Courage of the Witch

by Deanna Chase

  But when he pressed her on when they could get together again, she dodged. He was doing it again. Trying to keep her “safe.” When he’d called off their dating, he’d said it was to protect her. Now she wasn’t even allowed to take a hang gliding class because apparently he deemed his own activity too dangerous for her. When had he decided she was made of glass?

  “Sure, Hanna. Anything you say.” He walked her to his Jeep Wrangler and let her direct him to her new place. Once they were parked at her curb, he turned to her. “Thanks for joining me for dinner. Do I get any of those desserts?”

  She shook her head. “Wouldn’t want you to gain any weight. You don’t want to be out of shape the next time you glide over the ocean, do you? I hear it’s really dangerous.” She smirked at him and hopped out before he could say anything.

  And even though she felt like a total bitch for the way she was acting, she kept her head held high until she disappeared into her small cottage. It wasn’t his job to tell her what she should and shouldn’t be doing. In fact, she marched right over to her little desk and flipped on her computer. It was time to get a little extreme. Five minutes later, she picked up the phone and tapped Faith’s name.

  “Hey, Hanna. How was the date?” Faith asked as soon as she picked up the phone.

  “It wasn’t a date. Are you still free Sunday morning?” They’d talked about getting together for brunch. It was Faith’s day off.

  “Sure. Wanna go into Eureka and try that new breakfast place? I heard they have biscuits and gravy that is to die for.”

  “Sure. But first we’re going to make a stop at Redwood Coast Adventures.”

  There was silence on the other end of the line. Then Faith suddenly squealed. “You’re ready? Are you sure? You know I’ve wanted to do this for forever. Talk about a stress reliever. Oh, Em. Gee. Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

  Chapter Four

  Rhys’s footsteps pounded on the dirt path as he finished the last fifty feet of his daily run. Every morning, he rolled out of bed, threw his running shoes on, and took off through the forest behind his small three-bedroom house that sat at the edge of the redwoods. Most days he ran five miles. But that morning, he’d been lost in thought, mostly about Hanna and the way he’d really effed up their date, and ended up logging seven.

  His body was slick with sweat, and his muscles were fatigued by the time he let himself in the back door. The scent of bacon hit him, and he groaned. That meant only one thing.

  “Rhys? Is that you?” his mother called from the kitchen.

  He sighed and turned the corner, finding her standing in front of his stove, making a feast that looked like it would feed a family of six. “Morning, Mom. What are you doing here so early?”

  “Early?” she said with a snort. “It’s past eight already. What does it look like I’m doing? I’m making you breakfast. Now go shower. This will be ready in about ten minutes.”

  Rhys glanced at the spread and bit back a grimace. A calorie laden breakfast hadn’t been on his agenda that morning. Still, she was his mother, and it wasn’t as if he was going to throw her out. Without a word, he crossed the kitchen, climbed the stairs, and disappeared into his bathroom.

  Fifteen minutes later, Rhys reappeared in jeans and a T-shirt, his hair still wet.

  “Coffee’s on the table,” Millie Silver said.

  “Thanks.” Rhys paused to kiss her on the cheek and then moved to the fridge to grab the pitcher of filtered water. Once he had a glass, he sat down at the table and took stock of the feast: eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, gravy, and homemade hash browns. There wasn’t a vegetable or piece a fruit in sight. “Uh, Mom?”

  “Yes, dear?” She placed a waffle in front of him and then slipped into the seat next to him at the end of the table.

  “Are you expecting company?”

  She took a look at her spread and chuckled. “No. Just us. I guess I got carried away. Well, whatever you don’t eat, you can have for leftovers the rest of the week.”

  “Sure.” He grabbed the pure maple syrup and drizzled some on the waffle. It had been a very long time since he’d allowed himself to eat in such a manner. He ate clean most of the time. Lots of fish, salads, fruit and lean meats. There was very little dairy in his diet and not much sugar outside of the beer and ciders he sampled at work. Though he’d been willing to make an exception the night before with Hanna and the dessert fest. His food choices weren’t because he was worried about his weight. He just wanted to feel good. For the last two years, his clean diet had done that for him.

