Light Magic

by Ellie Ferguson

  “I was out of town or she would have stayed with me as well,” Mary Kate added. “But she stayed with me the year before. Please feel free to check my house as well.”

  “Thank you, all of you.” I blinked back the tears and smiled a little shakily. I stood and moved to stare out the front window. For a long while, I stood there, thinking about my mother. When I turned back, I knew one thing for certain. These women had been Mom’s family, her real family and that made them mine. “I need to get back to the office before Annie figures out I’m gone and decides to go in.” Her grandmother chuckled at that and then assured me Sam wouldn’t let that happen. “Before I do, I want to say two things. First, thank you. Thank you for caring for Mom and looking out for her all those years.”

  “Your mother was special, Meg,” Miss Serena said.

  “She was that.” And I would miss her the rest of my life.

  “The second thing?” Judith prompted.

  “I’m going to do what Mom said and ask for a favor.” I drew a breath, hoping they agreed. “You were her family, her real family. Family in every way it mattered. I’d be honored if you’d at least be my friends.”

  The words were barely out of my mouth before the women were on their feet. Soon I found myself in their arms. Tears flowed as we mourned my mothers. Then came laughter as we tried to reassure one another with happy memories of Mom. The hurt I’d felt since learning of her death eased just a little.

  “You are home, Meg, if you want to be,” Miss Serena said before gently kissing my cheek. “You’ll always have a place with me.”

  “With any or all of us,” Judith added.

  “Thank you.” I swiped at the tears on my cheeks and kissed each of them on the cheek. “I’d better run. I have one stop to make before going back to the office.”

  “Will you be home for dinner?” Miss Serena asked.

  Home. I turned the word over in my mind and realized it felt right. At least for the moment.

  “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be home.” I smiled at her in affection. “Do you need me to pick up anything on my way?”

  “No. Just call when you’re on your way.”

  “I will.” I hugged the women and left the house. As I climbed into the Land Rover, I reached for my phone. Hopefully, he’d be ready to talk to me this time.

  “Yes?”

  Nothing more, not that I’d expected it. I pulled away from the curb and headed in the direction of the office. Fortunately, the SUV had hands-free calling as one of its many upgrades.

  “Sir, I need an answer.” I could be as direct as he, but he already knew that.

  “Sheridan, you know the dangers of what you’re asking.”

  “Yes, sir. But I need to know if anyone else from the mission has had anything happen to them.”

  “Understood and, to answer your question, no. Each surviving member of the mission has been accounted for and none report anything untoward having happened recently.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “Sheridan, are you safe?” For the first time in a long while, I heard a hint of concern in his voice.

  “Possibly not.” I quickly filled him in on the wreck. “I have every confidence in the sheriff’s department and how they are handing the investigation. However, after what happened in Iraq, I wanted to make sure nothing had followed me home.”

  “Understood and appreciated.” He paused and a moment later I heard him speak to someone. “Sorry, I have a meeting beginning in a few minutes.”

  “No problem, sir. I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me.”

  “Sheridan, you know the restrictions placed on you about that last mission.”

  “I do, sir.”

  “I trust you to remember them when you talk with someone about your nightmares. You were too good of a soldier to let your demons take over.”

  I blew out a breath, relieved and thankful. “Yes, sir.”

  “Keep me informed on the investigation. If there’s anything our people can do to help, let me know.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

  “You were my best officer, Sheridan. I hated losing you, but I understood. Now, as your former CO and, I hope, as your friend, get yourself some help. We’ve both laid too many of our fellow soldiers to rest because they let the demons win. Don’t become one of them.”

  “I promise, sir. You’d best get to your meeting.”

  “I’m going to check on you, Meg. That’s a promise.”

  I swallowed against the lump in my throat. “I appreciate that, sir.”

  “Take care, Captain,” Brigadier General Wallace Cooke said before ending the call.

  I pulled into the parking lot behind Annie’s office and switched off the engine. One question answered. How many more to go.

