Page 47 of Unhinged Magic (Cutters Cove Witches #2)

Skye

I rummaged through Mom’s garage, looking for the other wing-back chair I had forgotten was stashed in here.

I really didn’t understand why people filled their garages with crap while their expensive cars sat outside in the elements.

“Ah! I can see it,” I said, dragging a chest of drawers to the side. “There she is.”

I stared at it, delight tumbling through me at the sight of it.

I turned to look at Wesley, who wrinkled his nose. “Wow, that looks… decrepit.”

He wasn’t wrong. The original covering had ripped over its lifetime, exposing the foam padding poking through tears in many parts of the flimsy fabric.

“Yeah, well, it’s been in here a while.” Years, to be exact.

I remembered Mom ringing me at boarding school, telling me she had bought these at a garage sale, that they were timeless pieces of furniture. My youthful ideology didn’t agree at the time, but I hadn’t questioned her purchase. Out of the pair, this was the last one I had yet to recover.

“That’s really what the one in your room used to look like?” Wesley asked, bemused.

I nodded, removing some boxes piled upon its seat, swiping at the plume of dust it released. “Sure did. Isn’t she a beauty?”

“You can really make that look half-decent again?”

I set my hands on my hips, admiring the ratty piece of furniture. “Yup, the one in my bedroom once looked like this.”

Wesley stepped over some boxes, bending to help me lift it. “If you can make this look new again, you should be sharing this miracle with others,” he said dryly.

“Sharing as in teaching?”

A nod.

I bent at the knee, scooping my hands underneath and lifting it into the air. “I wouldn’t know where to begin teaching people.”

Between us, we managed to get it outside, lifting it out onto the drive to where my car was parked. I had to admit it would be cool being able to share the art of upholstery with the town of Cutters Cove, but I didn’t know where to begin.

“I could help you,” said Wesley simply, lifting the trunk. He lowered the back seats flat to make more room. “You could run classes.”

I contemplated the thought for a whole five seconds as we fit the wingback chair into the back of my car. Wiping my dusty hands on my pants, I fought a sneeze. “I know nothing about business. I’ve only ever worked for someone else. It’s easier that way.”

He sat on the edge of the open trunk, staring up at me with honest eyes. He looked good sitting in the back of my trunk. I bet he would look even better as I rode him in the back seat.

Mind. Out. Of. The. Gutter.

Seriously, my thoughts these days were like I was in heat, care of the mate bond.

“I’m not going to lie, owning a business is not easy. If it was, everyone would do it.” He pushed his hair from his eyes before gripping the trunk on either side of him. “What if I helped get you started? Guided you through the process?” he offered.

Did he just offer to help me start my own business? Holy shit.

“You would really do that for me?”

“Come here,” he crooked his finger, motioning me closer, and I moved between his knees. He curled his hands around my hips, staring up at me. “There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, and I’m happy to help if it’s something you would really like to do.”

“Teach people.” I tested the words on my tongue, something I had never considered before. Could I really do this?

He grinned. “I can see that brain of yours already second-guessing yourself. You can do this Skip, I know you can. If you want it bad enough, I’ll help you make it happen.”

“For real?”

Maybe I could do this.

He sank his fingers into my sides, as if assuring me. “For real.”

I was so lucky to have this man, to have such a supportive companion in life. After everything we had been through, we were stronger than ever before.

“Maybe,” I said, and he stood, pulling me against him.

“You can do anything you set your mind to. I believe that with all my heart.”

He kissed me like asserting his belief in me, an everlasting thing. I had never felt so loved, so supported in my life. And it was all him. Wesley, my childhood friend, come fated mate. Who would have thought?

I pulled away from him smiling, and he stood again, shutting the trunk. We jumped into the car where his hand settled on my thigh as if it was the most natural thing in the world. It gave me all the warm fuzzies.

Giving it a quick squeeze, I veered off the curve, heading back to my house.

I couldn’t wait to get this chair into the shed in our backyard that I had only cleared out yesterday.

A space I could do my upholstery in. The thought of turning my hobby into something more serious scared me, but Wesley had so much confidence in me, and it made me wonder if this could be something more.

Something I could build on. Only time would tell.

When I pulled the car back into our drive, I cut the engine, stepping out.

Again, lifting the trunk, we trudged the wingback chair around the side of the house, heading for the backyard. As we rounded the corner, a resounding, “Surprise!” caught me off-guard, making me jump. I dropped my end of the chair out of pure shock.

Surrounding a makeshift firepit in the backyard were all my closest friends and family.

“Happy birthday!” Scar came rushing to me, engulfing me in her arms.

