"You did the right thing," Beatrix said again. "I mean, getting tenants who actually do good in the world, and protecting the bushland. It will make this somewhere people actually want to be."
"I know," Jacob said. "And I finally get to build something, see it grow. For years. Make something more than money."
Beatrix smiled. "Can't wait to see what you do, Jacob," she said. "What you'll create. Because you're extraordinary."
"An extraordinary Ordinary?" Jacob laughed.
"Just extraordinary," Beatrix said firmly. "I'll see you tonight, okay?"
"Of course," Jacob said.
✽✽✽
When Jacob had finished signing the obscene mountain of paperwork for his first tenancy, he texted his mother and father a photo of the signed deed. He didn't expect a response, but he wasn't ready to give up on them. Not yet.
Still, he was surprised when his phone buzzed a moment later. He opened it and found a message from his mother. It was a picture of the Kangaroo Paw from their front garden, catching the last of the sun's rays one evening. My paw has blossomed beautifully this year after all, the message began. It just needed a little more time. Love Mum xo
Jacob smiled, and he suddenly felt lighter and easier than he had in days. It was a start. A really good start.
Looks great, Mum. Maybe I can come to see it sometime? he sent back. He wasn't sure what kind of a response he would get.
You'll see it when you bring Beatrix for dinner. Love Mum xo
Jacob laughed out loud. Well, he thought, at least his mother seemed to have forgiven him. And as much as Chuck liked to believe he was the boss of the family, Jacob knew it was only a matter of time before he gave in to his wife.
✽✽✽
"I'm so glad that wasn't seafood," Jacob said, wiping his mouth with his napkin and unbuttoning his jeans to let his stomach have a little extra room. "It was freaking amazing."
"Why would I do seafood?" Beatrix wrinkled up her nose. "We're celebrating your first tenancy agreement, and you hate seafood."
"Let's just say that my preferences weren't always taken into account when I've celebrated in the past," Jacob said, unable to resist taking one final piece of roti and scraping up every last smear of the perfect lamb curry Beatrix had made.
"Well, I don't know exactly what the future holds," Beatrix said, taking a sip of beer. "But I'm pretty sure I can promise not to feed you stuff you actively dislike."
Jacob laughed. "Thank you again for all this," he said, waving a hand at the remains of the Indian feast on the table. "That was next level. Amazing, perfect, sublime. Except now I'm so full I can't move."
"Guess this isn't the right time to mention I made Mars Bar slice," Beatrix said, raising her eyebrows. "I guess I can save it for tomorrow—"
"I take it back!" Jacob said quickly. "I take it all back. I want slice!"
"Oh, I don't know," Beatrix teased, her eyes dancing with mischief. "I don't want to make you sick..."
"Give me the slice, woman," Jacob said and leaned over to kiss her.
"You can always have slice," Beatrix laughed, and melted into him.
"Maybe a walk first," Jacob admitted, patting his stomach. "Don't some cultures believe in going for a walk after every meal to aid digestion?"
Beatrix groaned. "My mother believes in it," she said. "She says it aids the smoothness of one's movements. Seriously, never ask her about anything digestion related unless you want way more information than you asked for."
Jacob grimaced, but he was laughing. "Okay, I definitely need a break before slice now."
Jacob watched as Beatrix pulled on her sneakers, and Gumbo and Prada obediently followed them to the door, eager for a sunset stroll.
The sun was low in the sky, and there was the chill, crisp air of nightfall just beginning to rise. Beatrix took Jacob's hand as they walked and sighed out loud.
"It's so beautiful here," he said, throwing a ball for Gumbo, though it was more likely to be returned by Prada.
"Beautiful enough to keep intact?" Beatrix leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Absolutely," he agreed. "Besides, I could hardly bulldoze those trees even if I didn't like nature. It was where I first met you, after all."
"Such a romantic."
"Only for you," Jacob grinned. "What can I say? You bring it out in me." He paused. "When I'm with you, I feel like...like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. I'm not thinking about the future and what I should be doing or the past and what I could have done better. I'm just happy to be alive. On earth, here with you."
"That's..." she began, and Jacob was briefly horrified when Beatrix looked at him with the beginnings of real tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry!" Jacob said, wrapping one arm around her. "Didn't mean to make you cry."
