Chapter 5

If you are lacking creativity plant begonias around your work area they will help with inspiration.

The sight of him makes my stomach do a little flop. I am happy to see him again, but how did he find this path? He shouldn’t be able to see it because of the magic guards; I don’t like how close he is to our garden. If he can see the path what if he can see the entrance to the cave too?

“Hello again” Charles yells “sorry about that, this my family dog Brue. I hope he didn’t scare you.”

My heart starts beating a little faster as I answer “hi.” He has the most beautiful and soft brown eyes I have ever seen. I focus my thoughts “Your dog has an interesting name” I laugh. I bend over to pet him trying to distract myself from his eyes.

“Yeah, his name a mix between brown and blue because of his eyes.” He answers.

“That’s cute” I laugh. “Are you a good boy?” I say as Brue flops onto the ground on his back.

He is silent for a moment and then he asks, “Do you want to walk together?”

I wanted to lead him away from the garden because we were dangerously close, so I said “sure.”

I point us in the opposite direction of the garden, and we start walking and making small talk.

“I just moved back here from Summerside in Prince Edward Island” he begins to tell me.

“What brings you to Meaford?” I ask.

“I just finished school and moved back into the ensuite on my family's farm” he answered. “It’s quiet here, I needed a change.”

Our property is so large I haven’t met the neighbours.

“Well quiet is what you’ll get here” I laugh.

“What about you?” He asks.

I tell him about the family business. “Between the kids coming during school season and the weddings in the summer months it doesn’t leave me much time for other things” I explain.

“What about college?” He asked.

“I never went to college; with the family business I was destined to work here, and I love it.”

“You must have your work cut out for you here” Charles laughs. “This place is huge.”

Charles doesn’t know our secret so of course he would think taking care of this place would seem like much more work than it actually is.

“You don’t know the half of it.” I smile. It feels wrong keeping secrets, but I have been doing it my whole life.

“I love being surrounded by the trees, there is something that is so calming about being in nature” he comments.

I was starting to like him more and more. He had a college education, was funny and cared about nature. Above all of, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had met this person before. Maybe in another life.

“So how did you find this place?” I ask trying to find some answers.

“I was exploring behind my house, and I found a path that ending up leading me right to clearing that overlooks the orchard.” He continued. “I’m glad I found this place and meeting you is a bonus.”

I feel my face turning red. I quickly shift my thoughts. I begin to wonder about the path he was telling me about. I have been walking the forests since I was a young enough to do it on my own and I cannot remember there being a path to the neighbouring property. It was still possible he wandered in, considering he lived on the property nearby.

From my experience though if you are meant to be on a path you will find it.

“I didn’t know there was a path between our properties” I said.

“It is nice having another person to talk to. I haven’t met many people since moving to the middle of nowhere” he tells me. “What kind of things do you like to do for fun?”

“This is what I do for fun. Growing trees and gardening.” I answered. “My best friend and cousin Evee lives here, and we spend a lot of time together.”

Talking to him feels effortless and I want to see him again. As if he is reading my mind you say. “We should really do this again sometime.”

He asks for my phone number, and I put it in his phone. I did really enjoy his company, and he lived close by.

We finally make it to the clearing. The trees in the distance are mostly evergreens on this side of property. We can see the back of the large manor and the evergreens stretched to the sky as the branches sway in the breeze.

“That’s quite the house” Charles breaks the silence.

“It’s been in my family as long as we have been here” I say.

As we stand there together, I can feel his eyes piercing into me. I still couldn’t help wondering how he got past the magic guards.

“The way you look when you’re thinking is cute. Your nose crinkles. What are you thinking about?” Charles asked.

I just look at him. I can’t tell him what I’m really thinking because I don’t want to tell him that I am suspicious of him and what he is doing here.

The silence gets a little awkward and I open my mouth to say something when you say. “I can tell you what I’m thinking. It’s so hard to believe that these giant trees grow out of a tiny little seed.” He turns to look at me “If I didn’t know better, I would think its magic.”

I tilt my head and say, “that’s a very interesting perspective but I don’t think magic is real.” Was there a hidden meaning in what he said and did he know about magic himself.

“You don’t?” He said, “I think it’s all around us.”

I never thought about it like that before, but he was sort of right. I look at the sun and it’s almost 8:00AM.

“Well, we should get going, I do have to get to work soon” I say turning to head back down that path to walk back to my place.

“You’re right, I should get to work too. I bet this view looks great at sunset.” Charles said as he follows me back down the forest path.

“It looks even better, which is hard to believe.” I say.

“I am going to text you” Charlie said.

“I’ll be waiting” I said.

We walk in comfortable silence for a while until we reach the fork in the path where we must part ways.

“Well, see ya” he said looking down at my lips. I think he wants to kiss me but turns away instead.

“Bye” I wave.

On my short walk home, I get lost in my thoughts about Charles. It’s been so long since I’ve had any interest in a man. I can’t wait to see him again.

When I get home my mom is waiting for me on the couch in the living room. I forgot she was coming over for breakfast today.

“How was your morning walk?” She asks.

“It was the same as usual” I answer which was not the truth.

She squints her eyes, almost as if she knows something and said, “I guess you forgot I was coming this morning.”

“I did, I am sorry” I answer.

“You would forget your head if it wasn’t screwed on” she joked.

We both chuckle, my mom thinks she is funny. Usually, she is not.

I make us both an omelet in my small kitchen. While I’m cooking, we make small talk about the trees and a school coming in for a tour this afternoon.

I should probably tell her about Charles being in the woods, but I conveniently do not bring him up while we are eating. Talking to my mother about a man is weird especially since she doesn’t want me with anyone who isn’t a witch.

“Don’t forget there is a reporter coming on the tour today with the school” my mom said.

“Another reporter?” I ask.

“Yes, she’s looking for some information to write an article on our orchard” she answered.

It’s not shocking because this happens often. We usually let the reporters onto our property and answer their questions as best as we can without reviling the truth for their stories.

Over the years our secret has almost gotten out a few times, but usually once people accuse of us being witches, they lose credibility because no one believes in witches and people end up thinking they are crazy.

We get fairly good publicity from people doing newspaper articles about our orchard.

“When did you become such a good cook” my mother said taking her last bite of breakfast.

“Well, I most certainly didn’t learn it from you” I laugh.

“My cooking isn’t that bad” my mom said smacking me in the arm. “You survived, didn’t you?”

“Barely” I laughed.

“Thanks for breakfast” my mother said.

“You’re welcome, I figure I owe you a couple of breakfasts from the years” I laugh.