Something Magical (Witches of Hawthorne Grove Book 1) (10 page)

Resigned now to canceling the flight and annoyed because he would rather have done so for almost any other reason, he sighed into the phone. “I'll be there. Give me half an hour.”

Ending the call, he turned back to Kaylee. “Will you be disappointed if I ask for a rain check?”

Kaylee shook her head yes, but said, “Not at all.”

He wasn't surprised, but neither was he particularly eager to answer the questions he could see burning in her gaze. Rather than put her off, he simply didn't give her time to ask them. “I have to speak with Hank, let him know we won't be flying out today after all, but it'll only take a minute. Wait for me in the truck?”

“Sure.”

He handed her the keys. “It's probably still warm inside, but take these, just in case. I'll explain on the way home.”

H
ome
.

There was that word again—a peculiarly deceptive word that meant different things to different people, Kaylee thought as Jordan walked away. Its definition could change depending upon where one was in the overall course of their lives and one's experiences seemed to play a fine hand in the shaping of their individual sense of meaning for the word.

At the moment, Kaylee's current understanding of it was giving her very mixed feels because, for her, home was more than simply the roof under which one lived. At this particular time in her life, where she lived was the small, one bedroom apartment in town that served as her sanctuary—a place to rest, from work and from her daily interactions with the outside world.

She'd been so proud of herself when she'd moved in.

The apartment served as a symbol of her success and independence—but it wasn't
home
.

Jo teasingly referred to it as the Hideout occasionally—a place of quiet solitude to which Kaylee retreated—sometimes for days—when the pain of her past would rise up to haunt her in the present. But Jo never let her remain shut up inside for too long. Deans didn't hide, Jo would gently remind her, and Kaylee would feel immediately obligated to prove her right because, as her older, smarter, and wiser sister, Jo Dean Leavy was never wrong.

Mindy called it the Halfway House because it was the one place she knew she could crash when school, her friends, her parents, and her sometimes hectic social schedule made her feel half crazy and she needed a break from it all.

Marc called it the Lecture Hall because every time he stopped by, the two of them fell into lengthy philosophical and oftentimes highly intellectual debates about life in general, and occasionally, to Kaylee's profound annoyance,
her
life in particular. Or more specifically, all the things missing from it.

A wry smile pulled at her lips. Marc believed all the good things in life revolved around having someone to share it with. There had been a time when Kaylee would have wholeheartedly agreed, but now she tended to be more careful with whom she shared bits of herself.

Until Jordan...

Out of nowhere, he'd dropped into her life. From their very first meeting, he'd made an indelible impression on her. By their third, she had already become accustomed to his presence in her thoughts, and every happy, fun-filled, pleasurable moment she had spent in his company since had only strengthened her acceptance of him in her world.

But to go
home with
Jordan …

Suddenly, the word took on a whole new world of meaning. In this case, home was different somehow. Home meant more—a
lot
more—than just the place where he lived, and Kaylee was finding the word surprisingly difficult to define. She simply knew her apartment wasn't it.

Somewhere in the hangar, a door slammed shut with a loud bang, startling her out of her musings. She blinked and then shivered. Casting a quick glance through the wide window at an overly bright sky that hinted of coming snow, she pulled her coat closer and headed for the exit, her thoughts preoccupied once more with the idea of going home with Jordan.

Clutching his keys tightly against her palm as she pushed through the double doors back into the chilly air outside, she tried to ignore the crazy cozy feelings suddenly warming her insides that she got from thinking about it.

Despite having spent the better part of the past few weeks at his side, she had yet to invite him back to her apartment, or to venture out with him to see where
he
lived. Not that he'd asked, but thinking about it shouldn't have felt any different than when she'd agreed to fly off to wherever with him in his private jet. And yet, it did. Vastly so.

A trip meant impersonal hotels with completely separate rooms, but
home
…

A thrill of anticipation and excitement zinged through her, tempered only by the stinging prickle of warning at the back of her mind that suggested riding out to Jordan's place—no matter how innocent such a visit might seem on the surface—could become insidious in a heartbeat.