  “Eat, eat,” his mother encouraged. “You’re too thin.”

  “No, I’m not.” He took a bite of the glorious waffle and almost moaned at how good it tasted. But he held back the sound of approval. The last thing he wanted to do was encourage Millie to do this more often. After he swallowed, he glanced at his mother’s plate. “Aren’t you eating?”

  “Yes, but I wanted to wait for you to get your fill first.” She smiled sweetly at him, her green eyes dancing with triumph.

  “Mother, you’re being a little intense. Eat with me, or I’m going to put my fork down.”

  “Fine. Don’t be so testy.” She filled her plate with breakfast, but instead of eating, she just stared at him.

  Rhys sighed. “Just say it.”

  “Say what?” she asked innocently.

  “Whatever it is you’re dying to say.” He took a sip of his coffee.

  “Oh, fine.” She flipped her dark hair over her shoulder and leaned in, her round face eager and full of excitement. “How was your date with Hanna? Are you two getting back together?”

  He’d known that was what she wanted to talk about and wondered if the carb fest was an attempt at putting him into a food coma so that his defenses would be down. “It wasn’t a date.”

  “Please. Was I born yesterday? You took her to dinner. You paid. You took her home. What else could it be?”

  He blinked at his mother. She’d pulled back and had her hand resting on her slightly pudgy middle, giving him that look that said she wasn’t taking any of his crap. “How did you know I paid or that I took her home?”

  “I have my sources,” she said primly but then shook her head. “Never mind that. Are you going to tell me what’s going on with Hanna, or am I going to have to ask her?”

  Oh, hell, he thought. She would march right into the Incantation Café and do just that. Millie Silver and Mary Pelsh had been friends since they were both kids. The Silvers and Pelshes were like extended family already. He had no trouble imagining Hanna sitting down and telling his mother that he’d implied she was too weak to join him on a hang gliding adventure. And not only would Millie be angry he’d acted like a Neanderthal, she wouldn’t like his choice of activity either. “We had dinner. It was fine. Then I took her home.”

  “That’s it?” Millie asked incredulously. “That’s all I get? ‘It was fine?’”

  He chuckled. “What were you expecting? To find her here this morning? Is that why you made a feast?”

  Millie’s face flushed, and she glanced away.

  “You did! That’s exactly what you thought would happen. Geez, Mother. What if she was here? Weren’t you afraid you’d embarrass her? Or me for that matter?”

  “I’m sure Hanna would’ve been happy to see me,” she said, holding her head high now.

  “Sure, Mom.” He shook his head and dug into the rest of his waffle. And then just to make her happy, he ate a few pieces of bacon. “Okay, that’s all I can do right now.”

  Millie looked at all of the food still on the table and blew out a breath. “I really did get carried away, didn’t I?”

  “A little.” Rhys winked at her and started to clear the table.

  As they stored the leftover food in plastic containers, his mother asked, “Rhys?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Why did you break up with Hanna last year?”

  He froze. She’d managed to k
eep from asking him that after he’d ended it. After so much time, he thought he’d managed to dodge the question.

  “Well?” she prompted.

  “You know why, Mom.” He turned away from her and stacked the plastic containers in his fridge.

  She placed a hand on his arm and very gently said, “You aren’t your father. Or your grandfather for that matter.”

  He was still as he stared unseeingly into the fridge.

  “It’s not fair to either of you to keep her at arm’s length because you’re afraid of what might happen.”

  Her words cut him straight to the bone, and the pain seared right through his chest, making it hard to breathe. He pictured Hanna in a gorgeous white wedding dress, standing next to him down by the river. She’d have red flowers in her dark curly hair, and he’d be in a tux. Then the image shifted, and they were holding hands at the beach, their beautiful golden child laughing and running toward the ocean’s edge. Longing filled him, making him ache for her. He could think of nothing that would make him happier than having her by his side for the rest of his days.