  Chapter 18

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Drew asked as I climbed into the cab of his pickup.

  “This” was having dinner at the café. Last night, he’d arrived at Miss Serena’s shortly before dinner. Before I could ask what he was doing there, she said she’d invited him. He’d grinned and shrugged one of those “what can I say?” sort of shrugs. Grinning, I’d reached for his hand and we followed Miss Serena into the kitchen to help carry the food into the dining room.

  Later, after Miss Serena excused herself to go upstairs, Drew and I went out to the front porch. For a long time, we sat on the bench swing, saying nothing. His arm around me, my head on his shoulder, we let the night envelop us. Then we’d talked about my day filling in for his sister and his patrol shift. We might have also made out like a couple of horny teenagers, not that I’m complaining. Something about Drew made me feel cared for.

  When he’d called to ask me out, he apologized for having to stay close to town. He wasn’t on duty, but he was on call. We’d quickly agreed on the café. Then we’d take a walk around downtown.

  “I am.” I watched as he climbed in behind the wheel. Before he started the engine, I leaned over and lightly kissed his cheek. Then I scooted over so we sat close enough for our thighs to touch. “Drew, the grapevine’s already buzzing about us and you know it. They know you stayed the night at Quinn’s after what happened at the office. I have no doubt they know you had dinner at Miss Serena’s last night. Besides, do you really think your sister and Beth haven’t been feeding the gossip.” I grinned and patted his leg as he groaned.

  “You’re crazy. You know that, right?” His hand slipped behind my neck and he pulled me close and kissed me. “And I’m crazy about you.”

  “Drew.” I rested my forehead against his. “Let’s go eat. Then maybe we could go somewhere and talk.”

  Right, talk. Well, maybe we’d do a little talking, but I really hoped we’d do something more.

  “Grab a table,” Janny said when we stepped inside the café.

  As she did, heads turned in our direction. For a moment, all conversation stopped and I felt everyone’s eyes on my hand in Drew’s. The urge to turn and run for the hills tempted me. Instead, I stepped closer to Drew. He slid his arm around my waist and I stuck my right hand in the right hip pocket of his jeans. As I did, I knew it was part staking my claim and part drawing on him for support.

  “You all right?” Drew asked softly as he held my chair for me.

  “Maybe I should as you that.”

  I chuckled and nodded out the window. Moving as quickly as they could in their pink running shoes and jogging suits were his mother and her friends. Drew paled. I swear sweat broke out on his brow. He stood so quickly his chair skidded across the tiles. Several people laughed but most looked on in sympathetic understanding as he grabbed my hand. Without a word, he dragged me around the counter and into the kitchen. As he did, I heard the bell over the front door sound.

  “Drew, quit being a baby,” a woman called.

  Even as he cursed, Janny appeared. She hurried ahead of us and held open the back door. “Go!” she urged. “I’ll head them off.”

  “Thank you.” Drew sounded as i
f she’d granted us a stay of execution which might not be too far off the mark if the look on his mother’s face as she saw the two of us together meant anything.

  “Where are you going? I’ll send dinner over.” Janny glanced over her shoulder, making sure his mother couldn’t hear.

  Judging by the sounds coming from the dining room, the four pink-clad women had been intercepted.

  “My place,” he said.

  “Go!” Janny shoved us out the door and closed it behind us.

  Drew grabbed my hand and jogged across the parking lot and around the corner. We didn’t stop until we were several blocks away. Then he finally slowed and pulled me close. Hanging onto one another, we laughed until my sides hurt. Here we were, two adults running from his mother and her friends.

  “C’mon. My place is just down the block.” He took my hand and lifted it to his lips.

  “What about your truck?” I asked as we strolled down the street. As we did, I caught myself looking over my shoulder, halfway expecting to see the four pink ladies jogging in our direction.

  “It will be all right. We can walk back to get it later – after my mother and her friends have given up the hunt.”

  “And if they decide to come to your place?”

