Chapter 22
Penny sagged against her apartment door, but quickly reopened it. Maggie stood opposite her, looking lost and alone. Earlier that evening, she’d told Lucas she was a witch, and when he’d laughed, she’d shown him. It hadn’t gone well. Cal had rescued Lucas from his panicked escape through the parking lot, and the coven had comforted Maggie.
The Buchanan witches had a mixed history with men. It was rare to find an accepting man, but from Penny’s brief chat with Lucas while Cal drove them home, she knew Maggie had found one. But for now, Maggie needed to follow Elspeth’s advice and give Lucas space to process and focus on football. Elspeth had money riding on the games, and she didn’t want to lose.
After the game at San Francisco, the team was flying to Seattle and practicing at the University of Washington’s facility for the week. The coaches and staff didn’t want the team distracted by the holiday festivities, so they thought training and staying in Seattle for the week before the game would be a good idea. Bash and the other team leaders had argued against it, but the head office had made the arrangements months before.
“Want to join me in another glass of holiday whiskey? We can sing sad Christmas songs together?” Maggie said, as George purred at her feet.
“Pass. I don’t want to spend the night listening to you sing Blue Christmas, and I’d rather have tea than whiskey.”
Sleepover?George looked excitedly between them.
“Do you still snore?” Penny asked Maggie, warming to the idea of a sleepover.
“Do you still kick and hog the bed?”
She does not snore. It is a loud purring exhale and the only one who’ll be hogging the bed is me. Now go get your jammies on. George lifted his front paw and pointed at Penny before licking it. And brush your teeth. I don’t want my whiskers singed by morning breath.
“Says the cat who licks his privates.”
I’m flexible, and jealousy doesn’t suit you.
Penny looked at Maggie. “Whatever you’re letting him watch needs to stop.”
“I know. I’m a bad cat mom. Don’t leave me alone with him.”
Hey!
“I could use some more TLC, and I bet you want to talk.”
“I’m good,” Penny said, studying the carpet.
“So, you don’t want to talk about Gloria Sebastian being Bash’s mom?”
Whoa, whoa, whoa, what? Tall, dark, and rude is the famous writer lady’s son?
“You heard?” Penny asked, ignoring George.
Maggie chuckled softly. “Lucas’s family buying Brewster’s space out from under me wasn’t the only secret spilled tonight.”
“Plus, your extraordinary gifts.” Penny said.
“And Bash’s origin story.”
“I called it his alter ego, but origin story is better. Maggie, it was so weird. Gloria was cold and critical. He’d been in the store chatting with teammates and signing autographs for almost ten minutes before she came over to him. Our mom would have vaulted over the table and tackled us in a hug.”
“Maybe she was tired?”
“I don’t think so. It was hard to watch, even though I’d like nothing better than to hex him.”
“The disadvantage of being a good witch,” Maggie said, and the sisters shrugged. As teenagers, they’d begged Elspeth to let them learn about spells and hexes, but she’d held firm, insisting that powers like that were curses, not gifts. With age and maturity, the desire to hex had lessened. Otherwise, there’d be several women in Cascade City with incurable acne and men with premature hair loss and falsetto voices.
Busy night. Almost as good as a Real Housewives episode. Grab your jammies while Maggie makes tea and we’ll reconvene in the horizontal meeting room. He sauntered into Maggie’s apartment.
“You’re a manipulative, self-serving, demanding cat,” Penny said to his back, shaking her head while Maggie smiled indulgently at him.
I think leader is the term you meant to use.
“Better leave your shoes at home,” Maggie said. “Go do your seven-step skin care routine and come back over when you’re done.”
Penny rushed through her routine, and then carefully locked the apartment doors behind her. Maggie was in bed, surrounded by several piles of papers, and two steaming mugs sat on her battered nightstand. Penny grabbed a mug while Maggie stacked the piles. “Program options?” Penny asked, and Maggie glared at George.
What? If you’d wanted it to be a secret, you wouldn’t have left them on the island. I did you a favor.
During Maggie’s crisis, George had toppled a stack of bakery boot camp classes, and now Harper, Elspeth, and Penny knew her plan. “Yes, lots of options to choose from, if I decide to go. But enough about me. Tell me what’s going on with you, and I want the truth.”
Penny told her everything. From walks around Tumble Falls, to the museum opening, to when she took him to the animal shelter for the first time, to watching him work at Get Lost when she was sick, to freaking out after the last moon bath and showing up on his doorstep demanding attention.
