4 Witching On A Star Read online

It was Karen.

  Twenty-Two

  I thought about following Karen, but decided against it. I really didn’t have a reason to think she was up to anything nefarious. For all I knew, she was merely meeting with Dean to discuss the renovations that would be starting soon on the Dandridge. Actually, that was probably exactly what she was doing out here.

  I let out a shaky breath, internally lambasting myself for acting like an idiot. There wasn’t always some evil plot brewing in Hemlock Cove, I reminded myself. I headed back towards my car. There was no reason to make things harder than they already were.

  I returned to the guesthouse and pulled out my laptop. I decided to work for the rest of the afternoon. The Whistler’s weekly edition would come out tomorrow, but I had already done all the work for that edition and turned it over to the paginator. Basically I was just doing busywork for the next week – but it was something to take my mind off my fight with Landon.

  I expected him to show up at the guesthouse that night. When he didn’t, I felt my heart drop to my shoes. Could he really be that angry? I thought about texting him, but that sounded too needy. So I did what anyone else would do under the same circumstances – I took a long bath and went to bed early. Sure, some may call it pouting – but I thought it was a perfectly acceptable way to deal with my inner strife.

  The next morning I was woken up by the sound of my cell phone dinging on the nightstand next to me. I reached over to grab it, instinctively hoping it was Landon and hating myself for the need to hear his voice at the same time. I had to push down the feeling of bitter disappointment that threatened to engulf me when I saw the number of the inn pop up.

  “What’s up?”

  “That’s not how you answer the phone,” Aunt Tillie said irritably.

  “Do you want me to hang up so you can call again?”

  “Well, you’re in a mood,” Aunt Tillie grumbled.

  “What do you want?”

  “The contractors are down here and they want to talk to whoever is in charge,” Aunt Tillie sniffed. “I told them I was in charge, but they said that you had to sign off on everything.”

  “Fine,” I blew out a sigh. “I’ll be down in a half hour. Give them some food and coffee and I’ll be quick.”

  “What’s wrong with you?” Aunt Tillie actually sounded concerned.

  “Nothing,” I said evasively. “You just woke me up. I’ll be down soon. I promise.”

  I showered, dressed and headed towards the inn in record time. I spent very little time on my makeup or my hair. I really didn’t care how bad I looked.

  When I got to the construction site, I found Aunt Tillie holding court. “I’m giving you all fresh donuts and fresh coffee, but don’t expect me to do it everyday. You’re here to work, not eat for free.”

  “Thanks for the donuts,” Dirk Langstrom said with a small smile. “They’re very good. I promise we’ll still work.”

  “Of course you will,” Aunt Tillie said knowingly. “I’ll be watching.”

  “Okay,” Dirk laughed.

  I plastered a welcoming smile on my face and walked over to Dirk. “Good morning. She’s not getting in the way, is she?”

  “No,” Dirk shook his head. “I wish all of our clients were this . . . enthusiastic.”

  “Is that the word we’re using?” I glanced over at Aunt Tillie briefly. “We’ll go with that.”

  Dirk tried to hide his smile when Aunt Tillie frowned at me. “Do you want a donut? Although,” he sniffed. “It smells like you already had breakfast.”

  Aunt Tillie’s evil smile told me she was enjoying this too much. “I’m fine,” I said. “Thank you, though. Aunt Tillie said you needed something?”

  “Yeah,” Dirk said. “I just wanted to make sure that you want electricity on both the inside and the outside of the building.”

  “Why is that important?” I asked.

  “Well, inside is obvious,” he said. “There might be instances where you need to plug things in like grow lights or even a radio.”

  “Right.”

  “Outside, though, it’s just a convenience,” Dirk said. “You might want to plug in decorative lights or even lawn care equipment.”

  “And is there a big difference in price?”

  “No, not really,” Dirk said. “It’s just a preference really.”

  “Let’s go for inside and outside.”

  “Okay,” Dirk nodded.

