Retribution (43 page)

After several seconds of searching the vast family garden, she tore her gaze away and scanned the remaining structures. The side she and Quin hovered on was a wide open expanse, but the opposite side was lined with three white outbuildings and one newly built garage.

“What do you think?” Quin asked.

“It's perfect,” she whispered, taking it all in again.

“I'm surprised you've never asked to see it.”

“We've been busy, but I had no idea it would be like
this
. I figured a couple of garages and a mediocre barn, but this is a dreamland.”

“I meant to get you here sooner, and even now our time is limited, but I want you to see it. You need to see it.”

She looked from the utopian clearing to his attentive eyes. “I'm glad you made the time, Quin. It's beautiful.”

He pulled her into a soft kiss. Then he swept her hair from her face. “What would you like to look at first? I'll float you there.”

“Um… Let's take a look at the garden then go see the animals.”

“Perfect,” he agreed, hovering toward the grove. Then he floated between two rows of fruit trees.

“Who takes care of all this?” she asked, finding everything from oranges and limes to plums and pears, and that was a mere portion of what the grove had to offer.

“Grandpa Cat mostly,” Quin answered. “He doesn't work outside of the community, so it's his job to tend to the gardens and animals.” He circled around a fragrant lemon tree then paused at a cherry tree, picking a small cluster of fruit. “Here,” he said, handing them over. “I've already magicked the pits out.”

“Thanks.” Taking note of its extraordinary size and bright red color, she pulled a cherry from its stem and popped it into her mouth. It was, without a doubt, the most delicious cherry she'd ever had. “So Catigern does all this?”

“For the most part. The rest of us help when we can, or if he needs us to. But we've all been busy lately, including him, so we've had Kegan's great-grandpa giving us a hand. Even with our magic making things easy, keeping up with this clearing and its occupants takes time.”

“I can imagine.”

He floated out of the grove then made his way down one of the wide rows of the garden. “It's not really this half that's so pressing. Growing our own produce isn’t a necessity, but there are quite a few animals on the other end, and not only do they need to be fed and watered, they need to be exercised. They get to roam the clearing when someone's here to watch them, but that's not enough for some of them. Every day the horses are taken for a run on the trail that skirts our property line.”

“How many horses are there?” she asked, eying a bed of bright-red strawberries.

Quin noticed, and summoned her a sample of the fruit as he answered. “Fifteen.”

“Fifteen? How does Catigern find time to exercise that many horses?”

“Don't forget, love, we're magicians and very in tune with animals, especially our own. Grandpa Cat can exercise several horses at once, but he rarely has to take care of all fifteen by himself. Everyone in the coven rides, and when life’s passing at a normal pace, most of us spend a couple evenings a week here, and some of us come daily, if only for a little while. Grandpa Cat knows which horses haven't had their daily run, and they're the ones he takes out.”

“Do you come here daily?”

“At least every other day.”

“You should have told me, Quin.”

“It's not a priority right now, so stop feeling guilty. When this mess is over, I'll make time to do the things I enjoy, and they'll be even better now that you’ll be doing them with me.”

“I can’t wait,” she approved, looking over a vast sea of grapevines. “Are these for wine?”

“Mostly.”

“Do you guys really drink that much?”

“No,” he laughed. “We sell it.”

“We do?”
 

“Yes. The same goes for the rest of the produce. What we don't use ourselves, we donate or sell.”

“Who makes the wine? All of you?”

“Most of us know how, but Cadman and Flanna are the experts. They have a store in Seaside.”

“Oh. I guess I'll have to get over there when things slow down. I still haven't seen my grandparents' art gallery.”

He drifted away from the garden then floated along the side of the clearing that held the outbuildings. “I can't get you there before our confrontation with Agro, but if we succeed, it will be at the top of my to-do list.”

“I know. You're thorough like that. What's in the sheds?”

“Tables, chairs, extra supplies. You’d be surprised by how much is in there. They've been touched by magic. The long table we eat family dinners at is in one of them, and usually the buffet table is in there with it.”

“Really?”

“Yes, love,” he confirmed with a smile, “really.”
 

He stopped in front of the garage and waved a hand, opening the door to reveal her car. A light flickered on as he floated to the driver's door. Then he wrapped his arms around her waist and flipped upright. After lowering her feet to the ground, he opened her door and held out her keys.

She accepted them with furrowed eyebrows. “What are these for?”

“I thought you might want to start your car, since it's been a while.”

“Okay. Hop in.”

He made sure she was in before closing her door, and a few seconds later he slipped into the passenger seat, laughing at the way she wiggled and bounced, trying to find familiarity in the position.

“Is it weird?” he asked.

“Yes,” she answered. “It doesn't feel right at all.” She started the engine then rested both hands on the wheel. “Ever since I started driving, there’s only one other time I went more than a day without doing so. I didn't drive for five days when my mom died, and I remember feeling odd the first time I got back behind the wheel, but it wasn't this bad. I feel like I’d need to do a couple of laps on an empty track before driving on a road with other vehicles.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Are you kidding? Flying is way better than driving. I mean, I guess it would be okay to take a road trip once in a while, just to see things from a different point-of-view, but as far as necessary travel goes, driving is a pain, while flying is a thrill every time all the time.”

He propped his elbow on the armrest and took one of her hands from the wheel, linking her fingers with his. “We'll take a road trip sometime.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Sure. If it's something you want to do, I’d love to do it with you. And if you don't want to drive the whole time, you can teach me how and we'll share the wheel.”

“That sounds fun.”

“I think so, too. Where do you want to go?”

