A Modern Witch - By Debora Geary Page 0,85

before I left the studio, so it should be here soon.”

Jamie smiled. “Food to soothe the angry beast?”

“If necessary.” Nat pulled him toward the couch. “It was Lauren’s idea. She got Nell to send a picture of your living room in Berkeley.”

“Nell would approve of any plan to rid the world of bachelor décor.”

Nell would approve of any plan to make her brother happier, thought Lauren. She settled into a really comfortable loveseat and let Jamie and Nat’s banter flow over her.

For her and Nat, returning to the routine of their lives in Chicago had been welcome comfort. Lauren had been very happy to see her friends, her couch, and her stellar ice cream stash. Their first week back, Nat had taught all her classes on a yoga high, delighting in the familiar and what was hers.

Jamie was different. He had taken the enormous step of coming to Chicago, but he hadn’t really settled. Other than in the kitchen, at least. The man took care of his stomach.

Hopefully this had been a gentle reminder that home was where you made it. Jamie needed a nest, and Lauren was in the business of providing them.

…

Nell: Lauren—how did the home decorating invasion go?

Lauren: You owe me chocolate. I got the old couch out.

Nell: I’ve lost more chocolate to you and Nat… I keep taking sucker bets.

Sophie: They say the first step of overcoming addiction is acknowledging you have a problem.

Nell: Oh, shut up, girl.

Moira: Do you have any pictures for us, Lauren?

Lauren: I do. Nell, what’s the easiest way to put them up?

Nell: Ginia and Mia added a photo library just for this occasion. See the little icon, top right?

Lauren: Cool, give me a minute. Hey, there are pictures of the girls in here, too.

Nell: Jennie uploaded a photo album for you as well.

Lauren: I see it, thanks. I’ll take a look when we’re done here. Oh wait, there’s a video clip, too. Ginia’s doing magic—Moira, can you see her?

Moira: Goodness, she surely is. Look at those flowers blooming. Nell, you have a little earth witch, do you?

Nell: I do. She can do a little with fire too, but she’s very strong with earth elementals. Aervyn’s spell the night of the full circle seems to have awakened a lot of earth talents. All four that gained magic that night have earth power.

Sophie: I think my magic has actually been stronger since then as well. Subtle, but there. Mike has noticed it too.

Nell: Oh, really? Chatting with Mike, are you?

Lauren: Do tell…

Moira: Don’t tease her, lasses. Didn’t you see at the full circle?

Sophie: Moira, you don’t miss anything, do you? We’ve been chatting a bit; that’s all, really. He might make a trip here later in the spring.

Nell: He’s a great guy, Sophie. You’ll have beautiful witch babies.

Sophie: Oh, shut up, girl :-).

Nell: Want an eight-year-old chaperone? I could send Ginia—she’d go nuts for your garden and herbals room. She’s obsessed with flowers at the moment.

Sophie: I’d be delighted to have her, as I’m sure Moira would. Maybe wait until early summer, though, when the gardens are at their finest.

Nell: That’s what I was thinking. I’ll wait until Mike’s second trip to send a tagalong :-).

Sophie: To quote Jamie, is nothing private?

Moira: Of course not, dear.

Nell: Speaking of training, Lauren, how is yours going?

Lauren: I was hoping no one would ask that…

Sophie: Good luck with that. Moira and Jennie are both very persistent on the issue of training.

Moira: Indeed. You have solid basics now, child, but you need to stay in practice, at the very least.

Lauren: I know it. I think I just needed a break. California was so intense, and being back home has been a chance to catch my breath.

Moira: And you surely earned a break, but every witch needs regular practice. Start with something small, even a little barrier work.

Lauren: Yes, ma’am.

Nell: Jennie sends more or less the same message.

When Moira and Jennie ganged up on you, that meant serious business. She’d do some regular practicing. Soon.

Lauren wasn’t trying to avoid magic, exactly. But when she’d come down from the wondrous high of the full circle, she’d been terrified. She’d held the lives of at least fourteen people, and maybe more, in her half-trained hands. She was a realtor. She found people homes. She didn’t play in the world of life and death.

She would seek to use her mind-witch powers for good; Jennie had instilled that much. The rest, she just tried not to think about.

Lauren opened up the photo