“Ah, wouldn’t that be unfair to Jade? Unethical, even?”
Annie was put out at his reaction. “Do you want her or not?”
“Oh, I want her.”
“Well, then?”
Mason pulled off to the side of the road, thinking it over carefully before he turned to her with his answer. “You know what, Annie? I appreciate it. I do. But I love Jade, a lot, and I don’t want to do anything that she might consider not on the up-and-up when she finally comes around and says yes.”
She saw nothing in his eyes but intense honesty, and pain. “You’re that sure of yourself?”
He shook his head. “Between you, me, and the fence post, I’m scared shitless. I think I’m only going to get one chance. I’m sure this is it. And I have no”—he winced in place of an expletive, which just made it that much more heartfelt—“clue how it’s going to turn out.”
Jade spent the day with her guests from Montana, who’d laughed at the weather report and said nothing less than a blizzard could have stopped them from coming to Mystic Manor. They had a spring wedding planned and wanted spellwork to cut all ties to former spouses. She’d scheduled them for this weekend in particular, due to the Balsamic Moon.
Clients came with emotional baggage; they couldn’t help it. When the Abernats retired for the night, Jade stepped out into the backyard, closed her eyes, lifted her chin to the breeze, and let it wash over her. She needed this time to remove negativity, to cleanse herself for the following day.
“No moonlight tonight,” Mason said behind her, his voice deep and seductively quiet.
For a huge body that rode the sky in a predictable pattern, people sure could be clueless. She could have explained that a fourth-quarter moon sets before the sun; she didn’t bother. She was afraid if she talked to him, she’d be opening the door where she’d locked up all her feelings for him.
“You doing a spell?”
Jade sighed. She didn’t open her eyes; better not to encourage him. “I’m trying to relax.”
“Good.” He waited a beat. “Is it working?”
She couldn’t help smiling. That wasn’t too big a betrayal, not like a laugh. What was it about this man that made her want to push him off the bluff but hold him tight at the same time?
“I just have one question,” he said.
“If I were doing a spell, it would be to send you home.”
“Yeah, I figured. But,” he said pointedly, stepping close, blocking the wind, “I’m still here.”
She opened her eyes. “Need a ride to the airport?” She flashed him a look that she hoped showed irritation, but instinctively knew she’d failed horribly when he smiled and said, “Can’t go yet.”
He reached out slowly. Jade steeled herself for his touch, thinking that now that she knew the truth, it should feel cold and deceitful, but her traitorous body thrilled at the sensation of his warm hand grazing her cheek, tracing the line of her jaw. When he wrapped his fingers behind her neck and drew her close, she breathed him in, not finding the cleansing she’d sought from the wind but something deeper and far more satisfying.
Mason leaned into her, and their lips met. She was powerless to stop it, to break it off, not because of his hold, but because of that intangible property that pulls soul mates together.
He teased her at first, touching and releasing, brushing over the corner of her eye, the curve of her ear, the length of her neck, turning foreplay into an art so hot, she thought they’d melt a crater in the snow.
“Mase—” she whispered on a long sigh. It was too late to ground herself. Too late to pull away.
“I love you,” he said, his lips brushing hers.
“No.”
“I do. I will never hurt you.”
“You already have.”
“But you’ll forgive me.”
She didn’t want to. If she opened her mouth, she was afraid she’d agree.
“Marry me, Jade?”
She shook her head slowly. Summoning all her strength, she took a step back, feeling lonelier than ever as Mason’s hand fell away.
“When hell freezes over.”
He grinned—the last thing she’d expected.
“Haven’t you heard?” he said. “Last night, it did.”
Jade’s insomnia was back with a vengeance. It wasn’t the peaceful, good use of time she remembered, but eight more hours each day to regret the moment Mason had blown in her front door.
The next afternoon, he was charming her Montana guests in the study. He might as well wear a shirt that said, Able to deal with needy people, as requested. Karl and Diana Abernat sat side by side on the sofa, laughing as if they found him highly amusing. Mason stood close to the roaring fire, one arm propped on the mantel as casually as if he owned the place, marveling aloud that the Abernats had tons more snow in Montana and came here instead of the Caribbean.
