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Chapter Two
“Well, that went over like a fart in church,” I scoffed, trying hard not to sound like a wounded pup but feeling like a flat nineteenth tire on an eighteen-wheeler – no use to anyone. “Guess Ella wasn’t glad to see me. Probably better wait until the new year, or Valentine’s Day, maybe the Fourth of July to try again.”
I couldn’t get the image out of my mind. Not only was Ella even more beautiful than I remembered, but her eyes were more hazel, her hair looked like spun silk and her skin absolutely glowed. In a word – she was gorgeous, and I couldn’t stand not being with her.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” My brother, the Great Dragon and Mate to the one and only Molly Brown, laughed out loud. “Like you’re gonna be able to wait longer than two days. Remember, little brother, I know what I’m talking about.” Giving my new sister-in-law the ten millionth starry-eyed look of the day without missing a beat, he went on. “What did I tell you when you grabbed the phone? Did you learn nothing from the way Molly freaked out when she first saw me? I learned, just like everyone who was in Cassandra’s Café on the wonderful day that I got to see my Mate for the first time in years and years andyears, that Brown Witches tend to squeal and run when you show up outta the blue and put them on the spot.”
“Hey!” My sister-in-law gasped, ending with a giggle that was cut short when she bit into her third Christmas tree-shaped sugar cookie with dill pickle icing and red hots for sprinkles in the last five minutes.
Talking around a mouthful of said cookie, she asked, “Were you there, too? At the Café? Lurking around the corner?” She pointed at me, a clump of the light-green frosting and half a little red candy hanging off the tip of her finger. “I didn’t see you there. Tell me you weren’t there. Please tell me that Michael and Christopher weren’t there either. Please tell me there are at least three people in this kooky town that didn’t see my less-than-finest hour. Or witness Chloe making me the butt of one of her jokes yet again. I love that girl, but dadgummit, y’all should’ve known she couldn’t keep a secret. It’s not like you’re new here. Y’all had to know she was dying to play matchmaker. Calling Nate over to the table was just the beginning of what I’m sure she had planned.”
“No, I wasn’t there,” I chuckled. “Nate was all on his own that day. Out skulking around when he wasn’t supposed to be.”
“I wasnotskulking.”
(He was. He knew he was. Not that he was ever going to admit it, but we – the Archer brothers, not to mention the Kaneen Pack of Wolves where we were staying, to keep our presence a secret from our parents – all know the truth. The Mating Call was riding Nate hard. Being back home, so close to Molly and not able to be with her was Hell on earth for my big bro. Not to mention, the sleep flying. Yep! You read that right. Nate was so smitten, so in love, that no sooner did he fall asleep every night than his Dragon would force the Shift and fly straight over to Molly’s Pumpkin Patch. It was hilarious. Freaked Molly and her Familiar, Cleo, out, but was funny as hell all the same. I can honestly tell you that I’m happier than a pig in shit that it happened to him and not me.)
“Yes, you were,” I threw at him at the same time that Molly’s eyes flew to Nate’s and she giggled, “Yeah, you were. Even you admitted after you saved Cleo and me from your crazy parents that you weren’t supposed to be there but couldn’t…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Nate tried to act upset, but couldn’t hold back the smile that seemed to never leave his face since he and Molly became officially Mated. “Alright, I was skulking, but who could blame me?”
Sliding his arm around Molly’s shoulders and pulling her close, he dropped a kiss atop her head before winking at me then getting all mushy without the slightest regard for my presence. “I knew you were there. Had to see you. Had to know that you were okay. Just one look, that was all I wanted. It was Chloe who busted me out.”
“Yeah, she’s good like that,” Molly mumbled around another mouthful of the worst cookies ever created, but what she was craving at the moment. “My cousin’s impulse control issues and need to play matchmaker are legendary. I still can’t believe you got her to keep the secret for as long as you did.”
