Spellbound 2 - Everspell Read online

  Chapter Five

  LOGAN

  On the drive over to the house, Serena kept peppering me with questions about the surprise. I wasn’t giving up any clues. I knew Sully had undergone the same full-court press from Jade, and wondered if he had been able to keep it under wraps as well as me. He melted like butter under a hot knife under just my sister’s stare. Serena had nearly the same effect on me, but I tried not to let her know.

  “We’re almost there, Logan. Can’t you give me a tiny hint?” She slid maddeningly close to me in the car. I could smell her perfumed skin and feel strands of her soft, silky hair brush against my arms. She made it impossible for me to concentrate on the road, and she knew it.

  “Serena, come on. You’re gonna make me crash. You know what you do to me.”

  “What? I just want to be close to you.” She bent her head and nuzzled my shoulder.

  “You know what you’re doing. You’re bewitching me. But I’m still not going to tell you anything.”

  She scooted quickly back to her side of the car. It seemed so abrupt, it made me laugh out loud.

  “Oh! Logan, you are so frustrating!” She stayed close to her door and pretended to be mad, but pretty soon she busted out laughing at her feigned drama and we laughed together, holding hands, until we pulled in front of the rented house. She was so excited, she jumped out of the car before I could get around to her side.

  “Slow down, Serena. You’ll spoil the surprise. Let me go in ahead of you.”

  I opened the front door and right away I saw Jade in the front room, cooling her heels, and not looking happy about it.

  “Hey. Where’s Sully?”

  “Hey, yourself. He’s in the kitchen. He’s been in there forever. He won’t let me in there and he won’t let me move from here. Oh, and also, he’s cursing your name big time. You better get in there.” She pointed imperiously toward the saloon doors leading to the kitchen. I nodded and headed in. Behind me I heard Serena and Jade hugging and saying hello. Over my shoulder I hollered for Serena not to come in the kitchen either.

  I swung through the saloon doors and stopped dead. It looked like we’d been robbed or something. There were grocery bags and groceries strewn all over the counter, every pot and pan had been used and lay either on the stove or in the sink, and the cutting board rested on the counter, covered with the remains of asparagus tips and garlic leaves. And standing in the middle of it all stood Sully, wearing an apron and a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin. Because he had pulled off what he swore to me he could. He stepped to the side, waved his hand with a flourish, and I could see our second-hand table behind him, well-appointed with some kind of lace tablecloth, real cloth napkins and dinner settings for four. The plates were laid with the meal he had prepared; seared scallops in a lemon and chive butter, roasted asparagus, and fettuccine. On the side, he had even prepared a salad with vinaigrette.

  “Sully, I don’t even know what to say. You have completely smashed it, man. You hit a home run. This is amazing.” I clapped him hard on the shoulder and gave him a man-hug.

  “Thanks, Logan. You know I just want the girls to love it. Everything Jade’s been through, and Serena. They really deserve it.”

  “They do. So, let’s not make them wait any longer. Do the honors, Chef.”

  Sully walked over and pushed open the saloon doors to get the attention of the girls. He made a great show of brushing imaginary sweat from his brow, then ceremoniously bowed and said, “Ladies? Your dinner is served.”

  Serena and Jade got up from the sofa and followed him through the doors into the dining area. When Jade saw the table, with the food and the place settings and the candles, she clapped her hands over her mouth in astonishment.

  “Ohmyword, Sully! Is this the surprise? Did you do this? Oh wow! You can cook?” She fell into Sully’s arms and practically disappeared into his huge forearms. I saw the look on his face and for the first time I knew he really loved my little sister. Serena quietly slipped her arms around my waist, and as we watched Jade and Sully together, I felt a little more like a father than a big brother.

  Dinner tasted even better than it looked. We teased Sully that he would make a really good wife someday, and I swore my sister blushed for the first time in her whole life. We wiped out everything Sully had made for dinner and watched in amazement when he got up and produced a peach cobbler he had put together from scratch for dessert. I just looked at him with my mouth open as he paraded it out from the oven and placed it in the middle of the table. Jade squealed with delight. It happened to be her favorite. He must have done some research with my mom.

