Chapter 1 #7
My eyes went wide, and a blush heated my cheeks. At any moment, I would surely burst into flame. The woman was one of the Phipps family’s great aunts. I’d been run so ragged doing things for Marguerite, I hadn’t met her yet. But this wasn’t how I’d expected it to happen.
“Aunt Verna. So good to see you.” Henry cleared his throat and placed a soft peck of a kiss on the woman’s wrinkled cheek.
“Yes, been too long and all that jazz. Now introduce me.” Verna tipped her chin toward me.
“This is Cindy Ash. She’s the bride’s stepsister.”
“She’s the one.” Verna looked me up and down, inspecting every inch from my tousled honey-blond hair to dirty but freshly manicured bare feet. Then nodded. Once. Definitively.
I looked at Henry, concerned. The one. The one what?
“Auntie, please don’t say—” Henry didn’t have time to finish his thought.
“Same thing happened to your parents. Bam. Lightning strike.” Verna slammed a fist into her open palm.
I gasped. A sonic wave of concussive force aimed at my heart seemed to emanate from Verna’s wrinkled fist. It reverberated through my ribcage like the crash of a giant gong.
“My aunt is a bit of a mystic. Has premonitions and such.” Henry rubbed the back of his neck, obviously uncomfortable with his aunt’s declaration.
“Mystic? Ha, I’m a witch. Have been for years. Moved to Salem and everything.” She cackled.
I believed her. The odd feeling a moment ago in my chest and her knowing laugh were all I needed to be convinced she was an authentic witch.
“I’ve never met a witch in real life before.”
Verna took my hand and pulled me close, standing on tiptoes to whisper in my ear. “You two are destined. Your love is written in the stars for all time. Trust me. Better yet, trust him.”
“Ah, thank you.” I didn’t want to believe her. But the way my heart raced and my skin broke out in goosebumps when Henry touched me was very real. I’d never felt anything like that for another man. Tonight, the firelight and time apart had amplified everything a million times.
“Auntie, secrets don’t make friends,” Henry warned.
“No secret. You know what I told her because you feel it too. Congratulations.” Verna patted Henry’s arm and walked away, melting into the shadows between two of the cottages.
“Does she have a black cat and a pointy hat?” I asked, staring into the darkness where she’d vanished. If she were in need, I could always send Midnight to live with her.
“No, a white Persian and a massive herb garden.”
“Close enough.”
“She didn’t freak you out with all that, did she?” Henry caught my hand, threading our fingers together. I didn’t want him to let go ever.
It was telling that he didn’t discount her prediction. I wondered if he too, had experienced the sonic pulse when Verna smacked her fist into her palm.
“Oddly, no.” None of it freaked me out. Not the fact that he had a self-proclaimed witch in his family. Not the assertion that Henry and I were soulmates. Not the way my pulse thrummed at breakneck speed from the touch of his hand. It all felt… right. Real.
He sighed with relief. “Want to say hi to my parents? I promise, no witchcraft or anything.”
“That’s a letdown.”
“Can’t be disappointing you already.” He snaked an arm around my waist and pulled me close.
If the first kiss tonight had been life-altering, this one was incendiary.
Groaning, I leaned into him, unable to get as close as I wanted.
I buried my hand in his hair and hitched my leg up his hip.
If I didn’t push and rub every available inch of my body against him, I’d go mad.
I needed all the physical contact right this minute.
At my age, it was embarrassing to have your body’s needs overrule your brain. But it was also wonderful.
His hand cupped my ass. Under my palms, I felt his body quiver with the same aching desire that flooded my veins. Together, we plunged into the inferno.
Minutes or hours later, we eased apart, gasping for air. Foreheads pressed together. This had to be a dream or a hallucination. Nothing in life had ever felt this simple and wonderful at the same time.
Henry
I squeezed Cindy’s fingers as we approached my parents. They were still curled together on an outdoor sofa, sharing a blanket near the edge of the party.
They had a special relationship. An unbreakable bond of love and respect that my family said was true love.
It was the kind of relationship the Phipps were famous for—a pair bond.
Aunt Verna had it with her late husband.
So had my grandparents and all my aunts, uncles, and cousins.
I’d never believed the family lore even after growing up watching Mom and Dad, so when I met a girl in college — and fuck, this is hard to admit to myself — I’d settled for “good enough.” But it wasn’t.
I glanced at Cindy and I’s joined hands.
The difference between good enough and the awe-inspiring potential for true love was humbling.
A lightning strike was what Auntie Verna said, and she wasn’t exaggerating.
The extra tingles in the air like ozone every time I’d been near Cindy had been the warning.
