“You shouldn’t wait any longer.” I smiled, and felt tears prick my eyes. “You’ve helped me. Willow and I are both safe and happy. Go on, enjoy your afterlife.”
Irene blew a kiss to me. “Thank you, my love.”
“Good journey, Grandma,” I said.
She smiled beautifully when I called her grandma, and her image began to fade out. As suddenly as she’d appeared, she was gone.
I took a moment to compose myself and wiped the tears from my eyes at Irene’s departure. I heard my name being called and I peeped out the door. There was Wyatt, standing in the dusky backyard and smiling at me. God almighty, but the man was striking.
“Come back outside,” he said, gesturing for me to come out and rejoin the party.
“Two little boys,” I said under my breath. I could almost picture those two dark-haired boys, running around noisily, much as Morgan was doing now. They’d look like Wyatt, I knew with a sudden gut hunch.
But their eyes would be like mine.
“One step at a time, honey,” I reminded myself.
I took a steadying breath and, with a smile on my face, opened the door to my future.
The End
Turn the page for a sneak peek of Ivy Bishop’s new story.
Of course, this will be a dark and gothic tale. Ivy wouldn’t have it any other way.
Mistletoe & Ivy
Coming November 2019
***
Mistletoe & Ivy
I sat behind the counter of Enchantments, staring out the front window. Holiday music played over the speakers in the store, white lights twinkled in the pine garlands that swooped around the walls and on the tree displayed in the front window. The shop smelled cozily of cinnamon and vanilla. It was all picture perfect, inviting, and charming…and I, Ivy Bishop, was bored out of my mind.
You’d think working in an occult store would be a little more exciting. You’d be wrong. It was retail, and more often than not, we had looky-loos and tourists shopping in our store. The serious practitioners came in with a list, quickly made their choices, and got out.
There were three customers in the store at the moment. Two were thumbing through the books, and the third, a high-school age girl, was selecting mini taper candles and placing them carefully in her shopping basket, as if the fate of the world depended on it.
Had to be a new practitioner, I decided.
My intuition was right on the money, as usual. Not only did she purchase the candles, she also bought a 101 type of candle magick book.
Can I call ‘em or what? I smiled to myself, rang her up, and she left the shop all smiles.
I perked up a bit when I noticed the young couple standing by the book case. They appeared to be in the throes of an argument.
What they were arguing about? I wondered, and my imagination bounced as I considered the possibilities. Perhaps one of them had massive gambling debts…or the other was a closeted Witch, and now their partner had just figured it out.
As they moved past the front counter, I caught their words, and was disappointed to discover that they were actually quarreling over which movie to go see. The door closed behind them, leaving me alone in the shop.
I blew out a long breath. Obviously I needed to get out and do something exciting, go have an adventure, or get laid.
Sadly none of those things were in my foreseeable future.
I’d been single for the last six months. Nathan Pogue and I had hit a sort of friendly impasse with our relationship. In May, when I’d received my Bachelor’s in Photography, Nathan had gotten his Master’s degree in Archeology.
I wasn’t surprised when he’d been offered a job back in Massachusetts, close to where his family lived. I’d figured it was coming—call me an intuitive. Nathan had been excited about the opportunity, and I’d been happy for him.
As for me, I’d only started working as a part-time assistant to a local wedding photographer, and I needed at least another year under my belt before I could go solo with my photography career. As my college romance came to a close I’d been a little sad, but it wasn’t like a gothic tragedy. It was more of an inevitable thing.
When the time had come for Nathan to go, I’d helped him pack up his belongings and sent him off with a hug and a kiss. He promised he’d call me once he was home and settled. We said all the right things, the kind things: Sure, we’d keep in touch, maybe I’d fly out and spend a few weeks with him over the summer.
That sort of thing…But I knew, down in my gut, that it wouldn’t happen.
Nathan Pogue had not been the love of my life. He’d make some lucky woman really happy, someday. But that woman wasn’t me. Was I heartbroken? No. He’d been a great friend and lover for the past couple of years, but we were simply too different. Nathan’s family were all extremely private about their Craft. Their tradition was secret, as in they never discussed it with non-believers. Nathan had been very serious and very discreet when it came to magick, while I was…
My thoughts trailed off as I caught my reflection in the store mirror. Well, one thing was for certain. I’d never been accused of being subtle.
I looked like what I was. A twenty-something Witch, who had a love affair with gothic-style fashion. I studied my image in the mirror, skimmed a hand through my long brown bob, and noticed a wayward smudge at the outer corner of my eye. Carefully, I wiped it away.
My affection for cosmetics was real and I still dramatically played up my green eyes for all they were worth. The long red and black buffalo plaid shirt I wore was cut like a duster. It skimmed my hips in the front, but swung to my knees in the back. I’d layered it over a
