14. Rory

14

Rory

R ory was having a good day. He had closed a case successfully when he got the charges reduced against a defendant who really needed mental help and rehab instead of prison. Stretching back in his chair, he sipped his coffee and thought about Savvy. She was incredible with the kids, and she was an amazing woman. He wanted so much to spend more time with her, but it would be dangerous.

His thoughts were interrupted when his phone rang. Colby. “This can’t be good news,” he muttered.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as a way of answering the phone.

“Eva showed up and tried to talk to the kids.”

“What?” Rory asked disbelievingly.

“Savvy and the kids were playing outside, and Eva came out of the woods. She called their name. She managed to tell them that she was their mother before Savvy incapacitated her,” Colby reported.

“What do you mean, Savvy incapacitated her?”

“Well, it seems that Savvy is a witch. She put Eva to sleep and sent her familiar to get me. I was in the garden just around the corner from where they were.”

“The familiar wouldn’t happen to be a dragonfly, would it?”

“Yes,” Colby said.

“Okay. Don’t let Eva leave,” Rory said. “I’m on my way.”

A million thoughts raced through Rory’s mind as he broke every speed limit getting back to the house. Eva approached the kids from the backyard? Savvy is a witch?

He honestly wasn’t sure which one of those thoughts stunned him more. Rory’s truck screeched to a halt in front of the house and he ran into the house, slamming the door behind him. Amy met him in the foyer.

“Where is she?” he demanded.

“Sitting room,” she said.

He burst into the room like a tornado. Eva was sitting on the couch, hunched over, her face in her hands. She looked up sharply when she saw him.

Eva’s appearance stunned him. Her face was pale, and mascara ran in little black rivulets down her face. Her hair was a mess, and her eyes were red-rimmed.

“Rory,” she said. “It’s good to see you again. You look as amazing as ever.”

“Cut the crap, Eva. Why are you here?”

“I told you on the phone that I left the soap opera, and I’m going to be on a nighttime sitcom. That’s going to give me a lot more time for you and the kids. I was hoping that we could have another chance at being a family.”

Rory laughed without humor. “Eva, that ship sailed four years ago when you walked out on your babies and me. How dare you come onto my property like you did?”

“I didn’t mean to scare the kids. I just wanted to see them, and I wasn’t sure that you would let me.”

“We would have made arrangements,” Rory said. “I wouldn’t keep you from seeing them, although we would have to come to some agreement. There is no way in hell that I’m going to let you hurt them again by dropping into their lives for a while and then disappearing.”

“That isn’t going to happen, I promise,” she said.

“Your promises aren’t worth anything,” he said.

“I’m not the same person,” she said, her voice sounding as though she was begging for him to believe her.

“What brought on this sudden change?” he asked skeptically.

“It actually isn’t sudden. I’ve been thinking about you and the kids a lot lately. I saw other women with their families and my heart ached. I want that, too,” she said. “Can you ever forgive me?”

“I let it go a long time ago. I wasn’t about to let your actions eat me up inside.”

“Can I see Drake and Cat and talk to them? I know they won’t know me, but I still want to at least have a few minutes with them.”

“They know who you are. They’ve seen pictures of you, but you’re right. They don’t know who you are,” Rory said.

He thought about her request. She had approached them and she told them who she was. They knew that she was here and would probably want to talk to her, too.

Rory still wasn’t sure whether he made the right decision when he said, “Come with me.”

He took Eva to the playroom. Savvy sat on the floor with the kids, helping them to build a castle. There was a dragonfly on Drake’s head. He almost smiled when he saw that, and then remembered that Savvy hadn’t told him that she was a witch. That was something that would have to be addressed.

“Savvy, please excuse us.” He looked at the dragonfly and said, “You, too.”

The two of them left the room. Eva sat on the floor, almost in the same spot that Savvy had occupied. Drake and Cat scooted away from her and sat, side by side, against the wall, looking at her.

“Like I said before, I’m your mother.”

Neither kid reacted. They simply stared at her with a blank expression.

“I’m so sorry that I left a long time ago, but I’m back. I want to be a part of your lives.”

There was no reaction.

“I made a lot of mistakes, and I just hope that you’ll give me a second chance.”

If she had expected the kids to jump up and run into her arms, hugging her and loving her, she was sadly mistaken. Neither of them spoke or moved.

Rory couldn’t help but remember how they reacted when they first saw Savvy. They had run up to her and started talking a million miles an hour, telling her all about themselves. Of course, Savvy hadn’t come to them with a ton of baggage.

