The Doctor Witch (The Ward Witches) by Lauren McMinn Page B

realized that she not only could love Leo, but she was part of the way there already. She shivered one more time and fell asleep.
     
    Since it was Saturday morning, the whole household woke up a little late. Dymphna and Leo were already awake and at the kitchen table when Skylar got downstairs. They had apparently found the fine coffee she had replaced their cheap abomination with because they were each nursing a cup and there was more in the pot for her.
    “ How’d the studying go, Dymphna?”
    “ Pretty well. How did you sleep?”
    “ Quite nicely.” They smiled at each other, understanding that some barrier between Skylar and Leo had been broken down. If only she knew how far it had gone, Skylar thought to herself.
    “ Is there any way I can con you into making us some breakfast?” Leo asked sleepily. “You should have realized by now that neither of us can cook worth a damn.”
    “ You got it. French toast alright?”
    Dymphna nodded enthusiastically. “Delightful.” Then Skylar got another proclamation of “Delightful!” after they all finished eating.
    Leo kissed her on the cheek, which by the way he blushed, was uncommonly forward of him outside of the bedroom. And the couch, now.
    “ I suppose it’s not really breakfast if it’s nearly noon, now is it?” Skylar asked to hide her own reaction to the chaste little kiss.
    “ Not particularly. But I know I made good use of my Saturday morning.” Dymphna stretched. “I’m sure I’ll have to work some on Sunday, but that’s for tomorrow.”
    “ I’m glad I don’t have any clients or surgeries today. I’ll also have to work tomorrow on catching up with my paperwork. Again though, for tomorrow.”
    Just as the clock struck noon, the bell rang and someone started pounding forcefully on the door. Dymphna rolled her eyes, and she and her cup of coffee went into the entry. “At least it’s not as bad as at the Coven House,” she murmured. Listening in closely, Skylar and Leo head Dymphna’s squeak when she opened the door. Some of the coffee seemed to fall on the guest, because he made a grunting noise. Skylar recognized the noisemaker, though, so when Tim came into the kitchen, she wasn’t as surprised as Leo was.
    The men slapped backs fondly.
    “ I waited until noon. I hope you appreciate it.”
    “ We do.”
    “ I need to talk to Skylar, but I’d appreciate it if you two stayed as well. But Dymphna, keep that coffee away from the rest of my clothes.”
    “ Yessir,” she said mockingly.
    “ Now Skylar, I want you to think about your Aunt Linda.”
    “ Are we doing a seance?” Dymphna asked. “Because you of all people should know those don’t work.”
    “ Please be quiet if you want to stay. And once I get started, you will want to stay.”
    “ Fine.” She mimicked zipping her lips.
    “ Back to thinking about Aunt Linda?” Skylar prompted, trying to avoid any more visual daggers between Dymphna and Tim.
    “ How much did you know about Linda?”
    “ I knew her my whole life, and she’d still call even after my mother died. But really know her, not much. She hated me with a passion that even exceeded my mother’s. It seemed like every other sentence was something new about how terrible witches were and how I should be ashamed to be one.”
    Leo squeezed her shoulder.
    “ Which is why you had those powerful defenses that we broke through.”
    “ Yes.”
    “ I know you’re still working on fitting into the community, but I really need you to concentrate on precisely what Linda would say about witches.”
    “ She had a multitude of arguments against witchcraft. The one she talked about the most was the idea that witches had too much power and would destroy the world if they weren’t stopped.”
    At Tim’s nod to go on, she continued, “but the thing that she seemed most passionate about, though she wouldn’t talk of it as often, was that witchcraft would break apart a family. She used my mother and father as evidence. She