Witch Is The New Black (17 page)

“Don’t all shifters look exactly like their marks? Isn’t that the point?”

“I’ve only met a couple in my considerable lifetime, and none of ’em were as good at it as you are. Your cologne was even the same as Mr. Ass-Like-Granite. Some shifters don’t get all the facets right, you know? They screw up an eye color or some defining feature in their haste to assume an identity. So it’s easy to catch ’em in the act.”

This had explained so much. Why she’d woken up in the pantry when she’d fallen asleep in the garden. Why Eddie had been able to attempt a bank robbery and she was left the last man standing, holding the loot. She’d shifted into Eddie.

“So my next question is, if it’s like Winnie says, and your shifts are tied to extreme emotions, exactly what were you and the delicious Ridge doing in the barn? Hmmm?”

She was still putting together the loose ends. It made sense that Violet had upset her enough that she’d shift into her. It even made sense that because she and Eddie had a fight before he went into the bank that she’d shift into his form.

But Ridge? That made no sense.

“Stop giving me that look, Fee.”

“I’m a cat. I have two looks. Bored and haughty disdain.”

“No, I know you. You’re looking at me like I was doing something nefarious in the barn, and that’s absolutely not true.”

“Then what were you doing? Because this is the second time you’ve walked out of that barn and your magic’s kicked in.”

Why had a kiss set her off? “We were making plans to study. That’s it.”

“Oh the hell, Bernie. There’s more, and if you don’t wanna tell me, that’s just fine by me. But be warned, every detail counts now. We need to know the big picture.”

Running her hands over her new shirt, a cute sleeveless top in teal, she sighed. “Okay, fine. We kissed. I don’t know why that matters, but obviously it set me off. I have to learn how to control this so I stop impersonating innocent people. Though, I won’t lie, I wouldn’t mind shifting into Blake Lively for a day or so.”

“Because?”

“Two words. Ryan Reynolds. Duh.”

Fee snickered. “Duh.”

“Either way, it’s kind of just one more thing I have to learn, you know? I’m so overwhelmed with spells and types of spells and the witch lingo that I’m all witched out.”

He flopped on his back and stretched. “You’ll be okay, Bernie. I know it. Ridge will get you through this. It’s just one more thing to add to your already awesome roster. But you’re gonna be a superstar in no time flat.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Angelina Jolie.”

“What?”

“Brad Pitt. Duh.”

Bernie laughed, spritzing herself with the cheap body spray from the drugstore. “Would you like to stay here in Paris?”

“Oh, Bernie girl, I can hardly contain my excitement! Are you considering staying here with all the cowboys and cow pies? Like right here surrounded by
Field of Dreams
country?”

Hope blossomed in her chest, making her almost afraid to say it out loud. “I’m ashamed to admit this, but when Calla thought I was Ridge, she mentioned offering me a job at the center as event coordinator. First, it should be noted that when I’ve done this shifting before, I never remembered it. So remembering my conversation with Calla is an enormous step forward. Second, I like it here, Fee. I love the seniors and Winnie and Calla, and I really love the horses. Especially Orchid.”

“And you’ve taken
me
into consideration when making big life decisions?”

She crossed the room and sat on the bed, pulling her sassy familiar into her lap and scratching his chin. “Of course I have, Fee. You’re my right hand. My Robin. My macaroni. My jelly.”

“First, I’m the cheese, honey. Always. Second, well, hush my puppies, we have a home—at last.”

Excitement built in her stomach, a flutter of hope she might have found somewhere to grow some roots. “I think we just might.”

“Bet the old Ridgester will be happy to hear that.”

Her excitement waffled momentarily. “If what Calla said is true, then he’s only here to fix up the farm. He wants to go back to Dallas.”

“Then you’d better buff up your charms, B-Bop, because we need a nice man to complete our family picture.”

“I’m not buffing up anything, and I don’t need a man to feel complete. I had one for all of twenty seconds and look what happened. I robbed a bank. Besides, there’s nothing going on between me and Ridge.” Even if she wanted there to be something going on. A lot.

“That shift into his form means something, Bernie. It’s bigger than you think. If shifts are emotionally charged, your green light is on, Plum Puddin’.”

She set him on the bed and grabbed her purse from the nightstand with a scoff. “I have to go or I’m going to be late.”

