“No!”
At the top of the stairs he turned. “Are you kidding? Everything? Every single thing has to be a fight, doesn’t it?” He raced down the stairs. “Fine. I’ll do it myself.”
With a wave of her hand, Jackie sent the ivy, ferns, and weird winter poppies back from the house. She even moved all the indoor plants to the outside greenhouse.
“No, I don’t want a divorce,” she said in a surprisingly strong voice, which did not at all match the wobbly legs that held her upright. “I’ve always loved you, Daniel. I thought you didn’t love me, that you didn’t want a witch. That’s the truth. I swear it’s the only reason I ran.”
“You ran because you didn’t want to be a witch, and now you’ve been caught so you have no choice but to face it.” He turned back toward the stairs. “I don’t need any consolation prize. Don’t embarrass me further. I look like enough of an ass already.”
“I—”
“Enough, Jackie. I’ve tried. I’ve given all I have to this marriage in spite of you not wanting me. I’ve tried in every way to win you back and nothing I do pleases you. I’m done. It’s over.”
At the top of the stairs a door slammed.
Jackie stood in the kitchen stunned by the turn of events. Only seconds ago she had a pretty good feeling they were headed toward some fun sex and now it seemed like they would never do the fun stuff together again.
In fact, she was pretty sure the whole point was that she needed to leave.
“I’m so confused,” she whimpered as the familiar fast descent into a pit of magic-hating misery began.
The truth was out about why she ran. She no longer had to hide it. She no longer had to run. Her family had seen her and knew. Daniel had seen her, a lot of her. She’d told him everything, well, not too detailed, but all the high points.
Some things were probably best left unsaid, like the fact that when she left with all their wedding money she’d gone to Foxwoods and played poker until she had enough money to purchase a small villa in Italy in both their names or that she’d learned how to play the stocks and had experienced great luck and some shitty losses. Oh, and that she’d rooted for Cleveland instead of the Red Sox in the last World Series. All points best left unsaid.
Sitting in the fog with Bella Donna draping over her shoulders, petunias popping up in anything that looked remotely like a flowerpot, watching Cricket in his freaking glory buzz around the room, tears streamed down Jackie’s face.
“What the fuck?” She sniffled. “What the fuckety fuck am I supposed to do? I’m so fucking confuckingfused.” She swatted the Bella Donna from her face. “Goddess, please help me.” She hiccupped and booed and hooed.
Ding. Dong. Ding. Ding. Dong. Dong. Dong.
Ding. Dong. Ding. Diiiing. Dooooong.
“Great timing. I ask for help. She sends another disaster.” Jackie waited for Daniel to answer the door, but he didn’t come down the stairs.
Ding. Dong. Ding. Ding. Dong. Dong. Dong.
Ding. Dong. Ding. Diiiing. Dooooong.
“Daniel! There’s someone at your door,” she yelled, trying to sound like she was angry and not so miserable that her magic was now a dark gray cloud of uselessness.
“Well, answer it! What the hell?” he hollered back and slammed another door.
“What the fuck!” Jackie stomped off to the door. “This isn’t even my damn house!”
“What is it?” Swinging open the door, she nearly fell backward.
“Oh, my goodness,” Mrs. Ridgeback said. “I, I, well, your new hairstyle is certainly interesting.”
“May we come in, dear?” Mr. Ridgeback asked.
Jackie did the only thing any woman who now stood facing the two people who were the reason she’d been running away from her entire life would do.
“He’s made a baby with some other woman!” she blurted and stumbled forward, collapsing against her father-in-law’s chest, and balled her eyes out.
Chapter Fifteen
Nearly an hour and a half later Jackie had finished crying, Mr. Ridgeback had changed his shirt, and Mrs. Ridgeback refilled three mugs of hot cocoa and served double chocolate brownies to Mr. Ridgeback and Jackie. Of course, they couldn’t actually see each other through the magically smoky room, but no one seemed to mind.
Jackie was far more comfortable not being seen with a giant head of Bella Donna, which at this point also included three different color petunias, and she guessed her in-laws preferred not to look at the reason their son no longer had a relationship with them.
“So you see we might have had a little something to do with that rumor,” Mrs. Ridgeback said.
“We?” Mr. Ridgeback asked.
“By we I mean me…and your mother…and both your grandmothers.” Mrs. Ridgeback slid another pan of brownie batter into the oven. “We needed something big, something terrible, something that would get your attention and quite frankly, his.”
“For the record, your father and I totally disagreed with their scheme.” Mr. Ridgeback sighed. “Impatient mothers can be very devious.”
“What impatient? We’ve waited twelve years. I’d say we are the most patient mothers to ever live.”
“He loves you, you know,” Mr. Ridgeback said, squeezing Jackie’s hand. “Loves you the way I love his mother.”
“Such powerful love,” Mrs. Ridgeback said.
Jackie nodded, afraid to speak for fear she’d be foolish enough to blurt out that she’d have never left if they hadn’t reacted so badly to the marriage.
“We know what happened at school with the dead plants. Clearly you’ve worked through that issue as you’re doing a lovely job with your hair,” Mrs. Ridgeback said.
