Wild Irish Dreamer - Tricia O'Malley Page 0,32

had no idea you could kick so high. And in that dress,” Keelin laughed at Margaret as they all piled into Aislinn’s backyard. The scavenger hunt was complete, and much to everyone’s delight, Fi declared them all winners. Grace’s Cove had ground to a halt as the women terrorized it in their ridiculous bridal gowns, and Fi was certain the pictures would haunt them for years.

“I still have some moves, I’ll have you know,” Margaret said, doing a sassy little cha-cha-cha step as she made her way to where Fi had set up round two of the party.

“What’s your plan now, Fi? We all sit in a circle and sing songs?” Gracie giggled.

Fi had laid out a large picnic blanket in Aislinn’s garden, and set cushions in a circle. Fairy lights twinkled in ropes above them – thankfully, no rain had ruined their outdoor excursions yet. Fi doubted that even the elements would dare to betray Gracie on one of her big days.

“Something like that,” Fi said, stopping to pick up a small package she’d placed on the table. “Everyone, pick a cushion and settle in.” The women, still laughing from their exploits, dropped to the cushions in relief.

“There’s an extra cushion,” Kira said, pointing.

“That’s Fiona’s cushion,” Fi explained. She could just see her presence outlined there, wavering – but her color was pure and everyone knew she was near.

“Now, to the serious portion of our night,” Fi said.

“Uh oh. I don’t have to be walking through fire and the like, do I?”

“No, that’s for the fun portion of the night,” Fi teased, and Grace grinned at her.

“In all seriousness – and because I know this will matter to you, Gracie – all of us have come together to give you a gift that we hope you know holds all of our love for you.”

Touched, Grace held a hand to her heart and looked around at the circle of women who beamed back at her. Fi leaned over and gave her the small box, and Grace carefully unwrapped the silvery paper, sighing in joy at the bracelet she found there. Handcrafted from silver, each stone in the bracelet represented a woman of their circle, and each had their own attribute. Rose quartz for Keelin and her mother’s love for Grace. Agate for Morgan, representing courage. And so on, all the way down to Fi’s stone – a sapphire for curiosity.

“This is brilliant,” Gracie said, running her hands over the bracelet. “It’s really powerful, and I can feel how much love is pouring through these.”

“It’ll help, you know, in your healing and your tonics,” Keelin said – she had always had an affinity for stones. “It should channel your energy through love.”

“I can feel that.”

“We’ll also add an extra touch of, um, oomph, I suppose,” Fi said, tripping over her words. This was the part she’d felt really uncomfortable with, but Keelin and Aislinn had insisted. “As a circle, now, we’ll pour our energy into blessing the bracelet. Fiona is here, and she’ll add her love as well.”

There – she’d lightly danced around the words ‘magick’ or ‘power’ by using ‘energy.’ Love was energy, right? Decidedly uncomfortable, she glanced to Keelin, who registered the look on her face and smoothly took over.

“From here, I’d like to put the bracelet in the middle of the circle and for all of us to hold hands.” Keelin waited as the women dutifully held hands, and all closed their eyes. Fi looked around for a moment, studying the serenity on each woman’s face, before closing her eyes. A warm hum began to vibrate through her core, like she had plugged herself into an electrical socket, and the feeling of it had her popping her eyes open again as Keelin began to speak.

“We invite the circle to be ever open, yet always unbroken. May the love of the goddess bless this bracelet and be always in your heart. Nine women, nine stones, nine powers contain. Merry meet and merry part, and merry meet again.”

Fi’s eyes widened as a flash – the blue of the deepest water of the cove – hovered above the bracelet for an instant before winking from sight. She blinked, looking around the circle to see everyone else smiling and content. How were these women so at ease with the magick they created? It was something that had never sat easily with Fi, and now once again she was forced to contend with it. It was hard to ignore what was directly in