Chapter 32
“Did you find Emily?” Liz asked as Lucky took a seat at the lunch counter.
“Yeah, I got there right before her and Jason left. So, how about a rematch tonight in my dad’s pool room?” He grinned, waiting for her answer.
Liz laughed and shook her head. “Sorry, I have to work. I’ll take a raincheck, though.”
“Okay, just let me know when.”
She studied him for a moment and smiled. “It really bugs you that I beat you, doesn’t it?”
“What?” he asked, trying to look shocked by the question. “Of course not, I just thought it would be fun to play again, that’s all.”
She nodded, not buying a word of it. “If you say so. The next night I have free, you’re on. But don’t get too sure of yourself there, I plan on beating you again!”
“You can try, but you won’t succeed, not if I can help it!” he said. Liz laughed and walked past him to take someone’s order..
“You really like her, don’t you?” Alexis asked, leaning across the empty stool between them so she couldn’t be overheard by Liz.
Lucky looked at her in surprise, not sure how to answer. “What makes you say that?”
She shrugged, giving him a small smile. “I’m good at reading people, and it’s pretty obvious, at least to me, that you really like my daughter.”
“Sure, she’s a nice girl. We have fun together, we’re best friends.” He knew that’s not what she meant, but he didn’t want to admit his true feelings Dating Elizabeth wasn’t safe. He might accidentally use magic around her, and he didn’t want to scare her off.
Alexis studied him for a moment. “If you’re scared, you don’t have to be. I’m pretty sure she likes you, too.”
Lucky smiled sadly. “I know, but we agreed that we were better as friends.”
She nodded, knowing Liz’s reasons. “Okay, that’s your prerogative. I have a meeting to get to, will you tell Liz I said good bye?”
“No problem.”
Alexis got up and left the diner. Lucky turned back to his soda, thinking about what she had said about him being afraid. If only it were that simple....
~*~
“Wow, look at this place,” Phoebe said as they made their way up the front steps. “No wonder he could afford that thing!”
Pru shushed her as she rang the bell. “Don’t make me regret bringing you two along!”
“Hey, I didn’t say anything!” Piper said defensively.
“Maybe not, but you would have. Just be quiet until I’m done, okay?”
They stood back and pouted, waiting for the door to be answered. Finally, it opened.
“May I help you?” Reginald asked, looking them over.
Pru smiled and stepped forward, cradling the vase in her arm. “I’m Pru Halliwell, from Buckland’s Auction House in San Francisco. Mr. Quartermaine ordered this, and requested that it be delivered personally. Is he home?”
“Not at the moment, but I’ll be sure he gets it,” Reginald said, reaching for the vase. Pru reluctantly handed it over, hoping he was trustworthy.
“Thank you,” she said. Reginald shut the door, and they turned around to leave, nearly bumping into Nikolas, who had just begun to climb the front steps.
“Hey,” he said, surprised. “What are you doing here?”
“I had a delivery to make to Mr. Quartermaine,” Pru explained. “What about you?”
“My girlfriend lives here,” he answered.
“Girlfriend?” Phoebe asked, trying not to sound disappointed. “Is she...”
Nikolas shook his head. “No, she’s not a witch.”
“Are you sure? I mean, she could just be hiding it from you,” Piper said.
“I’m sure, I can read her mind, and since I now know that I can’t do that to other witches, that means she’s mortal.”
Phoebe smiled at his comment. “Oh, so you read your girlfriend’s mind? That doesn’t seem very fair to me!”
Nikolas laughed and shook his head. “I said I could read her mind, not that I do read it. There’s a difference.”
“Well, that’s gentlemanly of you,” Pru said, surprised that he wouldn’t use his power to his advantage like that.
“I was raised to be chivalrous. It was all part of my training as the Prince,” he explained.
“Prince?” Phoebe asked, her curiosity piqued again. “A witch and a prince? Wow, that’s pretty impressive!”
“Well, I’m not a prince anymore. It turned out that my uncle was really my father, which meant I wasn’t the eldest son of the eldest son after all, which meant I wasn’t the prince.” He looked at their confused expressions and laughed. “It’s a long story.”
The door suddenly opened, and Emily stepped out, grinning. “Hey, Reginald told me he saw you coming up the walk.”
Nikolas smiled and walked up to her, giving her a quick kiss. “I thought you might want to go for a ride this afternoon. Sheba needs some exercise, and I wasn’t in the mood to ride alone.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“How was your brunch with Jason?”
“It was good. Lucky stopped by to ask me for advice on what to get Alexis and Ned for their wedding,” she answered.
“Really? Why wouldn’t he just ask Liz?”
“I think he wants to impress her, you know, get her mom something really nice. I think it’s cute.”
Pru, Piper and Phoebe had started to walk away, but stopped when they heard Lucky and Liz mentioned. “You know Liz?” Pru asked.
“And Lucky?” Phoebe added.
They both nodded. “Yeah, Liz is my cousin and Lucky’s my brother. Why, do you know them too?” Nikolas answered.
“Yeah, we met them at the hotel this morning,” Piper said. “Small world, I guess.”
“Yeah, it is,” Pru added. “Anyway, we should be going. Have fun!”
“Bye,” Nikolas said, waving as they left.
“Who were they?” Emily asked. “Are they new in town?”
“No, they’re just visiting. I met them at Kelly’s this morning. So, how about that ride?”
~*~
“Does that mean what I think it means?” Phoebe asked, once they were out of earshot.
“If you mean, does it mean Lucky’s probably a witch too, yeah, I think it does,” Pru answered.
“So wait, let me get this straight,” Piper said. “Nikolas and Lucky are witches, and Alexis and Liz are witches, but even though Nikolas and Alexis are related to each other, none of them know? Did that make any sense?”
“Yeah, it did, and I think you’re right. Liz and Alexis have no idea that Lucky and Nikolas are witches, and vice versa. I just wish we could tell them,” Pru said.
“Why can’t we?” Phoebe asked. “I mean, they’re family anyway, don’t you think they’d want to know?”
“It’s not our place, Phoebe,” Piper said, understanding what Pru meant. “They have to find out on their own, not from us.”
“Fine, so we can’t tell them. Why don’t we just wait until they’re all in the same room, then you can freeze everyone?”
Pru and Piper both shook their heads. “They can’t find out from us, not even that way,” Pru said.
Phoebe folded her arms across her chest and pouted. “You guys suck, you know that?”
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