  He was out of control.

  “Dude, I do not even know you. Who taught you to do all this?”

  Sully grinned from ear to ear.

  “My mom. She said a good woman will always appreciate a man who knows how to cook.” He lowered his eyes a little when he said it, but we all knew the “good woman” he’d been trying to impress here. And there’d be no doubt he had hit the mark. My sister gazed at Sully all doe-eyed. Even Serena looked at Sully with a new level of respect. One thing became clear to me. I needed to learn to cook.

  ****

  After dinner, Serena and Jade offered to clear the dishes and clean up the kitchen. I teased them the offer sounded a little empty, coming from a couple of witches.

  “Seriously, what are you really offering? You won’t even break a sweat.”

  “Yeah,” chimed in Sully. “Speaking as a person who broke a serious sweat preparing dinner tonight, it’s not much, really, to make them disappear, is it?”

  “Ok,” said Jade, “tell you what. I can do them by hand and be in the kitchen all night, getting dishpan hands and getting crankier by the second. Or, you can let me do it our way, and I’ll be sitting right next to you in no time. You choose.” She stood there with her hands on her hips and Serena and I had to stifle ourselves from laughing out loud. She just had my poor best friend whipped all the way around her little finger. Of course, he backed down in about one second, and we sat back and watched the girls go to work.

  I loved watching Serena let her powers loose, even the minor ones.

  She stood and waved her hands over the table. Instantly, the candles extinguished, and the plates and utensils stacked one on top of the other and rose and floated into the kitchen. Then all four corners of the tablecloth rose and met in the center, twisted together and knotted closed. Serena winked at Jade and she took over, wrinkling her nose and wriggling her fingers in the direction of the kitchen. The faucet over the sink turned on and a ribbon of water cascaded down and detached from it. The water ribbon swept over the stack of hovering dirty dishes and utensils and in one motion they were cleaned. They put themselves away in opened cupboards and drawers. Then the watery rope attacked the pots and pans strewn about, and cleaned them in the blink of an eye as well.

  One minute I looked and they were piled everywhere with food hanging off and out of them. The next minute, they were sparkling clean and heaped on the counter, waiting for the next use. Sully and I applauded and Jade bowed. Serena just smiled her sweet little sexy smile.

  “Man, I still can’t quite get over the whole witch thing. Or twitch thing. Or whatever I’m supposed to call it.” Sully shook his head. “It’s one thing to say it. But it’s a whole other thing to actually see it. That just blew my mind, Jade.”

  “In a bad way, Sully?” Jade looked a little worried.

  Sully moved closer to Jade.

  “No, baby. Not in a bad way. Never in a bad way.” My best friend placed a hand tenderly on my little sister’s cheek. “It’s just crazy amazing to see what you can do. You’re incredible, baby.”

  “Oh, Sully.” My sister put her hand over his on her cheek and held it there for a minute. Serena stepped in, correctly guessing the right moment to break the silence.

  “I know how it must look to see Jade’s talents, Sully. It’s so wonderful how accepting you are of her. I know from personal experience, it makes
it easy for her to develop into the skilled witch we know she can become.” She looked up at Sully. “And one more thing; I just want to say that your meal tonight? Absolutely the best!”

  My Serena always knew the perfect thing to say. I leaned toward her and squeezed her hand. I didn’t know if I could ever explain how much I loved her. One day, I hoped I could find the perfect words the way she always did.

  “Ok, you guys. I don’t want to spoil the mood, but I brought movies.” I brought in the choices from the living room and held them up. “Comedy, drama or romance. Your choice, ladies. This is your night.” Sully and I had agreed earlier; if they chose romance, we wouldn’t even make a face.

  Serena and Jade exchanged a knowing glance, and both of them said at the same time, “Comedy!” Sully and I looked at each other. This clearly constituted pre-arrangement. We were trying to make it a night for them, and they were giving us the movie we would want. Man, could I get a better girlfriend?

