A Charmed Life (Coven Corner #3) Page 10

  As Hazel followed Bryony back up to the house, tucked into a curved grove of willows, ash, and birch trees, Hazel glanced back over her shoulder.

  Nick, Phoebe, and Marissa were grouped together like the perfect little family. And Hazel wasn’t there to be a part of it.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Hazel threw every ounce of herself into Sky’s wedding preparations. When she stepped into the Torres house, she found Sky in the guest room. Lacey fabric was looped over her arms, around her waist, tangled around her ankles in a mess.

  And Sky was beginning to hyperventilate.

  “I don’t know what I did!” she half-shrieked. “I thought I’d cast a spell to let out the waist just a little. I knew I shouldn’t have had those pumpkin pastries for breakfast.”

  Bryony huffed. “We’ve been over this. You have to eat. And so what if you let out the waist? Aiden doesn’t care. He’s too obsessed with your face anyway. All moony-eyed over you.”

  Hazel took out her wand and began to untangle the dress from Sky.

  “You just got your spell a little mixed up with the nerves,” Hazel said. “It’s nothing a counter spell can’t fix in no time. Now hold still. And Bryony’s right. Enjoy the pastries.”

  Sky released a shaky breath and didn’t move a muscle as Hazel worked the dress over Sky’s head. She cast a spell to loop up the buttons and tie the sash at the waist.

  “All done,” Hazel said.

  Bryony picked up the veil from the bed and draped it over Sky’s head, rearranging the thin, gauzy fabric.

  “I can’t believe you’re getting married,” Bryony said. “Seems like it was only yesterday that we were running around on the playground.”

  Sky squeezed Bryony’s hands. “Do not get me started crying, Bryony. Please. Just help me get down the stairs without tripping, would you?”

  Bryony clasped Sky’s hand tight as they headed out of the room.

  And for a moment, Hazel was alone.

  She glanced down at the wand in her hand. The birch leaves shimmered pale gold, tinged with veins of green. The handle had been worn to smoothness, pale as a ghost.

  And a terrible realization slithered into her mind.

  It would be so easy to erase her existence from the Butler’s family memory. To make Nick and Phoebe forget everything Hazel had been through with them.

  Hazel would remember.

  But Nick and Phoebe wouldn’t.

  The nightmare. Searching for a familiar. Making breakfast every morning. Phoebe falling asleep with her head on Hazel’s lap.

  I want to be a school teacher. Like you, Miss Aven.

  With one simple spell, Hazel could return everything back to normal. Or as close to normal as she could get.

  Hazel would be known only as Miss Aven, the school teacher. Marissa would resume her role of mother to Phoebe, wife to Nick.

  “Don’t you dare.”

  Hazel turned to see Sky standing in the doorway, her skirts bunched up in her arms. She was so short and her skirts were so full that she seemed to be lost in a cloud of white fabric.

  She stepped forward and pushed Hazel’s wand aside.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” she said. “Bryony told me. About Nick and Phoebe and Marissa.”

  “Then you have to realize why I’m considering this,” Hazel countered.

  “No, I don’t. Hazel, this isn’t a time to be practical. To do the logical thing and erase your existence from their lives because you think it would make the transition easier for them. Smoother somehow. It won’t. There will be a hole that you can’t fix, no matter how much magic you use. You already have their hearts and they have yours. No amount of magic can change that.”

  Hazel stared at Sky for a minute.

  “That sounded very logical and grown up,” she said. “When did you get to be so wise when I wasn’t looking?”

  Sky waved her off. “Believe me, I don’t handle my own problems that well. It’s just…” She flapped her hands. “Panic. Now, where’s your dress?”

  ***

  The ceremony was hazy, like a dream. Or perhaps that was Hazel’s viewpoint through a mist of tears as she watched Sky walk down an aisle of autumn trees to an ivy-covered arch where Aiden Hall waited for her. Teacups dangled between the leaves, suspended by strings of spells.

