I turned my computer to face me and did a quick search for the Johnson Brothers. I wasn't sure if they'd be open on a Saturday, but I gave it a shot. Someone picked up on the third ring.
"Johnson Brothers."
"Hi. My name's Dot. I just bought the firehouse downtown. By the police station?"
"Yep. I know it. You're looking to make it into a bookstore."
He didn't even phrase it in question form. He'd be horrible at Jeopardy. "Um. Yeah. I see you know all about it."
Laughter rattled through the line. "Welcome to Cedar Falls. You're looking for a general contractor to do the work?"
"Yes. A bunch of us are…here doing some restorations, but I'm looking to have a bunch more work done. I was wondering if you could stop by sometime in the future and take a look, give me an estimate?"
"I'll actually be down there in a few minutes. I'll stop by."
Panic seized my chest, but then a plan formulated in my head. I'd hold the meeting and restoration party after he looked around. It shouldn't take him long to get an idea. It would be a while before he got to work on the job, anyway. "Sounds good. I'm the brunette in a ponytail."
"And you'll probably be the only person in town I don't recognize."
"There's that, too. So, yeah. Look for the stranger."
"Will do. See you shortly."
"Thanks."
The line clicked dead. He was a man of few words. Hopefully his work was as efficient as his conversational skills. I practically ran into the garage to let everybody know we were about to have a visitor.
I nearly hit Jimmy in the face with the door. "Sorry. Contractor will be here in a minute!"
He looked over his shoulder. "Guys, Freddie's stopping by to give Dot an estimate. Act normal," he said and started laughing before passing me and heading into the kitchen.
I felt like an idiot.
I sighed and followed him, fully intending to swat him in the head for making me feel like an idiot…
His lips caught mine as soon as I got in the room. Nearly screaming in surprised, I realized who was kissing me and I leaned into it, wrapping my arms around his back and closing my eyes. Jimmy kissed like a Greek god. I melted in his arms. It had been far too long since I'd felt anything that remarkably good. His tongue warred with mine for dominance until he pulled back and captured my lower lip between his teeth.
I breathed out in exquisite bliss. I could feel myself getting wet as the pleasure raced through me. Until he let go of me and started pouring himself some more coffee. I stared at him in absolute horror as I realized it was a retaliation tactic for teasing him on the ladder.
"You sonofabitch." I couldn't help but laugh.
He shot me a slow seductive wink and blew me a kiss.
"I'll let you live. For now."
"Hey, at least I didn't rub your ass and leave you pitching a tent."
"Had I been pitching a tent, you'd have been horrified."
"Hmmm. True." He gasped in shock and looked down at the front of my leggings. "Whew."
"At least I didn't make you squishy," I said and turned around, walking a little funny and leaving him cackling in the kitchen.
"What's wrong?" Chief asked as I nearly collided with him.
"Spilled something on the front of my pants. Going to dry off," I kind of lied and went to walk around him. He grabbed my shoulders. "Here, I have a towel," he said and yanked a hand towel that had been hanging out of his back pocket.
What kind of fucking boy scout carries around a towel?
"Er. Um. It soaked my underwear. I'll just run to the bathroom."
"Oh. Oh! Sorry." He stepped back and looked up at the ceiling.
I should have just taken the towel from him and wiped off my lady parts. That would have taught him a very valuable lesson.
Chapter 10
"If we knock out this wall, you'll give yourself a bit more room for bookcases and blocking off the back of the storefront. You'll have to make this entrance to the café a little bigger, but I'd leave that open. We can expand the front of the entrance after we remove the garage doors. That way you can have a double entrance. You'll thank me in the middle of winter."
I looked up at Freddy Johnson. He stood almost six-and-a-half feet tall. His "little" brother, Teddy, was an inch taller. Appearance aside, they completely shocked me with not only their knowledge, but their ability to really picture the design I had in mind. "Let's go with that, then."
