Landon narrowed his eyes as he tilted his head to the side. “Excuse me? Do you have a problem with me or something?”
“Oh, I definitely have a problem with you,” Nelson snapped. “You’re not even a part of this town and you waltzed in here and stole the hottest woman.”
“Hey!” Thistle was affronted. “I am way hotter than Bay.”
“I told you.” I’m not a fan of smugness on a normal day, but I couldn’t help but bask in Nelson’s mini-crush given the remnants of my lingering hangover. “You didn’t believe me, but I told you he was warm for my form.”
“No one says that,” Landon complained.
“You’ve said it before.”
“As a joke.”
“Are you saying you’re not warm for my form?”
Landon opened his mouth to argue and then snapped it shut. “I can’t believe we’re having this conversation. Every single time I think things can’t get more immature or worse when I visit Hemlock Cove, I’m always proved wrong.”
“Perhaps you should quit visiting then,” Nelson suggested.
His tone caught me off guard. He was usually an amiable, if sometimes misguided, kid. “Don’t talk to him that way,” I admonished. “He’s with the FBI. He deserves your respect.”
Instead of being appropriately abashed, Nelson crossed his arms over his chest, defiant. “This is his fault in the first place. If he didn’t insist on coming around town all day I wouldn’t have made that wish in the first place. Besides that … well … how do you even know the wishes are to blame? I think it’s something else.”
His argument made no sense. “What do you mean that it’s Landon’s fault?”
“I’m more interested in why Bay is the reason you made the wish in the first place,” Landon prodded. “What exactly did you wish for?”
“Forget all that,” Thistle snapped. “I want to know why you think Bay is hotter than me when I’m clearly the hottest Winchester.”
I snorted, genuinely amused. “You are not.”
“Oh, I totally am.”
“This is an argument for another time,” Landon said, raising his voice to drown out whatever angry words we were about to muster next. “I want to know what you wished for, Nelson. Tell me right now.”
Nelson’s new argumentative nature slipped a bit as she shifted his gaze to his feet. “I would really rather not say.”
“You either tell me what you wished for right here or I arrest you and haul you into the police station and you can tell me there,” Landon threatened.
Nelson’s face drained of color as Thistle wrinkled her nose.
“On what charge?” Thistle challenged. “What can you arrest him for?”
I was mildly curious about that myself, but there was no way I’d bring it up when we had an audience. I planned to file it away for later, but Thistle relieved me of the worry by challenging Landon.
“Disturbing the peace,” Landon replied, not missing a beat.
“How did I do that?” Nelson protested. “I was minding my own business last night when those guys attacked. It’s hardly my fault that things got out of control.”
“That’s not how it will read in my report.” Landon crossed his arms over his chest and arched a challenging eyebrow. “Do you want to answer me now or go to the station and be logged into the system?”
It was a lame threat and I knew Landon wouldn’t arrest Nelson, but his tone was enough to prod the teenager into responding.
“Fine.” Nelson heaved a sigh. “I was feeling sorry for myself at the party the other night because none of the girls would look at me. They were all interested in the football players … and the basketball players … and the soccer studs. Heck, they were throwing themselves at the golf guys.”
“The golf guys? Really?” Thistle didn’t look convinced. “That’s a little sad. Do they wear those sock things to parties?”
Nelson ignored the question. “I’m not good with girls. I’ve never been good with girls. I polished the well plaque like I was supposed to do and then I saw you at the police station.” Nelson’s lip curled as his gaze landed on Landon. “I knew why you were in town. Everyone knows that you come every weekend to see Bay.”
“That’s hardly a secret,” Landon shot back. “She’s my girlfriend. We’re moving in together.”
That was obviously news to Nelson, who looked crushed by the fact. “What? Why?”
“That’s not important right now,” I said, resting a hand on Nelson’s forearm as I shot Landon a warning look. Even though Nelson was a minor for a few months more, I worried Landon might punch him in the face if he took things too far. “What did you wish for, Nelson?”
