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- Herausgeber: Panther Books
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Sprache: Englisch
The Complete Wildcrest Witches Trilogy in one collection! Meet the Witches of Wildcrest, Nevada in this fun, flirty, fantasy friends-to-lovers sweet romance collection.
Love’s Misfiring Magic
A bumbling witch discovers sometimes friends can become lovers after her best friend sabotages the spells intended to win back her ex-boyfriend.
Love’s Misaligning Magic
An emotionally wary witch must choose between her magic and her heart when sparks fly with her fast-talking real estate agent.
Love’s Misbehaving Magic
An early-career witch must choose between a job offer with the coven and the family-first doctor capturing her heart.
Don't miss out on the small town, sweet paranormal romances of the Wildcrest Witches from the author of the Paranormal Talent Agency!
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Seitenzahl: 401
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
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Wildcrest Witches Romance
The Complete Trilogy
Heather Silvio
Panther Books
Contents
About The Trilogy
Love’s Misfiring Magic
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
Love’s Misaligning Magic
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
Love’s Misbehaving Magic
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
Thank you!
About the Author
Books By Heather Silvio
About The Trilogy
Love’s Misfiring Magic (Wildcrest Witches 1)
A bumbling witch discovers sometimes friends can become more after her best friend sabotages the spells intended to win back her ex-boyfriend.
Love’s Misaligning Magic (Wildcrest Witches 2)
An emotionally-wary witch must choose between her magic and her heart when sparks fly with her fast-talking real estate agent.
Love’s Misbehaving Magic (Wildcrest Witches 3)
An early-career witch must choose between a job offer with the coven and the family-first doctor capturing her heart.
This is the complete small town, sweet paranormal romance trilogy, Wildcrest Witches, from the author of the Paranormal Talent Agency.
Love’s Misfiring Magic
ChapterOne
Shelly
Shelly Newsome’s goal tonight had been to win back her ex-boyfriend, not send him to the emergency room. Yet, there they were. At least the six-story sprawling Wildcrest Hospital complex was state-of-the-art. That was thanks to Mia Fynn filming her movie about witches here. When it became one of the highest-grossing films of all time, map-dot-sized Wildcrest experienced a boom in tourism. The fact that the town, located in the wilds of Nevada, actually provided a safe haven for supernatural beings met the definition of exquisite irony in Shelly’s book.
If only the doctor would stop looking like he was trying not to laugh. He avoided making eye contact, no doubt because that would push him over the comical edge. Shelly sighed. Of course, Dr. Benjamin Wright was her best friend, so she supposed it was only natural.
“I don’t know what happened,” Shelly said, pacing a circle on the bland linoleum between two rows of plastic chairs, trying not to let the beige walls close in. “It wasn’t a complicated spell, I didn’t think.” Her history with spell-making was by no means stellar. But she meant what she said to Ben. “I’m not sure what went wrong.” Anxiety zinged through her, the taste of bile in the back of her mouth. “You’re sure he’s going to be all right? The way that he grabbed his throat, struggled to breathe.” She suddenly had a hard time catching her breath.
“Breathe, Shelly.”
She inhaled, held to a four count, exhaled. Repeated. Ignored the scent of noxious hospital disinfectant that threatened to overwhelm her nasal passages. Ignored the buzzing of her cellphone in her pocket. She knew it was her mother calling. Again. “Thanks. I’ve never seen someone turn that shade of purple.” The blood drained from her face. “I could have killed him.”
“You didn’t.” Ben leaned in and lowered his voice. “I knew he’d be okay when they brought him in. You never had anything to worry about.”
“Thank the Goddess.” She breathed a sigh of relief. All witches’ magic had specific inclinations that typically surfaced during puberty. Ben’s ability was to sense the physical health of others – both good and bad – and intuitively know what they needed, whether traditional or magical intervention. So, if he said Ethan was never in any real danger, Shelly believed him. If only she could get a grasp on her own magical aptitude.
Ben’s cellphone buzzed and he raised his eyebrows at her when he saw the caller.
Of course, her mother was calling Ben. Shelly gave a small shake of her head. She’d call her mother back when everything felt more settled.
“I guess what they say isn’t true, that a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” Ben said, and now he outright laughed, the sound bouncing around the small, thankfully empty, waiting area. Shelly refrained from reading him the riot act. When you’ve known someone your entire life – and were best friends since he took the blame for a minor car accident in high school even though it was your fault – you cut them a little slack. A little.
“Gee, thanks. That’s very supportive.” She collapsed into one of the green plastic waiting room chairs, dropped her head into her hands. “What if I’d seriously hurt him?” She mumbled through her fingers.
“Look at me,” Ben said. She didn’t. “Shelly Newsome, look at me right now. Please.”
Shelly raised her head, her hazel eyes meeting his brown ones. “At least you said please.”
“Tell me what happened.”
Horror filled her as tears flowed. Ben’s smirk fell and he pulled Shelly into a hug. She leaned into the embrace, her hands clutching at his familiar scrubs. Warmth enveloped her. He held her until the tears slowed then stopped. “Ethan broke up with me this morning,” she muttered into Ben’s shoulder. “He says he’s moving out at the end of the month. In five days.”
