Epilogue

Epilogue

T en years later

Hollis

She is okay.

Almost ten years after my wife, then girlfriend, went to see a specialist, I still have to remind myself that she’s okay.

An X-ray showed that Maple had a fibroid tumor that was causing her pain, unrelated to her periods. Nothing malignant, nothing dangerous. But it was good we caught it when we did.

Spending one day in her shoes showed me how much she dreaded that pain and that was enough for me to make sure she followed through with her appointments and got that little mother fucker removed from her uterus. I can’t have my girl in pain. I can’t stand the thought of it.

Maple’s arms snaking around my middle as I cook dinner is one of those things that keeps me sane. She hugs me from behind, pulling me out of my daydreams about the past. About that one insane, eye-opening day.

“Smells amazing, Hollis.”

Pausing my stirring, I turn to the side to let Maple snuggle next to me. She fits perfectly under my arm.

Together we look out the window of our small cottage kitchen to spot our two girls playing and foraging in the woods.

When Maple and I first married, she relocated to New York. I wouldn’t have pushed her to move for me, but she could see I was anxious for her to access the best doctors and hospitals after her health scare.

But after some time there, I could see her longing for home. She’d never been able to shake her fascination with the magical realm after that one experience. The spell the demon put on us had done something in Maple. The way Magda described it, it was like a cosmic download of witchy DNA.

As for me, I was ready to sell the company. I just needed a reason. I had nothing to worry about with Erin’s contract secure as the new CEO under Brayden’s ownership. I’d wanted OnPoint to be a supportive workplace, and I believe I’d built that. Maple, especially, helped me make it so. Clint wasn’t thrilled about some of the changes I’d implemented. He didn’t know that Maple forbade me from outright firing him for how he talked to her. He eventually moved on from the company after his staff felt bold enough to complain about how he worked them too hard. Good riddance.

Maple and I retired to the little coven village outside Birchdale about five years ago with our two girls. I’ve never seen my wife happier than when she’s practicing spells, studying, or crafting with her new friends.

“Today is ten years to the day of that surgery,” I remind my wife. I dip a spoon into the pot, blow on it, and offer her a taste.

She tastes it and makes an appreciative noise. “Yum.”

“Glad you approve.”

“Want to try mine?”

I look past her to the fireplace, where a cauldron bubbles with a spicy, heavenly-scented aroma. “It’s not a boner potion, is it?”

She snorts. “No! And anyway, I don’t think we’re having any problems with that.” Maple snakes one lovely hand down the front of my sweatpants, and my length instantly hardens in response.

“No, we do not,” I agree, letting the spoon clatter to the stovetop and giving my wife my full attention. I cup the back of her neck and pull her into me, kissing her sexy mouth until we’re both breathless and forgetting all about our bubbling soups and cauldrons.

“So what is it, then?” I ask, dragging my lips down the side of her throat.

Maple’s hands travel under the hem of my tee shirt, and her fingernails rake over my stomach. If she doesn’t stop, I might have to shove everything off the kitchen table and stuff her full of what she once called the “giant sausage.”

She grins up at me. “It’s a memory spell. If it works, it will help you forget the bad memories from that day.”

My brow furrows. “Forget everything that happened?”

“No, just to help you forget my pain-memories.”

I study her sweet face and see all the good intentions behind what she’s doing. She warms my heart as well as my whole body.

Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I gaze into her eyes and say, “Sweetheart, I don’t want to forget.”

Maple blinks up at me. “You don’t? Why? Every time you get that faraway look in your eyes, I worry that you’re doomed to relive the bad stuff about that day. And I feel bad. Because it was my wish that caused it.”

Ten years and she still feels guilty for making a wish she had no idea would have consequences.

I cup her face. “I don’t regret a single moment about that day because it brought us together. Yeah, it sucked, but it made me see who you really were. It made me love you.”

“Hollis,” she breathes. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything, so just let go of that regret. The memory reminds me that as long as I live, I’ll do anything I have to do to take away your pain. I’ll do anything for you, the girls, and anyone in my life. Understand?”

My wife rolls up on her toes and kisses me fiercely, full of the spirit that has burned bright next to mine since that day.

“I love you so much, Hollis Hard-on.”

“And I love you, my Maple sugar.”