Natural Magick (7 page)

Duncan cleared his throat before addressing Aaron. “Miss Pete has never had a home cooked meal before, sire. I don’t have any clue what that would even be in terms of human food, but do you think it would be all right if Miss Penny fixed Miss Pete one?”

Penny had been told a few weeks after she had moved into the little cottage by the mansion that she worked for vampires and other magical creatures. They did not want her to become suspicious of certain things that may go on within the walls of Aaron’s Kiss. Penny just put her fist on her ample hip and said that she was not born yesterday and she was pretty sure this family was not the first bunch of bloodsuckers she had worked for, but at least this one was honest and up front about what they were. Aaron had laughed for days.

“
Yes, Duncan, that’s an excellent idea. You go ahead. Between the two of you, I’m sure she’ll be very happy with the results.”

Aaron was still grinning as he made his way to his lair in the sublevels of their home. Poor Dominic, Aaron thought, he was certainly in for it now.

CHAPTER SIX

“
I’m here to see Pete, is she here?” Toby was her last resort.

Sara had been everywhere looking for Pete and leaving messages for her to call at every place she went. The people at the house said they had not seen her today. Booger had said that she was there last evening and then again that morning, but he had not seen her since. But, he said, she was pretty mad when he had seen her last, and no, he did not know what was up.

“
She’s out on one of her part-timers, Mrs. MacManus. But if you’d like for me to, I can see if I can get her a message,” Toby said.

Sara reached out to Toby, touching him mentally, and found that Pete had not said anything to this man about what had happened at the house when she had spoken to him last night. But he did know where Pete was most of the other times.

Duncan would not give Sara the phone number to Pete’s drop n’ kick phone when she has asked. He said that Pete had trusted him with it and he was not breaking that trust. Sara didn’t push. Duncan was upset enough. He had tried to call it and left a message for Pete to call Sara twice already. Sara was afraid that Pete was out of minutes with her phone service and couldn’t retrieve the messages anyway. Sara was about to give up until Dominic could be found, which was proving to be as difficult as finding Pete. Aaron had checked his lair that Dominic was using while staying with them, but Dominic had not been there at all last night, or today.

“
Toby, I really need to speak with Pete. It’s very important that I reach her as soon as possible. Here is my cell number and my house number as well. I have her things and her money. Could you make sure she gets both, please?”

Toby looked at the envelope she was holding out to him and then looked at her with a frown. She didn’t need anyone else upset with her right now. She was too emotional as it was and she wasn’t feeling well today.

“
Ma’am, you don’t know Pete well if you think she’ll be expecting a payment from you. I don’t know what happened, but you coming in here like this and having her tools tells me it wasn’t good.” He stared at her for a few seconds then turned away. “Come with me, and let me show you something.”

Sara followed him to the back of the store where there were two desks in a medium-sized office. One was a complete mess of papers stacked haphazardly on books and catalogs, old coffee mugs full of pins and such. There were also pens and sandwich wrappers mingled in with invoices and bills. It looked a great deal like Aaron’s desk at home, she thought.

The other desk was a major contrast. The bulletin board had a calendar and a few business cards stuck to it in neat order with all the same colored push pins. The desk was devoid of anything other than a phone, a clean doodle pad, and a container of pencils all sharpened to the same height. There was a pretty and healthy African violet in the deepest shade of blue Sara had ever seen sitting on the far corner, as far away from the messy one as it could get. The desk was polished to a bright sheen and the chair was pushed in straight against the desk.

“
Which one do you think is mine?” he asked her with a grin. “I can tell she was here last night or this morning because the plant is watered. There is never anything out of place even when she’s sitting here, or left out when she leaves. Now, you’re thinking to yourself, ‘why should I care what her desk looks like?’ Look at her calendar. See what she has written on it. You’ll understand a little more.”

Toby left her to look all she wanted. Sara wandered over to the little desk and sat in the chair. She took the calendar off the wall, pulled it toward her, and began flipping through the dates to read the notes written on there.

January 10th-paid for SC doctor bill//BAL $6000

January 16th –paid $100 to ML//BAL $2500

February 2nd –paid $600 to ML//BAL $9000

March 10th –Rec’d $10//BAL $604

May 16th –Birthday $18//BAL $22

The only time there seemed to be an increase in the balance column was when the balance dropped below one hundred dollars. A couple of days before each major balance decrease, there was an appointment for work, a company, and time. It appeared Pete would work for a larger company only when necessary to the balance of her income. Then nearly every penny was spent before she would start all over. Sara leaned over and opened the top drawer. There was nothing in it but a box of unopened pencils—who used pencils anymore?—a huge bag of paper clips and one of rubber bands. The second drawer held a file box, which Sara took out and set on the desk.

Opening it, she found what the initials meant. Pete was paying bills for others, not her own. All the money Pete earned other than what she absolutely needed to live on went to someone else in need. Electric bills that were near shut off were paid, phone bills in danger of having service cut off, paid. There were hundreds of them, hospital, dentist, bookstore bill at the local college, birthday money for at least twenty kids, their names and dates in monthly order with their addresses with them. And toward the end of the list was Becca’s Home. Pete was putting money when she could into the account Bradley had set up for the pack businesses to donate to. And it looked as though she had been doing it for some time.

To date, Pete had given over eight thousand dollars to the account in addition to the other monies she was giving out. Sara sat there stunned, hardly able to believe what she was seeing. The dates for the contributions to Becca’s Home and the date that she had been called by Duncan were months apart. Pete had known who all of them were long before coming out to the house or meeting them in the parking lot that first day. Sara got up to find Toby.

“
Why did you show these to me? I’m impressed, beyond impressed, but I don’t understand why you’d show me something that seems so private to her.”

