Making Magic: Books of the Kindling, Book 3

by Donna June Cooper

  Thea set the dog down and stripped the gown off, handing it over to Ouida as she headed for the bathroom.

  “What were you doing up there in that big city? Starving yourself?” Ouida said.

  Thea was unfazed by Ouida’s assessment of her nude form. The woman had practically changed her diapers. “Too busy to eat.”

  Ouida huffed. “Well we’ll fix that soon enough.”

  Thea turned and stuck out her tongue, which earned a laugh, then ducked into the bathroom.

  A while later she headed down the back stairs carrying Bailey, who had apparently never seen stairs before. She had a pair of Grace’s yoga pants on, an old pair of sandals she’d found hiding in the closet and a soft purple T-shirt that said “Real Men Marry Doctors”. Her hair was clean, but had always been inclined to frizz and was doing so now with gusto. The thought of digging through all the garbage in her car to find her hair products was daunting.

  She set Bailey down at the bottom of the stairs, determined not to become the kind of woman who carried a little dog around in her handbag. She watched as Bailey made a beeline toward the smell of food.

  She heard Grace laugh. “There’s the dog, but where’s the dog rescuer?”

  Thea smiled as she entered the kitchen.

  “And there she is!” Grace announced. She came to Thea with her arms open, her belly leading the way.

  “You sure it’s safe to hug you?” Thea asked as Grace hugged her anyway. “I don’t want that baby to pop out on me.”

  “Hey, we haven’t tried that yet. Maybe we could squeeze her out of you.” A handsome dark-haired man came over to Thea with his hand extended. She recognized him from the photos that Grace had posted online. “Nick McKenzie.”

  “I am so glad to finally meet you in person,” Thea said. She squeaked as he used her hand to pull her into a hug.

  “Same here.”

  Maybe this journey home wasn’t going to be as awkward as she feared it might.

  “I am so sorry I didn’t make it to your wed—”

  “Don’t start with the sorry stuff, Sissy,” Thea felt herself picked up from behind and practically twirled around the kitchen. Bailey started to bark frantically. “Or we’ll be standing here all day and I’m starved.”

  “Oh! Daniel!”

  Ouida laughed. “Danny, don’t! You’ll make her sick!”

  The familiarity of it all brought tears to Thea’s eyes. She clasped her fingers behind Daniel’s neck. “Oh, I’ve missed you so,” she said as he sat her back on her feet and kissed her on the forehead.

  “Ditto, Sissy.” Those dark eyes of his danced as he reached out to pull a short blond woman to his side.

  The woman held out her hand, smiling brightly at Thea. “I’m Mel.”

  Thea pulled her into a hug. “Run while you can.” It was a fake whisper, loud enough for everyone to hear.

  “She already tried that, but I tracked her down,” Daniel said, pulling Mel back under his arm.

  Thea scooped up the dog hovering by her ankles. “Thank you so much for what you did for Bailey. I hardly recognized her.”

  “Bailey! What a wonderful name,” said Mel. “She’s a good girl, aren’t you, Bailey-girl?” Her voice took on a cooing tone as she leaned in to rub Bailey’s head.

  “For you, maybe,” Daniel complained. “It took a heck of a lot of persuasion to get her away from you, Sissy. Mel was the only one she’d let get close.”

  Thea felt her face heat. “I guess my arrival was rather dramatic. I’m really sorry about that. I didn’t know how exhausted I was until the tire—”

  “I told you the whole ‘sorry’ thing would waste valuable eating time,” Daniel complained. “What can I help with, Ouida my love?”

  “Here, carry this in there.” Ouida handed Daniel a carrier containing a huge casserole dish of lasagna. “Now, everyone out of my kitchen! I need to get started on plumping this girl back up before she’s blown away in the next storm.”

  The smell made Thea’s mouth water and her stomach complain as everyone trooped into the dining alcove on the other side of the great room. Daniel shepherded Thea along in front of him as Bailey trotting behind.

  Thea looked around for any sign of the old handyman. “Where’s Eddie?”