He nodded and jotted down some more notes in a brand-new spiral notebook. He even wrote BOOKSTORE on the front of it in sharpie. The pages had been filled with elaborate hand drawn sketches of the building from all sides and detailed notes of each room and what needed to be done.
"What kind of wood do you want for the bookcases?"
"I have no idea."
"I'd go with something dark. If you want to keep the price down, we can still use decent wood and stain it. Bookstores should not be bright and cheery. I'd go with minimal illumination. Probably some high hats in the ceiling and focused LED spots for the shelves."
It was official. I was lost. However, competence exuded from every pore of both of the brothers. Few people found their calling in life. These two had been born to be contractors. I decided to trust their instincts. I could always blame Jimmy for recommending them if they screwed me or did a shitty job.
"Tell you what, gentlemen. Do this and do it right. You came highly recommended. Build my bookstore. Let me know how much it's going to set me back and I'll tell you yay or nay. Sound good?"
"You betcha," Freddy said, earning a definite nod from Teddy.
"I won't even ask you for a ballpark now. I'll let you plan and check pricing on materials before you give me an estimate."
"Bless you, child. Nothing worse than giving a ballpark and then coming back with an estimate, then having to listen to the but you saids. We won't cut corners but keep it as cheap as possible."
"Thanks, guys. Let me know."
"Give us a call on Wednesday. We should have everything ready for you by then." Teddy handed me a business card.
"Will do. Thanks!"
They turned around and left through the open door. I watched the massive middle-aged men climb up into the dually parked on the street.
"How much?" Chief asked as they pulled away.
"They'll give me an estimate on Wednesday. Tell everybody thanks for their help, but we don't need to do anything. They're going to tear this place up anyway. It would be a waste of magic."
"You tell them. They're ready for our meeting."
I sighed and steeled my nerves. I'd never liked speaking in front of groups. It's one of the reasons I never wanted to be high priestess of any coven. We headed into the bunk room. Someone had produced enough folding chairs for everyone. They'd been arranged in a circle. Two empty seats sat open by the door. Chief led the way and took the one to the left. I sat and took a sip of my cold coffee, wetting my mouth.
"Greetings, Coven of the Gold Moon."
"Greetings, Lady," they responded in unison, as they would have to a high priestess. I let it go. I had called the meeting. That was all the ceremony we were standing on.
"I just wanted to talk to you all. There are a few items that need discussion. First and foremost, thank you for having me and my friend, Josie, in your coven. We were pleasantly surprised to find so many wonderful witches quietly living in our new community."
I bowed. They smiled and returned my bow. It seemed a little funny with all of us sitting in metal folding chairs, but we did it anyway.
"Secondly, I wanted to thank you all for not only offering your magic to help me restore the firehouse but agreeing to this meeting. The former will not be needed, however. The contractors I just met with have plans to tear this place apart and basically rebuild it from the ground up to suit the needs of the bookstore. Still, I appreciate your help."
They nodded and smiled.
"The last issue is a little more delicate. As most of you know, Richi
e passed away the other day. What some of you might not know is that magic was most likely the cause of his death. Chances are he was murdered. By another witch."
They exploded. I held up my hand and they calmed, their questions dying off. "Do not get me wrong. I am simply stating the most probable cause of his death. I am not accusing anyone in this room. Especially after meeting all of you, I do not think any one of you did this. The chief may have some questions for you. Please answer them, but this will not turn into–and please pardon the euphemism–a witch hunt. That leads me into the reason I have told all of you this. It came to my attention that you all have not been in the practice of using personal shields."
They shot me curious looks. I sighed and continued. "This isn't a wise practice. Shields are not only there for your protection, they are for the protection of the mortals around you. It is all about intent. Intent infused with will and magic becomes reality. It only takes a moment for anger or desire to blend the three into a spell. Please, please, work on maintaining your shields at all times. Even when you sleep. It will become ingrained on your will and you will reach a point where you don't even have to think about it. Shields won't protect you from everything, but it might give you enough time to run or retaliate."
