Easy Magic (Boudreaux #5)

“He won’t be here,” I reply softly. “But I can help you move on so you can be with him.”


“You can?” she asks, her whole face lit up with hope. “I miss him. I haven’t seen him in a very long time.”

“That must be horrible,” I reply and take a deep breath, close my eyes, and feel a swirl of warm air. When I open my eyes, the light is behind her. “There you go. Just turn around.”

She looks behind her and her face lights up in delight. “Teddy! He’s finally here for me. Oh, thank you!”

And with that, she walks through the light, and then it’s gone, the same way it was with Grandmamma.

There’s no lingering sense of her here. The store, and the upstairs loft, are completely quiet and, aside from me, empty.

Merry Christmas.

I walk back to gather my things and hurry home. It’s cooler today, although we certainly won’t be having a white Christmas. The city is bustling with people hurrying to spend time with their loved ones, so my drive home takes a little longer than usual, but I don’t mind.

When I walk into our house, I’m welcomed with the warmth from the fireplace and the love of a very special man. The house is completely furnished now, and we are all moved in and unpacked. It seemed to take forever, but now it feels like we’ve always lived here. I can’t believe how perfect it is for us.

“Merry Christmas, sugar,” Beau says as I walk into the kitchen and find him plating our dinner.

“Merry Christmas,” I reply as I take my jacket off, hang it on a barstool, and take in the scene before me. “I thought we were going to your mom’s for dinner?”

“Well, that was the plan, but I decided that I’d rather spend this evening by ourselves. Is that okay with you?”

“Sure, but Lena—”

“And Miss Sophia are still going to my mom’s,” he replies with a smile.

“Well, then yes, this works for me.”

He seems…nervous. Which is very unusual for my Beau. He’s the most self-assured man I know.

“Are you okay?” I ask as he passes me a wine glass and I take a sip.

“I’ve never been better,” he replies. “Can you grab my glass and I’ll take our plates to the table?”

“Of course.” I follow him to the dining room, where he’s thrown a black tablecloth over our farm table, and added candles and forget-me-nots, along with some fine china that I’ve never seen before. “This is fancy.”

“It’s Christmas,” he replies with a shrug. “And I wanted it to be pretty for you.”

“You’ve succeeded,” I reply. “I feel quite spoiled.”

“You’re not spoiled,” he says and tucks my hair behind my ear. “You should be indulged often.”

“I won’t disagree,” I say with a laugh. “What did you make for us?”

“Lasagna with bread and salad.”

“That sounds amazing. I’m starving.” I set my napkin in my lap and take a bite of salad. “These tomatoes are fantastic. They’re from the garden, right?”

“They are.”

I smile and continue to munch away, not oblivious to his shifting in his seat, and eating little of his dinner. But if he wants to share what’s on his mind, he will do so in his own time. That’s something I’ve learned about Beau. He needs to stew over something for a bit, and then he will talk to me about it.

So I just continue to enjoy our Christmas Eve meal and the beautiful table he set for us.

“Business was good today. We were busy all day long. Shelly brought us a sprig of mistletoe for our house,” I say and take a sip of wine. “It’s for luck and love. I think I’ll hang it in the bedroom.”

“That was nice of her,” he replies and then suddenly sets his glass down and takes my free hand in his.

Here we go.

“I was going to wait to do this until after dinner, but it seems this is one situation where my patience skills are non-existent.” He smiles and pushes his dinner away from him, and I do the same, eager to hear what he has to talk about.

“What’s up?”

“I know we haven’t known each other for long, Mallory. But I also know that I adore you. My only regret about us living together is that we didn’t do it sooner. I said once that you shifted everything else in my life out of focus, but now I realize that everything is clearer than it’s ever been.

“You are an incredible woman. I love you so fiercely that it scares me at times. If I were to ever lose you, well…” He shakes his head as if the mere thought of it is mortifying. “I can’t even entertain the thought that I could ever lose you.

“You make every day the best day of my life.”

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a gorgeous diamond solitaire.

“Wow,” I murmur.

“Marry me, Mallory. Let me love you, every day, for the rest of our lives and through whatever may come after we’re gone. Be my partner, my lover, and my best friend.”

He reaches over to wipe a tear from my cheek. I can’t speak. I’m so surprised that all I can do is stare into his eyes.

“What are you thinking, love?”

“That I’m going to be really pissed off if this is a dream.”

He smiles and kisses my cheek, then my lips, and pulls back so he can put the ring on my finger.

“Is that a yes?”

“Oh my God, yes!” I jump into his arms and hug him tightly. “I’ve never wanted anything more.”

He kisses the crown of my head. “I don’t want a long engagement. It seems I’m not quite as patient as I thought I was.”

I lean back to kiss him squarely on the mouth, and then admire the round diamond on my finger. “This is beautiful.”

“It was my grandmother’s,” he replies and holds it up to the light. “It’s just under three karats, and you can have it reset any way you like.”

“I love it just the way it is,” I say and kiss him again. “I can feel the love that was shared because of this ring. I don’t want to change a thing.”





Epilogue


~Benjamin Preston~

“Are you ready for this?” Eli asks Beau with a pat on the shoulder. We’re standing at the altar in Beau’s backyard, waiting for the girls to walk down the aisle. “You have time to back out.”

“I’m not going to fucking back out,” Beau says with a roll of his eyes. “The engagement was long enough as it is.”

“You were engaged for a month,” Declan reminds him. “And you’re lucky that it’s warm enough out here today to do this. You couldn’t wait until spring?”

“No,” Beau says and sends his brothers a glare. “I couldn’t.”

I just grin and stay silent, the way I usually do. I’m waiting for the girls to walk down the aisle as well, because I’ll get a glimpse of the woman I’ve been in love with for as long as I can remember.

The music starts, and first comes Mallory’s best friend, Lena. She’s in her pink bridesmaid dress, smiling happily. She’s pretty enough, but she’s not my type.

There’s only one woman that’s my type.