Bewitching You (9 page)

 
“Then I’ll call him and explain.” There had to be some way. Gray couldn’t simply give up.

“Don’t you dare, Phillips. Luckily, Beaver stepped in and handled the situation. He’ll be taking over the project.”

It wasn’t until then that Gray noticed his nemesis smiling smugly a few feet behind Linden. No way was this happening. In a matter of minutes, Gray had mucked up his chance to be promoted and this moron was reaping the benefits.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Gray muttered.

“I assure you, I’m not,” Linden said. “I had high hopes for you, Phillips, but if you can’t even arrive on time to an important meeting, how can you manage an entire department?”

Beaver, over Linden’s shoulder, lifted his eyebrows as if waiting for Gray’s answer. The nerve.

Gray clenched his fists at his side and tried to ignore Beaver. The heat of anger rose up his chest. “You’re saying not only do I not get the account, I don’t get the promotion either?”

“Why don’t we talk about this at a later time? You seem upset.”

“No. I want to know now. I’ve worked my ass off for this company, and I deserve that promotion.”

Beaver stepped to Linden’s right. “That’s highly debatable, Phillips,” he said while shaking his head. “Mr. Linden saw for himself just how unreliable you can be.” He smirked and silently mouthed, “You fucked up.”

It was all Gray could take. If he was going to fall, he’d drag Beaver down with him. He tightened his fist and swung, hitting his colleague square in the jaw. And damn, did it feel good.

If only for a moment.

~ * ~

 
Papers flew across the driveway after Sofia stumbled over her own feet. Of course an afternoon shower had just poured through, leaving the ground wet and ruining all of her job applications.

“Just great.” Sofia looked around at the damage and began picking up each piece, crumpling them all together into a sopping ball. Her entire morning had been wasted. Why, again, hadn’t she filled out the applications while she was there? Oh, yeah, she’d wanted them to look perfect before she handed them back in, with her resume she’d designed on the computer attached. The template had cute pink swirls and… She sighed.

What about her life was ever less than disastrous?

Evidently, nothing
.

“Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Sofe.” She tossed the applications into the trash before heading inside. If Sofia Good was anything, she was resilient. Strong.

Strong enough to stop rapes and murders from happening, and strong enough to attempt to peel the thought of never being loved by
that
man from her mind and her dreams.

However, she was not strong enough to deal with her mother and her grandmother talking about her as she walked through the door. Not today. The whispers echoed into the hallway from the den. They didn’t even bother to stop when Sofia leaned into the room and cleared her throat.

Her mother held up a finger. “Sofia doesn’t
need
a man in her life. She’s got me.”

They sat on either side of the large walnut desk, inclining toward each other as if that would stop Sofia from hearing their every word.

“Need a man? No,” Nana said, “but she deserves a little happiness.”

“You can stop now,” Sofia cut in before they could continue. “I have no idea why you’re discussing this, but it’s pointless.
Sofia
doesn’t
need
or
want a man, especially Gray Phillips.”

Geez, it disgusted her to say his name aloud. She hoped she never saw him again, eyes opened or closed. As of this morning, he was nothing to her.

But then why did it hurt so much?

Maybe because this could be her only chance at love.

“Oh, honey.” Nana stood up and held out her arms for Sofia. She’d obviously read her mind. “Come to Nana.”

Dang it. Times like this she wished she knew her mother’s trick to block Nana out. Her mother had learned it in high school, and it had something to do with envisioning someone naked. Was it Rodney Dangerfield?

“Sofia, don’t do that.”

“Sorry, Nana, but I’m really not in the mood to be read.”

“I’ll try not to, but I’m worried about you. I can see that he’s hurt you.”

“I’m fine. Really.”

“If he’s been having the dreams, too, then he’ll come to you eventually,” Nana whispered and rubbed Sofia’s shoulders.

Now, how did she know that? No secret was safe in this family, not even the ones in her head.

“I don’t want him to. In fact, I’m going to prevent it from happening. I can do that, you know. I can control my own destiny.” And her mind.
Rodney Dangerfield, Rodney Dangerfield
.

“What happened?” her mother asked as she walked toward them.

“I don’t want to talk about it, Mom. It’s over and done with.” Sofia willed back the unwanted tears forming in her eyes.

It was no big deal, she told herself. That relationship simply wasn’t meant to be. That was all.

Her mother moved in and caressed her cheek. “Darn it. I never should have told you to go after him. Men are nothing but closed-minded nimrods. They’re all testosterone-driven assholes, and it sounds like this guy isn’t any different. He’s not worthy of you, just like your father—”

“Laura,” Nana interrupted. “Please, show a little self-control.”

Sofia glanced from her mother to her grandmother and wondered for the billionth time how they could possibly be related. One short and overweight, the other tall and lean. Sofia was somewhere in between them, leaning more to the short and, okay, slightly chubby side—so maybe eating cold pizza for breakfast hadn’t been the best decision. The only characteristic that truly bonded them was the blue eyes.

And, of course, there was the whole no-man-will-ever-love-them issue. Psychic powers weren’t exactly on a man’s list of top ten reasons to stick around.

Her mother was right. Who needed a man anyway? All Sofia required was a job and the two women in front of her.

