Essence of the Witch

by Deanna Chase

  “Olivia Volt’s office,” the receptionist said.

  “Kathy?” Miranda asked. “It’s Miranda Moon… again.”

  “Oh, hi, Miranda,” Kathy said, sounding wary. “Olivia’s in a meeting. Can she call you back?”

  “I don’t know. Can she?” Miranda asked and immediately winced. It wasn’t Kathy’s fault her boss was avoiding her former client.

  Kathy gave a nervous chuckle. “You know how it is around here some days. I’m sure she’ll call as soon as she can.”

  “We both know that’s not true,” Miranda said with a sigh. “Listen, Kathy, I don’t even need to talk to Olivia. I just need to know where my check from Witching Hour Productions is for the greenlight of Witching for You. Also, I have consultation rights on the script. If you could send it over, I’d appreciate it.”

  “Um, I’ll have to get back to you on those things,” Kathy said.

  Miranda could hear Kathy tapping away at her keyboard on the other end of the connection. “Will you call me back today either way? I know none of this is on you. I just haven’t been able to get answers since Olivia is ignoring me.”

  “She’s not ignoring you,” Kathy said, sounding completely unconvincing.

  “Right.” Miranda actually chuckled. “We both know Olivia and I aren’t on great terms anymore. I just want some information without having to get lawyers involved.”

  It was Kathy’s turn to sigh. “Right. I’ll see what I can do and for sure will give you a call before I leave the office tonight whether I know anything or not.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate that.” Miranda ended the call, and after pouring herself a second cup of coffee, she sat in her living room and started to outline some notes.

  By midafternoon, her brain was mush and Miranda needed some air to clear her head. On a whim, she grabbed her phone and called Gideon.

  “Miranda?” he said when he answered. “Is something wrong?”

  She laughed. “No. Why did you immediately think something is wrong?”

  “I… um,” he laughed too. “No one ever calls anymore. It’s always texts. The last time someone other than a telemarketer called me it was my dad with bad news about a pet project of mine.”

  “Pet project? That sounds interesting. Why don’t you tell me about it while we take a walk this afternoon?” She asked. “Are you free?”

  “Now?”

  “Yeah. I’ve been working all day and need to stretch my legs. I was thinking about a walk down by the river, or we could take a trail through the redwoods. There’s one not far from my house. But we’ll need to get moving soon; otherwise, we’ll lose the light.”

  “I’ll be over in ten minutes,” he said.

  Happiness bubbled up in Miranda’s chest as she set her phone down on her coffee table. How nice was it to be able to just call Gideon up after all these years and invite him out on a whim? It felt right in a way she couldn’t quite explain. Then nerves took over as she wondered if she was even presentable. When she was working at home, she often wore pajama pants and old faded T-shirts. Glancing down at herself, she groaned. Not only was she wearing pajama pants, it was a pair that was stained with coffee and something that looked like salsa.

  She quickly changed into jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and then pulled on an oversized sweatshirt that said, I just took a DNA test and it turns out I’m 100% that witch. After shoving her feet into a pair of running shoes, she did her best to tame her wild brown hair into a thick ponytail before slapping some mascara and lipstick on. She didn’t need to be glammed up for a walk, but she didn’t want to look like a vampire either.

  Just as she was walking back into her living room, a knock sounded on her door. That bubble of happiness returned, and she couldn’t help the big smile that claimed her lips when she pulled the door open to find Gideon standing on her front porch. He was also dressed in jeans, but he wore a long-sleeved Henley shirt, and a scarf. He was more GQ than Fitness magazine, and she had to stop herself from leaning in and kissing his full pink lips.

  Gah!

  She shook her head, trying to dispel the thought. Gideon had kissed her the other night, and she’d been trying to block it out ever since. If she let herself go back down that road, it would be a disaster when he eventually walked out of her life again.

  His gaze traveled down her body and back up again until he was staring her in the eye. “You look great in jeans.”

