Read To Love A Witch (A Novel Nibbles title) for Free Online

long time. Your instincts are going to be a little wobbly for
a while.”
    Romy was afraid to ask. “And why are we meeting
at the top of a big rock in the middle of nowhere?”
    Carla grinned. “Because wobbly instincts in a
fire witch usually mean leaving scorch marks in unintended places.
Tabletop Rock gets hit by lightning on a regular basis, so you
probably can’t do too much damage. Wear tight-fitting
clothing.”
    Now there was a comforting thought. Not.
    “Be there, or I’ll track you down.” Carla stood
up. “I’ll take you back after so Franco can feed you.”
    As Carla walked off, it took Romy a minute to
identify the most uncomfortable sensation crawling up her insides.
It was hope.

Chapter 8

    Jake leaned on Romy’s station wagon and waited
for her to come out of rehearsal. He hoped the proposal he was
about to make was a good idea. For some reason he didn’t want to
examine too closely, it mattered what she thought of the work he
did.
    Her eyes changed from amused to suspicious as
soon as she saw him. “What is this, Gang-up-on-Romy Day?”
    That wasn’t the start he’d been aiming for. “I
was hoping I could get you to come on a field trip with me.”
    “Does it involve big, flat rocks?”
    “No, a cute seven-year-old. Why?” He took the
stack of papers out of her arms. His mother had tried to teach him
manners, and occasionally he remembered them.
    “Carla was by earlier. She wants me to go do
magic lessons with her on Tabletop Rock tomorrow. I thought you
might be here to make sure I went.”
    Go Carla, thought Jake. “Nope. Carla can handle
that all by herself. Are you going to go willingly?”
    Romy sighed. “She’s bribing me with food before
and after. Does anyone ever say no to Franco’s food?”
    “No one I know. So, will you come on a ride with
me? I have a check-in to do.”
    He loved how Romy’s face could express three
different things at once. Right now curiosity warred with suspicion
and just a touch of fear. Only the fear confused him.
    “What’s a check-in?”
    “As I told you before, sometimes Sentinel places
young witches in safer homes. I rescued a sweet girl named Jolie a
couple of months ago, and I need to stop in and see how she’s
doing. I thought you might like to see the system working right for
a change.”
    She was wavering, he could tell. Time to play
his ace. “I had Franco pack me some takeout.”
    Romy laughed. “I should just run away with
Franco and eliminate all the middle men. Fine, I’ll go, but we take
my wheels. I don’t trust either of us on your bike for the time
being.”
    Ah, that’s why she’d looked a little scared.
Fair enough. It was hard to eat on a motorbike anyhow. “That works.
It’s not too far away. You want to drive, or eat?”
    She rolled her eyes and tossed her keys in the
air. “Women can multitask—I’ll drive and eat.”
    She wasn’t kidding. Jake watched in appreciation
as Romy drove and twirled fettuccine on a plastic fork without
looking. “That’s impressive.”
    “Community theater means a lot of driving to
different gigs. I’m always eating in the car. It was either starve,
eat nothing but burgers, or learn how to eat semi-civilized food on
the run.”
    Girls. What was wrong with eating burgers all
the time? “So what exactly is community theater?”
    Romy grinned. “It’s what happens when you cross
amateurs who think they might like to act with a few bitter old
professionals who are past their prime.”
    “And which are you?”
    She threatened to impale him with her plastic
fork. “Be nice. I’d be somewhere in the middle, I guess. I did some
professional gigs, but I never had the talent to be a star. They
like me here because I’m adaptable—I can handle pretty much any
role.”
    “What role are you in right now?”
    She spoke around a mouthful of food.
“Annie.”
    Well, the red hair matched, but other than that,
Romy didn’t seem like great casting for a tap-dancing orphan