Sex and the Psychic Witch (13 page)

Chapter Twenty-five

KING figured that he and Regina sat on that sofa for a couple of hours at least—her beside him, after his leg cramped—his arm around her, catching up on the years he’d missed: the horror of being potty trained by a maniac, her first day of nursery school—the only kid without a mother in tow. The pigtail years, her first visit from the tooth fairy, the year she stopped believing in Santa Claus, her first crush, her last . . . and the brutal end of her childhood.

King sighed. “Regina, I’m gonna tell you something.”

“Reggie,” she said.

“Right. This is the thing. You mistook sex for love, and for a love-starved teen, that’s
really
easy to do. I know, because I made the same mistake. But as of this minute, we’re going to put our mistakes, all of them, behind us, okay? But we’re not going to forget that a lot of good came from them. You, for one, and Jake for another.”

“You’re like the best dad ever.”

“I’m like the worst dad ever, but I’ll change, I promise. I need you to forgive me, Regina.”

“Reggie. And there’s nothing to forgive.”

“Are you kidding me? At the least, I should have sicced my lawyers on the case, once I hired lawyers. At the most, when my company took off, I should have stormed Malibu to prove I could be a good father. I deserved visitation rights.”

“Well, when you put it that way . . . I forgive you.”

King stroked her hair the way she’d stroked Jake’s, loving her little-girl head on his shoulder. “I’ll see my lawyer tomorrow,” he said. “Make us a legal family and tie us up in a big
blue
bow.”
No spells or rituals required,
he thought.

She smiled. “Speaking of blue, I need to make sure Jake’s all right.” She got up, and King did, too, but as they left the formal parlor, he put an arm around her shoulder. “Harmony’s taking good care of him, I’m sure.”

“Is she your . . . significant other?”

“No, she works here. Kind of a girl Friday, pain in the neck type.”

“But you’re friends?”

“Yes, we are.”

“Just friends?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet. Guess I’m not as mature as you.” He winked.

Regina laughed, a great sound. He’d make it happen often. By God, he would.

They found Harmony and Jake asleep on Harmony’s bed, both with a fresh-washed look and wearing literal-statement tees. God knew what notions the hellcat had already put in the boy’s head. He only hoped she hadn’t read him his shirt. Harmony slept facing Jake, three kittens between them.

“Do you have luggage?” he asked Regina.

She shook her head. “The clothes on our backs and a diaper bag.”

“No problem.” King rummaged through Harmony’s dresser for a pair of shorts and a tee. “Candy Fixes Everything,” he read before handing her the shirt. “I think that’s Harmony’s mantra. Bathroom’s that way. The tub has jets, and Harmony came with a whole suitcase of scented bath stuff; I kid you not. Use whatever you find. There’s a box of new toothbrushes in the closet.”

“I’ve gone to heaven.”

“Hardly. We sleep dorm-style, but I’ll fix that. For tonight, climb in with Harmony and Jake. It’s an extraordinarily comfortable king-sized bed. If you need anything, I’ve got the next cot over. Do you think you’ll be all right in a strange place?”

“Dad, you don’t know from strange, and this won’t be the first time I share a bed with a woman I don’t know, but it’ll be the nicest bed and the nicest woman.” She patted his arm as if to console
him
.

“This place,”
she said. “It’s a castle. Paxton Castle.” She grinned. “My imaginary home at the end of the rainbow . . . come true. I feel as if I’ve clicked my ruby heels and made it back from Oz.”

While Regina was in the bathroom, King sat on a chair and watched Harmony and Jake sleep. He had new priorities: a family. Hadn’t the witch spelled them a family this afternoon? Nonsense. Regina had been traveling for a year.

Wow, he had a daughter and a grandson. A bright grandson . . . who would not be going off to some boarding school for gifted children. They’d find a school near home. Well, Regina would. He was only the grandfather. Her call, but she didn’t seem to have Belinda’s overpriced Holly-wood ideas, thank God, so they should get along fine.