“Oh, Jade, have you seen Mason’s snowmen?” Diana asked, bubbling with excitement. “They’re just lovely!”
“I haven’t looked today.”
“Oh, but you must! Quick, before we leave for the airport.” Diana slipped her arm through Jade’s and led her out the front door, onto the wide porch. “Goodness, there’s a lot of traffic. Karl! We should leave soon.”
Jade gritted her teeth. “They’re taking pictures.” People were abandoning their cars on the narrow shoulder, walking through her yard, taking pictures of the snowmen. And more. “Of my house, Mason.”
Mason bent down and whispered in her ear. “Don’t worry, I covered all the pentacles with pine branches. I hope it’s not bad luck.”
She relaxed a little, solely due to his foresight and absolutely not because she liked how his warm breath tickled her ear.
“What a wonderful idea!” Diana said. “Karl, honey, get the camera out of my bag, will you? My goodness, I don’t know which one is my favorite!”
There were plenty to chose from, Jade noticed. Since yesterday, they’d transformed into unmistakable icy replicas of people she knew. Courtney’s likeness had its arm around a pint-size Jazzy. Annie’s was topped with a blond wig and a pink scarf.
“A wig?” Jade gave Mason what she hoped he interpreted as the evil eye. “You put wigs on them?”
He smiled and shrugged. “Wigs, hats, what’s the difference?”
Weezy’s model wore a flowered apron, brandishing a skillet in one hand and a spatula in the other.
Buzz was easy to pick out, and Jade said, “I’m pretty sure it’s a felony to put a federal uniform on a snowman.”
“If they arrest me, you can destroy the evidence.”
“If they lock you up, I’ll destroy the key,” she said, trying so, so hard not to smile. The trouble he’d gone to wasn’t lost on her.
The reporter had a black beret, a notepad and pen. The milkman carried bottles, and she supposed the dopey-looking ones with thick overalls and earflaps were supposed to be Noah’s nephews. Miss Lisabet wore wire-rimmed spectacles and carried books. Gabby had a stethoscope draped around her neck; the extinct nurse’s cap must have come from an antiques store. Madeline bundled two blue receiving blankets in her arms.
“Oh, I love the twin snowbabies!” Diana gurgled, snapping pictures. “I can’t wait to show these back home. Nobody there does anything like this. Mason, you must really love the snow.”
Jade held her tongue, because she knew how much he truly hated it. Yet it was obvious he’d done this for her.
“Notice how the looky-loos hang back behind the wall instead of intruding?” Diana said. “It’s cozy, like an enclosed garden. They can tell there’s something private about it.”
“Used to be,” Jade said in a dry tone. “Ah, Mason, can I get your opinion on something inside?”
“Sure, love.”
She’d no sooner gotten Mason alone in the foyer than he shoved the door closed and pressed her up against it in a kiss so hot, the fire in the study paled by comparison.
“Will you marry me?”
When Jade could speak again, she said, “I’ll call the police and have you removed first.”
“I met the chief. Sherman, right? Nice guy. He stopped by to do traffic control and visit with Henry. Tell me, is there anyone in town who doesn’t know your secret?”
“Only a few thousand you haven’t met. Mason, you have to stop this. You have to leave. You know you want to go back where it’s warm, where there’s no snow. Remember? Eighty degrees? Surf pounding?”
“Go back? I’m not leaving.”
“Your job’s in Pensacola.”
“You’re here. There are companies that’ll refer work to me. Sometimes I’ll travel. You know, I’m glad we’re having this little talk.”
“It’s warm in Pensacola.”
“But you’re here.”
Jade growled low in her throat and shoved him to arm’s length. “That does it. I’ve tried to be nice, but if you don’t leave today, I’m locking you out.”
“I saw a hose in the garage. Would you mind if I borrowed it?”
“Yes! I would!”
Mason grinned. “Didn’t think so.”
