Ill conjure for you, p.15
I'll Conjure for You, page 15
When Everett slammed the office door behind himself, he immediately called Helen.
After several rings, her bright voice hit his ear. “Hey!”
“Helen, I’m sorry—”
“I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you leave a message…”
He quickly hung up and tried again. Everett tried several times, growing more and more fearful of each ring.
He needed to hear her voice. He needed her to know that she was the most special person in his life.
Chapter 19
Helen tried not to cry on her drive home, and nearly succeeded until she parked beside the carriage house. Tears filled her eyes and blurred her vision as she ignored another call from Everett.
“Henry!” she called out when she locked the door behind her. “Are you there?”
Her familiar, who was laying on the couch, perked up.
She brushed her arm across her face, furiously dashing the tears away. She picked up the rabbit and nuzzled his ears for comfort. He licked her face, concentrating on her wet cheeks. “I’m glad to see you…” she whispered in his fur. “You don’t think I’m weird, do you?”
He stared at her with those dark mysterious eyes and twitched his nose several times.
Her phone buzzed in her back pocket. It had to be the fourth or fifth call from Everett. She pressed decline and tapped out a quick message. I just need a minute.
He’d seen the message, quickly responded with a heart emoji and began typing. She didn’t want to wait for his response. She was thoroughly mortified by what his father said about her and couldn’t face him. Sure, she was angry with Greg Myer’s rude description of her, but he’d also vocalized every fear she’d had since that episode of Ghost Punters aired. He, along with others, thought she was weird for bringing attention to their town.
Something Whitney had been afraid of.
Something her mother and Vernelle had chastised her for.
Everett’s text message alerted her.
I’m so very sorry about what my dad said. He’s wrong and his opinion is definitely in the minority. I didn’t want you to leave, but I understand you were probably upset. Please call me when you’re ready to talk.
“I’m not mad at him,” she told Henry. “Whatever is going on with him and his dad doesn’t really concern me…. Greg is for him to handle.” She cradled the rabbit with one hand and took him to the kitchen for some greens.
When her phone buzzed again, she let out an exasperated sigh and snatched it from her back pocket. This time, it wasn’t Everett, but her sister, Whitney.
Helen immediately answered because she needed to talk to someone who wasn’t a boy. “Whit!” she breathed through a stuffy nose. “How’s California?”
“Oh God, it’s gorgeous out here. Deon and I are planning to stay at the resort today. No tours, no sightseeing,” she chuckled. “He says hey, by the way. I think I’m going to get several spa treatments today.”
“Aww, that sounds lovely. I’m glad you’re finally getting some rest,” Helen said, setting Henry on the kitchen floor. “Tell Deon I say hello.”
“Hey… have you been crying?”
She could always count on her sister to hear something in her voice. “It’s allergies,” she lied.
“You don’t have seasonal allergies,” Whitney said in a flat tone. “What’s wrong? Are you and Henry okay? Is the B&B okay?”
“Oh my God, calm down,” Helen said, pulling a fistful of greens from the crinkly bag. “We’re fine. You caught me after I did some… dusting.”
Her sister paused. “Sorry I overreacted. I was just a little worried about you,” she admitted. “I didn’t feel great leaving you alone.”
“The property is safe, Whit.”
“Yeah, but I know you’re going through something right now. Witchcraft is something new and I know you want to get it right. Sometimes you get frustrated and down on yourself.”
“I’m fine, really,” she tried to assure her sister, but even she knew the words felt hollow.
“This happened when you graduated from culinary school,” Whitney said in a gentle voice. “You had a hard time adjusting without the structure and you got kind of depressed.”
This time, Helen decided that lying might not be the best choice. The period Whitney had referred to was not a dark time because school had ended. “I never told you the truth about graduation,” she said, walking back to her living and plopping on the couch. “It was a little more complicated than that.”
“What happened?”
“I was sleeping with one of my instructors, Patrick Kenny. I thought I was in love with him or something foolish, but I found out near the end of the year that I was kind of his mistress? I broke it off with him and tried to keep it a secret but I think most of my classmates knew. Some of them had known of his fiancee before I did.”
“Oh nooooo,” Whitney said in a hushed voice. “Oh, Helen, sweety… why didn’t you tell me? I would have driven up to Atlanta and beaten the shit out of him for you and his fiancee.”
Helen couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped her. “No, you wouldn’t.”
“I’d fuck up anyone or anything that tries to mess with my sister. Regardless, why did you feel like you had to hold on to that by yourself? He’s the jerk who played in your face.”
Shame and guilt gripped her as she considered explaining her feelings at the time. “I just felt kind of stupid.”
“And what else?”
“What else?” Helen asked. “I don’t know… I just felt like the idiot who fell for the rock-star chef. I felt like I always do, impulsive and silly. A step behind everyone else who already knows better.”
Whitney sighed. “I don’t know if I tell you this enough, but I think you need to hear it today. You’re so smart. You’re not silly or stupid or one step behind everyone else. You’re Helen, a strong, intelligent, and incredibly creative person who was brave enough to take up Grand-Mère’s challenge. No one else could have pulled off what we did.”