  “All right, then. Comedy it is.” Great dinner, magic show afterward, and now we didn’t even have to sit through a mushy romance? Best date ever! I tried not to think about how the evening would end.

  ****

  We watched the movie, and it didn’t disappoint. So stupid and juvenile, all four of us found ourselves laughing until our sides hurt. The night was still young after it ended and Sully and Jade announced they were going for a drive. After we gave them the usual twenty minutes of “be carefuls”, they left and Serena and I were alone. Unbelievably, I found that that I felt nervous. After all my daydreaming and mooning around, I felt edgy about being alone with Serena. I knew why.

  In all the time I had known her, this would be the first time we had been in a room together without others around. Normally, we were surrounded, almost smothered, by family, friends, witches, twitches, you name it. The silence engulfing us now seemed almost deafening, and seemed to taunt me. Serena, however, did not seem as daunted by it. Confidently, and with sure grace, she took my hand and led me back to the living room. With a wave of her hand, a rolling fire began to burn brightly in the fireplace, and the lights in the room dimmed. She sat on the sofa and curled her legs up underneath her in one fluid motion. She patted the cushion next to her, gesturing me to join her. She didn’t have to ask twice.

  In a flash, I got over next to her. She sat there looking at me and I thought she had never looked more beautiful. I could see the firelight reflected in the pink color on her cheeks, and when I stroked her hair, I could feel the heat from it down her back. My breath came in short bursts and I thought my heartbeat could be seen through my shirt. I reached my arm around Serena and pulled her closer to me. She responded by draping her arms around my shoulders and leaning her head in to kiss me.

  Her lips were soft and warm and wet and she closed her eyes like she could be dreaming. I know this because I kept mine open as long as I could. Then I couldn’t stand it anymore, and closed mine too, giving myself over to my feelings. We started out kissing gently at first, and I felt sure I could control myself, control the whole situation, and then it went so different. Her kiss became more insistent, her arms began to grasp at my shoulders and she raised up on her knees, repositioning herself so she faced me directly. She pressed her lips harder into mine and I held her head in my hands and kissed her back the same way. She moaned softly and hearing her was the jolt I needed.

  “Serena. Honey.” Gently, I untangled my hands from her hair, and pressed my back into the sofa. She understood and sat back down on her knees. We looked at each other and smiled.

  “Wow.” she said. “That got a little intense.”

  “Yeah. I’m sorry. I just couldn’t keep my hands off you for a second longer. You drive me crazy.”

  “And you’re apologizing for that?”

  “Well, just for the out-of-control part.”

  “I kind of liked that part, Logan.” She lowered her head, but out of the corner of her eye, she looked up and winked at me.

  Okay, I definitely liked that.

  “But, why did you stop? Was there something, well, something wrong?”

  What kind of a tool could I be to make this insanely beautiful creature think anything could be wrong with her? I wasn’t even sure why I stopped myself. I tried to explain it to her and halfway to myself at the same time.

  “Okay, promise you won’t laugh, because this is going to sound way chick-like.”

  Serena turned to face me and looked at me with a tender yet serious look on her face.

  “Logan, I could never laugh at you. I promise.” She held two fingers up in the air as her solemn oath.

  I grabbed her two fingers and brought them to my lips and kissed them.

  “Okay, here goes. I just don’t want the first time with you to be sweaty groping on this second-hand couch from the flea market, with me jumping every time I hear a sound because Sully is going to come busting through the front door at any second. You deserve so much more. You’re worth so much more.” I stood up from the couch. “I should take you home now. It’s getting late.”

  “Are you mad, Logan?”

  “Not in the slightest.”

  “Good. Because I love you. And I couldn’t stand it if you were, you know.”

  “Serena, I love you, too. More than you know. That night when I almost lost you, I didn’t know what I would do. I’ve never felt so lost, so helpless in my life. Before I met you, I figured my life would go a certain way. I’d finish school, maybe go to college, maybe not. Get married, settle down, have some kids, and lead this fairly unremarkable life. I never thought about being happy per se, so much as being content. Then I met you. And inside of a week, everything changed.”