“Yeah, well, she knew it was all for the best.” Stepping back at the same time that he lifted Molly into his arms, Nate chuckled and changed the subject, “I think you need a nap, Mrs. Archer.”
“Oh, do you, now, Mr. Archer?”
“And I think I’m gonna need to be sick,” I interjected. “Y’all have got to cut down on the PDA. At least until I get moved out of here. You’re killin’ me.”
“Just wait,” Nate called over his shoulder, disappearing into the living room on his way to the huge, spiral stairway that led to the bedroom he shared with his Mate in the old Brown Family mansion. “Your turn’s comin’, Little Brother. It’s comin’ faster than you think and then all bets are off. I’m gonna tease you like there’s no tomorrow, tell Ella all your secrets, and take pictures to show your kids.”
“Yeah, whatever you say,” I grumbled, lifting the mug of lukewarm coffee to my lips. “My Mate is halfway between here and the North Pole, laid up with a broken leg, and just freaked out at the mere sight of my face. I’m thinkin’ Ella and I are a long way from playin’ kissy face, takin’ afternoon naps, and makin’ babies.”
“What was that you said about makin’ babies?” My younger brother, Michael, third in the line of Archer Dragons, and the most direct of us all asked with wide eyes and a shit-eatin’ grin on his face as he stepped across the threshold of the backdoor. “Is Ella here? Have you gotten down on one knee? Did I miss all the fun?”
Taking off his jacket and throwing it over the back of the chair as he kicked the door shut behind him and kept right on talking, Michael, aka Mick snickered, “Please tell me I didn’t miss all the fun. I plan on recording the whole damned thing and putting it up on the web. That shit is sure to go viral.”
Not waiting for an answer, he scooped a mug off the counter, wrapped his hand around the stainless carafe on the counter and fired off another question, “Is this coffee? Please tell me it’s coffee and not that awful shit Molly has to drink. Are we sure Dr. Bombay is a real doctor for Witches and not just a crazy witchdoctor? I didn’t think to ask what was in the kettle this morning and was in the truck on the way out to the farm before I realized there was a friggin’ flower garden in my cup.”
Snickering because I’d done exactly the same thing the morning before, I shook my head. “Nope, you’re safe. It’s coffee. Just made it about fifteen minutes ago.”
“Thank the Goddess,” he breathed. “It’s gettin’ colder by the minute out there and Christopher just would not stop. He’s possessed. Says he’s not stopping until he finds out who mom and dad got all their information from then removes all traces that our parents ever existed from the main house and all the cottages out at the homestead. I finally left his ass out there. I’m done cleanin’ uptheirmess. I say we drag all their shit out in the back field, pile it up as high as we can and have a good old-fashioned bonfire.”
Watching the plume of steam coming off his coffee, agreeing with every word he said, I knew there was more coming. Yes, Mick was the second from the youngest of us boys, but he was the orator of the group. The one who always had something to say, and who was usually the most levelheaded. He tended to see the whole picture when the rest of us got hung up on specific details.
“They fucked up. I damned sure wish they hadn’t. I wish Grandad had been wrong, but…” Shrugging before taking a drink, his eyes met mine over the edge of his mug. “We both know he wasn’t. Everything played out just like he told us it would, just like it was written in all those books, just like the Elders foretold. Time to let the past stay in the past and move on. Nate’s got Molly. You’ll have Ella.”
“And you’ll have…”
“Stop right there,” he growled, fire dancing in his eyes as his pupils instantly elongating into those of his Dragon. “She doesn’t even know I’m alive, and I plan to keep it that way…at least for the time being.”
Holding up my free hand in surrender, I worked hard to keep from laughing out loud as Mick slowly shook his head. Damn, we all sounded alike. All said the same thing. Were all scared out of our minds to go near our Mates for fear what happened with Molly would happen to them.
Yes, our parents were in Hell. No, they couldn’t escape. But what if they had a contingency plan?
(Oh, crap! I forgot. You don’t know what I’m talking about. Well, shit, let me catch you up.
