Page 46 of Oohs, Ahhhs, and Orbs

With those final words, I blew out the black candle and hung my head. No matter what I said, they were gonna worry. Depending on where they were and what they were doing, it could take hours before they actually received my message. I supposed that would give me enough time to think about what I would actually say back.

I heard the bell ding in the front of the shop, and my head shot up in surprise. I hadn’t even thought about the shop being open the whole time. I stumbled into the front room, bracing my hand on the doorway. Just as I was about to call out a greeting, I saw who had come into my store.

“Oh hell no,” I muttered under my breath.

Kristy stood in front of the door while taking a quick look around the shop. As soon as she noticed where I was standing, she lifted her chin in the air and squared her shoulders. With her hand braced over her belly, she strode forward, the very appearance of confidence and grace. I stepped forward, placing myself behind the glass counter, needing the separation between the two of us.

“No,” I said firmly. “We’re not doing this. You can leave now.” I pointed toward the red door.

Kristy ignored my demand. Instead, she continued her confident stride until she was directly in front of me. I absolutely loathed that I needed to lift my chin up to make eye contact with her.

“We need to talk,” her tone was just as firm as mine had been.

“No, I really don’t think we do,” I replied.

“Marlene told me that she came in here, and you two had a nice little chat.”

I hoped she couldn’t tell that the confident grin I’d plastered on my face was strained as hell. “Did she like the potion I gave her? She seemed concerned about a scratchy throat. I do hope she is feeling better.”

Kristy waved her hand as if her friend being sick was irrelevant. “I’m not here to talk about that.”

I lifted one eyebrow at her imperious tone and waited for her to continue, and I wasn’t disappointed. “I did a little digging on you.”

“Is that so?” I said. “I’m sure Logan would be extremely interested to hear that you are digging into my life when he specifically told you to stay away.”

Again, she ignored my words and continued despite the threat. “I found out that you grew up without a father.” I inhaled sharply.How dare she?“It must have been difficult for you,” she said in mock sympathy. She glanced down at her belly, my eyes involuntarily following hers. Then she looked back up at me with a soft smile on her face. “It’s a boy, you know.”

“Congratulations,” I choked out.

“Logan would make a great father, don’t you think? He always told me that he would love to have children with me.”

The words had a pain shooting through my heart as I thought of the news I just received. “I’m sure he would,” I replied quietly.

“For someone who grew up without a father, I’m sure you understand.”

“Understand what?” I asked, having a sinking feeling settle in my gut.

“Why, that my son needs his father,” she said as if it were obvious.

I closed my eyes briefly, not wanting to believe what she was saying and not wanting her to see my pain. At the moment, I didn’t know what was true and what wasn’t. The truth was that they had divorced right around the time that her child was conceived, but Logan had told me that they stopped being in a real relationship about six months before they actually divorced. He couldn’t possibly be the father of her baby, could he?

“I think you should leave now,” I said quietly, reopening my eyes and giving her a pointed stare. I wasn’t interested in what she had come to say any longer and just wanted her to leave. I’d taken too many blows already since I’d woken up in the middle of the night. I wasn’t sure how much I could take.

Kristy squared her shoulders. “Women shouldn’t be pitting themselves against each other,” she said. “This is a serious situation that you could resolve with a bit of dignity and grace.”

I couldn’t help the snort that escaped. Kristy and her minion had been harassing me since the first night that they had seen me with Logan. I wasn’t pitting myself against anybody. But I damn sure wasn’t going to take their attacks lightly.

I leaned forward to get closer and to make sure that she heard my words and took them to heart. “Kristy,” I said slowly. “I don’t control Logan. If Logan wants to be with you, that is Logan’s choice, not mine. If you’re asking me to break up with him because of your condition, well, you’re more delusional than I thought you were.”

Her eyes narrowed dangerously at my words. As I stood there, she leaned in as well. “Little girl,” she started, “Logan was mine years before you were even ready to start shaving your legs. He will always be mine. A love like ours can’t be destroyed by a little mistake. He will eventually get over being mad at me, and we will go back to being happy again.

I snapped at her because the comment was beyond ridiculous. First of all, I wasn’t that young, and second of all, witches didn’t need to shave their legs. There were spells for that. “No matter what you say, Kristy, my answer remains. If you want Logan back, you talk to Logan. Now,” I repeated, pointing my finger toward the entrance to Oohs, Ahhhs, and Orbs. “For the last time, leave my shop.”

She straightened back up and lifted a hand to smooth down her dark hair, which was already sleek and shiny. “You know,”she began in a softer tone. “Logan didn’t seem all that upset today when I talked to him about the baby. We’ll just see who wins in the end. Won’t we?”

Then, she turned around and walked away before I could form a reply. I wasn’t worried, or at least I shouldn’t have been. But knowing that I couldn’t tell Logan the news that I was pregnant and that she already had was a new problem I hadn’t anticipated.

I looked down at my hand, just then realizing that it was stinging fiercely, and uncurled my fist. My hand was still bleeding, and my fingernails had been digging into the wound. I thought of the threat that was looming over my head. I couldn’t tell Logan about the baby. Not yet. If he knew, he would be too protective to allow me to do what I needed.

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