Charmed Spirits (5 page)

“Late?
You didn’t even know I was coming!”

She
shrugged. “Not my problem. So what do you say?”

He
let out a breath, and Jordan bit back her laughter.

“Fine,
whatever.” He stomped inside, and she and Matt broke down.

Tears
slid down her cheeks and her side ached, but that moment was one of the best
she’d had in forever. It was all because of the Coopers. How on earth was she
supposed to leave again?

Chapter 4

Jordan
closed her eyes and focused inward, her body swaying back and forth in rhythm with
the wind music she’d put on her iPod. She sat cross-legged on her grandmother’s
living room floor; she couldn’t think of it as her place. It’d been a month
since she’d been in town, and yet, it still didn’t feel like home, though Matt
and his brothers helped.

They
were making it that much harder for her to leave again; that seemed to be their
goal. If she were honest with herself, she didn’t mind as much as she should.

She
shook her head. Damn, she needed to stop thinking about the Coopers, more
specifically Matt. They drove her to distraction, and she needed to focus on
her meditation. She took a deep breath, her body slowly returning to that slow motion
that ebbed with the minuscule vibrations of the earth.

This
is why she loved being a witch. She didn’t dance naked in the moonlight—though
she remembered that Matt has always wanted her to try it. She didn’t paint her
face green and cackle at passing schoolchildren—even though it was tempting.
No, she was a witch in the true sense of the word. She belonged to Mother Nature,
and she could feel the connection to her surroundings sprouting like youngling seeds
waiting for the sun.

She
stretched her arms above her head, her palms cupped, bringing the energy to
her. It wrapped itself around her arms, trailing down her body like tendrils of
light. She hummed as the intensity of the light soaked into her skin and
dissolved.

Yes,
this was why she loved being a witch.

Peace.

She
lowered her arms, took a deep breath, and opened her eyes. God, that felt
better. She rolled her shoulders and stood in one fluid motion. She’d needed
that. The tension in the past month had depleted her resources. Though some
people opened their arms to her, some people in town had welcomed her with cool
smiles while others openly turned their backs on her. Though she shouldn’t have
expected anything else. These were the same people who had ridiculed her as a
small child and had sided with the enemy…

She
shook her head. It wasn’t time to think about that. In fact, it was
never
time to think about that.

It
wasn’t all that bad. She had the Coopers, though she really only saw Tyler,
Justin, and Matt. Bray was always busy in the mechanic shop, which he owned,
since it was the only one around for five counties and also serviced the
ranching and farming equipment. And Jackson… Well, Jackson was Jackson, distant,
cool, and a little—no, a lot—intimidating. But he’d held her close when she’d
seen him on the street and whispered welcome back before he’d walked away as if
it hadn’t happened. He’d been the big brother she’d always wished she’d had.

Oh,
and there was Abigail, a new friend that she’d clung to. She’d babysat the
woman in high school and now she was a stunning, if not alarmingly shy,
twenty-two-year-old school teacher. Jordan had always liked her, though they
were too different in age when they were younger to really hang out. Now, that
seven-year age gap wasn’t so much of a problem, and Abby seemed to have adopted
her.

Jordan
laughed to herself as she walked to her makeshift office. The little, curvy
woman was a force to be reckoned with, though no one realized it behind her
quiet demeanor. Well, quiet to everyone else. As soon as Abby lost her shield,
she was a little chatterbox, and Jordan loved her to death.

Jordan
sank into her grandmother’s leather chair, which had survived the vandalism,
and unlocked the bottom desk drawer with a key that had been around her neck
since she could remember. She lifted the ancient book from its hiding place and
set it carefully on the desk before returning the key to her necklace. Each
family member wore a similar necklace, though now she was the last Cross. No
matter how many keys though, there was just one book.

Her
magic book.

Magic
floated off the cover in an array of colored swirls and sparkles. She knew no
one else could see the colors unless they were magically inclined, though she
didn’t quite know what else was out there. For all she knew, she was the only
true witch out there. Except for the occasional ghost, she’d never seen
anything else. That didn’t mean they didn’t exist though. Jordan always hoped
they did. It would be nice to not be so alone.

She
shook her head at her melancholy thoughts. This was not the time for that. Her
family’s magic book, seeping with generations of knowledge and power, sat
before her. She should be happy for freak’s sake.

Every
night, after Matt, and sometimes Justin and Tyler, left for the day, she’d tidy
up and come to the office to read the texts. She’d left the book here when
she’d run from town. She knew the only reason it hadn’t been damaged or stolen
while she’d been gone was because of magic. But now it was hers in truth. Her
grandmother had been a witch but only possessed a small amount of magic that
she used in herbs or to heal the occasional cut and scrape on her and Matt.
He’d always been fascinated with it…and so had she.

She
hadn’t tried any of the spells, and she wasn’t sure she was going to. The last
time she had…well, it hadn’t turned out well.

A
knock on the door saved her from having to relive the memoires that she’d
worked so hard on burying deep down. She quickly locked up the book and went to
the door.

Abby
stood on the other side, a hesitant smile on her face, as if she wasn’t quite
sure of her welcome.

“Hey,
hon!” Jor waved her friend in and smiled. She was doing her best to instill
some confidence in the smaller woman, but sometimes it was as if she was trying
for nothing.

“Hi,
Jordan,” Abby said, her long brown hair down behind her shoulders and flowing
in the wind. Abby was around half a foot shorter than Jordan’s five-nine but a
few pounds heavier. It wasn’t as though she were overweight; it was just that
having breasts and hips such as hers tended to distribute differently on such a
small frame. To Jordan, Abby’s full curves looked pin-up worthy, but to
Abby—and others—she looked heavy, unattractive, and stuffed in her clothes. The
witch in her wanted to kick some ass on that one, but she didn’t know if it
would do any good.

