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I didn’t step foot in the farmhouse again that day. Orville couldn’t take the rest of the day off to tend to me. Not after arresting a team member for a double count of murder and one count of... well, aggravated assault, I was guessing. I was kind of thinking that charge would be upgraded once they got around to checking out my car.
Driving it that first time was going to be nerve-wracking, to say the least. Most likely, though, knowing Orville, he’d insist on taking the first spin in it. But if he thought he’d be going alone, the man didn’t know me as well as he thought he did.
Sapphire met me at the station and took me to her house. She declared my bones fit and unscathed, but I did end up with a nasty sprained ankle and a whole lot of bruises. Hopefully, they’d all be healed and gone before my wedding night. But even with Sapphire’s powerful healing magic, it would be a couple of weeks at best before I’d be walking without my walking stick.
What walking Orville and her would allow me to do, of course. Which wasn’t much. Sprains heal better with rest. Or so the two of them kept telling me.
Fine by me. Sewing didn’t require me to stand, and that’s where my focus needed to be right now, anyway.
A quick phone call and Nancy was back on the school bus route, at least temporarily. She didn’t complain. The girl was a champ. I kind of thought there was a secret crush involved with a boy on that route. I was hoping eventually she’d confide in me.
The shop was going to stay closed until things mended with Kimberly. And I wasn’t really sure how long that was going to take.
Come to find out... not all that long.
When Sapphire pulled into my drive Friday morning to deliver me back home, Kimberly’s van was parked out front.
I didn’t let my hopes get up, though. It was entirely possible she was just back to grab a few more things.
Yeah, right. My hopes were soaring as I walked through that front door. I just hoped they didn’t come crashing back down in short order.
Sapphire saw me in the front door and onto the sofa, then she left. Before Kimberly even made it downstairs. This was one of those two’s company and three’s a crowd situations.
I was sipping a cool iced tea when Kimberly finally came down. My heart fell when I noticed a distinct absence of a baby.
She stood at the foot of the stairs and stared at me for a minute. I stared back. This was her show, not mine.
“I heard what happened yesterday. Are you okay?”
I lifted my foot slightly and motioned to it. “That took the brunt of it, but there are bruises under these clothes too. Bottom line, I’ll live.”
“I’m glad.” She hesitated. “And I mean that, too. I’ve been a bit of a fool, haven’t I? Accusing you of all kinds of horrible things. I shouldn’t have done that.”
I scratched my cheek and shook my head. “Well, to give you full credit here, you had just seen your baby—who can barely sit up by herself now—riding on a broom. I think you need to give yourself a pass on that one.” I know I did.
Kimberly swallowed. “It was a shock. I’ll give you that. My first time fainting too. But that doesn’t excuse me from what I said. Not after everything you’ve done for us. I don’t honestly know where me and the kids would be right now if it wasn’t for you.” She hugged herself. “Or if I’d even still have my kids.”
“You’d have them. With or without me. You’re a fighter and a good mother.” I started to mention the Goddess’s choice again, but I decided to keep my beak shut. This was hard enough for her without adding fuel to the fire.
She gave me a sad smile. “I’d like to think so, but when I think back... I’m not so sure that would be the case. I was on my last legs when Nancy brought you into my life, Opal. You saved me. You saved all of us. And look how I repaid that.”
I patted the cushion beside me. “Well, for starters, you’ve repaid me by becoming a darn fine partner at the shop. And by helping me out around here. A house like this is too much for just one old lady and a little girl, you know.” I watched as she crossed the room toward me. “Like it or not, Kimberly, you and your kids are family now. Even in the hard times. Family is family.”
And that’s when the tears started. I let her cry it out, sitting on the sofa beside me and leaning into me.
It was the first time I’d ever seen the woman cry. Baby Pearl must have put her through the wringer the past few days. Not an easy victory, for sure.
Once she stopped, she looked up at me with red and swollen eyes. “Can you teach me to be a witch?”
Okay, so I hadn’t expected that. I should have, but I hadn’t.
“That’s not something to be done lightly, you know. The Goddess will know if your heart isn’t in it. And it’s not something She’s going to require of you. If it was, She would have chosen a witch to give birth to Pearl.”
Kimberly swallowed and wiped her eyes. “I’m sure. I’ve actually been thinking about it for a while now, but I knew you wouldn’t want me to rush into it, so I waited. I think I need this. Not just for Pearl, either. For me too.”
“Then that can be arranged.” I hesitated. “You do realize that you wouldn’t be able to cast spells like an elemental, right? Hedge witches can be strong, with time and determination, but they lack that elemental power that makes us Ravenswinds so... well, powerful.”
“I know. But even being a hedge witch would help me understand things better, wouldn’t it? Help me understand my daughter better?”
“I think maybe it would at that.”
She took a deep breath. “Then that’s what I want. I want to be a witch.”
Now that we had that out of the way, I felt I was safe to ask my most burning question. The one my heart was aching to hear an answer to.
“Does this all mean that the three of you are coming home?”
“If you’ll have us, yes.” She hesitated. “Gray told me that you offered him the attic. Did you really mean that? You’d truly be okay if he moved in here?”
“I would. And Orville would too, by the way. That attic is fairly huge.” That was putting it mildly, as it ran practically the entire length and breadth of the house. “If you wanted, you could all turn it into a home for your whole family. Wouldn’t think it’d take all that much to put some walls up to make rooms.”
Her eyes lit up. I could see the wheels turning.
“And you wouldn’t mind if we added to the staircase out back to go on up to the attic?”
“Fine with me. Safer too, if you all are going to be spending a lot of time up there.”
She hugged me. I hugged her back. Finally, all was right with the world again.
The killer had been caught, the church had a new—and hopefully much more pious—leader, the wedding was coming together nicely, and we were adding yet another valuable member to our family. Gray.
Now all I had to do was sew two beautiful wedding dresses. A piece of cake.
Wedding cake at that.