  “Is that what she wanted?” I angled my jaw in Aunt Tillie’s direction.

  “Yep.”

  “Well,” I sighed. “Let’s do it anyway.”

  Dirk narrowed his eyes, amusement flirting with his features. “Okay.”

  “Dirk,” I stopped him quickly. “You know, you’re doing a lot of work out here – and you’re putting up with a lot of distractions you probably wouldn’t necessarily have to on another job.”

  “It’s fine,” he said quickly. “I’ve been hearing about this inn for years. It’s just a pleasure to be able to see it up close.”

  “It’s not fine,” I said. “She’s just . . . she’s just her. I can’t explain it. Why don’t you bring your family out for dinner tonight,” I suggested. “The inn has very few guests right now and my mom and aunts love to cook for people. I promise it will be a good meal.”

  “It’s no problem? You’re sure.”

  “Absolutely,” I said.

  “Well thanks,” he smiled. “That sounds really nice.”

  “I’ll see you tonight then.”

  “Yeah, tonight.”

  I watched Dirk head back to his crew and found myself amazed at how much they had already managed to get done. Most of the walls were already up. Sure, it was just a frame, but it was still quick work. Once he was gone, Aunt Tillie moved over to me.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Nothing,” I said. “Why do you think something is wrong with me?”

  “You don’t look like you’ve slept in a month,” Aunt Tillie said honestly.

  “Well, I have,” I said briefly.

  “Is Landon keeping you up too late at night?”

  I turned on Aunt Tillie tiredly. “Landon wasn’t here last night.”

  Aunt Tillie nodded knowingly. “That’s what’s wrong. You’re in a fight.”

  “We’re not in a fight,” I lied.

  “You can’t lie to your Aunt Tillie,” she said.

  “Well, if that’s the case, do you think you can get rid of the bacon smell? It’s starting to become a real distraction.”

  Aunt Tillie pursed her lips. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Apparently that lying mandate was one-sided. I decided to change the subject. “How do I get a ghost to move on when she’s been hanging around for a really long time?”

  Aunt Tillie considered the question. “We’re talking about the little girl?”

  “Erika,” I corrected her.

  “Erika,” Aunt Tillie said. “We’re talking about her?”

  “Yeah,” I sighed. “Most ghosts just need closure. Chief Terry reminded me yesterday of when his mother moved on. All she wanted was for him to know that everything was going to be okay and not to feel guilty for taking the locket. It’s not that easy in this case.”

  “No, it’s not,” Aunt Tillie agreed. “What do you think her unfinished business is? Why didn’t she cross over when she died?”

  “She says she just went to sleep on the boat and woke up by the Dandridge,” I said. “We found out that she was on a ship that was transporting her to Canada to make sure she wouldn’t be swept up in any slavery sweeps in the south. That was a hundred and sixty years ago. Her family is gone.”

  “Thistle and Clove told us what you found out at dinner last night,” Aunt Tillie said. “A dinner you weren’t present for, by the way.”

  “I had other things going on,” I replied briefly.

  “Fighting with Landon,” Aunt Tillie said.

  “No, I did that earlier in the afterno
on. I just needed to think.”

  “And pout.”

  “I wasn’t pouting.”

  “Don’t lie,” Aunt Tillie admonished me. “There’s no harm in pouting. I’ve done it from time to time myself.”

  That wasn’t exactly a surprise.

  “You just can’t dwell on it,” Aunt Tillie said. “If you were in the wrong, call him and apologize.”

  “I don’t think I was in the wrong,” I said stubbornly.

  “Then wait him out,” Aunt Tillie said. “He’ll come back.”

  “How can you be sure?” I asked her curiously.

  “I told you, I know all and see all.”

  “Right, I forgot.”

  “I don’t know how you could.”

  “I really don’t have the energy for this today,” I sighed. “I need you to help me find a way to get Erika to move on.”

  “Why is this so important to you?” Aunt Tillie asked pointedly.

