Dana was on Jeffrey in a flash, pushing him back from the area of the symbol. “Back it up, sexy. We don’t need you bleeding all over the devil’s lure.”
“The what?” I asked, as Brett continued to hold me close.
Dana glanced at the floor, and then slowly dragged her gaze upward, to me. “I don’t know why I called it that. It just felt right. Just like getting the hot guy to not bleed near it felt right. This whole town is whack and I’m starting to think it’s catching.”
“Sexy? Hot guy?” echoed Jeffrey, standing extremely close to Dana, their fronts pressed together.
Brett put his hand beneath mine. “Let’s get you and Jeffrey cleaned up. We need to have a long talk.”
Marcy appeared in the archway leading to the front parlor. She had a damp cloth in her hand. “Here. Told you that someone would need it.”
She tossed it to me, but it was Brett who caught it.
He used it to wipe my palm clean and then tossed it lightly to Jeffrey. “Put that over your lip.”
Jeffrey did as he was told, seeming even more curious about Dana than he had been to start with.
Eleven
Poppy
“Come on! Put your back into it, stud,” said Dana from out in the hall, near the staircase. “My ninety-year-old grandmother is stronger than you.”
I held my tongue as I listened to the exchange from the other room.
“Since I’ve spent the last few hours getting to know you, I totally believe she’d be as iron-willed as you,” said Jeffrey.
“Please. I’m a kitten compared to her,” replied Dana.
“Ugh. Don’t say the word kitten. It gets my insides all kick-started and I want to chase things,” said Jeffrey with a sexy growl.
Dana snorted. “Because all men are basically just dogs.”
“You have no idea,” he returned.
I couldn’t help but laugh slightly as I finished scrubbing the last of all the dishes and glasses my grandmother had left behind. I set the dish next to a marble rolling pin that she’d had and that I’d always loved.
I’d spent the greater part of three hours in the kitchen, getting the funk of what felt more like a hundred years off all the surfaces, only to uncover what felt like a time capsule to happier times. Prior to that, I’d handled the dining room—which hadn’t taken long at all—and the front parlor. I’d not done anything about the paint under the rug just yet, but it was on my list.
Dana had spent that long giving Jeffrey a hard way to go.
He seemed to enjoy it, so I didn’t intervene.
Marcy had decided to help by cleaning the massive room my grandmother had used to mix her herbs and tonics. It had been referred to as the green room for more than one reason. It housed a lot of dried herbs and other kitchen-witch-like items and was, in fact, painted avocado green. It had custom shelving that was done in maple-colored stain. The lower portions had cabinets with glass fronts and the rest were open shelves filled to the brim with old books, journals, and glass jars, all carefully labeled.
Dana had taken to calling the room an alchemist’s wet dream.
I had to admit she wasn’t far off with the joke. It did seem that way.
When she’d launched into witch jokes, only to open the closet to find seven old brooms with gnarled tree branches as handles and real straw bottoms, she shut up and ran away to help surprise the guys, who were helping us unload everything from the moving pods.
Marcy had insisted on remaining in the green room to check the ledgers against the inventory, toss whatever she deemed had gone bad, and unpack the boxes of items I’d had shipped ahead of time containing countless salves, oils, mixtures, and inventory from my business.
The entire task had looked overwhelming to me, but Marcy had jumped at the opportunity, so I didn’t stop her. I did have to ask her to quit singing so loudly. But other than that, it was going well.
At some point, Travis, another of Brett’s close friends, had arrived to help unload. He was currently being bossed around by Dana too. He seemed fine with it, so I didn’t bother to try to tame her any. If they could handle what she was dishing out, more power to them.
Brett entered the kitchen, carrying another box labeled dishes. “This is the last thing from those moving containers. I can put a call in to the company to pick them up if you want.”
I pulled my glove-covered hands from the basin of soapy water in the sink. I gave them a few good shakes above the basin, allowing the sudsy water to stream off into the sink rather than onto the floor. “Thank you for helping. I know you had other things to do today.”
“I wasn’t doing anything that can’t wait,” he said.
I cocked my head as I stared at him. “This is strange, right? The falling back into step around one another like twenty years didn’t pass and like we don’t have an odd history together?”
“Poppy, we were friends. Good friends. I’d like to think that deep down, that’s still there,” he said. “That you can find your way back to trusting me.”
I tensed. I wanted to. I really did, but I’d been hurt enough in my life. I didn’t need to sign up for more.
He sighed. “I know I screwed up. And I’m sorry.”
I didn’t really want to discuss it at the moment. “I haven’t really asked, but how is your sister doing? I follow your mom on social media. She seems happy. But she doesn’t post much about Brianna.”
“Bri is okay, I guess,” he said, drawing my full attention.
“What do you mean?”
He sighed, set the box on the counter and came closer. “You know she has a daughter, right?”
“What? No, how old is she?” I asked, surprised because my mother had never mentioned that Brianna had a child, and Brett’s mother never said a word online about being a grandmother.
“Beck is going to be eighteen this year,” he said, sounding proud. “She’s full of piss and vinegar.”
I laughed. “So, just like her mother then?”