Regina came out of the bathroom looking like a little girl, kissed him on the cheek, a moment he’d cherish, and she climbed into bed. Jake turned into her arms. “Mama,” he sighed. No sooner had Regina fallen asleep than Harmony climbed out of bed, took his hand, and led him to the musty sitting room next door.

On a Victorian sofa that had seen better days, she curled into him. “Tell me what happened, Grampa.”

“I’m kinda tired, Hellcat.”

“I’m kinda freaked, Frosty.”

King sighed, bowing to the inevitable. His walls were cracked anyway. “To start with, you have to understand that at military school, I was taught control and discipline, and I ate it up.”

“Because control was safer than getting kicked in the emotions?”

He looked down at her and put his chin on her head. “Smart-mouth witch. You’re too wise for you lemon bikinis.”

“Focus, Paxton.”

“Okay. Discipline and control: I got straight A’s for that, if for nothing else. But my control slipped once. Junior year. I got a gold-digging military-school groupie pregnant—a spoiled princess, it turned out, who wanted her own castle. The consequences, however, were permanent. I got expelled and became a lousy husband. Two weeks later, we split. In the divorce, I lost my unborn child and a lifetime of visitation rights, not to mention half my trust fund, and enough monthly support for an army.”

“So you won’t slip again,” Harmony said.

“No, I won’t. Not in this lifetime. I don’t make the same mistake twice. I’m the kind who gets married once in a blue moon, so it’ll never happen again. I won’t let my emotions rule me . . . but my sexual appetite, that’s another story. You understand where I’m coming from, right?”

“In every respect, and who can blame you?”

“I blame myself for Regina’s sorry life, and, in some obscure way, for letting you down. Still friends?”

She cuffed him. “Sure.”

He caught her gaze. “Can we go to bed now?”

“With a brilliant and impressionable two-year-old in the house? Not together. Not anymore.”

King felt both a sense of pride and loss. He released his breath. “Probably best.”

Harmony toyed with his earlobe. “Did you say there was a parlor car in the train shed?”

King sighed. “Let’s get some sleep.”

She patted his chest. “Tomorrow, the parlor car.”

“We forgot the bananas,” he said.

She made swirls in the fabric of his shirt. “Think we should go back for them? That was some hot tub.”

“I was thinking of a private elevator to get down there. Nobody would know it’s there but us.”

She fanned herself. “I’m getting hot just thinking about it.”

“That’s my sexpot.”

“Yours? Am I?”

“Until the castle is restored. You keep the wind quiet, remember? I’m worried the wind’ll frighten Jake. I keep imagining him in the toy room.”

Harmony shuddered. “You finally believe she’s dangerous?”

“I have marginal proof. A bayonet wound in my ass that’s throbbing without the padded bandage I lost in the hot spring, and blue toes from a bruising chandelier. Yeah, she could be dangerous.”

“We didn’t get a chance to finish our discussion,” Harmony said. “We were rescued too soon. But have no fear, I’m hatching a plan to . . .” She looked around as if the walls, or ghosts, had ears. “My plan is to . . . make the wind happy,” she whispered.

“Sounds as witchy as you are.”

“You got that right.”

“You’re trying to scare me, again.”

“You think that’s scary? Consider this: We shared something of ourselves with each other today—besides sex—and we learned that neither of us felt wanted as children. Reggie spent the last three years feeling unwanted.”

“
I
damned well want her.”

“That’s beside the point, and damned if you being a good dad isn’t a turn-on, but I’m trying to paint you a picture here. As the unexpected child of a . . . child, Jake must have started life unwanted, if only for a few panicky days or months. You see where I’m going with this?”

“Uh, no, sorry. I was, er, reading your breasts again, and I got distracted. Playtime Is Never Over. Is that a hint?”

“I didn’t want to scar your daughter and grandson.”

“Thanks. What does Jake’s shirt say?”

“I Brake for Unicorns. I got it in honor of my sister Vickie. Long story, very romantic, but the shirt’s a commentary on how she found her Scot. Can we get back to the subject at hand?”