  The train of Sky’s dress spread out behind her, rustling over the grass and leaves. The fabric was bewitched to prevent any stains from ruining it. And spells were threaded through the lace to color the edges in gold, red, and flaming oranges to match the surrounding autumn forest.

  All of Wildemoor looked on as Sky and Aiden joined hands, spoke their vows. Sky couldn’t stop smiling, even though she was trembling just a little with excitement. And Aiden kept looking at Sky like she hung the moon and the stars.

  For a moment, it seemed time stood still as Hazel looked on. How had everything changed so fast?

  Sky was married.

  Bryony had been dating seriously for over a year now, a fact that Hazel still couldn’t quite wrap her head around.

  And Hazel…

  Her gaze searched the assembly to find Nick, Phoebe, and Marissa standing together. Nick had his hands on Phoebe’s shoulders, fiddling with one of her pigtails to tease her. Phoebe leaned back against Nick.

  Hazel wanted to believe she’d found a family of her own. But she wasn’t sure.

  On the outside, Wildemoor had always seemed like a sleepy little town where everything remained the same, nothing exciting happened, and the population was a sparse gathering of witches and warlocks.

  As the autumn leaves changed colors and drifted to the forest floor, Wildemoor was changing too. Perhaps it would remain the same in some ways—providing a safe, cozy little place where magic sizzled and crackled in the air, where Samhain brought the town together for one night of food, celebration, old and new, living and passed on to another life. Magic would always reside in Wildemoor.

  But the witches and warlocks would continue to change, to grow up, to have families of their own. And maybe they would leave Wildemoor for the great wide world.

  Once the ceremony was over, the great bonfire was lit to ward off the chill of darkness. It roared with flames, climbing higher and higher as witches and warlocks gathered around it, cups of spiced cider in hand, welcoming the warmth and the light of the fire.

  Hazel changed out of her bridesmaid dress and back into her comfortable, warmer attire. By the time she rejoined the Samhain celebration, children had spelled pennies into pumpkins and carved jack-o-lantern faces into them. Some of the older children levitated the pumpkins as high as they could above the bonfire while others simply set their pumpkins around the clearing for decoration.

  A warm hand covered Hazel’s fingers and she startled.

  “Sorry,” Nick said, his voice low enough so only he could hear. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  Hazel withdrew her hand and folded her arms. She wanted to reach out to him, gravitating toward him as always on an instinctual reaction to his presence. But her heart felt raw with what she was facing now.

  “It’s all right,” she said. “I just didn’t hear you come up.”

  Phoebe wasn’t with him. Neither was Marissa. It was just the two of them, facing the great bonfire that raged into the night, crackling with heat and light.

  Nick tucked his hands in his pockets and shifted a little closer to Hazel until his shoulder brushed against hers.

  “It’s been a long day,” he said.

  Hazel sighed. And she couldn’t help leaning into the solidity of his shoulder. After meeting Marissa, Nick had been careful, not pushing Hazel to talk until she was ready. Granting her space to sort things out on her own.

  But now she was initiating contact and she could feel the relief melting through him. Nick slowly wrapped his arm around her shoulders and drew her close against his chest, protective and comforting. Hazel traced the curve of the buttons on his shirt with one finger.

 
“How are you holding up?” he said. “After…everything.”

  He hadn’t mentioned Marissa’s name all day. Even now, he was trying not to pressure Hazel into a potentially stressful topic if she wasn’t ready to discuss it.

  But Hazel knew she had to.

  “I think Marissa is serious about that second chance,” she said. “She isn’t attempting to make up for lost time. She knows that’s gone for good. But she doesn’t want to lose any more time than she has already.”

  Nick made a small noise of thoughtfulness and kissed her temple.

  “You’re a very generous, kind person, Hazel,” he said softly, his breath ruffling her hair. “You’re more forgiving than I am.”

  Hazel let out a short laugh.

  “It hardly counts as forgiveness,” she said. “When I’m so terrified.”

  Nick drew back just far enough to look at her.

  “Why?”

  Hazel glanced down, plucking at the sleeve of her blackberry-purple sweater.