“You can run, but you can’t hide. Bernie likes The Ridge-a-nator!”

“See you later, Fee!” she called out as she popped open her bedroom door and headed down the stairs.

Stopping at the entryway, she decided to poke her head in on Winnie and her daughter Lola. Their heads bent together as they looked at a gardening magazine made Bernie smile. Ben was tinkering with something and chatting with his son in the kitchen while soft classical music played and Benny Junior sat in his high chair, eating Cheerios, his pudgy hands driving them into his mouth.

An enormous glass vase with blue and white hydrangeas drooping down the sides held some of the latest bounty from the garden, and Winnie’s familiar, a Cabbage Patch doll named Icabod, sat propped up against it on the table in front of them, three bows crookedly tied in his tufts of hair.

“’Lo, Bernie. Lookin’ sharp tonight,” Icabod said.

She was still trying to keep it together where this doll was concerned. Sure, she had a cat that talked, but a doll? Still, Icabod was always friendly, and she was, after all, learning to overcome her fears. What was one more creepy doll fear?

Bernie grinned in his general direction, wondering how he could see her, but opting not to ask. Some magical things were just better left alone. “Thanks, Icabod.”

Lola grinned up at her. “You look pretty, Miss Bernie. I like that shirt a lot better than the one with all the poofy birds on it. Do you want me to put a ribbon in your hair to match it?”

“Give that serious thought, Bernie,” Icabod crowed.

“Thank you, Lola,” she said on a laugh, ruffling her hair. “And as much as I wish I could, because I love bows almost as much as Fee, I’ll be late meeting my study partner. Can I get a rain check?”

Lola bobbed her head. “Uh-huh. We’re looking at hy-drain-gee-ass. See?” She pointed to the picture of a fluffy blue bush of flowers. “Aren’t they pretty?”

“Hydrangeas,” Winnie corrected with a chuckle and a roll of her eyes.

“Very pretty, Lola. I see somebody lost a tooth, huh?”

Lola nodded, hopping up on the chair. Using her index fingers, she stretched her mouth open so Bernie could see inside, her excitement visible in her big dark eyes. “Uh-huh. I lost it at school today. I’m almost a dult now.”

Winnie clucked her tongue, her eyes amused. “An
adult
, and why don’t you tell Miss Bernie just how you lost that tooth, Lola-Falola.”

Lola’s slight shoulders slumped in her pink pajamas. “I was hanging upside down in the tree at school and I fell.”

“And why were you hanging upside down in the tree at school, devilish one?” Winnie asked.

“’Cus stupid Alan Finster dared me to,” she mumbled, avoiding Winnie’s eyes.

Winnie sighed and shook her head. “Now, you mind your manners. Alan can dare all he wants. It’s
you
who has to use all of your willpower and not accept the dare. You know you’re not supposed to be up in the tree at school, young lady.”

Bernie fought a chuckle and instead peered into Lola’s mouth and made a very serious face. “Wow. How does it feel to be so grown up in just one day?”

She shrugged her shoulders and made a pouty face. “Not as good as I thought. I got time out and Miss Marjorie told Mommy. But I got my fingers crossed the tooth fairy will still come.”

“Not on my watch,” Winnie muttered, dropping a kiss to the top of Lola’s head before rising and pointing toward the front door and following Bernie out of the kitchen. “Between you and me, he’s a filthy animal. Total misogynistic jackhole.”

Bernie cocked her head, fighting her typical disbelief when she heard stories of this ilk. “
He’s real
?”

“Very. Ran into him in a bar in Istanbul once. Wanted to take his collection of teeth and shove them down his throat.”

Bernie laughed with a wince. “This world takes some getting used to.”

“Indeed it does, and speaking of worlds, Baba seems to have fallen off the edge of it. But I’ve got a call in to her about this Eddie, Now, I need her approval before I give you the go ahead, but once she hears what really happened that day, I know she’s going to make you a free woman. Also, I’ve asked around about this Doris, and no one’s seen her since that night at bingo.”

“So she wasn’t a figment of my imagination. That’s a small measure of relief.”

“Nope. She exists. Ridge saw her, and so did Flora, and Calla’s grandfather Ezra. Now I want to know what she wants with you. If you don’t mind, I’ve asked Daphne to maybe poke at her husband Fate and see what we can see. He’s not supposed to reveal future instances, but I can’t see why he would mind looking into past occurrences. There has to be a clue somewhere along the way that explains this, Bernie. I damn well intend to find out what that is.”

