“Yeah, we bears like honey. Not all bears, though. When the polars come in, they would most likely go for your salmon and lox.”
“Seriously?” I asked, my gaze wide.
“Yes. And if you have any blubber, they’d like that more.”
I shuddered. “I don’t think I’m going to be serving that at a bakery.”
“I thought not. But honey? Show me. Although I could probably follow my nose.”
I smiled, not knowing what to say or do. I wasn’t good at this. I didn’t know what he had meant before about mates or what this pull between us meant. However, I planned to do my best to ignore most of it and simply focus on what I could do and what I did know.
“Can you follow your nose to the honey and the bread?” I asked, wanting to know more about this world around me, even if I was a little worried about what it would mean for me to get to know this man better.
“I can. My nose is best in bear form, but I have a better sense of smell than humans do while I’m in this form.”
I shook my head, amazed that he could talk about this so openly. Rome seemed to know where my thoughts had gone because he smiled.
“That’s the good thing about Ravenwood. We feel safe to speak freely because of the people around us. Everyone in this room is connected to magic or packs or some other form of the supernatural. And everyone feels safe. Well, as safe as we can be with revenants and darkness coming out of nowhere,” he added dryly.
I winced. “We still don’t know anything about that?”
Rome shook his head. “No, but we know that everyone who needs to be looking is working on it. It’s the best we can do for now. But today’s not about that. Today’s about your new bakery.”
I smiled and looked around at the place I was now beginning to call home. “It is, isn’t it?” I asked. “This is mine. And the town’s mine now, too.”
“You’re a major part of the town. Welcome home, Sage,” he said softly, and my cheeks warmed.
“Thank you, Rome.”
“You’re welcome. Now, can I have an entire loaf of bread? Or would that be too much?”
“You’re welcome to anything you’d like. Today, we’re doing a sale.”
“She’s not offering her wares at the right prices,” the older woman from earlier said. “She needs to raise them.”
“We’ll make sure of that,” Rowen said, and I sighed. It seemed that everybody wanted to spend far too much money on me. And while the businessperson in me didn’t mind, the woman who wanted this place to be her home didn’t want to take advantage.
“Okay, folks, we’ve taken enough of Sage’s time. We are past closing. The bakery isn’t going anywhere. Sage is here to stay.” I looked up at Rowen’s words. Everybody began cleaning up their messes and then clapped, a little applause that made me blush from my head to my toes. I ducked my head.
“Thank you. All of you. I mean…thank you for welcoming me.”
“You’re a Prince. You’re home,” Sabrina said softly from the register. “Welcome.”
“Welcome, my favorite niece,” Aunt Penelope said as she kissed my temple. “Now, let’s help you clean up.”
I shook my head. “No, get back to what you were doing. I want a few minutes alone with my shop. Is that okay?” I asked, looking at Rome.
He nodded. “We’ll all celebrate later. Promise.”
I didn’t know what he meant by that, nor did I know what I was supposed to say or do, so I simply nodded, smiled, and helped everybody with the last of their needs before going to help Sabrina clean up.
“The place looks great.”
I looked at her. “It does, doesn’t it?”
“Thanks for hiring me. I know this is your baby, but I’m glad to be a part of it. And I swear being near you while you’re working…your magic infuses my latent powers.”
I frowned, startled. “What?”
“I’m a latent earth witch. My whole family is. We can’t do much, except for some healing spells occasionally. But being with you while you bake makes me happier. So, thank you for that.”
I shook my head. “I’m not doing it on purpose.”
“Oh, I know. If you were, we’d have to charge extra.” She winked, and I shook my head.
“I don’t think that’s how it works,” I said, laughing.
“Maybe not, but Rowen and Laurel can show you the ropes. Even your aunt can.”
“You’re a witch, then?” I asked as we started putting things away to prep for the next day.
“Technically. I don’t have any real power. But my family has a line of witches, so that’s what we call ourselves. We’re safe here in Ravenwood, although no one would come at us to burn us at the stake outside of it, I don’t think.”
I shuddered. “I don’t know if I like that idea.”
“Nobody does. The Salem witch trials happened for a reason, though. And it had nothing to do with true witchcraft.”
I wanted to ask her more. I held off, knowing that if I started, I wouldn’t stop.
“You’ve done enough here for the day,” I said after we’d cleaned up a bit. “Why don’t you head home?”
Sabrina frowned. “What do you mean? I’m here to help.”
“And you did. We’re nearly sold out of everything, and what didn’t sell is what lasts longer than a day.”
“Everybody loves your bakes.”
I shook my head. “Maybe, but it was also day one. And a soft opening. We’ll have to scale back.”
“Not all of the bears showed up,” Sabrina said dryly. “Once they do, things will change. You’re going to be out of bread and anything related to honey very quickly.”
My brows rose. “For real?”
“Only a few of the shifters came today since today was mostly about witches and the dryads and some of the fae.”
I had so many questions I wanted to ask, but I didn’t. Because I still didn’t know who or what anybody was. It wasn’t like anyone wore a name tag. Sometimes, I saw glowing eyes and figured they had to be shifters, but for all I knew, the fae’s eyes glowed, too.
“When the shifters do show up, probably within the week, they’ll eat you out of house and home. They put away far more than anyone I know.”
“Oh,” I said softly.
“Yes. Oh. It’s pretty great. You have a hit on your hands. You filled a need. It’s as if we were waiting for you forever.”
She grinned and helped me clean up a bit more before she left.
I followed her out, locking the door behind her before I went to finish.
I felt as if I were still catching up, and yet, I felt at home. Finally. This was my place. A bakery I’d wanted since I was a little girl but couldn’t afford on my own, both time and money-wise.
Now, it was all mine.
And I was a witch.
I shook my head and looked down at my hands. “What am I doing?”
“Isn’t that the question?”
I looked up at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. The woman was blond, had bright blue eyes, and a cunning smile. She stood at the register, some type of manic glee in her eyes that worried me. I hadn’t seen this woman before around town, but I didn’t know what or who she was. Still, something inside told me she was dangerous. I needed to run, to do something—not let myself become prey.