  “There’s a place set for him, but he’s out somewhere doing something.” Ouida waved her hand. “And we’re missing Jamie girl.”

  “You remember Jamie?” Grace carefully settled at the head of the table with a soft exhale of air. She grinned and patted her stomach when she caught Thea staring. “I am so ready for this little girl to get out of here.”

  Thea smiled. “It’s so amazing. I have to get used to you with… You’re…”

  “Curvy in all the right places?” Nick supplied, his eyebrow suggesting it was the only correct answer.

  Thea laughed. “Exactly.”

  “Here you go.” Ouida sat a huge bowl of salad on one end of the table. “For those of you who actually eat your salad at the beginning of your meal.” She looked at Nick and Mel, who both smirked back at her. “And it’s already got Mr. Nick’s special dressing on it.”

  Thea looked around the table. Her family had expanded by two while she wasn’t looking. And in the next few days was about to expand by one more.

  “Do you remember Jamie?” Grace repeated.

  “I do. Daniel’s assistant beekeeper, right?” She had tried so hard to keep up with what was going on back here without giving anything away to her father, but it hadn’t been easy. “I think I met her at the—” She remembered where and stopped.

  “Funeral,” Grace finished. “Yes. She was my flower girl as well. I emailed you the pictures.”

  “Yes!” Thea grabbed the lifeline and hung on. “I saw them. They were lovely. And she’s really growing up fast. Is she around?”

  “She’s in Baltimore,” Daniel said, pouring Mel a glass of sweet tea and offering to pour for Thea, who nodded. “She’s in a summer program at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. Our little math whiz.”

  “Wow. Johns Hopkins,” Thea said. “But she’s only what, nine or ten?”

  “Exactly.” Nick smiled as if Jamie were his own kid.

  “That’s amazing, but is she up there all by herself?”

  “It’s like a summer camp at college for really smart kids. There are RAs in the dorms and a really low student-to-staff ratio,” Daniel said. “So far she’s having a blast. She came home between the two sessions and couldn’t wait to go back.”

  “Isn’t she coming for your wedding?” Thea asked.

  “Absolutely,” Mel said. “Nick’s arranged to fly her down on Wednesday afternoon and back on Thursday morning in time for class. Friday is her last day up there, and she didn’t want to miss the closing ceremonies.”

  Ouida set a plate of delicious smelling bread on the table and finally sat. “The lasagna is vegetarian, Sissy. There’s grated parmesan down here for anyone who wants some.”

  Thea smiled as Daniel put a large slice of lasagna on her plate and Nick added an equally large serving of salad. Mel joined in and held out the plate of garlic bread.

  “Oh, this is…perfect.”

  Mel nodded. “Don’t I know it. I’ve gained ten pounds between Ouida and Nick’s cooking.”

  “No discussions about weight are allowed,” Grace said solemnly. “And someone pass me the lasagna before this child jumps out and runs down the table to get it.”

  Everyone laughed as plates were filled.

  “Save room for dessert!” Nick said. “Fresh blueberries.”

  Thea sighed. “I don’t even have the words for how this feels.”

  Daniel reached out and squeezed her hand. “Like home, I hope.”

  “It’s been a while since you actually had a meal with us,” Grace said in a quiet voice.
<
br />   Thea looked at Nick who was sitting in Pops’s normal place. His expression told her that he knew exactly what she was thinking. Pops had been alive the last time she had been at this table. “It was Christmas. I know that.” She shook her head. “I honestly don’t remember which one.”

  “It was three years ago. They went off for Christmas in London and you came here,” Daniel said, meaning their parents.

  “Yes.” Thea nodded. “That’s right. I actually spent the weekend here. I remember now.” She sighed. “It was wonderful.” The memories of that weekend had kept her going for a while.

  Everyone was watching her a little too closely.

  “This is delicious, Ouida,” Thea said, taking another huge bite of the lasagna.

  “Here,” Daniel dipped out more and ladled it onto her plate.