  “Phoebe has always been the priority. She still is. And I know having Marissa back in her life will make her happy. But I’m…I’m scared there won’t be a place for me anymore in her life. Or in your life. That I’ll just be the dreadfully strict school teacher again.”

  Nick was silent for several long seconds. Hazel couldn’t look at him, even though she wanted to. But she was worried what she might see in his eyes.

  Then Nick took Hazel’s hand and turned her palm up.

  “There will always be a place for you in our lives, Hazel,” he said. “I knew that the moment you fought through Phoebe’s nightmare.”

  He paused and reached into his jacket pocket. He withdrew his hand, holding something, too small to tell what it is, hidden in his palm.

  “I’d planned to do this a little later down the road,” Nick continued. “Maybe with a bit more…you know…pizzazz to make it memorable, the way you deserve. But…”

  He trailed off and cupped her hand in both of his. He dropped something small and metallic into her palm, curled her fingers over it.

  Then Nick let his hands fall away.

  And shining in Hazel’s palm was a circle of autumn gold with a dark red ruby centerpiece, flanked by two diamonds on either side.

  “Hazel Aven, will you marry me?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Hazel could hardly breathe.

  “What?” she rasped.

  “We haven’t known each other long, I realize that,” Nick said.

  “Barely two months. And most of that time was spent in a professional capacity.”

  “I know, Hazel, I know,” Nick said as soothingly as he could. “And you can so no. It’s fine. Things can stay the way they are now. We can continue to see each other just like…like this never happened.”

  But it did happen, Hazel thought. She stared at the ring in her hand, the shining gold, the deep crimson ruby, the sparkling diamonds.

  She had never reached this point in any other relationship. Did she love Nick that much? Was she ready to be a mother figure to Phoebe? There was no going back on her word once she’d given it. If she accepted, she would be fully incorporated into the Butler household.

  “Unless I’ve spooked you for good,” Nick added, searching her face. “Which I don’t blame you for. I just…I wanted to make sure you knew, without a shadow of a doubt, what you meant to Phoebe.” He stepped a little closer and brushed a lock of hair away from the curve of her neck, his fingertips grazing her skin, leaving a trail of heat behind. “And what you mean to me.”

  Hazel closed her eyes. The slim curve of the ring in her hand felt like an anchor, pinning her to reality, keeping her grounded.

  She’d wanted this. Ever since Marissa’s letter, Hazel had wondered if she would be pushed out, forgotten.

  But was she ready to get married?

  Before Hazel could make that decision, she needed the answer to one question first.

  “What about Phoebe?” she said.

  Nick nodded, as if he had expected her to respond that way and he wasn’t taking that as a denial or an acceptance.

  “I already talked to her,” he said. “In fact, she picked out the ring.”

  Hazel raised her eyebrows. “She did?”

  Nick picked up the ring, angling the gemstones toward the firelight until they gleamed and winked with brightness.

  “She said you were the ruby,” he replied. “With your big heart wrapped around us. The diamonds here represent me and her. You’ve been at the center of our lives practically since the day we met you. We’d like to keep it that way.” He paused then added in a rush, “If you’re willing. But if you’re not—”

  Hazel cupped Nick’s face in her hands. He stopped, his breath caught in his throat.

  “I am very willing,” she said. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  When she kissed him, it was a mess. She was smiling too big and he was laughing. They bumped teeth and missed each other’s mouths on the first try.

  It was far from perfect. But it was beautiful just the same.

  ***

  On Monday, after Samhain weekend, Marissa met Hazel at the picnic table outside with a carafe and flaky biscuits wrapped in a box, The Eye of Newt stamped on the side in magical purple ink that sparkled in the golden autumn sunlight.

  Marissa donned a hopeful smile as Hazel approached.

  “Marissa,” Hazel said. “I wasn’t expecting you today, and certainly not at recess. Is something wrong?”

  Her gaze darted to the students, searching, until she found Phoebe and Seline playing tag among the trees. They appeared to be fine.

