But she nodded.
Taking a few deep, fear-busting breaths, I picked up my broom and made my way to the center of the clearing. I was really hoping I wasn’t about to make a fool out of myself.
Straddling my broom, I reached out for baby Pearl and sat her in front of me. Then I nodded at the others and took off.
Well, I say took off. It happened a lot slower than you would think. It took more than a few seconds for my courage to get to the point to actually fly. Once we were well and truly in the air, I found the fear wasn’t nearly as bad as I had thought it would be. Part of that was because I had other things to concentrate on.
There is a very good reason most witches don’t fly on brooms. It’s very, very hard. You have to keep the levitation spell going at the same time you are giving the air directional instructions. Plus, of course, any time that you are going near where the general public might see you, there was the added magical drain of a stealth spell.
Lucky for me, we weren’t going far enough afield for me to have to worry about the stealth thing. I knew my limitations. And I was at them with just the levitation and air spells.
Baby Pearl had the time of her life. Goddess bargain or no, I know that my mom was fully present on that ride. I’d never felt closer to her. But all good things must come to an end.
Just before we landed, I whispered into baby Pearl’s ear. “No flying on your own. But if you can hold to that, I’ll try to see that this becomes a full moon thing for us. Deal?”
Baby Pearl’s head swiveled back to look at me over her shoulder, and she gave me a wink. I was sure hoping that was a 'yes' wink instead of a ‘we’ll see’ wink.
We landed on a much cleaner hilltop. The others had been busy. As soon as our feet hit the ground, a much-relieved Kimberly took baby Pearl from my arms. Then she and the older kids started down the hill.
Mason looked over his shoulder at me. “Can I get a broom ride on my birthday? Or is that just for witches?”
I looked at Kimberly. Her son, her call. She nodded.
“You’ve got it, kiddo.” Nancy opened her mouth, but I beat her to it. “And yes, Nancy, you too. But just on birthdays, okay?”
They nodded and left.
Ruby, Amie, and the others soon followed. Finally, there were only two people on the top of that hill.
Me and my man.
And I wasn’t sure I liked the look he was giving me.
Chapter 8
Orville looked from me to the broom and back again. “Is there a weight limit on that thing?”
See? I told you I didn’t like that look. I just looked at him. It had been a rather taxing night, and I was looking forward to my nice comfy bed. And, yes, maybe a little snuggle time with my man. This being married thing had its perks.
“Not that I’m aware of.”
He raised an eyebrow at me. Who was I to say no to those puppy dog eyes he was giving me?
“It would have to be a short ride. Flying a broom takes a lot out of a witch.”
That got a frown. “Then never mind. I don’t want to overwork you.”
I grinned at him. “I didn’t say no.” I picked up the broom and straddled it, then jerked my head behind me. “Hop on.”
He did.
It was a beautiful fall night up there in the sky. We didn’t stray much from the clearing area, so the treetops pretty much covered us from being seen. That meant a lot, as I didn’t have to do the stealth spell. That helped. A little, anyway.
It also meant that we needed to pretty much go in circles, which took a little more concentration than just going straight from point a to point b. As I’ve said before, flying a broom is hard work. Remember that.
Orville’s chest was right up against my back, and the warmth coming off him felt really good in the slightly chilly air. He leaned his chin on my shoulder.
“This is super romantic, just so you know.”
“If you start singing A Whole New World, I’m turning this broom right around.”
He laughed. “No danger of that.”
Come to find out, the whole singing thing would have been much better than what he did do next.
For what it was worth, Orville was right about the whole romantic thing. The two of us truly alone, gliding through the air with the full moon raining its blessings down on us. Yes, my thoughts strayed.
Not a good thing when you’re that high off the ground. But I was holding it together.
Until he kissed my neck.
Okay, spoiler alert. My neck is like a secret tunnel to my heart... and other parts of my more nether regions. Orville knew that, too, so I totally put the blame for what happened next squarely on him.
Distracted from the kiss, I closed my eyes to savor the feeling of the broom beneath us, the gentle breeze on my face, and yes, the kiss itself.
Only for a few seconds. But that was all it took.
We crashed.
Not on the ground, either. That would have been better. No. Without my concentration in guiding the flight of the broom with the air currents, I rode us straight into a tree.
At the first touch of the first limb, my eyes came flying open, but it was far too late. The limb swept us off the broom, and we were left hanging on for dear life.
The broom, unfortunately, kept going for a few feet before falling to the ground.
Orville was the first to recover. He maneuvered himself up onto the offending limb, then helped me up beside him.
I noticed he was shaking. At first, I thought it was the shivers of shock setting in. Should have known better than that. My man was pretty much unshakable in crisis situations. Kind of came with being sheriff for so many years.
A glance over at him was all it took. He couldn’t hold the laughter in any longer. The clearing below us rang out with it. I didn’t think he quite grasped the severity of our current situation. There was no way, as tired as I was, that I was going to be of any help getting us down from that tree.
And one glance down told me it would not be a simple climb down, either. I just really hoped firemen would not have to be called.
Orville shook his head and pulled me in close to his side. At least the branch we’d landed on was big and strong enough to support both of our weight. Good thing, too, as we might be on it for a while.
“You gonna make the call, or am I?” I asked. I would have asked how we were going to explain being stuck up here, but when I thought about it, the explanations were going to be more than apparent. At least to the family.
“Neither, I don’t think,” he said. “You can call the broom to us, right? I mean, if Pearl can do it...”
Well, yeah, but baby Pearl hadn’t expended as much magic as I had tonight when she did it. I was tapped out. But just as I was opening my mouth to tell him the grim news, he reached into his pocket, grinning.
When I saw what he pulled out, I was grinning too. One of our stored power crystals.
“You are such a Boy Scout.”
“Are you complaining? Now?”
“Nope. Just stating a fact.”
I reached for the crystal, but he closed his hand around it.
“Do you think we could stay up here for a while longer? It might not be a broom, but it’s still pretty romantic. You. Me. The light of the full moon...” Then he bent down and kissed my neck.
The world disappeared again. In a good way this time.
Want more Opal, Orville, and their gang? Continue the fun in Witch Reborn Book 4: Witch of an Ex.
Other Books by Belinda White
(Click on the series link to be taken to the Amazon page for that series. Series are listed in recommended reading order.)
Accidental Familiar Series
All Too Familiar
Relatively Familiar
Un-Familiar Magic
Home Familiar Home
A Familiar Tail
Gemstone Coven Holiday Shorts
A Very Opal Halloween
A Very Happy Birthday Halloween
Witch Reborn Series
A Witch of a Godmother
A Witch of a Sister
A Witch of a Bride
A Witch of an Ex
A Witch of a Honeymoon
Yorkie Doodle Mysteries (Novellas)
Yorkie Doodle Dandy
Yorkie Doodle Sweetheart
Yorkie Doodle Joy
Team Destiny Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series
Team Destiny and Gray's Grave
Team Destiny and Archie's Apparition
Benandanti Series (Wolves)
Finders Weepers
Sister's Keepers
Demon Peepers
Witch Reborn Box Set: Books 1-3: Includes Gemstone Coven Holiday Shorts 1 & 2 Page 48