“Can
I get you anything to drink?”

Abby
shook her head and wrung her hands. “No, I’m okay. Well, actually, I came here
to see if you wanted to get lunch.” She smiled, and Jordan wanted to weep at
the beauty.

Really,
how stupid were the people in this town? This woman was gorgeous, but Jordan
was pretty sure Abby had never been on a date in her life. Asshats.

“I’m
starving so that sounds great. But first I need to do some work on the house.”

“Oh,
okay, I can help if you want.”

“Really?”

Abby
shrugged then tugged on her lip. “Sure, I don’t mind.”

Jordan
pulled the other woman into the room, and once Abby was out of her jacket, they
got to work on the walls. They had to steam off the old wallpaper, and then scrape
whatever wouldn’t come off right away. She couldn’t wait to put a fresh coat of
paint on the walls to see what it looked like.

Though
she couldn’t wait to leave when she had first arrived, she had been drawn back
to Holiday. People like the Coopers, Abby, and Mr. Clancy made her feel like
the town wasn’t that bad. Abby had met up with her at the general store one day
and hugged her in welcome, they’d been attached ever since. Maybe everything
wasn’t as bad as she thought. Then Stacey and Prescott’s face came back,
filling her vision and she shuddered. Maybe not.

After
another hour of hard work, Jordan stood back. “Okay, you ready to eat?”

Abby
bit her lip, and Jordan took mercy on the poor woman and grabbed her coat. The
October air had cooled dramatically in the past week or so. Halloween was just
around the corner and it looked like it would be a cool one this year.

They
chatted about their days as they walked to the diner, the air taking on a
biting chill as they got closer. They could have driven, but it was a close
enough walk that she didn’t want to deal with it. Plus, she didn’t like leaving
her Mustang out on the street where anyone could see it. She didn’t trust most
people not to do something to her baby when she was away from it.

The
diner wasn’t too crowded when they got through the door, so she directed Abby
to a booth in the corner where they could hide if needed. Even though it grated
on her that she even had to think about that crap, she’d rather not make a
scene. Again.

They
took off their coats and sank into the bench cushions.

“So,
what do you feel like eating today?” Abby asked.

“Anything
edible, but nothing cold.”

Abby
laughed. “I thought you lived in New York. It’s cold back East too, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,
but not like this and not in freaking October. I swear the wind is leaching all
the energy from my bones every time it blows.”

“Weakling,”
Abby teased in a rare moment of gumption.

Jordan
mock-scowled. “You’ll pay for that remark.”

“Ooh,
I’m so scared.”

“You
should be.”

“You
wouldn’t hurt a fly, Jordan Cross. I don’t care what people say; you’re a good
person.” Abby leveled her gaze and lowered her voice. “I know you’re a witch,
and I’m okay with it. Be yourself. Someone should.”

Jordan
fought off tears and gripped Abby’s hand. “Thank you.”

“I
like you; it’s not hard to.”

“Tell
that to everyone else.”

“I
would if they’d listen. But most people don’t seem to know I’m alive.”

“Then
stuff ’em.”

“Good
attitude.”

Jordan’s
seat faced the door so she could see precisely the moment when Stacey St. James
walked through the door on the arm of…Matt.

She
shouldn’t be feeling the stabbing pain in her chest as it scraped its razor
sharp claws around her heart. She bit her lip and blinked rapidly.

“Jordan?
What is it?” Abby turned in her seat, and her shoulders lowered. “Oh. You know
they aren’t together, right? Stacey’s tried for so long, but Matt won’t hear of
it. I don’t know why he’s here with her this afternoon, but it’s not what you
think.”

“It’s
not my business what Matt and Stacey do,” she whispered, though she’d tried to
sound steady and firm.

“It
should be.”

“Drop
it, Abby.”

Abby
tiled her head and gave a Jordan a look that bordered too much on the side of
pity for her taste. “Okay.”

“So,
like I was telling Matt, it really all depends on the dress.” Stacey’s voice
carried over the small diner, and Jordan resisted the urge to pick up her fork
and stab the bitch. Matt had locked his jaw and was trying to extricate himself
from her evil clutches. Good man.

Allison,
the harried waitress, nodded. “That’s great. Do you two want a table? You can
seat yourselves.” With that, she hurried over to Jordan and Abby’s table. When
she gave an eye roll once out of Stacey’s sight, Allison cemented herself as
one of Jordan’s new favorite people.

“Hey,
guys, sorry it took me so long to get over here,” Ally said as she held her
hand on her hip and tried not to smile.

“It’s
okay; I know sometimes it takes a while to get through….people,” Jordan teased,
and Ally’s eyes danced.

“You
have no idea.” Ally laughed, her auburn hair slowly falling out of its wayward
bun.

“How
are your kids, Ally?” Abby asked, and Ally’s smile brightened and her vivid
green eyes sparkled.

“Oh,
they’re amazing. Aiden is getting so big. I think he’s taller than me now, and
he’s twelve! And Cameron is getting ready for a Halloween play at school. He
gets to be the Grim Reaper, so he’s excited because he gets to wear the hood. That
way he thinks no one will see him if he messes up. And Lacy is loud as ever,
but she’s my baby.” Ally laughed than shook her head. “Look at me go on. Sorry
about that. I just love my babies and talk about them as much as I can.”

Jordan had met Ally while
volunteering at the school to help with the art department. Jordan had been
bored and wanted to make sure she gave back and did something with the community.
It made no sense just to sit around and let people look down on her, she was
stronger than that. The others in town still looked at her like she was a witch
and below them, but gradually, maybe she could change that. If not, she had to
get over how people thought of her.