“
I wanted you to know she’s trustworthy. You and your friends the other day, that’s the most I have ever seen her talk to anyone, and I don’t know that I’d ever heard her laugh before. Then you come in today upset and demanding, and yeah, you demanded to see her. She is more special than any woman I’ve ever met and the most unsung hero as well. Those papers you found in there? They aren’t even a drop in the bucket of what she does around the area. When I told you she helps out, I wasn’t kidding you. She does so much for all of us. I just wanted you to know her. I’ll take her tools now, but I won’t take the money. If you want the money to go somewhere, there’s this new home she was telling me about. It’s called...let me see, ah yeah, Becca’s Place. You send them the money. She’d like that.”

Tears blurred in her eyes, Sara had never been as touched by anything as she was by the fact that these people knew about Becca’s Place and were so willing to give to it. And to give to it in the name of someone else.

“
Yes, yes, I’ll send the money to the house. They can really use all they can get, I’m sure.” Sara left knowing that if Dominic did not make this right, she might have to stake him herself.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Sara, Shade and Mel met for lunch at the local Mexican restaurant at noon that same day. Sara had just finished telling them about the whole incident with Pete and Dominic and ended with her handing the money over to Shade she had intended to give to Pete for the work she had already completed.

Shade was grateful for the money. She still had problems just spending money even though Colin had assured her that he could build her twenty houses like the one they were building for Becca, but old habits die hard, Sara knew that first hand.

“
Where is this girl now, do you know? And Dominic? Has Aaron had any luck with finding him either? You know Brent was really quiet when he came home that day. He went straight to bed without saying a word about what happened. But the next morning, he seemed fine when I dropped him off at school. I wonder why Dominic would have such an issue with Pete being his mate. She’s very beautiful, smart, generous, and willing to take him on. That right there says a lot about her fortitude. I wish that I could have seen her getting all up and personal with him,” Shade said with a grin.

Sara had wished the same thing. Duncan said that Pete did not back down at all, but had poked her finger right in Dominic’s chest as though she meant business. Sara loved that Pete could and would stand up to the jerk. She loved Dominic, but right now, she wasn’t very happy with him.

Pete was beautiful, Sara thought again. Her hair was dark brown with a short and sassy cut that spiked out all over her head. She was really tall and most of that was leg, Sara discovered when Pete had climbed the ladder yesterday. Her skin was creamy and smooth, her nose was a small button, and her cheeks were high and rosy. Her perfectly arched eyebrows were a little darker than her hair. Her eyes, when a person was privileged to see them, were polished silver. The color was a gorgeous contrast to her dark hair and light skin color. Aaron had told Sara that he had never seen anyone with eyes that color before, and that was saying a lot. Sara wondered what people had said to make Pete feel the need to wear sunglasses all the time.

Sara shifted on her seat again. She was miserable and tired. And she felt…not sick, but just something. She was startled when Mel asked her about it.

“
What’s with you? Something is wrong, what?”

She was surprised. Sara could usually keep such a tight hold on her mind and emotions, but was having a hard time concentrating on it today for some reason.

“
I’m just tired, nothing much,” Sara said. And she was too. All this moving about was exhausting her, and she decided that was it. She was doing more today. All she wanted to do was to eat and go home and take a long nap.

Suddenly, there was a disturbance at the door of the restaurant and Pete was standing there, searching the room. When her eyes landed on Sara, she started toward her. A chill ran down Sara’s back. Something was wrong, very wrong.

“
We need to go, you and me. We need to go. Right now, Mrs. MacManus, we have to go,” Pete said in way of a greeting, completely ignoring the other women.

Sara felt something twist inside of her. The babies, something was wrong with the babies.

“
Oh God, something is wrong, isn’t it?”

She watched as Pete turned to the waitress that had just taken their order and said, “Há um lugar que eu posso tomar meu amigo? Seu bebê vem agora mesmo.” Pete turned back to Sara and looked worried, even to Sara. “Anna is going to help me take you to a back room. The babies are in trouble and you need to move right now.”

~~~

“
I didn’t know you could speak Spanish. What did you tell her?” Sara was starting to babble. Pete practically had to drag her along with her. Pete let her talk. It mattered little what she was saying as long as Sara kept moving with her.

“
It wasn’t Spanish, it’s Portuguese. You’re not in a Mexican restaurant. You know that, don’t you?” Sara was moving, but not fast enough. “I asked her if there was somewhere we could go. You’re in labor.” Pete turned again to the girl hovering over her.

“
Fala inglês?” She answered that she did not speak English, but there was a lady in the kitchen who spoke both very well. Pete asked her to go and bring her to them please.

“
No, this is Mexican. I eat here all the time. I love their number two. It’s ‘Costeletas de cordeiro enchidas grelhadas com arroz marrom.’ Then we have Pão doce for dessert. I know what I eat.” Pete noticed that Sara had to stop to breathe through the pain every couple of steps now.

“
You’re eating grilled stuffed lamb chops with brown rice, and your dessert is called sweet bread. It’s Portuguese, trust me. We have to talk...well, I have to talk, and you have to shut up and not say a word.” Pete laid Sara down on the floor as she spoke to her.

“
You know you could be just a tad nicer in your requests, I think. We’re all nervous and you making demands is frankly scaring the crap out of me. You just need to tone it down a couple of notches, please,” Mel said to Pete.

Pete looked at Sara and winked. Pete didn’t care what Mel thought about her as long as she helped when she needed her to and moved when she was in her way.

“
How do we even know what you’re saying is true? And another thing, how did you just happen by? Were you at one of your ‘part-timers’ again? Why is it that you can’t get a full time job? Is it because of your attitude? No, say it isn’t so! Not you, you are so sweet and friendly—”