Chapter Nineteen
The instant Mae Hawthorne constructed a wall between Payton and him, Dailey experienced an acute withdrawal.
Not dissimilar to an addict going without a fix.
But the barrier helped calm his arousal, and the cool ocean did the rest. Still, the need to speak to Payton, to hold her and soothe her worries, was strong.
Lying on his back, he floated and stared up at the sun. This was the first peaceful moment he’d had since the morning after her arrest.
As a warlock, he possessed the ability to harness all the elements with ease, but he’d always felt an affinity with water.
Whenever he was feeling his lowest after Payton left him, he’d dive into the lake behind his cabin and swim until he was exhausted.
The icy plunge numbed not only his body but his mind as well.
He was a broken man in those early days. Hell, he’d remained broken. Perhaps it was why, when the sisters accidentally cursed him, he’d felt such fury. With so few parts of him remaining, they’d removed a vital piece. The only one keeping him human.
They weren’t to know that, of course. He’d only come to realize it himself once his emotions returned.
And he owed them one hell of an apology for his appalling behavior, for both before and after.
Floating here now, recalling the scene in the alley, how petty he’d been, how unforgiving, he could acknowledge deserving everything he’d gotten.
Dailey’s love for Payton had been too much for one man to bear, and he hadn’t told her how essential she was to his well-being.
How she’d filled a hole his father had opened when he’d abandoned them.
She believed she wasn’t good enough, but all along, he’d believed it about himself, too.
She’d proved it by running away and leaving him to face his mother’s “I told you so.”
And wasn’t that the most galling of all?
The constant barrage of complaints regarding the woman he’d chosen, what a poor judge of character he was, and nagging about how, if he’d listened to his mother, who always knew best, he’d have saved himself the heartache.
Mary-Alice’s constant hammering had worn him down, making him ugly inside.
He’d been bitter to the point of being nasty to Payton when she first returned.
Instead of pulling her aside and telling her he understood, Dailey had been distant.
He’d confirmed for her that she wasn’t wanted by anyone, and cemented the point that she’d made the right decision to flee.
But in truth, she was better than him by miles.
Although she was sassy and quick with a quip, she was never mean.
Her sense of fair play was astounding, as was her ability to forgive.
He didn’t deserve her.
And he needed to let her go. At least until he got his shit sorted and he could be the man she deserved.
When he did free her, it had to be in a way she would understand he was the problem. Not her. Never her.
The fault with his plan? He still loved her. Likely always would. But it didn’t mean they should be together. The solution came to him suddenly, causing him to jerk and sink. Dailey broke the surface with a gasp and a plan.
Three lights flared to life, and one remained pulsing while the others snuffed out almost immediately.
“I wonder what those could mean,” Mae said with an air of distraction.
Payton glanced over in time to see Dailey go under and come up for a gasping breath. Their eyes locked across the distance, and in his, she would swear she saw regret along with a finality of sorts. Her heart began to hammer in her ears, and she couldn’t make out what her mother was saying.
Dailey was going to do something stupid!
She felt it as sure as the shifting sand of the ocean floor beneath her.
The desire to tear down the wall, to throw herself into his arms and beg him to reconsider whatever harebrained idea he was forming, paralyzed her.
All she could do was stare, as he did, unblinking.
Somehow, it had boiled down to this silent communication.
A knowing that things would never be the same after this moment.
The stones on her flippers went berserk, creating an underwater light show.
“I’m sorry, Pay,” he shouted. “I promise I’ll call you soon.”
Then he was gone. And with him, all her foolish dreams of reconciliation. But what had she expected? He couldn’t find it in himself to forgive her for the way she took off, and neither could she. Her actions had been incredibly foolish; there was no denying it.
“Come to California with me, darling,” her mother urged gently.
Could she see the devastation on Payton’s face? Did it resemble the same one she’d worn when Mae and Rupert had said their final goodbyes years ago?
“Please leave me alone.” Her voice was low and raspy, revealing the anguish she wished to hide. While the young girl inside wanted nothing more than for her mother to hug her and never let go, the adult she’d become wanted the solitude to lick her wounds in private.
“Payton—”
“Just go. Please. It’s not a rejection of you, Mother. I just need to be by myself for a bit, okay?”
Concern etched itself in Mae’s flawless skin, but she nodded, perhaps recognizing Payton needed to process the grief on her own.
“If you’ve need of me, call out. But stay close to our elemental source. It will act as a conduit, and you’ll require it to survive the transition.”
Maybe she didn’t want to survive. Maybe she was tired of being a survivor of hardship and abandonment. But she didn’t dare say it aloud for fear Mae would stay. So instead, she nodded and suffered through a long hug.
Exiting the water, she sat on the shore. Her flippers converted to flip-flops, exposing her toes. The waves rolled in with their white caps, kissed her feet, then flowed out. The movement was hypnotic and mind-numbing, allowing her to shut down her feelings.