She growled and pushed past him, unable to think straight when he locked those steel blue eyes on her. When he teased her as if she still loved him.
After the guests departed, Jade spent the night catching up on the witch network, interrupted only by an e-mail from Anthony. She leaned back in her chair, wondering how he’d gotten her private address.
“Oh, of course,” she muttered with a du-uh attitude. They were detectives; she probably didn’t have a single secret left.
Anthony was brief and to the point.
Dear Jade,
No one would hire us to do the more critical stuff if we blew cover whenever it suited. See attachments. Then if you’re not going to get over it and give a great guy like Mason a break, will you please send him back to Florida where he can be of some use?
Also, a small wood-inlaid box got into my luggage by mistake. Sorry. I’m returning it by FedEx.
Jade started to hit the DELETE button, then thought, Why not? The attachments were carefully chosen and included news articles on how Mason had successfully protected a senator’s twelve-year-old daughter from a crazed stalker (now serving time), retrieved an elderly woman’s life savings following a scam (thank-you note included, inviting him to Thanksgiving for the rest of her life), and caught a temp agency using unsuspecting employees as drug mules.
So he was good at what he did, so what? So his work was sometimes important. Big deal.
Too antsy to stay at the keyboard, she stepped out back to let the breeze work its magic.
The sky was pitch-black, the stars brilliant pinpoints of light. Somewhere below the horizon, the moon eased into the next new cycle. The time of endings had come and gone. Yet Mason was still here. Was her mother right? Jade breathed deeply and tried to accept that the Universe must have special plans this time around. It wasn’t easy. She wasn’t convinced.
There were ways to learn more. In the conservatory, she lit a candle, sat on the stones with it behind her, and gazed into the pool at the base of the waterfall where she and Mason had made love.
As she grounded and centered herself, she reviewed the little things that hadn’t made sense before: Mason’s familiarity with a handgun, the Bond-Rambo crouch she’d teased him about. And she supposed the three death benefits hadn’t been small potatoes to the insurance company, so she could see why they’d surveilled the house even though she didn’t like it.
As Jade quickly transitioned to an altered state, the surface of the water changed from fluid, to misty, to dark velvet, then ceased to register on her consciousness at all, mirroring the changes in her perspective. In the void, she saw two lit tapers running together, but instead of melting into a common pool of wax, they merged and formed one perfect candle.
She closed her eyes and bathed herself in white light. When she gazed into the water again, she saw herself lying in Mason’s arms, sound asleep.
The divination was as clear as day. No visions of life alone. No getting tarred and feathered and run out of town. But still…
She tried once more. When she saw bridesmaids with straw hats, silk shawls, and bouquets of roses, she gave up.
The front doorbell of Mystic Manor rarely rang, so when it did, it drew Jade’s attention.
“Hi, I’m Tricia Sherwood.” The redhead on the porch looked so proud of herself, as if she’d single-handedly turned the front yard into the most popular tourist attraction in two states. This morning’s logjam had snagged the school bus. The children were noisy, hanging out the windows, pointing toward the house.
Jade’s smile was saccharin. “Welcome to my nightmare.”
“Oh.” Tricia grimaced. “You don’t like being popular?”
Jade’s acerbic laugh clearly said, Oh, my dear, you are sooo naive. “Sorry, I don’t give interviews.”
“Oh, no, that’s not why I’m here. I just got a promotion—Well, I guess you don’t care about my silly ol’ promotion. Anyway, I thought I’d stop by and see if that sexy eagle photographer is here?” Tricia’s giggle was replaced by a concerned frown and a glance over her shoulder. “But now that I’ve seen the bridesmaids, I’m thinking I’m too late.”
“What bridesmaids?”
“You haven’t seen them?” Tricia stepped aside, giving Jade full view of her front yard. She faded into the background when Jade saw the transformation that had brought traffic to a standstill.
“Oh, my,” she said with a long sigh.
Mason clearly had gotten inventive with the garden hose, misting the branches until the vapor froze in hoarfrost. Trees, bushes, vines; all were layered. The sun hit it, setting ice crystals aglitter like millions of sparkling diamonds, turning it into a winter fairyland that eclipsed her namesake’s morning after.
