Midlife Strife: A Paranormal Women's fiction Novel (Bells and Spells - Book 1)

by M. L. Briers

  “Maybe we can update all of you…”

  “Hold on…”

  “We’ll start with your attitude to life.”

  CHAPTER FORTY THREE

  ~

  “I don’t have an attitude,” Marilyn said, feeling a little panicked. She’d love to have Claudia stay for a while, but she was set in her ways, and she didn’t need her life turned upside down.

  “How about dating?” Claudia asked, wiggling her eyebrows, and getting a scowl in return.

  “You’re not my type,” Marilyn said.

  “Don’t flatter yourself…”

  “I don’t want to date; I don’t need a man to make me happy or complete…”

  “Just to change the light bulbs?” Claudia shot back. “And for sex.”

  “Hey!” Marilyn snapped. “There are things that you can buy that…”

  “Go buzz in the night?” Claudia offered her a wicked grin. “You forget I went through your drawers, and that thing isn’t the best on the market. I ordered you a new one of those too.”

  “I do not need you to buy me sex toys…” Marilyn said and noted Scott come to a dead stop and grimace.

  Marilyn wanted the ground to open up and swallow her alive, and she was sure there was a spell for that. If only she knew where it was.

  “I can’t un-hear that one either,” Scott said, dropping his head into his hands and groaning. “What is it with the women in this house?” he grumbled, and Marilyn slapped her hand over her mouth and grimaced at Claudia.

  Claudia twisted to look at him. “It’s not just men that need…”

  “Please, I’m pleading with you, don’t continue,” Scott begged, but he still couldn’t bring himself to look in their direction, let alone directly at them. He wasn’t sure he ever could again.

  “Run along, junior,” Claudia chuckled.

  Scott gave a wave, turned on his heels; he’d decided that he didn’t need to get a cold beer. Instead, he snatched up a bottle of vodka from the side and headed back upstairs.

  Claudia turned a smirk on Marilyn. “Do you think we freaked him out?”

  “I think it would have freaked me out to hear my mother talking about a sex toy.”

  “Well, when we were Scott’s age sex toys weren’t as much fun as they are now…”

  “Can we get off the sex toy thing?”

  “You can get off on the sex toy anytime you want…” Marilyn slapped out at her, but she pulled back and Marilyn missed her target. “I’m just saying…”

  “How did we get here?” Marilyn said, staring off into the distance as if she was trying to figure out the whole world's problems.

  “I took a car, and you live here,” Claudia offered with a smile.

  “You got to see the world,” Marilyn said with a shrug.

  “And you got to add to it,” Claudia replied. “Two kids is something to be proud of.”

  “Oh, they basically keep themselves alive by the time they can reach the cookie jar,” Marilyn said, dismissing it. “We went from being radicals to being materialistic…”

  “I blame Gordon Gecko, greed is good, Wallstreet,” Claudia said.

  “We have to take some of the blame for ourselves.”

  “No, we don’t, monkey see monkey do – we emulated what was around us, and the eighties were big on…”

  “Hair?”

  “That too. We swapped cheap plastic bangles for the real thing and made it to comfortable; so we don’t have to worry about the next bill dropping on the mat. We did nothing wrong,” Claudia said.

  “We could have done it better, should – should have done it better.”

  “Each generation has its cross to bear, and we made the world a technologically better place for the kids. I would have killed to have the internet, game systems…”

  “We had pong!”

  “And they can slay worlds, meet an elf lord, and be the keeper of a dragon – and they resent us for it.” Claudia reached for her glass. “It’s not us that’s greedy, it’s them.”

  “How so?”

  “There’s always a trade-off, even with magic, you get something, you lose something – they just don’t realise it yet…”

  “And we’re smarter?”

  “We’ve got lived experience on our side. You know the saying; you can’t make an omelette without first breaking some eggs? Well, we broke eggs, sue us. But they are doing it too – they consume like it does no harm and then look down their noses at us.”

  “We rebelled…”

  “Yes, but we did it with style, and we changed the world.”