They nodded. Dane raised his hand.
"Yes?" I said, curiously.
"Why didn't your shield protect you from a binding spell?"
"That's a good question. What is the first thing that you do when you cast your shield?"
He thought about it for a moment. "Ground it?"
"Yes! You ground your magic. Now where did the bindings come from?"
"The ground at your feet." He understood as soon as he spoke.
I continued. "Shields can stop the immediate blast of fire. They can stop even the most effective scrying. Lightning and psychological attacks will be pushed into the earth at your feet. Windborne and water attacks will flow around you. Earth attacks however, your best bet is to attack back and hope your attack hits first. Now do you all understand the importance of shields?"
"Why did you say they would protect those around you?"
Seriously? Were these witches taught nothing?
"Sorry. I do not know what you were or were not taught. A spell is a binding of your intent, will, and magic. It's why we predominantly use the words of a secondary language. I prefer Irish. Chief uses Welsh. Josie uses Latin. We say the words of our intent, picture the outcome using our will, and then push our magic into the spell, which acts as a catalyst, binding the three of them together and making it happen. Let's say you were married. You came home one day and found your spouse in bed with their secretary. Anger flares inside you. You want your spouse to just die. At the same moment you picture them, lying dead in the bed. The anger also causes a flare in your magic. That one moment of anger becomes a spell, even without the canting. By the time you realized what happened, your spouse is dead, the secretary is screaming, and you realized just how badly you fucked up.
"That's why it's important to have shields on you all the time. When shielded, the caster actually has to picture piercing the shield without destroying it in the spell or it just gets grounded."
Nods of understanding and clarity, even some shock, met my speech. I wish I could take credit for the wonderful analogy, but it had been passed down to me from my mother, and to her from her mother going back who knows how far. It was scary but accurate. I wondered which of my ancestors had learned the lesson the hard way.
"Any other questions?"
"Will you be our high priestess?"
The question, while not unexpected, tore my heart a little. It was the last–the very last–thing I wanted. Most of them knew this. Some did not. I sighed and stood. "I don't want to be a high priestess." The looks of disappointment on all their faces opened the wound in my heart a little more. "I ran away. My mother is due to step down as high priestess in the future. I was supposedly destined to step up as her replacement as the time came. Then I found the itch to move away too irresistible to resist. I followed it to this place. I've seen your broken town. It hurts my heart to see what it could be and what it is. My Ashville lives in symbiosis with the witch community and thrives. I think this might be why your town is suffering." I held up my hand. "I'm sure the economy and other factors contribute to this disarray, but I know we are playing a part of it, as well. If the lot of you can swear to me that we will work together for the benefit of the town and the people in it, I will step in and be your temporary," I stressed the word with every ounce of stress I possessed, "high priestess. If the Lady will have me."
The applause of the eleven around me threatened to deafen everyone in the room. I found myself wiggling my fingers in my ears when they were done. I gave them a wan smile in thanks. On the inside, I wanted to curl up in fetal position and cry.
What the hell was I thinking. I don't want to do this. Thankfully, it's only temporary…
"How do we know if she's worthy?" All eyes turned to on one of the witches I hadn't met before.
He must be Jason…
"Jason." Jimmy hissed his name.
"No. It's an honest question," I supplied in his defense. "No high priestess may be anointed without the blessing of the Lady. We'll perform the ceremony. If it not be the Lady's will, I will still join your coven, just not as your priestess."
He nodded, seemingly satisfied with my response.
"Any other questions?"
Eleven heads shook.
"Good, if someone is close to… What is the missing one's name?"
"Dwight."
"If someone could pass along all the info to Dwight, I would greatly appreciate it. At least until I have a chance to talk to him myself."
"I will," Jason said firmly.