  “No, nothing’s wrong,” Marissa replied. She offered a mug to Hazel and held up the carafe.

  “I brought cocoa,” she said. “I was never very good with food spells but cocoa was the one thing I could do. And I brought some biscuits as well. Can’t have cocoa without a little something to go with it.”

  “That’s very kind of you,” Hazel said. She held her cup out as Marissa filled it with cocoa. Swirls of steam drifted up into the air and vanished, puffed away by the icy wind.

  Hazel wrapped her mittened hands around the mug and blew on the cocoa to cool it.

  “I appreciate the cocoa,” she said. “But I get the feeling that’s not the reason you stopped by Windywings today.”

  Marissa dropped her gaze as she filled her own mug and set the carafe on the picnic table next to her.

  “I was hoping you could…show me around Wildemoor,” she said. “When Nick and I had Phoebe, we moved here as soon as we found out she was a witch. We wanted her to be in a magical community. We both knew she was going to be exceptional. She was wreathed in magic the day she was born.”

  “I’m afraid I couldn’t show you much more than what you’ve already seen,” Hazel said. “You lived here for a while. It’s not a big town. The sight-seeing would be slim-pickings at best.”

  Marissa hitched her shoulders up to her ears and stamped her feet to keep warm.

  “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t know where I belong here,” she said. “I want to stick around for Phoebe.”

  “So, you’re looking for a position,” Hazel said.

  “Yes and no. I mean, I do need a job. But I heard there’s an opening at the Tipsy Cauldron. I can stir up a few drinks for a living.”

  Marissa glanced down at her cocoa and scuffed her boot along the ground. Hazel waited. She’d soon that look on her students before. Marissa had something else she wanted to add but she wasn’t sure how it would sound.

  “I see the way Nick looks at you,” Marissa said softly. “You’re very important to him. And Phoebe.”

  Hazel hesitated, biting the inside of her cheek as she deliberated, choosing her words carefully.

  “If that’s a problem—”

  Marissa put out a hand, cutting Hazel off.

  “No, hell’s bells, no, that’s not what I meant,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I
did, the hurt I caused. Nick and I never made each other happy, not the way you two do. But that’s why I’d like to get to know you better. You’re part of Phoebe’s life. Not just as a school teacher but also as the mother figure I couldn’t be.”

  Marissa’s voice trailed off into silence. Hazel stepped forward and put a hand on Marissa’s arm.

  “You will always be Phoebe’s mother,” Hazel said. “That will never change. She thinks very highly of you.”

  Marissa sniffed and turned her head away, swiping at her eyes with the back of her hands.

  “Thank you, Miss Aven,” she whispered.

  Hazel squeezed her arm.

  “If we’re going to get to know each other, I should tell you that ‘Miss Aven’ is reserved for my students. Please call me Hazel.”

  Marissa managed a smile as she pulled her composure together again. She tugged at the fingers of Hazel’s glove.

  “All right,” she said. “Then let’s see it, Hazel.”

  “See what?”

  “That ring Nick proposed to you with.”

  Hazel raised her eyebrows. She’d kept the ring on a necklace, tucked beneath her clothes. She’d only told Sky and Bryony. No one else. She wanted to keep it quiet for a little while longer.

  “How did you know?” she said.

  Marissa shrugged. “Nick wouldn’t stop staring at you every time you were anywhere near him. And he tends to wear his heart on his sleeve when it comes to the people he cares about.”

  Hazel touched the collar of her sweater but she didn’t pull the necklace out. Not yet.

  “Your secret is safe with me,” Marissa said. “I won’t spill the beans. Enjoy your slice of heaven for as long as you want.”

  Finally, Hazel pulled the ring out from the collar of her sweater. She couldn’t bring herself to wear it yet. She was worried she might lose it.

  But late at night, when she was asleep in her own bed, she would slide it on her finger. The diamonds would gleam in the darkness like little stars, the promise of a future family just for her.

  Marissa examined the ring in silence. No noises of admiration or longing. Just nothing.