Ben pushed Shelly to arm’s length, eyes wide in shock. “He broke up with you? Why didn’t you tell me sooner? And why were you baking him a magical dinner if he’s leaving in five days?”
She broke eye contact. “This morning, I thought… I thought he was going to propose,” she whispered.
“Oh, Shelly.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.”
“Didn’t you tell me you thought something was missing?” Ben asked, confusion clear on his face. He ran a hand through his short brown hair.
A flush crept up Shelly’s neck. “Let me explain.” She fiddled with the bottom of her t-shirt, rubbing the soft cotton fabric. “I thought what was missing was me hiding the witch side of myself from him.”
Prior to Witches in the Wild filming there years ago, the supernatural beings in town mostly kept that quiet. Once the movie shot to success, they could live openly to a certain extent because the normals and the tourists thought they were playing up the movie angle for tourist dollars. That wasn’t entirely wrong, of course, but the tongue-in-cheek approach had masked the truth. And, then once the Las Vegas city council officially recognized the existence of supernaturals last year, even more beings decided to live openly. Shelly had chosen not to share her witch nature with Ethan in part because she didn’t identify as a witch. Why would she when she couldn’t cast basic spells?
“I thought that when he proposed,” Shelly continued, “the promise of taking our relationship to the next level would give me the prompt to tell him the truth.”
“Why did you think he was going to propose?”
She tilted her head back, long black hair hitting the seat bottom. “He said he had something important to talk to me about.” She shrugged. “After five years together, what else could it be?”
“He broke up with you instead.”
“Yep.”
“Now I’m even more confused. If he broke up with you this morning, why would you be making him—” He stopped with a shake of his head.
He knew her too well.
“You were trying to win him back.” He grimaced when she nodded. “But why?”
“He’s the one.”
“Even though there’s no spark?”
“Yes.” Shelly picked at her cuticles. “It’s a slow-build relationship.”
Ben snorted.
“All right, I get it. Five years is a long time to build.”
“What happened at dinner? I assume you weren’t trying a love spell.”
“Of course not!” All witches knew that love spells were verboten. Free will didn’t allow for that. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t nudge other directions. Her brow furrowed. “I was making vegetable lasagna, his favorite meal. I wanted to make sure that the positive feelings were as strong as possible, so I added saffron to ensure a good mood, plus included a magical enhancement. To boost it.”
Ben’s eyes twinkled. “That explains his symptoms.”
“I’m so glad,” she said with an eye roll.
“No need to be sarcastic.”
“Sorry. I know you’re trying to help.”
He thought for a moment. “Interesting that Ben had the exact opposite response. Sadness, irritability, asthma attack.”
Now Shelly gave him the side eye. “Uh huh, I get it.”
“I just find it interesting that your magical enhancement worked in the opposite direction,” he repeated with a shrug.
“Why can’t I be a better witch?” Shelly groused.
Ben half-smiled. “I don’t know. Maybe the Goddess was trying to tell you something.”
“That I shouldn’t cast spells,” she said, defeated.
Ben closed the space between them and opened his mouth to speak, but another voice overrode his.
“Shelly, honey. Is everything okay? Jenny from book club called to tell me she saw you in the ER.”
Ah, the beauty of the small town. Shelly stood to face the owner of the husky voice. “Hi, Mom.”
ChapterTwo
Ben
Ben’s jaw had snapped shut at the sound of Grace Newsome’s voice; she commanded whatever space she entered. After she passed the final row of chairs in the small room, he joined Shelly in embracing her mother, awed as always that someone’s mother could be so cool.
Not that Ben didn’t love his mother, but she was quieter and laser-focused on the family business, Wildcrest Witches International. Yep, their family business was running the coven’s corporate entity. Welcome to the 21st century of practicing witchcraft. They even considered taking the business public after Las Vegas passed their resolution, but thankfully, that impulse passed. His mother, the Chief Financial Officer, wasn’t a witch, but her facility with numbers was nearly magical.
“Shelly, Ben, I’m glad I found you both,” Grace said into Ben’s chest. She was short like her daughter, but rail thin where Shelly had curves that made a man want to— He slammed that line of thinking down and concentrated on the firebrand before them.
“Hi Grace, we’re fine, as you can see,” he assured her, worry lines clear on her face.
Grace shook her head, causing the halo of shoulder-length curly red hair to bounce around her face and her dangling earrings to jangle. “Thank the Goddess. When Jenny called, and neither of you answered your phones, it was all I could do to contain myself.” Her purple eyes filled with tears. When Ben was in high school, he’d assumed those were contacts, but no, her eyes were purple. Shelly explained that the color related to her mother’s magical inclination to recognize the happiness potential of others.
Shelly and Ben exchanged a guilty look. They’d both seen her mother’s calls, but the woman could be excitable, and they had wanted to make sure that Ethan was good first.
“I’m so sorry, Mom,” Shelly said, hugging her mother again. “But, Ben’s right. You can see we’re fine.” She swallowed. “Though Ethan is being treated.”
“Is he okay?” Grace asked, politely, as if discussing a stranger.
“He’s going to be perfectly fine,” Ben answered the question. “He’ll be released in about an hour.” Had Shelly told her they’d broken up? He’d always wondered what Grace thought of Shelly’s boyfriend – ex-boyfriend. She never seemed fond of him. Or maybe that was wishful thinking on his part.
