Page 75 of Extra Witchy

“Only if you feel like telling me,” Trev said, though he’d frankly love to know.

It was one of the things he’d wondered most about. Who were the husbands who preceded him, and why did they fail? And how could he avoid their mistakes? But he didn’t have the courage to ask when he wasn’t even sure of his own footing with Leanne.

“Today we have nothing but time while we drive. Up front, it was my fault, both times. Garrett traveled a lot for work, and it never left my head—the fact that he could do whatever he wanted as soon as he left home. I accused him of having one foot out of the door, but it was me who didn’t trust him. I asked for a divorce, but I did it…” She sighed. “As a preemptive strike, because I knew…well, Isuspectedhe’d get tired of dealing with my shit.”

“So you left first.” Based on what he knew of her, that made sense.

“Exactly. With Malcolm, it was a lot calmer. Looking back, I don’t even know if we loved each other. But he made a compelling case. He said we looked good together, we madesense. He painted an enticing picture, and I thought I could manage my end, but then he got a promotion, and they assigned him overseas. There was no doubt in his mind that I should pack my shit and move to Japan. He didn’t even ask if I wanted to.”

“He left because you wouldn’t move?” Trev asked, quietly appalled.

“I mean, Malcolm wanted me on his arm. He had the big-money career, so it made sense, according to him.”

“For you to upend your life?”

“I disagreed, and we got divorced. I—”

“You said the divorces were your fault, and maybe I agree with you about the first one, but the second? Don’t even think it, Butterfly. Malcolm sounds like a prick.”

She shifted in her seat, her eyes sparkling so brightly that he struggled to focus on the road. “You know what? You’re right.”

Chapter 24

At some point, Leanne must’ve drifted off.

She woke as Trev pulled into the hospital parking lot a couple hours later. That wasn’t like her at all. She generally preferred to be alert and in control, but he made it easy to let her guard down. She lacked the mental energy to focus on figuring out why with the white building looming. He circled past the emergency entrance to the one allotted for visitors before pulling up in front of the automatic doors.

“I’ll catch up,” he said.

She took a breath, nodded, and slid out of the car. Reflexively, she smoothed her tailored pencil skirt and checked to be sure her blouse was still neatly tucked in. There was no need to check her hair and makeup because even if she was a bit rumpled from the nap, the glamour spell should cover any minor dishevelment.Unless they already hate me. In which case I’ll look even worse than I actually do.Nothing she could do about that, however.

Leanne paused at the check-in desk to register as a visitor. They took her ID and gave her a lanyard with a number on it before allowing her to pass beyond the lobby. Security was tighter than she remembered, but the precautions made sense. Nerves made her hands tremble as she pressed the call button; she tried to calm down as she got in the elevator, but the closer she got to this meeting, the worse she felt.

I don’t even want to do this. Why am I?

Maybe the simplest answer was closure. To put a face to the witch who’d fathered her then thrown Junie away. When Leanne thought about it that way, she wanted to hug her mother. She must’ve thought she’d found the one, since she’d chosen to get pregnant. Or knowing Junie, maybe she’d imagined a baby would guarantee that her lover stuck around?

If I was a bargaining chip, that tactic failed spectacularly.

The elevator doors opened, revealing a white-and-beige hallway. Every item on the floor was carefully muted, no bright colors, and even the pictures on the walls showed sepia colors behind the glass. The furniture was all metal or vinyl, easily sterilized—impossible to forget this was a hospital where stuff might get spattered with bodily fluids. A nurse in white shoes hurried past Leanne as she stepped into the hallway.

Her father was in room 514, down past the nurses’ station. The two at the desk were busy comparing notes and didn’t speak as she walked past, her heels clicking on the shiny tiled floor. As hospitals went, this one was nice, likely expensive as well. A man stood in the hallway, shoulders hunched and head bowed. From this distance, she couldn’t tell much about him, other than that he was well-dressed, dark hair threaded with silver. Magic trickled from him, likely intensified by the grief of his—their—father’s imminent death.

The sweep of it felt…familiar in a way that disturbed her. Before, only Junie felt like this to Leanne, but now she had this stranger echoing her energy signature. He heard the click of her heels and straightened, spinning to face her with his features set. No smile, no scowl. Just a blankness she couldn’t interpret.

“You must be Leanne,” he said.

“I am. Under the circumstances, I won’t say it’s nice to meet you.”

“I never imagined I had another sister,” he said with a visible air of exhaustion. “You probably have no idea who I am. Brian Seaton.” He didn’t extend a hand for her to shake, and thankfully, he made no attempt to hug her either.

“That makes you my…”

“Oldest brother. I’m fifty-four.”

“You’re only four years younger than my mother.” That…was a regrettable thing to blurt.

He flinched. “Yes, I was seventeen when…”

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