Magical New Beginnings 8Midlife Witchery #1) - Brenda Trim Page 0,2

what was so inviting about my grandmother’s house. There was no one here for me to take care of.

After washing the toothpaste from the sink, I turned and yelped. “What the fuck?” My mouth got away from me when I noticed the towels back on the ground. Where the hell had they come from? I just picked them up and put them in the laundry basket.

I headed into the other bedrooms and stripped the beds before straightening the covers over the mattresses. When I finished with the room Greyson was staying in, I tripped over the sheets that were no longer in their neat little pile.

Pausing, I thrust my hands on my hips and glanced around. Was someone there messing with me? I didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, so I picked up the pile and added it to the basket, then carried my load downstairs.

When I entered the tiny room at the back of the kitchen where the washer and dryer were, I stopped short when I noticed the soap tipped over on its side. “Alright, grandma, if you’re haunting the place to scare me, there’s no need. I’m not going to make too many changes.”

It felt almost as if the house sighed around me. Shaking my head at my idiocy, I put a load on then entered the kitchen. The sight of the scuffed wooden stool sitting at the butcherblock island reminded me of all the days I used to sit there as a kid and listen to my grandmother tell me stories about Fae and witches.

I envied her creativity. I could never come up with the elaborate ones she did. She wove tales about portals, fairies, dragons, and gnomes. When I became a mom, and my kids started asking for stories, I used my favorites from the ones she told me.

Skylar loved one about a pixie that sought asylum with a witch from a vicious beast that had been hunting her. The pixie barely evaded the beast and barreled through some woods when she came up against a barrier. She pounded her tiny hands on the barrier, begging for help. The witch helped and provided the pixie with some woods to live in and the pixie gave the witch fresh flowers in return.

Emmie’s favorite was about a gnome family that was escaping from some barghests while Greyson preferred stories about dragon shifters that needed to get away from the vile King that created them to ravage and kill.

My mind swimming with memories, I made a sandwich and was turning away from the window when movement caught my eye. I sucked in a breath and immediately started choking on my food. Smashing the food in my hand, I raced for the back door and burst through.

I was still coughing when I dashed down the steps. After a couple more hacks, I managed to clear my throat. “Can I help you?” It still felt like food was stuck down the wrong pipe.

The woman paused with her hand on an herb in the garden and looked up at me. She looked like she was in her late twenties, maybe early thirties and had stunning red hair. My hands smoothed down my pink t-shirt when I took in her crop top and flat stomach.

She lifted one hand and smiled. “Oh, hi. You must be Fiona, Isidora’s granddaughter. I’m Aislinn. I thought you’d be on a plane home by now. I saw the car leave hours ago.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, smearing mayonnaise over my left boob. I was a hot freakin’ mess, but I didn’t care at the moment. I have no idea how my grandmother did things, but I didn’t want people wandering on my property whenever they wanted.

“This is my property and I have decided to stay. Listen, I’m not sure what arrangement you had with my grandmother, but I would like a heads up before you go prowling around stealing my stuff.”

Aislinn’s eye bugged out of her head and her hand dropped to her side. “I apologize. Like I said, I figured you’d be gone. I just needed some thistle for a potion, and Isidora has always allowed me to grab the few ingredients I need in exchange for helping with upkeep in here.”

That brought a smile to my lips. My hands dropped, and pieces of tomato fell from between the bread. “In that case, you are more than welcome. Honestly, I was thinking about getting rid of the garden. I swear I have a