“What happened?” Grace asked.
Shelly placed her hand on his upper arm. “I’ll explain it, Ben.” She stared at the ceiling for a moment. “Ethan reacted to a spell.”
“What did you do?” Grace managed to ask the question without sounding accusatory at all.
Shelly still reddened. “I was trying to increase his feelings of wellbeing.”
“Let me guess? It did the opposite.”
“How did you know?”
Shelly’s mother leaned into the green plastic chair next to her, fingers wrapping over the top. “When your magical abilities first manifested, that happened all the time.”
“Why don’t I remember that it did the opposite?”
Grace’s fingernails tapped out a staccato beat on the chair back. “I have no idea.”
“Wait. Is that why you bound my magic until I graduated high school?” Shelly’s voice definitely sounded accusatory. “I thought it was because you wanted it to mature.” Now, she sounded sad. Ben’s heart ached for her.
“Can’t both of those things be true?” Grace asked with a tilt of her head.
Emotions played across Shelly’s face as she considered her mother’s question. Then the uncertainty cleared and her grin lit the room. Ben smiled automatically in response. Her ability to remain positive had always drawn him to her.
“Yeah, for sure,” Shelly agreed with her mother. “Guess it didn’t work as well as we’d hoped. Do you think it’ll mature by the time I’m thirty?”
Grace shrugged. “Darling, I have no idea.”
“Do you want to see Ethan?” Shelly asked.
“Of course,” she answered, though again Ben noted a lack of genuine interest. Hmm.
“Let me know when he’s ready to be discharged, so I can take him home,” Shelly said to Ben, her voice hitching on the final word. Grace’s eyes narrowed in response.
He assured Shelly he would, then watched the women exit the public side of the waiting area, weaving past the rows of empty chairs toward the automatic sliding glass doors. Grace’s flowing patchwork skirt swirled around her legs and Shelly’s jeans did wonderful things for her backside. Someone snickering behind him caught his attention. Ben turned to face the man standing in the doorway of the medical staff entrance.
“Can I help you, nurse?” Ben asked in his most condescending doctor voice. The owner of the snicker belly laughed.
“When are you going to tell Shelly you’ve got it bad for her?” Nick Moore asked, mischief in his dark blue eyes.
Ben sighed. “It’s complicated.”
“Dude, you’ve wanted her since high school. It’s time to uncomplicate it.”
“Yeah, and I’ve been in the Friend Zone since high school,” he reminded Nick.
“That’s entirely your fault. You had many opportunities.”
“Not hardly. She dated what’s-his-name, Will, all through high school, then moved away from Wildcrest to go to college,” Ben said, as though Nick, his best male friend, didn’t remember all of that. The supernatural support found in their tiny corner of Nevada meant that few left. Those who did invariably returned.
“Ancient history, my man,” Nick disagreed.
“And then she met Ethan senior year of college. I still can’t believe he agreed to move here with her when they graduated,” Ben said. “You’d think our small town was too small for the city slicker.”
“C’mon, Ben. Ethan’s not a bad guy. You know that,” Nick said.
Ben cringed. Nick was right. Just because Ethan had what Ben wanted – and threw it away. “This stays between us,” Ben said in a lower voice, “but Shelly told me Ethan broke up with her this morning.”
“Now’s your chance!”
“I started to, but then Grace arrived.”
“Fine. When you get Shelly alone again, now’s your chance.” He enunciated the repeated phrase.
Ben hesitated.
“What?” Nick asked in exasperation.
“You know what. What if I say something and lose the friendship?” The thought of not having Shelly in his life…
“What if you say something and she jumps into your arms?”
Ben lifted an eyebrow at the image of Shelly jumping into his arms. “I’m too tall for that,” he said with a chuckle.
“Joke all you want,” Nick said, then glanced back into the room behind him. Another nurse beckoned to him from near a blue privacy curtain inside one of the half-dozen glassed-off rooms. Nick clasped a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “Don’t blow this.”
ChapterThree
Shelly
“What’s going on, Shelly?” her mother asked when they stepped away from Ben. She stood with her hands on her hips, almost like a petulant child.
Shelly smiled. “What makes you think something is going on?” They had stopped outside the sliding door for Ethan’s triage room. Shelly reached to open it, and Grace placed her hand on her daughter’s.
“Shelly. Honey. You almost never use your magic. Yet you did tonight. What’s going on?”
At the repeated question, Shelly pulled her arm back from the door and hung her head. “Ethan broke up with me.” The dam broke. Shelly explained everything that had happened. When she finished, Grace pulled her into a tight hug.
“Oh, darling. I’m sorry.” She led her a few steps away from the door to a set of green plastic waiting chairs up against the wall. Shelly idly wondered why every section of the emergency department looked the same to her.
“Thanks, Mom.” She perched on the edge of a chair, her leg bouncing.
“How are you feeling now?”
“I’m okay.” How are you supposed to feel when you accidentally nearly kill your recent ex? Shelly’s fingers began tapping out a beat on her bouncing leg.
“Relax, darling. Ben said Ethan will be okay. No harm, no foul.”
“This time,” she said darkly. “What about next time?”
“Maybe don’t try your magic like this?”
“Hmm.”