“You.”
“Me?” My heart rolled painfully. “Why would you wish for me?”
“Because you’re pretty and you always laugh at my jokes,” Nelson replied, averting his gaze. “You never make me feel stupid or less than human because I’m not athletic.”
“Oh, that’s kind of cute.” I couldn’t help but be flattered.
“It’s not cute,” Landon argued, flicking my ear. “It’s disturbing. You’re my girlfriend. Although … why didn’t his wish work? If the wishes are supposed to work at the beginning and then turn bad, why didn’t you go wild for him like the other girls?”
That was a pretty good question. “I’m not sure.” I chewed on my bottom lip. “Nelson, tell me exactly how you worded the wish.”
“Why is that important?”
“Because I need to know.” I didn’t want to embarrass the boy further, but I had to know exactly what he said if I expected to walk back the wish.
“I said that I wished you would see that jerkoff for what he was and fall for a real man,” Nelson gritted out, refusing to make eye contact. “I also added that I wanted to be the sort of man women chased. I wanted you to chase after me. I didn’t think they would.” He gestured toward the group of girls watching us.
“That’s how you phrased it?” I couldn’t help but be surprised.
Nelson nodded, miserable. “I’m sorry. You’re just … so pretty.”
“I told you he had a crush on me,” I hissed at Landon, smirking. “That must be why you look so tired to me, though. He wished that I would see you for what you really are … and you’re exhausted.”
“I’m not that tired,” Landon protested.
“You are tired, though,” Thistle said, adopting a pragmatic tone. “Keeping up your relationship with Bay while still living in Traverse City is taking a toll on you. That’s why you’re so excited about the move. You know that will make things easier.”
“I don’t think you should move in with him,” Nelson offered. “He’s not right for you.”
“You need to mind your own business,” Landon instructed, extending a finger. “She’s too old for you.”
“Hey!” Now it was my turn to be offended.
“You know what I mean,” Landon said, softening his tone. “This could explain why you’ve been so worked up worrying about me. I still don’t understand why you didn’t fall all over this kid like he wanted.”
“Because I’m already in love with you,” I explained. “I told you. Curses and spells can’t change what’s in someone’s heart. It doesn’t work like that.”
“Are you saying you love me so much you’re stronger than magic?” Landon looked pleased with his own question.
“I’m saying … oh, geez. Your head is already too big for words. I’m not saying that, because I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“That’s okay. I already know.” Landon slung an arm over my shoulders and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I love you, too.”
I didn’t want to smile – now was so not the time – but I couldn’t help myself. That turned out to be a mistake, because Nelson didn’t react kindly to the display of affection.
“I’m not doing this,” he said, taking a step back. “Those girls like me, and this is the first time it’s ever happened. I’m not taking it bac
k. You can’t make me.”
“You don’t have a choice,” I argued. “The other boys in this town will keep trying to kill you for stealing all of the women if you don’t take back the wish.”
Nelson jutted out his lower lip, determined. “I don’t care. For once, I’m going to get what I want.”
“No, you’re not,” Landon argued. “It’s time to return to the real world, son. I know this is hard for you, but … that’s the way things have to be. If life was easy no one would have anything to complain about.”
“Aunt Tillie would always find something,” Thistle interjected.
“I’m not doing it!” Nelson bellowed and then took us all by surprise as he bolted across the street. “You can’t make me! In fact … I’m going to make more wishes. I’m going to make the right one this time and make Bay mine. Now that I know the wishes are real I’m going to wish until I run out of pennies.”
“Ugh.” Landon slapped his hand to his forehead and rolled his head back to stare at the sky. “This is going to suck.”
“Yeah. I think we can all agree on that.”
I wished for a happily ever after when I was eight. Instead I got you people. I think that’s the universe’s way of telling me that it has a sense of humor, because if I don’t look at this family and laugh I’ll start crying. I may never stop.
