Page 6 of All My Witches
If I could’ve grabbed her around the neck and given her a good shake and gotten away with it I totally would’ve done it. There was every chance she can take me in a fair fight – and don’t even get me going on an unfair fight, which she’s prone to engage in regularly – so I wisely kept my mouth shut even as my anxietydoubled.
“It’s nice to be loved.” Marcus beamed as he gave Thistle a lingering hug. He knew very well her mood would shift to snarky and mean relatively quickly, so he took advantage of the situation while he could. “I was a little worried about getting here. The roads are a mess. Even when you’re going slow and know where you’re going it’s a littlefrightening.”
My stomach twisted as I chewed my bottom lip. “Maybe we should go looking for him.” I glanced at Chief Terry. “Maybe… .”
“Sweetheart, we don’t know exactly where he is,” Chief Terry reminded me gently. “He could be anywhere. Give it some time. If he’s stopped someplace else because he feels that’s the safest thing to do, you don’t have to worry. He’ll call. He wouldn’t leave you suffering all night. That’s not hisway.”
I knew that was true, yet … . My heart hopped when I heard the front door open and I ran to the opening between rooms so I could get a glimpse of the action. Landon wasn’t looking at me as he entered, but he said something to my mother that had both of them chuckling, his booming laughter filling theroom.
Even though I knew it was ridiculous, I couldn’t stop the relief from washing over me. Landon was here. He was safe. He would probably eat his weight in comfort food before the end of the night, but that was something torejoice.
I opened my mouth to greet him, something schmaltzy on the tip of my tongue, but that was the moment Aunt Tillie made her presenceknown.
“What the … ? Thistle! You’d better start running now. I know this wasyou.”
Ah, the magical ants were doing their work. I spared a glance over my shoulder and locked gazes with Thistle. “That probably wasn’t a good idea now that we’re all stuck here for thenight.”
Thistle shrugged. “Don’t worry. I’ve got it all undercontrol.”
That was a frightening thought. “How?”
“Watch.” Thistle winked. “I didn’t do it, Aunt Tillie,” she called out. “It was Bay. You should put her on the top of yourlist.”
My mouth dropped open as I realized what was happening. “You’re dead to me,” I seethed, my cheeks burning. “You’re so dead they’ll have to think of a new word fordead.”
Thistle merely grinned. “Ah, it’s good to spend time withfamily.”
Something told me she wouldn’t feel that way by the end of thenight.
“HEY, SWEETIE.”
Landon was all smiles when he strolled into the room. I did my best to pretend I hadn’t been panicking about his safety and even managed to pull off a cool smile for about ten seconds … and then I was onhim.
“I was worried.” I gave him a fierce hug. “You should’ve stopped at a hotel instead of braving theroads.”
“Where were you?” Chief Terryasked.
“Elk Rapids. They had a big meth bust. I needed to sign paperwork, so I was there later than I wanted. The weather wasn’t that bad when I left. By the time I got here, though, it was terrible. The last five miles between town and the inn took me almost forty-fiveminutes.”
“Yeah, it’s definitely nasty out there,” Clove agreed. “By the way, we’re all staying here for the night. That includes you and Bay. If you don’t like it … well … suck itup.”
Landon snickered. “You decide to be the bold one at the oddest oftimes.”
“I have to be the bold one tonight. Thistle and Bay are on Aunt Tillie’slist.”
Landon’s eyes lighted with amusement. “Oh, well, fun!” He kissed my forehead. “You need to unclench a bit, Bay. I’m fine. It was a rough ride, but I’m safe. Everyone is under one roof together, which I think is going to mean that things will get loud before the end of thenight.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” Thistle intoned. “I already cursed Aunt Tillie to feel as if she has ants in her pants and then told her Bay did it. We’re just gettingstarted.”
“Sounds fun.” Landon smoothed my hair. “Do you think she’ll whip out the bacon curse as retribution? If we’re going to be snowed in, I can’t think of a better way to pass thetime.”
“You want to spend the time sniffing your girlfriend?” Chief Terry’s tone was dry. “I don’t want to see that. In fact, I’m putting my foot down and demanding that no one gets cursed to smell like bacon. It might be a big inn, but it’ll feel small once we’ve spent a few hourstogether.”
“And we haven’t even started drinking yet,” Thistle added, sliding her eyes to the right when the dining room door swung open to allow Aunt Tillieentrance.
Describing Aunt Tillie isn’t easy. She’s four feet and eleven inches of pure mayhem. Tonight, for example, she wore St. Patrick’s Day leggings, an oversized “I’m Here for the Boos” shirt and slippers with bunnies on them. Oh, and for the record, the bunnies looked stoned. Er, maybe they were meant to represent the rabbit fromMonty Python and The Holy Grail. Yeah, that made moresense.
“There’s the woman of the hour.” Landon beamed as he released me. “If you’re going to punish Bay, I want to request something that smells like bacon before the wine starts flowing. I figure if I get my request in early you’ll be far more likely to take it intoconsideration.”
