__0
Rebecca’s
Cove
She wondered if it was only her imagination, but she thought that Hobie began to look at her differently. She no longer clung to Baylor quite so desperately. Baylor didn’t think one statement from her would change Hobie’s life, but she hoped that the frightened woman would be able to get a sense of what was in her heart.
“I can’t predict the future, but I do know that I love you and that I have no intention of leaving you. I want to be with you, and I don’t mean just while I’m on the island or for any sort of affair. I want there to be a commitment between us. It can be here, on the island, or on the moon for all I care. Wherever you and Noah are is where I want my home to be. My question is, do you want the same thing?”
“I’m not any picnic to live with, Noah will tell you that.” “And you think I am?” Baylor breathed a sigh of relief. Hobie
was smiling and looked more like the lovely woman Baylor had come to know.
“I know my fears are unreasonable—”
“Hey, aren’t everybody’s? If they were reasonable, we’d call them expectations instead of fears. Honey, we’ve both got some issues, but the best way I can think of to deal with them is to be honest and talk to each other.”
“Baylor Warren being open and honest?”
“I didn’t say it would be easy, but I’m willing if you are.” Baylor waited patiently for the answer that would change her life.
Hobie stood on tiptoe to place a soft kiss on Baylor’s lips, smiling as she pulled away. Hobie had no idea how she did it, but Baylor Warren had become a complete enigma to her. She couldn’t help wondering if their chance meeting in Chicago had been fated from the start. She had no idea how the woman she detested not too long ago could effect such change in her. The idea was one of the many strange occurrences on Ana Lia that Hobie refused to question.
“Yeah.” Hobie nodded. “I’m willing, too.”
Chapter 24
No one knew who was more surprised when Baylor and Hobie walked hand in hand into Evelyn’s room. Baylor and Hobie looked at each other as Evelyn and her guest, Rebecca Ashby, exchanged their own looks.
“See, Evie, I told you they would come back together,” Rebecca said. “It is together, is it not, ladies?”
Baylor and Hobie nodded.
“Let me guess,” Baylor said. “You’re the head witch.” Hobie elbowed her in the ribs.
“Wiccan. I meant Wiccan,” Baylor added as she rubbed her side and glared at Hobie.
Rebecca chuckled. “I do like this one,” she said to Evelyn. “Baylor, Hobie Lynn, come in and sit, please. I have some information that I think you’ll be interested in hearing.”
Once they were seated, Rebecca began. “I understand, Baylor, that you have some concerns regarding how you came to visit Ana Lia.”
Baylor felt the edges of her ears begin to burn. “We sorted that out,” Hobie said.
“Yeah.” Baylor winked at Hobie. “We pretty much agreed that I overreacted and acted like an idiot.”
“Maybe I can help Evelyn in answering some of your questions anyway,” Rebecca said. “I had a feeling I might be needed.”
Hobie’s brow furrowed. “Mrs. Ashby, how did you get here so fast? Did Evelyn call you and tell you we had an argument?”
“In a manner of speaking, I suppose she did. Like I said, I had a feeling you needed me, and here I am.”
“You are a witch—damn, I’m sorry, Wiccan,” Hobie said. She looked over at Baylor, who wore a smug smile.
___
Rebecca’s
Cove
“Let’s start at the beginning, so we don’t get confused. Shall we?” Rebecca suggested.
“I think it’s already too late for that, but give it your best shot,” Baylor said.
“I think I should start off by saying that you ladies are correct. I’m the present leader of our coven, and it’s true, we prefer ‘Wiccan,’ mostly because of the connotation that other name has. It may help to know that we don’t worship the devil and we don’t drink blood. Actually, most of us are vegetarians.” Rebecca paused.
“It’s perfectly acceptable to laugh,” she said as Baylor tried to cover a giggle by clearing her throat. “We ought to at least be able to laugh at ourselves. We can talk more about our beliefs later, if you’re interested. I thought I’d attempt to ease your minds. Now, Baylor, there are two important things you should know. The accident that Hobie Lynn and your grandmother were involved in was an accident and nothing more. Are we clear on that?”
“Um, yeah. Thanks,” Baylor said. “I guess it was my paranoia showing through. When I’m thinking clearly, I know that there’s no way you can really bring two people together.”
Baylor’s chuckle froze in her throat with Rebecca’s next words. “Yes, well, about that...”
Baylor and Hobie each raised an eyebrow.
“Please don’t tell me we’re under some kind of spell,” Hobie said.
“Heavens, no, my dear. Even if we could do something of that sort, we don’t play with people’s lives that way. We serve nature, not things that go against nature.”
“There’s more, though, isn’t there?” Baylor grew suspicious. “I see it in your eyes, Tanti.”
“We don’t put spells on people, but we do believe in the Fates. We’re students of human nature. We simply...coordinate.”
“And what exactly does that mean in regards to us?” Baylor asked.
Rebecca took a long breath. “That’s the second thing I was going to tell you. We never manipulated either of you in any way, but we did arrange to have you, well, meet each other, spend time
___
LJ
Maas
together.”
“And you don’t call that manipulation?” Hobie asked. “Starting when? All the way back to Chicago?”
“What?” Baylor chimed in. “Honey, that’s impossible.”
“Not so impossible. Cheryl, my office assistant, makes all my travel arrangements. That includes booking my hotel rooms and recommending restaurants to eat at.”
“That could just be coinci—”
“And Cheryl belongs to the Ladies Guild,” Hobie finished. Hobie and Baylor looked to Rebecca for an answer.
“Yes, all the way back to Chicago,” Rebecca admitted. “But we never did anything other than arrange for the two of you to be in the same area at the same time. Anything more has always been up to the Fates, I promise you that. We never could have made the two of you love each other, or even like each other, if it hadn’t been a part of your destinies already.”
“I don’t believe what I’m hearing,” Hobie said angrily. “Wait a minute. Are you trying to say that Hobie and I were
destined to be together? That sounds like one of Harriet Teasley’s plotlines,” Baylor added with a smirk.
“Can I ask why you did all this in the first place?”
“To save our island.” Evelyn finally spoke. “To keep its power alive, at any rate.”
“Okay, this is starting to get a little too woo-woo for me,” Baylor said.
“I think we need to tell them everything, from the beginning,” Evelyn said to Rebecca.
“What a refreshing change,” Baylor said.
“We’re all ears.” Hobie folded her arms across her chest. “I’m going to ask only one thing,” Rebecca said. She quickly