"They're good tears," Beatrix insisted, nodding her head. "I just...I really do love you, you know?"
"Then I'm the luckiest man alive," Jacob said, holding her face gently in one hand.
"Nah," Beatrix said, grinning through her tears. "It's definitely me. Whoever would have thought the evil property developer next door would be the one guy I could open my heart to?"
"Maybe we're both lucky then," Jacob conceded. "Or Shepherd's Crossing is just the opposite of cursed. Blessed?"
"I genuinely think it might be," Beatrix mused. "People do seem oddly happy. Even Onyx has been more chipper since he moved here."
Jacob laughed. "Definitely blessed then."
"Yeah," Beatrix said, taking his hand. "Definitely blessed."
Epilogue: Beatrix
Two years later
"No, we're not inviting the company tax accountant!" Jacob declared, shutting his laptop and letting out a sigh. "Why is my dad trying to invite everyone we've ever done business with?"
Beatrix scrunched up her face. "The nicest explanation is that he's really proud of his son and wants to share that with everyone he knows?"
"Wants to show off, more like," Jacob scoffed. "My mum and dad really don't get that we're trying to keep it small and simple. Didn't they get enough of this with Tom and Alyssa?"
"You'd have thought so," Beatrix agreed. "There must have been more than four hundred people at their wedding."
"Four hundred and sixty-three," Jacob confirmed grimly.
"It's honestly lucky that my mother is still being weird about the Ordinary thing," Beatrix said. "Otherwise, she'd be inviting everyone at the commune and we'd have to explain to your parents why all my "relatives" look like homeless folk singers and smell like potatoes."
Jacob laughed, but then was serious. "She hasn't really accepted it yet, has she?"
"She's getting closer to accepting it," Beatrix shrugged. "I mean, I'm now pretty sure I can trust her not to curse your dad, no matter what he says. That's a start." She chewed her lip. "Trust me, it's much better that she doesn't fully approve. Otherwise, she'd be insisting on planning the whole damn thing, and I'm pretty sure you don't want to get married in a yurt in a hemp tunic."
"Not my greatest wish," Jacob admitted. "But I'd do it for you."
"I know you would," Beatrix said, leaning over the desk to kiss him. "But isn't it great that you don't have to?"
"Absolutely," Jacob smiled, stroking one finger down her cheek. "But I'd put up with pretty much anything at this wedding, so long as I get to marry you. I'm pretty firm on that."
"Mm, I like that bit too," Beatrix agreed, leaning her forehead against his. "Just gotta keep the families in line. Do you think your mum has gotten over the shock that Onyx is going to be my Maid of Honour yet?"
Jacob laughed out loud. "I honestly think she was okay with it, until she met him at our engagement party. And he talked to her about how the decomposition of that dead wallaby out at the site was an amazing metaphor for the decay of the world itself."
Beatrix crumpled up her face. "I'm sorry about that, I really am. I should have been running interference."
"Nah," Jacob grinned. "Besides, he and Ant go
t on surprisingly well. That was a bonus."
"I guess all artists are tortured souls," Beatrix raised her eyebrows. "Whether in hot pants or eyeliner." She sighed and stretched out her arms. "Did I tell you about Mum's latest idea?"
"All guests drinking from the golden cup of blessings?" Jacob suggested. "It sounds really unhygienic."
"Oh no, this one's worse," Beatrix warned. "She wants us to anoint each other with sacred oils."
"That doesn't sound so bad. Do they smell nice, at least?"
"Oh, it's bad," Beatrix said. "For one, it's a public anointing in front of all the guests. For another, it has to be performed naked. Still keen?"
"I think I'd have a bit of trouble explaining that one to Mum and Dad," Jacob admitted, chuckling softly.
Beatrix laughed. "Just a bit," she agreed. "Anyway, I'd better get back to work. I feel like planning this wedding is an entire second job. And it's supposed to be small and simple! Maybe we should have let Ant plan it after all."
"Not unless you want it to turn out like Cirque du Soleil meets Ru Paul's Drag Race," Jacob smirked. "Ant has very particular taste."