Going home with him would make everything more intimate. More personal. It would change things between them. It would change
her
, irrevocably so, and she wasn't sure she was willing to take the risk.

Her earlier conversation with Jo came to mind, forcing her to think, to examine her thoughts and re-examine her feelings where Jordan was concerned. She needed to step back and take a look at everything that had happened since the day she'd met him outside Seville's Antiques and Collectibles and to decide—here and now—what was really happening between them.

Sure, they were more comfortable and relaxed with each other now. Spending several hours of every day in the company of anyone who was as easy to be with as Jordan was made it kind of impossible to remain aloof. She could not have done it if she had tried, but she hadn't tried because Jordan really hadn't given her the chance.

Without an ounce of charm, superficial or otherwise, he'd stumbled up against her life and with the light of challenge gleaming in the depths of his intriguing gray eyes. He'd coaxed her into allowing him inside. With confident sincerity, he'd promised to keep things light between them and then surprised her when she'd cracked with his gentle acceptance and understanding.

His curiosity and genuine interest in everything she could possibly show him was contagious. Who could have thought it possible to discover so much about the town where she'd lived her entire life in just the few short weeks she'd spent at his side?

Somehow, Jordan Parker made the mundane come alive, changing an everyday shopping spree into a fun-filled adventure into the unknown. His frequent spontaneity was exciting and his kisses provocative. In his arms she always felt warm and safe, and though the touch of his lips on hers often hinted at a smoldering, underlying passion that could be very satisfying to explore if only she would give it a try, so far he'd kept his word about no pressure and no strings.

There was no doubt about it—Kaylee had thoroughly enjoyed every moment she spent with him. But was it possible she'd enjoyed some of them more than she should?

It was easy to admit they were becoming friends, but … was there something else? Something more meaningful and infinitely more dangerous to her heart beginning to grow between the two of them?

Shivering now from the cold, Kaylee ducked her head against a particularly biting burst of wind and pressed forward the last few steps to the truck. Dancing from one foot to the other to ward off the chill seeping beneath the folds of her coat, she clicked the button on the thingy on Jordan's key ring to unlock the door and opened the one on the passenger side to climb in, her thoughts still caught by the unsettling realization that she might be falling in love again.

How could such a thing have happened without her being aware of what was going on? There would have been clues. Hints to warn her things between her and Jordan were slipping into a territory she wasn't ready to re-explore. Maybe the signs had been there all along but she'd been enjoying herself so much she'd simply refused to let herself see?

Lost in thought, she jumped when the driver side door popped open and Jordan slid in behind the wheel, rapidly rubbing his bare hands together to ward off the cold.

Both hands on her chest now, she swung her head to stare at him wide-eyed. “Good grief, you startled me!”

“Sorry, it's frigid in here!” He continued to rub at his hands while his gaze flitted from the empty ignition switch, to the dash, and then to the seat before finally rising to settle on her, his brow wrinkled by a slight frown of confusion. “I gave you the keys, didn't I?”

“What? I—yes, you did. Sorry. I was preoccupied.”

She handed over the keys and he started the engine, then cranked up the heat. “It's getting colder out there. Hank said it looks like their might be snow.”

At the mention of snow, her thoughts drifted to the beautiful snow globe she'd bought at Seville's the day she'd first met him, and she thought of the house inside, her mind suddenly making clear to her the definition of the word home.

Home meant comfort and security.

Home meant freedom to be who you were—the real you—and still find acceptance.

Home meant a never-ending supply of concern and understanding and sensitivity.

And home meant special memories—the kind that either grounded you or sent your spirits soaring.

In a word, home was not a place at all, but rather, a feeling—the word, in fact, embodied the highest emotion of all. Home, Kaylee realized at last, meant “anywhere you feel loved.”

Just as she had suspected, it had nothing to do with the structure in which one lived but everything to do with the people who resided inside and the certain knowledge was almost terrifying. But worse than having come to a full understanding of what home truly meant to her was the uncomfortable yet undeniable truth which followed: Jordan had become home for her.