“You really like this guy,” Maggie said, raising her arm and snapping her finger. The light extinguished. She’s been practicing. Maggie was the weakest of the witches. A few months ago, she would have needed more recovery time to magic the lights after what she’d shown Lucas in the kitchen. He’s good for her.
“I think I really do.” Penny nestled further into the bed as she heard Maggie yawn.
“But how? I mean, the chemistry between the two of you was always obvious, but you’re more discerning.” Maggie sounded as surprised by Penny’s admission as she was.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Men flock to you and Elspeth. Why pick someone arrogant and rude?”
“Flock is a gross exaggeration. And he’s not arrogant and rude, not really. Not when you get to know him. He’s reserved. And socially uncomfortable, which is why he asked me to help him.”
“But why did you agree to help your Mr. Darcy?”
“Because he’s a challenge I need to overcome. And when I do, my powers will increase.” Maggie rolled toward her.
“He’s a magical challenge? How?” George moved closer to them.
“Promise not to tell anyone?” Penny asked.
“Yes.”
Get the knives and do a blood oath.
“What is wrong with you?” Maggie asked George. “Seriously, only PBS Kids from now on. Jeez, you’re a piece of work.”
Piece of work. Cat. Both the same.He shrugged his furry shoulders.
Maggie groaned at the cat and asked, “What did I just promise not to tell?”
“That when I first met Bash, I could read him. I didn’t dive into his thoughts, but I could read his mood, which was always dark and anxious and nervous.”
“So? That’s your gift.”
“But then one day I panicked, and I kissed him—”
“You kissed him?”
“Yes, to scare him off, and poof, it all vanished.”
“What vanished?” Maggie asked.
“My gift. I couldn’t read him.”
“You kissed him and then you couldn’t read him?”
“Yes.” Penny relaxed. It felt good to tell someone. Someone who would understand the importance of this and support her in the challenge. She felt the bed shake and then Maggie snorted. Is she laughing at me?
“Ho, ho, hold on.” Maggie stopped to catch her breath. “You kissed him and now you can’t read him and you think it’s a magical challenge?” The shaking intensified. As did her laughter. Normally, Maggie’s joyful laugh made Penny smile, but now it set her teeth on edge. George joined her. His cat laughter sounded like a cross between a goat and a bagpipe.
Penny tossed back the blankets. “I don’t need to stay here and take your ridicule. I thought you’d understand.” Maggie grabbed her hand.
“I do. Penny, don’t you see? He isn’t a magical challenge. You love him.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? If I came to you with the same story, what would you tell me?”
“That you couldn’t read him anymore because we can’t read the people we love. But Maggie, I have been able to read him, a little, just not like before.”
“When?”
“Usually when he’s upset, he draws his eyebrows together or flares his nostrils. And his eyes get a predatory gleam in them before he kisses me.”
“Lucas does he eyebrow thing, too, but his eyes go all soft and gooey before he kisses me, like the inside of a freshly baked brownie when it’s warm. But a predatory gleam now and then wouldn’t be bad either.”
“But how can you read him if you love him?”
“Oh, Penny.” Maggie sighed, sounding like a verbal, condescending pat on the head. “We can’t read their minds, but we can still read their body language. It’s how ungifted people do it.”
“So those times when I thought I was reading him and overcoming my challenge, I was just doing what regular people do?” Ew.
“Yep.” Maggie sounded smug, and Penny was sure her annoying sister was smiling.
“So, my gift isn’t broken, and he isn’t a challenge?” Penny said, trying to digest Maggie’s theory.
“Oh, I’m sure he’s a challenge, just not in the way you’d hoped.”
“Wow,” Penny said, feeling numb. Her world had been tossed tonight. She’d always been a tinge jealous of Bash’s living in New York City in the off-season, which was a childish reason for taking an instant dislike to him, but now that she knew his real identity she was a green-eyed monster. He had everything she’d dreamed of, but it didn’t seem like he wanted it. She’d trade with him in a heartbeat if she could.
And now Maggie’s crazy theory had Penny in love with Bash when she could barely be in the room with him without arguing or wanting to kiss the smug look off his face. But he’s not always a challenge or smug. He’d listened and watched when they’d been at the shelter. And he was courteous and interested at the book clubs. And he was kind to fans, even when he wanted to escape.
Penny pounded her pillow and stuffed it under her head. She’d planned a happy single life with no one to answer to but herself. But if she stayed with Bash, she’d need to bend to his life, a life in New York City away from the coven. “I’d lose my magic,” she said.
“Or it might make you stronger,” Maggie said, sounding half asleep. “Nanna always says love is the strongest magic there is. Take the leap, Pen.”
But what if he won’t catch me?