Page 24 of Bewitchingly Hers (Witches of Pleasant Grove #3)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

eryne

W atching the sun rise on Pleasant Grove in the mornings was a sensation I didn’t often experience. Mostly because I was a night owl who preferred to watch the sun set instead. Still, I couldn’t deny that it felt good to get out of the house, to use some time alone to think.

Barrett was out for a run. He’d texted me this morning, which had instantly made me feel better considering I’d woken up to an empty bed.

It was the first time in days that I hadn’t had his arms around me, sharing a good morning kiss before we started the day, and I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed in waking up to cold sheets.

I also couldn’t help but feel like this was all too good to be true. I didn’t want to let myself hope, to even dare to wish for more. After all, everything could change in the blink of an eye. Still, his words last night felt so sincere. Like he meant every single one of them.

This doesn’t feel casual to me.

I like you .

No matter what else is happening out there, this, in here—this is us.

But that didn’t change the fact that this was only temporary. That eventually, he would leave. With his job, how could he not? Plus, his home base was back in Walnut Ridge—with his family. Could I sacrifice myself, the town I loved, if he asked?

I wasn’t sure I could.

Which was the real problem. I wanted to ask him to stay, but how could I, when I wasn’t even willing to go?

I leaned on my broom, surveying the empty shop.

Soon, everyone would be pouring in for their morning coffee and pastry.

Then, I’d be busy enough that I wouldn’t have time to think about Barrett Lockwood or the way he’d come into my life like a tornado, dismantling the walls I had built before I’d even known it.

“What am I going to do?” I asked the silence.

I’d always done my best thinking alone. Maybe it was because I’d been an only child, because my parents had raised me to be so independent, or because I’d never truly felt like I fit in growing up. Even in a town of witches, there’d always been something different about me.

Maybe because some part of me had always been waiting for him.

I shook my head, storing my broom and fidgeting with my dress.

“Get your head on straight, Eryne,” I muttered to myself.

I had more important things to do today.

I needed to order inventory for the rest of the month, including the delivery that would take place Halloween week.

I had our numbers from last year, but forecasting was always tricky.

Still, I knew what our best sellers were, and the last few weeks of October would require double the amount of pumpkin extract and canned pumpkin.

Even though I wasn’t our baker, I couldn’t help but miss Luna during moments like these.

She had a way around the kitchen, and everyone was obsessed with her baked goods.

But I couldn’t fault her when she was so happy, raising twins with her husband and mate, not to mention living in a palace and being a literal queen.

I’d always imagined being a mom one day, having a big family full of love and laughter.

That dream had always felt so far out of reach, until suddenly…

it didn’t. My mother was constantly hounding me, asking when I was going to settle down.

Was it too early to hope that maybe Barrett might be the one?

My phone buzzed, and I grabbed it, reading the texts from my coven.

Cait

Tomorrow’s the full moon. Everyone ready?

Willow

Yes.

Cait

Not you.

Willow

I might not be able to help, but I’ll still be there if you need me.

Besides, a baby isn’t going to keep me away from my girls.

Wendy

All ready here. Grandma got wind of what we’re doing, and she found another old box of journals. Bringing it over now, Cait.

Rina

Does anyone feel this like… crazy rush whenever they think about what we’re about to do?

Because this is exhilarating. It’s like we’re breaking the rules. Takes me back to high school…

I snorted, typing out a reply.

Eryne

What would you know about breaking the rules, Rina?

Cait

She’s got a point, Reens. You graduated with a 4.0 and ran the school newspaper.

Rina

I can be a bad girl, thank you very much.

Wendy

…

Willow

No comment. Now, does anyone know where I can find a piece of candy corn pie? I have a craving.

Cait

That sounds disgusting.

Willow

Don’t knock it till you try it. Besides, the baby loves it.

Cait

I’m still trying to get used to the idea of my baby cousin having a baby, Wil. Don’t make it weird.

Eryne

I don’t have any pie, but if you come down to the bakery, I think I can find something for you.

Willow

Sold.

I could almost imagine them bickering. The Clarke girls were all close, and I’d often longed for that growing up. I couldn’t count how many nights I’d wished on the full moon to bring me a sibling. But it was always just me and my animals.

I don’t want to be alone again. The thought hit me like a pang to my chest. I’d gotten so used to Barrett being around the last few weeks.

First, as a wolf—like a giant puppy, following me around—and then in the last week, as a human.

I meant it when I told him I liked him. Not just because he was the most handsome man I’d ever met, but because he was maybe the most caring person I’d ever met.

He acted like a giant puppy half the time himself.

Before meeting him, I used to laugh when girls called their boyfriends golden retriever types. Now, I was pretty sure I understood.

Though Barrett was all wolf .

Biting my lip, I finished tidying up as my opening girls came in, heading behind the counter and pulling their aprons on.

An awareness prickled at the back of my neck—like I was being watched.