  Serena looked away, and I hastened to add, “But I wouldn’t change anything, Serena. I feel like I only existed before I met you. It’s like, my world came in black and white and I didn’t even know it. Then you came along and flipped a switch, and now it’s literally drenched in color. Magically.” I reached for both of her hands and took them in mine. “You color everything in my world, Serena. You made me know what happy really is. So, when we finally share that love with each other, no way is it going to be on a ratty sofa. My angel deserves more than that. I promise you, it will be as special and magical as you.” And I leaned over and kissed her softly, so sweetly on her lips.

  “Oh, my wonderful Logan. You are the sensitive type, aren’t you?” Serena laughingly stood and pulled me to my feet with her. “We should get me home, now, before I work my magic on you and test your resolve once again.” We put our arms around each other and laughing, went out into the warm night, both dreaming, I knew, of our own version of a night in the future nowhere near a well-worn second-hand couch.

  Chapter Six

  SERENA

  I woke up the next morning with a smile on my face, and the smell of Logan’s aftershave still lingering in my hair. When I went down to eat breakfast, I found Elizabeth already there, talking with Tabitha, clearly in the middle of a better day than yesterday.

  “Good morning, Juliet. How’s Romeo?”

  “Very funny, Tabitha. Logan is fine, thank you.”

  “Did you have a nice time last night?” Elizabeth looked up when I came in. “I didn’t hear you get home.”

  “I had a wonderful time.” I told Tabitha and Elizabeth about Sully’s dinner, and how amazing a cook he was.

  “Wow, I can’t believe he cooked. Who knew? And even a peach cobbler.”

  “Mm-hmm.” I nodded with a mouthful of toast. “And delicious, too.”

  Tabitha looked at me slyly from across the kitchen table.

  “I saw Sully bring Jade home way before you got here. What did you and Logan do there all by yourselves?”

  I glared at Tabitha. That catty little brat! She’d just tried to get me in trouble with Elizabeth. I snuck a look at my aunt to see if she heard me. Oh, she was listening, all right. She put her coffee cup down and sat back in her chair, arms folded across her chest, waiting for my answer.


  “Relax, Elizabeth. We just talked. Nothing happened. Honestly, Tabitha. How rude!”

  “What? I’m just really interested.” Tabitha shrugged her shoulders in feigned innocence.

  “Mm hmm. I’m sure.”

  Elizabeth stepped in before it got ugly. “I know you’re smart enough to make the right decisions when it comes to that, Serena. And you know I love Logan. I just don’t want you to be in a hurry to grow up. There’s time enough for that.” She put her hand over mine. “You’ve been through so much, you should just be a kid for a little while longer, okay?”

  I smiled. “Okay. And for what it’s worth, we both kind of decided that, too.”

  She sighed deeply. “See? I knew there’s a reason I liked that boy. He’s as good for you, Serena, as you are for him. I’m glad you are both still thinking with your heads.”

  Tabitha got up from the table abruptly. “Okay, I’m done here. It’s like a really bad after-school special. Later.” She flung her napkin down on her half-eaten plate of food and stalked out of the room. I turned to Elizabeth.

  “What is up with the moodiness? I can’t keep track anymore. She’s up and down so fast it’s like riding a roller-coaster.”

  “I know,” Elizabeth agreed with a quiet sigh. “I’ve noticed it, too.”

  “Has she mentioned anyone to you named Larissa?”

  “No. Is that a new friend at school?”

  “If it is, I haven’t met her. I actually overheard a phone conversation with someone named Larissa. Elizabeth, I didn’t like what I heard. And I’ve only started hearing this name since Tabby started acting different.”

  “Well, you know how I hate jumping to conclusions.”

  “I know. I’m going to ask around at school and see if anyone knows this girl. Maybe I can get more information that way. I’m sure not going to get any from Tabs. She hardly talks to me anymore. She’s just changed so much lately.”

  “It’s probably just a phase. She’ll snap out of it.”