Epilogue
Five months later
Probably since the day she was born, Blair had loved the fall season best. Fall was for crisp air, crunchy leaves and warm reds, oranges and yellows that complemented her skin tone perfectly.
But for the first time in her life, Blair was looking forward to spring so much that she was literally counting down the days until a specific weekend in early April. And it was finally here.
Blair had two big events happening this weekend.
First, there was the Moonbeam Maple Afternoon Tea that she and Calista Caldwell had been planning for their café and bakery.
Blair and Luke’s mother had planned a similar joint event in the winter, and the Moonbeam Mistletoe Afternoon Tea had been such a phenomenal success that they decided they would repeat it every few months.
They’d been testing recipes for weeks for a maple-themed tea to mark the end of the sugar bush season, when local maple trees were tapped to make syrup.
Blair had developed a selection of maple-based drinks that she’d used magic on to elicit feelings of rebirth and optimism, and Calista was right now baking the maple butter tartlets and maple sugar canelés.
But before the afternoon tea tomorrow, tonight something even more monumental was going to happen. As soon as the café and bakery were closed, Luke Caldwell was officially moving into the Briarwood house on Acorn Lane. And Blair couldn’t wait.
They both acknowledged that it was a little soon to be living together, and Blair would have thought that her sisters wouldn’t want another adult in the house, but it had actually been their idea.
Luke had been sharing a small apartment with his mother long enough, and he spent most of his free time with Blair, anyway.
So tonight, after the Harvest Moon Café and Shirley’s Sugar Mountain bakery closed, Luke and Blair were going to bring his things from the small apartment above the bakery to Blair’s house.
Blair smiled, looking at her boyfriend through the large opening between the café and the bakery.
He was working the counter today since his mother and her baking assistant were preparing the pastries for the afternoon tea.
Blair had first thought that cutting out part of the wall between their businesses was a ridiculous idea, but since Blair didn’t sell baked goods in her café, and Calista didn’t sell drinks in her bakery, this made it easiest for their customers to get what they wanted from both shops.
And an extra bonus was Blair could peek at Luke while he worked, which brightened her days in the café.
She loved watching him recommend pastries and make small talk with locals.
He was chatting with Blair’s friend Melody now, probably talking about books.
He looked incredible in the pale green bakery apron that brought out the green in his eyes.
He’d grown out his hair, too, so his waves kept falling into his face, adding to his new, less polished, small-town look.
As soon as Melody left the bakery counter, Blair got a text.
luke: I can feel you undressing me with your eyes.
Blair chuckled. She was still pinching herself at how amazing things were going between them.
When the aftermath of the vengeful witch trying to destroy the town and the festival died down, Blair wasn’t sure what an adult relationship with Luke Caldwell would be like.
Would they lose interest without the rush of sneaking around and impending danger?
Would it feel like their relationship from when they had been teenagers?
But nothing in the world had been easier than to slide into a routine with Luke at Blair’s side.
They were adults now, and both small business owners, so while yes, a lot of their time together was still spent tearing each other’s clothes off, they also did things like hiking and making dinner together.
They’d even found time to go into the city for a show.
And of course, the biggest change was that now Luke knew Blair and her family were witches.
And he knew he was a witch, too. Blair, her sisters and his mother had spent a lot of time in the last few months helping Luke explore his new identity to determine where his witch strengths were.
The five of them even sat in a circle once a week, practising more complicated spells together.
Luke turned out to be pretty good with potions, but not as good as Blair.
He was also a decent empath, which was a skill of reading others’ emotions.
That explained why he was so good at deciphering exactly what his architecture clients wanted.
And it explained why the corporate city life wasn’t for him.
Empaths were rarely comfortable with that many emotions bombarding them at once.
But they still hadn’t figured out what Luke’s strongest ability was.
He had time, though. It took most witches years to figure out their strengths.
Blair texted him back.
blair: You’re obsessed with me, Caldwell.
luke: Yes, I am. That’s why I’m moving in with you. Closing the bakery now. Once you’re done, we can start loading my car with my boxes.
Blair smiled to herself as she went to tell the three customers in the café that she’d be closing shortly. She had just locked the door and was refilling the sugar bowls when there were suddenly arms around her waist and lips on her neck.
‘Mmm,’ Blair said, leaning back into Luke’s hard body. Even after months together, he still had this effect on her. She suspected he always would.
‘I can’t wait to get you to our room tonight,’ Luke said against her skin.
Blair chuckled. ‘Not sure what you have in mind, but we have to wake up early to set up the afternoon tea service. And we have to unpack your things.’ She’d cleared out half of her closet and shelves for him.
Luke turned Blair around in his arms, giving her a feral look. ‘Yes, but we can unpack naked if we want to.’
Blair laughed, but then his lips were on hers, and she forgot about everything but Luke’s perfect kiss.
After an intense few months with vengeful spirits, weeks of construction to rebuild the bakery, nosy family, new business woes and witchcraft practice, Blair and Luke hoped to finally have a little more space to breathe.
And a little privacy. Blair was very much looking forward to an uneventful spring, so she could spend as much time as possible with Luke.
And yes, she’d have no complaints if most of that time was naked.
‘Ahem,’ a voice behind them said.
So much for privacy. Blair stilled a moment, lips still on Luke’s before opening her eyes to see who it was.
Both her sisters were standing there. And actually, that was a bit of a surprise.
Blair hadn’t seen Bianca all week. Blair was pretty sure Bianca was seeing someone, and didn’t want to tell her family yet.
Blair had been resisting the urge to insist that Bianca tell them who she was spending so much time with.
She was truly trying to ease up on being overly protective of her sisters.
‘I locked the door,’ Blair said. ‘How did you two get in here?’ She disentangled herself from Luke’s embrace.
‘Um, did you forget that the bakery and the café are connected now?’ Belinda asked. ‘Calista let us in next door.’
‘Aren’t you moving into the house?’ Bianca asked. ‘You don’t have to make out in the café anymore. I cast a long-lasting soundproofing spell on Blair’s door.’
Blair sighed, reminding herself that she wanted a close relationship with her sisters.
‘Bianca had something she needs to talk to us about,’ Belinda said. She was wearing a long cream dress with little pink flowers on it. She’d clearly just got off work at the bookstore across the street.
‘I can go,’ Luke said. ‘I’ll start bringing boxes down; you three talk.’
‘No,’ Bianca said. ‘You can stay, Luke. I . . . kind of need advice.’
This was strange. Bianca wasn’t really the type to come to her older sisters for advice. Despite being the youngest, Blair often thought Bianca was the smartest of the three of them. She was definitely the most worldly, since she was the only one who’d ever really travelled.
Bianca awkwardly ran her hand through her hair. She changed her hair colour often, and it was currently a rich violet for spring. Her clothes were, of course, all black – a long velvet skirt with a high-necked lace blouse.
‘Okay, what’s up?’ Blair motioned them to a table. Blair was concerned. Bianca wouldn’t come to them like this unless something was really wrong.
Bianca exhaled. ‘Okay. I don’t want you guys to worry, and if you can’t help then I can try to figure it out on my own—’
‘Bianca just tell us,’ Belinda said. ‘What’s going on?’
Bianca exhaled. ‘Okay.’ She paused. ‘Hypothetically speaking, how would one know if the guy they’ve been dating for weeks is actually dead? Or, I suppose technically, undead?’
Blair blinked, eyes wide. So much for an uneventful spring.