“Hmm... the most beautiful drive I've taken was on my way here. There was a lot to look at between Oklahoma and Oregon.”

“We could do that if you'd like. Then you could show me your home state.”

“There's not much to see, not compared to Oregon.”

“I bet we'd find stuff to look at.”

She smiled. “I'm not betting against you, because Oklahoma would be heaven with you there.”

“We’ll add it to the list. But how about this? We take our time driving down the coast, catching every sunset along the way, and when we get to Long Beach, we'll work our way east to the Grand Canyon. Then we’ll try our luck in Vegas before coming home.”

“That sounds amazing, Quin, a dream come true. I've never seen California or the Grand Canyon, and I've always wanted to explore the west coast. My mom and I used to talk about it all the time.”

“I know. I saw one of your discussions on your home videos.”

“You did?”

“Yes. It started with an acceptance letter to UCLA.”

“Oh yeah…”

Her voice faded as her thoughts drifted into the past, and he let her stay there for a long moment before pulling her back. “Do you feel like you've missed out?”

“On what?”

“The chance to go to college? To discover a career?”

“I wouldn't say I've missed out, but my life turned out a lot different than I once thought it would.”
 

“I’m sure. What did you see for yourself?”

“Well, when I was in high school, doing the student council thing and getting good grades, I saw myself going to college on the west coast, then figuring out a career from there, because I never really had one in mind. Of course mom would make the move with me, because she had no reason to stay behind, and we talked about living on the beach. If we didn't have enough money for seaside realty, we’d just have to sleep under the stars and be beach bums, and I’d have to go to class smelling like the ocean I'd bathed in.”

He laughed as he pulled her fingertips to his lips. “Sounds sandy and salty.”

“Yes, but to a couple of Oklahoma girls, it sounded like heaven.” She paused, briefly reflecting on the outcome of her life. “I thought about California a lot, but I didn’t have a path carved in stone. Well, that's not true. I was sure I’d go to college out of state, and I was sure my mom would go with me, but I was proven wrong on both accounts the night she had her stroke.”

“I'm sorry your plans were changed by such a sad tragedy.”

“Me, too, and I wish I still had Katherine. For three
really
long years I was a mess over her condition, and to lose her body as well as her mind broke me in a way I'd never been broken. But now that I'm here,” she added, squeezing his hand, “now that I've lived a beautiful and blessed life for over two weeks, I can't be sorry anymore. I’d be an ungrateful brat to say I was sorry about the way my life has turned out, because aside from a few annoying and temporary inconveniences, it's perfect.”

He kissed her hand then pulled her palm to his cheek. “It’s less than you deserve… less than I want you to have.”

She smiled, keeping her eyes on his as she laid her head back. “That’s because you get off on spoiling me.”

He laughed as he glided his teeth across the inside of her wrist. “That’s one way to put it.”

Tingles traveled up her arm, but then he pulled his lips away and let her go, severing the electric connection. “Turn off your car, love. Let's go see the animals before we have to get back.”

“Okay.”

He abandoned his seat as she killed the engine, and he was opening her door before she could remove the keys from the ignition. He offered his hand, and she let him pull her from the car into a hug. “You make me feel like a princess,” she whispered.

He kissed her head and rubbed her back. Then he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and headed for the outdoor animals. “Do I?”
 

“You didn't know?”

“I aim to make you feel like the amazing person you are, Layla, but no, I don't always know if I'm succeeding, so it's nice to hear you say it.”

“Don't I show you?”

“Show me what, exactly?”

“How much the wonderful things you say and do mean to me.”

“Yes, you express your appreciation all the time.”

“Then why are there times when you're not certain?”

“We weren't talking about how much you love the way I treat you, we were talking about the way I make you feel about yourself.”

“Oh yeah, like a princess.”

“Yes.”

“I don't show you that?”

“Sometimes, and it gives me a huge rush of pleasure to see you so confident, not just because I got you there, but because that's where you should be. But you lost yourself when you spent all that time alone, and you still have a hard time seeing yourself clearly, even when someone's pointing out the evidence.”

“I don't know why.”

“Why what?”

“Why I lost my confidence.”
 

They reached the chicken coop, and he summoned some grain, placing half of it in her palm before urging her to kneel and let the hens eat from her hand. “Would you like to hear my theory?” he asked.

She giggled at the chickens then found his stare. “On why I lost my confidence?”

“Yes.”

“Sure. Maybe it will shed light on why I can't speak without blushing.”

“I love your blush.”

“But you don't love why it's there.”

“Not always, but sometimes your bashfulness is cute, and your humbleness is always lovable.”

She smiled then turned back to her fat hens. “Thank you. Now let's hear your theory on why I'm a head case.”

“You're not a head case, Layla.”

“Call it what you want, but I'm completely different than the rest of you.”

“You weren't always so self-conscious.”

“No, and there's no excuse for it now.”
 

“Most people aren't meant to be alone, Layla. Everyone needs companionship, and that's particularly true with magicians. That's one reason we live in covens with dozens of family members, and why we're able to do so without driving one another crazy. We thrive on interaction with others, and we have a strong need for intimacy. When we're isolated for a significant amount of time, things that are innate to us are repressed until they're lost. Obviously I've never experienced it, but I've read about the effect of solitude on magicians. They all go through personality shifts. They lose their optimism and openness. Your thoughts and feelings have been forced to stay inside for three years, so it makes you uncomfortable when they're forced to the surface, which is inevitable now that you're living in a coven. That unease is a stark contrast to the way the rest of us feel.”