“Which is?” King kissed her head. “You smell of peppermint again.”

“So does your grandson. We took a shower together.”

“Lucky son of a . . . Paxton.”

“Focus, King. I know you short-circuited today, but try, please. The connection is being
unwanted
—you, me, Reggie, Jake—we all have that in common, and for some karmic reason, we’re together in an
unwanted
castle.”

“I never said I didn’t want the castle. I just don’t want the headaches that come with it, the wind included.”

“So you
do
want the castle?”

“In a way. My ex wants it, too, but that doesn’t mean she’s getting it. You know, my ex reminds me of Gussie in a lot of ways: controlling, self-centered, mean-spirited. The problem, as I see it, is that Regina considers the castle her home, at the end of the blooming rainbow, her dream come true.”

“Another reason you shouldn’t sell. You have a family, King. Exactly what you wanted. Start having meals in the kitchen. Redo a family wing. Jake needs structure. Routine. It wouldn’t hurt your daughter any, either.”

“Now wait a minute.”

“Fatherhood’s a tough job,
if
you do it right. Are you ready to tell Reggie that her home’s up for grabs, that after a year of trekking across the country with a baby in tow, she
isn’t
home?”

“You really piss me off, Cartwright.”

“I think we’ve established that. But I turn you on, too.” Harmony ran her sensuous fingers through his hair as she nudged his head down to hers, until their mouths nearly touched, anticipation running to all his ready parts.

“Playtime is never over,” she whispered.

“Grampa, I can’t sleep.”

Chapter Twenty-six

HARMONY got off King’s lap and put Jake there. “His little feet are cold,” she said. “I’ll get some socks.”

When she got back, she put her socks on the boy and cuffed them at his knees, then she covered him with a blanket. “Your grampa will take good care of you.” She kissed both heads. “Night night, you two.”

Harmony leaned on the wall by the sitting room door to eavesdrop on Brass Ass Paxton, the most unlikely grandfather in the world.

“Sing me a song, Grampa,” Jake said with a sleepy voice, and King stumbled his way into an amazing rendition of “Puff, the Magic Dragon.”

A raging case of the warm fuzzies overcame her as she made her way to bed, and she realized that several new motives had been added to her psychic mandate. She
definitely
needed to send Gussie on her peaceful way. Now more than ever, she needed to encourage King to keep the castle, which would help him keep his family. Never mind that she wanted to belong to that family.

But how was she supposed to do all that? What else did she have to accomplish here? There was more, she knew, and where did the ring fit in? Unless the ring had already fulfilled its purpose by getting her in the door. King said it made him see her in a new light. Harmony got into bed, and Regina sat up and called Jake.

“He’s okay, Reggie. Your father’s singing him to sleep in the next room. They need some one-on-one time. They’re enjoying it.” Harmony figured that only selflessness would make a girl as responsible Reggie relax, and sure enough, she went back to sleep.

Overwhelmed by her known and unknown goals, Harmony guessed it was time to call for help. Telepathically, she called her sisters.

 
Harmony woke to a cheerful, “Good morning, Tiger,” but King wasn’t talking to her. He was trying to keep his grandson from stepping on her face in his rush to get to his grandfather.

“Get up, Sunshine,” he said looking down at her. “Breakfast in the kitchen in half an hour. Regina’s already showered and helping Gilda cook.”

“Reggie,” Harmony said. “She wants you to call her Reggie.”

“Right. I gave her another of your shirts and shorts. She fell in love with Will Work for Shoes.”

“Hey, your daughter’s got good taste. That’s one of my faves.”

King rolled his eyes. “Do you have one for Sleepy here? Something that won’t haunt him in his teenage years?”

Harmony went to her drawer and pulled out her Boys R Us shirt. “How’s this?” They pulled it over Jake’s head as the boy stood on her bed. “Perfect, hey? I have red socks to go with it. Give me those cute toes,” she coaxed as she put her socks on him. She nudged King. “When are you gonna get them some clothes?”