  She tsked. “Not as good as when I wear skirts.”

  He laughed. “I won’t argue with that, but I like casual Miranda. Seeing you like this reminds me of simpler times.”

  Miranda couldn’t argue with that. Back in college, life had been simpler. “You look pretty great yourself. Did you just come from a catalog photoshoot or something?”

  “Keep saying things like that and my ego is going to be so big I’ll be unbearable.” He winked. “But no. No photoshoot. I was actually at the inn working on a new project.”

  Miranda grabbed her waterproof jacket and slipped out the door, gesturing for Gideon to follow her. “New project? I thought you were on vacation. Did your father rope you into developing a new movie?”

  He fell into step beside her as they moved toward the back of the cabin. “Nah. It’s not for work. This is an art piece. Just something I’m trying out.”

  Miranda paused and turned to give him her full attention. “An art piece? Are you painting again?”

  “No, I was sketching some ideas.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Enough about that. It’s nothing, really. Just a way to relax. Tell me about your upcoming book. What’s it about?”

  Miranda snorted. “It’s a second-chance paranormal romance. He left her to go be the alpha of his pack while she went off and formed her own coven. Now by a quirk of chance, they are living in the same town and obviously can’t stay away from each other. The only problem is he’s a shifter and supposed to mate with another shifter, and since she’s a witch… problems arise.”

  “Do they get together in the end?” he asked her.

  “It’s a romance. What do you think?”

  Gideon chuckled. “I guess that’s fairly obvious. I can’t wait to read it.”

  Miranda stopped in her tracks, her mouth open slightly as she stared at him. “You read my books?”

  He blinked at her. “Not all of them, no. But I have read Witching for You.”

  Her mouth was dry, and her heart was thudding against her breastbone. He couldn’t be serious.

  Moving in closer, he pressed his palm to her cheek and gazed into her eyes as he added, “It’s a beautiful story, Mandy. You have no idea how many times I’ve imagined what our lives would’ve been like if we’d gotten the ending you wrote for us.”

  Tears burned Miranda’s eyes, and she had to look away. Otherwise she was going to lose it completely. After taking a few deep breaths, she said, “I didn’t write our ending, Gideon. I wrote the beginning we deserved.”

  “Damn,” he said so softly she barely heard him. “I’m so sorry we never got that chance.”

  She couldn’t look at him as she said, “I know. Me, too.”

  He let out a humorless bark of laughter. “What do you have to be sorry for?”

  This time she did look at him when she said, “For being so angry at you when you chose to live a different life than I wanted for you. It wasn’t fair. You deserved to follow your dreams just like I did.”

  Emotion she couldn’t quite place flashed in his dark gaze. Regret? Sadness? Unease?

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” She pulled back and started to walk again, moving deeper into the grove of trees.

  “You don’t have anything to be sorry for, Miranda,” he said as he quickly caught up to her. “Not then and certainly not now.”

  “That’s kind of you to say.” Miranda glanced up, gazing at the gray sky peeking through the trees. “Let’s just put that behind us, okay? We have a Christmas ball to plan.”

  “As long as we ca
n be friends,” he said.

  “We’re friends. Definitely,” she said easily, even though her heart felt like it was breaking all over again. Son of a shifter. They hadn’t been a couple for over a decade. The feelings shouldn’t have come roaring back so fast, and her heart certainly shouldn’t be so fragile.

  “I mean friends even after I leave Keating Hollow,” he said softly, taking her hand in his. “I don’t want us to lose touch again.”

  Miranda internally groaned. How was she going to be “just friends” with the love of her life? “Sure, Gideon. You have my number.”

  He squeezed her fingers and said, “Good. I’d really like that.”

  “So, tell me about this pet project your dad killed,” she said.

  “How do you know he killed it?” Gideon asked, sounding amused.

  She rolled her eyes. Gideon’s dad wasn’t the type of man to do anything he could pawn off on an assistant. “Come on. Why else would he have called you personally?”