Then tonight it hit like a billion volts of raw energy.
“Mom, Dad, this is Cindy.” I introduced her to them.
All three giggled.
“Son, she’s been doing all the work to make this wedding succeed since she arrived. We met her two days ago.” My father smiled fondly at Cindy, and she returned the gesture.
“I think the only things Cindy hasn’t done this week are cook the food and light tonight’s bonfire,” my mother added.
“It’s nothing. I’m helping out.” Cindy shrugged.
“Ha, you are a miracle.” Mom looked at me, not Cindy, when she said the words. She knew I’d found my person… at last.
“She is—” I lifted her hand and kissed the back. Our gazes tangled and held over our entwined fingers. “Amazing.”
“Verna said this week would be interesting.” My father drained his beer.
“There is a whole story. We’ve been texting and didn’t know it. Well, I didn’t, but Cindy did. It’s so—”
“There you are. Marguerite needs you.” Anastasia took Cindy’s other hand and tried to drag her away.
For a split second, it was a tug-of-war for Cindy. But before I could force myself to drop her hand, Cindy’s grip tightened on mine, and she jerked away from her sister.
“What for? I’ve put all the welcome packages in the rooms. Confirmed the caterers, photographer, officiant, and florist. Steamed everyone’s dresses and the wedding gown.
Emailed the new playlist to the band. Printed the weather report and left it on her pillow.
Hell, I even got Lorraine an extra pair of pantyhose when I was in town doing a million other errands for the bride. There’s literally nothing else.”
“She broke a nail.” Anastasia almost sobbed. “You're better at that stuff than I am. She’s having an existential crisis over it.”
Cindy closed her eyes and tipped her head back. Her jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscles flex. I longed to rub away all the stress. Or scream at her stepsister to go away.
“I’m happy to take care of it,” my mother chimed in.
“No, Marie, there’s no need. I’ll go.” Cindy’s shoulders hunched like she was about to brave a Chicago snowstorm, not her stepsisters.
“Actually, I insist. This is my area of expertise.” My mother leaned down and tugged on a pair of cowboy boots. When did she get those? My brother and his bride had to have a hand in that purchase.
“Crazy brides?” Cindy asked.
My mom chuckled, and Anastasia looked horrified.
“No—nails. Back in the day, I owned a beauty shop. Nails. Hair. I’ve done it all.”
“She’s not kidding. Every girl in my class got a perm at Mom’s shop when I was growing up. I can still remember that smell.” I curled my lip and shuddered.
“Ah, yes, those were the days. The higher the hair, the closer to God.” Mom stood and hooked her arm through Anastasia’s elbow, dragging her away from us. “Tell me, what are we working with? Did she totally lose the nail or only a chip?”
Anastasia’s answer was muffled by a nearby dancer shouting yeehaw as the song “Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy” began.
“Your mother will have that nail fixed in ten minutes or less. If you two want to escape, you'd better get on it.” My dad raised his eyebrows up and down like Groucho Marx.
Thanks, Dad. Very subtle.
“I don’t have a room assignment or a key.” The path toward the hotel office looked dark and unwelcoming from inside the glow of the bonfire.
“Sure you do. And there is a nicely stocked fridge in there, too.” Cindy dangled a key from her finger.
“You checked me in?”
“You and everyone else. I’m in charge of guest registration and the arrival gifts.”
“She’s been working her ass off. She deserves to take a break.” My dad gave me another of his knowing looks.
Dad didn’t need to tell me again. I took my key, wrapped an arm around Cindy, and pulled her away from the bonfire. “Which way am I going?”
“Your room is that way. But we need to get my shoes from over there first.” She pointed.
“I love those shoes. They led me to your doorstep.”
“And they are gorgeous.”
I wished my dad good night over my shoulder.
“I can’t believe we’re being this, this…” She was half laughing.
“Obvious in front of my dad.” I finished the sentence for her. I could totally believe it.
“Yeah.”
“There's no reason to hide something this magical from anyone.” I stopped walking and buzzed a fast kiss on her lips. I might have doubted the Phipps Gift in the past, but that was before I’d experienced its full power.
Cindy
Henry and I raced hand in hand down the gloomy pathway. I took the lead, dragging him to his assigned cabin.
“Why is it so dark?” Henry mumbled as he stabbed his key at the lock on his cottage door.
“Bats.”
“What? Where?” He spun, scanning the darkness. The terrified expression on his face made me giggle.
“No, not flying around; bats are why it’s dark. Elmer has a dark-skies policy to protect its bats.”
“Got it.” He redoubled his efforts with the door.