Page 96 of Shadow Witch

Drucinda frowned as she massaged her temples. “Then you’re missing your maid of honor when you walk down that aisle, hopefully toward Devon.”

Paige’s stomach twisted at the words. “But–“

“We can look for Dewey after the ceremony if we must. You cannot miss that wedding.”

Paige’s lips turned down at the corners. She had to find her best friend.

Drucinda stopped and twisted to face her. “Look, Paige, we get one shot at that compass. Dominic won’t even give it to me, his son’s bestie for centuries. If we have any hope of finding Reed, we need it.”

Paige studied the woman’s dark eyes, noting the concern in them for the first time. “Right, I know…I just…”

“Look, I like Dewey, too. But we have to prioritize. There is no hope for Reed if we don’t get that compass. Once we have that, we can split our efforts if we must.”

“I…this is an impossible choice, it seems like,” Paige said as they ducked into the temple. The warmth of the sun disappeared, sending a shiver down Paige’s spine.

“I know. But as a librarian, you will often face impossible choices. This will hone your skills at least.”

Paige wrapped her arms around her midriff as a wave of emotions poured through her, mixing upset with determination. “I’m so close to finding my mom, but…I feel like I’m abandoning Dewey to do it.”

“We haven’t abandoned him yet. He may very well be in the last location. Let’s do a quick search here and see if there are any clues.”

Paige blinked away the tears that had formed in her eyes as nodded. “Right. We may not even need to worry about this. Hopefully, we’ll just find Dewey, and then I’ll marry Devon, and we’ll find my mom, and we’ll live happily ever after.”

Drucinda shot her a glance, her face screwed up. “This isn’t a book.”

“No,” Paige said with a sigh. “It’s not.”

Her eyes filled with tears again, one escaping to stain her cheek. “I bet Dewey wrote a happily ever after in his book about me and Devon. Poor guy. He was working so hard on that book, and I gave him so much grief over it. And now, I’d give anything to have him back. I don’t even care if he puts my face on the cover and the entire world reads a smutty story about me and Devon.”

Drucinda slowed to a stop and stared at her.

“When we find him, I’m going to tell him it’s okay to use my name. And we’ll set up a photoshoot. Maybe he can even use some of our wedding pictures,” Paige said as she continued to sob. “I’m not going to fuss anymore about it.”

She wiped at her cheeks and sniffled.

“Are you quite finished?”

“Huh?”

“Are you finished with your sobbing? I’m not good at this sort of thing. You know…buck up or whatever, and let’s keep going.”

Paige sucked in a shaky breath. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to break down, I just…”

Her face pinched again as fresh tears threatened.

Drucinda winced and took a few tentative steps closer. She patted Paige’s shoulder with a forced smile that made her look like a Stepford Wife. “There, there. It’ll be all right.”

Paige creased her forehead, raising her gaze to Drucinda. “You’re really awful at this.”

“I told you I wasn’t good at these things. I don’t cry often…I don’t cry ever. I simply move on with life.”

“Really? You seem upset about my mom. I thought maybe…you had emotions.”

“Certainly, I do. But I don’t go about carrying on and wailing about them. I would very much like to find Reed. If we lose our opportunity, I will be highly disappointed.”

Paige squeezed her fingers into fists. “We are not going to miss our chance. Now, let’s search this place and move on.”

“There, good. A strong resolve, and all of that. Great talk.”

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