Read Online A Stroke Of Magic by Tracy Madison - Free Book Online Page B

embarrassment that somehow had become the norm around this man. “Oh. You’re not Elizabeth. Sorry, Ethan,” I managed to mumble. “What can I do for you?”
    “You sound a little a distracted. Are you all right?” The timbre of his voice helped soothe my agitation. Not something I expected, but I appreciated it.
    “I’m fine. Just—um—a little busy at the moment. What’s up?” My phone beeped, signaling another call. This time, it was my sister. Finally. “Oops, I have another call. Can you hold for a sec?”
    “Of course. Take your time,” he said.
    I pushed the button. “I’ve been waiting forever for you to call.”
    “Sorry, sis. My cell ran out of juice and we were at Nate’s parents’ this evening. You said something about Miranda?”
    People who didn’t know my sister as well as I do wouldn’t have heard more than a faint twinge of curiosity in her voice. But after years of sharing—and keeping—secrets, I heard the Oh my God, I’ve been wanting to talk to you about this forever. And that little nuance calmed me even more. She would have my answers. She would understand the weirdness. I was sure of it.
    “She showed up here tonight. A lot of crazy stuff happened that I’d rather talk to you about in person, so when can you come over?”
    “What kind of crazy stuff?”
    “Elizabeth! You’ve been holding out on me. You and Grandma. Don’t you think I should have known our great-great-great-grandmother’s ghost pays house calls to her relatives? And drags them out of their time to visit her in her time?”
    Elizabeth sighed, long and plaintively, as if she’d been the one secrets were kept from. “I know we should have told you, but I didn’t expect her to just show up. What did she say? And what do you mean she dragged you to her time?”
    “Like a time warp. Seriously. I visited Miranda in her time.” My phone beeped again, reminding me that Ethan still waited. “Hold on. I was on the other line when you called.”
    “Okay. But are you sure this time-warp thing really happened? You are pregnant, you know, and hormones can do crazy things. Maybe the visit from Miranda spooked you enough that you dreamed the rest?”
    “Just hold on!”
    I switched back over. “Hey, Ethan. I think this call might take a few minutes. Can I call you back?”
    “Actually, all I wanted to know was if we could go to Frosty’s tomorrow after dinner, instead of at two. Does that work for you?”
    I was about to say yes, but then I figured I’d better check with Elizabeth first. A nice, lengthy, face-to-face chat with her and my grandmother was most definitely in order—not to mention way overdue—so I didn’t want any scheduling conflicts. “Um. Probably. Let me make sure, though.”
    I clicked the button. “This was not a pregnant hallucination dream thing! How can you believe in ghosts and not a time warp?”
    Nothing but silence met my ears, followed by a long, slow intake of breath. That ’s when I realized I might have made a mistake. “Elizabeth?” Please, please be Elizabeth, I prayed.
    “Nope. Still Ethan.”
    I waited for him to say something else, anything else, but he didn’t. He was probably trying to decide how crazy I actually was. “I’m really sorry. You shouldn’t have heard that. Can we just forget all about it? Would that be possible in any way whatsoever?”
    He cleared his throat. “Let’s agree to set it aside for now, but we’ll come back to it at a later date. Will that work well enough?”
    No. “Um. Sure. I guess.”
    “Good. We’re in agreement. About tomorrow?”
    I still hadn’t checked with Elizabeth, but no way, no how, was I chancing mis-clicking a second time. “I think after dinner will be fine. Around six or seven?”
    “Let’s say seven. And Alice?”
    “Yes, Ethan?” I braced myself, waiting for the pregnancy question. Because it was bound to come. And now, because of my big mouth, it was going to happen sooner than I’d planned. Chicken?