  “Fair enough.” He gazed over at the trickling stream and said, “I actually wrote a treatment for a television pilot. It was about a group of artists just out of college, trying to figure out how to make a living in the internet age.”

  “That sounds cool. What happened?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “He doesn’t think it’s the right timing. But really, he probably just doesn’t think it’s good enough. Maybe he’s right. I’m not exactly experienced with storytelling.”

  Miranda knew that wasn’t true. In their college days, she’d run a bunch of story ideas by him and he’d always been insightful. She’d always thought of him as a natural storyteller. It was probably why most of the movies he had a hand in producing were critically acclaimed even if they weren’t runaway box office hits. “I’d be happy to take a look if you want.”

  He glanced over at her, his expression unreadable. Then he said, “Maybe. I’m not sure it’s worth your time.”

  “That’s for me to decide, don’t you think?” she said gently, knowing just how hard it was to show other people your work when you were so close to it.

  He nodded but then fell silent.

  At one time in their lives, the quiet moments between them were comforting. Now? It was awkward.

  Miranda opened her mouth to say something, say anything, when she heard someone talking just ahead of them on the trail. She glanced over at Gideon, noting he was peering up the trail as well.

  “I don’t know how that’s going to work if you’re not here,” the person said. His voice was familiar, but Miranda couldn’t place it right away.

  “You know I’m always going to come back here, right?”

  Miranda slowed her pace, not wanting to interrupt, but she was too late. They’d just rounded a large tree and found Silas Ansell and Levi Kelley sitting on a fallen log. Silas was staring at Levi, while Levi was staring up into the trees.

  “Silas! Levi! Hey there, you two,” Miranda said and pasted on a smile. It was clear they’d unintentionally stumbled upon them in the middle of a disagreement. But she didn’t want to make it any more awkward for the two teenagers and figured it was best to pretend they hadn’t heard anything. “It appears we all had the same great idea. It’s lovely out today, isn’t it?”

  “Hey Miranda,” Levi said, springing up as if surprised.

  Miranda studied him for a moment. Hadn’t he known that they were nearby? He was a spirit witch and could sense people before he saw them. But it appeared his gift had failed him. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

  He ran a hand through his dark curly hair and let out a nervous chuckle. “I guess I was too distracted.”

  “It happens to the best of us.” She glanced over at Silas and winked.

  Silas got up and gave her a hug. “It’s good to see you again, Miranda. I’ve been meaning to give you a call about Witching for You.”

  When Silas pulled back, Miranda gripped his hands and said, “I heard you got the part of Charlie. Congratulations!”

  “Thanks. I’m glad we ran into you. There’s actually something about Charlie I wanted to ask you about.”

  “Sure.” A strange combination of heavy sadness and pure joy rippled through her just as it always did when she thought about Cory, aka Charlie. He’d been killed seven years ago by a drunk driver, and the pain was still fresh. But he had also been her favorite person on earth, so thinking about him brought back tons of happy memories, too.

  The tall, dark-haired actor tugged her over to the log where he and Levi had been sitting and gestured for her to take a seat. While they both sat, Gideon introduced himself to Levi and the pair started to talk about Levi’s favorite hiking spots around Keating Hollow.

  “I have a few questions,” Silas said to Miranda. “I read the script a few days ago, and if I’m recalling correctly, Charlie’s character doesn’t really line up with the book version. And I was wondering if you—”

  “The script version of Charlie doesn’t match the book version?” she asked as one hand flew to her stomach as if she could do anything to soothe the sudden ache. If anyone deserved to be immortalized on the big screen, it was Cory. He’d been a lovely, talented man with an enormous heart.

  Silas frowned. “You didn’t know?”

  Miranda shook her head. “I haven’t gotten the script yet. My former agent and I are having trouble connecting.”

  “Oh.” Silas grimaced. “Damn. Then I’m guessing that means you didn’t sign off on this.”

  “Nope. I’m supposed to have consultation rights, too.”

