Page 21 of Starlight Witch

With a blink, I said, “Well then.” I finished peeling the last apple. We emptied the peelings into the compost bucket. I handed Bree a plastic cutting sheet and a clean knife, and together we began to slice the apples. “Chunk the ones for the apple crumble. Why don’t you work on that—that dish needs to be filled to just below the brim. I’ll start slicing them for the pies.”

I tossed my apple slices into a bowl so that Grams could coat them with cornstarch and add sugar and spices before putting them in the pie shells.

“Do you think Faron will remember again?” Grams asked.

“I hope so. Maybe? I don’t really know and at this point, I’m not going to speculate. But if he does, what’s he going to do? If he can’t go against the elders and still retain the throne, I don’t expect him to choose me.” I shrugged after a minute. “I guess I’ll have to wait and see.”

And that…that was going to be hard for me to do.

By the time the pies were finished and cooling on the counter, waiting to be put in the freezer, it was early afternoon. Grams opened a couple cans of tomato soup while Bree and I made grilled cheese sandwiches. I fixed another round of lattes for Bree and me, and some tea for Grams, and we settled at the table in the newly cleaned kitchen. The crumble was still baking, and after scolding Fancypants for trying to sneak a bite of pumpkin pie, we discussed our plans for the afternoon.

“I want to make several batches of cookies. How many will be at the table?” Grams asked.

“Aunt Ciara, my mother, you and me, May and Bran, and Bree. So that’s seven.”

“We’ll plan for ten. One thing I have learned over the years, always make more than you think you need. You can always freeze the leftovers, but if someone shows up at the table unannounced, it’s better to have enough to feed them, especially on a holiday. I bought the turkey. We’ll prepare the mashed potatoes when we’re there. We can make the gravy in advance, also the cranberry sauce and the dough for the rolls. I’m not familiar with American Thanksgiving, so what else will we need?”

“Some form of sweet potato casserole. A lot of people like green beans during Thanksgiving, so I suggest we buy some fresh beans. I’m not making that ugly green bean casserole. We need to decide on what kind of stuffing for the turkey we want.” I pursed my lips, trying to think of what else we would need.

“Is it too much to ask that we don’t have marshmallows on the sweet potatoes?” Bree asked. “I don’t mind them being caramelized, but marshmallows on the potatoes make them way too sweet.”

“Why don’t we bake them in their jackets and then whoever wants sweet potato can have one?” I suggested.

“That saves us one more dish to make, so I’m good with it.” Grams leaned back in her chair. “What kind of cookies do we want to make?”

“Chocolate chip, chocolate with peanut butter chips, oatmeal white chocolate cranberry… And I think it would be nice to have a big bowl of nuts. I know people like to buy them in the shell, but I’d rather buy them ready to eat. It’s easier and less messy.” I sipped my latte and then dug into my lunch. It was blustery outside, and while the mist had disappeared, the sky looked suspiciously dark. The weather forecast called for icy rain and wind. I loved autumn. November may have seemed bleak, but I loved it, and the holidays that sparkled it up.

“I think I’ll start decorating for Yule this afternoon,” I said. “Bree, want to help? We can make a full day of it, watch movies, put up decorations, order pizza for dinner?”

“I have to run home and let the boys out first, but that sounds good to me.”

“Bring them back with you. That way you can let them out here, and they can rest inside the covered patio. We can fix up a warm blanket for them out there.”

“Well, if we’re going to decorate for Yule, I’m going to make some gingerbread, too.” Grams ladled more soup into her bowl and then offered the ladle to me.

By the time we were finished with lunch, the crumble was done. Bree hurried home to grab the dogs, while I headed out to the shed to find the decorations. I managed to wrangle the seven-foot tree into the house on my own, and then carried in the boxes. I was halfway through when Bree showed up again. She let the dogs run around and play while we finished sorting through the decorations.

We spent the afternoon in a flurry of decorating and baking and eating. By the time we finished it was eight p.m., and the house sparkled with garlands and lights and all sorts of shiny things. As we settled down for a dinner of pizza and soda, it occurred to me that I hadn’t thought about Kyle all afternoon. Keeping busy was a good way to take my mind off things, but now, the concern over what had happened flooded back. I realized that the situation wasn’t going to resolve on its own.

After Bree went home, I called Bran. He answered on the first ring.

“How’d the game go?” I asked, curling up on the sofa with Gem in my lap. Silver was staring at the tree, but so far neither he nor Gem had made a play for any of the ornaments. I made sure that their cat condo was near enough that they might choose it over the tree.

“We won against Bremerton. I have to say, Starlight Hollow’s high school football team is pretty good. They’re called the Clam Divers.” He sounded relaxed. “I suppose you wouldn’t want to go to the game next Saturday with me?”

I groaned. “You know I don’t want to sit outside in the cold watching a bunch of young men run around with a ball. I love you, but can’t you find another game buddy?”

“Oh, sure. Russell will go with me. I thought I’d offer you the first chance.”

“I’d rather do other things with you than that. I can think of one sport we can practice together,” I said, lowering my voice to a purr.

“That beats football any day,” Bran said. “Would you like me to come over tonight? We can have a practice run.”

As much as I wanted to curl up in his arms, to feel his hands on me, I knew that first, I had to tell him what happened with Kyle. It affected Bran as well as me.

“I want to see you, yes. For one thing, we’re inundated with cookies from an afternoon of baking. And you can see the decorations that Bree and I put up today. However, I have something serious to tell you. So if you could come over, it would be a good thing. I can’t promise great sex tonight, although it might happen. But I need to talk.”

“I’ll be right there,” Bran said. Before I could say goodbye, he had hung up. I sat there staring at the flames in the wood stove, the sparkling lights on the tree, wondering what Bran would say when I told him what had happened.

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