Chapter Thirty-Six
Not the Kind of Magic That Turns Frogs into Princes
Flora loped a few paces ahead of me on the trail.
Her ears bounced against her head, and there was a sweet prance to her feet.
All morning she’d been a bundle of energy.
Nudging her wet nose against my cheek to wake me.
Circling my legs in the kitchen while I packed our bag for a hike.
It was like she could read my mind. Feel the anticipation and repeated stutter of my heart, which I was wondering now if she could.
Ever since I’d read Bryce’s final lines in the article, it’d played on a constant loop in my head. The hidden message so discreet, he knew I was the only one who’d understand.
I wandered into Harvest Moon, Colorado a jaded and cynical man.
The whispers about magic seeming like nothing more than a badly told joke.
A ploy to draw in tourists. But when I hiked up to one of the ridges at sunrise, witnessed the dark blue sky being slowly painted with the colors of a new day, I was reminded that there are many kinds of magic.
There’s a hint of sorcery in the way the town’s residents plant seedlings, resulting in monstrous vegetables the size of a small lawnmower.
A spellbinding draw in the way the mountain breeze becomes a siren song, pulling you higher into the clasp of nature’s embrace.
But the most stunning, most mythical, element to Harvest Moon is its people and how they love and care for one another.
The way they cheer on their greatest feats like growing a pumpkin the size of a golf cart.
Or circling up the community when one of their own is hurt or lost.
Yes, it is true. There is magic in Harvest Moon.
It’s just not the kind of magic that turns frogs into princes or mice into footmen.
It’s more enchanting than that, but you’ll only know that truth if you visit this place, hike to its most secret ridge on a Saturday morning, the second week of November and discover what kind of spell it will put on you.
A heady rush of anticipation spread through my veins as I recalled those final lines of his article. Now, he was only a few steps away. He’d be flesh and blood before me. Close enough to touch. To press my mouth to his. Hear that low rumble in his chest as I kissed a sensuous path down his neck.
My breathing picked up at the thought. Heat spread across my chest. Maybe I didn’t need this heavy winter coat after all.
Flora pulled on her leash, urging me on. Birds chattered in the trees. Bunnies scampered among the low-lying brush. A few warm stares from deer in the deeper parts of the forest focused on me.
Was my connection to animals magical? I wasn’t sure, but it didn’t change how I felt about what I did. In fact, it made me more passionate. Made me appreciate what it brought to my life.
With prodding from Bree and Jessa, I’d agreed to hire more help for the practice.
Open for a few more hours on Saturdays. Hold more vaccination and neuter-and-spay clinics in other counties.
I even considered doing speaking engagements covering the positive aspects of running a small-town practice, and how it can not only help the locals but the outlying farm communities as well.
Did I still get the weird customers who came in and asked inappropriate questions?
Sought out spellbooks and signs of hidden pentagrams in small corners of the clinic?
Yes. But it was easier to swallow now that I’d accepted who I was, and what I wanted.
For the first time in my life I felt content, and most importantly, whole.
Flora let out a sharp bark and took off at a sprint. I raced after her up the steep slope and around a corner to where a narrow outcrop looked out onto the forest. I couldn’t hide my smile as she careened toward Indy. Chased him in a circle. The old pals reunited once again.
Bryce leaned back against the rock. A black ski jacket covered his broad shoulders. He’d cut his hair and let his stubble grow out to a healthy five o’clock shadow.
The minute his gaze landed on me, he stalked forward and wrapped me in a tight embrace, pulling me off my feet and spinning me in a circle. ‘I take it you got my message?’ His hot breath against my skin lit up my entire body.
‘Yes, but you took your sweet time getting to the most important point.’
His chest rumbled with a laugh. I leaned in closer and he set his cheek on top of my head. ‘I had a lot to say, but a part of me knew that if I wrote about this place, you’d understand exactly what I was trying to say.’
‘Your instincts were right.’ I snuggled into him, remembering the way my body responded to his, opening up like a desert wildflower getting its first taste of rain.
‘God, I’ve missed touching you.’ His fingers moved to my hair, gliding through the loose strands.