  “I don’t know.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  “I just . . . I just don’t want her to be out there wandering around alone anymore,” I said. “She has no one. She was on the boat with her brother, Solomon. He told her to wish on a star and she would be fine. She wasn’t fine, though.”

  “I used to tell you to wish on a star when you were little,” Aunt Tillie mused.

  “I remember.”

  “Did your wishes come true?”

  “Some of them,” I said, a smile playing at the corner of my lips.

  “Is that what Landon is? A wish come true?”

  I frowned. That made me sound a little pathetic. Aunt Tillie seemed to read my mind. “I can see wishing for him. He’s worth a wish or two – even though he needs a haircut.”

  I glanced at her in surprise. “Really? You don’t think that makes me weak?”

  “Nope.”

  “You like him,” I laughed hollowly.

  “He reminds me of your Uncle Calvin.”

  Uncle Calvin had died before I was born, but I had seen pictures. Landon and Uncle Calvin didn’t look anything alike.

  “Not that way,” Aunt Tillie said knowingly. “They don’t resemble each other. They just have the same spirit. They’re both good men drawn to . . . difficult women.”

  “I’m not difficult,” I sniffed.

  “Oh, please,” Aunt Tillie scoffed. “We’re all difficult.”

  In truth, Aunt Tillie idled at difficult.

  “That’s not a bad thing,” Aunt Tillie continued. “It keeps men interested. They all think they want some meek homemaker that dotes on them. They want a challenge, though.”

  “And I’m a challenge?”

  Aunt Tillie met my gaze kindly. “You’re the most difficult of us all,” she said. “You’re probably the one most worth the effort, too.”

  I was flabbergasted. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  Aunt Tillie sobered. “Well, don’t get used to it.”

  “Of course,” I said primly, hiding the smile playing at the corner of my lips.

  “So, are you going to call him and apologize?”

  “Probably not,” I admitted.

  “You’re going to wait him out?”

  “Yeah,” I sighed. “I guess I’m more like you than I want to admit.”

  “Good girl.”

  “That still doesn’t solve the Erika problem,” I reminded her.

  “You worry too much,” Aunt Tillie waved off my concerns. “That’s always been your problem. Ghosts hang around for a reason. You can’t figure out why. You have to give Erika the chance to let you know why.”

  I opened my mouth to protest but Aunt Tillie silenced me with a look.

  “The rules are simple,” she said. “Erika has something she has to do before she can go. You have to help her, to be sure, but it’s up to Erika in the end.”

  “She’s just a little girl,” I said.

  “She’s a little girl with big help,” Aunt Tillie corrected me.

  “Me? I don’t know how much help I am.”

  “Alone? Not much at all,” Aunt Tillie said honestly. “You’re never alone, though, Bay. You need to remember that. We’re all here with you, whether you want it or not.”

  I don’t know why, but her words warmed me. The minute the wind picked up and I smelled myself again, though, the feeling faded. This bacon thing had to end soon. Right?

  Twenty-Three

  I stopped in at the inn for breakfast, ignoring the concerned look on my mother’s face when she caught sight of the shadows under my eyes.

  “I invited the Langstroms to dinner,” I informed her.

  “Who are the Langstroms?”

  “The contractor and his family.”

  “Why?” My mom looked surprised.

  “Because Aunt Tillie is out there hounding them,” I replied simply.

  “Oh,” my mom replied thoughtfully. “That’s probably a good idea. We’ll make something good. He’s earned it, I’m sure.”

  “You always do,” I said, moving towards the door to leave. “Make something good to eat, I mean.”

  “Bay, are you alright?”

  “I’m fine,” I blew off her concerns. “I just didn’t sleep very well last night.”

  “Ghosts?”

  “Yeah, ghosts,” I sighed. “It will be fine. I just have to find a way to get Erika to move on.”

  My mom patted my arm sympathetically. “You will. I have faith.”

  “That makes one of us,” I smiled wanly.

