Read Rosemary for the Holidays (Consulting Magic) for Free Online

good gift for keeping your family happy and healthy in the coming year," said Julian, as close to gratitude as he could express without thanking them profusely the way he wanted to.
    There was a cascade of, "That's awesome," and "They're perfect," that went around the room, and Julian was pleased to see Chudleigh glowing almost as much from this gift as he had at being the centre of Geoff's attention all evening.
    Once those puddings were gone, Alys and Jacques vanished to make one last course of sweets and savouries, while the rest of them broke up into smaller conversations again, some sitting and some standing. Julian wandered from group to group, basking in the warmth of his good friends, and then he slipped into the bedroom for a moment alone. They'd lit more candles in here, which reminded Julian of more intimate times, so he was smiling when Chudleigh came out of the bathroom.
    "Oh, sorry, were you waiting?" he said, embarrassed.
    "No, no," Julian assured him. "Just having a quiet moment."
    Chudleigh nodded. "It's a lot of people," he said. "Thank you for including me, I know we've not been that close," he added, hand going to the acorn around his neck. "I feel like this is a luck charm to make us better friends in the coming year."
    Julian smiled warmly. "Maybe it is, though Geoff is perhaps the better luck charm since we see him all the time."
    Chudleigh laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Am I that obvious?"
    "Obvious is good," Julian assured him. "Geoff could use some ego boosting, as well as someone who wants to keep him around for a long time."
    "Well," said Chudleigh, that little-boy smile of his lighting up his face, "I'll see what I can do about that, should he want to be kept."
    Julian laughed and hugged him. "Good man," he said, linking his arm in Chudleigh's and walking him back out into the party, then parking him firmly at Geoff's side.
    Geoff lit up and filled him in on the conversation, and Julian slipped off to find the light of his own darkest nights. "What are you getting up to in here?" he asked, finding Alex in the kitchen with Alys and Jacques.
    "A little kitchen magic," said Alex.
    "He's actually helping," supplied Jacques with a smirk. "We're doing a restorative course so no one has an accident getting home, and Alex is adding a little sobering magic to the mix."
    Julian rewarded him with a kiss. "Can I help? We can be good hosts together," said Julian.
    "You can," said Alys, sounding pleased. She brought over a freshly washed ginger root and handed it to him. "See if this is alive enough still to put a bit of zing into?"
    "I'll do my best," said Julian. He took a seat at the table and cradled the ginger, sending his senses into it and feeling the rich, familiar soil of the nursery in its makeup, which meant it was part of Mary Margaret's guesting-gift. It was dying, he could tell that, but he consoled it that it was part of something bigger, and threaded energy through it. He felt guilty that he wouldn't be able to replant it, so when he was done, he broke off a piece and handed Alys the rest. "I want to sprout this one, so it knows I kept my promise about it growing into more."
    "Good lad," she said with a grin. "Let's start it on the window just in water before we hide it away in the soil, then?"
    They managed a rather childish arrangement of toothpicks and a glass of water on the windowsill, looking like a mad experiment. Julian gave it a few last soothing bits of energy and encouragement, promising there would be sunshine in the morning and he'd give it more energy then as well. He turned back to find that Alys had already made short work of the remaining ginger, sparing Julian any further guilt as she dumped it into the mixing bowl in front of her.
    "Ginger and molasses will be very good for you lot," she explained, stirring in the thick brown liquid. Another bowl sat next to her, which began to fill up with dry ingredients. The whole room smelled like holiday spices, which would give