Page 18 of Charmed, I’m Sure (Witches of Bellevue #1)

“Know a lot about Magnolia, do you, brother?” I didn’t need to look at her to know her perfectly manicured brows were arched in suspicion.

“What? No. I mean, I know who she is. We went to high school together for a year. But no one in their right mind would be out in this weather.”

Right?

“Well.” Addy shrugged, turning her attention back to her phone as I slipped mine back out from my pocket.

Taylor

Magnolia, please tell me you’re not out in this mess.

When a response still hadn’t come through five minutes later, I stood from the couch and made my way toward the back door as calmly as I could manage.

“Where are you going?” Addy hollered after me.

“To check the generators.”

Rain battered against my Bronco as I wove through the slowly accumulating debris along the road. I still hadn’t heard from Magnolia. I even tried calling her, but it went straight to voicemail.

“Come on, Mags. Where are you?” I muttered to myself, keeping my head on a swivel, scanning for any sign of cotton-candy hair amid the dreary gray blanketing our town.

I turned down the street that housed CharCutie when I spotted her. She was soaked from head to toe, her hair plastered to her back and face as she hurried down the sidewalk.

Finding a place to park where I hoped it wouldn’t get crushed by a tree, I jumped out and began making my way toward her.

“Magnolia!” I yelled over the howl of the wind. “Mags!”

“Meowfoy! Meowfoy! Where are you, buddy?”

Meow-what? What the hell did she just say?

“Meowfoy!”

“Magnolia!” I yelled again. This time she heard me, her head whipping in my direction, eyes wide.

“Taylor?! What the hell are you doing?”

“I could ask you the same thing!”

“My… my cat got out. We can’t find him!” Her voice cracked, and then I realized tears were mingling with the rain on her cheeks.

“Mags, baby, we need to get inside somewhere.”

“I can’t! I need to find him!”

Son of a bitch.

I pushed all the air from my lungs into my cheeks and shook my head. “What’s his name?”

Her lips curled inward for a moment before she scrunched her nose. “It’s Meowfoy.”

“Allllrighty, then. Let’s go find this cat.” No sooner were the words out of my mouth than the wind picked up and sent a branch crashing onto a power line, sparks flying into the air. “Fuck. Mags, come on, we need to get inside.”

“No!” she protested, trying to pull her wrist from my grasp. “I can’t leave him!”

“Please, Mags. Cats are smart. He’s probably hunkered down somewhere safe, and we need to do the same.” Tightening my grip on her wrist, I pulled her down the street. Branches and water were piling up in front of her shop, making that route impossible.

Panicked eyes darted around the town square, her lip trembling as she continued to search for her fuzzy friend.

Swearing to myself that I would kill this damn cat if it got her or me killed in this storm, I pulled her toward the back of her building.

“Keys, Mags. I need your keys.” With shaking hands, she pulled them from her pocket and handed them over. But as soon as I opened the door, she bolted.

“Meowfoy!”

“Dammit, Mags. Get inside!” I demanded when I caught up to her.

“No!”

“So help me, woman, if you don’t get inside—”

“What, Taylor? What are you going to do?”

Her outburst had me raising an eyebrow. She was cute when she was mad, and my next choice would likely only infuriate her further.

“Put me down!” Her screech was swallowed by the storm as I flung her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Her fists slammed into my back as I walked toward the back entrance of her shop.

“Not until we’re inside,” I yelled loud enough for her to hear.

With a disgruntled groan, Magnolia ceased her assault on my spine when she realized it wouldn’t change my mind.

Once the door was closed and locked behind us, I gently set her back on her feet. But that single action had me back at square one, as she glared up at me, looking like she could incinerate me with her eyes.

“What the fuck is your problem?!” she yelled, pushing against my chest.

“Me? I wasn’t the one wandering around town in the middle of a hurricane!”

“I was looking for my cat!”

“Yeah, about that. What was this furry little escape artist's name?”

A flush bloomed in her cheeks, dimming the fiery hate in her eyes. “That’s… that’s none of your business.”

“Oh, on the contrary, sunshine. I believe it’s one hundred percent my business since I just drove into a hurricane to save your ass.”

“Save my?” She huffed out a breath, then turned to storm further into the space. “Look here, Taylor. I didn’t need you to ‘save my ass.’ I was perfectly—”

“Safe? Please tell me you were not just about to say safe.”

“Fine. I was perfectly fine.”

My head fell back, and I counted the speckles on the ceiling to calm my nerves. “Mags.”

“I was just trying to find my cat.” Her voice cracked at the end of her sentence, and when I met her gaze, her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

“Dammit, Mags.” I closed the space between us in a few strides and pulled her into my arms. I shouldn’t have felt relieved when she melted into my embrace, her face burrowing into my chest as her tears fell, but I did.

God, I loved the feeling of her there. Of being the one who could bring her even a little bit of comfort.

And sure, I was the only one around at the moment, but that didn’t mean she had to accept the solace I offered.

We stayed that way until her shoulders stopped shuddering. When she pulled her face from my chest, a wary grimace spread across her lips.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what, baby?” That was the second time I’d called her that. It wasn’t intentional; it just slipped out. But it felt good. Right. And the fact that she hadn’t recoiled either time made my heart beat a little faster.

“Well, I’d say for soaking your shirt with my tears, but you already look like a drowned rat,” she said with a light chuckle.

“Oh, like you look like Miss America right now?” I joked back, but even soaked through her clothes, she was a vision.

“A sense of humor, I like that.” Her smile was infectious, making her eyes sparkle brighter than any gem in a jeweler's case. Her hand wrapped around mine, fingers threading together as she pulled me toward the kitchen. “Come on, I’ve got some towels we can use to… well, mop up some of the water anyway. I don’t think they’ll get us dry. ”