  I went to The Whistler after leaving the inn. Conveniently – or rather pathetically, I’m not oblivious to my actions – the route I picked to get to the paper took me past the police department. Landon’s car wasn’t there, though, and I was both frustrated and relieved by that fact.

  When I got to The Whistler, I stopped in the entryway to peruse today’s issue to make sure that everything had been produced correctly, and then made my way to my office. I wasn’t surprised to find Edith waiting for me.

  “Where have you been?”

  “Around,” I said briefly. “What’s going on?”

  “You’ve been gone for days,” Edith chided me. “That’s not a very good work ethic.”

  “I’ve been working from home,” I replied. “There’s been some other stuff going on, too.”

  “Like what?” Edith asked, genuinely curious.

  “Is Brian here?”

  “No, it’s just us.”

  “Good. I can’t deal with him or Sam right now.”

  Sam. He was a whole other problem I had been ignoring.

  “What’s wrong?”

  The thing about Edith is that she’s extremely self-absorbed – which I’m sure is a facet of her personality that’s a holdover from life – but she’s also randomly sympathetic, as well.

  So I told her. I told her everything. There’s something cathartic about unburdening yourself to someone – especially someone that can’t tell anyone else what you’ve said.

  When I was done, Edith seemed surprised by all she had missed. “That’s a lot of information,” she said finally.

  “I know.”

  “Well, let’s take it point by point,” she started, ever the organized personality. “We can’t be sure that Sam Cornell actually saw me. We’ll just have to be really careful when he’s around. I’ll make sure that I hide when he’s in the office. He can’t stay forever, right?”

  “Right,” I sighed.

  “That’s one problem solved.”

  “What about the paper?”

  “We both know that making the paper three days a week is going to be a colossal failure,” Edith said. “Brian will figure that out. This isn’t a great living, but it’s better than nothing at all.”

  That was pragmatic. I would expect nothing less from Edith.

  “As for the bacon smell,” Edith wrinkled her nose. “You’re going to have to take that up with your aunt. I have no way to fix that.”

 
“And what about Erika? Can you solve that one for me?”

  “It’s a difficult situation,” Edith admitted. “If her parents hadn’t broken the law and sent her away she probably would have lived and it wouldn’t be your problem.”

  I was aghast. “What? You can’t be serious?”

  “What?” Edith looked miffed. “It’s the truth. They sent the children away to hide them. That’s against the law.”

  “They weren’t slaves.”

  “Well, we really don’t know that, do we?” Edith said. “We just know what the little girl said and you know those people lie.”

  “What people?”

  Edith glanced around and lowered her voice. “Black people.”

  I felt sick. “What are you saying?”

  “Well, the little girl is probably lying,” Edith said. “She died because her parents didn’t take care of her.”

  “She died because her parents thought they were sending her to a better place,” I corrected Edith. “You’re not telling me that you think slavery is a good thing? You’re not saying that, right?”

  “Slavery was a practical necessity for the times,” Edith said carefully. “This country was built on slavery. It was an institution, not a minor thing.”

  “That doesn’t make it right,” I countered angrily.

  “Slavery is present in the Bible, too,” Edith said. “Are you saying the Bible is wrong?”

  “Don’t get me started on the Bible,” I grumbled.

  “Times were different,” Edith said evenly. “Slavery wasn’t a bad thing. Not really, when you think about it. What were those people going to do if they weren’t working? It’s not like they could get regular jobs.”

  “That is just sickening,” I said, my anger starting to build. “No one has the right to own another person. No one.”

  “That’s a narrow view,” Edith replied. “This country wouldn’t have become as great as it is if it hadn’t been for slaves.”

  “That’s because they did all the work,” I countered. “How would you feel if you were born into slavery?”

  “I wouldn’t have been a slave,” Edith said.

  “Why not?”

  “I’m not black.”

  “And black people are so different than white people?”

  “Obviously.”

  I was infuriated now. “Obviously how?”