To Love A Witch

Chapter 15

  

Jake rolled over in bed and saw sunlight streaming in the windows. Romy lay beside him, quietly snoring.
He picked up the covers gingerly and peeked down at his body. Yup, certain important parts were still attached. And yup, he had a couple of red hand marks on his chest. He knew exactly when those had happened; it was a particularly fond memory from the wee hours of the morning.
The essentials checked out, she was still snoring, and he was starving. After last night, they’d both need some breakfast. His culinary skills extended to bacon and eggs.
Resisting the urge to wake her, he slipped out of bed and headed to the kitchen, pulling on a shirt and shorts on the way. He could get really used to this.
In the kitchen, he started the bacon and checked his phone messages. Carla had called at the crack of dawn with status updates on everyone and an invite to Sunday dinner. His buddy Duncan had sent a text—Sentinel had approved Jake’s personnel request.
Excellent. The New Mexico zone was a mess, and he needed help to clean it up. He hoped a certain redhead might be interested.
“What are you grinning at?”
He looked over at the love of his life. She was most definitely not a morning person. Her eyes were bleary and barely conscious, and her hands had gotten stuck halfway through her hair.
Perfect timing. “Want a job?”
“Sure. Can I have some coffee?”
Not just yet. He knew better than to wake her up too fast. “I want you to work with me.”
Romy plunked into a chair at the table. “’Kay. Does it involve food? And coffee? Begging.”
He brought over two plates of bacon and eggs and went back for coffee. Then he sat down to eat and watch her wake up.
About halfway through breakfast, her neurons finally started connecting. “Awesome eggs, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“What’s the green stuff in them?” Then her head snapped up. Uh, oh. “Wait. What job? What do you mean work with you?”
He offered up his last slice of bacon as a peace offering. “My Sentinel zone is suffering from forty years of abuse and neglect. It’s going to take some time to clean that up, and I can’t do it alone. We’re incredibly lucky we found Aylen when we did. There are at least sixty other women out there Alvin passed over.”
She looked at him for almost a minute. He tried not to squirm. “This isn’t where I expected the conversation to head this morning.”
Jake, you’re an idiot. He tugged her into his lap, and kissed her. “Good morning. Last night was pure magic, and I love you.”
Her eyes got all gooey. Yup, a total idiot. “It was.” She took a deep breath and curled up into his chest. “I love you, too.”
He stroked her wild hair. “Sorry. I think the job thing was my backward way of saying I’d like to spend a lot more time with you. Be with me, Romy. We can figure out what that means, but just be with me.”
“Okay.” She tilted her head back and grinned. “You know, this means I lose my bet with Darlene.”
That was out of left field. “Why?”
“She said you’d get me into bed by the end of the month. You’re a week early.”
“You bet on that kind of stuff?” And she’d bet against him, which was humiliating.
“It’s lesson number one on how to survive in puke-green walls. And while I refused to contribute to the further delinquency of my kids by joining their betting pool, I think Skate won.”
Jake shook his head. “Sadly, he’ll fit right in with Mikey’s crew in San Francisco. They bet on all kinds of crazy shit.”
His front door slammed open and Jolie came racing down the hall. “Hi Jake, hi Romy. We’re bringing Aylen and Gracie home from the hospital, and we stopped so you could see her. She’s totally gorgeous and she smiles at me and everything. Come see her.”
Molly walked into the house holding a tiny baby. Jake grabbed Aylen’s arm and helped her to a chair. “Can I get you anything? Is it safe to let you out of bed already?”
Aylen smiled. “I had a baby. My ancestors only stopped for a few hours on the trail when that happened. I wanted to come say thank you. You saved our lives last night, both of you.”
She looked down. “I didn’t know I had the magic. My grandmother did, but she died when I was very small. Some things happened when I was younger, and a man came to visit, but then they seemed to go away.”
Jake cursed Alvin for the thousandth time. Never again. Not on his watch.
“Gracie has the magic too,” Jolie said. “I think it’s the kind like Jake, though, where she can fly.”
Aylen’s eyes went wide. “Grandmother flew with the spirits.” She looked at Jake. “You will help my daughter, teach her?”
Jake looked over at Romy, who was holding the tiny baby girl. “I don’t think she’ll be flying for a while yet, but yeah, I’d be glad to help.”
His voice sputtered out. Romy had looked up as he spoke—love in her eyes, and a baby in her arms. His future was suddenly very, very clear.
The ground hardly shook at all.
Thank you!