  Silas sighed. “You’re not going to like this.”

  “Just tell me. What did they do to Charlie?” Trepidation rippled through her, causing her to go completely still.

  “They made him closeted until the very end of the story,” Silas said.

  Miranda considered that. In the book, Charlie had come out to Mandy their freshman year in college. If he was closeted, that would change his story quite a bit, but for a movie it might be workable. “I’d have to read it to see how the writer handled that, I guess.”

  “There’s more.” Silas glanced at Gideon quickly and then back at Miranda. “They made it a love triangle between Mandy, Charlie, and Greyson.”

  Miranda stared at Silas, not quite processing what he’d just said. “Wait. What?”

  “Charlie doesn’t come out to anyone, not even Mandy, until the very end of the script right before they’re supposed to get married.”

  “Married?” Miranda jumped up and started to pace. Then she stopped and stared wide-eyed at Silas. “What the hell did they do to my book?”

  “I’m so sorry, Miranda. I agreed to the project based on the book. I didn’t get the script until after the contracts were signed.” He gave her a small smile. “I read it earlier this year after Shannon said you’d moved to Keating Hollow. I loved it.”

  That was nice of him to say, but she couldn’t get over the changes they’d introduced into the script. The love triangle was completely unnecessary, not to mention complete erasure of the character she’d created based on Cory. “I need to see this script. Do you think I could take a look at your copy?”

  “Of course.” Silas gestured to Levi and Gideon. “Change of plans. We’re headed back to my place so Miranda can get a look at the script.”

  Gideon raised an eyebrow at Miranda in question. “Is everything okay?”

  Miranda shook her head. “No. Not okay at all. They’ve made Charlie one of Mandy’s love interests.”

  “What?” Gideon asked, looking just as confused as Miranda felt.

  “Exactly.”

  Chapter Ten

  Gideon followed Levi, Silas, and Miranda up the walk to a pristine white cottage. The grounds were rich with lush gardens and Gideon wouldn’t have been surprised to see the home on the cover of a magazine.

  “Great house,” Gideon said. “A little on the smaller side for a Hollywood star, though.” He grinned at Silas, teasing him. “Nice to see it hasn’t gone to yo
ur head yet.”

  “Oh, it’s gone to his head,” Levi countered as he rolled his eyes and walked through the living room to the kitchen. “He’s already talking about building a house over on the hill near Brian’s place.”

  “This is my sister’s house,” Silas explained. “You’d think my boyfriend would be happy about the fact that I want my own permanent home in Keating Hollow.”

  Gideon glanced between the two teenagers. They were glaring at each other, and he got the impression that whatever fight they were having didn’t have anything to do with a house.

  Levi ignored the jab and started prepping a pot of coffee, moving around as if he spent a lot of time at the Ansell residence.

  Silas sucked in a breath and then moved to the table and picked up a bound set of papers. “Miranda, here you go. Do you want to sit at the table or—”

  “I’ll take this into the living room if that’s okay,” she said. “I’d rather get comfortable on the couch.”

  “Sure. I’ll bring you a cup of coffee when it’s ready,” Silas said.

  “Thanks.” She turned and headed into the other room, already opening the script.

  “Gideon,” Silas said. “Can I get you anything?”

  “Just coffee when it’s ready,” he said, taking a seat at the table. He didn’t want to bother Miranda while she read the script.

  Silas nodded and moved to stand next to Levi, who was staring out the window. They bent their heads together and spoke softly. Gideon busied himself with the Keating Hollow Gazette that was lying on the table. The small publication had a write-up on the holiday town of Christmas Grove, a profile on an author named Georgia Exler who’d recently appeared at the bookstore for a signing, and a news article about the expansion of the Townsend Brewery as they planned to move into producing hard ciders.

  But it was the arts market schedule that caught his eye. The event was for local artisans only and was held every Saturday at the town park right up until Christmas Eve. He was looking forward to checking out the creations by the witches of Keating Hollow.