The Hidden Grimoire by Karla Brandenburg (pride and prejudice read TXT) 📕

Sharon glanced at the door once more. Jason appeared in the window, carrying the baby and holding Georgia’s hand. He stopped a moment as he met my eye, then walked into the shop, followed closely by Cassandra.

“Everything okay?” Cassandra asked. “Want me to call Kyle?”

“No need,” Jason said.

I eased behind the counter to put something between myself and Jason. I chose to remain silent until I knew his intentions.

“Aunt Bwinn,” Georgia said, and yet she continued to hold Jason’s hand.

My heart melted. “Hey, little girl. I’ve missed you.”

She stuck her thumb in her mouth, and I sensed the uncertainty in her, the change in her.

“I’ve come to realize,” Jason went on, “if I hadn’t have been so afraid of you, if I hadn’t have let my parents’ bias toward you color my opinion of you, none of this would have happened. I’m the one who told LeAnne there was something different about you, and she latched onto that.”

“What changed your mind?” I asked cautiously.

“Jeannine.”

That was a surprise. I didn’t think Jeannine liked me much better than he did.

“She told me about the baby. Her baby. She told me how she unloaded on you and you let her, and you kept her secret, even when you could have used it to show me how poorly my parents treated you.”

Georgia let go of Jason’s hand and walked to me, looking at me with her big blue eyes, eyes that no longer glimmered. “I had a bad dream,” she said with a pout.

I sat on the stool and pulled her into my lap. Ash jumped onto the counter beside us and nuzzled her. “I’m so sorry about that. Are you better now?”

“Daddy said he’ll take care of me for always, and if I have any more bad dreams, he’ll chase them away.”

I smiled at Jason. “Daddies are good at that.”

“Are you still my Aunt Bwinn?”

“She’ll always be your Aunt Brynn, sweetie,” Jason said.

Tears welled in my eyes. “Yes, I will.”

Sharon took Remy from Jason and adjusted the snowsuit away from his face.

“She takes care of Remy. She says she’ll take care of me, too,” Georgia said.

“What do you think about that?” I asked, risking a glare from Jason. Georgia had made her feelings about Sharon clear in the past.

Georgia cuddled closer. “Okay.”

Acceptance, the way only a three-year-old could give. “Good, because I think she cares about you and wants to love you, if you’ll let her.”

Jason shifted on his feet and stared at the floor. “Jeannine and I were talking, and we wondered, well, I know you don’t have any reason to want to spend time with either one of us...” He met my gaze. “We were talking about Christmas, and we thought it would be nice to spend time together over the holidays.”

“You won’t be heading down to Illinois?” As much as I didn’t claim his parents as relatives any longer, he was their son.

“I think we need to ease into this family thing gradually. I’m not sure how my mother will react to having grandchildren she didn’t know about, and I’m still trying to put my own life back on track.” He shot a glance at Sharon and she positively radiated.

“Come to my house, then,” I suggested. “I’ll invite Nora and her husband. December 21, so as not to take away from your usual family traditions.” If I mentioned the winter solstice, I might trigger another negative response.

Sharon bowed her head, a shadow of uncertainty wrinkling her brow.

“That includes you,” I told her. “If it’s okay with Jason and Georgia.”

Georgia lifted her head from my shoulder and nodded.

“Well, damn,” Cassandra said, still wearing her coat and holding the bags that contained our lunch. Streaks of mascara lined her cheeks.

I laughed and hugged Georgia once more before setting her on the floor.

“I’ll call you to see what I should bring.” Sharon crooked her head, motioning Jason toward me.

Jason took a step toward me. He held out a hand—to shake?

“That’s not how we do things in my family,” I told him, and pulled him in for a hug.

Sharon sniffled. “Now you’re going to make me cry.”

I told them I’d call Jeannine to confirm with her, and took the opportunity to cuddle Remy. An hour later, they left the shop together.

“Never would have seen that coming,” Cassandra said.

I laughed. “You and me both.”

She handed me my sandwich and I carried it to the backroom.

On the worktable, a grimoire lay open. I ventured a peek at the recipe.

To encourage fertility.

I laid a hand on my midsection, a deep sense of peace settling over me.

Dear Reader:

Thanks so much for reading this book.  If you enjoyed the story, I hope you will encourage others by “liking” my books on Goodreads.com and everywhere the option is offered, and by posting an honest review to the site where you bought this book and/or at other book blogs/reading sites so you can help other readers decide whether it’s worth their time. Authors like and need to get feedback to make each new book as good as it can be.

I’d like to acknowledge the people who helped me make this book what it is. Special thanks to Holly Brandt and Amanda Masters for being expert resources. To JL LeClair and Marci Baun for that second set of eyes. As always, I owe thanks to my critique group, to Terry Odell, Steven J. Pemberton, and to Susan Clayton-Golder, who all make me a better writer.

Continue reading for a sneak peek at INTERRUPTED MAGIC, Book four of the Hillendale Novels.

—Karla Brandenburg

Chapter 1

“Excuse me, are you Brynn Taylor?”

I set the basket of roses I’d cut on the ground, wiped the sweat from my forehead and tightened my ponytail.

The young woman standing beside my garden couldn’t be much older than I was, certainly not thirty yet. She looked harmless enough, dark brown hair that curled around her neck, light brown eyes with a tendency toward hazel. She was an inch or two shorter than my five foot eight, and she wore jeans