Page 30 of Sweets and Sycamores

“Because I do.” Dominic fixed the chairs in the bakery with more force than necessary. “Has anything happened since she’s been here?”

“No, but—”

“Then I don’t want to hear it. Thanks for stopping by.” The bell at the door rang, and it was quickly followed by the slam of the door.

There was an extremely low, almost nonexistent chance that it wasn’t about her. Allie contemplated staying back in her room instead of going out to practice, but Ekko flew around and tugged urgently at the sleeve of her jacket.

“You’re right,” she whispered. Why should she pout in her room because of people who didn’t really know her?

Dominic had gotten to know her a little, certainly more than anyone else in this town, and he was on her side.

Adamantly. Allie leaned into the gratitude and joy she had felt hearing him defend her.

Even if no one else would ever accept her, Dom having her back meant the world to her.

“It only takes one person to see you for who you are, and your heart will be content.”

Words her mother had said to her time and again. They had meant nothing then but now rang true, leaving her chest feeling heavy.

Allie waited until the sound of footsteps up the stairs echoed from the hallway before she left her room and went out in the crisp night, down Maple Street, and into the forest.

She felt most at peace under the moonlight, unobstructed by clouds, with her now quiet power humming inside her.

Her mother used to say the moon was a Witch’s best friend, and Allie wished she knew why.

Maybe it was just this feeling of comfort it gave her, or maybe there was more about her power that she could learn from the moon’s magic.

Another time. For starters, she must learn to work with what she had. Allie sat by the river and reached for her fire, unsuccessfully, while Ekko sat back and watched her with suspense in his eyes. As if he was waiting for her to succeed for them both.

One hour into it and no flame in sight, Allie got up to walk along the river and warm herself up. She went from not being able to control the fire bursting out of her to not being able to summon a measly spark. This was due to her lack of experience, but…

An obsessive thought prevented her from focusing completely on her power.

Should she leave Dom’s Sweets before Hallows Eve?

If her presence made it hard for Dominic to deal with the townspeople, she would leave early.

The trouble she had with her power now was more manageable than before.

Lydia should accept her after she learned about the seal, and maybe some of her sisters would agree to help her.

Even if none of them were elemental Witches, at least they wouldn’t be scared to live with her anymore.

Freya might assist her under these new circumstances.

Allie hated the Witch who had broken the spell on the sycamores. Witches didn’t care to establish a good reputation for themselves, but this one had gone too far. Allie groaned in frustration and crossed her arms.

Heat crawled up her arm, and she turned her palms up to find a tiny flame flickering on its surface. Allie stared at it, feeling a grin bloom on her face.

“I did it.”

Ekko chittered and nuzzled her hair, puffing hot steam that clung to her cold cheeks.

Allie focused on making the flame bigger, and it grew to the size of a peach.

She made it small again. Big, small. Then she willed it to move to her fingertip.

It didn’t hurt her, that comfortable heat only tickling her skin as the flame burned.

With the next thought, she snuffed it out, turning her hand up and down to check for marks—there were none.

“Yes!” Allie clapped her hands once before she was on her way back to the bakery with a very loud and excited baby dragon who kept flying and jumping around her from one shoulder to the other.

The morning of the wedding, Dominic loaded the refrigerated van he’d borrowed from a bigger bakery in Rocky Hills by himself.

He gave Allie more time to primp and preen, knowing how long it took his sister to get ready for events.

There was an hour left before the wedding started when he was done, which gave him plenty of time to shower and get dressed.

Unsurprisingly, Mia had stopped by the other night and gifted him a crisp white button-up shirt and a green tie and warned him to wear them or risk her wrath.

Dom knew better than to cross his sister, so he donned the new shirt but rolled its sleeves up to his elbows, leaving part of his sycamore tattoo out.

He tied his hair back, knowing he was going to handle the cake and pastries for the sweets bar.

Mia had also told him that any time he wanted to stop being an idiot and notice what was in front of him was a good time. He had kept quiet, but her words drilled into his brain and sent him on a trip to the flower shop.

He picked up the box he’d spent an embarrassingly long amount of time picking and went down the stairs. The familiar tangerine scent softened his senses as he filled his lungs with it, this time with a subtle vanilla fragrance.

“Ready whenever you are,” Dominic yelled as he walked down the hallway, hoping Allie heard him with her door closed.

Ekko flew to him and barely stopped in time not to crash his snout into Dom’s face.

The baby dragon proudly wore a white bowtie, his scales shining in the early morning light as the creature circled him once, twice, as if to check he was dressed appropriately for the day.

“I’m ready.”

Allie stood in the middle of the bakery wearing one of the most beautiful smiles he’d ever seen. Her lips were pinker than usual, and he wondered if the red stains in her cheeks were natural or if she was wearing makeup.

His eyes roamed over her body, down her green dress that ended too soon, to her long legs and her tall, sexy boots. His heart pounded frantically, and he cleared his throat of the tumbleweed that had stuck there to make room for words.

“You look…” The mane of her red hair was clipped half-up, leaving part of her long curls cascading down her shoulders and back, along her exposed neck. Dom’s gaze swung to that deep neckline where the crescent moon locket hung on her bare skin. “Beautiful.”

“Thank you. You look handsome, too.” Her cheeks colored a brighter shade. She looked between her dress and his tie and smiled, softly shaking her head. “I like your tie.”

Mia.

“My sister—” Dominic stopped before spitting out any excuse that Mia had been the one who had matched him with Allie. The box in his hands clearly stated he had thought about her. He got it for her.

Dom shook himself from the spell Allie had cast on him with her beauty and closed the distance between them. The vanilla fragrance was stronger this close, and he resisted a much-desired deep inhale into his lungs.

“This is for you.” He opened the box and pulled out the corsage made with a pearl bracelet, so it was less itchy around her wrist. Her features morphed into admiration and disbelief, and Dom got ready to fight any argument she might make against wearing it.

But then her full smile came back, and she extended her left hand, watching him with wide, delighted eyes that melted his heart.

Allie was wearing her gold rings, the amethyst and ruby stones glinting in the light.

He slipped the corsage on carefully, his fingers brushing her soft skin in the process.

“It’s beautiful,” she said, turning her hand in the light. “Thank you.”

She swept a glance over his chest and arms that left a hot trail in its wake, biting her lower lip.

Today was going to be a long fucking day, in the best or worst way possible.