Chapter 19 #3
“Not just a sneeze, a sneezing fit! One sneeze after another after another. You can't keep your eyes open when you’re sneezing. It’s physically impossible. So, I was basically blind for a few critical moments and didn't see that I was getting too close to a hillside.”
Duke waited, and when she didn't elaborate, he said in a raised voice, “Well, don't leave me in suspense. What happened?”
She giggled a bit and then said, “I whacked a tree, was thrown off balance, and kind of stuck the helicopter skids into the side of the hill. I cut the engine, but it was too late to auto-rotate.”
“Was there any damage?” Duke asked.
“More to my pride than anything. I had to tell my father about it. I thought he would be angry, but he surprised me by saying he had done something similar when he was my age, and he didn’t even sneeze.”
“We all make mistakes as we learn,” Duke said.
“Yes, but my father was adamant about my not making any mistakes in a helicopter, because it could be deadly. At that time, the only thing I could learn from it was not to fly when I had a cold. That’s not bad advice anyway.”
“I've never had that happen to me when I was casting a spell. Can you imagine? If I were halfway through a word and had to sneeze, but the spell’s meaning was completely changed without the rest of the sentence…”
“I would just repeat the spell with the right wording. I'm pretty sure the Goddess could figure out what I really meant,” Victoria said.
“That’s true, but she can become confused if spells are worded badly.”
“Yes. You’re right. That’s why I was so thrilled to find the spell with the right wording.”
“Wait. Who found the spell?” he teased.
She rolled her eyes. “You did. And I’m very grateful to you. I’m amazed by your knowledge of everything in your vast library! So, when did your parents teach you about magic?”
“I was taught by a combination of my father and a master of magic whose title was Wizard, but titles don't really mean much. Most times it's just what the person is comfortable identifying with.”
“Do you call yourself a witch?” she asked.
“No. I don’t like the negative connotations. I just call myself the occult librarian. Do you call yourself a witch?”
“Oh, yes. All members of the L.A.W. embrace that word. It makes us sound like the bad asses that we really are.” They both grinned before she continued.
“I learned under a high priestess. My father was aware of our magic, but he didn't really practice it. He had some protection spells in place around me, things I didn't even know about, until certain hot dates started disappearing before picking me up. I thought they just changed their minds, but dear old dad had decided some of them weren’t good enough for me.”
Duke laughed at that. “Well, I'll have to remember that, if I ever have a teenage daughter.”
Victoria looked over at him seriously. “Do you want children?”
“I've never really had a strong opinion about it. If it happens, it'll be because it's the right decision with the right person at the right time. If it doesn't happen, that's okay too. I wouldn't want to force something like that.”
“That's a good philosophy. I let the Goddess make some of my important decisions for me. Not very often, though. I tend toward wanting control of my life.”
“Don’t we all?”
They were quiet for a while, sitting comfortably with each other, watching the fire crackle as the flames leapt around inside the fire pit.
Eventually, Victoria continued her story.
“My parents were divorced for as long as I can remember. My mother was keen on my being in beauty pageants. My father wanted nothing to do with that and wanted me to concentrate on my mind, not my body. That was a bone of contention between them. Eventually, they let me make up my own mind about it.”
Duke waited, and when she didn't continue, he prompted, “What did you decide?”
“I tried pursuing it and became Miss Québec one year, but the reality wasn't for me. Men leering at me, trying to grope me when my handler wasn’t there. I had to agree with my dad that developing my mind and my magical abilities was far more important than my looks.” Then she laughed hysterically and almost fell off the rock she was sitting on.
“You never know what you've got till it's gone.”
Duke smiled at her. “Having never seen the body you were born with, I can only imagine…
If you became Miss Québec, you must've been a stunner. However, I think your dad was right to gear you toward something that would last a lifetime, not just a year or two. I, for one, appreciate your clever mind. You tackle difficulties with zeal, throwing yourself into solutions. It would be easy to give in to self-pity, under the circumstances.”
Victoria nodded. “I got that out of my system fairly quickly.”
Then they became quiet again. Sitting around the fire was restful and comforting.
Victoria didn’t have the pressure of knowing a man was judging her by her looks instead of all of her.
This was, in a way, refreshing. All she wanted was to have her body back, but to spend a little time not worrying about it was an unexpected relief.
She didn't know if the body she was in at the moment had issues, other than the short legs and some balance problems that may have been a result of Victoria not knowing how to navigate with less height and more weight.
She had no idea what the other woman was doing as far as special diet, medications, or anything.
Maybe she was diabetic, depressive, or had thyroid issues…
Then she jolted as it occurred to her that the woman could be instilling bad habits in the body she stole!
If she starts smoking… Victoria couldn’t let her imagination go down that road.
She stood and brushed off the seat of her pants.
“I think I'm going to turn in for the night.”
“Go ahead. I'll put out the fire and sleep outside shortly.”
Victoria entered the library and strolled to Duke’s bedroom, which he had given up for her, proving that chivalry wasn’t dead.
She wondered if he would've wanted to sleep with her if she’d been in her beautiful body.
Then she chastised herself. Don't think that way, Victoria, just because you're falling for him.
There's nothing you can do about it until and unless you're completely, wholly yourself again.
Every day, she felt like she was growing in wisdom. It was about time… She was looking at her forties sooner rather than later.
As their shared experiences grew, so did her connection with Duke.
She felt as if she was uncovering a part of herself that she never knew existed.
Together, they were discovering something even more remarkable.
Absolute trust in another person, besides her L.A.W.
witch-sisters. And she hadn’t felt that way about a man since she was a child, and her father took her up in his helicopter.