  Marilyn smiled. “I guess we did,” she said, and then frowned. “Well, I didn’t – I don’t know one end of a computer from the other; I’m just a mother…”

  “There you go again – it’s a mindset – stop doing that,” Claudia berated her.

  Marilyn huffed. “I just feel … useless – like my time has been and gone and I don’t have anything else to contribute.”

  “Well, if fate has her way, then you’ll be a grandma soon, and you can start all over again,” Claudia shot back, and Marilyn snatched her head back and blinked twice.

  “I do not want to think of Amber having…” She waved a dismissive hand in front of her and screwed up her face.

  “Hot sex…?”

  “Can you not?”

  “Well, someone’s gotta be having it in the world, and if I were to lay down a chunk of change, I’d bet on Amber and her hot shifter doing the nasty,” Claudia said, chuckling as Marilyn’s face kept changing in a sea of disgust at the thought of it.

  “Stop, I don’t want to think about that,” Marilyn said.

  “Back to sex toys?”

  “No!” Marilyn snapped, but she couldn’t help but smile.

  “You know you want to…”

  “I do not want to do anything; I want to eat my pork, undo my bra and my waistband when my stomach swells, and be happy in the knowledge that I don’t have to think of people having sex.”

  “What about Louann?”

  “My mother!” Marilyn turned her nose up in disgust.

  “What if she got a boyfriend?” Claudia teased.

  Marilyn shrugged. “It would take her off my hands…”

  “Not if they both lived here it wouldn’t.” Marilyn snatched up a fortune cookie and threw it at her. With a giggle, Claudia retrieved it, snapped it open, and read the fortune. “A man with a big, hot, sexy body will enter your life, your bed, and your sorely in need virg…”

  “Stop it!” Marilyn snapped, snatching the paper from her hand. “Be careful what you wish for.”

  “I didn’t wish for it, no magic involved,” Claudia said, holding up her hands.

  “You’re a witch, and you should know that everything we say is heard by the universe and weighed on merit.”

  “Well, in that case, you need to get laid.” She snapped on a bright teasing smile and felt the sting of magic.

  “I need my clothes back,” Marilyn informed her with a pointed stare.

  “Just look at it this way – when you wake up tomorrow it’ll feel like Christmas morning…”

  “That reminds me, what do you want for Christmas this year?”

  “It’s not even the end of summer…”

  “I like to shop early…”

  “That’s it,” Claudia said, dropping her plate on the table and pushing to her feet as Marilyn looked up, confused. “We’re going to the bar – we’re doing something spontaneous – and we’re going to flirt…”

  “Well, the first two, sure, but that last one…”

  “Marilyn, get up, put on your little black dress, and grab your life by the balls!” Claudia demanded.

  Marilyn sat there for a long moment, and the only movement she made was her left eyebrow that rose into a perfect arch. “Now!” Claudia snapped, and Marilyn huffed.

  “Fine, but I’m not flirting,” she grumbled, pushing up and padding out of the room.

  “That depends how dr
unk I can get you,” Claudia muttered with a smile.

  CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

  ~

  Marilyn thought her little black dress might have been a little too much for the bar on a Sunday night, but paired with her heels, and her makeup and hair done to perfection, she had to admit she felt like a million dollars. She sucked in her tummy and eyed her reflection in the full-length mirror.

  “Looking good, let’s go!” Claudia said, poking her head around the door.

  Marilyn snatched up her bag, and her mobile rang. She retrieved it, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “It’s Amber.”

  “Wait!” Claudia snapped, rushing into the room. Marilyn noticed that she wasn’t wearing anything special, and she had to wonder why? “Don’t be a mother!”

  “I am her mother…”

  “Yes, but what she probably needs is a friend right now, no wolf jokes, and don’t put her mate down.”

  “Would you like to take the call?” Marilyn asked exasperated by Claudia’s list of demands.

  “Answer it before it rings off,” she hissed.