  He bared his teeth and growled. “The door will be locked. She doesn’t have a key and we will ignore her.”

  With that, he escorted me three houses down. He paused in front of a single story brick house that reminded me in a lot of ways of the house I grew up in. I waited as he checked the mail. When he turned back, he looked at me, his head cocked to one side. Suddenly shy, I waited. Then, as he took a step in my direction, I swallowed hard. His expression left no doubt what he hoped the evening would lead to. The only question was if I was ready.

  Unfortunately, I didn’t have the answer.

  Not yet, at any rate.

  Hand-in-hand we walked to the front door. His key slid into the lock and a moment later, the door swung open. The soft beeping of an alarm system came from the back of the house. Telling me to stay there, he hurried in the direction of the sound. As he did, I glanced around. The entry hall opened onto the living room. A single lamp near the front corner burned in greeting. The furniture looked comfortably broken in. A mug, probably left from his morning coffee, sat on a table next to a leather recliner that faced one of the largest TVs I’d ever seen.

  “Sorry,” Drew said as he returned. “It’s not much, but it’s mine.” He waved a hand at the living room and beyond.

  “I like it.”

  And I did. So far, everything about it reminded me of him. Better yet, this was just a house. I didn’t feel it in the back of my mind. Now that I was away from both Miss Serena’s house and Quinn’s I could admit, to myself at least, that it had been intimidating even thinking about being with Drew and knowing the house sensed it.

  “Good.” He leaned in and then sighed as a knock sounded at the door. I did my best not to laugh as he checked the peephole. His relief not to see his mother or anyone else dressed in pink on the other side broke through my control. I leaned my head against his back and laughed. He chuckled, not the least embarrassed, and opened the door to Janny.

  “Here you go. Now lock up, close the blinds and don’t answer the door. I passed your mother and the others on their way here.” She shoved a large brown paper back into Drew’s hands. “Pay me tomorrow.” With that, she turned and hurried down the walk to where a blue Mini Cooper sat next to the curb.

  Without missing a beat, Drew handed me the sack. I watched, knowing I had to ask about his mother and why she caused this kind of reaction in everyone, as he locked the door and made sure the blinds were closed and the drapes drawn. He even turned out the light in the den. Then he grabbed my hand and led me through the house to the kitchen.

  “Drew, aren’t you overreacting?” I asked with a laugh as he turned on only the small light over the sink.

  “You don’t know my mother. Trust me, even this is too much light.” He reached up to open a cabinet and then stopped. His shoulders slumped, and he dropped his head until his chin almost rested on his chest. I watched as he inhaled once and then twice. “Let’s see what Janny brought us. Then I will tell you about Catherine Eugenia Metzger Grissom Dinsmore Carlisle.”

  “Oh God,” I laughed. Tears streamed down my cheeks and my ribs ached from laughing. “Who in their right mind names her twin son and daughter – who happen to be redheads – anything close to a variation of Raggedy Ann and Andy?”

  “My mother.” He didn’t sigh but his frustration shone in his eyes. “Growing up, Annie was Jules or Julie and I insisted on Drew. You’ll know when I’m on my sister’s bad side when she calls me Andy.”

  “That’s good to know,” I chuckled. “But that doesn’t explain why you all but pulled me under the table when she knocked.”

  And rang the bell. And pounded on the door. And called out his name. She and her friends even tried looking through the windows. We’d watched their shadows as they moved around the house. When I started laughing, Drew covered my mouth and held me close, whispering that I needed to be quiet.

  “My mama has two ruling desires in life, Meg. The first is to find a man to support her in the manner in which she’d like to become accustomed – at least until the next man comes along. The second is to get me married now that Annie and Sam are. It isn’t because she wants me happy, although she won’t object to that. It’s so she can help plan yet another wedding and have it covered by the paper.” He tilted his beer up and finished it. Then he stood and crossed to the refrigerator. When he returned to the table, he handed me one of the two bottles he carried. “Don’t get me wrong. There’s not a mean bone in Mama’s body. It’s just that she is one of the most self-absorbed people you’ll ever meet. She never matured past the age of sixteen.”

