and simply failed to comprehend each other. But his sister wasn't the only way to solve this particular problem. Just the easier one. Maybe.
He turned the last corner on the route to Caro's townhouse, thinking of Nat's wise words of the morning. Witch Central didn't only love - it understood. Saw people clearly and embraced them for who they were.
And in the implacable opinion of his wife, they still weren't seeing Beth clearly.
He was well aware that he was only a small cog in the army Nat had mobilized. Shay had captain status, and he was deeply afraid that he was outranked by his own daughter and a boy last seen wearing a red cape while eating pancakes.
Even Lizard had been spotted in the vicinity.
It was a weird day in Witch Central when the non-witches, kiddos, and former delinquents were in charge and the rest of them could barely manage to tie their shoes.
He kind of liked it.
Or he'd like it just as soon as he managed to graduate to non-idiot foot-soldier status.
The first thing he noticed when he entered Caro's yard were the flowers. Big purple ones - the kind that had no business growing in December. The next thing he noticed were the two witches crouched down behind them.
Damn. Nat's army was fast.
Ginia stood up and waved. "Hi, Uncle Jamie. Did you leave any pancakes for me?"
Apparently the better army recruits put duty before food. This whole foot-soldier thing was more work than it looked. "Has your dad ever run out before?"
His niece giggled and collected her backpack. "Nope." She grinned at Beth. "Don't let Uncle Jamie touch your flowers. Gramma Retha says all the Sullivan kids were born with black thumbs."
His father would agree - his children had tormented his gardens pretty much from the moment they were born. Devin had mastered rolling over for the express purpose of eating some yellow petunias, and it had gone downhill from there.
"I'll take good care of them." Beth touched the petals lightly. "Thank you - they're Liri's favorite color."
That sounded ominous. "You headed home again?" Jamie was pretty sure his attempt at casual had totally failed, especially when his departing niece graced him with her best preteen eye roll.
"At some point." Beth looked up, eyes welcoming and strangely peaceful. "I miss her."
Choices. "I was away from home once." The simple words caught in his chest. "Whenever you need a transport spell, just let me know."
"Thank you." She picked up a watering can and sprinkled the flowers. "I've never been very good with growing things, but there are wonderful gardens here, and Ginia says these should grow in Chicago, even in winter, if we give them a little extra light. Liri will love them, and so will Mellie - she's our earth witch."
She was talking. And she was collecting things - small treasures for the people she loved. He had a wife who did that.
Maybe he could offer something for her stash. "If you want, ask Aervyn to show you how to heat a fire globe a little. That would help things grow nicely."
Her eyes widened. "That works?"
"Yup." Their father had often snagged him or Nell to help baby his tomato starts in the early spring. He grinned. "Just don't touch the flowers with magic still in your fingers." It had taken a lot of crispy tomato plants before he'd remembered that lesson.
His dad had the patience of a choir full of saints and angels.
"Yeah." Beth winced, eyeing the purple flowers nervously. "I wilted Liri's orchids once."
That kind of stuff could be very hard on relationships. And maybe he could offer up another small gift for Beth to tuck in her treasure chest. "If you want a visitor someday, Ginia loves to travel. I bet she'd be happy to help with the orchids."
"Oh!"
He could practically see the sunrise dawning in her mind. And was totally clueless as to why. "If we can get you here, we can get people to Chicago. No problem."
She cuddled her arms to her chest and simply glowed.
He'd somehow given her something huge - that much was obvious. And even if he had no idea what it was, accidental joy was still a gorgeous thing. He grinned