– Twila explaining why she’s opted to laugh instead of cry when dealing with the Winchester family
Eleven
“Where do you think that little ferret went?”
Landon remained close to me – almost uncomfortably so, frankly – as we searched the town for Nelson. We thought he would be easy to find, but he managed to disappear while we were distracted. Thistle took off to gather Marcus to continue the search, and Landon called Chief Terry so he would be on the lookout. Until someone spotted him, though, we were on our own.
“I don’t know,” I answered, slowly scanning the library for signs of a hiding teenager. “He seemed adamant that he wasn’t going to take the wish back. I feel a little sorry for him.”
Landon’s eyebrow winged up. “Sorry? Bay, do you realize what he was trying to do with that wish?”
“Yeah, he wanted to get me as a girlfriend.” I was oddly flattered that Nelson cared enough to do that. “He’s kind of sweet, although completely mental.”
“Bay!” Landon was exasperated. “He’s a teenage boy. I need you to think really hard. What do you think he wanted to do with you if his wish came true?”
I knew exactly what Landon was getting at, and I didn’t appreciate it. “Do you really think I would do that?”
“He didn’t want to give you a choice.”
“He tossed a coin in a wishing well and made one of those wishes people make that they know won’t ever come true,” I countered, my patience wearing thin. “It’s no different from when Mom let me toss a coin in the fountain at the mall when I was a kid and I wished for a handsome prince to live with happily ever after.”
Landon thumped his chest and flashed an impish grin. “You eventually got him, didn’t you?”
My smile was rueful as I shook my head, leading Landon toward the back bookshelves so we could individually search them to be sure. “I did get my prince, but – no offense to you – this wasn’t what I pictured when I was five and tossing coins.”
Landon stilled as he stared. “What did you picture?”
“Well, do you have a castle, a footman, a sword and a crown to give me?”
The corners of Landon’s mouth tipped up. “I could probably make some of that happen.”
I snorted at his dirty mind. “You dream about different things when you’re a kid,” I informed him. “I don’t want the same things now that I wanted then. When I was five that footman was a big deal. Now I just want a guy who will give me a foot massage without complaint.”
“Are you sure that’s all that you want?”
He seemed earnest, so I took the time to stop searching and reassure him. “Do you want the same things you did when you were a kid?”
Landon shrugged, noncommittal. “I haven’t given it a lot of thought,” he admitted. “When I was a kid I wanted a Baywatch babe to fawn all over me and Martha Stewart to cook for me.”
I narrowed my eyes, the image of a really terrible threesome forcing its way into my brain. “Landon!” I was scandalized. “That is horrible.”
“I didn’t want to turn it into anything dirty,” Landon hissed. “You know how I am about food. Martha Stewart was my hero.”
I wasn’t convinced. “And now? Do you still wish you could have Martha?”
“I do have Martha,” Landon replied, not missing a beat. “I have your mother. You’re my Baywatch babe, and she does the cooking. That’s the perfect union, if you ask me.”
I tried to keep a straight face … and failed miserably, making small clucking sounds as I resumed my search. “You have a one-track mind.”
“You and food,” Landon agreed, bobbing his head. He didn’t appear to be offended by the notion. “Much like you, Bay, I realized once I got past the age of eighteen that the things you dream about as a kid aren’t reality. I grew to want real things.”
“Like what?” I honestly wasn’t fishing for compliments, but when Landon didn’t immediately answer I stalled my forward momentum and met his gaze. “Did I say something?”
“I want you, Bay.” Landon’s expression was earnest. “I didn’t know it when I found you, but I’ve been searching for you for a long time. When I found you, things clicked into place. That’s the thing you don’t know to wish for when you’re a kid.”
“That’s kind of sweet,” I said. “I wanted you, too. Although to be fair, Aunt Tillie warned me about ‘The Man’ so many times when I was a kid that I was afraid of you when I found you. I mean, I was drawn to you, but I was still afraid of you.”
