Page 45 of Charmed
“Well.” Morgana shrugged and set the dough in a bowl to rise. “Boone didn’t know, and it soothed Sebastian’s feathers. He wasn’t exactly pleased to have walked in on your birthday and found you fresh out of bed.”
“It’s certainly none of his business.”
“He loves you.” She gave Ana’s arm a quick squeeze as she passed the stove. “He’ll always worry about you more because you’re the youngest—and simply because your gift makes you so vulnerable.”
“I’m not without my defenses, Morgana, or common sense.”
“I know. Darling, I …” She felt her eyes fill and brushed hastily at the tears. “It was your first time. I didn’t want to probe before, but … Lord, I never used to be so sentimental.”
“You were just able to hide it better.” Abandoning her cooking for the moment, Ana crossed over to take Morgana into her arms. “It was beautiful, and he’s so gentle. I knew there was a reason I had to wait, and he was it.” She drew back, smiling. “Boone’s given me more than I ever imagined I could have.”
With a sigh, Morgana lifted her hands to Ana’s face. “You’re in love with him.”
“Yes. Very much in love with him.”
“And he with you?”
Her gaze faltered. “I don’t know.”
“Oh, Ana.”
“I won’t link with him that way.” Her eyes leveled again, her voice firmed. “It would be dishonest when I haven’t told him what I am, and haven’t the courage to tell him how I feel myself. I know he cares for me. I need no gift to know he cares for me. And that’s enough. When there’s more, if there’s more, he’ll tell me.”
“It never fails to surprise me how damn stubborn you are.”
“I’m a Donovan,” Ana countered. “And this is important.”
“I agree. You should tell him.” She gripped Ana’s arms before her cousin could turn away. “Oh, I know. I despise it when someone gives me advice I don’t want to hear. But you have to let go of the past and face the future.”
“I am facing the future. I’d like Boone to be in it. I need more time.” Her voice broke, and she pressed her lips together until she felt she could steady it. “Morgana, I know him. He’s a good man. He has compassion and imagination and a capacity for generosity he isn’t even aware of. He also has a child.”
When Ana turned away this time, Morgana was forced to brace herself on the table. “Is that what you’re afraid of? Taking on someone else’s child?”
“Oh, no. I love her. Who wouldn’t? Even before I loved Boone, I loved Jessie. And she’s the center of his world, as she should be. There’s nothing, absolutely nothing, I wouldn’t do for either of them.”
“Then explain.”
Stalling, Ana rinsed the hard-cooked eggs she was going to devil. “Do you have any fresh dill? You know how Uncle Douglas loves his deviled eggs with dill.”
On a hiss of breath, Morgana slapped a jar on the counter. “Anastasia, explain.”
Emotions humming, Ana jerked off the tap. “Oh, you don’t know how fortunate you are with Nash. To have someone love you that way no matter what.”
“Of course I know,” Morgana said softly. “What does Nash have to do with this?”
“How many other men would accept one of us so completely? How many would want marriage, or take a witch as a mother for his child?”
“In the name of Finn, Anastasia.” The impatience in her voice was spoiled a bit by the fact that she was forced to sit again. “You talk as if we’re broomstick-riding crones, cackling while we curdle the milk in a mother’s breast.”
She didn’t smile. “Don’t most think of us just that way? Robert—”
“A pox on Robert.”
“All right, forget him,” Ana agreed with a wave of her hand. “How many times through the centuries have we been hunted and persecuted, feared and ostracized, simply for being what we were born to be? I’m not ashamed of my blood. I don’t regret my gift or my heritage. But I couldn’t bear it if I told him, and he looked at me as if”—she gave a half laugh—“as if I had a smoking cauldron in the basement filled with toads and wolfsbane.”
“If he loves you—”
“If,” Ana repeated. “We’ll see. Now, I think you should lie down for an hour.”
