‘This is twenty-first century Savannah, not Bridgerton,’ I reminded her, tapping my foot against her. ‘Speaking of which,I wonder if I still have the last season downloaded on Dad’s laptop.’
‘Don’t change the subject,’ she said, kicking me back. ‘You don’t get it. Your grandmother and my grandmother? They are beyond old school. Both our families are deep into their history and Jackson always laughs at me but I’m completely-totally-positively sure we’re both descended from witches.’
As quick as I could, I wiped the horrified expression off my face.
‘What makes you say that?’ I asked, my voice ultra-high pitched.
‘Stories my grandmother used to tell us,’ she replied, far too casual for her own good. ‘And stuff Jackson found when he started researching our ancestry a few years ago. Between us, I think he was looking for our dad but he couldn’t find anything on that side. The Powell side though? So much.’
I stared at her, trying to work out if she knew more than she was letting on. What if this was a test? What if she wanted to tell me but didn’t know if I knew? Catherine wasn’t the oracle, Lydia might have stumbled into her family’s real history without getting my grandmother’s approval first.
‘What kind of stories?’
‘They didn’t burn anyone at the stake or anything but there was a lot of weird stuff going on with the Powell and Bell families,’ she replied in an eager whisper. ‘People getting sick then being mysteriously healed, women surviving fires that killed hundreds of other people, that sort of thing.’
‘Doesn’t sound that strange to me.’ I was starting to sweat. Did she know? ‘There are weird stories about every family if you dig deep enough. And there’s no such thing as witches, right?’
Her mouth twisted with disappointment.
‘Maybe I just want it to be true,’ she said with a shrug. ‘I wouldn’t mind having the power to turn people into toads.’
‘People like Jeremy?’
‘Exactly.’
I managed a weak smile as she rolled over. She didn’t know. I was all alone in my secret again.
‘But less about Jeremy and more about Wyn,’ Lydia said, grabbing hold of my hand. ‘Crazy question but as the queen of the unrequited crush, I have to ask. Does he feel the same way?’
‘I think so,’ I replied, instinctively turning towards the window seat and picturing him there. ‘I’ve only known him for a few days and I don’t know how to explain properly. It’s intense.’
‘Intense how?’
It was impossible to describe my feelings with something as limited as words. There wasn’t a single sentence that could do justice to the way I felt when I was with Wyn.
‘Well, there’s a lot going on right now—’
‘Moving to a new country, meeting your family, finding a bunch of porn on this laptop probably.’
‘Thank you,’ I said and Lydia bowed her head as though I had given her a compliment. ‘But when I’m with Wyn, it’s like we’re the only two people on the planet. He makes me feel completely seen and heard, like every word that comes out of my mouth is the most important thing anyone has ever said.’
She sniffed. ‘Not what I expected you to say but I can see how that might be nice.’
‘There’s also the fact he’s incredibly hot,’ I added to her delight. ‘When he held my hand, all of Savannah could have set on fire and I wouldn’t have noticed.’
‘Maybe that’s how the city managed to burn to the ground twice in thirty years,’ Lydia mused. ‘Everyone was too busy holding hands with their sweeties to notice.’
‘Savannah burned down?’ I replied. ‘When?’
‘Oh, a million years ago.’ She waved a hand as though the complete decimation of a city wasn’t that important. ‘Seventeen something something. Ask Jackson, he’ll know. Or don’t ask Jackson because he’s totally in love with you and you’re totally in love with this Wyn dude and oof, this has the potential to get messy.’
‘I didn’t say I was in love with him,’ I replied too quickly.
‘No, you said when he touches you the world stops spinning, your heart pounds, your hands shake and everything else ceases to exist,’ Lydia’s eyes rolling so far back in her head I wondered if she could see her brain. ‘Em, I’ve seen all the movies and I’ve read all the books, and you’re blushing hard enough to start the next great fire of Savannah all by yourself. Get your face away from the floorboards. You are in love.’
‘What am I going to do?’ I muttered, pressing my cold hands against my hot cheeks. ‘He’s just so amazing. I could listen to him talk forever.’
Lydia made a bemused clucking sound. ‘Bestie, if all you want to do is talk to this stud then I don’t think Miss Catherine is going to have a problem with your relationship.’
