Page 2 of Harvest Magic

“You’re welcome to come visit me in Colorado after I get settled. It’ll be a while though until I have a place of my own. For now I’m staying with my Aunt Sage and her family.”

“I’ve never heard of an Aunt Sage,” Scott said suspiciously.

“Well, you have now. And before any of you go on, I don’t owe you any explanations,” I said firmly. “I’ve launched you all out into the world and you all have homes and jobs. Now it’s Nora Time.”

“Nora Time?” Laura smirked. Then she saw me glare and sobered.

“Nora Time,” I repeated. “The phase of my life where I’m only going to answer to myself, do what I want to do, and stop giving a damn what anyone else thinks of me.”

“Oh, so this is a menopause thing, huh?” Caitlin said.

Well, I guess it was partly a menopause thing. I’d noticed that once I turned fifty my tolerance for… well, just about anything that annoyed me was gone. But it was also about me finding myself, as strange as it sounded.

“It’s a My Damned Business thing,” I snapped.

It was the truest thing I’d ever said to my kids.

Nora

Isteered the Subaru up a long, gravel drive. The drive curved and then Rosewater Manor appeared in the distance. It was a huge old building with two wings heading off on either side of what looked like the main part of the house. The property was surrounded by lush vegetation, a combination of trees, bushes, and flowering plants. It was beautiful, like something out of a movie.

Unsure where to put my car, I pulled up next to an SUV and opened the door, breathing in the fresh mountain air.

“You made it! Welcome to your new home.”

I jumped as a voice materialized seemingly out of nowhere. Aunt Sage. She was probably in her late sixties, but her skin was unlined, a beatific smile on her face. Her long wavy hair was more silver than brown, but she still looked slim and strong. She wore a broomstick skirt, a gauzy blouse, and about twelve bracelets on her arms, making me wonder how she’d managed to come up to me without me hearing her.

“Let’s get your bags and I’ll show you to your room.”

We stacked everything on the driveway behind the car and when I reached for the first suitcase Sage grabbed my arm.

“Much easier this way,” she said, waving her hand over the stack of bags and whispering an incantation. My eyes widened as the bags levitated into the air.

“They’ll follow us,” she assured me, wrapping her arm around mine and leading me to the house.

Sure enough, when I looked behind us the bags were floating in a line in our wake as if they were being carried by invisible valets. Huh. That was kind of cool.

“I’m going to put you in Cami’s old suite,” Sage said. “Both wings are comprised of two-room suites, a bedroom, and a sitting room along with an en suite bathroom. It gives everyone some privacy.”

We walked up the stairs, my bags following us, and she opened the first door on the right. The spacious sitting room was nicely decorated with comfortable furniture as well as a workspace on the side. One of those adjustable desks was set up in front of the window, looking out in the yard below, an ergonomic desk chair pushed against it.

“You can work here,” Sage said. “The Wi-Fi information is in the drawer. Your bedroom is through here, and the bath there. You’ve got linens and towels and various supplies in the closet, but if you need anything else just let us know.”

“Thank you,” I said, thinking that this suite was bigger than the apartment that David and I lived in when we were first married.

“I’ll let you get cleaned up, I’m sure you’re exhausted from your drive,” Sage said. “I’ve invited Jane and Gabriel for dinner, they’re very eager to see you again. Come down whenever you’re ready, we’ll eat at six o’clock.”

I took a few minutes to unpack some of my things and wash up, looking longingly at the giant jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. There’d be time for that tonight though. For now I wanted to have a look around the house. Or mansion. This place was huge.

Making my way down the marble staircase, I stuck my head in the first room. It was some kind of a formal living room, or maybe a library, with multiple couches, and an entire wall full of floor to ceiling shelves. Old books and various trinkets – or maybe witchy stuff, I wasn’t really sure – lined the shelves. I passed through a dining room with a long, dark wood table, a bathroom, and what looked like a den or a TV room, the furnishings here lighter and more modern.

The kitchen was at the back of the house, and I found Sage there with her husband Edward. I’d never met him before, but he rushed forward to pull me into a big hug.

“Nora, you’re finally here,” he said, stepping back and giving me a friendly smile. “I told Sage you’d make your way here eventually.”

“I was right on time,” I said in confusion.

Sage laughed. “Edward is a gifted psychic. He had a vision a couple of years ago that you were here living your best life, but the spirit guides said you weren’t ready then. When Jane saw you at the funeral and you told her your youngest was graduating from college, we knew it was time.”