It was different than the awareness I felt when Barrett was around. That was comfortable, like cozying up under a warm blanket. I shivered, turning my head to look out the big windows.

There was a tall blond man across the street outside, unmoving, standing next to one of the black lampposts. A chill ran down my spine. He was dressed in all black, in a three piece suit that didn’t quite seem like it was from this century.

I couldn’t help but feel like he was watching me. How long had he been there? I’d been so lost in my own thoughts all morning that I hadn’t even paid attention, but something about this didn’t feel right.

And then I blinked, and the man was gone. Just like that— poof— into thin air. For a split second, I almost thought I saw a bat flying away, but that couldn’t be possible.

I picked up my phone, dialing the number without a second thought. “Barrett?” I breathed out, trying to ignore the way my body was shaking as I walked into my office and sank down onto the couch.

“Baby.” His voice was soft. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “Something weird just happened.”

The street was empty—had I imagined it?

The rustling of branches filled the phone, and then his voice was much clearer. “Do you want me to come over there?”

I shook my head, even though I knew he couldn’t see me. “No. I’m probably just seeing things that aren’t even there.” I forced out a laugh. “It’s okay. It’s fine. Maybe I just didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

He sounded concerned. “Are you sure? I can be there in a few minutes and check it out.”

“I’m sure,” I reassured him. “Don’t worry about me. We’re opening the doors now, so I’m just gonna go back to my office and work on some paperwork.”

“Promise you’ll call me if anything else happens?”

Just hearing those words from him already made me feel better. Knowing that he’d drop anything, within a moment’s notice? That was something I couldn’t take for granted. “I promise.”

We hung up, agreeing to meet later at the bar after I finished work for the day.

Sitting in my chair, I took a few deep breaths, trying to collect myself. Why had that freaked me out so much? It wasn’t like strange things didn’t happen in this town all the time. It was a town of witches after all. I’d grown up used to the unexplained and eerie things.

But that felt… different. More menacing. I could barely focus on my work, the anxiety plaguing me. Was he connected to the wards, somehow? Maybe I did need Barrett to come down here. He could sniff around and see if there was any trace of the blond man…

My office door opened, and Willow walked in, munching on a pumpkin muffin.

“Hi,” she said, her mouth full of food. “Sorry. S’ good.” She sat in the chair in front of my desk, a to go cup in one hand, and her treat in the other. She balanced her muffin on her belly. “Two months to go, and I feel like I’m going to be as big as a house before I deliver.”

I laughed. “It’s your shop. You don’t have to apologize to me.” She looked around the office, and I wondered if she was thinking about all of the memories she’d had here.

“You made it yours,” she said, a soft smile on her face. “This place… It was Luna’s dream, and I loved it because of her. But now, it feels like a part of my past versus a piece of my future. And I’m so proud of everything you’re doing.”

“Thank you for saying that,” I said, feeling the warmth in my chest. “For everything, really. For the longest time, I didn’t really know who I was.”

“And now?”

“And now…” I gave a hesitant smile. “I think I’m starting to.”

“He’s good for you, you know,” Willow said, reaching over and squeezing my hand. “Barrett.”

I bit my lip. “I don’t know… It’s still so new. And he’s going to leave, eventually.”

“Unless you ask him to stay.” She popped the last piece of muffin in her mouth and chewed.

I shook my head. “I couldn’t ask him to do that. His job… It’s important, you know?”

She nodded. “But that doesn’t mean you’re any less important, babe.”

Warmth spread to my cheeks. “I just…” I just what? “It scares me, you know. How fast it feels. How much I like him.”

“You don’t have to explain it to me,” Willow started, looking down at her bump, like that said everything.

In a way, I guess it did. They met last October, and a year later, they were expecting their first kid.

“It was fast for us, too. But after a month together, I knew. He’s my soulmate, so sure, that played into it, but also…

I couldn’t deny that I loved him.” She gave me a bashful smile.

“Damien showed me how much he cared for me every day. There was no way not to fall in love with him, demon and all.”

I looked away. “I don’t know if I love him,” I whispered. It was too soon for that. Sure, I liked him, but liking him and loving him were two different things. Liking him and being willing to upheave my entire life for him was another. “Maybe I just don’t know what I want.”

“I think you do know. And I think it terrifies you.”

I thought about how Barrett answered the phone earlier.

About how every time he called me baby, and I wanted to melt.

Or the way he clung to me like I was his lifeline sometimes.

About how much joy he derived from feeding me.

All of it was more than I’d ever experienced in any of my other relationships growing up.

I thought I knew what love was. But now that I was thinking about it, I wasn’t sure I’d ever really known at all.

Not until Barrett came crashing into my life, a wolf who needed me to nurse him back to life, and started showing me what I deserved, each and every day. I meant what I told Willow—it was too soon to love him.

That didn’t mean I wasn’t starting to.