear you, Miss Flora, What the heck’s going on?”

Bernie giggled as she positioned him in front of the new barn doors. “Just you keep your impatient eyes closed, Cowboy.” Wrapping her arm around his waist, she pulled him close and took a moment to admire the work everyone had put into the barn while Flora gathered the guests.

From the very peak of the new roof, down to the new red siding and wide double doors, the barn looked fresh and new and utterly amazing. Baskets of mums in yellow and red hung from plant hooks they’d cemented into the ground, leading to the barn’s doors. Strand after strand of globe lights swayed in the warm breeze, slung up over every corner of the interior, giving it a dreamy, romantic glow.

Three tables, filled with casseroles and pies and Glenda-Jo’s infamous fried chicken, lined the back wall near the stables, and smaller round tables were decorated with doilies Flora had personally crocheted.

Single roses from Winnie’s garden rested on each doily, in slender vases. Bales of hay were turned into chairs with the help of gingham fabric, tied with bows Lola and her classmates had made.

Bernie smiled at the faces she’d come to love. They were all responsible for this unbelievable feat, done in only a week’s time since Ridge had gone to Dallas to sell his portion of his securities consulting firm.

“C’mon, Bernie. Fried chicken’s waitin’!” Clive crowed with impatience.

“Ready? On three,” Bernie instructed the crowd. “One, two, threeee!”

“Surprise!” everyone shouted with cheers and whistles.

Ridge popped his eyes open, looking around and shaking his head with a pleased grin. “How the hell did you do all this? I was only gone a week.”

Gus grinned from ear to ear, his crooked bowtie tucked under his chin. “My girl put it together and we did a good old-fashioned barn raisin’. Just like back in the day!”

Ridge clapped Gus on the shoulder and peered down at him. “Your girl? Did she become your girl while I was in Dallas finalizing everything? Have you been stepping out on me with Gus, Bernie Sutton?”

She laughed up at him then winked at Gus. “Good girls never tell. C’mon, Ridge Donovan, let’s go explore your new barn.”

He scooped her up, pulling her close. “Not before I do this,” he murmured, dropping his lips to hers and soundly kissing her. “I can’t believe you did all this for little ol’ me.”

She melted against him, so glad to have him home. “I didn’t do it alone. Everyone in town helped. Even Gus. And I kinda owed you one. I mean, I did blow it up.”

Ridge nuzzled her nose just as the music struck up. “But you saved my hide in the process. I think we’re even. So, dance with me, pretty lady? Let’s celebrate.”

He let go of her and pulled her toward the middle of the barn, where a dance floor had been dropped in the center, surrounded by standing fans to keep everyone cool.

“I’ve Got You Under My Skin” wafted to her ears as Ridge tucked her against him and they swayed. They’d done this often while getting to know each other. After long walks and dinners and lunches and star-filled nights spent on the porch sharing a beer, they turned on the music and danced. Sometimes they even danced naked.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Bernie let her head rest on his chest with a happy sigh.

“You raised a barn for me,” he whispered in her ear.

She giggled. “I did. I know how much it meant to you because of your mother. I wanted to restore it to its former beauty. So I dug around all those pictures in your hotter-than-hell attic and did my best to recreate.”

“It’s amazing, honey.
You’re
amazing. You look amazing,” he said gruffly, twirling her.

Bernie smiled at his compliment. In preparation for tonight, she’d chosen a lavender, sleeveless number that hugged every curve she owned. “I’m so glad you’re home. Did everything work out all right in Dallas?”

He grinned from beneath his white Stetson, devastatingly handsome. “It worked out fine. I signed everything over to my partner, and we’re golden. I’m free and clear to become Farmer Donovan. And everything’s a whole lot better now that I’m back here with you.”

“Did you miss me, Ridge Donovan?” she asked flirtatiously.

“With all that time y’all two lovebirds put in on the damn phone, ya think?” Fee asked from below.

Ridge chuckled, reaching down to scratch Fee’s chin. “Did you take care of my girl while I was gone, Fee?”

Fee’s voice went husky and low. “
Always
, Hot Pants. You can always count on me to take care of your girl. Now I’m off. I hear there’s tuna casserole to be snatched!” He sashayed away to the beat of the music, his tutu fluttering behind him.

