A Taste of Magic (29 page)
Authors: Tracy Madison
Tags: #General, #Romance, #Fiction, #Love stories, #Contemporary, #Romance - Contemporary, #Fiction - Romance, #Romance & Sagas, #American Light Romantic Fiction, #Adult & contemporary romance, #Bakers, #Magic, #Police, #Romance: Historical, #Divorced people, #Romance - Paranormal, #paranormal, #Bakers and bakeries
I stood in my kitchen arranging another tray of hors d’oeuvres, listening to the chatter of my friends and family, feeling warm and solid. To celebrate my new life, and the decoration of my apartment, I was hosting a party.
And, if I did say so myself, a terrific party at that.
“Want some help with that?” Scot asked, nodding toward the tray. “And I wanted to ask you what’s going on with Alice. She’s really quiet.”
I plastered on a smile. “She’ll be okay. And yes, I’d love some help.” Alice hadn’t confided in anyone else yet, but she’d have to soon. Another month had passed and, while others may not have yet noticed the small bump her tummy had become, they would before too much longer. Regardless, it was her call when to say anything.
Breathing deeply, I opened the fridge and picked up a plate with a slice of lemon meringue pie. It was my sister’s newest craving. “I’m going to take this to Alice,” I said to Scot. “If you could just put the tray on the dining room table, I’d really appreciate it.”
“Hey, where were you hiding that? Do you have more?” “In the fridge. Bottom shelf.”
Before I actually made my way to Alice, Maddie stopped me, waving her hand in my face, a huge diamond blinking brightly in the light.
“Oh my God, congratulations! When did this happen?”
Maddie’s smile widened. “Last night. I really never thought this day would come.”
“I’m so happy for you!” And I was. My friend was in love and realizing her dreams. Major kudos for her. “But isn’t this a little fast?”
Pink blossomed on her cheeks. “We’re going to have a long engagement. But we wanted to make a commitment to each other.”
“I think that’s wonderful.”
“I want you to be my maid of honor. Please? Oh, and if you promise no magic, I want you to bake my cake.” Her grin told me she was teasing, and I laughed.
“Promise, no magic; and I would love to be your maid of honor.” Glancing around, I didn’t see Spencer. “Is he here? I want to congratulate him, too. He’s a lucky guy.”
“He’ll be here soon. I’ll bring him over when he arrives.” I gave her an awkward hug, because I was still holding Alice’s pie, and said, “I’ll be back in a minute. I want to hear all the details. But I need to talk to Alice.”
“Go,” she said, shooing me away. “I’m just gonna ogle my ring some more.”
My eyes darted around the room, trying to find my sister. Jon and Andy sat on the couch, talking animatedly with my mother. Next to them, Joe was gabbing on his cell phone. Nate and his sister, with Sam in between, were playing cards at the dining room table. His eyes caught mine, and he grinned. My stomach flipped, and my heart warmed. This, you see, always happened when he smiled at me. I blew him a kiss and turned, still trying to find Alice.
My dad had pulled a chair up to the television and was watching something. God knew what. Grandma Verda and Vinny were in the side by side La-Z-Boy chairs, sweetly holding hands. Everyone was accounted for.
Everyone, that was, except for Alice.
This worried me, because my apartment was not that big. On a hunch, I went to my bedroom and slipped inside. She was curled on my bed, her hands on her stomach, rubbing the tiny bump that was her baby.
“Hey, sis, you feeling all right?” I asked, quietly closing the door behind me.
“I get tired easily. Overwhelmed easily. It’s okay if I rest for a while, isn’t it?”
Sitting down next to her, I set the plate on my nightstand and then rubbed her belly. “Of course it is. How’s my niece or nephew doing?”
“Fine. Healthy. Everything is good, so my doctor says.”
“Then why do you look so sad?”
“I’m scared. Moving into Grandma Verda’s place will be good, because of the room, but I don’t know anyone there. I still keep thinking I should tell Troy, Liz. Should I?”
The danger in his eyes came back to me, chilled me, frightened me. “I don’t want you to. But it’s your choice.” I hadn’t yet told Alice about his visit to A Taste of Magic, but maybe I should. Just not tonight. “Hey, do me a favor? If you decide to talk to him, tell me first, so we can hash it out. Deal?”
She nodded. And when her eyes welled with tears, I pulled her into my arms.
“Tell me what you want,” I whispered. “Tell me what you wish for.”
“I want to figure out how to do this. I want to know I
can
do this. I wish I wasn’t feeling so scared. So powerless. I want to be in control, but I’m not. The world is spinning around me, and I just want it to slow down. So I can catch a breath, figure things out, and be strong.” It all came out in a huge rush of words, and even though our situations were starkly different, I recognized a thread of unity.
