just a little more practice.
"You enjoyed my daughter, too." Jamie's head tilted to the side, thinking. "Would you like to come over for lunch tomorrow? Kenna's magic isn't very predictable, but she might like to do some tricks for you. Give you something else to watch."
He was trying. And Kenna was wonderful. "I'd like that."
She'd give it one more chance. And if they couldn't find a way to step forward, then it would be time to go home.
-o0o-
Liri closed the laptop, very pleased with herself. Three days now she'd managed to update inventory without breaking anything.
Standing up, she walked over to the shelves, fixing things as she went. An herbals book misfiled in the history section. Carnelian sitting next to topaz. With quiet hands, she remedied the trail of small disorders created by browsing customers. A job that always soothed her soul, even when the day had been hard.
It had been a record-setting day for the shop, the kind that signaled a holiday season brimful of hope and generosity. It was her heart that hurt.
When you'd loved someone every day of eleven years, their absence left a hole.
She reached out a finger to the water lily crystal, sitting all alone. It missed its dragon friend.
The sound of a key in the lock had her turning. After hours, that meant someone from the coven.
"You still here, girl?" Mellie set down her bag and began peeling off the five layers required to survive a two-block walk in a Chicago winter.
"I had inventory to adjust."
"Mmm, hmm. That's usually Beth's line." Their earth witch pinned her with a sharp look. "You should have come to dinner."
She'd needed to nest some. "My channels were pretty taxed today. We were busy here."
"Don't I know it. People strolling up and down the darned street all day long." The last of her layers off, Mellie plunked her ample self in the shop's most comfortable chair. "But I know that one earth witch doesn't tax your mind overly much, and it would have made it a lot easier to get my gossip if you'd just taken a little walk down the street." She nodded toward her monstrous purse. "If you're hungry, I might have brought you over a little something-something."
Love came in so many shapes. Liri smiled and gave the water lily an extra squeeze. "I haven't heard from Beth today. Just a quick email last night."
"They're probably romancing her with all their fancy magic. She won't have time for the likes of us."
It hadn't sounded like romance so far. "She had to go, Mellie. She's got more magic than the rest of us combined."
"I know." A huff and a puff as her visitor rooted more deeply in the chair. "I'm worried about her, that's all. She's worth knowing, that one, but you have to make the effort. You think they're making it, way out there in sunny California?"
For all her huff and grump, Mellie had made that effort. Liriel came and sat on the sturdy stool that normally helped her reach high places. "I don't know yet. I'm trying to be patient."
"Hmmph." Mellie's voice hit the gravelly place that, for her, meant high emotion. "Well, then. I guess we'll just have to sit here and be not patient together."
Liriel reached for the tough, gnarled hands of one of her dearest friends.
Together, they shaped a single yearning wish - and sent it west.
-o0o-
Moira looked up at the sky, enjoying the warm California sun and at the same time, feeling her body's bewilderment. Irish blood had no idea what to make of sunshine in December. However, her old bones would enjoy a brief sojourn in the warmth.
She turned up the walkway to Caro's townhouse, shaking her head at the state of the gardens. Smart plantings - the kind that could survive December sun and the vibrations of a resident fire witch. But someone needed to have a chat with a few of the more persistent weeds.
Ah, well. An old witch could only tend so many gardens, and right now, it wasn't weeds that were her concern. Jamie had called for reinforcements. They had a guest who was feeling lonely and out of place, and Moira's Irish blood had risen in protest.
Time to