Eva picked up a Lego piece and started to add it to the castle, but Drake silently pulled it toward him, letting her know that they didn’t want her touching it.

“I can be a good mother. We can do all kinds of things together. I can be here for you.”

“We have Savvy,” Cat said.

“Savvy isn’t family,” Eva replied, a hint of anger in her voice.

“She is, too, and we love her,” Drake said fiercely.

Eva started to respond, but Rory said, “I think that’s enough. Eva, it’s time for you to leave.”

She reluctantly got up and said, “I’ll see you guys again real soon. Everything will be great. I promise.”

They glared at her.

“I’ll be right back, guys,” Rory said.

He escorted Eva down the stairs. “When can I see them again?”

“We’ll talk about it,” he said vaguely.

“When?”

“Soon,” he replied as he practically pushed her out the front door. “Don’t come back here uninvited again.” Then, he shut the door in her face.

The kids hadn’t moved but were talking quietly when he got back to the playroom.

He sat down across from them and waited for the questions that quickly came.

“Was she really our mother?” Cat asked.

“Yes.”

“Do we have to talk to her and spend time with her?” Drake asked.

“I’m not going to force you to do anything you aren’t comfortable doing,” Rory said. “However, she is your mother and if she’s willing to try, you might think about giving her a second chance.”

“Are you going to give her a second chance?” Cat asked.

“No. A husband and wife relationship is a lot different than a kid and mother relationship. If a husband and wife are together, they should be in love, and I don’t love your mother.”

“We don’t, either,” Cat said.

“Fair enough. I’m not saying that you have to do anything. You can think about it.”

Both kids nodded.

“So, tell me what happened today.”

“We were playing hide and go seek. She came out of the woods and called our name. We walked over. She said that she was our mother and wanted to talk to her. Then, she fell down,” Cat said.

“Why did she fall down?”

“Savvy made her,” Drake said. “She told Cassia to go get Colby.”

“How long have you known about Cassia?”

They both shrugged.

“Why didn’t you tell me about her?”

Drake and Cat shrugged again.

“Is there anything else that you should tell me?” he asked.

“Like what?”

“Does Savvy do magic around you?”

Cat and Drake looked at each other confused.

“No. She’s not a magician,” Cat said, her brow furrowed in confusion.

“Is Savvy in trouble?” Drake asked. “She protected us.”

“No, she’s not in trouble,” Rory said. “I know she was. I’m going to take care of a few things. She’ll be in here in a second.”

He went downstairs and found Savvy in the kitchen, sipping some lemonade and talking quietly with Rosa and Amy. Cassia was on her shoulder.

“The kids need you,” he told her.

She nodded and headed upstairs.

“Did you guys know she was a witch?”

“Not until today,” Amy said.

“Why? What difference does it make?” Rosa asked. “She loves those kids, and she proved it today. She’s one of us.”

Rory gave them a hard, searching look and then nodded. He went upstairs to his office and shut the door. He called Sebastian.

“What’s wrong, Brother?”

“Why do you always answer the phone that way?”

“Because lately, the only time that you call me is when there is something wrong. You never call me to invite me to have dinner with you guys or a cookout. No phone calls for lunch or just to chit-chat. It’s always because there is some kind of drama going on in your life. So, out with it.”

Rory laughed and told him what happened with Eva and that he found out that Savvy was a witch.

“Did you find anything out about that?” he asked.

“Yes, actually, I was going to call you this evening. The investigator did some deep digging and discovered that Savvy, Beth, and Taryn are witches. Beth is a well-known healer witch in certain circles. Taryn can communicate with animals, not only because she is a wolf shifter, but also because she is a witch. She can control them. She saved her father’s life when a possessed bull was about to kill him in the arena. Taryn ran out and touched the bull. It simply stopped and walked away. Taryn also heals, and between her and Beth, they saved Conner’s life.”

“What about Savvy?”

“Apparently, she doesn’t use her gifts often so no one is really sure what her specialty is,” Sebastian said. “What is interesting is that Beth’s mother is a very dark witch, and she tried to kill Conner a couple of times. Savvy’s mother is also. Neither woman has anything to do with their mothers. They are very highly regarded among the people who know their identities.”

“Thanks for the update,” Rory said.

“What are you going to do?” he asked.

“Confront her, demand that she tells me the truth, and then thank her for saving my kids.”

After they finally got the kids in bed, Rory said, “Savvy, please meet me in the library. We need to talk.”