I chuckled. A real job. I shared my college experience, how I’d breezed through the program and graduated early, then went into the family business—also a real job.
“Not a job one applies for,” he joked. “Although every bit as much work. My uncle passed away a few months ago and left his home to me. Over the years it fell into disrepair. I quit my job at the lab to move here and fix the place up. I’ve discovered a steady stream of people stopping by for natural remedies.”
“In Woodrow?” I asked.
“No, I live in Pratt.” He glanced around once more. “Is this where you live?”
I nodded.
“With your aunt?”
“She got married and moved away a year ago. I bought the family home.”
He stopped walking. “If this is magic between us, my experience is it usually knows what it’s doing. We were introduced for a reason.”
“You don’t have a wife? Or a girlfriend?” I ventured, even as I worried asking might lead to telling him about Kyle.
He chuckled. “Not at the moment. I find the women I’ve dated get spooked before too long, if you know what I mean.”
“I do.”
He studied me, as if he could sense I wasn’t telling him everything, which I wasn’t. “Should I ask about your experiences?”
I shook my head.
“In time,” he said. “Until then, when can I see you again? In person?”
Inviting him over would be like parading him in front of Kyle, who had a front-row seat from across the street, and yet the pull was strong even without the chemical response of our physical bodies—soul-deep on the astral plane. “I don’t know.”
“I’d like to show you my uncle’s home, although I should warn you, he was a bit eccentric. I think you’d find it interesting. Will you visit me there?”
My voice nearly failed me. “I don’t even know your last name.”
“Oliveiro. Ian Oliveiro. And you?”
“Brynn Taylor.”
He glanced around the woods once more. “I don’t remember meeting any Taylors in Hillendale.”
He recognized where we were? “You’ve been here before?”
“Hillendale is a unique town.” He pointed to a chimney charm peeking through the trees. “My uncle brought me here a few times. There was a gift shop in town where he bought some of his supplies.”
“That was my Aunt Nora’s shop. I own it now.”
“The boutique?” he said. “I drove by a couple of weeks ago and when I saw clothes through the window, I figured she’d sold out.”
“She did. A friend and I took over and changed things up, but I still sell my botanicals there, at least for now.” I sighed. “A conversation for another time?”
“I look forward to it, but Brynn, I want to see you again. Soon.”
Who was I to question the magic, if that’s what had brought us together? The pull was irresistible. “I can come to you tomorrow night.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
“How do I get there?”
He smiled. “The magic will bring you to me.” He blew a kiss and faded away.
Chapter 15
As I left for work the next morning, Kyle stood on the sidewalk outside his house. The sense of guilt kicked me hard.
“What did you tell Lisa?” he called across the street.
The guilt evaporated. I didn’t need him to moderate my conversations with my friends. “I didn’t have to tell her anything. She has eyes.” I started for the footpaths and he fell in step beside me. Ash shifted in her carrier and I readjusted my grip.
“What’s going on between us isn’t anyone else’s business,” he went on.
“Is that so? Then what did you talk to Dylan about last night?”
Kyle huffed. “I’ve been trying to talk to you all weekend.”
The words hadn’t been spoken. We both needed to acknowledge our relationship was over. “Talk to me now.”
He huffed again. “I need to know what you told Lisa.”
I stopped and faced him. “Like I said, I didn’t have to say anything. She checked my bedroom. No trace of you anywhere.”
He wiped his face with a hand and looked away. “They’re going to treat us differently.”
That was his reason for staying together? I laughed. “I can make this easy on you. Tell them it’s my fault this time. They were your friends before they were mine. They’ll stand by you.”
He took a step away. “So we’re through?”
“Isn’t that what you wanted? We rarely talk on the phone anymore, you basically moved out of my house and you’ve put conditions on marrying me.”
“Until I get my job back.”
“Why does that matter?”
He shook his head. “I can’t talk to you.”
“Hence the reason we haven’t talked all weekend.” We slowed as we neared town.
“Everyone’s telling me I need to make things right between us, but I haven’t done anything wrong,” he said.
Except distance himself emotionally—and I hadn’t closed the gap. I wasn’t going to point out the personality quirks that would keep us apart. “Giving you a free pass here. Tell them I wasn’t willing to wait for you to get your life back.” There. We’d said the hard stuff. It was over.
“That makes it you breaking up with me.”
“Isn’t that what you want?” I asked again. The last time we’d broken up, he’d wanted to be the one to end things, another example of his control issues. “Tell them I’m seeing someone else and you gave me the boot. Will that make it better?” My breath caught in my throat. I hadn’t meant to tell him about Ian. I hadn’t, but I’d come close.
“No one will believe that. They know how hard you work, and someone would have seen you if that were the case.”
I wasn’t about to refute his logic. Time to change the subject. Quick. “Have you found Daria?”
He stared at me, his eyes glassy. My eyes teared in response. Yes, breaking up was hard, even when it was a foregone conclusion.
“This thing with Daria, the accidents I’ve been having, it’s the power of suggestion,” he said, a catch in his voice. “I can’t