Bernie swallowed hard, unable to express her gratitude for Winnie in words. She gripped Winnie’s arm, but nothing came out.

Winnie pulled her into a quick hug scented with lemon and roses before letting her go. “You don’t have to say a word, Just Bernie. But promise me you’ll be very careful when someone’s not with you, okay? I know you’re beginning to get the hang of your powers, but there’s still so much more we need to get through, understand? Your powers are so oddly complex that none of us can pinpoint their origins.”

Bernie held up her right hand. “Promise. Speaking of powers, I have a date with a very important book of spells. Can I borrow the car, please?”

“A date, huh? Freudian slip?” she asked with a wicked grin, handing Winnie the keys from the basket on the table by the front door.

“I don’t know who Freudian is. Is he cute?”

Winnie sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine. Don’t tell me anything. But as far as I’m concerned, you’re a free agent. We just need Baba to sign off and then you can
not
date the tantalizing Ridge Donovan all you like.”

Her insecurities began to surface. “I don’t think he’s interested in dating me. Calla says he’s going back to Dallas once the farm’s handled. Plus, we’ve spent many nights studying those dusty books and he hasn’t made a single pass at me.”

“Have you made a pass at
him
?”

Horror widened her eyes. “No! He’s my—”

“Your boss. Yeah, yeah. Listen, did it ever occur to you that he’s not making passes because you’re so hung up on this order of things? And don’t tell me he’s not interested. His eyes gobble you right up whenever you’re not looking. Even when you wear that stab-to-my-eyeballs yellow velour tracksuit. Ridge is just following your cues, and allowing you your boundaries. Which makes him wildly hot and crazy patient. So here’s a thought, Rule Follower. Lighten up on all the regulations and eggshells and whatever else has you so hung up, and just relax, Bernie. Move forward. Go for what you want. Then don’t come home until morning. I’ll be here with Benny Junior tacked to my hip for support during your walk of shame.”

Bernie took a deep, shaky breath before saying, “I’m going to give that some thought. Thanks, Winnie.”

Winnie winked her fringed eye. “You bet, and by the way, you look gorgeous tonight. I love that color on you.” Then she waved a dismissive hand. “Now off! Go make goo-goo eyes at Ridge.”

With a laugh, she headed out the door and toward the Pacer. As she climbed inside, she pressed the button to turn on her favorite French GPS shotgun.

“
Bonjour, Bernieee
! I am so pleased to see you again! Where shall we go tonight?”

“Ridge Donovan’s.” Her heart sped up simply saying his name.

“Ooo la la, Bernieee! Love is in ze air,
oui
?”

Smiling, she shook her head at just how out of the ordinary her life had become. Talking cats and devastation spells, Cabbage Patch dolls and disappearing tractors—who outside of this town would believe her if she told them what she’d encountered?

But she was finding she didn’t really care, because these were the things that were becoming comfortable for her. The things she wanted in her life. She wanted them so much, she almost didn’t care that she’d come about them by way of the pokey.

She almost didn’t care how she’d become a witch.

She was just beginning to taste what living a real life was about, and she didn’t want to look back.

So tonight was going to be about looking forward.

Maybe even forward toward Ridge.

As she pulled into his driveway, Bernie experienced a surge of pure confidence.

Tonight would be the night she’d test the waters of the pool of Ridge.

Test them by taking a chance and actually telling him how she was feeling.

Tonight, she was going to go get her man.

Grrrrr!

Chapter 12

W
hen Ridge opened the door, his tall frame filling it up, some of her confidence waffled. If he wasn’t so damned good-looking, if his jeans didn’t fit him like a glove, if his buttoned-up shirt wasn’t so tapered against his lean waist and opened at his bronzed throat, she might not have wavered.

If…

But there he was, as smokin’ hot as always, making her knees tremble on the way up the front porch stairs, and she damn well resented it. No one was knocking her off her game tonight. Tonight, she was going to make a move.

He wasn’t wearing his Stetson, and when he didn’t wear it, but instead pulled his thick chocolate hair back in a short ponytail, she wanted to drive her fingers through the silky locks.