Page 38 of Sweets and Sycamores
Allie.
The feeling of his magic hitting a scorching hot brick wall that tried to suck the power out of him came back rushing and made his head spin. Dom looked at Mia over his shoulder.
“Yeah.”
“Is she going to be okay?” Mia asked with deep concern in her voice. One of the many reasons Dom loved her was this pure heart of hers. She barely knew the Witch, and yet she was worried about her. Dom wanted to reassure her, wanted to reassure himself, but he couldn’t be sure, so he settled for the best he could offer without lying.
“I hope so.” His knuckles went white gripping the book. “Do me a favor, will you?” His sister agreed without blinking as he detailed what he needed.
Dom flipped the book open and skimmed through the first pages on his way back to the bakery. With his eyes glued to the text, he knocked into someone on the sidewalk.
“Sorry,” he muttered, not bothering to lift his eyes.
“Morning, Dom,” a chirping voice greeted him. Anna smiled at him, ponytail swishing, her hands on his arms to steady herself. “I haven’t seen you in a while. Let’s have coffee together,” Anna suggested, although she saw him every time she walked into the bakery, which was…every day.
Dom avoided seeing her alone. He didn’t want to give her any false hope as he did not share her feelings. He had not felt like that about anyone in a very long time.
“Maybe another time.” He nodded and went around her, his mind reeling over the details about power seals.
“Dominic.” He halted at the sound of his full name and faced her. “Are you sure you’re keeping the best company at the bakery?”
“What?”
“I mean, no one knows anything about this Witch. For all we know, she may be here to continue what the other one?—”
“Stop.” Anna flinched at the snarl in his voice.
“I trust you.”Words he had been hungry for for so long, coming from the most unexpected person in his life. Words that made his aching heart feel like it was dipped in warm honey.
“You don’t know anything about her.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to you, or your bakery,” Anna plowed on with her biased concerns.
Concerns about one of the kindest souls he had ever met. A Witch who kept her promise, no matter how embarrassed it made her feel. A Witch who loved an orphaned baby dragon as if she had been raising him for years. A Witch who smiled at everyone who sneered at her, who struggled to learn as much as she could about this temporary job. Who put herself through literal fire to learn how to control her power, with no one to help her. Yet.
“Don’t you worry about me,” Dom warned her, then left.
He crossed the street and entered the bakery, holding the book to his side, title hidden. Allie was sitting at a table, her fingers drawing patterns on the rim of the coffee cup. She welcomed him with a small smile, her chocolate-brown eyes wary, fear still clinging to their corners, making them wide and glassy.
“How are you feeling?” he asked just when she opened her mouth to say something foolish like thanking him for helping her.
“I’m all right. I wanted to?—”
“Thank you,” Dom interrupted her, more than likely stealing her words. Allie watched him with the same wide eyes as he went on. “For telling me. Thank you for keeping your promise.” He did not want to think about what would have happened if she hadn’t called for him in time. And he was truly grateful there was someone in his life—besides Mia—who did not break their promises. Dom inhaled and gathered his courage to utter the words that dug a knife into his heart and twisted it endlessly. “And for trusting me.”
Allie, frozen in place, watched him with her pink lips parted like he’d said the silliest thing ever.
“Cover the front for me for a while, will you?”
Dominic left her standing in that spot, her mouth likely still open. He heard a scraping chair and knew she snapped out of her endearing shock.
“Of course, Mr. Ranford,” she called after him.
He stopped in the doorframe to the hallway and turned to face the beautiful Witch. Her eyes were on him, flashing one of those full smiles that he preferred to think were only for him.
“Call me Dominic.”
Allie was lucky the bakery was packed with customers today. She did not want a spare moment to think about what had happened in the morning. Later, she would be consumed by all of it. She would be consumed by Dominic’s kindness, by the way he’d looked at her burning skin as if he could feel the heat on his own. She hated that she had endangered the one person in her life whom she desperately didn’t want to hurt. She never wanted to hurt anyone, but Dominic…