“Jackie, we never intended to permanently separate you kids, especially not for this long. We love you. Even the witch part of you. That never bothered us.” Mr. Ridgeback leaned to the left, moving into Jackie’s line of vision.
Aside from a few flecks of gray at his sideburns and the closely trimmed beard, he and Daniel could have been twins.
“We simply knew it was going to be very difficult for a young werewolf to be married to anyone, least of all to someone who was not a werewolf.” He smiled. “Young werewolves are rowdy and wild. We didn’t want to see you get hurt waiting for him to mature.”
“Oh my. They are a lot of work to tame. They have libidos that don’t quit and tempers that flare during the full moon and appetites that are near impossible to sate,” Mrs. Ridgeback said, handing Jackie another brownie. “Of course on the appetite front I hadn’t realized how much competition you’d give him.”
The brownie pan was two-thirds empty as Jackie had eaten six brownies already.
“I only wanted you to like me,” she finally managed to say.
“We always loved you like a daughter,” Mrs. Ridgeback said.
“We knew you were his mate from the time we moved here.” Mr. Ridgeback wrapped an arm around Jackie’s shoulders. “You scented him before most mates can scent. Pretty impressive.”
“The love of true mates.” Mrs. Ridgeback smiled.
“You don’t hate me for running?”
“How could we hate the woman who kept our son out of trouble? You ran and he chased. And for those years that we thought for sure he was going to be nothing more than trouble, he had one singular focus and nothing kept him from it.” Mr. Ridgeback motioned to the house. “He built this for you. He saved every penny, took night classes, studied business and agriculture, cooking, horticulture, science, animal husbandry. He learned all the things he thought would interest you so he could keep up with you when he found you. We couldn’t love you more for going berserk and keeping our son on the straight and narrow.”
Jackie had not realized the worry her in-laws had about Daniel. She’d never seen any signs that he was turning into a teenage mutant, but apparently werewolf parents had other fears that witches didn’t.
Finally her body relaxed a bit and she was able to take a deep breath.
&
nbsp; Magic continued to swirl, keeping the room filled and nearly impossible to see through, though the color changed, turning more green than gray.
“Interesting that your son has chosen to remain in his room while we visit,” Mrs. Ridgeback said, clearly to Mr. Ridgeback.
“Why would today’s visit be any different than any other?” Mr. Ridgeback asked.
“Well, today we find his wife here. I should think you’d find that to be different from any other visit,” Mrs. Ridgeback answered.
“Yes. A delightful surprise.” Mr. Ridgeback squeezed Jackie’s hand, which he hadn’t let go of since arriving at the house, except of course, when he went to Daniel’s room to change his shirt. At that point he made Mrs. Ridgeback hold Jackie’s hand and swear not to let go until he returned.
Funny how your in-laws got a little nervous about your teleportation skills when you visited.
“You spoke with him? Mentioned that his mother is here?” Mrs. Ridgeback asked.
Listening with the attention of a Jack Russell Terrier waiting for it’s next command, Jackie ate another hot brownie, not even noticing that the inside of her mouth and all the way down her throat burned from a three hundred and fifty-degree treat.
“I did.”
“And he has not come down?”
“Clearly not.”
“Well, that does it. If he thinks I’m going to stock his fridge, clean his house, or wash his laundry for even one more week while he refuses to speak to me because I questioned his alphaness, he’s lost his damn mind!” Mrs. Ridgeback slammed the spatula onto the counter. “Ungrateful little brat!”
“Darling, I think he’s asked you to stop doing all those things several times.” Mr. Ridgeback sipped his hot cocoa. “Even changed the locks on the doors four or five times.”
“I’m his mother!” Without warning Mrs. Ridgeback marched around the kitchen island, swinging her arms through the smoke. “I will not be ignored!” The woman bounded up the stairs with the agility of an angry werewolf.
Mr. Ridgeback smiled. “I wondered how long it would take before she blew.”
“How did she question his alphaness? Is that even a word?”
“When he didn’t bring you home from Vegas, Jeannie tried to understand his rationale, but failed, which led to more questioning.” Mr. Ridgeback laughed. “Daniel tried pulling the alpha card on his mother to stop the interrogation. Oh, that boy has always been good for a laugh.”
Yelling. Lots and lots of yelling ensued from the second floor.
Daniel never yelled because no one was stupid enough to yell at an angry mama werewolf.
Moments later Mrs. Ridgeback came back to the kitchen accompanied by Daniel whose only choice was to come or to have his ear removed.
“Sit in that seat and don’t move.” She guided his ear to the stool beside Jackie. “Just who do you think you are ignoring me?”
“I wasn’t—”
“Be quiet! Don’t interrupt me when I’m talking to you.” She pointed a finger in his face, and Daniel’s mouth shut. “I am your mother. I have been waiting for the day your wife returned and made us all one big happy family. Waiting for twelve long years!”
She poured hot cocoa in a mug, dropped a handful of marshmallows on top, and placed it before Daniel with a napkin, a spoon, and a brownie. “Do you want whipped cream?” She held the container poised on top and when Daniel didn’t answer in two seconds she squirted a huge pile over the marshmallows.