His eyes widened. “Totally. She’s Bri all over for sure. They butt heads a lot. To be expected, I guess.”
“Do they live in Grimm Cove?”
“No. It’s a long story, but Bri thought it best to raise Beck away from here. Mom and Dad agreed. I didn’t, but I was overruled. I drive up to see them as much as I can. I was working on some bedroom furniture for Beck’s dorm room. She heads to college in the fall. Got accepted at Ole Miss. Not the SEC school I was hoping for, but beats her heading off to one of those Northern schools.”
I knew I was smiling ear to ear but didn’t care.
“What?” he asked, looking perplexed.
“You’re a good uncle,” I said. “I wish I had siblings. Thomas is an only child too. So the kids don’t really have anyone.”
“What about Dana and Marcy?” asked Brett. “Seems to me your kids have two aunts who love them a lot. And I’m betting Dana would kill anyone who dared to upset them.”
“Oh yeah,” I said with wide eyes. “She would. Marcy is pretty protective of them too. She speaks fluent Tucker. When he’s in a mood and doesn’t want to open up to me, she always manages to pry the issue from him with what looks like no effort. I don’t have that superpower.”
He nodded. “That’s good they’re there for y’all, Poppy. And I’m glad they’re here with you. I like knowing you haven’t had to go through the divorce alone.” He glanced away. “I wish I’d have known. I’d have been there for you too.”
A tiny laugh came from me. “Somehow, I don’t think it would have gone over well. Thomas was difficult enough throughout the divorce. I think had you been in the picture, it would have been worse.”
“How so?” he asked, as if he already knew the answer.
I shrugged. “I can’t explain it. Just a gut feeling. It was weird. Very strained but not in the ways you’d think. When he told me that he didn’t love me anymore, about six months ago, he also informed me that he wanted the house. I didn’t want to let him take it and
play house with his girlfriend. I mean, it’s where I raised the twins. It’s where I ran my business. It was everything.”
He just watched me as I spoke.
“But then Dana and Marcy arrived and pointed out that home is where the heart is. And the way I’d talked about Grimm Cove, it meant my heart had always been here—not California. And that it was Fate that my grandmother had kept this house and left it to me. That I was supposed to be here. Honestly, the road trip to get out here had me wondering how accurate that was.”
“I agree with them,” he said softly. “I think it’s Fate too.”
“I don’t know.”
“Talk to me, Poppy. What’s bothering you about it all?” he questioned.
I took a deep breath. “During the divorce, Thomas started fighting with me to keep this house—the one here in Grimm Cove. Not the one we’d raised our family in. The one I thought he wanted. His girlfriend apparently wanted this one more. It made no sense to me. Maybe she was one of those people who always wanted what someone else had.
She’d wanted my husband.
My house.
And then my grandparents’ home.
Dana did whatever Dana does and kept this property out of his grasp. He was seething mad. I’d never seen him like that before. It was…scary.”
Brett tensed. “You’d tell me if he did anything to hurt you, right?”
“He didn’t. I swear. He was just so angry. But then, when Marla—that’s his girlfriend’s name—left the room we were in, he kind of calmed down. She got called away, and Thomas asked me to go for coffee with him. Dana insisted on coming. I didn’t stop her. At the coffeeshop, Thomas got a little teary-eyed and seemed really different than he had before. It was like the anger leaked right out of him. But then Marla showed up there out of the blue, and he was right back to being nasty again.”
“I really hope he shows up here. I’d love to speak with him man to man,” said Brett.
“Why am I thinking that’s code for fist to face?” I asked.
He grinned. “I have no idea.”
“Uh-huh.” I pulled off the pink rubber gloves and laid them over the edge of the sink basin. We were alone in the kitchen, and now felt as good a time as any to say what had been weighing on my mind all day since I’d first arrived in Grimm Cove. “Did you mean what you told me out in front of your house?”
He looked confused.
“That you didn’t mean what you said in the letter,” I added for good measure.
He nodded. “I did. I wish I could go back in time and change everything I did.”
I leaned against the sink area, staring down the length of myself rather than at him. “Me too. I wish it could all be changed. At least part of me does. Another part knows that had it not happened like that, I wouldn’t have the twins. And, Brett, I love them so much. They really are my entire world. I’m doing my best to avoid empty-nest syndrome but it’s hard. They were always around—we were always together. They genuinely wanted to spend time with me. They didn’t think it was uncool to hang with their mom.”
He grinned. “I can see that. You mentioned they’ll be here as soon as they’re finished with finals? I could drive you up to help them move anything they may want here.” He stiffened and looked uncomfortable. “I mean, well, if you want to. I don’t want it to seem like I’m trying to insert myself into your life or theirs.”
I smiled. “Brett, I didn’t think that for a second. I appreciate the offer. I FaceTimed with them a lot when I was getting the house packed to move here. I had them decide what they wanted to bring here with them. I thought they’d pick everything. They didn’t. They only wanted certain things. And while they both were adamant that nothing their father had bought them come, I didn’t listen. I brought some things Thomas got them over the years. Things he really did put thought behind—when they were young. I think Jeffrey and Dana unloaded that pod already and took it all up to the rooms that will be theirs.”