  Marilyn swiped and put the phone to her ear. “Hi, Amber,” she said, eyeing Claudia, who was hovering like a mother. “No, we didn’t eat dinner, we got takeout, and now we’re heading to the bar,” she said, and Claudia made happy faces. “You’re at home? With Josh – that’s his name?” Marilyn rolled her eyes, but the light zap of magic from Claudia put her back on the straight and narrow.

  Marilyn pointed at Claudia and then mimed, putting a noose around her neck and pulling it tight. Claudia played dead with glee. “Sure, tomorrow,” she grimaced. “Night.”

  Marilyn cut off the call and groaned. “She’s with him,” she bit out.

  “And that’s a good thing, it means neither of them is dead yet – this mating thing might just work out,” Claudia said, snatched the phone and bag out of Marilyn’s hands and dropped the phone inside. Then she slapped it back into Marilyn’s hands. “Let’s go.”

  “Fine, although maybe we should go over to…”

  “If you say Amber’s I’m going to zap you so hard your future grandchildren will feel it,” Claudia warned her.

  Marilyn lifted her chin. “I was going to say my mother’s to see if she needed anything before we left,” she lied.

  “Sure, you were,” Claudia said and snap-pointed to the door. “Out!”

  “Maybe Scott would like…”

  “To accompany his mother and aunt to a bar to watch us get poop-faced and flirt with guys?”

  “Pass!” Scott called out from down the hall. “I’ve heard and seen more this weekend than my brain can handle.”

  “See, now stop playing for time,” Claudia said and looped her arm around Marilyn’s. “It’s time to get our sexy on.”

  “Oh God,” Marilyn muttered.

  “Huh?” Claudia asked, knowing full well what she’d said.

  “Oh Goody,” Marilyn said snapping on a bright smile and allowing her friend to pull her towards the door.

  “Just remember what those masters of sage, The Bee Gees, told us – nobody gets too much heaven no more…”

  “I seem to remember they sung Tragedy as well,” Marilyn bit out, unsure if tonight was such a great idea.

  “You should be dancing,” Claudia countered, quoting another of their songs.

  “Staying Alive!” Marilyn snapped.

  “Saturday Night Fever!”

  “It’s Sunday!”

  “Well, I think you look More Than a Woman, and what’s the worst that can happen?” Claudia said and got a hard elbow in her ribs as Marilyn planted her feet and refused to be tugged a step further.

  “I don’t believe you said that!” she hissed as if there was someone there listening to them.

  “Why are you whispering?”

  “Because you just waved a big red flag at fate – witch!”

  “Look who’s talking,” she shot back and then frowned. “Great movie, Travolta, sexy hunky male…”

  “Do not change the subject,” Marilyn shook her head like a mother who was disappointed with her child.

  “Do not deflect to try to wiggle out of going out,” Claudia tossed back. “It would be a shame to waste all that good makeup-ing.” Claudia offered her a look like a pleading cat on steroids.

  “Fine!” Marilyn bit out. But if fate comes calling; trust that I’m throwing you under a bus.”

  “That sounds – nice,” Claudia said, frowning.

  Yes, she’d tempted fate, and yes, she should have bit the bullet, stayed at home, appeased fate and cleansed her aura, but Marilyn was dressed, and she wasn’t going to let this moment slide by.

  What was the worst that could happen?

  ~

  Amber noted the door key on the kitchen counter and knew that Sandy had already cleaned out her things to move in with Lottie. As a newbie witch, Sandy couldn’t do any better than having Lottie for a teacher, but if there was ever a time when she could have used a third wheel, it was now.

  If what Lottie had told her about mates was true, then there was no way to fight the attraction that she felt towards Josh. Lottie was probably the one person in her life who had never told her anything but a little white lie, so she had no reason to doubt her.

  Standing in the kitchen of her home, drinking coffee with the man she knew she was going to spend the rest of her life with was – surreal. They hadn’t spent a year or two dating; they didn’t know anything about each other, and yet, they were supposedly compatible enough to be sure of a happily ever after.

