“Right, your old victims,” Raibeart poked his fingers into some of the holes along the overalls waist like and wiggled the digits around like they came out his stomach. “Can’t be too happy to have those lost souls found, eh?”
“I wasn’t around in the medieval period,” Jennifer stated.
“How was I to know your age?” Raibeart dismissed. “A gentleman knows better than to ask a lady about such a delicate thing.” He wiggled his fingers faster. “Hey, Rory, check this out. It looks like I have ten little penis—”
“Stop!” Rory cut the man off.
“Don’t be green with envy,” Raibeart said, pulling his fingers from the holes. “Ha, Greene and green, what a pair.”
“Ma, Raibeart is doing inappropriate things in front of Jennifer with the creepy baby jumper he’s wearing,” Rory called.
“Och!” Raibeart flinched and turned as he readied himself for Cait’s wrath.
“Come on.” Rory pulled Jennifer with him from the dining room. “We’ll drive for coffee.”
“We’re not wearing shoes,” she observed.
“Don’t care. I need to get ya away from here before my family drives ya away for good.” Rory was only half-joking. “I know they can be a lot.”
“Bye, Jenny Greentooth!” Raibeart yelled. “Lovely to see ya again.”
“Um, bye?” she mumbled.
Rory used his magick to open the front door.
“Is what he said…? Am I really an evil witch?” She started to turn back around as if to confront Raibeart.
“Allow me.” Rory stopped her from returning to the dining room and lifted her into his arms. He cradled her as he carried her over the threshold and down the front steps toward his car. The cobblestone drive poked his feet, but he didn’t care. “For the record, not all witches are evil. Like humans, many are good. It’s all about choices.”
If she turned out to be a witch, Rory didn’t want her to have the wrong impression. He gestured the best he could and forced the car door to swing open without touching it. He sat her inside on the passenger seat.
“Front door.” She pointed to where he’d left the door open. He waved his hand, and it slammed closed a little too loudly.
Rory ignored the giant gremian dents in his car as he went around to the driver’s seat and got in. “Shall we make good our escape?”
“Yes, please,” she said.
Chapter Fourteen
Jennifer watched the trees pass by the window, happy to be running away from the mansion. As much as the MacGregors fascinated her—both as warlocks and as a close-knit family—they also overwhelmed her. Their energy was a bit much. Plus, she didn’t trust the elders.
Jennifer touched her mouth, remembering the taste and texture of mud passing her lips.
Bog witch. How ridiculous was that idea? She wasn’t any kind of witch, bog or not. Maybe she’d heard them wrong with the accent. Maybe Raibeart and Rory said grog wench, like an old term for a barmaid.
Maybe but doubtful. Jennifer wasn’t about to start deluding herself now.
“I don’t like people calling me Jenny,” Jennifer said, thinking of Raibeart’s horrible nickname. She leaned her head against the glass and watched the side of the road as they turned out of the long driveway toward downtown. “My mom used to call me that.”
“Used to? I’m sorry, did she pass away?” Rory’s hand rested on her leg, drawing her attention from outside of the car.
“She walked out on us after my older brother died in a car accident. One of his friend’s parents was driving. I don’t think my mom could handle being around my dad and me after that. I heard her fighting with my dad once. She blamed his side of the family for cursing us with the worst luck.” Jennifer sighed, unsure why she was telling him all of this. “The way she said it, too, like it was his fault.”
Rory reached for her hand and held it as he drove.
“I think some people aren’t meant to be parents,” she said. “My dad was great, though.”
“Was?”
“He died from cancer. Now it’s just me. My dad didn’t have any other family. And if my mom did, they never came around so I wouldn’t know them.” She took a deep breath. “I only remember pieces of her. I remember that her hands smelled like cigarettes when she touched my face before she left. It hurt at first. Then I was angry about it. Then something happened when I was taking care of my dad. I realized that her leaving was more about her deficiencies than it was about mine. I’m nothing like her. I don’t run from hardship or responsibilities. It sucks, but that’s what happened. I had an awesome dad to make up for her lacking.”
All it takes is a dash of destiny, and everything can change.
Damn if her mother hadn’t been right about that one.
“I can’t imagine not having family,” Rory said. “Iain’s right, though. Once you’re in our lives, we’re like kudzu. There’s no getting rid of us.”
He turned the car into a parking lot and stopped in front of a small coffee shop.
“We’re not wearing shoes, and I’m in pajamas,” she said. “We can’t go in there.”
“I’m not having our second coffee date through a drive-thru like the first,” he countered. “Ya wait here. I’ll get it. What would ya like?”
“Can we count going to get fast food coffee last time as a date?” she asked, unable to help her smile.
“I am now that I know how low your former dates set the bar,” he stated. “I mean, it’s no hitting ya with my car, but—”
“Vanilla soy latte please,” she interrupted.
“Done.” He got out of the car.
“Oh, and a chocolate chip muffin?” she called after him.
He grinned, nodding. “Whatever ya wish, love.”
Jennifer watched him through the window of the coffee shop. The barista giggled as she took his order, flinging her hair over her shoulder. Jennifer was more fascinated than jealous. Everyone Rory talked to walked away with a smile on their face. There was an easiness to his manner, and yet unmistakable confidence.
She leaned over to open the driver’s side door when he returned with the coffees and a muffin. He handed her order to her.
“Shall we go somewhere to enjoy them?” he asked.
“Would you mind driving me home?” Jennifer held her latte in one hand and a giant muffin in the other. She leaned over to bite the top of the muffin while keeping the bottom wrapped in paper.
“Not at all.” He put his coffee between his knees and pulled out of the parking lot.
“And would you mind going in with me?” she asked. “I know that weird voice I was hearing had something to do with—whatever that was.”
“We’ll call it a possession spell,” he supplied.
“Yeah, that,” she said. “I know that the voice wasn’t real, but—”
“No, it was very real,” he countered. “And, yes, I’ll check your home for ya. Then, I think ya should pack a bag and stay with me.”
“I don’t think I can stay at the mansion,” she said.