He covered the distance between us. “Sounds like you were happy with things back then.”
“I was,” I said, knowing deep down that would hurt him, but I didn’t want to lie.
He flinched. “Good.”
Reaching out, I put my hand on his. “I’m sorry that you didn’t end up with a family of your own. I think you’d have made a wonderful husband and father. You were always so caring and considerate. Well, when you weren’t getting me naked and then vanishing out of my life for twenty years.”
“Ouch. I deserved that,” he said, easing closer. He touched my cheek. “I really am sorry, but I had to go that night, Poppy.”
“Why? Did the idea of being with me like that freak you out that much?” I asked, never having understood what made him go like he did.
“No, Poppy-seed,” he said, his hand still on my cheek. “All I wanted to do was be with you like that. Hell, I’ve thought about it every damn day since then, imagining what it would have been like had things played out differently.”
I blushed. He’d thought of having sex with me?
He chuckled. “To answer what I know you’re thinking, yes. I think about it all the time. Like, all the time. Should you want to take pity on me and show me firsthand, I wouldn’t object.”
I started to laugh and then stopped, my gaze colliding with his. “Okay.”
“W-what?” he asked, stepping so close that he pinned me to the sink.
I thought of making up a silly excuse to explain away what I’d said, but realized how short life was and how I’d sworn to myself that I wasn’t going to let life count me out just yet. It was high time I started living life on my terms and doing what I wanted—not what society expected of me.
“Brett, I’ve thought about what it would be like to be with you that way too,” I confessed. “And I’m very willing to give it a go, but it can only be sexual between us. I can’t go back to the way it was before—to how much you meant to me. When you’re done with me, and we both have what we want from one another, I won’t recover like I did last time if my heart is involved again.”
He lowered his head, coming just shy of kissing me. “Poppy-seed, we’re going to be together intimately. Bank on it. But no…I don’t accept it only being sex between us. See, I know what you have always meant to me. I can’t lie and tell you that I’m going to shut off how I feel for you just to get laid. I can’t. I won’t. I’d like to hope a small piece of you still cares about me like you used to. That this isn’t one-sided. That Fate really did put us together now to make it right.”
I opened my mouth to protest and he picked then to kiss me.
His tongue darted into my mouth and it felt as if an explosion of energy burst through me, making every part of my body tingle with excitement. His hands moved into my hair, threading through it as he took control of the situation.
I let him.
Every single emotion I’d ever felt for the man came flooding back at me tenfold. I’d always wondered if what I’d felt had been puppy love, something that felt real but wasn’t. As I stood there kissing him now, I understood just how deep my feelings for him ran. And that they’d never gone away. They’d simply taken a backseat while I’d gotten on with my life.
A low growl came from deep in his chest as he kept kissing me. The sound of it excited me, making me feel wild and wanton as we made out in the kitchen.
Brett growled again, and this time he took hold of my hips and lifted me like I weighed nothing, depositing me on the ledge of the sink. My legs decided it would be a great time to spread for the hunk of a man before me. Within seconds, he was there, filling the opening, pressing his powerful body to mine as our tongues explored one another’s mouths.
My hands roamed up and under his T-shirt, over the hard planes of his torso. Did the man spend hours a day in the gym? He must.
My sex-starved body left me fighting the urge to knock him to the floor and have my way with him. My libido, which had always seemed fine throughout my life, went into overdrive, behavi
ng as if it had only just gotten its switch flipped.
I felt like a horny teenager.
But I was a mature woman who knew where this was leading, and I was suddenly totally a-okay with that. In fact, I wished it would hurry the hell up.
He broke the kiss but didn’t stop kissing me. Instead, his mouth moved along my cheek to my ear and then just below it, where he growled again.
I melted in his hands.
He could have done whatever he wanted to me in that moment and I’d have been completely on board. Heck, I might have even taken over.
“Poppy,” he whispered in my ear, sounding strained. “I missed you so much.”
I clung to him, wrapping my legs around his waist, my long skirt riding up my legs as I did. “I missed you too.”
His mouth found mine once more and he continued where we’d left off.
Just when I thought we were about to go to the next level of amazing, Brett jerked back.
“Ouch,” he said, grabbing his left ear and looking behind him.
As he released me, my backside slipped on the sink edge. The rush of water over my butt from the basin of soapy dishwater left me gasping and nearly scaling Brett.
He grabbed for me and lifted me high and out of the water. It streamed off my butt as he turned me and set me on my own two feet.
I stared at him with wide eyes and a wet butt.
He cringed. “Someone, erm, something flicked my ear and then twisted it. I think. I know I felt it but there isn’t anyone behind me. Sorry I let go of you.”
I stepped back, grabbed at my white skirt bottom and yanked it away from my butt cheeks. It made a suction sound as I peeled it from my flesh. It made me chuckle, and Brett laughed full on.
He then turned me around and went to work helping me try to right myself.
He froze.
So did I, wondering what was wrong. I glanced over my shoulder to find his gaze locked firmly on my backside. “Brett?”
Cloudy with a Chance of Witchcraft: A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Romance Novel Page 10