“That’s not an insult to your magic,” Grace assured her.
“I know, Mom. It’s not my… area of strength. I think that’s how you’ve put it with your clients?” Shelly’s mother was a life coach for supernaturals. And, apparently quite good at it. Her magical inclination to sense the happiness of others and guide them toward increasing it was a perfect fit for that vocation.
“Have you thought about what you really want?”
“What do you mean?”
“How’s your website design freelancing going?”
The unexpected segue caught Shelly off-guard. “Pretty good,” she said, a slight stretching of the truth. Okay, that was a lie. Despite her misfiring magic, her magical inclination appeared to be sensing the magic of others and seeing the order in the chaos. Design seemed a good fit, and she was trying to parlay her experience with one of the biggest marketing companies on the west coast into her own small business. Except it’d been slow going. She wasn’t about to be homeless or anything that dire, though she was pinching her pennies.
“Prior to the breakup, how was your relationship with Ethan?”
“Pretty good,” she said again. But maybe Ben was right. Maybe that missing spark was more of an issue than she was willing to admit.
“What have you learned from your decisions to date?”
“That I’m tenacious?”
“Yes! You go after what you want.”
“Okay…”
“That’s what you need to do now.”
Her mother made that pronouncement with utter conviction, but it confused Shelly. That had been her plan. She was going after what she wanted. Ethan. And it flamed out. Spectacularly. Because she sucked as a witch. Her lips thinned into a line of displeasure. Grace placed her hand on Shelly’s still-bouncing leg.
“Just be sure you’re going after the right things.”
“Is there something you want to tell me?” Despite usually being straightforward, to the point of being blunt, every now and again Grace would speak in riddles like that. Like there was something Shelly was missing. Except, like a good coach, and within the bounds of her magic, she wouldn’t give her daughter the answer.
Grace grinned. “I trust you’ll do what’s best for you.” She stood, stretched her arms over her head. “I’m glad everybody’s okay, but I’m exhausted. And, I’m sure your father is waiting up.”
Shelly glanced at her watch; it was after midnight. “Give Dad a hug for me,” she said, standing next to her mother. “Thanks for coming down to check on us.”
“I love you, darling.”
“Love you, too.” Shelly watched Grace walk past the nurses’ station in the middle of the room toward the exit, mind racing to uncover the subtext of what she’d been told. She knew her mother. There was definitely subtext. With a sigh, she entered Ethan’s room, closing the door behind her.
Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of Ethan Platt, her boy— ex-boyfriend, she corrected herself. Even pale and hooked up to machines monitoring his vital signs, the man was a vision. Blond hair. Cheekbones that could cut glass. Long eyelashes women were envious of, and always commented on… even in front of Shelly. She bristled a little at the memory. He’d shocked her when he’d approached during senior year of college. Shelly was what people called cute; he looked like a Greek god in search of his goddess. He’d turned out to be down to earth though. They’d always gotten along great. Well, until the last year.
Beeping increased on one of the machines, drawing her attention. Ethan’s head moved to the side. “Ethan?” She asked softly, in case he wasn’t really waking up.
His eyes opened, the blue vivid in his face. “Hey, Shelly. Did I fall asleep?”
“You did. How are you feeling?”
“Much better.” His voice was gravelly, but his smile was full wattage. “Ben said I can leave soon?”
“He did. I can take you home?” Asked, rather than assumed.
Ethan’s smile slipped a fraction. “That’d be great. A ride back to the apartment.”
The word change struck like an arrow to her heart. “Right. The apartment.”
“But no more home-cooked meals,” he teased, maybe to take the edge off.
It worked. She chuckled. “You got it.” She approached the bed, hesitating to touch him. “Let me talk to Ben. I’ll be right back,” she said brightly, instead.
“That sounds good, thanks.” Ethan’s eyelids were already drooping.
Guilt surged. She knew it was late, but still, this had to be an aftereffect of her misfired spell. She closed the door gently behind her and set off in search of Ben. A quick search, since he was now reviewing someone’s chart at the nurse’s station in the center of the room.
“Is that Ethan’s chart? He’d like to know if he’s cleared for me to take him back to the apartment.” It saddened Shelly that she’d already adopted the word change. What about my mother’s recommendation to go after what I wanted?
“It’s not his chart; I’ve already taken care of it.” He gestured to the side. “I believe Nick is wrapping up some final notes before we officially release.”
“Thanks, Ben,” she said. “You’re such a good friend. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
His eyes dropped to the chart he was reviewing. “Glad I could help.”
“Mom told me I should go after what I want,” she blurted out and he met her gaze.
“You always should.”
“She also said I should be careful continuing to use my magic.”
He quirked an eyebrow.
“Okay, okay, she said not to use my magic.”
“That sounds more like it.”
“How can I help Ethan see we belong together without magical assistance?” she asked, more to herself than to Ben.
“Ethan’s what you want.”
Shelly couldn’t tell if Ben was asking or agreeing with her, so she chose not to address it. “I know I can’t do a love spell. And, even a smaller spell to increase wellbeing misfired. How do I show Ethan I care?”
“Should magic be necessary to show someone you care?”
She waved a hand dismissively. “When time is of the essence, you use what’s available to you. I have only five days. Four, really.” Ben’s expression remained neutral. “Is there something you want to tell me? Mom was speaking in riddles, too.” He must have heard the frustration in Shelly’s voice.
