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

girl.
“Community theaters don’t use kids?”
    She looked confused, and then laughed. “We use
kids all the time, but I’m not that Annie; we’re doing Annie Get
Your Gun.”
    That was more like it, although he figured Romy
was plenty armed and dangerous already without adding a gun to the
mix. “How’d you end up an actress?”
    “I was lucky. A theater in Albuquerque needed a
redhead for a bit part right after I got out of juvie. Darlene
hooked me up. I said my two lines and schlepped enough stuff
backstage that they kept me around.”
    Jake realized they were almost at the turn-off
for Jolie’s house. “Take a right, here.”
    Romy ate her last bite and tossed the carton in
the back seat. “So can you tell me anything about this little
girl?”
    “Some. She set off a Sentinel alert a couple of
months ago. When I went to find her, she was living with her
father. He took her to Vegas a lot.”
    “You took her away from a biological parent
because he gambled?”
    Jake tried to stick to the facts, and not let
his temper out. “No. Jolie has precognition—she sees bits of the
future. When she saw, and he won, he treated her like a princess.
When she didn’t see, and he lost, he locked her in a closet. She’d
been in there for two days when I found her.”
    “I’ve heard worse, but I’m glad you got her out.
How’s she doing now?”
    “That’s what we’re here to see. She lives in the
green house with the big black and white cat sitting on the
fence.”
    As they climbed out of the car, a girl with wild
curls came running out of the house. “See Molly, I told you he was
coming,” she shouted over her shoulder.
    An older woman appeared at the door and waved at
Jake. “So you did, Jolie. Invite our guests in, and we can feed
them some of those cookies you worked so hard on.”
    Jolie grabbed Romy’s hand. “I saw you were
coming, so Molly let me make chocolate chip cookies. I did it
almost all by myself, she just had to put them in the oven. I
forgot about the egg, so they’re a little crumbly, but Molly says
anything with chocolate in it must be good. I hope you like
them.”
    Jake grinned. Yup, Jolie was still the minor
tornado he’d rescued two months ago. He could tell she was nothing
like what Romy had been expecting. Not a surprise. Most abused kids
were pretty withdrawn and suspicious, at least for a while. Jolie
had grabbed onto the chance for a new life with both hands.
    He looked over at Molly. “How’s she doing?”
    She grinned. “Can’t you tell? I never get a word
in edgewise, and my kitchen looks like the Flour Wars happened in
there this morning.”
    He gave her shoulders a squeeze. “You’re loving
it, aren’t you.” It wasn’t a question.
    “What’s not to love? She’s adorable, always
entertaining, and she can warn me when I’m about to burn dinner or
adopt a new cat.”
    Jake laughed. “What’s the story with the cat? I
saw him sitting on the fence outside.”
    Molly shrugged. “He won’t come in yet, but he
sits on that fence every afternoon and waits for Jolie to come home
from school. She named him Tux because of his colors. I figure one
stray or two, not much difference.”
    Jolie had dragged Romy into the kitchen and
presented her with a very homemade cookie. Jake grinned. She could
be the poster child for why the Witch Sentinel System mattered.
    She looked up at Romy. “He’s going to try to
kiss you later. I think kissing is yucky.”
    Jake walked over and plunked a big kiss on
Jolie’s cheek. “My kisses are never yucky, Miss Troublemaker.”
    “Do you remember what we talked about, sweetie?”
Molly asked.
    Jolie rolled her eyes. “Yes. I’m not supposed to
tell somebody about their future unless they want to know.” She
looked over at Romy. “So, do you want to know whether he kisses
you, or not?”
    Romy shook her head. “Nope. I already know the
answer to that.”
    Jolie looked interested. “Can you see the
future, too?”
    Romy shook her