“Maybe we can take Zelda’s toddlers trick-or-treating in October,” I suggested, still feeling like a dummy for asking a painful question. “It might be kind of weird if we went without kids in tow.”
“It’s a date,” he said with a smile that lit his face. “Means you have to stick around for a few months, and I get more time to win you.”
The man had already won me. He just needed to win himself.
“Deal,” I said with a giggle.
“You’ve been in my life for ten years, forty-four days, and eight hours. I was alive for a few decades before we met,” Zach said, trying to make me feel better about my query. “I could have celebrated a holiday before you knew me.”
That was not true. He knew it and I knew it. But wait…
My mouth hung open. “How many seconds have I been in your life?” I asked, shocked that he’d kept track. It was so freaking romantic.
Looking down at his watch, he calculated. “Twenty-three,” he replied.
“Holy cow,” I muttered. “That is impressive.”
“I’m an impressive warlock,” he said with a smirk. “I also remember what you wore the first time I saw you.”
“I don’t even remember what I was wearing,” I said, trying to recall.
“Obviously it was green,” he said with a laugh then grew very serious. “It was a green dress with tiny gold flowers all over it. It was torn at the sleeve, and you were bleeding. The wreath on your head was wilted and your eyes were filled with tears. But then you smiled at me and my world tilted on its axis. Your smile was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I fell for you in that moment.”
I tugged him to a stop. My eyes welled up. I remembered the moment too. It was seared into my mind. My world had tilted on its axis as well the first time I’d seen him. I’d been lost and searching for so long. Being alone in the forest for so many decades, I was almost wild. Zach’s beauty and kindness anchored me in reality. Zorro was the added bonus. Zorro was hope and Zach was the man I’d always dreamed about. They had given me a home and refused to give up on me even when I wanted to run or self-destruct. It was why I would never ever give up on either of them.
“Zach, we wasted so much time,” I whispered.
Turning away from me, he ran his hands through his hair and shook his head angrily. “No. We didn’t. Willow, I was nothing. I had nothing to give anyone. Goddess knows, I’m still not good enough for you.”
“You’ve always been good enough for me,” I insisted truthfully, carefully touching his rigid back. “You loved me in the only way you could and knew that I loved you in return. However, one piece of the puzzle is still missing.”
“One?” he asked hollowly. “I’d say many pieces.”
“No, just one. You could never fully love me,” I said.
“I loved you with all I had to give… which sadly wasn’t much,” he said tightly, still facing away from me. “It was pathetic compared to what you gave to me.”
“You can never love anyone else completely until you love yourself,” I said quietly.
“I know…” Zach’s body jerked and sparks began to fly from his fingertips. “Goddess, we might be doomed, Willow,” he said, sounding devastated. “It’s impossible for me to see a day when I can say I love myself. I've done too many horrible things.”
He was so wrong.
“Impossible?” I asked.
“Improbable,” he conceded, turning to meet my gaze. “I’m not worth it. I wish I was… but I don’t know if I am. You should probably cut your losses and run.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” I said, touching his cheek and wanting to take the pain away.
But I couldn’t. He had to make the decision to release it to begin to heal.
“No more twenty questions,” I said, taking his hand firmly in mine. “Let’s concentrate on right now—baby steps.”
Zach sighed and squeezed my hand. The feeling was one I’d longed for. Our magic intertwined and a glittering shower of blue, green and golden sparkles rained down on us. “I’ll have to deal with my past if I want to have you—all of you—in my future. You deserve someone who can truly love you.”
“And I will have him,” I said, smiling. “I believe the improbable is very possible.”
“You’re crazy,” he said, cupping my face lovingly in his hands.
“Your point?”
“No point. Just a beautiful and wondrous observation,” he replied.
I wanted to kiss him so badly, I could taste it. But the physical part could wait. When we finally came together—and I prayed to the Goddess that we would—there would be no barrier from the past between us.
“I’ll wait for you,” I promised.
“You’ve already waited a very long time,” he said sadly.
“Good things come to those who wait,” I said. “That was Canadian.”
Zach threw his head back and laughed. “You make me so happy, Willow.”
“Back at you,” I replied, feeling tingly all over. “Shall we poof back to the house or do you want to walk.”
“Walk,” he replied, still looking a little sad and serious. “Being alone with you and holding your hand in mine is the best I’ve felt in my whole life so far.”
“Better than when we were grunting kidneys and bowels?” I asked with a giggle.
I wanted to see him smile. He needed to smile and laugh more. Assjacket—as horribly named as it was—was a magical place. It was a happy place. Zach, Zorro and I needed this place. And we were blessed by the Goddess that it found us.
“Yes, far better than our grunting innards performance.” Zach grinned. “Shall we?”
“Yes. We shall.”
Chapter Nine
It took us a half hour to reach our destination
