‘I hope they weren’t expensive,’ she said as she kicked off her sodden shoes. Although she knew they were. Everything Rosie owned was expensive – but not because she was obsessed with brand names and having the latest thing. She just liked quality items that would last for ever.
Rosie was wringing out her hair with a magically warmed beach towel from the wicker basket by the door. ‘Don’t worry, hon. They’re CharmBrella – they come with their own protection.’
Instead of joining the rest of us indoors once everything had been brought in out of the rain, Noah said he needed to check on the studio. He hurried down the path to the garden room, where it felt like he’d spent most of the summer.
‘Have fun with that,’ Finn called over his shoulder, striding inside and shaking himself off. ‘Everything that matters tomeis right here in this room.’
His eyes twinkled as he met my gaze. He winked.
‘I meant my guitar, of course. But only because I need it to serenade you.’
He said it teasingly, but my heart thrummed with anxiety. Because hemeantit. I knew he did. I’d spent so much time with him these past few weeks, and I’d enjoyed every second. It was a relief to not think about real life sometimes. To spend my evenings strolling around town or sitting on a rooftop balcony shouting drunken compliments at passing strangers.
He ducked into the music room to grab his guitar, the beautiful instrument that Charlie had wanted desperately to complete as a gift for his family. Finn had finally finished it just last night, and it hummed as he pulled its strap off his shoulder.
Pointing the guitar towards Lara and Jack, he shook his head.
‘Are you two coming in?’ he shouted out into the garden, struggling to be heard over the pouring rain.
Lara and Jack were oblivious. They were like something out ofThe Notebook:mid-kiss, arms wrapped around each other, ensconced in the privacy of a torrential downpour. A downpour that had a magical purple tint to it, I realized, as it wove around the soft glow of the fairy lights strung from tree to tree.
I was running out of time. Josephine’s ring had been warning me: the wayward spells, the strange weather when the boys fought. The way the ring itself seemed to be telling me off with its pinches and barbs.
And with the single moonstone that remained bright – but which seemed to be dimming as the day went on.
The ring sizzled against my palm, and I glanced up to see Noah stalking back in, hair plastered to his face and damp shirt clinging to his muscles in a way that was … well … revelatory.
He carried a painting carefully wrapped in a tarp. This he set down behind the couch closest to the kitchen before pausing to kick off his flip-flops and shake out his hair.
Lara and Jack came sprinting in after him, laughing and shrieking as the rain grew thicker and lightning flashed ever closer.
They were pooling rain all over the hardwoods. Fighting a wry smile, I reached into the wicker basket by the door and passed them each a striped towel.
‘I got some photos of you two,’ I promised.
Lara balled her fists in joy. ‘Yes!I told you, babe. She’s got an eye for this kind of thing. She’s going to be a killer addition to our team, aren’t you, Mol?’
I hesitated. ‘I, um …’
Lara frowned. ‘The Vespa?’ she reminded me in a sing-song voice. ‘Like, of the two decisions you’re facing right now, isn’t the one with the Vespa the easy one?’
‘Do we have to do this now?’ I whispered, trying to bespell the wrinkles from my shirt. ‘With everyone around? The boys?’
Thunder shook the house as I said it.The boys.
I couldn’t even turn to face Finn and Noah, but I could guess what had caused the storm to pick up again. Lara was waiting for an answer, and so were they.
Thankfully, Rosie gave me a momentary reprieve. ‘Boys, Ineed you in the basement. We need to get our candle-and-flashlight situation handled in case this storm gets worse.’
Finn grumbling and Noah stoic, they followed her downstairs to the yawning basement that mostly functioned as a storage room for Rosie’s cooking gadgets, skeins of yarn and baskets of dried herbs. Each in turn shot me a longing look over their shoulder. The air crackled with each stare.
When they disappeared out of view, I leaned against the endless cream sectional, anxiously drumming my fingers against its plush arm. My breath was ragged and my heart thrummed in my chest. I felt like the time I’d overdone it on the double espressos during college: stressed and jittery.
But I had to do this. I had to make my choices known.
‘Molly?’ Lara flicked her sodden towel at me. ‘Are you in there?’
Yep. Even though it felt like I was pretty close to an out-of-body experience.