Tears filled Helen’s eyes once more, this time from gratitude. “Thanks, Whit.”
“Now what’s got you feeling down today?” she asked. “Don’t lie because I know you’re not a duster. You hate dusting.”
Helen gave a watery laugh and wiped her eyes. “It’s just boy stuff,” she said. She wasn’t about to tell Whitney about an actual demon living in their future business partner’s home, or that she had taken it upon herself to banish it. Better start with something less anxiety-provoking.
“Everett?”
“Um, yeah.” She felt safe enough to explain the effects of the spell she cast in the forest, leaving out the steamier moments from their time together. “I guess I just wondered, when the spell is over, will we still—will he still, you know….”
“Like you?” Whitney finished with a chuckle. “Oh, this is delicious. After all this time tiptoeing around each other for the last few months, hoping one would ask the other for, I don’t know, coffee. Now look at you, so hot for each other and you can’t even have sex.”
“Right, well, that doesn’t alleviate my concerns.”
“Oh, Helen. I have no doubt that Everett Myer has a major crush on you. I don’t think you needed a spell, but it sure sounds like it helped. You’ll find out soon enough, though, since it ends tonight.”
Helen stilled. Had it really been five days since she had conjured in the woods? She was never great at keeping track of time. But as she quickly counted backwards, she realized Whitney was right. Perhaps, in some small way, she’d known that their time was winding down when she ran away from his store, so Greg’s words hit her in the gut, making her worry that Everett might actually believe the same thing as his father once the sex-fog wore off.
Would she simply return to being Helen the reckless, the chatterbox, the excitable? The girl who did the most?
“The next time you see him, I guarantee you’ll still have that magic feeling.”
Helen smiled. “Maybe,” she said.
“Definitely,” her sister said in a resolute tone.
“Okay.”
“Anything else on your mind?”
Helen glanced at her altar, and she knew what she needed to do. Provincial townsfolk be damned. She was going to figure out what to do with Milly Myer’s house. “No, I think that’s it,” she said, absently.
“Well, I’m going to have to let you go. Deon’s ordered room service for brunch and I am famished.”
“Good. I hope you guys keep having a good time. I love you, Whit.”
Her sister’s warm voice calmed her. “I love you, too. I’ll see you soon.”
Once she hung up, Henry came bounding through the living room and leaped up on the couch beside her. “Are you ready to work, Henry?”
Her familiar twitched his nose and sat up straight.
“One way or another, we’re going to fight a demon.”
Chapter 20
Everett stalked his cabin, uncertain of what he should do.
He had come back home a couple of hours ago and had only gotten one message from Helen. I just need a minute. He didn’t want to give her a minute, he wanted to go to her home, gather in his arms, and kiss the hell out of her. He burned with frustration by the time he left work. His father had exited the store not too long after Everett sequestered himself in the back office. Jeremy said that Greg had muttered an apology before leaving, which was surprising, considering how loud and wrongly his father had behaved.
He cut the same path in front of his fireplace so many times, Lola thought he was playing a game and began jumping around him. Everett had no choice but to stop his brooding long enough to take his dog out for a walk.
Outside, the crickets and frogs sang a loud night song, their sounds floating up to a starry sky. He held on to Lola’s leash and tipped his head upward. Seeing the waning moon instantly reminded him of Helen’s nighttime dance in the forest. Her beautiful body bathed in firelight, the pounding in his chest… the lure toward her energy. Green and yellow like the Northern Lights.
Helen may have needed a minute, but he needed to see her. Even if it was just to speak through her door, just to tell her that he was sorry. Much to Lola’s delight, Everett guided her into the woods beside his cabin, letting her sniff her way through the forest. A similar lure pushed him through the overgrown brush and mossy tree logs. He didn’t stop walking until he got to a clearing.
Ahead of him was Helen’s carriage house, sitting beside the Bordeaux B&B. A pale yellow light illuminated the windows, letting him know that she may still be awake. He suddenly felt foolish, wondering if he’d made a huge mistake. Lola strained against her leash though, pulling Everett forward. Soon, he found himself on her porch, knocking on her door, and waiting for her to tell him to go home.
But to his shock, her door swung open.
Helen stood on the other side of the threshold, now dressed in a tank top and shorts. She was a fucking vision: beautifully rumpled, her hair a little frazzled and puffy eyes. “What are you doing here?” she asked with a cracked voice.
“I needed to see you,” he rasped. “I told my dad off for what he said. I didn’t want you to leave, but I understand why you did. He was fucking rude and his opinions aren’t mine. I need you to know what, Helen.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. “Okay.”
Everett’s heart pounded wildly in his chest. “I’m sorry.”
She nodded, hugging her arms around her middle. “I’m still going to help you with Milly’s house, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I am worried about it,” he admitted. “But that’s not why I’m here right now. I’m here for you.”