‘Every day I was gone, I dreamed of this. Being here with you at sunrise. Your warm body pressed to mine.’ His eyes went wicked.
‘Stripping you down and tasting you again like that day in the truck.’ He tugged my hips toward him, lining our bodies up perfectly.
‘Is it wild to say that when I’m here with you, I feel complete?
Like whatever this bond is between us I want more of it? Today. Tomorrow. For years to come?’
As if he was too afraid to hear my answer, he tipped his head and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. I melted into his touch. Max had given me comfort and security, and I’d assumed that would be enough. But with Bryce holding me like I was a dream, I understood he was my safe space. My home.
‘Nothing about what you just said is wrong.’ I rose up on my toes and kissed him.
I loved the low moan that rumbled in his throat as he palmed my neck, drew me in, his hands skimming down my coat.
His kisses weren’t hungry but filled with a mind-spinning tenderness that curled my toes.
As he tightened his embrace, and stroked his tongue over mine, I let myself relax for the first time in weeks.
Let myself accept the gentleness he was offering.
The tighter he held me, the more the journal nestled in my pocket jammed against my hip bone.
If we were going to make this work, I couldn’t hide anything from him.
Clo and Belladonna had been doing that to us our whole lives, and it was going to take time to sort that out.
Which would be possible now considering Belladonna had promised to stay in Harvest Moon for a while.
Lia still refused to talk about what happened the night of the wildfire, but she was Lia.
She always did things in her own time, and Aster and I had learned to be patient over the years.
‘I want to talk about the day of the fire,’ I said with more bravery than I felt.
His eyes narrowed on the journal I’d pulled out of my pocket. ‘What about it?’
‘Before the branch came down, you need to tell me what you saw.’
He scrubbed a hand behind his neck. Pressed his lips together. His hesitation was killing me.
‘I was on the roof and watched you go into the woods. Lia came up the ladder and offered to spray for a while. I climbed down and went after you. The heat from the fire, the smoke, it turned thicker as I walked. The only way I knew where you were was because I heard you calling for Belladonna.’
His eyes pinched at the corners. ‘The further I walked into the forest, the louder the roar and hiss of the fire grew. I kept going, even when the trees started to groan under the weight of the heat and flames. That wall of thick gray smoke pressed in around me, but I couldn’t stop.
I had to get to you.’ He dropped his chin.
Shook his head. ‘It sounds ridiculous but there was this odd ache inside of me that warned you were in trouble. Only a few seconds later, I heard the crack in the trees. Watched as that branch fell straight toward you, and I sprinted to push you out of the way.’
I pressed my ear against his chest, the gentle thump of his heart beating out a sweet symphony. He’d risked everything to save me. I’d been so wrong not to trust him.
‘And Belladonna?’ I whispered.
‘Once I had you in my arms, she was right behind us. The smoke cleared, and a wet heat closed in from all sides. It was like a cloudburst was following us until we reached higher ground.’
For a flicker, I swore I saw that persimmon color in the outline of his body. That tether between us knotted tighter, becoming a warm link that could never be severed. All fear and worry drained out of my being. This was the right thing to do.
I laid the journal on his palm. ‘If you want to learn more about Ambrosia and Sylvia, you can read all about them.’
He ran his hand over the cracked brown leather.
With the gentlest touch, he slid the journal back into my pocket.
‘Here’s all I need to know, Dandelion McGuire.
Your kindness, your gentleness, is sensed by everyone around you, both humans and animals.
’ He glanced to where our dogs were snuggled together on the side of the path.
‘There is something magical about you, but it’s how you care for others.
How you so bravely want to protect your family. ’
A slow smile lifted his lips. ‘How lucky I feel that you allow me into your orbit. How grateful I’ll feel if you let me stay.’
That connection between us locked into place like a deadbolt sliding home. For the first time, I let myself believe that Aster was right. That this irritating yet bold and brilliant man was meant to be mine.
I laid my hands against his deliciously stubbled cheeks and leaned in for another kiss.
His arms locked around my waist as he sucked in my lower lip.
I settled into the feel of him, relishing the scratch of his whiskers against my neck.
While he was gone, I’d forced myself to consider that I may never touch him again, feel the heat of him pressed against my body, and it had devastated me.