Page 22 of Offsides Attraction

“Need and want are two different things, Barbara. Hand them over,” Alison said, wiggling her fingers. She stuck two of the puffy sugar bombs on the end of the tongs and handed it to Harper.

“Roast these, sugar. Someone will want them.” She settled back and smiled. Alison wasn’t a witch, but she’d brought three of them into the world and Penny and her sisters loved including her and Nanna in their ritual. Alison loved reminding them that besides changing their diapers and nursing each of them past their first birthday, she’d also sat under the full moon with them, Elspeth at her side. Penny glanced at her aunt, wondering if it had been as smooth as Alison claimed.

Usually, with all-things-witchy, Alison differed to Elspeth. To Penny’s knowledge, they’d only butted heads when Harper had chosen not to go to Valley Community College. Elspeth had argued the coven needed to stay together, that their powers were tied to each other and the land. Alison had overruled her. Her daughters were people first, witches second. Her girls were in charge of their destinies, not the coven. Elspeth had argued that Alison didn’t know what she was talking about, and the effect wouldn’t be immediate, but no one had suffered, other than Elspeth. She loved Four and Alison’s children as her own, and Penny knew that she’d missed them when they’d left for college, especially her. Penny was Elspeth’s favorite. It was a prize as a child, but not as an adult. She felt responsible for her aunt’s happiness, as if she needed to be the daughter Elspeth never had.

“You okay, hon? You’re awfully quiet tonight,” Alison said, smoothing her hand over Penny’s head. She smiled at the comforting gesture and at her mom’s almost-empty glass of wine. Alison’s Georgia roots slipped out when she drank, and sometimes it only took a few sips.

“I’m fine, Mom. Just soaking it all in and letting everyone sort out Maggie. Maybe after hearing all of you tell her what I’ve told her, she’ll do something about it.”

“I hope so. Sometimes that girl is too laid-back. She needs more fire and Harper needs less.”

“What about me?” Penny rolled her head toward her mom.

“You’re perfect in that regard.”

Penny sat taller. “In what regard am I not?”

Alison chuckled. “You’re human, darling. All of us are works in progress.” Penny felt a dull ache in her chest. She’d felt very human these last few days, and she didn’t like it. She preferred Penny the Powerful, not Penny the Pathetic, and until she had the issue with Bash sorted, she was Penny the Pathetic.

“I’m going to help Barbara carry everything up to the house and then get on home to your dad.” Penny cringed, remembering their earlier discussion about her mom using her own brand of magic on Four. She watched through heavy lids as the two non-witches gathered the remaining s’more ingredients and empty cups. Nanna and Alison hugged everyone and wished them well before they left.

“Goodnight,” Elspeth called to their retreating backs and Penny felt the air shift as it always did when they morphed from aunt and nieces to coven. “Ready?” The coven joined hands and tilted their faces toward the full moon overhead. It was time.

“Are you okay?” Maggie asked as they pulled away from Thistlestone Ranch later that evening.

“Sure. Great. Why?”

“You seem off and I’ve never known you to lose track of a crystal. We could have left fifteen minutes ago if you’d checked your pocket like Harper told you to.”

“I didn’t check because it wasn’t supposed to be there.” And Harper’s not the boss of me.

“Exactly. That’s a detail you wouldn’t forget. You’re anal when it comes to cleansing and charging your stones.”

“Do you really want to discuss crystal care with me?” Mediocre Maggie was the last one who should preach. She’d go months without taking care of hers.

“No, but there’s something up with you. You’ve seemed scattered and unfocused, and you didn’t run this morning.” Penny knew that would come back to bite her. One of Maggie’s baristas was in her morning running group. Maggie nudged her shoulder. “Tell me. You’ll feel better.”

Penny huffed dramatically and loudly. “I owe Bash an apology. I said something I shouldn’t have, and I think I shattered his fragile male ego.” She should have apologized before he’d fled her office, but she’d needed the space to sort out her thoughts. Three days of sorting and she still didn’t have an answer or a plan.

She didn’t know what to make of him, and she always knew what to make of someone. He acted aloof and uncaring, but he’d seem to care about her and the letter. Bash hadn’t asked if she was okay, but he’d gone right to asking her what was wrong. He was more attuned than he let on. And he’d connected with the youth reader group, and they were a tough group to crack. Although his sports status probably predisposed the kids to like him.

“Bummer. He’s just the type of guy you usually go for.”

“Arrogant and unlikeable?”

“Hot with an expiration date. All the fun and none of the commitment.” Maggie had a point, and that kiss had been powerful enough to extinguish her gift with him. As great as the kiss was, she didn’t enjoy losing her powers to him. It worried her. While she’d been able to clearly read everyone in the last few days, what if she’d been lucky? Maybe Bash was the beginning of her end? Maybe I shouldn’t go to Europe this spring?

She planned to split her annual month-long vacation in the spring between family in Scotland and a villa in the south of France. Elspeth argued the coven needed to be near each other. No one had suffered when she and Harper had gone away to school, but maybe their youthful energy had compensated for it? Maybe as adults Elspeth was right, and they needed to be near each other.

Penny didn’t know what to do or who to ask. She didn’t want anyone to know that she’d kissed Bash or couldn’t read him anymore, not that she’d ever gotten a solid read on him, but at least she’d picked up various negative moods.

“True, but he’s a challenge,” Penny said.

“And you thrive on those. Apologize to him and get on with it.”

“Hmm.” Maggie might be on to something. Maybe Bash was a challenge sent to her? If she could push through and read him accurately, her powers might increase. Elspeth had mentioned trials and challenges in family lore, but no one had been challenged since their branch of the Buchanans settled in the United States shortly after World War I.

I have to spend time with Bash to overcome the challenge. And the more time, the better. And soon. Penny almost bounced in her seat. She had the solution. Now she needed a plan to execute it.

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