Change (27 page)

“
Morning,
Cora,” Clay greeted her, and without letting her reply, he
continued. “Well I have to say, you look like hell.”

“
You have such
a way with words,” she sneered, “that's what I like about
you.”

He laughed and
stepped in front of her, lifting her chin up so she looked at him
properly. She struggled against his hold, embarrassed that he would
see how tired she was, and a little annoyed that he believed he had
the right to be so pushy with her. She couldn’t remember the last
time Clay had even touched her for fear of Jack hurting him. Things
must be bad if he felt comfortable doing it.

His dirty
blonde hair had been cut, his jaw popped with anger. She could see
the muscle working overtime. “Seriously, you need to take better
care of yourself.”

“
What do you
care?” she spat angrily. Why were people so forward in telling her
she looked like hell?

“
I care
because I don't like seeing you like this. You don’t look good,
Cora, and you know what? Jack looks like hell too.” He closed his
green eyes for a second and then glared at her.

Her heart
squeezed and then let go. A reaction. She was bound to have a
reaction to hearing his name.

She didn't
care.

She didn't
care.

Cora could
chant this over and over again, but who was she kidding, she did
care. “I don't care.”

“
Sure you do,
I saw it pass over your face.”

“
You notice
too much, Clay,” she snapped.

Clay shrugged
his shoulders and smiled. “Yeah I do notice things. I see the way
this lack of communication is hurting you both, you need to sort
things out with Jack,” he urged. “If you don’t, you know things
will worsen. Do you remember when things blew up between us and
Tabitha asked if you were certain about Jack? You remember
that?”

“
Yes.” Of
course she did. The two men had fought like cat and dog over her,
but what was Clay getting at?

“
Tabitha told
you there would be consequences if this thing between you two went
wrong. Cora, it's going wrong. What do you think will happen to the
coven if you can't fix this? Do you think we will all stay
together? Do you think you can be in the same room as Jack if he
had another woman on his arm?”

“
It’s not the
same thing. I’m not on anyone’s arm.”

“
Would you see
it that way if the roles were reversed? Cora, I know you, you’re
fiercely protective and Jack is too.”

She shook her
head. “Things will blow over, and things will be fine.”

“
Really, so if
you pick Quinn, do you think Jack will sit by and play happy
families in your coven? If you lose Jack, you lose Eli, you lose
me. The repercussions build up until what? What then?”

Cora couldn't
believe what Clay was saying. Nothing was going to happen because
things would sort themselves out. The coven would remain the same.
This was a little speed bump they were experiencing.

“
Nothing will
happen. We've had an argument, that’s all,” Cora assured
Clay.

“
Look around
you, does it look fine? Has Tabitha been okay with you? Has Ember
been spending time here? Or even Ayden, how is he acting? What
about Ciaran, and you barely know him. How has he been?”

She could feel
the tremors begin in her hands. Tabitha wasn't happy and she'd made
that perfectly clear. Ember hardly looked at her. And still denial
had her shaking her head in anger. “He started it. Jack started it
by not trusting me, I can't talk to him when he's being like that.
Jack has to trust my decisions, my choices. I’m the High Priestess
for a reason.”

“
A leader is
only as good as its team, and your team is falling to bits. No one
trusts Quinn, we’ve told you this. Don’t you trust any of our
opinions?”

“
You don't
give anyone a chance. You're just like Jack. You see something you
don't like and you go for the jugular.”

“
Yeah, you're
exactly right, Cora. We see something we don't like,” Clay
snapped.

“
But you don't
know him!”

“
Neither do
you!”

The door
opened. Cora could see from the twisted expression on Clay's face
that he didn't like the guest.

“
Mornin',”
Quinn called.

“
Cora, you are
making a huge mistake,” Clay hissed, moving closer to her face. The
green of his eyes seemed to churn as his anger boiled over.
“Please, see reason soon.” Clay stepped back giving her room
again.

“
Whit are we
talkin' aboot?”

“
None of your
business. It's coven business,” Clay snapped as he glared at
Quinn.

“
Cora?” Quinn
addressed her.

She was stuck
between two opposing forces. What the hell was she meant to
say?

The door
opened again before she could answer, and now she found herself
standing between two men who hated one another and Ciaran, who had
just entered and was looking at their gathering with confusion on
his face. Her day was just getting better and better. “It was
nothing, Quinn. We were just discussing Jack.”

“
Whit aboot
him?”

“
Well, we had
a falling out,” she explained uncomfortably.

“
Cora! You
don’t discuss personal business, especially with him,” Clay
hissed.

“
It's mine to
discuss,” she snapped.

“
It's your
funeral. Do what you must, but you will pay a price, one way or the
other. Just ask yourself this. What are you prepared to
lose?”

Clay brushed
past her and walked out of the shop. She felt the sting of tears,
but she refused to let them fall.

“
Come here,”
Quinn whispered and opened his arms. She walked right into him,
welcoming the comfort.

She
desperately needed contact, someone to just hold her. She missed
her friends. She missed their chats over hot chocolate at the end
of the working day. They were treating her like she was a child who
didn’t know any better, and it wasn’t helping her to resolve this
situation. She opened her eyes and lifted her head from Quinn’s
shoulder to see the disgusted look on Ciaran's face, to see the
disappointment in his topaz eyes as he watched them
cuddle.

29

CHANGE

Cora skilfully
manoeuvred herself around the shop, avoiding both Ciaran and
Tabitha. There were a number of customers in the shop vying for
their attention, so luckily, now that Ciaran knew where everything
was placed in the shop, she needn't show him anymore. Plus he was
helping deal with three of the customers whilst she had four on the
go.