"Could be worse," Beatrix shrugged, but she knew that Jacob could see she was joking. She wasn't quite desperate enough to put her wedding day in Ant's capable but extremely eccentric hands. Not yet, anyway. "Do you think you'll be done by six?"
"Absolutely," Jacob said, nodding. "I just have to do a walkthrough on that new shopfront for any building defects, and I'll be home. I haven't forgotten that I promised to make roti to go with that chicken curry in the slow cooker."
"Better not," Beatrix smiled. "Your ability to make great roti is half the reason I agreed to marry you."
"Oh, I know," Jacob said. "That's why it's imperative that I get plenty of practice." He kissed her once more, and it sent warm sparks shooting through her just as it had the very first time. "Have a good afternoon, my sexy sorceress."
Beatrix laughed and rolled her eyes, but she liked his nickname for her just the same.
As she left Jacob's office, Beatrix looked over at the rapidly growing commercial hub in the distance. The neat little group of buildings had sprung up seemingly overnight, but somehow, they didn't look as out of place as Beatrix had feared.
Each building was fitted with solar panels, a huge water tank along one side, and the very latest in sustainable architectural finishes. The site had already been shortlisted for a few industry awards, which had almost made Chuck stop bemoaning the lost deal with Kappa.
But beyond the neat little buildings, there was still a vast thicket of bushland. And at the beginning of the path through the trees, there was a sign.
Shepherd's Crossing Nature Reserve. Dogs welcome, well-behaved humans tolerated.
She had read it a thousand times, but the sign never failed to make her smile.
✽✽✽
"Hey boss," Onyx looked up, sweeping aside his ever more magnificent bangs. "I think Shauna's team has that batch of mushrooms ready for extraction in the cold room."
"Awesome," Beatrix said. "And what about you? Any paperwork for me to sign?"
"You know, I think you'd sign anything I put in front of you. Even if it was doubling my salary and making Bauhaus mandatory motivational music in the workplace," Onyx deadpanned.
Beatrix shrugged. "Well, I do trust you," she said. "For now, anyway. How's your team going?"
"The new batch of Cast Out Dark Circles plus that bulk order of Smooth Moves are packed up. The courier should be picking them up this afternoon," Onyx said promptly.
Since Just Like Magic had grown beyond what three people could reasonably achieve, Beatrix had been forced to hire more staff. She hadn't hesitated for a moment when she had decided to make both Onyx and Shauna team leaders. They were simply too valuable to be mere worker ants.
"Sounds like you barely need me anymore," Beatrix teased, looking around the immaculate workshop, everything and everyone where it ought to be.
"Nah, we definitely need you," Onyx said, shaking his head. "Remember what happened last time I tried to do magic?"
Beatrix laughed out loud. "How could I possibly forget?"
✽✽✽
"That smells so insanely good," Beatrix moaned, opening up the slow cooker to sniff at the curry inside.
"Stop it!" Jacob laughed. "You're letting out the flavour."
"That's not a real thing," Beatrix pouted.
"Sure it is," Jacob said. "Don't you have potions that can't be disturbed for hours?"
"That's different," Beatrix frowned. "They're magic."
"Are you saying my cooking isn't?" Jacob pretended to be offended. "I'm hurt, Beatrix. Deeply wounded."
Beatrix rolled her eyes but replaced the lid and moved out of the kitchen. "Fine, do it your way," she said, watching as he began to roll out the roti.
"Good afternoon at work?" Jacob asked. "And did you hear back from that photographer that Mum likes? She really wants to be helpful."
"I did, actually," Beatrix said. "And the rates were pretty reasonable. For a wedding. For anything else, they'd be so disgustingly expensive I would have cursed her through the phone for being so damn bourgeois. I think we should go with her."
"Are you sure?" Jacob said, looking around at her, holding a circle of roti dough in mid-air. "Don't feel like you have to, just to make my mother happy."
Beatrix shook her head. "If it makes your mum happy to feel involved, then..."
"You're amazing," Jacob said, smiling gratefully. "That's why Mum loves you, and Alyssa is secretly envious of you. You're the favourite daughter in law."
"I might be able to keep your mum supplied with serums, but it's Alyssa who can get your dad a cheap deal on landfill," Beatrix laughed. "I'd say we're even."
