Page 97 of Blade

Nearly ten minutes of lectures and embarrassing stories later, I got to stop tattling on myself to my mate and shifted the conversation again. “I don’t know what you were told but the coven has kept the house in good shape and they even kept all Mama’s pictures for me. You’d be very proud of how it looks.”

Giving me a proud nod, she gestured toward the parking lot. “They’ve been coming over once a month to update me. Notes and everything. Young Serena’s done a good job of handling the current coven. There’s no more shenanigans and they’re well-behaved now. No more running after men and making mischief. She runs a tight ship.”

High praise from a tough woman who hadn’t liked any of the local witches in her time.

But since I was starting to understand why, I just agreed with her. “I’m glad to hear that. As long as you’re comfortable with it, I’ve left Serena in charge of the finances.”

Glancing over at Henley, who was doing his best to look attentive through the whole thing, I smiled at my mate. “I’ve been promised a tour of the country and we’re going to do some traveling.”

I didn’t have to point out how many reasons we had to leave, something about her expression said she was more up-to-date on the local gossip than I could guess. “I barely left the state before, if we’re counting Myrtle Beach, but now we’re going to see the whole country before we come back.”

Did she understand how long that would be?

I didn’t want her waiting around forever.

As much as I loved Bladenboro, I wasn’t going to end up as a rug in some asshole’s living room and the memories were still too fresh for me.

“I’m proud of you and your daddy would be too.” As relief rushed through me, she charged right back in. “Make sure your mate knows you get carsick in the back and that peppermints will help.”

I managed not to groan that time but Henley must’ve known how I was feeling because he was barely holding back a grin as I repeated her instructions. “Thank you for letting me know. Blaine’s very good at taking care of me but I want to make sureI take care of him too. He’s kind of stubborn and doesn’t always make that easy.”

Oh, he had her eating out of the palm of his hand.

“He’s a good one, boy.” Smiling like she’d picked out Henley herself, she sighed. “Did you ever imagine being able to take your mate out in public? They’ve got parades and a whole month of celebrations.”

Blinking back tears, I shook my head. “No, ma’am. I clearly wasn’t thinking big enough back then.”

Fate seemed to have stepped in to lend a hand on that one.

“Serena brought over her laptop for me a few times and showed me all about the changes so I’d know you’d be safe when they fixed you.” She shook her head, probably at how long it took, but didn’t talk badly about Serena. “I made sure they kept all your baby clothes protected and your daddy’s pipe he always hid from your mama, God rest her soul.”

She’d always thought of everything.

“Did he blame them? The coven, I mean.” He’d never talked much about them one way or the other, so I wasn’t sure how he’d felt. “Serena said they moved in after he got sick.”

Miss Ida sighed again. “He was always stubborn but he thought that was the best way to make sure they’d take care of you. He liked the company too at the end.”

Even seeing her as a ghost, I still couldn’t really comprehend he was gone.

“Was he… Did he blame me?” If I’d studied more magic, I probably could’ve defended myself.

“No, baby.” Her image pulsed and flashed more vibrantly for a moment. “He was mad at everyone for a while, but never you. The coven made it clear your strength kept the spell from killing you to begin with, so he always held out hope.”

Swallowing hard again, I nodded. “Thank you for staying with him.”

Making a dramatic hmpf, she glared at me. “Don’t thank me for doing my job.”

I was starting to see where I might’ve gotten my love of dramatic nuts from. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Now, a few things. Your daddy wrote little things for you in his notes. That big leather book he always carried around?” When I nodded, she started ticking things off on her fingers. “That should be up in the attic when you’re ready.”

One knowing glance from her said she knew that might be a while. She didn’t fuss at me, though. “Your mama left you some letters that you were supposed to get when you met your mate. Her family coven did that when a new baby was a year old, so they should be with her papers. Oh, and I left her recipes with Serena’s mama. That young girl isn’t much of a cook so those might’ve gotten put in the attic too. Don’t forget those.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I felt overloaded, like there was just too much in me for one body to hold, but I shoved it all back down again. “I’ll remember and I’ll tell my mate. He’s good with details.”

“You’re going to be fine.” Something about that pleased her, and we both got smiles Henley couldn’t see. “I expect to look down from the afterlife and see you making good choices and changing the world, boy.”

She held up her hand before I could say anything. “You’ve got a good man to look out for you and you’ve got yourself back. That’s what I needed to see. I have’ta go take care of your mama now because Heaven only knows what mischief she’s gotten up to.”