Control. Strength. Finding courage in the face of fear.
All of this helped finalize my decision. All of this told me I was doing the right thing. I’d given a lot of thought to what Miranda had said to me. And deep inside, I knew what I was about to do was, somehow, exactly what I was
supposed
to do.
“Sit up.” I reached over and picked up the plate of pie. “Here, I made this for you. Pie makes everything better.”
“You sound like Mom,” Alice said through her tears. She accepted the plate, and I watched, curiously, as she took the first bite. And the second. I rubbed her belly as she ate it, and when nothing but crumbs remained, she handed the plate back to me.
Weird. I didn’t feel any different.
“Thank you. Silly, but I feel better already.”
“Told you,” I said lightly. “Pie makes everything better.”
“I’m going to go wash my face and get something to drink.” She kissed me on my cheek. “Thank you for being my friend and not only my sister.”
“Always and forever,” I said. After she left, I set the plate down again and wondered if it had worked. If I’d passed the gift to my sister or not.
And then, flowers scented the air, and I smiled. A gentle light grew in the center of the room, turning into a pale rainbow. Energy hummed around me, and I focused on the colors, waiting. Entirely at ease with what once completely freaked me out.
And then, suddenly, there she was.
Miranda
.
“Hello, Grandmother.”
Her smile, so like Alice’s, made the rainbow pulse brighter. “You made the right choice, Elizabeth. I couldn’t tell you to give the gift to Alice, but it’s what I wanted you to do. Because she has it now, I’ll be able to connect with her. And that will be vitally important.”
“I didn’t tell her about the magic, though. I need to.”
My great-great-great-grandmother held up a ghostly finger. “Not yet. She wouldn’t be able to understand just yet. Let her come to you with questions, because she will.” She laughed again. “And I’ll be there, to help her along, when the time is right.”
I nodded, somehow understanding her meaning if not her actual words. “I don’t feel any different. Shouldn’t I feel different?”
She gave her tinkling laugh. “The magic stays with you now forever. You are the first in our line, so far, to have the strength to keep it
and
to pass it on.”
Keep it? I still had it? I shivered. “We both have it now?”
“Yes, and hopefully this will continue. Alice’s child, it’s a daughter, and she has the potential to be the strongest of us all. Stronger than I was, even. This is why I’m still here. This is why it was so important I connected with you. I will be there for her as she grows, to learn what she can do. To teach her.”
A fairy ghost grandmother. What child wouldn’t want that?
Miranda continued. “But it was important for you to believe in order for you to pass the gift on to who it needed to go to.”
“You said this before. That I should believe, but I’ve believed from the beginning.”
Another laugh. “No, Elizabeth. Not the magic. You needed to believe in
yourself.
”
And then, instantly, the energy dissipated, the colors vanished, the scent of flowers disappeared and I was all alone.
My sister was having a daughter. Possibly a little girl who would be born with magic more powerful than anything I could imagine. Tingles coated my skin as I stood from the bed. While my mind wasn’t yet ready to accept everything Miranda had passed on, my heart and my soul knew it to be true. The next year, and beyond, would prove to be enlightening, interesting, and probably more than a little freaky.
Opening the door, I stood at the threshold. My gaze once again took in everything, everybody, but as always, it ultimately rested on Nate. The sweet, sexy cop I’d met so unexpectedly.
He beckoned to me. Smiling, I stepped toward this incredible man I’d found. My future might or might not be weaved together with him, but regardless, I knew one thing for certain.
I wrapped my arms around him. “I love you.”
“Yeah? That’s good, because I love you, too, Gypsy Girl.” As his lips touched mine in a soft kiss, his eyes promised me more heat, more everything, later, when everyone went home.
And you know what?
Not only did I believe in love.
Not only did I believe in magic.
But, yes. Finally, I believed in me. And with the amount of points I get for that, there’s no stopping me.
From the moment I decided to write this book, many people helped it along. Thank you to my best friend and sister of the heart, Lisa Mondello. Your steadfast support, friendship, and love make every day brighter. Thanks, also, to my equally as wonderful friend, Natalie Damschroder, who’s an expert at “big stick” motivation. Thanks, Nat!
To my incredible critique partners, Dale, Deborah, and Traci; to MVRWA for the laughs, encouragement, and information that is freely passed from one to another; and to David Brown, for pushing me along the promo trail. My gratitude is endless.
To my parents and my brother, who stand beside me in the best and worst of circumstances; to my uncle, who sets the bar high, and expects me to meet it; to my husband, who always has more faith in me than I have in myself; and to my children, who are the reason I wake up every day. I can never thank you enough.
LOVE SPELL®
March 2009
Published by
Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc. 200
Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Copyright © 2009 by Tracy Leigh Ritts
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E-ISBN: 978-1-4285-0617-6
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