  Mel spoke up. “When you were being carried in last night, I got the feeling that there is some kind of history between you and our gorgeous sheriff.”

  “Yes. And he will never let me live this down,” Thea said with a frown. “Ever.”

  “Thea and Jake were…” Grace couldn’t find the words.

  “They…” Daniel tried as well, then gave up.

  Mel raised her eyebrows, as did Nick. They all turned to Thea.

  “We were frenemies.”

  Daniel and Grace both nodded.

  “That sounds about right,” Daniel said.

  Mel and Nick looked more determined than ever to get the real story. Thea shrugged. “He tormented me. I tormented him. It was equal-opportunity annoyance.”

  “Since they were six,” Grace added. “Pops always said they were ‘bedeviling’ each other. I remember you always chasing after him, chanting nicknames or something.”

  “There are a lot of things that rhyme with Jake.” Thea smirked. “He hated all of them.”

  Grace waved down her husband for seconds. Nick’s eyes widened, but Grace was not to be denied. “If I put enough food in there, maybe she will be forced to move out.”

  “Or maybe she loves Italian food and knows once she pops out it’s momma’s milk and baby food for years,” Nick said, holding the dish so she could scoop out more.

  “We’ll just mash up some of Daddy’s pasta and sauce and give it to her, won’t we sweetling?” Grace said to her stomach.

  Mel made a sound that made Daniel loop his arm around her head and pull her in for a kiss.

  Thea felt a sudden pang of desperate longing. Home. People she loved beyond measure—and her father wanted to ruin all this. She felt the tears coming back.

  “So, Thea.” Mel’s cheerful voice made Thea jump. “Hey, you okay over there?”

  “I think I’m still fighting that cold,” Thea replied, taking some tea to swallow the lump in her throat.

  “More like exhausted and needing another nap,” said Grace.

  Thea stuck out her tongue. “Thanks, Mom.”

  Mel grinned. “I think I like your Sissy, Daniel.”

  “Don’t take sides,” Daniel said around a mouthful of salad. “It never works out well.”

  “So,” Mel said. “Has Jake had this crush on you for a long time?”

  Thea nearly choked on her drink. Grace laughed and Daniel snorted.

  “If Jake had a crush on anybody around here, it was Grace,” Thea managed, coughing.

  “What?” Grace and Nick yelped at the same time.

  Daniel shook his head, laughing. “You’re both wrong.” Everyone at the table stared at him and he raised his glass in salute. “If Jake Moser idolized anyone around here, it was Pops.”

  Thea nodded and lifted her glass. “And the mountain.”

  “And the mountain,” Grace agreed, raising hers as well.

  She wore a different outfit and sang a different song every time Jake visited. Sometimes it was a touch of new color or a wisp of fog, but she was always changing, this mountain. And today—today there was something else in the song. Something he could barely hear, like the drone of a drowsy bee in the sun—a sad harmony that followed along.

  Jake stood on the tailgate of his truck, gazing back at the view from the Woodruff’s solar barn. Even after twenty-five years of coming up here, he had yet to decide which season was his favorite, although autumn was always a treat. And this spot had a great view of the mountain, the house, the gardens, the pond, the apiary…pretty much everything. He supposed they had chosen it because of the number of hours of sun it got, considering all the solar panels positioned on the roof and downslope.

  “Beautiful day, ain’t it?” Eddie said from the ground.

  “Damn near perfect.” Jake jumped down and took one more look at the planks of cherry wood before he closed the tailgate.

  “I hope your wood turned out like you wanted.”

  “It looks real good. I need to talk to Nick about how much I owe him.”

  Eddie waved him off. “Hell. Sawmill’s not getting much use, ’cept for the renovations up at the old home place and some projects here and there. That old cherry ’us just gonna rot up there.”

  “Well, it’s gonna make some nice sound when I use it for my rails and bridges. I’ll use every inch of her for something, even cutting boards and toys with what’s left over,” Jake said. “If you see any other snags or downed trees that look promising, let me know. I’m always on the lookout.”

