Chapter 13
Thirteen
“What do you mean you’re thinking about staying?” My mom sounded horrified when I delivered the news.
Ever since Lori had mentioned it last night, the idea had been rattling around in my mind nonstop.
I was currently enroute to her shop. She’d asked me to bring her an old crystal amulet she wanted to give a client but had forgotten on her entryway table.
I’d eagerly scrambled to get it and headed out nearly as soon as she called.
I told myself it had nothing to do with the fact that Theo had been in the shop all morning and the cottage felt empty without him.
“It’s not because of that boy you told me about, is it?” my mom continued as I pressed the phone between my cheek and shoulder to switch which hand was keeping warm in one of my coat pockets.
“Theo? No.” I wanted to laugh at the idea of her calling him a ‘boy’ considering he took up the majority of any space he entered.
I had briefly told my mom about my grandmother’s other houseguest. Of course, she was desperate for information, but I’d given her virtually nothing.
I certainly wasn’t about to tell her about the whole warlock thing. Or that the gimmicky other realm this town was known for was very much real.
She’d probably have me committed.
And anyway, none of that was pertinent because he wasn’t the reason I was thinking about staying.
Even though I did kind of think about him a lot. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the feeling of us both curled up in the living room yesterday. He was reading some book while I had started to absentmindedly sketch him. I had never sat in such a comfortable silence with someone.
But none of that mattered.
He was leaving.
“I like it here. I’m painting more,” I said instead.
More art supplies had mysteriously shown up in the kitchen this morning. I wasn’t even sure where Theo was getting them from. The paints were so rich.
“Really? Well that’s good.” My mom’s voice had a mix of apprehension and hopefulness. She loved whenever I felt inspired.
“You aren’t going to move out there for good, are you?” The fear in her words wasn’t well masked. It had always been just me and her.
“What is ‘for good?’” I was being wishy-washy as usual. I’d lived in more apartments than I could count in the past decade. Roots weren’t my thing; I’d rather leave my life more open than that.
“It’s not fair if there’s a guy there holding your interest. You’re not allowed to fall in love in some small town and abandon me.”
“Mom, I told you. He’s leaving next month.” I sighed and shook my head, accidentally stepping into a large puddle. “Shit,” I muttered. My sock was soaked through even with my boots.
“I can tell there’s something there by the way you’re refusing to talk about him,” she insisted.
My cheeks heated. She had a point there. I was historically quite closed off when it came to potential love interests—however few there might have been.
And while I could admit to myself that I had indeed developed a minor crush on the mysterious man living under the same roof as me, I also knew it was delusional. Because nothing said unavailable like literally living in another realm.
I stepped onto a pile of wet leaves and my stomach dropped when I realized my foot was no longer underneath me. It slipped forward into a hidden divot and a few things happened at once.
I flailed, flinging my phone a few feet in front of me. My hands shot out, bracing for impact. It was like slow motion, my left hand hitting the ground first, as it sliced into a gnarly, jagged rock on the path.
“Shit!” I exclaimed, tears rushing to my eyes. Blood gushed from the cut that, unfortunately, didn’t look so superficial.
Rain washed some of the blood away from my palm, but it repooled even faster.
“Josie, you there?” my mother’s voice shouted from my phone that was on the ground. I picked it up.
“Hey. Sorry, I fell.”
“Are you all right? Sounded like a car crash on my end.”
“I’m fine. It’s just a cut. Look I’ve got to go deal with this.”
“Be careful,” she said before I hung up.
I winced and assessed the damage, feeling a little light headed because I hated blood—I couldn’t even watch medical dramas.
Blood was indeed gushing, and I didn’t have so much as a Band-Aid, although I doubted that would do much.
At this point, I was closer to town than I was to home. Since I had an annoying suspicion that I might need stitches, I kept my hand close to my body and walked quickly to Main Street.