“This nonsense has been going on for far too long.” Mrs. Ridgeback topped every mug off with hot cocoa. “Now, have you made up or not?”
“Can I speak now, or was that a rhetorical question? I only ask because as you can see my house is full of magical smoke, my yard has turned into an Amazon forest, and my wife and I aren’t speaking to each other. So, I’m not sure if you’re making a joke or asking a legitimate question,” Daniel said.
“Young man, I will put you over my knee.” Mrs. Ridgeback pointed her finger at Daniel.
Jackie burst out laughing which made the air in the kitchen clear at least to waist level. If she had ever thought her mother was trouble, she’d completely forgotten about Daniel’s situation. For more than eighty years his father had been the alpha of his pack. His mother was nearly as strong and clearly crazier. At five feet and eight inches tall, no one messed with her. She was a force all her own.
“You think this is funny?” Daniel asked, his brows smoothing from the furrow he’d worn since being dragged by his ear to the kitchen.
Jackie nodded.
Something in the way he looked at her, no longer angry and with a bit of a twinkle in his eye made her stop laughing and reach to trace his lips with her finger.
His mouth hitched on one side in a lopsided grin, and he held her finger to his lips for a kiss. “I waited so long to hear you laugh, to see you happy when you’re near me. You have no idea how you make me feel.”
“I do know. I’ve always known because I feel it too, and no one else makes me feel this way, Daniel. Only you.” She slipped off the stool and into his arms, happily pulled against his body, and kissed him hard enough to forget her in-laws were in the room.
With hips wiggling she whispered, “Do you want to go upstairs?”
“Upstairs? Before dinner?” Maria’s voice froze Jackie’s hips mid-wiggle.
“They’re all back, aren’t they?” Jackie asked.
“We’re back and ready to celebrate!” Nonna Tortellani shouted. “I got a new dress.”
“It’s missing quite a bit of material,” Nonna Soppressata said.
“Pass the butter,” Tony said, handing Mr. Ridgeback a basket of bread.
“So Jeannie, did you hear about the McGungagles?” Maria asked.
“Oh, yes! I can’t believe it. Do you know what they want to do with that house?” Mrs. Ridgeback asked, working her way between Daniel and Jackie to pour peppermint schnapps in the hot cocoa. “You’ll love this.” She kissed them both and moved on with the pouring.
Jackie looked at Daniel and shrugged.
“They won’t stay all night.” He kissed her nose.
“Apparently, you’ve never met our parents,” she said.
“They want grandchildren. They won’t stay,” he whispered.
“Babies!” Nonna Soppressata yelled. “They’re going to make babies!”
Another round of hugging, kissing, and pinching occurred before dinner, and although the parents didn’t stay all night, they were in no hurry to leave. Jackie would truly have been a liar to say she wanted them to go.
It had been twelve long years since she enjoyed family time with the ones she loved. Several courses and bottles of wine later and the pretty purple, pink, and green colors returned to her magic, though a rich brown often outlined each stream, holding the foundation of her magic together the same way the love of family and her true mate grounded a witch for life.
~The End~
Amazing Magic & Mayhem Authors
Robyn Peterman
Michele Bardsley
Saranna DeWylde
Renee George
Cate Lawley
Heather Long
Cherie Marks
Hildie McQueen
Isabel Micheals
Julia Mills
Virginia Nelson
Jordan K. Rose
Sharon Saracino
DC Thome
Jodi Vaughn
About Jordan
Jordan loves vampires. She also loves to laugh. And if you know anything about Jordan, you know her vampires will make you laugh.
The Eva Prim Series follows the night-to-night escapades of The Demon Mistress, a vampire with the inexplicable ability to call demons. With both full-length novels and short stories the series has a bit of something for everyone. Book three, The Road To Hell, releases in Fall of 2017.
Jordan’s other books include The Central City Romance Series, where members of The Vampire Guard one-by-one find love in the ruins of the city
and Black Magic Rose, book one of The Alliance Series, where the world is set in a hospital run by vampires and werewolves. She also has a sexy short story series, Short Seductions, about the romantic encounters of paranormals who spend time at Seductions, the hottest night club in Rhode Island.
When she’s not writing about some vampire or another paranormal being Jordan enjoys spending time with her husband, Ken and their lovable Labradors, Dino and Enzo on the beautiful beaches of New England.
To keep up on new releases, contests, and free reads sign up for Jordan’s newsletter by clicking here.
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Look for these other stories by Jordan
Romance in Central City Novella Series
Her Vampire’s Promise
The Vampire’s Partner
A Vampire’s Passion
His Vampire Past
The Vampire’s Penance
The Vampire’s Prophecy
Her Vampire Protector
The Eva Prim Series
The Demon Mistress
Book One in The Eva Prim Series
Prim & Proper
Book Two in The Eva Prim Series
The Road to Hell
Book Three in The Eva Prim Series, coming Fall 2017
The Eva Prim short story collection
Demons and Deep Dish Pizza
Demons and The Dark Roast
Magic and Mayhem: The Witch, The Weeds, and The Were (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Spaghetti Romance Book 1) Page 8