Fee had finally told her the story of his former witch. A woman he’d loved for centuries and lost when she died in a boating accident off the Ivory Coast. Baba had taken him in, and he’d waited twenty years to choose a new witch to mentor. All those years, and he’d finally chosen her. It was a choice she’d always be grateful for and she told him so every day.

Calla and Nash danced toward them, smiles on their faces. “So what about our girl here, huh, Ridge? Isn’t this amazing?”

“The most amazing girl ever.”

Calla shook her head. “I can’t believe she pulled it off with all those seniors fighting every step of the way.”

That had been a challenge, but she’d loved every minute of Flora and Gus’ bickering.

Calla did offer her the job as event coordinator for the center, and even though it was never going to make her rich, she didn’t care. It was enough to help her find a small basement apartment to rent from Glenda-Jo’s son, and with Ridge’s help, they’d decorated it using garage-sale finds.

Most importantly, it was hers, and she had more than a toothbrush and a pillow to call her own now. Her job also allowed her tons of time with Orchid and Miss Prissy and the people she’d come to adore.

Baba Yaga visited often, making it her personal mission to tutor Bernie on what they now all laughingly called,
The Book of Everything
. And she was learning every day—one everything at a time.

Winnie, Greta, and Daphne found their way through the crowd, smiles on their lips as they approached. Winnie pulled her into a group hug of perfume and bangle bracelets. “Everything is perfect, Just Bernie. It’s so beautiful!”

Hugging her back, Bernie gave her an extra squeeze. “I couldn’t have done it without all of you. And I don’t just mean the barn raising.
Thank you
, Winnie…all of you.”

She still choked up with gratitude when it came to these women who’d supported her when she had nothing to give.

Winnie flapped a hand in the air as though it were no big deal. “Bah! You finally helped yourself. That’s all that matters. Now, we’re going to let you two get reacquainted after that weeklong eon apart and go grab some food. There are pies, people. Buttloads of apple pies. So, whaddya say, girls? Let’s go rearrange the size of our asses.”

Daphne and Greta each dropped a kiss on Bernie’s cheek and gave her a hug of encouragement before trailing off to get some pie.

Ridge pulled her to the far corner of the barn, away from the crowd on the dance floor, and nuzzled her neck, the rigid line behind his zipper making her nipples tighten with need. “It’s been a really long week, honey. Would it be considered rude for us to leave our own party?”

She snickered at his wicked thought. “It most certainly would, but I’ll make you a deal. If you just hang on a little longer, I’ll totally make it worth your while.”

“Why, Miss Sutton. Did you just talk dirty to me in code?”

“You bet your sweet cowboy ass I did. It
has
been a whole week.”

“Then I do believe you have a deal, but only if you wear that frilly thong thing. In case you didn’t know, I like,” he groaned into her ear, long and slow.

Turning them so her back faced the barn wall, Bernie grabbed his hand and planted it on her backside. “Oh, I’m well aware of what you like, Donovan.”

He chuckled, grazing her lips with his tongue. “Know what else I like?”

“Tell me,” she moaned into his mouth.

“I like
you
. Wait. I take that back. I
love
you, Snuggle Puff.”

Her head fell back on her shoulders in laughter at the reference to their joke endearments. “I love you, too, Love Machine. I definitely love you, too.”

And as their friends gathered, ate, laughed, and danced, Bernice “I Don’t Want To Be a Witch” Sutton decided being a witch wasn’t so bad after all.

Because she’d found a place where she belonged. Where she was accepted. Where she and Ridge could build a life together.

That place was called home.

She was finally home sweet home.

The End

(But not for long! I hope you’ll join Bernie, Winnie, the Depends Patrol, Calla, Lola, Fee, Icabod, Twyla-Faye and all the gang in Paris, Texas, for
White Witchmas
in the
Alpha’s Unwrapped
anthology, coming December 2015!)

Author’s Note

I do hope you enjoyed
Witch Is the New Black
! I’d so appreciate it if you’d help others enjoy this book, too.

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About Dakota Cassidy