Lucky Witch: A Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery (Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries Book 5)
Page 20
Luckily, Cassie’s newly-engaged bubble provided a shield that deflected my discomfort and she smiled serenely into space. “We could even share some of the decorations. Of course, with the beach so close, we won’t need a whole lot. Or, at least, for us. We want something pretty simple. What about you guys? Have you talked about it?”
“Cass, it’s your big day. We’ll talk about me another day, okay?”
“Okay. I’ll let you off the hook, for now.”
She launched into talking about the wedding party. Her younger sister, Kirra, would serve as her maid of honor, but she offered me the role of her first bridesmaid. An honor I accepted with a genuine smile. Within a few minutes, talk of my potential engagement faded to the background and we spent the rest of the night talking about the merits of different beaches for the ceremony.
A month after their engagement, Chief Lincoln’s family arranged a formal dinner to celebrate the couple. Adam and I attended together, even as things between us had remained stagnant. Neither of us seemed willing to bring up the elephant in the room, so it continued sitting on the couch, eating peanuts, and giving us questioning looks every few days.
On the night of the engagement party, Adam drove us to the restaurant. We relied on the radio to keep the silence at bay, and only broke it when we parked in the far corner of the popular eatery. With one hand still resting on the key in the ignition, Adam turned to me. “I really don’t want to do this.”
I sighed. “It’s just an hour, maybe two. It will be fine. There’s food. You’ll be fine.”
“No, Holly. I mean this. Us. This constant tension.”
The air evaporated from my lungs as a sharp pain bit into my chest.
“Adam, this really isn’t the time—”
He reached across the console and took my hand. He threaded out fingers together and waited until I met his eyes. “I’ve been crazy about you since the day you walked into the manor, all wide-eyed and scared. You’re the smartest, bravest, funniest, and most beautiful woman I know.” He paused and looked down at our hands. “I don’t want to lose you. But, in some way, it feels like I already have.”
“What do you mean?" I whispered, my voice shaky.
He met my eyes. “I did something that I said I never would. I asked you to change who you are.”
“Adam—”
He held up a hand. “Hear me out.”
I nodded and pressed my lips together as the threat of tears stung my nose.
“I’m sorry for asking you to move. That wasn’t fair of me. It’s not even what I really want.” He worked his fingers together in front of him. “Truth is, the harbor has been my home for even longer than it’s been yours, and I don’t want to leave. I had a different upbringing than you. In some ways, the complete opposite. While your family was whispered about and even considered dangerous by some, my family was put up on some kind of pedestal. My father and mother love being in the center of things. They like the attention, the parties, the power.”
He paused and shook his head and I wondered what was going through his mind. Was it hard for even him to believe his upbringing? He’d turned out so normal despite his pedigree. But I also knew that was a sore spot between him and his family. They wanted him to move back to Boston, to the haven. Settle down, raise some kids, and be up front and center at all family functions. I wasn’t entirely sure when he’d split from them, but at some point, things had fractured and never been set right.
“Is that what you’re worried about? At the heart of this?” I asked.
He hesitated for a minute. “You’re really good at this stuff, Holly. You find a way to solve these huge problems and you’re amazing with potions. People naturally come to you because you exude this sense of confidence. You’re a healer, in more ways than one.” He was rubbing little circles on my hand with his thumb as he talked.
He swallowed hard and continued. “I’m not that, though. I’m low-key and prefer to keep things quiet. I’m not into crowds and I don’t develop more than superficial relationships with most people. It makes me insane when you go rushing into danger without even considering what it would do to me if something were to happen to you. At the same time, that independence is what attracted me to you in the first place.”
He looked at me, tortured. “I don’t want to drive you away or ask you to change. I want to be with you and I want us to be happy.”
My heart melted. “That’s what I want, too. I know I’m reckless sometimes and that I drive you crazy.”
He smiled. “You drive me crazy in a good way, too, you know.”
Heat crept up my throat.
Adam leaned in and kissed me, his hands cupping each side of my face. When he pulled away, a tremor shook me as our eyes met. “I love you, Holly. Just the way you are.”
My lips twitched, trying to hold back the well of tears that pooled in my eyes. “Adam, there’s something I haven’t told you.”
His eyes flashed, concern mixed with something else.
Dread.
He dropped his hands from my face and let them fall to the console between us, as though bracing himself.
“Agent Bramble wants me to keep working with the team that helped get Nick back to being … Nick.” I licked my lips and drew in a steeling breath. “I wouldn’t be an official agent or anything, but she wants me to work with the SPA on select cases. She thinks I have a good set of instincts and wants someone like me to oversee certain cases. They would all be handpicked by her, I’m sure. As you already know, she’s not thrilled with me throwing myself into harm’s way either. I think she means to keep me at headquarters as much as possible.”
