The Professor Woos The Witch

“You okay? You look funny.” Pandora leaned forward to peer at him.

“I’m good. Fine. I just…never mind.” He held the mirror up. “What am I supposed to do with this thing again?”

Her staring took on a new intensity. “You felt something, didn’t you?”

“No.” Yes. Crap. “It’s just warm up here.”

She made a small noise and straightened. “We can finish this downstairs.”

“Good.” He put the mirror back on the shelf and, letting her go ahead of him, headed for the steps. His mind fixated on what he’d just experienced. What the hell had that been? Then he realized she’d said something. “What was that?”

She stopped on the landing to face him. “I said I could go for some coffee.”

“So could I.” They both turned toward the kitchen. “I’ll make a fresh pot.” Which gave him exactly enough time to process whatever had happened and then pack it away as something that no longer needed any further mental energy.

“What’s your plan for the attic?” He brought the pot and two cups to the table, handing one to her as he set the pot on a folded towel. She got up and grabbed the sugar and creamer, and he kicked himself for not remembering that’s how she took her coffee. “Sorry. I should have got those for you.”

“No biggie.” She sat back down and fixed her cup. “My plan for the attic is to keep it pretty much the same. Clean it up, definitely, but otherwise, you’re right that it’s a space the new owners can do whatever they like with.” She took a sip of her coffee, then set the cup down. “What we really need to talk about is Kaley.”

That surprised him. “I thought we already talked about her.”

Pandora shook her head, her green eyes sparkling even in the dim kitchen. “Yes, but not enough. I don’t know how I’m supposed to help her when you refuse to bend on your stance about the supernatural. Her mentor, if I can find her one, will feel the same way, I can promise you that.”

He turned his coffee cup so the handle sat at a right angle to the wood grain of the table. This was the last thing he wanted to talk about right now, but how did he tell her that without coming off as a big grump? “I don’t know.”

“You could give me free rein.”

“And then what?” The spark of indignation in Pandora’s eyes put an end to his words. He threw his hands up. “I don’t know how to respond without making you angry, and I don’t want to do that.”

“Really,” she snarked. “What’s changed?”

“I like you. You’re smart and business-minded, and besides the witch thing, you seem totally sane.”

“Wow, thanks.” Her mouth bunched to one side.

He sighed. “I know Kaley needs some female influence in her life. I just don’t want her getting…disillusioned again.”

“You want to explain that? I’m sensing it has something to do with her not-really-dead mother. What’s the story there anyway?”

He drummed his fingers on the table. Pandora was bound to find out sooner or later. Better he give her the story so she’d truly understand what Kaley was going through. “Lila is…not a great mother, and wasn’t even in the early days. I think she tried. Or maybe she didn’t. Who knows with that woman?”

He took a breath, thinking his words through before he spoke them. “She was beautiful in that sort of earth-child, free-love, everything is always cool kind of way.”

Pandora nodded. “And you dug that because that’s your opposite. Makes sense.”

“What do you mean my opposite?”

She smirked. “Cole, face it, you’re a little uptight.”

He made a face but continued. “We were young and dumb and got married before I even realized what had happened. She treated me like I was a king. I was always right. I was the smartest man she’d ever known. She laughed at all my jokes. Waited on me hand and foot. It was nice, at first. Then it got really old.”

He paused, thinking back. “But by then I was already in love with Kaley.”

Pandora squinted. “I don’t get it.”

“Kaley was two when I met Lila.” He smiled. “She was this chubby little doll with an infectious laugh and these big brown eyes that looked up at me like I was her very own superhero. Her first word to me was Daddy. How do you not fall in love with that?”

Pandora’s lips parted, but she said nothing.

“I adopted her when Lila and I got married.”

She canted her head. “I never would have guessed Kaley’s not your flesh and blood.”

That pleased him. “She might as well be. When Kaley was five, Lila’s cheating started. Or at least that’s when I figured it out. I confronted her, and she cried and pleaded and swore it was over. It wasn’t. Long story short, she moved out six months later, leaving Kaley behind. When Kaley turned seven, I filed for divorce and custody. Maybe I was too hasty, but it was a rough year. My mother was dying. And at that point, Lila hadn’t seen Kaley in thirteen months. That didn’t change in the two years it took for the divorce and the custody to be granted.”

“Wow. Rough is an understatement. I guess the judge didn’t struggle with that decision.”

“It helped that Lila didn’t show up for the hearing.” Or his mother’s funeral.

Pandora grimaced. “What kind of woman does that to her own child? That poor kid.”