  “But you love her.”

  “I do. She’s my mom. I just don’t want her meddling in my life.”

  “And what do you think she’d say about us?” If there was an us.

  “She’d be thrilled. But she would also want to know every intimate detail of everything.” My disbelief must have shown. “Meg, I’m serious. Mama thinks she has the right to know about everything. She’s still trying to find out when I lost my virginity and I know she’s done her best to quiz every girl I’ve dated – at least the ones she knows about – to find out.”

  “Drew!”

  She did sound like a teenaged girl. Thank God, Mom had been normal.

  “I’m not kidding.” Suddenly serious, he reached across the table and twined his fingers with mine. “Meg, you’re the first woman I’ve been interested in in a long time. Annie will tell you that growing up with the example Mom set taught us the importance of not settling for just anyone because of a pretty face or social standing or the size of their bank account.” He paused, his thumb rubbing small circles on the back of my hand. “I feel like a kid on his first date.” He chuckled self-consciously.

  “Just say it, Drew.” Please.

  Instead of saying anything, he stood and pulled me up. He slowly lowered his head, giving me time to avoid him. Instead, I lifted my face to his. As I did, I prayed his mother and her friends didn’t make a return appearance.

  That spark arced through us as his lips brushed against mine. His hands ran down my arms and around to cup my ass. I nipped the line of his jaw. Then I pulled his head down, hungry for him.

  “Will you stay?” he asked.

  “Drew.” I rested my forehead against his chest. His heart beat heavily and he held me close. As he did, our energies danced together and joined. When I closed my eyes, I smiled at the sight. Part of me wished he could see and feel what I did. Then I realized he did in a way. He felt that spark between us. Maybe that was enough.

  “Meg, I’m serious about tonight and about you.” His hands were warm as they slipped under my shirt. My breath caught as he rubbed one nipple between thumb and forefinger. “Will you stay?”

  “Will y
ou protect me from your mother?”

  He chuckled and covered my mouth with his. “She can beat on the door all she wants. She doesn’t have a key,” he said after kissing me deeply enough my toes curled.

  I framed his face with my hands and nipped his lower lip. “I’d really like to see your bedroom.”

  He grinned and swung me up in his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck and relaxed into his embrace. Part of me, the part Mom had trained to never leave dishes out overnight, protested but I pushed her down. I needed this tonight. I needed Drew. More than that I wanted him and wanted to see if there might be a future for us.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said after settling me on the edge of his bed. “Don’t move. Don’t do anything. Just be there when I come back.”

  He turned and hurried out of the room. I listened as he moved through the house, checking the doors and making sure everything was locked up for the night. When he returned a few minutes later, I lay back on the bed, propped up on my elbows, my feet on the floor. For a long while, he stood framed in the doorway, looking at me. A smile lifted the corners of his mouth and my heart beat a little faster at the sight of him.

  “Are you sure?” he asked without coming any closer.

  I nodded, suddenly as shy as he’d seemed earlier. It had been a long time since I’d been with a man. Hopefully, it was like riding a bike and I’d not only remember how to ride but manage to keep my balance.

  He took a step closer and stopped again. Without a word, he reached up and began unbuttoning his shirt. My lips parted, and I licked them in anticipation as he eased the material off his chest and shoulders and down his arms. Desire flared as I saw his well-toned arms and shoulders. His broad chest, dusted with a fine red, led down to sculpted abs and a narrow waist. God, he was wasted as a cop. He should have been a model. But then I’d probably have to kill every other woman who drooled over him.

  Those strong yet nimble fingers I wanted touching me freed the top button of his jeans. The sound of his zipper lowering seemed almost too loud in the otherwise silent house. Instead of letting them drop to the floor, he stopped and kicked off his boots. Then he padded to where I lay, stopping at the edge of the mattress, my legs between his.