“Tricia?”
“Yes?”
“Traffic’s moving again. Go away.”
“Oh. Okay.”
In contrast, the snow sculptures had a smooth, glossy coat of ice and bore an amazing resemblance to a wedding party. Annie and Courtney’s likenesses currently were decked out in straw hats and silk shawls, baskets of flowers, and rhinestone buttons up the front. Jazzy held a basket of rose petals, Uncle Henry wore a top hat. Weezy was draped with a mink stole.
“I hope the fur’s not politically incorrect,” Mason said. He stopped at the foot of the steps. “But the antique mall was overrun with them, and I sort of thought Weezy’d like it.”
He had iron stakes under one arm and a plastic bucket in the other.
“For a guy who hates the cold, you sure outdid yourself.” Jade heard awe in her own voice, too late to squelch it, knowing Mason wouldn’t miss it. He never missed anything.
“Came out kind of pretty, didn’t it? I’ll be honest with you.” He didn’t say it as if making a point, but all the same, it did. “I was going for a smooth ice effect, but the crystals are pretty nice.”
“It’s called hoarfrost. We don’t see it very often. As soon as the sun gets hot, it’ll disappear.”
“I’m guessing that’s before July.”
Jade laughed. “Probably before noon.”
“I have a few other things to be honest about.”
“You want to…come inside?”
“In a minute. Hold on. Oh, wait. Here.” He set everything down and stripped out of his heavy coat.
“You’ll freeze,” she said with demurral.
He jogged up the steps, holding it out. “I’ve worked up a sweat. Go ahead, take it. This sweater’s warm enough.” When she didn’t, he stepped close and draped it around her shoulders. “There you go.”
His voice carried a ragged edge, Jade noted, the kind that had nothing to do with the state of his health and everything to do with what lay between them, holding them apart. He stood in front of her, tugging the edges of the coat together. She stared at his bold-patterned sweater and thought how soft it would feel if she just put her head
on it. How strong and hard his chest would be beneath her cheek.
Mason backed away, holding her gaze until he tumbled backward down the steps and landed in the snow.
“I could lie here and pretend I’m hurt,” he said. “But I’m not.”
“Being truthful doesn’t mean you can’t ever tease me again.”
The stakes turned out to be a dozen garden candleholders, which he stuck in the snow around the sculptures and topped with pillars out of the bucket.
“I got the candles from Annie. She swore they were charmed with good intentions and nothing more.”
“She knows about this?” Jade indicated the bridesmaids.
“You mean did I explain?—no. I just plug away; people just watch. I started the perimeter wall around the snowmen with the idea of a church wedding in mind. Then it dawned on me that you wouldn’t get married in a church, but with the whole town driving by every day to see what changes I’ve made, I couldn’t very well outfit them with capes and wands.”
Living in the basement couldn’t be fun. Spending hours in the snow. Getting rejected every day.
Loyal and true.
Mason lit the wicks, one by one.
“I see you’ve overcome your hatred of candles.”
“I’ve overcome a lot of things. You’re the most important thing in the world to me. I know, what with our history and all, that you’re having some doubts about believing that, but it doesn’t make it untrue.”
“I’m not sure what to believe anymore.”
“I know,” he said, and when he gazed up at her, she believed him. “You just have to jump in with both feet. Like me. Hell, if I’d met a witch six months ago, I would’ve, I don’t know, bought a wooden cross and worn garlic, or something.”
“That’s for—”
“But look at me now. You promised not to cast spells on me. I believed you.” He lit the remainder of the candles in silence.
“Your lips are moving.”
“Candle magic. I’m making wishes.”
Jade felt her brow arch. “You’re using witchcraft on me?”
“Not exactly. One of them is: Don’t let anything I did here endanger your secret. The others are: Give me strength to tell you everything; keep me safe when I tell you how I snooped through your house, looking for evidence that your husband was still alive.”
Witch in the House Page 27