  Then he saw his father’s lifeless body lying on his mother’s kitchen floor and he shook himself. “No. I can’t do that to her. I won’t.”

  “Rhys you have to stop—”

  “That’s enough,” he said with quiet authority. “I’ve made my decision. Nothing you can say will change it.”

  “If that’s really how you feel…” she said, sounding defeated.

  “It’s really how I feel,” he agreed and then gently took the dish she was holding out of her hand. “Thank you for breakfast. Go relax. I’ll clean up.”

  She hesitated, but when he gently nudged her, she relented. “All right. I just want you to be happy, Rhys. You know that, right?”

  “I do.” He gave her a one-armed hug. “I think next time you want to make sure I’m happy, a salmon omelet will do instead of the all-you-can-eat buffet.”

  “Now that sounds lovely. Maybe with bagels and lox, too.”

  He laughed. “Go relax. I’ll finish up in here and then we can head to town. I know you want to hit that book signing.”

  “You’re taking me to the signing?” she asked, her eyes lighting up.

  “Sure. I’ll drop you off, and you can meet me at the brewery when you’re done. I’m sure Clay could use the help.”

  “You’re a good boy.” She patted his arm again and then disappeared into his living room. A second later, he heard his television come on and the sound of some cable news talk show.

  He stood at his sink and rubbed at the ache in his chest. Damn. His mother had completely knocked him off his axis. Again. Maybe it was because he’d spent the evening with Hanna the night before and had a great time right up until he’d been an ass. Or maybe it was because his mom pressed buttons he didn’t let anyone else touch.

  It didn’t matter. Nothing had changed. Rhys knew what it was like for his mother when his dad had died. He also knew what it was like to grow up without a father. And since Rhys carried the gene that caused his father’s and grandfather’s early deaths, marriage and a family wasn’t in the cards for him… no matter how much he loved Hanna.

  Chapter Five

  The best thing about being busy was that Hanna didn’t have time to dwell on her nonexistent love life. It was just as well that her date with Rhys had ended prematurely, because five o’clock came awfully early. She’d rolled into the café a half hour later and spent the next few hours baking the treats for the book signing. By the time the clock struck noon, she had more cookies, cupcakes, and scones than she knew what to do with.

  She poked her head out into the café and grimaced. The line was out the door still, which meant no one had a spare moment to help her carry the large pink boxes down to Hollow Books.

  “Oh, gosh, Hanna. I’m sorry,” Candy, her cousin, said from her spot at the register. “Can you wait about ten minutes and see if we can knock this line down?”

  “No, it’s okay. I’ve got it.” Hanna started stacking the boxes on the counter. “I’ll just have to make a couple of trips. It’ll be fine.”

  “Chad can help you, dear,” Barb Garber said.

  Hanna glanced over at the woman. She was standing near the pickup counter, gesturing to a tall blond guy who looked an awful lot like the actor who played Eric on True Blood. Hanna’s gaze traveled over his long lean frame and lingered on his chiseled face. Whoa. That was Chad?

  “Hello.” He walked over to the counter and picked up all six of her boxes with ease. “Need these hauled out to a car?”

  “Um, no.” She shook her head, trying to get control of her tongue. Geez, that man was gorgeous. “They need to go down to Hollow Books. I was just going to walk.”

  “I’ll do it if you show me the way.” His muscles flexed, and she thought she might swoon.

  “Thank you!” Candy called to him as she rushed to make another latte.

  “Right. Thank you,” Hanna echoed. “Let me just grab the last two.” She ran into the back, collected the rest of the boxes, and hurried out into the lobby. “This way.”

  Chad followed her out of the café and fell into step beside her out on the cobbled sidewalk.

  “This is really nice of you,” Hanna said, finally finding her voice. “I know your mom sort of just threw you to the wolves back there. It’s hard to refuse when a bunch of townies are watching you.”

  He chuckled. “It’s fine. Really. Maybe this way she’ll stop asking if I’ve called that nice girl at the café yet.” He grinned at her. “I think our moms are working the setup pretty hard.”