“I just want you to be happy.”
“Ethan makes me happy.” She thought Ben sighed.
“What’s your plan?”
“I’m not sure.” She frowned, glanced around the room. Glass-fronted triage rooms filled most of the four walls, with space for a public door and a medical staff door, plus a handful of the hard, plastic chairs. Blue privacy curtains inside each triage room concealed the wheeled hospital beds and monitoring equipment. The antiseptic smell that defined the hospital filled her nose. The sound of beeping, crying, and muffled conversation reached her ears. She focused on all those things while Ben finished reviewing the charts, waiting for her to figure out her next steps.
She snapped her fingers. “I’ve got it. It’s brilliant. You can help me!”
Ben’s eyes narrowed. “How can I help you?”
“You’re a much better witch than I am. You can help me craft spells to show Ethan how much I care. After all, what are friends for?” Relief flooded her now that she had a solution.
Ben cringed, his lips thinning for a moment, before he offered a half-smile.
She didn’t understand why he appeared less than enthused. He’d never bonded with Ethan, but why wouldn’t he want to help me?
ChapterFour
Ben
Ugh, the Friend Zone. Still. Why wouldn’t I want to help my best friend? Gee, I don’t know. Because she’s going after the man who just broke up with her? Although, if Ben was honest with himself, he wouldn’t want to help her go after any man who wasn’t him. Not that he said any of that to Shelly. She was so excited; and he meant what he’d said. He wanted her to be happy. She deserved to be happy. He’d have to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“Of course, I’ll help you.”
With a squeal, Shelly grabbed him in a hug, the chart he’d been reviewing a welcome barrier between their bodies. If he was going to be in the Friend Zone, then he needed to focus on helping his friend. Just because Ben thought they acted more like roommates around each other didn’t mean Ethan would be a bad guy for Shelly.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she said. “You won’t regret it.”
Her excitement infectious, he laughed. “I’m sure I won’t. But you might.” Ben wanted to eat the words when her smile slipped.
“What does that mean?”
Should he take Nick’s advice to tell her how he felt? What if she dumped him as a friend and continued to try to win Ethan back? Then he’d lose everything.
“Ben? What does that mean?”
He shook his head. “I’m only teasing. You know the old saying… be careful what you wish for…”
“You just might get it,” they completed in unison. It had been a joke since they were kids, waiting and waiting for their magic to manifest, only for Shelly to learn hers wasn’t so controllable. She’d been inconsolable after several near misses where people had almost gotten hurt, including a ridiculous car accident when they were sixteen. She’d thought it would be hilarious to cast a spell to take control of Ben’s car and then set up a game of chicken to freak him out. Except what had happened was she’d lost control of her own car – nothing responded to her, not the steering, the brakes, nothing. And they’d had a front-end collision. Luckily, they were only in a parking lot, so the slow speeds meant neither were hurt.
But the thought that her misfiring magic could have had serious consequences shook her hard. She didn’t try using her magic again for almost six months, finally tempted when she saw a cat stuck in a drain and didn’t want to wait for help to arrive. Of course, by then, her parents were prepared to bind it when it misfired again. She and the cat were fine, but that was it for magic.
Her frown lines smoothed out and she grinned. “I’m not saying everything’s perfect.”
“Nothing’s perfect.”
“Exactly.” She nodded. “But, Ethan and I… we had something… have something. Whatever. You know what I mean.”
“I do.” Ben wanted her to look at him the way she looked at Ethan, but he also understood that she wanted to make it work.
“Start in the morning?” She checked her watch. “Um, later in the morning, I mean. Text me when it’s a good time?”
“Don’t you have client stuff scheduled for tomorrow?”
“Nothing I can’t work around,” she responded vaguely.
“I’ll need to grab some sleep once my shift is done, so let’s say lunchtime? Ish? I’ll text you.” Plus, he needed to return an unexpected voicemail from Las Vegas. Chief Resident at a major metropolitan hospital? In Sin City? He hadn’t been looking to leave town. In fact, he’d hoped to get the position there at Wildcrest Hospital; but they’d been awfully quiet about which resident would get the nod. And if it wasn’t going to work out with Shelly— no, he wasn’t giving up yet.
“Lunchtime-ish sounds good.”
“Nick will be in Ethan’s room soon with the discharge paperwork. You guys should be on your way in no time,” Ben explained in his professional doctor voice.
“Thanks, Doctor Ben. For everything.” She gave him another hug.
He didn’t want to let her go, but released her when she stepped back.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” she said.
“Me too.”
She walked the few steps across the linoleum, slid open the sliding glass door to Ethan’s room, and finger waved to Ben before disappearing on the other side of Ethan’s blue privacy curtain.
Ben’s plan differed from hers. He would help her, like the best friend he was. But, while she hopefully began to see him in a different light, he’d also hope her plan failed completely. Then he’d throw caution to the wind and tell her how he felt.
ChapterFive
Shelly
Sleep eluded her the rest of that night. Thus, Ben caught her mid-yawn when he opened the door to his house before she could knock.
“It’s a good thing you aren’t trying to sneak up on anyone,” he said, stepping to the side to allow her room to enter. He smelled nice; she wondered if it was the sandalwood shower gel he liked.
