Page 56 of Never Been Witched (Starfall Point #3)
Collin opened the door to find Paige’s suitcases at the edge of the helipad where the Bancroft Enterprises helicopter was waiting. “Paige, get your ass on the helicopter. Then find your own flight home. Don’t come back.”
“Whatever.” Paige slid her sunglasses onto her face. “This place is a dump anyway.”
“So, you won’t miss it, then,” a sweet voice announced from beside the door. Alice was standing there, all insincere smiles with enough of an edge to make something in Collin’s gut shiver. “I watched your suitcases for you,” Alice said. “Fly safe.”
“As if I want to come back to this godforsaken hellhole,” Paige snapped, pulling her bag toward the waiting pilot. “You’ll be calling me in two weeks, Collin, bored out of your skull!”
Collin waved her off, even as she struggled to get her bags off the hotel porch and carry them to the helipad.
“Julie texted you about the ‘ejection’ happening this morning, didn’t she?” he asked Alice.
“No. Julie texted me to schedule a meeting with the hotel’s prospective historical marketing coordinator,” Alice said, gesturing at herself. “She just happened to mention this morning’s ejection because she likes me more than Paige.”
Collin grinned at her. “You’re still not accepting my very generous offer?”
“Not officially,” Alice told him. “I like keeping you in suspense. Besides, the more I put you off, the more generous you’re likely to become.”
Collin laughed. He would wait until Alice was ready to take a job from the hotel. It would get Alice out of her grandparents’ orbit and employment, and that was all Collin wanted for her.
“OK, you’ve convinced me to pull the ultimate card,” he replied. “Unlimited Collin sandwich.”
“No deal.” Alice’s disgusted expression made him laugh. “I can’t believe you actually summoned a helicopter to boot her off the island.”
“And last night, my lawyers sent a letter explaining to my aunt and uncle why they are not legally entitled to anything I own,” he said. “It was written in very simple yet scary-sounding language so they would understand.”
“That should not be as sexy as it is. I mean, I feel guilty that I can be swayed by this sort of flashy consumerism. But… When you decide to do something, you get it done. And I appreciate that.”
He smoothed her hair back from her face where the wind had dislodged it.
Things were going to be tentative between them for a while, and that was OK.
They had fallen rather fast for each other, and they needed to find a more even, “not in the midst of a witch-slash-ghost crisis” keel.
But they were going to try, and that mattered.
“She actually threw her bag at the feet of the man who was supposed to fly her out of here,” Alice observed as Paige pitched a tantrum on the helipad. The pilot had been warned to expect this and had been instructed to leave any bag Paige tossed on the ground…right there, on the ground.
Collin sighed. He was going to have to give the pilot hazard pay. “You seem to be in a good mood, considering your recent heroics,” he said.
“All in the line of duty of your local witch-slash-ghost-wrangler,” she said, grinning at him.
“You are the coolest girl I will ever meet,” Collin told her.
“Well, sure. Do you know any other witch-slash-ghost-wranglers?” Alice asked.
Collin laughed. “I do not, but is there a reason for your particularly good mood? Other than the promise of a new fairy-queen tub?” Alice absolutely beamed as Paige climbed into the helicopter. He bumped her gently with his hip. “OK, there’s something special behind that smile.”
“Well, it’s possible—given our newfound ability to bring ghosts out of Shaddow House—that I sneaked a button into one of the tiny, basically useless pockets on the exterior of Paige’s suitcase. You did say she basically lives out of that suitcase, right?”
“It’s her favorite Vuitton. She’s had it since college.” Collin chuckled, walking with Alice off the veranda, toward the manor house. “Paige travels most of the year, yes, but that button is significant because…”
“It came from the toque of a French boulanger,” she told him. “His name was Xavier.”
“I assuming Xavier is haunting said button?” Collin asked.
“Yes, and one of the side effects of said haunting is that the ghost always smells like bread. The most delicious, crusty, proper French baguettes you could possibly imagine. Because this man loved bread so much, he clung to the button of his uniform he wore when he made it. Because he couldn’t imagine moving on to a dimension where he wasn’t sure bread existed,” she told him.
“And he will make Paige smell that delicious bread, but she won’t be able to eat it, because the bread doesn’t exist. And because the button is so small, she’ll never find it, and she’ll certainly never think that’s where the smell is coming from.
So, unless she gets rid of the suitcase she loves, she will smell the inaccessible, ephemeral bread. It’s like a carb-based curse.”
He nodded. “I am beginning to fall deeply in love with you, but you might be evil.”
Alice shrugged as he led her through the front door of Forsythia Manor. “It was Plover’s idea. Xavier’s missed the outside world. He craved a bit of travel.”
“This is why you love that ghostly man,” he observed.
“Yes, it is,” she said, stopping in her tracks at the sight of a large wooden armoire in his parlor. “What’s this?”
Arthur popped up from behind the cabinet and shouted, “Alice! I’ve missed you!”
“Arthur!” she cried. She ran forward, but seemed to realize she couldn’t hug a ghost, so she simply gave Bessie the cabinet an affectionate pat.
“I bought Arthur’s armoire,” Collin said. “Well, I had Julie buy Arthur’s armoire, a few days ago. I know how much it means to you, and how much you hated leaving him behind with the Proctors.”
“Bessie and I have been very comfortable here. I like this one much better than your grandparents,” Arthur assured her, pointing to Collin. “Now, he says you won’t be joining us right away.”
She glanced at Collin. “He’s right. We’re not ready for that yet, but I’ll be nearby, renting somewhere. And I’ll come by to visit often.”
“And if you miss her too much, I can always move you and Bessie over to her place,” Collin promised Arthur. “No rush, no pressure.”
“I appreciate that,” she told him. “And I appreciate you rescuing Arthur from my grandparents.”
“They are no more pleasant than they were when you left,” Arthur told her. “Now, go on, Alice, give the boy a kiss for all he’s done. He’s had a busy morning.”
“You have had a very busy morning,” Alice told Collin, slipping her arms around his waist. “And I appreciate everything you’re doing to try to make me more comfortable.”
“I want our weird, awesome life together, whatever form that takes,” Collin replied, kissing her long and slow.
She laughed, bumping her forehead against his. What he had with Alice wasn’t love yet, but it was something good, something solid—something he could build on.