I turned to the group, almost speechless. “My birthday isn’t until tomorrow,” I said, laughing.

Tyler wrapped a hand around my shoulder. “Yeah, well, that wouldn’t be a surprise now, would it?”

I laughed. “I guess not!”

It was nice to see Tyler smile again. I knew things between him and Wesley were forced right now, but he was trying to put his own feelings aside for me today.

He took one look at the sorry excuse of a chair we had dragged in here. “Even brought your own throne,” he said with a chuckle.

I grinned. “Yeah, something like that.”

“C’mon then.” He put down his beer, helping Wesley lift it over to the circle of chairs surrounding the firepit.

I shook my head, cracking up at the entire scenario.

Wesley sat on the chair, patting his knee for me to join him.

I couldn’t contain my laughter, my smile growing bigger again.

I maneuvered until I sat sideways on his lap, my legs hanging over the side. His hand curled around me, his knuckles rubbing my ribcage.

“Here you go, birthday girl.” Scar plopped a kid’s party hat on my head, tucking the string under my chin. She pulled out a couple of party blowers, handing one to Wesley, the both of them blowing into them like they were five again.

Throwing my head back in laughter, I caught Mom heading in my direction. Her mousy brown hair was just like mine, uncontrollable at the best of times. Right now, it was tucked into a low ponytail, a banana clip holding it tight.

“Happy birthday, darling.” She lowered, pecking me on the cheek and handing me a small card.

“Thanks Mom, I can’t believe you made it.”

My parents worked shifts at the local hospital, so trying to pin them down at the same time was almost impossible. I had somehow managed to introduce Wesley to them as my fated mate on separate occasions though.

“Dad’s sorry he couldn’t make it, but he will see you tomorrow for some of your favorite apple pie.”

I loved apple pie, especially when Dad made it.

It had taken a long while for me to come to terms with the fact my parents had sent me away.

But, as the years went on, I understood their reasoning for it.

Even when I was unwilling to speak with them in the harder years, Dad had always made the effort to drop off apple pie to the boarding school office, and it had always made its way to me.

“I can’t wait,” I said, opening the card. Inside was a folded piece of paper; I opened it and my eyes widened.

A bank balance stared back at me. Enough for a deposit on a house.

I stammered, unsure what I was looking at. “Mom, what is this?”

She smiled wistfully. “When your grandfather passed away, he left you some money in a bank account to be given to you on your 25 th birthday. Over the years it’s grown with interest, and both your father and I have added to it ourselves on occasion. “It’s yours, but to be spent wisely, please.”

Wow. I struggled to find my voice.

“Of course, thank you,” I said, still in shock. I hugged her tightly, before she went to talk to Tyler.

I drew my gaze to Wesley who remained quiet.

“We could buy a house,” I whispered, and his grip on me tightened.

His lips lingered on my ear. “I have savings to meet you fifty-fifty.”

I hadn’t noticed Scar until her nose was between us, giving us the biggest hug. In no way was she being nosy. “You could buy the manor,” she said, having obviously overheard my mom.

I frowned, confused. “The manor as in the haunted manor?”

Her grin was devilish. “Pretty sure it’s not haunted anymore, and only we know that.” She winked, starting to walk away before turning to face us again. Her hand slanted across her mouth, whisper-yelling at us. “You might get it for a steal.”

It was true. The manor that I had found as a child, that had been my home in a previous life, was no longer haunted.

I turned to Wesley; he looked up at me with adoration. “Imagine if that manor was our home.”

A smile brightened his face at the thought. “Something like that would be a big job to restore. But it’s worth thinking about.”

At that moment a coo sounded from high above, and we broke apart to see a bird sitting on the gutter of the house.

“Is that a dove?” I asked, not believing what I saw.

“Yeah, it is.”

The bird instilled a strange awareness in me. I had never seen a dove in Cutters Cove before. It cooed again from its perch above, its black eyes looking directly at us.

I found myself entranced by this bird as it just sat there. Suddenly, it lifted into the air, soaring into the sky.

“Fly free little dove,” said Wesley as it disappeared.

My heart dropped.

I had heard those words before.

Edward.

I couldn’t fight the tears as I stared at him, utterly and profoundly speechless.

He swiped at one with his thumb, and right then I knew all this was real. That we lived many lives even if we didn’t remember a single one before now.

“What is it?” he asked, his worried stare focused solely on me.

“It’s nothing. I’m just so lucky to have you.”

He chuckled, shaking his head at my sudden emotion. Tucking my hair behind my ears, he kissed my forehead. “And I’m lucky to have you too, Skip. Never forget that.”

I knew I wouldn’t because, thanks to fate, I was the luckiest woman alive.