you ever need me,” he said, his voice tight, “all you have to do is call my name and I’ll be there.”
Blinking rapidly, she said, “I know.”
Rising, he leaned down to brush a kiss across her cheek. “I’ll always love you, my sweet Callie,” he murmured.
And then he was gone.
Chapter 35
It felt good to be home again, Callie thought as she went through the house, turning on the lights. Ava hadn’t asked any questions on the flight home—not about Callie’s sudden decision to leave Montana, not about what had happened between her and Quill. Callie had the distinct feeling Ava didn’t have to ask because she already knew the answers.
They had stopped on the way and bought some Chinese takeout for dinner. They had eaten in silence. While Callie cleared the table, Ava disappeared into her bedroom without a word.
In her own room, Callie quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a sweater and ran a comb through her hair. After finding paper and pencil, she hastily scribbled a shopping list. Grabbing her keys, she went out the side door into the garage and came face-to-face with the Jaguar that Quill had given her. No way she could keep it now, she thought. She would have to give it back.
Sliding behind the wheel of her old VW, she turned on the lights and backed out of the driveway.
* * *
Brow furrowed, Ava sat on the edge of the bed. The rift between herself and Callie troubled her deeply. Not that she could blame the girl for being upset at learning the man she loved had been intimate with her grandmother. That wasn’t something that happened in a normal family. But then, their family was far from normal. There had been witches in Ava’s ancestry as far back as her line went. A few had ignored their gift. Most had embraced it.
What was she going to do about Quill and Callie? The man was just as sexy and good-looking as she remembered, his power even stronger than it had been when she first met him. It had been that power, combined with the instant physical attraction between them, that had sent them to that motel room. But for her vision of Quill and Callie together, their affair might have lasted far longer than one night. Since then, she had married two men and loved them both, but she had never forgotten Quill. He might be a vampire, but she knew him to be an honorable man. A good man. And he was deeply in love with her granddaughter.
How was she going to mend the breech between herself and Callie? Between Callie and Quill? Knowing how the news of his brief interlude with her had upset Callie, Ava couldn’t help wondering why Quill hadn’t simply erased the knowledge from her mind.
Should she? Perhaps that was the answer. A murmured word summoned her grimoire to her hand. There were several spells to alter one’s memories. It wouldn’t hurt to brush up on one or two, just in case.
* * *
Callie moved leisurely up and down the grocery store’s aisles, slowly filling her cart. She had hoped shopping would divert her thoughts from Quill and Ava, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the two of them. She told herself to put it behind her. It was old news. She loved Quill and he loved her.
Callie blew out a sigh. Maybe she would feel less threatened if her grandmother looked like a grandmother instead of a beautiful woman in her late thirties. She grinned as she imagined going home and asking Ava to add a few lines and wrinkles to her face, sprinkle a few age spots on her hands, a little gray in her hair. Maybe increase her waistline by a few inches.
She paused in the dairy aisle to pick up a quart of milk and realized that she had filled her cart with an inordinate amount of comfort food—cookies and cupcakes and candy bars. With a rueful shake of her head, she added a half-gallon of chocolate fudge ice cream, a can of whipped cream, and a jar of cherries. If she was going to have a pity party, she might as well go all the way.
Back at home, while putting the groceries away, she caught a subtle whiff of magic. No doubt Ava was concocting a spell, she thought, and wondered what it might be.
* * *
Quill lingered in the shadows outside Callie’s home, his presence masked from those inside. He