King caught Jake in his arms. “I got their sizes from Regina last night. Aiden and Morgan hadn’t left. They’re shopping on the way here.”

“Do you have any idea how much a kid this size needs?”

“I
need
Mama,” Jake said.

“No putting one over on you, my boy. Let’s go find Mama, then.”

“Hey,” Harmony called. “I missed my morning snuggle.”

King stopped. “I thought about that when I woke up.”

“Hard to ignore, was it?”

“After yesterday? Do you doubt it?”

When Harmony sat down to breakfast, she had a feeling of déjà vu, as if she’d done it a hundred times, but that was wishful—not psychic—thinking.

Reggie hooted when she saw Harmony’s shirt. “Will Work for Vintage Clothes! They’re the best. I love vintage.”

“Then you’re in the right place.” Harmony turned to King. “Can she help me search?”

“Sure, but you have to let her keep whatever she wants.”

“That’s fair, though I’m thinking she’ll want vintage 1900s not 1800s.”

Reggie looked from one to the other. “What are you talking about?”

Harmony accepted a plate of ham and eggs from Gilda. “I’m the buyer for my family’s vintage clothing shop, here harvesting vintage clothes. Your dad says you get first choice. I’ve found some ancient stuff.”

“Yuck. No, I want old stuff from when you were young, Dad.”

“Ouch!” he said, throwing his napkin in his plate.

Tears filled Reggie’s eyes. “I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

“Cupcake,” he said squeezing her shoulder. “I was kidding. If you did upset me, I’d still love you. You’d still have a home with me.”

Reggie looked up at him. “Really?”

“That wasn’t how it worked in your world, was it Regina?” he asked.

“Okay, Dad, you love me no matter what, so here’s the litmus test. My name is Reggie. I hate the name Regina. Please call me Reggie.”

“Done.” He kissed her, bent to kiss Harmony, realized his mistake, and swept awkwardly by her to kiss Jake. “I’m seeing my lawyer. Be back later.”

“Is he the most reasonable man on earth or what?”

“What!” Gilda and Harmony said together.

Harmony laughed. “He’s the most
unreasonable
.”

Gilda laughed. “You got that right.”

“Come on, Reggie.” Harmony washed Jake’s face. “Let’s go find some seventies vintage.”

Harmony took Reggie to a newer wing. “I think the closet in this room might have what you’re looking for. It was decorated around the time your father was born here.”

“Daddy was born here? Cool. Now I love it even more.”

Harmony could practically feel the winds of change. “He’ll be real happy to hear that.”

Twin beds wore flowered orange, yellow, and lime coverlets. A white walk-in closet took up one wall, clothes racks sharing space with drawers and shelves. They found everything their retro hearts could desire. Punk and flower child outfits, micros, minis, and maxis, bell bottoms, caftans, jumpsuits, and pantsuits, some in psychedelic colors.

Open shelves above the clothes held shoes of every style, height, and color. Seeing them, Reggie did a retro disco happy dance that made Harmony and Jake laugh. She grabbed the ladder.

“Wait!” Harmony said. “Let’s make sure it’s safe first.”

Reggie backed away as if she’d been slapped.

“Regg. I know you became a woman in the ninth grade, but you missed some life lessons. I didn’t want you to get hurt. You didn’t do anything wrong. If you did, your dad might dislike what you did, but he’d never dislike you.”

“Thanks,” Reggie said, lunging in for a hug but pulling back.

“Oh come here,” Harmony said. “I want the hug.” It was a strong hug. Warm. Friendly. “I’ll check the ladder, then you can go up.”

Harmony moved the ladder along its rail, and hung from every rung. “Okay, go for it.”

Reggie climbed to the top and started pulling out shoes.

Harmony went to play with Jake on the floor. When a chill hit the room, she threw a blanket around Jake. When she turned to Reggie, the ladder was trembling.

It started tipping away from the wall, and Reggie dropped a pair of shoes so she could hold on. “Push it forward with your body,” Harmony shouted.

If the ladder kept falling away from the wall, Reggie was gonna hit the floor and break her back.