Wherever he was, as long as she was at his side, she felt completely at ease and at home—and that frightened her.

“I'm sorry I had to cancel our trip.” Jordan said, glancing over while backing carefully out of the parking space. “I was really looking forward to showing you the city. Kind of like repaying the favor you've granted me—helping me get familiar with the sights and sounds of Hawthorne Grove.”

“It's not a problem,” she absently assured him, her entire being still reeling from reaction to her discovery. “In fact, it's probably for the best that we didn't go.”

There was a little quaver in her voice there at the end. Closing her eyes, she turned quickly away toward the window, hoping he hadn't noticed the betraying little catch of sound that heralded an imminent onset of tears, but when she cast a quick glance over at him she saw a confused frown knitting his brow yet again.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Not trusting her voice to not crack if she spoke, Kaylee nodded instead in answer to his question. But the truth was, she wasn't sure.
Was
she okay? Or had she let this thing with Jordan go too far? The recent realizations she had made clearly said she had—if her intention was to protect her heart from danger of breaking. “I'm fine, but I think I'd rather you drop me back at Sam's, if you don't mind.”

He cast her another quick glance as he maneuvered off the little side road onto the highway. This time, his eyes were filled with more than confusion, but Kaylee could not seem to make herself hold his gaze long enough to sort through the myriad questions she saw there. She'd already dealt with more emotion than she cared to today. Right now, all she wanted to do was get back to her apartment where she could figure out how to deal with the startling revelation she had uncovered.

“Alright. It's probably a good idea that you don't meet Stacy yet, anyway. She can be a bit … difficult at times.”

Kaylee felt her brow pull downward, just now realizing there was a decided significance in the way he said the name, one she didn't yet understand, but had a feeling she should. Her head swung round, her gaze flying up to meet his. “Stacy?”

Jordan's shoulder rose and fell in a halfhearted, nonchalant shrug. “My ex. Apparently, she's camped out on my doorstep and I need to find out why.”

His ex? Ex-girlfriend? Or ex-
wife
?

In either case, Kaylee's reaction was decidedly not good and she expected any attempts at an explanation he might make would only produce more of the same breathless fear of impending destruction. Clutching her hands in her lap, she quietly reminded herself to breathe while dread poured over her in icy sheets, chilling the blood in her veins. “Camped out?”

His gaze focused on the road, Jordan nodded. “Yep. Sam said it looked like she planned to stay for a while.”

He offered the words so calmly it frightened her. But when he didn't deny that she would, indeed, be spending some time with him, Kaylee squeezed her eyes closed, fighting against the blindingly obvious demonstration of his betrayal, a swiftly rising sense of panic, and the terribly familiar crushing weight of inexplicably harrowing pain.

She could feel the color leeching from her as surely as she felt the sting of bile rising in her throat. Turning toward the window again, she put her hands over her face this time, hoping that maybe he wouldn't notice she'd gone pale.

How could this be happening to her—again?

Eyes burning with the sting of unshed tears and her throat tight against the thick swell of emotions pouring through her, Kaylee slid one hand toward the button to lower her window. Her fingers trembled and she seriously needed some air. The glass lowered and she turned her face into the frigid wind, sucking in several quick, deep breaths.

“Kaylee? Are you sure you're okay? You've been so quiet today—”

She could hear his voice. She understood his question. She even recognized the genuine sound of concern in his voice, but at the moment, her very newly mended heart was breaking again and none of it mattered. Somehow she managed to shake her head yes, to deter both his questions and his concern, but her stomach still rolled.

Turning away to stare out the window again, she squeezed her fists into tight balls in her lap, willing away the nausea in her gut. If they could just make it back to Sammy's, everything would be alright. She could get into her own car and drive back to the sanctuary of her apartment and think. But they were still driving and Sammy's felt a world away, and … and she was pretty sure she'd fallen head over heels in love with Jordan H. Parker.

Oh, no.
I think I'm going to be sick.