“Sofia,” Nana began in a cautious tone, “I’m going out of town for a week or two. An Amish family in Allen County needs a midwife for a difficult pregnancy, and I agreed to help. I was wondering, since you no longer have a job, if you could housesit for me and take care of Sam? Besides,” Nana eyed Sofia’s mother, who was fuming from being cut off and was most likely planning another desperate attack on poor Herbert to take the edge off, “it might be good for you to have some alone time away from everything.”

~ * ~

Penny Jones pulled up to her home after driving from her daughter and granddaughter’s house. She knew what she needed to do for Sofia.

Something she’d only done once before.

Something to help Sofia find her own true love, just as Penny had many years ago.

It had worked its magic then, literally. Now it was time to do it again. Sure, magic spells took a lot out of Penny, and she wasn’t as young as she once was, but this was important.

She walked inside her home on a mission to bring her granddaughter happiness. She was determined to make it so Sofia didn’t suffer the same bitter fate as Laura. She’d already picked out the necessary materials. Items she usually kept in her shed out back, along with all of her other magical goodies, were spread out on the floor. She sat down in front of them, close to the Earth.

Penny didn’t practice witchcraft often. Her mother had taught her less was more. She’d taught the same to Laura, who decided for herself
and
Sofia that magic was not going to be a part of their lives at all. Their gifts were about all Laura could handle. Anything else was unnatural to her, abnormal.

Penny never argued, never undermined. Until now.

Each magnet lay out on the hardwood floor before her. One represented Sofia, the other Grayson Phillips. Penny closed her eyes and slowly breathed in and out, letting the energy rise inside of her.

This is interesting
. A masculine voice vibrated into her head.

Penny opened her eyes and glanced around, but there was no one to be seen. “Hello?” she called out. It had been a mind she’d read, rather than an actual voice she’d heard. She could tell from the vibrations.

Can you hear me
? he asked.

“Yes, but I can’t see you. Are you a spirit, by chance?”

“I am. But you’re not frightened?” He spoke this time in a deep and youthful tone.

“No.” Penny chuckled. She’d heard her share of ghosts in the past. In fact, her late husband had spent a week on earth after he’d passed, before fulfilling his unfinished business and moving to the light. “No, I’m not frightened by you one bit. However, I am curious why you’re here. Who are you and what is your business?”

“My name is Hayes Phillips, Gray Phillips’s brother. I need to see to his happiness before I can cross over, and I think your granddaughter, Sofia, can help with that.”

“Oh? How do you know of my Sofia?”

“She’s the palm reader’s daughter, right?”

“Yes, she is.”

“Well, I’ve been watching her.” He paused and laughed an infectious laugh. “Not in a weird way or anything.”

Penny smiled. “That’s good to know. Go on.”

“You see, I was angry with the palm reader at first. I’d been to her a month before my death, and she’d told me to be careful. That’s it. She hadn’t warned me of my looming death. She hadn’t even given me a hint. So, I brooded in their home, watching them, wanting to get even with the so-called psychic. But as time passed, I was more entranced by the daughter. She was sweet, innocent, and pretty in her own way. Not really my type.” He chuckled lightly. “Definitely perfect for my brother, though. I began to think how lucky he would be if he were to find her. Then I remembered.”

The young man stopped talking, but Penny continued to read his thoughts. He’d remembered how selfish he’d been, leaving his brother. And Rachel. He’d gone to see them after the spirit world had taken his body and saw the ring on her finger. They were engaged to be married, but
neither of them was happy with the idea.

How could they be?

Penny nodded as she came full circle with the rest of the story. “I understand why you’re here. We have the same goal then, don’t we?”

“Yeah, I think we do.”

~ * ~

Rachel braked hard, nearly hitting the school bus filled with children on their way home from school. She’d been so consumed with her thoughts she hadn’t noticed the light was red.

What was wrong with her? She was going to kill someone if she couldn’t get it together.

Hayes. He was the problem. She couldn’t get him out of her head. All night and all day during class, visions of the intimate time they’d spent together had manipulated her mind. Kissing. Wanting. Spreading her legs for him and letting him have whatever he desired.

Seeing him again had been agonizing. If the man in her room really had been Hayes, if his words had all been true, then he’d loved her. Who knew what would have happened if he’d lived to tell her? It wasn’t fair to her, and especially not to Grayson. How could she ever go ahead with the wedding, knowing what she knew? After everything was said and done, she couldn’t imagine letting Grayson into the space in her heart where only Hayes had been.

It wasn’t right, and it had been ridiculous of her to ever think it would be.

The car behind her honked twice, letting Rachel know the light had turned green. She pressed the gas pedal and carefully continued home.

The phone call to Grayson this morning had been a pathetic attempt. As soon as she’d heard his voice over the line, she’d chickened out. Not only did she not want to hurt him any more than he’d already been hurt, she didn’t want him to
think
poorly
of her. She didn’t want to see that look of disappointment she’d become so familiar with.

He hadn’t always been this way. Remote and irritable. Before Hayes died, he was a kind, loving man. Rachel had loved that part of him. If only the passion had been there—the little thing called chemistry. Then she would’ve never slept with Hayes, and she wouldn’t be in this predicament right now.