"Thanks," I said a little warily. I wasn't getting the best of vibes from Jason. He was handsome enough, with thick waves of dirty blond hair. His eyes were a gorgeous blue, too. His face was a little too angular, though. It made him seem hard and uncaring. Looks aside, it was his demeanor that ruffled my feathers.
He nodded.
Chief stood and spoke. "Is everyone free Sunday night?"
Everyone shrugged and nodded.
"Good. Gather in the north woods. You know the location. Get there around eleven-thirty so we can ask the Lady's blessing."
"Lady's Blessing," everyone said in unison and stood.
I didn't respond in kind. I wasn't the high priestess yet. I did smile, glad the meeting was over. My anxiety was at its peak. I needed to go home, have a bath, and a nap.
"Told you so," Josie whispered behind me.
"Shut your face up. I can't believe I agreed."
"The Lady's hand doth guide…"
"The friend doth talk too much."
Josie giggled and pinched my back. "I'm going to go get another coffee. Where we heading?"
"Home. I need some therapy."
"I'll meet you downstairs."
"'Kay."
I took the time to say goodbye to everyone, saving my trio for last. They pushed back toward the corner of the room, letting everyone have the chance. When the Connors finally exited, the four of us were finally alone.
"So, what do you think of everyone?" Chief sounded a little afraid of my answer.
"They all seem very nice." It dawned on me that Jason hadn't said goodbye. I had a feeling he didn't like me. I glanced back at the door. "Maybe not Jason."
Jimmy chuckled. "Yeah. He and Dwight are a little different, but once you get to know them…"
"They're nice guys?"
"No. They're still pricks, but you can tolerate them," Dennis answered.
I looked at the three of them. "What do I do now? I don't want to do this…"
"It's not too late to back out," Chief said sadly. "It would be a waste. You were amazing. Even I didn't know hardly any of that. I guess I got lucky with my binding spell."
"Yes, you did." I laughed.
"That sounds kinky," Jimmy said with an evil smi
le. I thought I heard a note of jealousy in his voice, though. Maybe something else.
"If it weren't in the police station with Dane watching, it might have been." I decided to throw a little fuel on the fire. I owed Jimmy big time. I was still squishy.
He opened his mouth to say something else, but closed it and gave me a little grin. "Guess our night out at the bar is on hold. Not that I mind."
"Oh shit. I forgot. Sorry guys, raincheck."
"No hardship on our part. We're looking forward to it immensely."
I shot Jimmy a questioning look.
Chief coughed.
"What?"
"I think he's looking forward to seeing you skyclad…"
"Oh. Well, I hope you three enjoy the view." I meant it. Being naked in front of the coven wasn't something I minded. I'd been raised in a powerful coven. Most, if not all, rituals were skyclad. As long as I didn't have to speak in front of everyone, I'd be fine.
I hated to even have the thought, but I would definitely be happy seeing the three of them naked in the moonlight. Daylight. Spotlight. Bedroom light… Whatever.
"Well, I have a mountain of laundry to get done," Chief said, gave me a little bow, and headed for the door.
"See ya, Chief."
He paused a moment and sighed before continuing on.
"Are you ever gonna call him Bill?"
I turned to Jimmy. "Probably not."
Chapter 11
"Are you ready to go? Chief is here."
Nodding at Josie, I fastened my cloak around my neck with the large pin my mother had gifted to me on my sixteenth year. I patted it and pushed away the homesick feeling that tried its best to settle in my chest.
"Yeah." I twirled, my cloak flaring around me, showing off the naked flesh beneath.
"Do that again. It was kind of hot."
"Shut up. You see me naked all the time."
"Yeah, but it's hotter with the cloak."
"You're weird."
"No. You're just hot."
I decided to ignore her. These were the arguments I would never win. I padded softly through the living room and grabbed a pair of ankle-high sandals from the front closet. Chief whistled when he saw me.
First Moon : A Reverse Harem Tale (Lovin' the Coven Book 1) Page 8