Landon ran his hand down the back of my head, smoothing my hair. “I was afraid of you, too. I knew you would change my life. I think I sensed it that day at the cornfield. The second I saw you I couldn’t take my eyes off of you.”
“I was mean to you.”
“Your idea of mean is vastly different from mine. You were merely protecting yourself from the bad element.”
“You?”
“I was undercover as the bad element at that time,” Landon reminded me. “You needed to keep yourself safe from me because I wasn’t safe for you to be around … at least then.”
“You got shot because of me. If that’s not safe … .”
Landon’s smile slipped. “You know what I mean. You have a good heart. That’s why you’re out here looking for that idiot kid even though he wanted to do gross things to you.”
“Landon, he made a wish he had no reason to believe would come true,” I argued. “He has a lonely existence because he’s bullied. He’s not one of the ‘cool’ kids. He had a crush on an awesome woman. Can you blame him?”
I could see the struggle flitting behind Landon’s eyes before he finally gave in and smiled. “You’re feeling pretty good about yourself, aren’t you? Would you be feeling so full of yourself if he’d managed to make you chase after him?”
“I told you that wasn’t possible because I’m already in love with you.”
“See, I have trouble believing that,” Landon admitted. “I think if he’d worded the wish differently we’d be dealing with an absolutely horrible scenario. Don’t forget, Chief Terry said that one woman has that Star Trek actor trapped in her house – we should really get on that next, by the way, because otherwise we might have TMZ camping out in town, and no one wants that.”
“What about the actor?” I was confused.
“I’m sure that he has someone he cares about, yet he ended up here anyway.”
I stilled, his words cutting through the fog in my brain “Oh. I didn’t even think about that.”
“Well, I did.” Landon was serious. “This is a wish, not a curse. The wisher’s needs seem to overrule everything else.
I think if Nelson had worded his wish better, he would’ve gotten exactly what he wanted. As it is, he merely wished for you to see me as I was – which is apparently tired – and make him more desirable in the process.”
“I see what you’re saying.” Something occurred to me and I whipped my head in the direction of the main door. “We need to get out of here.”
“What do you mean?” Landon followed my gaze. “Did you see him?”
“No, but I know where he’s going.”
“And where is that?”
My stomach twisted as I hurried toward the door. “Back to the well. He wants to improve on that wish.”
“Oh, crap.” Landon picked up his pace. “Move, sweetie. I’m definitely punching that kid in the face before the day is out.”
WE FOUND Nelson at the wishing well, exactly as I feared. He wasn’t alone, though. His gaggle of girlfriends fawned all over him to the point that he couldn’t get his arms free to make the wish.
That was our one bit of good luck so far today.
“Let go,” Nelson growled, reaching for the wishing well. “I’m trying to do something.”
“We want to do something, too,” a redhead said. “We think you’ll enjoy what we want to do.”
“Crap.” Landon made a growling noise in the back of his throat as he surveyed the scene. “Wait here, Bay.”
I opened my mouth to ask what he planned to do, but he was already moving. He hit Nelson torso to torso, knocking the boy away from the well and slamming him into the ground.
“Enough is enough,” Landon barked. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that I’ve earned this,” Nelson sputtered, fruitlessly fighting against Landon’s strong hands. “Why should you get her?”
“Because I’ve earned her, too,” Landon replied, grabbing the front of Nelson’s shirt and slamming him into the ground. “You can’t make someone love you.”
Nelson wasn’t about to give up. “You made her love you.”
“Oh, please,” Landon scoffed, his brow beading with sweat as his long hair swooped to the side. “Do you think that was easy? A few days after I met her I was shot. Then I had to deal with her family. Heck, I still have to deal with her family. Do you think that’s easy? She’s worth it, but … come on!
Once Upon a Witch: A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Fantasy Books 1-3 Page 46
