of emotions. A gentle reminder that the man she loved had a steadfast heart.
Accepting his gift, she held the flower gently in her hands and reached for a gentle trickle of earth power. She cuddled into his shoulder as the petals unfurled.
She had just a moment to wonder at the racing of his heart, and then the flash of light in the petals caught her breath. “Oh. Oh, Mike.”
Gently she reached in and pulled out a simple and stunning ring, diamond gleaming in the moonlight.
Mike slid it gently onto her finger. “Marry me, Sophie.”
She tried to find words.
His hands gently cupped her face. “Seedlings need roots, and solid ground to stand on, and so do we. Make that together with me. I love you.”
Sophie beamed at him. Roots and foundations weren’t the stuff of most marriage proposals, but from one earth witch to another, they were everything.
She covered her hands with his. “Yes.” It was the only word she could get out. And the only one that was necessary.
Chapter 20
Elorie slumped into the porch swing and took a deep breath. The silence was almost deafening. Aaron had just left with all their guests who needed a ride to the airport. Lizzie’s father had taken the local witchlings out on his trawler for the day.
Gran was tucked into her garden, dealing with the profusion of flowers Mike’s marriage proposal had left behind. Elorie grinned. Sophie’s magic didn’t run amuck for very many reasons. Gran had walked into her garden in the early morning and squealed loud enough for half of Nova Scotia to hear.
It was a joy that would help ease the partings somewhat.
Elorie swung gently. In a few minutes, she might get the energy to wander over to her studio, or have a visit with Gran. For the moment, swinging was about all the energy she could muster.
“Don’t get too lazy there, niece.” Marcus stepped out of the door of the inn, a cup of tea in his hand. “I’ve a spellcoding lesson planned.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Even witches get the occasional day off.”
“Not when their trainer is leaving in a few days. The faster you learn, the sooner I’ll be able to go.”
That was a mildly motivating thought. “Can we at least wait until after lunch? I was about to head to my studio.” It was only a slight stretching of the truth.
Marcus shook his head. “Jamie will be joining us, and he’s online, waiting. Come inside. I already have our laptops set up.”
Elorie touched her heart pendant and sighed. Even its jazzy new abilities couldn’t save her entirely from the curse of the laptop. Fighting off what she knew was a fairly irrational attack of laptop hatred, she hauled herself up from the swing and followed Marcus back inside.
She’d go sea-glass hunting later. That was the most effective reward she could think of to keep her bottom in a chair long enough to get through whatever Uncle Marcus had planned.
When she saw the Realm logo up on both computers, she mentally added chocolate to her self-bribe—an entire bar of the really good stuff.
She sat down in front of her screen and discovered it was only half Realm. The other half was Jamie’s face on video chat, and that was a welcome sight, even under the circumstances.
“Good morning, Jamie. How’s Nat doing?”
He grinned. “Still sleeping. Growing babies must be hard work. Congratulations, by the way—I hear there’s a baby outbreak happening in Nova Scotia.”
Elorie laughed. “I think Sophie’s may have been conceived in Colorado, but Gran is happy to take credit. She claims her garden is full of fertility this year.”
Suddenly Marcus’s face popped up on her screen below Jamie’s. It was eerie to have him both across the table and on her computer. “When you’re done with baby talk, perhaps we can move on to our lesson for the day.”
Jamie rolled his eyes. “Be nice, Marcus, or I’ll tell Warrior Girl about your sleeper spell outside her secret garden.”
Elorie had no idea what that meant, but it was very effective in improving Uncle Marcus’s manners. Perhaps this Realm game had some benefits after all. “So, what is it we’re doing today?”
“We’re going to try to stretch what you did on the beach,” Marcus said.
Elorie’s eyebrows lifted. “Got an umbrella?”
“Not quite that literally,” Jamie said. “Marcus said you were able to push magic to Lauren at a distance. We’re going to see if you can push magic to me while I’m in Realm. We know you can pull it