It wasn’t long before she felt the other presence, and she closed her eyes against the intrusion.
“I didn’t take ya for a coward, gel.”
“Go away, Flo.”
Contrary witch that she was, her grandmother sat beside her, kicked off her Birkenstocks, and stretched out her pale, skinny legs.
“I want to be alone.”
“I won’t say a thing. But I’m not leaving you defenseless. Not again.”
Her words were the ones Payton didn’t know she needed. A pain built in her chest, tore out through her throat, and bent her double. The warmth of her grandmother’s arm around her shoulders was more welcome than anticipated, and she twisted into the embrace to release years of pent-up emotions.
It could’ve been minutes or hours. Payton couldn’t say. Spent, she lay on her side, with her head in Flo’s lap. Gentle fingers stroked her hair back from her temple and neck.
“He left me,” she said, barely above a whisper. “For good, Flo. I saw it in his face.”
“He won’t stay gone, child. You are the moth to that boy’s flame. From the moment you set foot in Witchmere, his heart was no longer his own.”
“But it doesn’t mean he wants the trouble I bring.”
“Dailey Cobb loves your brand of mischief. You’re able to bring a real smile to his face, not the polite kind he gives to the rest of the world. And the spark in his eyes isn’t just lust. It’s adoration. Everyone but you can see it. Why do you think Mary-Alice resents you so much?”
“She’s a snob, and always said it was because we’re from the wrong side of the tracks,” Payton argued.
“She knows who your parents are. Knows they come from money. Hell, I set up trusts for you gels as teens, and those accounts rival her children’s inheritance any day of the week.” Flo tapped her nose. “No, she hates you because you threaten her control over him.”
“But he always gives in to her demands, Gran.”
The fingers stroking her hair paused, and their faint tremble caused Payton to look up at her.
“That’s the first time you’ve called me Gran,” Flo said in an odd voice.
“I’m sorry I was such a shit to you. Thank you for the fake inheritance from our non-existent aunt.
It supplemented those cheap-ass bookstore paychecks.
” They both knew good and well that she and Elara had been grossly underpaid for the area and work they did.
But she hadn’t been aware of the trust funds before.
Her footwear pulsed once, then glowed with a soft light.
They both smiled. “Looks like you were one of the people the Trickster’s shoes thought deserved a heartfelt apology. ”
“And I owe you one. I should’ve worked out visitation with your mother and father before they disappeared. Done more to connect with you when you were teens.”
“You couldn’t have known where we were,” Payton said, pointing out the flaw in logic.
“I found you right after your parents abandoned you,” Flo confessed. “I wanted you to stay with me, but I’d failed so miserably with Mae. I guess I figured you were better off without my subpar parenting skills.” Her shame hurt Payton on a deeper level. Seemed they both had past failures in common.
“You didn’t fail with Mother. She was too obsessed with my father to heed anyone’s advice. Honestly, she’d have resented you for getting in her way.”
“Part of me understands that,” Flo replied through tight lips.
“You were never truly alone, gel. I watched over you from afar, especially when you were out on dates, and I chased away anyone who didn’t have your best interests at heart.
I’ll also admit to an influencing spell to bring you here.
” Payton tensed, and her grandmother was quick to add, “Not to keep you. It was a simple enchantment to encourage you to visit the place, so you could fall in love with it on your own. And you did.”
“I fell in love with Witchmere’s sheriff, Gran. There’s a difference,” Payton replied dryly.
“I’ll take it.”
And because she bothered to actually look without bias, she saw the affection in Flo’s expression. “I’ll probably leave town again after all this is over, but do you think we can still have a relationship?”
Flo’s eyes grew misty. “I’d like nothing better, gel.” She cleared her throat. “But instead of leaving, maybe we can find a reason for you to stay. So what are we going to do about that twat Mary-Alice so we can reconnect you and Dailey?”
Payton barked a laugh. She hadn’t expected her grandmother as a co-conspirator, but she’d take all the help she could get.
“I’d stay for Dailey. In fact, my only reason for leaving was because remaining close, without being with him, is more than I can bear.”
“Heartache is a bitch.” She helped Payton to sit up, then climbed to her feet and held out a hand. “If you’re done here, let’s go get your man.”
Although she allowed Flo to pull her up, Payton shook her head. “I can’t set foot in Witchmere. Hermes’s magic backfired, and everyone ‘wants’ me now.”
Flo scowled. “That mischievous troll!”
“So I’ll stay here until I can figure out what to do, Gran. But thank you for—what the hell?”
Beyond her grandmother’s shoulder, twenty men and women were striding from the sea in their birthday suits.
Flo spun to see what had shocked her and swore. “Seems it’s not only Witchmere residents who are answering your siren’s call, gel. Will you get a load of the size of his—oh!”
Payton wasn’t hanging around to see what the Merpeople wanted. Based on the mammoth erection of their leader, she already knew. Gripping her grandmother’s hand, she closed her eyes and visualized the attic of the Never Too Many bookstore.