Page 117 of Mountain Pine
I cover my mouth with my hand and stare at it. I stare and stare and stare. The fire flickers and spreads across the twine, eating at it. Finally, the cord breaks, falling off of my candle and remains on my dad’s because his wax holds it in place. It melts and burns and finally…
CRACK!
We both jump at the same time because the plate legit cracks in half from the heat.
“Holy shit.”
Taylor beams at me. “How do you feel?”
“I don’t know.”
She hugs me and that kinda makes things better.
“It’s done,” we both say at the same time. Okay, thatdefinitelyshifts the mood.
“Jinx.” Taylor wiggles her fingers at me, and I do the same back to her and then she gets rid of all the stuff.
Magic is scary. Maybe it would be different if I understood it but since I don’t, that was wild and terrifying and kind of exhilarating.
Standing up, I take a deep breath. “I feel better.”
“I’m glad.”
“Thank you for doing that.”
“Thank you for trusting me to do it.”
Maybe it worked, maybe it was all bullshit, but guys, by the time we’re done breakfast, it’s like the whole wide world has opened for me. I’m free to go into my future with my beautiful woman by my side and have an army of support at my back.
Nothing but good vibes.
Maybe there’s a little witch in all of us.
Psst… Please don’t tell Taylor I said that. She’ll never let me live it down.
Chapter 33
Taylor
I chose the weekend before Halloween to get married. Surprise, surprise. But who can blame me when the leaves are spectacular, and the air is crisp and I’m feeling very magical.
“This is so exciting,” my mom squeals, for the umpteenth time. She’s braiding some of my curls.
Carly and Grace are in the bathroom doing their makeup. Every once in a while, I hear them laughing and my heart warms because my two best friends are getting along really well.
“It’s nice to have Carly back,” mom whispers.
Yeah, it is. I hope she stays for longer than a weekend, but I doubt it.
“Conner and I are going to put an extension on the house,” I say, changing subjects.
“Really?”
“We’re hiring Nick to do renovations.”
“That’s wonderful! I’m sure you’ll need more bedrooms,” she winks, offering a warm, knowing smile.
With or without kids, some more space would be nice. I love my tiny home, but Conner is big, and the rooms feel cramped with all his stuff added to it. Poor guy has half his clothes in the hall closet because mine can’t accommodate both of us like I thought. Wehave too many memories wrapped up in my walls to ever move, so we agreed to renovate. And yeah, we want more bedrooms for the future for sure.