I stopped speaking and watched Adam, taking in every twitch and movement of his face as his expression rearranged itself. He looked up at me, wide-eyed. “This is what you want? To work for the SPA?”
“Technically, with, not for. But yes.” I paused for a moment and then nodded. “I think I do. I’ve wrestled with it a lot since she asked. I probably should have said something right away, but we were just getting back on track and I didn’t even know if it would be an issue since I hadn’t fully decided.”
Adam nodded, but from the distant look in his eyes, he wasn’t aware he was doing it.
“Adam.” I reached for his hands. “I’ll turn it down if you tell me it’s too much. I swear that I will. I have my potions business and my job at Siren’s Song. I can be content with that.”
“I want you to be happy, Holly. Not simply content.”
“Well, I—”
He reached up and silenced me with a brush of his fingers across my lips. “If this is what you want, I’ll support you.”
“You will?” The words rushed from me.
“I trust Agent Bramble will watch over you. And, more importantly, I trust you. I shouldn’t have doubted you in the first place. In my need to protect you, I unintentionally downplayed your skills. I know that you can take care of yourself. But there’s one thing I want to ask of you.”
“Of course!”
“If you get in over your head, I want you to come to me. I don’t want you to avoid me or leave out details because you’re worried I’ll try to pull you out of the game. I want to be the one to have your back when you need it.”
I smiled. “Deal.”
He kissed me again, deeper this time, the words of the promise twisting with the emotions between us and we came away breathless.
I ran my fingers through my hair. “Better get inside before Cassie sends out a search party for her first bridesmaid.”
Adam grinned and traced a finger down my cheek. “More like, before Chief Lincoln has to have us booked for public indecency.”
We went inside the restaurant, hands locked together. Cassie and Chief Lincoln were clinging to one another, laughing at some shared secret by the bar. A bartender handed over two drinks and only then did they untangle so that Chief could carry the drinks to their table at the front of the banquet room. A Congratulations banner was tacked ac
ross the front of the table and the space between the two place settings overflowed with lush floral arrangements.
Chief Lincoln placed the drinks on the table and hurried to pull out Cassie’s chair. She spotted me before she could sit down and she waved us over.
Adam squeezed my hand and then let it go. “Why don’t you go say hello. I’ll get us some drinks and be right over.”
“Sure.” A lump formed in my throat as I watched him walk to the opposite side of the room. I wasn’t sure what our future held, but I did know that we would face it together.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thank you so much for coming back to visit Beechwood Harbor! I hope you had fun chasing Holly as she cracked another case. There’s plenty more in store for Holly in her new role as a special consultant to the SPA. Holly will return in 2018. Do you think she’ll be a fish out of water? Or a super-agent? Whatever happens, I just hope they stock the break room with Lemon Clouds!
Want something to read while you wait for Holly’s next adventure? Have you met Scarlet yet? Beechwood Harbor’s ghost whisperer is on the case! Grab a copy of The Ghost Hunter Next Door on Amazon today!
And what about Lacey? A mysterious summons leads to a new adventure. Once Upon A Hallow’s Eve is the first full-length novel in the exciting new Haven Paranormal Romance series by Danielle Garrett. Pre-Order your copy today!
Until next time!
Danielle Garrett
www.DanielleGarrettBooks.com
Acknowledgments
First of all, I would like to thank my parents, who fed my love of reading from an early age. My sister, for supporting my desire to tell stories since I started “over complicating” our Barbie doll’s lives.
For my handsome husband, you know how much I love you. I appreciate your daily support (and for listening to all of my writerly rants and keeping my caffeinated at all times).
Thank you to Theresa, my fabulous editor for all of your tips and kind words. And Keri, for the killer covers.
Writing can be a solitary passion, but with all of you beside me, it’s never lonely.
Thank you.
About Danielle Garrett
From a young age, Danielle Garrett was obsessed with fantastic places and the stories set within them. As a lifelong bookworm, she’s gone on hundreds of adventures through the eyes of wizards, princesses, elves, and some rather wonderful everyday people as well.
Danielle now lives in Oregon and while she travels as often as possible, she wouldn’t want to call anywhere else home. She shares her life with her husband and their house full of animals, and when not writing, spends her time being a house servant for three extremely spoiled cats and one outnumbered puppy.
For more about Danielle and her work, please visit her at:
www.daniellegarrettbooks.com
www.facebook.com/daniellegarrettbooks