“Your brothers aren’t home?” she asked, not seeing their cars parked out front.
“They’re both at work. Aaron started his new job today,” Ben said to her before leading her toward the kitchen. She followed him through the foyer to the kitchen, marveling at the remodel. When the brothers bought this house, its cracked tile flooring, outdated kitchen, and stained gray walls needed serious TLC. In the past six months, they’d worked tirelessly on it. Now it was a masterpiece with dark laminate wood flooring gleaming beneath newly painted soft white walls and recessed lighting.
“How exciting! It’s at the new realtor’s office, right?” She sat at one of the high stools surrounding the new quartz-topped kitchen island. She glanced around for Ben’s familiar, Cookie, but didn’t see the calico beauty anywhere. Cookie may have been the reincarnation of one of Ben’s long-ago ancestors, but she was still a cat who liked to nap during the day.
“Yep. I can’t believe my kid brother got his realtor’s license.” Ben shook his head, his back to Shelly while he opened the stainless-steel refrigerator, brought out a bottle of white wine. He grabbed two long-stemmed glasses from the cabinet. “I figured we could use some liquid libation for brainstorming the spells to use.”
Shelly clapped in delight. “Perfect. Ooh, is this that new Riesling you mentioned? The drier one?” She spun the bottle to read the description on the back.
“I picked it up the other day, was saving it for the right occasion.”
The wistful tone of his voice caught her attention. She glanced up at him. He immediately broke eye contact.
“Did you want something to eat?” He faced the pantry next to the refrigerator, but she could see the tips of his ears turning red.
“What’s up?”
Ben turned back around, now holding a bag of tortilla chips. “What? Nothing.” He set the bag on the counter with a big smile. “Chips and salsa. I know they go better with margaritas.”
“No, it’s perfect,” she told him, still off kilter though not sure why. Her chest tightened with the uncertainty and she refocused on her best friend instead.
Ben filled their glasses, tore open the bag of chips, and dumped a healthy amount of medium-spice salsa in a blue and white patterned porcelain dish before taking the seat beside her. He held up his wine glass.
“To finding the right spells,” he said.
“To finding the right spells,” Shelly repeated, mirroring his glass with hers. Then savored the wine as it slid down her throat like a, well, fine wine. Ah, there was a reason a crisp Riesling was her favorite.
“What were you thinking for this grand plan?” he asked before popping a chip into his mouth.
Her fingers drummed on the island. “I’m not sure. It’s more that I know what I can’t do.”
“Well, right. No love spells. No increasing wellbeing spells.” His eyes cut to her, a devilish smile playing on his lips.
Shelly gave him a shove. He pretended to almost fall from the stool. “Yeah, yeah. Smart aleck. Other than those two.”
They sat in silence for a moment, thinking about what else they could do that would be effective without violating the witch’s code. The coven followed the standard code of “Do what you like so long as you harm none.” But, the definition of harm could be fluid, and they wouldn’t want to inadvertently land on the wrong side of it. A meow came from a back bedroom. Shelly jumped to her feet.
“Is that my Cookie?” She headed down the short hallway to the front bedroom. “Cookie?” A meow greeted her seconds before the calico cat came into view, curled into a ball on Ben’s bed. She slow-blinked at Shelly, who kneeled beside the bed, scratching behind the cat’s ears. Cookie purred in response. “You should come out to sit with us later,” Shelly told her and the cat nodded.
It was an odd, but interesting, fact that all familiars could understand all witches, but each witch could only directly communicate with their own familiar. That way they could act as the advisors they were intended to be for their assigned witch. Thus, Cookie’s nod, since Shelly wouldn’t be able to understand the cat’s thoughts.
Ben’s familiar, like her own, had appeared when his powers first manifested at puberty. Cookie was so sweet-natured, unlike Shelly’s familiar. She inwardly chuckled, though make no mistake, she adored her fox, Rose, despite a bark that sounded like the fox was imitating a tiny, yappy almost-dog. Plus, Shelly was the only witch she knew with a fox for a familiar.
“Are you going to stay in there loving on Cookie all day, or are we getting to work?” Ben asked from the kitchen.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she said, giving Cookie a final kiss before rejoining Ben, who was still eating chips as though she had never left.
“Any ideas?”
Shelly slowly submerged her chip in salsa. She then removed the chip so fast that she spilled some on the countertop. Her eyes gleamed. “Yes, actually. What’s the main issue between me and Ethan?” She popped the chip in her mouth.
“Is this a trick question?” Ben answered with a raised eyebrow.
“No,” she replied, indignant.
“Then I’m not sure.”
“It’s that he doesn’t know what he has, right in front of him,” she said in triumph. She’d figured it out.
Ben tilted his head. “That’s the issue?”
“Yes! We’re meant to be together, but he can’t see it for some reason.”
“It’s tough when somebody can’t see what’s right in front of them,” Ben agreed, downing the remainder of his glass of wine in one swallow.
“Exactly,” she agreed. “We’re looking for a spell to help him see what’s in front of him,” Shelly continued, talking through her thought process.
Ben poured another glass of wine.
