“Coincidence,” he said.
I walked over and poked him in the shoulder. “That little girl has more raw power than half of the adult practitioners I know. At first I thought she was a Natural Witch, but since your family line includes the Abbotts, Charlie may have basically won the equivalent of the hereditary magickal lottery.”
“I’m not going to listen to this any longer.” Matthew’s face was an angry red. “I think you should leave.”
“That kid needs help—needs to be magickally trained, before she hurts someone, or herself!”
“That’s ridiculous!” He took ahold of my arm and began to steer me towards the foyer.
“You know I’m right!” I yanked away from him and glared.
He snatched my coat from the peg and tossed it to me. “Leave. Now.”
“Fine!” I snarled. “But the next time Charlie gets it in her head to go and wander off, you better hope to whatever god is listening that she doesn’t decide to influence someone into taking her on a cross-country trip.”
“Get out.” His voice was flat and angry.
I marched past him. “Give your mother a call,” I suggested as I tossed the front door open myself. “Do a little digging in the roots of your family tree. You’ll see.”
I stomped down the sidewalk and the front door slammed shut behind me. I whipped my car door open, tossed my coat in and pulled the door shut behind me. I started the car, checked over my shoulder for oncoming traffic, and pulled away from the Bell’s house with an angry squeal of tires.
CHAPTER SIX
A miserable week and a half had passed since I’d seen or heard from Matthew or Charlie. The days had been busy and long, and my current work day had been capped off by a semi-hysterical bride who’d wanted to change her wedding bouquet at the last moment.
Thanks to the Bridezilla’s demands I ended up working a good hour after we’d closed. However, her bouquet did look better. Now, burgundy ranunculus popped along side the creamy white roses and cedar greenery.
Deliberately, I passed my hand over the bouquet and called on my magick. I linked into the element of earth, and the roses opened up a tad more. Satisfied with how it had finally turned out, I whispered a charm over the bouquet, ensuring that the flowers would hold and stay lovely throughout the wedding day. Finally, I added the bride’s bouquet in the box with the rest of the finished wedding flowers.
With a sigh of relief, I backed out of the cooler, rolled my tired shoulders and began to clean up my work station. Five minutes later, I made my way up the back stairs to my apartment.
Tank came trotting out, stopped and considered me. I shed my coat, tossed it towards a chair and went directly to my fridge. I selected a bottle of wine and poured myself a large glass. Sitting at the kitchen island, I took a sip, sighed, and indulged in a private sulk. The only light in the room was coming from the matching evergreen garlands above the sliding door to the deck and the living room window, and that suited my mood perfectly.
I rubbed my forehead. Now that I was home, I could admit that I missed them. Which was ridiculous, and probably inappropriate. I’d only seen Matthew and Charlie a few times...how could I miss them?
The more I thought about it, maybe it was for the best that I hadn’t seen Matthew for the past ten—eleven days. Because I had no idea what I would’ve said to that man if he had crossed my path. I wasn’t sure what hurt me more...his cavalier dismissal of the Craft, his wide-eyed shock at having it proved to him, or his stubborn refusal to believe that his daughter had any ability.
“First he flirted, then he freaked.” I took another swallow of the wine.
“Meow?” Tank leapt to the island. He walked straight to me and gave me a none too gentle head butt.
I began to laugh when he rubbed his face against mine. “Hey big guy.” I took comfort from my familiar. He sat beside me, leaning against my shoulder, and my stomach began to growl. “So should we heat up leftovers, or order takeout?” I asked him.
Tank’s answer was a deep, throaty purr.
A loud thump on my door had me glancing over my shoulder in surprise. Before I could move to answer it, the door burst open. Ivy Bishop came in carrying a large handled bag. “I knew it!” she cried. “Sitting up here in the dark having a little pity party for yourself.” She shoved the door closed with her boot, and simultaneously the timer for the tree kicked on illuminating the apartment.
“Ivy,” I blinked at the invasion and the lights. “I didn’t expect you tonight.”
“Never fear! The official photography Elf has arrived!”
“Well now I can relax,” I said dryly.
“I had a hunch you needed a friendly ear, and food.” She peeled out of her coat and carried the take-out bag to the kitchen island. “Figured you’d go for shrimp and mixed veggies.”
Tank perked up at the word shrimp. He immediately began to sniff the takeout bag. I quickly hauled the cat back before he could pull the bag over. “Tank gets a little wound up when you say the S word out loud,” I warned her.
Ivy leaned over and dropped a loud kiss between the cat’s ears. “Well, it’s a good thing I got two orders.”
I couldn’t help it, I started to laugh. “Anybody ever tell you that you’re incorrigible?”
“I get that a lot.” Her green eyes were serious, but smiling. “But regardless, I knew you needed witchy company, and Chinese food tonight.”
“As usual, your intuition was spot on.” I patted her shoulder. “I’m glad you dropped by.”
“Your name’s been stuck in my head all afternoon,” Ivy admitted. “I got the impression that you needed cheering up, and a flyer for takeout ended up taped on my