  “Jamie swears she found a downed curly maple somewhere, but she’ll have to take you to it with her GPS.”

  “That would be a prize,” Jake agreed, climbing into the cab. Although he really didn’t know how the child could tell it was curly, but good maple was good maple, curly or not. “Thanks again.”

  As he drove back to the house, he wondered why he’d abandoned his work in town to pick up wood that could have waited another week or more. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have more than one deadline staring him in the face. And as yesterday’s session had proven, his group needed a lot more practice time. Yet here he was and there was that red BMW sitting right where he had parked it.

  Pulling up behind it, he jumped out and gave the car another admiring once over as he walked past.

  “That is some car.” It was Nick McKenzie’s voice.

  Jake found Nick and Grace on the porch swing, rocking back and forth while their Plott hound watched warily from a safe distance. Grace looked gorgeous as always, and completely miserable. She was so very pregnant that it made his injured stomach muscles twinge in sympathy.

  “We are trying every home remedy known to man to get Lily to quit fooling around in there, but she’s taking her own sweet time,” Nick said, kicking the porch swing higher. “Someone said swinging might help.”

  Grace rolled her eyes, so Jake had a pretty good idea who came up with that theory.

  Jake went up the steps and leaned on the post. “I’ve heard that if you…uh…repeat the original activity that got her in this condition—”

  “Oh, we’ve tried that too,” Grace said. “Several times.”

  “We could always try again,” Nick offered. “In the name of science.”

  She poked him in the ribs and laughed. “That would require lots of fuel. Ice cream—mounds of chocolate ice cream, for the tiny amount of caffeine in there.”

  “With whipped cream,” Nick agreed. “Lots of whipped cream. All over.”

  “Okay, enough,” Jake said. “TMI, as Jamie says. I wanted to thank you for the cherry wood and the use of your sawmill.”

  “No problem,” Nick said. “Someone needs to use it now and again to keep it in good condition.”

  “And that old tree deserves to be used in something beautiful, like your instruments,” Grace added. “Besides, we owe you a lot more for taking care of Thea on Saturday.”

  “How is she doing? Still laid up with that cold?”

  “She’s been sleeping,” Grace said
.

  “Sleeping and eating,” Nick agreed.

  “Spent most of yesterday in bed too. She was completely exhausted,” Grace added. “She’s up and around today though.”

  “Really? That’s good,” Jake said, looking in the front door.

  “She’s not in there,” Grace said with a knowing smile.

  “Oh, well.” Jake stood. “I thought I’d check in on her. And that giant hairball she was carrying.”

  “Bailey’s been doing the whole sleep and eat thing too,” Nick said.

  “So there was a dog under there?”

  Grace laughed. “Oh yes. Mel did a great job excavating the dog out of the hair.”

  “Thea took her for a walk this morning, up to the cemetery.” Nick nodded in the general direction. “Every once in a while, we can hear her up there.”

  Jake looked towards the Woodruff family cemetery up on the meadow. “Barking?”

  “No. Thea,” Grace said. “Playing her flute.”

  So that was what he had heard woven into the mountain’s song—the velvety harmony of Thea’s flute. He couldn’t hear it distinctly from here, but it was there, blending in with the sounds of nature.

  “Good. I was afraid…” His voice sounded a bit hollow to his ears and he couldn’t finish the thought.

  “That she had given it up?” Grace spoke up. “I was too. It’s been too long since we’ve heard it.”

  “Yeah. It has.” Jake turned back towards the cemetery, listening.

  “How’re you feeling, by the way?” Grace asked.

  “Me? I’m fine,” Jake replied absently.

  “Your bullet wound?” Grace said.

  Jake ran his fingers over his side. “Good. I’m good.”

  Grace motioned with her fingers and the movement of the swing stopped. “Come.”

  “May as well give in,” Nick said. “She’ll keep chipping away at you if you don’t.”

  Jake frowned and walked over, lifting his shirt and tugging at his waistband to let Grace take a look. She squinted at the round scar, still red, but healing. He tensed as she reached out to touch it.