Page 29 of The Accidental Witch

“But it’s not your legacy, Greer. It’s Gwinnifer’s. You didn’t do anything wrong. You have every right to feel the way you do, but none of what your family has done is on you.”

While he nodded, it didn’t make him feel any less ashamed. “I guess I’d better talk to Robbie. She’s been riding this train right alongside me, learning and doing her best to keep a stiff upper lip while she stumbles through this without saying a word. I owe her explanations.” Greer sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I guess I got caught up in the community of it all. You’re all so…”

“Loud? Foul-mouthed? Boisterous? Annoying?” she asked on a wide grin.

He laughed, relaxing into the chair a bit. “I won’t deny you all have your quirks, but your friendships, the paranormal-ness of it all, if you will, reminds me of how much time I’ve spent outside the circle.”

“You miss being with people like you. Say no more. Community for us, connection to those like us, is everything. So much has changed since we became paranormal, it’s almost hard to believe the way we now all mingle with each other. I’m sure you know what I mean.”

“If those tapestries in the murder basement are any indication of what it used to be like, I think I understand.”

Wanda smiled, rolling her eyes. “Those things. Ugh. Nina’s husband Greg is a huge collector and as you know, he’s been alive for centuries, so we have some choice pieces that he refuses to give up, to our utter dismay.”

His laugh was filled with irony. “I get it. I have a poster of Farrah Fawcett you’ll pry from my cold, dead hands before I let someone take it.”

Wanda laughed out loud, a pleasant tinkling sound. “So you’ve been around a while, huh?”

“In human years? I’m relatively young compared to most witches, at seventy. If we go by today’s standards, my mother had me later in life. But yeah, I’ve been around a while.”

Wanda slapped her hands on her thighs. “Immortality is a kick, huh?” She rose from her place on the opposite end of the couch and pointed to the dining room. “Go talk to Robbie and explain. You can tell everyone else later, if you’d like. No pressure. But I feel as though this poor woman’s been dealt blow after blow without the chance to catch her breath. Hearing your grandmother is responsible for your mother‘s death and you’ve lost your powers is just a couple more things she has to digest. But know this—I’m so sorry about your mother, Greer. I’d bet she was as lovely as you. I know she’d be proud of how you’re trying to help Robbie.”

Wanda gave his arm a squeeze and then she was gone, her light floral perfume following her.

Greer sat for a minute, catching his breath. That was the most openly he’d talked about his situation ever. He swallowed hard, fighting off the grief he’d been fighting for so long now. His motherhadbeen lovely. Kind. Warm. Fun. And she’d fought to the literal death for his life.

Now he had to explain that to Robbie.

He’d bragged about how much she’d like being a part of a community he’d shut out of his life—a community that wouldn’t even call him back.

And that made him feel like a total dick of a hypocrite.

“Master Greer!” Arch called, skidding around the corner of the archway to the living room, his blue tuft of hair flapping. “You must come now! Mistress Roberta is missing!”

Chapter

Nine

Robbie rubbed her eyes, her gloved hand scratching at her skin. Carl, smart, sweet boy that he was, had fashioned a glove out of one of Arch’s oven mitts for her.

With her hand being so unpredictable, prone to creating fires and making it rain in the middle of the kitchen, she was terrified she’d hurt someone—or drown them.

So Carl, who admittedly she’d been a little afraid of at first, had gone to work making her a glove. He’d put pink and purple glitter on it and painted World’s Best Witch across the back, so whenever she looked at it, she’d remember he was cheering her to success while preventing impending doom.

That was the moment she’d fallen in love with this enchanting pale green boy whose heart was bigger than the galaxy. He’d given her the glove with such pride, she didn’t have the heart not to wear it, never thinking it would actually work.

But it did, and as she walked Nina’s dog Waffles while she waited for her next lesson with Greer, she smiled. Thinking about Greer made her heart pound in her chest and butterflies erupt in her stomach.

He was one of the more emotionally in-touch men she’d ever met. It was refreshing compared to the men she’d dated in hercircle, more concerned with their stock portfolios than cuddling on the couch and watching a movie.

Luckily, she was a logical woman who completely understood the stakes in her life were high right now. She was also vulnerable and easily susceptible to any modicum of praise. That’s how things became misinterpreted, and while butterflies and hearts thrashing were all well and good, they weren’t sustainable.

Her life was too complicated anyway, and his appeared to be, too. Whatever was going on with him, it had obviously hurt him deeply. It showed when Greer thought no one was looking, leaving her very curious.

Rather than pry—because in all honesty, they didn’t really know each other at all—she focused on learning her magic and looking away from him when his beautiful green eyes settled on her.

Her hope was to learn how to live with this crazy turn in her life and somehow make it work to her advantage—minus personal gain, of course. She desperately wanted to belong somewhere again, be a part of something, and if a coven was where she was supposed to belong, then so be it.

With the ladies of OOPS , Darnell, Hervé, and Carl cheering her on every day, she’d found a rhythm she hoped would keep its upward momentum. Her only problem was remembering the words to the spells

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