“Sounds wonderful, thank you.” I knewgumbo was some kind of meat soup and I was ravenous now that there was mentionof food. If it was what I smelled while walking through the kitchen then I wasgoing to love it.
“Gumbo. Are you from thesouth?” Avery asked one of the twins.
She nodded. “Louisiana,but Mama said we needed to move here about three years back. Washington isbeautiful. Makes no difference to me.”
I wondered why Mama feltthey needed to move here three years ago. “Did you have a farm in Louisiana,too?”
The girls weren’tidentical twins but they sure were close. One had a bit sharper point to hernose but both had those arresting blue eyes. Same as Mama.
“Yep. We’ve always livedoff of the land. Cee Cee makes our clothes, Mama is the cook. Tonia and I takecare of the animals and Cassidy and Carmen do the farming. Aunt Jess lives onthe back of our fifty acres and tends to the bees.” I smiled. She must beGracie.
Wow. “That’s prettyimpressive,” I told her as we reached the back of the house. Stepping up ontothe huge expansive porch, I marveled at what this coven had done. Making theirown clothes, soap, farming. It was pretty incredible not have to go to thestore for much. How did they make their money though? Maybe they sold some oftheir goods but that wouldn’t afford them this lavish of a home and on fiftyacres. It was well over a million-dollar property.
Gracie must have pickedup on my thoughts. “Wondering how a coven of farm girls can afford a place likethis?” she asked me.
I blushed from head totoe, but before I could respond Jaxon answered for me. “Yes. How does a covenof farm girls afford a mansion like this?”
‘Jaxon!’
He shrugged.‘She asked.’
Gracie smiled. “Mama spent her lifesavings in the nineteen-eighties investing in a little-known consumer electroniccompany. That little-known company became one of the biggest companies in theworld and now … we’re taken care off.” She winked.
“Whoa. Cool,” Jaxon breathed. I knew hishacker mind was thinking of what company she was talking about.
“So, you guys are half witch?” the othersister Tonia asked.
I grinned. “Can you sense it? Most can’t.The animal part confuses them.”
“Not much gets past us.” She winked. Itwasn’t said from a place of ego, it was simply her stating a fact. I liked thiscoven. Mama and these girls, they were genuine. When they smiled, their wholeface lit up and I trusted them.
The door slid open and Cee Cee walked outonto the porch. “Come on, I’ve set the table. Better hurry if you want cornbread. Once Gracie gets her teeth into them, they disappear.”
Gracie glared at her sister in a playfulway and we all stepped inside to make our way to the living room. “Are you surethere is enough food for all of us?”
Cee Cee just chuckled. “Mama knows all.”
Right.Mama. With one last look over my shoulder I peered out intothe setting sun. The leaves of the trees had a golden hue and I wondered justwhat Mama was telling my mate. With a sigh, I turned back around and sat at thetable. It was out of my hands now. I just hoped Gavin saw that we were strongertogether. Because the thought of splitting up to distract the Walker sentshards of ice right into my heart.
*
We were partway through dinner when Gavinand Mama walked in. His arm was linked in hers and he was laughing at somethingshe said. When they reached the table, Gavin helped her to sit down and thenplanted a kiss on my cheek before sitting next to me. A thrill went through meat the gesture of affection and I checked the matebond. It was partially open,enough where I could communicate and feel his feelings. He felt … relief,pride, happiness but also regret and sadness. It was hard to read.
‘You okay?’I tried.
He looked over at me and popped a pieceof shrimp into his mouth.‘Never better.’
Okay …‘What did she tell you?’
His face fell a little. He recoveredquickly and looked over at Gracie. “Will you pass the salt?”
He wasn’t going to tell me! I loved thisman but sometimes I wanted to throat punch him. I thought about mentallyarguing with him but it probably wasn’t the best idea at a table full ofpsychics.
We finished the rest of our dinner,making small talk with Mama and the girls, and I was trying not to seethe overthe fact that Gavin was keeping something big from me. Technically, I hadn’ttold him what Mama told me either but I would have if he’d asked. After dinner,I helped the girls clean up and said goodnight to Mama. She gave me a long hugand smoothed my hair.
“You got this,” she told me and winked.
I smiled. It truly was impossible to feelanything but peace in her presence. I wished I could bottle it and save it forlater when I knew I would be anxious and freaking out.
