I laugh. “Okay, good to know.”
“What are friends for?” he replies modestly. “You know, it’s hard to find a friend who’s wise, handsome, generous, and caring. You better not lose me.”
I burst out laughing, and Julie and I exchange mirthful glances.
Trace shakes his head. “I know you love me.”
“Would you two stop flirting,” Julie says.
I laugh again. Julie’s quiet, but she has unexpected moments of humor. “Let’s find somewhere to sit,” I say to her.
She and I cross the patio and find four chairs that we pull together, and the guys join us a moment later. I’m growing to love Trace’s friends, and I love how relaxed he is around them. In fact, he’s a lot more relaxed most of the time now.
I watch Felise and Magan sitting across the patio, talking to some cousins. Magan and Dallas broke up a couple of months ago, and she was sad but knew it was for the best. Felise’s friend Cam is here again. There’s something about the way he looks at her that makes me think he likes her as more than a friend. Trace sometimes teases me about my intuition and tells me I make up stories about people, but I’m usually right. Sometime I’ll ask Felise about that.
Dad and Cassie stand near the champagne bar, holding glasses and chatting with Ziggy and his wife. A rush of affection fills me. I’ll always love my mom, but I’m so grateful that I have these two in my life. And every other family member who’s here. They’re loud and noisy and nosy, but they’re my family.
Since that night Dad talked to me and the next day when I did my shadow work, I’ve thought a lot about the questions I had. The questions I still have. I know who the most important people in my life are. I know that my values match theirs. I’ve thought about ways that I can make the world a better place, even in small ways, how I can use the talents I have, and not let others’ values and judgments stop me from using them.
I blink in surprise when a woman walks up to us, blond hair gleaming in the sunlight. It’s Ziggy’s granddaughter. Who I know from the gallery.
“Hi, Romy!” she says, smiling. “Congratulations!”
“Thank you.”
“Hi, Amy.” Julie stands, and the two women hug. “Haven’t seen you in ages.”
“I know. We have to change that.”
“For sure! I’m just on my way out, but let’s chat next week.”
I tilt my head. Amy. Her name is Amy.
Amy gives me another smile as she turns away.
I turn to Julie. “Amy? Is that who you set up Trace with? The one who didn’t show up?”
Julie blinks. “Oh. Right. I forgot about that! Yes, that’s her.”
“Huh. Did you ever find out why she didn’t show?”
Julie’s eyes widen. “No idea! Garrett, can you get me more shrimp?”
“Of course, my love.”
“Wait, I’ll come with you.” Julie stands too, and they disappear.
Trace and I look at each other.
“Weird,” he says.
“Yeah.”
We shrug.
Later, back at Trace’s house, he gives me my gift. It’s in a large, flat box wrapped with pale pink paper. I unwrap it and open it to find… gold. At first that’s all I see. I spy a chain, and I carefully lift it. Is it jewelry?
No, it’s too big for that. With a smile, Trace takes one end of the chain and holds it up while I lift the other. “Oh!”
The brass shapes dangling from the chain are moons… starting from a sliver of an old moon, then a waning crescent, slightly bigger waning moons, a full moon in the center and then waxing crescents, thirteen moons in all.
“It’s beautiful,” I breathe, hardly able to take my eyes off it. “I love it.” I lift my gaze to meet Trace’s eyes.
He smiles. “Good.”
“Where did you get it?”
“I made it.”
My eyes bug out. “Really? That’s amazing!”
“I learned some new magic skills.”
I grin. “You did a fantastic job. This is truly gorgeous.” I touch my fingers to a shiny brass shape.
“I thought it would look good above the fireplace.” He nods his head.
“Oh. Yes, it would. But is it for me or for you?” I tease.
“It’s for you. And you could see it all the time if you lived here.”
I lower my chin, and give him a half-smiling look. “Oh really?”
“Yes.” He takes the other end of the chain and carefully sets the creation back in the box. “Will you move in here? With me and Cheddar?”
Asleep on the rug, Cheddar’s ears twitch.
“I would love to.”
Trace sets the box aside, going to his knees in front of me where I sit. He takes my hands. “I love you. I want you in my life all the time.”
“I want that too. I love you too.” As I study his handsome, beloved face, I’m taken back to that night at the Singing Horse. I stare into his gold-and-emerald-flecked eyes, remembering what he told me.
Nothing’s ever perfect. No family is perfect. And sometimes love is painful. You just have to have the courage to open your mind and your heart to the possibilities.
And like that night, I feel dazzled. Hypnotized. Enchanted.
“Are you putting a spell on me?” I whisper.
His smile melts my heart. “There’s no such thing as a love spell. This is all us.”
I remember thinking that night I never should have done the DNA test. There were other moments I questioned that decision. Life is full of choices. I could have followed the path I knew and accepted my life as it was. But something inside me spurred me to make decisions that would chart a new course. And yes, it will not always be perfect, this strange and wonderful path I’m on. But I’m on it with Trace and my family and my friends. It’s not finding the answers to all my questions—looking for the answers to all my questions is what life is all about.
Thank you so much for reading Big Witch Energy! If you like standalone romances with heat, heart, and humor, check out Firecracker!
Arden Lennox’s charmed life may be in pieces, but she’d sooner get her hoohaw bleached than move back in with her parents. She’s no longer the prom-queen princess married to the football star. She’s a broke, penniless widow, and it’s time she stood on her own two feet.
An under-construction unit in a quaint Chicago brownstone is cheap (free), but it comes with an unexpected surprise. Tyler Ramirez, her brother’s gawky high school best friend, is now a smoking hot firefighter who spends most of his spare time in her unit hammering, drilling, and screwing. Usually with his shirt off—a temptation she has no intention of indulging.
One-click FIRECRACKER now!
Read on for an excerpt!
Excerpt from Firecracker by Kelly Jamieson
Tyler rolled out of bed at the crack of noon on Sunday.
Hey, he’d just come off a twenty-four-hour shift. He’d only had a few hours’ sleep due to not one but three drug overdoses they’d had to respond to…typical Saturday night. He’d crawled into bed when he got home at eight thirty to grab a few more z’s.