"I'm lucky to have you," he said, flipping the roti effortlessly in the pan once more before adding it to the pile warming by the stove. His every move was watched by Gumbo and Prada, their heads turning in unison. Roti, it seemed, was just as appealing as bacon to the two dogs.
Beatrix shook her head. "Nah," she said. "I'm lucky to have you. You make me so happy. I never thought I'd ever want to share my life with anyone, but..."
"Stop, I'm blushing," Jacob grinned. "This is too much for an evil property developer to handle."
"You're never going to let me live that one down, are you?"
"Maybe not," Jacob said, tossing a fresh roti in the pan. "You'll just have to stick around to find out."
"You know what, Jacob Jones?" Beatrix said, leaning in to kiss him. "I think I'll do just that."
THE END
Let's stay in touch
If you enjoyed Witch Way Now, please subscribe to my newsletter to receive updates about new books in the Raising Hell Downunder series.
EXCERPT: Shifter Business
Raising Hell Downunder Book 3
1 Dan
"I can hear you chewing, Dan."
Dan swallowed hard. "Sorry, Auntie Tess," he said through his mouthful. "I'm having lunch."
"You're eating one of those dreadful ready meals again, aren't you?" Tessa lamented.
"Um . . ." Dan stalled. Technically, he wasn't eating one of those dreadful ready meals. He was eating three.
"When are you going to learn to cook properly? And take care of yourself? Or meet someone who'll do it for you?" Tessa asked, and Dan could almost hear her shaking her head through the phone.
"I'm not—" Dan began, and sighed. "I can take care of myself, Auntie Tess. I'm a grown man." He looked at the three lukewarm, microwaved ready meals in front of him. Well, close enough, anyway.
Tessa snorted as though she didn't believe a word of it. "You sound tired, are you getting enough sleep? You can't spend all night prancing around the bush, you know."
"I don't prance," Dan said, mildly irritated. He pushed his glasses up his nose with one finger. "I'm sleeping fine, really. How are you?"
"Oh, I'm grand," Tessa said carelessly. "Had the most wonderful seaweed body scrub yesterda
y, and then a lovely dinner at La Petite Maison. I'm going to a gallery opening with the girls later, such fun! Are you having any fun, Dan?"
"I'm having plenty of fun," Dan deadpanned. "It's a non-stop party."
Tessa snorted again, sounding remarkably like one of the bad-tempered horses at a polo game she had once dragged him to. "Dan, you're young," she chided. "You should be enjoying yourself. You can't just work-work-work all the time. And don't tell me shifting is fun, I know you don't even enjoy that."
Dan sighed. Auntie Tess was, of course, right. Shifting wasn't fun. But it was necessary, however much he wished it wasn't. If he didn't regularly release the jaguar inside him, his very bones began to itch until the urge became unbearable. It was unwise to leave it that long though - he knew that from experience.
"I'm fine," he said flatly. "I do enjoy my work, you know."
"I'm sure you'd do a lot better if you set up your practice in Sydney," Tessa began, bringing up an old argument. "Such a long way for your clients to travel, Dan! And if you were closer, I could keep an eye on you."
Dan smiled in spite of himself. He didn't think he needed anyone to keep an eye on him. But knowing that Auntie Tess wanted to did make him smile, as much as it annoyed him sometimes.
"A lot of my clients are local," Dan objected, as he had a thousand times before. "And besides, it's not like I need more clients. I don't need the money."
"That was what I was going to ask you about," Tessa began. "You haven't drawn on the trust in months, not since you bought that shack—"
"It's not a shack," Dan interrupted. "It's a cabin. And it's got everything I need." Dan's current home was another source of contention between himself and his aunt. She couldn't believe that anyone could be happy living somewhere with only one - very shabby - bathroom and not a single marble countertop.
"You could have a lovely home, Dan," Tessa said sadly, as though she were grieving a devastating loss. "I was looking online the other day, there's a new property for sale right near you - if you insist on staying in Mountain Glen. Luxury mountain retreat. Five bedrooms, a walk-in closet in the master, views over the valley. And plenty of land for you too! There's even a separate workshop, so you could play with your woodwork without making a mess."
Witch Way Now: A Paranormal Romantic Comedy (Raising Hell Downunder Book 4) Page 28