Shelly stood from the stool and paced in front of the counter. “We need a spell to open his eyes.” She stopped. “Help to see what has been unseen,” she said, trying to use the formal spell-casting language she was so bad at.
Ben laughed. “Ah, I get it now.” He thought a moment. “I can do that; a combination of spells for awareness, focus, and increased intuition ought to do the trick. Shouldn’t be too hard, to be honest.”
“Too hard for me, though, right?” She teased him.
“Yeah.”
Shelly rolled her eyes. “What ingredients do you need?”
Ben frowned. “We should make a list. I’m pretty sure I don’t have everything we need on hand. We’ll have to go shopping.”
She grabbed a small pad of paper and pen from a drawer next to the pantry, then held the pen aloft, at the ready. “Okay, go.”
“Frankincense and jasmine for increased intuition.”
She scribbled these as Ben considered what else they needed.
“Crystals for focus. Probably citrine and carnelian are best.”
Shelly nodded, though she couldn’t even remember what a carnelian crystal looked like.
“Rosemary for focus, as well, and marjoram and poppy seed for awareness.” Ben’s tongue protruded slightly, something he’d done his whole life when he was concentrating. She hid her smile. “And, I think we’ll be okay with just a white candle,” he said, nodding as though completing some internal debate with himself. “That’s it.”
“Okay,” Shelly agreed and handed him the list. “What do we need to buy?”
Ben’s eyes bounced between the list and various points in the kitchen, no doubt visualizing where specific ingredients resided. “The crystals, frankincense, and jasmine.”
“Time for a visit to the apothecary,” she sang out.
Ben matched Shelly’s smile. He loved her grandparents almost as much as she did, and they’d been the proud owners of the Wildcrest Wizardry apothecary for decades. “Time for a field trip,” he agreed.
ChapterSix
Ben
Spring in the desert varied little. Today, the sun shone in the cloudless afternoon sky, though the temperature was mid-60s. And it completely matched Ben’s positive mood. Spending time with Shelly always brightened his day. He was glad they were able to get together more days than not, even with his busy hospital schedule.
By turning his head, he could see the top of hers as she walked beside him along the path to the apothecary. He resisted the urge to wrap his arm around her shoulder when she shivered.
“Are you cold? Do you want my jacket?”
Her head tilted up to meet his gaze and she smiled crookedly. “And have it reach my knees?” She looked ahead again. “It’s not that far of a walk.”
“If you’re sure.”
“I am.” She pointed toward the rocks off the side of the concrete sidewalk. “Did you see him?”
Ben peered but must have been too late. “See whom?”
She hurried a few steps ahead and looked down at the rocks, hands on her hips as she bent over a bit. “Aww, he must have gone back underground.”
“Chipmunk?”
“I think so. They’re so cute. I love that they live along this path.”
Her infectious enthusiasm got to him. He couldn’t count how many times they’d walked the half-mile to the apothecary on the sidewalk that ran alongside the wash, or dry creek for storm drainage, between his street and Wildcrest’s small downtown. Yet, he knew that Shelly delighted in the desert wildlife – and occasional housecat – that they’d see.
“Thank you,” she said.
“For what?” Ben asked, still searching for the chipmunk that undoubtedly had gone underground as she surmised.
“For helping me get Ethan back. I know you’ve never really liked him.”
His neck flushed at her words. He thought he did a better job at hiding his feelings. He certainly hid other feelings well.
Her fingers touched Ben’s arm. “I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable. I just… you know how much it means to me. You’re a good friend.”
Goosebumps rose along his arm where her fingers grazed. “Best friends,” he responded, squelching the desire to pull her into his arms. Being relegated to the friend zone hurt, but the thought of losing her hurt more.
Shelly squeezed his hand, leaving it cold when she released. Was it his imagination that she held on longer than was necessary? Their eyes met for a long moment and then her steps quickened away from him.
His phone rang before he could hasten to catch her. She stopped when she heard him answer the phone. “Hey, Dr. Casey.”
“Do you have a minute?” Dr. Casey Hayes asked.
“Of course,” he answered eagerly. When the Chief of Staff of the hospital called, one made time; especially when one wanted to be promoted.
“I apologize for the delay in getting back to you, but I wanted to be the one to tell you.” She exhaled audibly. “You should let Las Vegas know you’re considering their offer.”
“I’m not getting the Chief Resident position.” He said it matter-of-factly to his boss, but frustration surged. He’d been certain this was his path, to stay with his family and friends.
Shelly’s mouth twisted, matching Ben’s.
“It’s not set yet, but they’re looking hard at another candidate,” Dr. Hayes continued.
“Jason?”
“I’m not at liberty to say, but he would be a competitive candidate.”
Ben could read between those bright lines. Dr. Jason Lawson, his fellow resident and pseudo-rival, was the front runner for the position he wanted. “I appreciate the call.” Ben swallowed that sharp pang of disappointment and disconnected.
“That was Dr. Hayes?”
“Yep.”
“Is she really giving the position to Jason?”
“Well, it’s not her position to give,” he reminded Shelly. “But, yeah, she told me to consider Vegas.”
Shelly’s eyes widened. “You’re seriously considering leaving?”
He shrugged. “If I had a reason to stay…”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, I don’t know. Your parents. Your brothers. Your friends.”