  Amber had to wonder where the money-back guarantee was in all of this. She couldn’t exactly return him to the store and ask for her wasted years back, now could she?

  Josh offered her one hell of a look of sympathy, and she wondered why. “You’re nervous,” he said, and she felt relieved that he wasn’t about to tell her that he came with ten kids and a horrible mother in tow. That would have been too much faith to put in fate.

  “I’m not nervous,” she lied. She gave new meaning to the song ‘A whole lot of shaking going on.’ Luckily, her shakes were internal.

  Josh offered her the kind of smile that was designed to make panties drop, and women fight to the death to get his attention. Lucky her, she already had him in the bag. Unlucky her, with a smile like that, her panties were in danger of ending up around her ankles.

  Then Josh tilted his head to the side and looked adorably sexy. How could she fight that?

  “Okay, fine!” she rushed out. “You make me nervous.” Dang, but fate was cruel and heartless, was nothing sacred, even a little white lie to save face?

  “Was that so hard to admit?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said, screwing up her face and looking at him as if he’d just stepped off an intergalactic transport. Men – definitely a breed apart from the norm.

  “How about I try to make you less nervous?” he asked.

  Amber had to admit she liked that idea. She felt like a schoolgirl on prom night. But then he came towards her, big, sexy, packed full of muscley goodness, and she had to wonder how that helped her. “Let me show you where I keep the – sofa!” She’d panicked – shame on her.

  “Is it in the bathroom?” Josh asked with the kind of teasing smile that didn’t knock the panty-dropping on the head one little bit.

  “No,” Amber said, looking anywhere but at him as she felt the heat rising in her cheeks and mentally headbutted the nearest wall.

  “Then I think I can find it,” Josh said, closer still, so close that her knees were starting to dissolve.

  She’d kissed him already, she knew how good that felt, and now they were alone in a place that had a bed – not that they needed a bed. Hell, she was imagining him sweeping her up in those muscle-padded arms, whooshing everything off the counter like they did in the movies, and going hell-for-leather until she was crying for a God she didn’t believe in.

  Damn, she had a great imagination, and long may it continue to be so, but it wasn’t he
lping with that whole nervous situation going on inside of her.

  Sex was good; he was so much better. He was the hot sauce on chicken wings, the frosting on cake, and the chocolate covering juicy strawberries. And all Amber could think was – am I allowed to bite him back?

  “There, I’m this close, and I didn’t bite,” Josh said. His eyes sparkled amusement like he’d read her mind, and Amber snapped to attention.

  If vampires could do it – could shifters also read your thoughts?

  Oh, dear Goddess!

  “Hold that thought!” Amber snapped out. Then she carefully reached around him, snatched up her mobile from the counter, turned away, and tapped in a text.

  She snapped a look back at him and shielded the screen from view.

  “If that’s about me then why not just ask the source, I’m standing right here,” he said, folding his thick muscled arms and making his biceps pop.

  “One problem at a time.” Amber was sure she knew how a hooker in church felt, she was sweating, nervous, had dry mouth, and was praying for salvation and not damnation. Her mobile pinged, and she had her answer from Lottie.

  Amber breathed a sigh of relief and almost collapsed in on herself until he chuckled. That sound was deep and soulful, and it sounded just as potent as when he growled.

  She couldn’t make up her mind if she was going to hell or not, but the trip was going to be one heck of a ride.

  CHAPTER FORTY FIVE

  ~

  Marilyn didn’t mind the crowd in the bar tonight. She’d never ventured in on a Sunday before, but it appeared that everyone was getting their last-minute drinking in before starting the next working week.

  Of course, the chatter was loud to get over the rock music pounding out of the speakers, and she’d had to lean into Claudia a few times to hear what she was saying. Usually, it was something disappointing, like pointing out a potential next date, and that wasn’t going to happen any time soon no matter what her friend said.

  Marilyn accepted the next round of drinks from the bartender and pushed the cash towards him. “Keep it,” she added and got a smile back for her trouble.