  It was Hanna’s turn to laugh. “Yes, they appear to be a little focused on setting us up, don’t they?”

  He gave a slight shrug. “I think it’s a worthy cause.”

  “You do, huh?” A warm little flutter tickled her abdomen. “Are you angling for a dinner date, Chad Garber?”

  “With a pretty girl like you? Absolutely. Just name a date and time and I’ll be there.”

  All of the stress and frustration that had plagued Hanna since the night before fled, and she suddenly found herself grinning at the man. “Any time, huh? How about tomorrow night? We could try the Cozy Café.”

  “Perfect,” he said with a nod. “Tomorrow night it is. Six?”

  “Works for me.” Hanna was so busy smiling up at him she completely missed the entrance of Hollow Books and only stopped when she was just about to run into the massive line of readers lined up to get in. “Oops!” She turned around. “The front door is back there.”

  “Ah, I wondered if this was the place. Nice window display,” he said.

  Hanna peered into the window and gasped. Jacob and Yvette had outdone themselves this time. There was a large picture frame with a hologram portrait of one of the signing authors holding her book open along with a feathered quill that scribbled her signature. The author gave an exaggerated wink, and then the author’s image changed to another one and the quill did its thing again. Hanna had a feeling that if they stood there long enough, the author portraits would rotate through each of the signing authors for the event.

  “They are something else,” Hanna said, shaking her head.

  The door popped open, and Yvette poked her head out and motioned for them to get inside. The chestnut-haired beauty was bubbling with excitement for her big day. “Stop gawking. We have goodies to put on display.”

  “The window is amazing, Vette,” Hanna said. “I swear, I need you and Jacob to do something for the café. We’re the only one on the block that doesn’t have something great for the tourists to drool over.”

  “You have the cupcakes. They are plenty drool-worthy,” Yvette said, leading them across the store to the coffee bar. She unloaded the bakery boxes from Chad’s arms and then stood back and appraised him. “Well, now. Who is this handsome fellow?”

  He held his hand out. “Chad Garber. I just moved to Keating Hollow last week.”

  “And you’ve already latched onto Hanna? Sma
rt man.” Yvette shook his hand and gave him a conspiratorial wink. “She’s gorgeous, right?”

  Hanna gave Yvette a warning glare, but Yvette just grinned at her.

  “She definitely is,” Chad agreed. “And lucky me, she agreed to go to dinner with me tomorrow night.”

  “She did, did she?” Yvette gave him another appraising glance. “Smart man. You don’t waste any time, do you?”

  “Stop!” Hanna threw her hands up in the air. “I’m standing right here.”

  “We know,” Yvette said with a laugh.

  Rolling her eyes, Hanna slipped behind the coffee counter and went to work plating and arranging the pastries for their event.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Yvette said. “Brinn can handle it.”

  Hanna glanced across the store and spotted the store’s assistant manager running around, fixing book displays and fetching things for the authors who were set up around the store. “Does she have a clone I don’t know about?”

  Yvette followed Hanna’s gaze and winced. “Okay, so she’s a little frantic. I better go help.” She grabbed Hanna around the shoulders and gave her a quick hug. “Thank you! You’re the best.”

  “I know.” Hanna patted her arm and then gave her a little shove. “Now go have the best darn signing that ever existed.”

  “We plan to.” Yvette rushed off to finish the last-minute details before they let the crowd in, leaving Hanna and Chad to the pastries.

  Chad, who’d been watching her arrange the cupcakes on a plate, slipped behind the counter and opened the next box. “Want me to do the same with these?”

  “You don’t have—”

  “I know I don’t,” he said, giving a dismissive wave. “But I’m planning on Keating Hollow being my home for a good while. Being neighborly seems like the best way to meet people.”

  “You’re something else,” she said with a small shake of her head. “Okay, handsome. How about you place these little sugar cookies on top of the cupcakes and I’ll do the arranging.”

  He glanced down at the cookies that had been decorated to look just like the bookshop, and his eyes widened. “Did you make these?”