She walked to
the stock room to pick out some jade petals for her customer. She
pulled out the small parcel and then rested her head in her hands.
Taking a deep breath, Cora realised how happy she was that it was
so busy. She hated quiet moments. They always made her think, and
the quiet moments were not as rare as she would like.

In those
moments she thought about Jack. Fourteen nights spent without him.
The last few she'd slept through due to sheer will and
determination to not let him affect her. But, it did. It bothered
her that they weren't talking. It bothered her when she didn’t see
those chocolate button eyes or see the lopsided grin that made his
dimples pop. She missed him, but she wouldn’t admit it out
loud.

Quinn had been
here for her in times of need. He was a good friend. Even as her
head told her this, her gut churned. Things were developing between
them, and she didn’t know how to stop it. Or even if she wanted to.
He'd been in the shop a lot of the days, but Tabitha didn't make it
easy to talk to him. Tabitha was like a raging bull when it came to
Quinn.

Ciaran wasn't
any better about the situation. He often interrupted their
conversation with questions about the shop and work. He'd asked the
same questions plenty of times that Cora knew Ciaran was doing it
on purpose. Perhaps he wanted rid of the competition? Cora would
make them see. She would make them all see that Quinn wasn't
bad.

She exited the
stock room and gave the customer the petals. Tabitha dealt with her
at the till as Cora moved to the Easter display. Ciaran was dealing
with Mrs Rogers’ today which, she was rather surprisingly
disappointed about. She could trust the elderly lady to make her
smile.

Cora moved the
Easter display around. It was still early for Easter yet, but
Tabitha liked to be ahead of the game. Cora didn't have a clue what
the spell books, candles and such things had to do with Easter, but
Tabitha had decorated the entire display with eggs and little fuzzy
chicks.

She moved
things around and replenished stock. The door opened and she turned
as Ayden walked into the shop. Simply seeing him lifted some of the
weight from her heart.

“
Hello
ladies,” he smiled. “Ciaran.”

Ciaran nodded
his head in greeting and continued with his work.

“
Ayden, I
wanted to talk to you about something.” Cora said, placing a little
fuzzy chicken precariously on a book.

“
Talk away,”
Ayden spread his hands indicating he was ready to hear what she had
to say.

She’d come to
a decision, finally. “Well, I was wondering if... if it would be
okay to... move back in with you?”

The shop
stilled as she looked at Ayden but could imagine that both Tabitha
and Ciaran were looking at her.

“
I see. Yes,
of course you can. What brought this on?”

“
Well, I need
to do it eventually. I said I would think about it after Edinburgh,
that time has come and gone.” She didn't tell them that sleeping in
that bed without Jack hurt just as much as going back home to the
memories of her mother. She couldn't win either way. But she'd
impeded on Tabitha's time and home too much, so it was
time.

“
I hope that
it's okay, Tab?” she asked, looking at Tabitha for the first time
today.

It was also
becoming more awkward living with Tabitha, and as much as she loved
Tabitha, it was hard living in those conditions.

Tabitha looked
a little shocked and hurt which didn’t help her feel any better.
“Of course that is fine, I knew it would come one day.”

“
It doesn't
mean I love you any less.”

An iron fist
grabbed her heart tightly before it let go. She'd said the same
words to Jack.

“
Cora, I know
you love me, and I am proud that you feel strong enough to go back
home.”

Home. God, it
felt weird to be calling it home. Tabitha's flat was home to her,
her home with Jack.

“
When would
you like to move back in?” Ayden asked.

“
After work
today?” Cora suggested, and saw the surprise on both their faces.
“I don't have to. Is that too soon?”

“
Of course
not, love. I'm sure we could gather hands to help you,” Ayden
smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes.

Which hands,
Jack’s? Eli’s? Clay’s? They’d avoided the shop like she had the
plague.

“
I can help,”
Ciaran offered.

“
Thanks
Ciaran, that's very kind,” Cora smiled at Ciaran and received the
warm twinkle in his topaz eyes.

“
It is a
thoughtful offer, Ciaran, cheers,” Ayden agreed.

Why did Ayden
talk to Ciaran like they were friends, but he ignored Quinn? She
shook her head. She would have to deal with this whole situation at
some point. She just didn’t want to deal with it now.

She continued
with her work, missing the look that passed between Ayden and
Tabitha.

*

Cora carried
the box down the stairs, being careful not to slip on any of the
steps. Walking into the shop, she dropped it on the floor with the
rest of her stuff.

“
You already
have so much stuff back at home, how do you have so much stuff here
too?” Ayden asked, flabbergasted, as he looked over the many
boxes.

“
I don't know.
I just like clothes and stuff.” She shrugged.

Ciaran hobbled
down the stairs lugging another box in his arms. “You are a typical
woman, and women love their clothes, like” Ciaran said
smiling.

The comment
made her smile. “Maybe.”

The door to
the front of the shop opened. “A thought yer might need a hand,”
Quinn offered.

“
No, we have
plenty,” Ayden muttered.

“
Sure,” she
said, ignoring Ayden. “You can pick up that box over there. I think
that is all the boxes moved down here, so we can start moving them
to the house.” She wasn't able to say home at the
moment.

“
Sure, this
looks like a heavy one,” Quinn chuckled as he made his way to the
box she'd pointed out.

“
You want me
to take that, ace,” Ayden mocked.

“
No, A think A
can manage. A Wouldn't want yer doing yer back in, old
man.”