They resumed walking along the concrete path, the desert alive around them. Ben focused on the shrubs, birds, and lizards – tried to ignore that she didn’t specifically list herself, but used the generic friends label. “We’ll see,” he finally told her.
As they exited the wash a few minutes later, the backside of the businesses on Main Street appeared before them. Yes, their main drag was not-so-creatively named Main Street. Of course, that was decades ago, so you couldn’t really fault the founders. Ben and Shelly came up behind the apothecary and walked between it and the grocery next door. Reaching the street, they turned to face the two-story beige stucco building. Actually, Shelly had informed him once that it was really taupe, not beige. Sounded good to him. All he knew was that it was stucco. In the desert, stucco abounded.
Wildcrest Wizardry catered mainly to tourists who wanted “spells” but those in the know could get real spell-casting ingredients – and a great latte. Or so said Shelly, who admitted she was addicted to them. The apothecary store was large and bright, with a sweet, gentle lavender scent, and very well-organized by types of ingredients and spell intentions.
It was mid-afternoon in March, so Ben didn’t expect too many tourists. But there would be some, based on the tour bus parked out front. There were always a few people, hoping to get an inside scoop about the witches of Wildcrest.
Shelly reached the door before him and pulled it open, stepping aside so he could enter.
“Proof that chivalry isn’t dead,” he quipped as he stepped past her. Her laughter followed him in.
“Hey guys,” a bubbly voice greeted them before the door could even whoosh closed.
“Hey Rebekah,” Shelly responded, wrapping the tall blond store manager in a quick hug. “Are my grandparents here?”
“They’re at the post office checking on a delayed delivery. You’ll probably miss them.”
Even though the post office was only across the street, it was a small-town post office, with only Miss Jerri working. And, like every small-town cliché, she loved to chat with her customers.
“That’s okay, I’ll be back this afternoon.”
Before he could ask Shelly why she was returning later, she’d hurried down the candle and crystal aisle. With a slight wave at Rebekah, who’d returned to the cash register, Ben followed Shelly.
“What do you think of this one?”
The sparkle in her eyes told him she was teasing, but he ignored that and took the dragon candle from her with mock-solemnity. “Yes, yes,” he intoned. “This is perfect.”
Shelly giggled.
He replaced the candle on the shelf. “I think we’re good in the candle department.”
She pointed to several rows of shining crystals. “Do you see the citrine and carnelian crystals?”
He watched her eyes scan the various crystals on display. Her mouth turned down at the sides for a moment as she searched. Ben wondered if she was thinking about how she struggled with crystal-based spells too.
“Here’s a citrine,” she said, handing him the yellow quartz before returning to consider the sparkling crystals.
He reached forward with his other hand, but she beat him to the stone he had just spotted.
“That’s what a carnelian crystal looks like!” She gently lifted the palm-sized red-orange stone off the shelf, then turned the stone around.
“That’s a beautiful choice,” he said, his gaze on Shelly instead of the glassy, translucent crystal.
“It feels warm.” She sounded surprised.
Her comment surprised him too, though really it shouldn’t have. “Just because you have challenges controlling your abilities doesn’t mean you don’t have any,” Ben reminded her. Shelly’s look of gratitude elicited a flash of sadness for his best friend. Being a witch defined them. To be without that connection to their identity – he couldn’t imagine.
They heard the sound of rubber soles behind them and then a hesitant question. “Excuse me?”
Ben turned toward the voice and found a middle-aged couple wearing matching outfits. Being completely honest, he liked tourists for their money, but also because they were fun to play with. Ben imagined it was like his familiar Cookie playing with a mouse. On second thought, that was kind of violent.
“Do you live here?” The female half of the couple looked between Ben and Shelly, trying to answer her own question. He returned the favor, inwardly chuckling at their yellow fanny packs and wide-brimmed floppy hats.
“We do,” Shelly answered. “Can we help you?”
“Brian and I took the tour this morning,” the woman continued. She, of course, referred to the bus tour that hit all the locations from Witches in the Wild. “This was the final stop, and they said you could get supplies for real spells here.” On the word spells, her eyes widened, as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was saying.
“You can,” Shelly assured her, without a hint of irony. “That’s what we’re doing.”
“No, you’re not,” the man disagreed. His stance, with hands jammed in the pockets of his cargo shorts, suggested the tour had not been his idea.
“Didn’t you know that movie was basically a documentary? As in nonfiction,” Ben told them. The woman’s intake of breath confirmed for Ben she wanted to believe, but the man’s expression soured.
“That isn’t nice, making fun of the tourists,” he said in a huff.
“Oh, Brian, they’re not making fun of us.”
Ben felt bad hearing the sincerity in her voice, and decided to try complete truth. “We’re really not. Though I was joking about the movie,” he amended his statement. “But witches do live here. It’s just that nobody believes us.”
Shelly shrugged when the couple looked at her for confirmation. “It’s true.”
“That’s so neat,” the woman said in a soft voice.
Her husband shook his head. “They’re playing you, Jean.”
Shelly placed a hand on Jean’s shoulder. “I promise we’re not.” She leaned to whisper into the older woman’s ear. Jean nodded along with whatever she was saying.
“Thank you so much,” Jean enthused. “I’ll try that.” She pulled her husband toward an aisle with various dried herbs.