Against better his judgment or what may have been prudent in that moment, he dropped Lola’s leash, took a step forward and gathered Helen in his arms. With his hand cradling the back of her head, he tipped her face upward and crashed into her lips with a fiery kiss. To his relief, she sank into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist. Her vibrating moan against his lips only fueled his need to devour her. When her tongue slid against his, ardently fighting for control, he followed and let her lead him deeper into the kiss. It took everything in him not to pick her up by the legs and press her body into the doorjamb, rocking his hips into her softness.
Her hands drifted up his belly, to his chest before gently pushing him back. She pulled her head away and looked him over with a curious stare. “Why did you do that?” she asked breathlessly.
Everett frowned. “Because I desperately want you?” Why else would he have walked through the forest and beat down her door? To him, nothing had changed since they last saw each other. For the rest of that day, he had still thought of ways to pleasure her, where to take her out on dates, and how to make her his girlfriend. But her puzzled expression made him fearful that he might already be too late. “I’m sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have done that.”
Helen’s eyes widened. “Oh no, that was perfectly fine! I’m just… well, surprised. Since the spell is over, I just figured you weren’t feeling the heat anymore.”
The heat? Realization dawned on Everett when he noticed how her skin now felt. How he wasn’t burning up with a blind animal desire that wanted nothing more than to consume her. He stared down into her dark eyes and chuckled softly. “I had forgotten about that,” he said, kissing her forehead, then her cheek. “But I’m pretty sure I didn’t need a spell to want you. You’re all I’ve been thinking about since you and Whitney came to Pardon… I’ve just been too chicken-shit to say anything.”
Her soft lips fell open in surprise. “Really?”
He ran his thumb across her cheek and grinned. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I have a hard time saying what’s on my mind. The one helpful thing your conjuring did was loosen my lips.”
“Oh.” She glanced behind him, to the darkened driveway. “Do you want to come in?”
“More than anything.” He patted his leg. “Come on, Lola.”
His dog pushed her past them and made herself comfortable in the living room beside her new friend, Henry. Seeing the two animals interact with one another was still puzzling, but Everett could now officially say that he’d seen stranger.
Inside, Helen’s coffee table was a chaotic scene, with books and folders strewn about. Henry had been chewing on the corner of a book cover before she ran over and shooed him away. “Sweety, I give you more than enough hay blocks to keep you occupied. Go play with Lola.” She turned to him, suddenly very shy. “I’m sorry about the mess. I didn’t know you’d come over.”
“This is your house.”
She straightened up the papers and stacked some of the books. “Yeah, I know, but—”
He took her by the hand and slowly pulled her to him. “You don’t have to be anyone but you. I like you this way, no other way.”
“I like you too,” she breathed. “A lot.”
Her admission brought a smile to his face as he tried not to let out a holler. Instead, Everett tried to play it cool. “Good.”
“And I’m not mad at you,” she added. “Your dad is a different story, though. I got the hell out of there because I didn’t want to hear any more of what he thought.”
Everett’s smile fell away. “I assure you, that’s all he managed to say because I cut him off there.” Renewed anger tightened his chest as he remembered Greg’s careless words. “As soon as you left, I told him everything. How I didn’t want to run the store, that I was ready to do something for me, and how I felt about you.”
“What did he say to all that?”
He shrugged. “Not too much. He looked pretty damn shocked, honestly.”
Helen pursed her lips. “How do you feel now that you’ve spoken your mind?”
“Honestly? Relieved… but I know there are some other things we need to talk about. I want to do that after we take care of Nana’s problem.”
She nodded. “Right.”
“What he said about you and your family wasn’t right,” Everett stressed. “I want you to know that. Chip Picard was lying about something. I could see it in his eyes. He was terrified of what had happened to him and didn’t want it to happen again. But instead of talking to us about it, he ran to my dad to tattle. That’s not unusual with some of the old timers in this town. They like to bury shit and keep moving.” He clutched her hand tighter. “I don’t want to be like that, Helen. I want to be more like you.”
Her eyes grew misty as she looked down at their joined hands. “Yeah?”
“Yes.”
Only when her smile returned, his chest loosened. “While I don’t necessarily recommend ADHD, I can say that it helps create more pathways towards a solution. You wanna see what I’ve researched?”
“Absolutely.”
“So the heat’s worn off, huh?” cackled the elderly Black woman on Helen’s iPad. Her face filled the screen as her eyes darted between them.
Everett was glad to put a face to Vernelle and liked her spunky attitude. She reminded him of his own grandmother.
“It has,” Helen said. “I think we’re a little more clear-headed this evening.”
He nodded, trying not to blush in front of her mentor. The intense heat may have worn off, but his desire for Helen definitely hadn’t. “Sure.”
“Good,” the woman said, leaning back in her office chair. “Now we get to work. What have you found, Helen?”
Everett listened to Helen explain their findings and reminded Vernelle what had awaited them at Milly’s house. The old woman nodded along, taking her own notes with the scribble of a pencil against a notepad. When she finished writing, she remained quiet, staring into the space beyond them. Everett stayed quiet, too. Even though this meeting was regarding his grandmother, it was also official witch business. Something he had no experience with.
