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Chapter Twelve
Rowan
After nearly an hour, Ven calls a halt to our magic practice. Or rather, lack of magic practice. “That’s a great first attempt. You’ve had a really stressful day, so let’s go get that wine.”
“Now that’s something I can get behind,” I say with a sigh of relief. I feel like a huge failure, and on top of everything else, it’s about to push me over the edge.
We take my rental car and drive into town. It looks like a fairy village at night, the shops all lit from within, twinkling white lights and lanterns hanging from the eaves of the buildings. I park a few spaces down from the wine bar, which looks like the hangout in Raven’s Roost on a Friday night. I throw on some pink lipstick and straighten the silver locket hanging just below my collar bone. I’m wearing a black spaghetti-strap dress with criss-cross straps over an open back. I’m not used to being single after all this time. It’s a strange feeling.
“You look gorg,” Ven says. “Let’s go get some vino!”
I follow her inside the front door. It’s not a huge place. The lighting is dimmed slightly, and small bistro tables dot the room, with a few tables for larger parties in the middle. A guitarist strums in the front corner by the window, and the bar sits against the back wall. A hostess greets us and leads the way to one of the two-tops near the bar. I’ve just grabbed the back of my chair to sit down when I see him.
Xander.
He’s sitting at a table a couple down from ours, facing me. He cleans up incredibly well. A sophisticated pale gray collared shirt unbuttoned just low enough to tantalize, the color popping against his tan skin and dark hair. Tailored jeans, but not too fancy or blinged out. A glass of whiskey sits in front of him. How he managed that in a wine bar, I’m not sure.
His eyes move up to mine and he catches me staring. I blush and hastily take my seat.
“What are you looking at?” Ven hisses.
She starts to turn around, but I grab her arm. “Don’t.”
“Checking out the locals already, hmm?” She giggles. “There are a few decent ones around here.”
I make myself busy looking at the wine list, but I can feel the heavy weight of eyes on me. Risking a glance, my eyes meet Xander’s golden gaze once again. Inside, at night, they seem an almost normal shade. Not as bright and wild as that first day in the forest. Maybe I’d imagined the whole thing.
He’s not alone. I can only see the person’s back of course, but it’s a woman. She’s blonde and tan and petite. Opposite my dark hair and moon skin and tallness. Disappointment stabs through me for a fleeting moment before I give myself a mental snap. I don’t even like this guy! Even if he is hot as hell.
A waiter comes by, and I order a glass of something red and French that I can’t pronounce—always the fun thing about wine bars. Ven orders a glass of Prosecco. I silently pray that they’ll be quick about it.
Luckily, Ven distracts me by talking about her love interests. I try to avoid looking up, but Xander is almost directly in my line of sight, making it nearly impossible. The waiter drops off our wine and I take a big sip, followed by another. Ven keeps up her discussion of the men in her life, past, present, and future.
“So, what about you?” she says abruptly sometime later. “I’ve been talking your ear off, sorry about that.” She grins sheepishly.
I realize that I’ve only been half listening, and my glass of wine is nearly empty. I flag down the waiter for a second glass. “What about me?” I ask when he zips away.
“Men? Women? Romance?” She smiles.
“Well, since my divorce was finalized about ten days ago, I haven’t had much time to think about it,” I say.
I can’t help but notice a slight movement two tables down. Xander’s eyes drop right as I look up, as if he’d been staring. Surely, he hadn’t heard me from that far away?
“I know I kind of talked about it the other day…But yeah, we were separated for about a year leading up to it,” I continue. “The relationship and the love ended a long time ago. The actual signing of the documents just made me officially free.”
“I’m sure that’s a whole mix of emotions,” Ven says, taking a sip of her bubbly.
“Yeah. I got over the heartbreak a long time ago. But the anger—the anger is still very much there.” I sigh. “So, here I am in my mid-thirties, starting all over again.” I shrug and push a strand of my hair behind my ear.
“Well, I’m sorry that happened. But think of all the opportunities ahead of you,” Ven says. She’s definitely a glass half-full kind of gal.
“It’s true,” I say, taking in a deep breath. “I was furious about the cheating, but it’s weird… I’m not sad to not be with him anymore. The love faded at some point, or maybe we never really had that strong a bond to begin with. Clearly not soulmates.” I roll my eyes and laugh.
The musician finishes a song and stands to speak. “The owners want me to tell you that they’ve just opened up the back patio area for dancing, and my replacement is all set up and ready to enthrall you the rest of the evening. So, head on back there and kick off the witching hour!”
One of the waiters opens a side door, revealing a slice of night sky. People begin to get up and head outside. Xander’s date takes his hand and practically drags him to the dance floor.
“Oh, we are absolutely dancing,” Ven says with a devilish grin. She grabs my hand and hauls me out the door, too.
