Prelude to a Witch Read online

  “I’m sure that Steve will have told him about Aunt Tillie,” I said in an attempt to be helpful. “We can always blame anything strange on her.”

  “That’s all well and good, but Clove is going to give birth any minute,” Landon said. “What if she goes into labor when he’s there?”

  Now I was lost. “Why does that matter?”

  “Because you guys are born in swirls of light.”

  I pursed my lips, confused. “Um ... we are not.”

  “Um, you are. Do you remember when we were trapped in Aunt Tillie’s mind after she was hit in the head? I saw your birth.”

  I’d forgotten that. In fact, I’d forgotten the part of her memory that involved my birth entirely. “Oh, well ... that was a weird exception. It’s not the norm. Clove won’t give birth to some swirling bits of light on the dining room floor.”

  “No?” Landon didn’t back down. “Sam has witch in his lineage. That’s the reason he came to town. Are you really telling me that there’s no chance this kid is going to have a weird birth?”

  I didn’t know what to say so I simply sat there with my mouth open.

  “I think you broke her.” Chief Terry waved his hand in front of my face. “She’s speechless. It’s never happened before.”

  “I’m not speechless. I’m just ... thinking.”

  “You hadn’t considered a weird birth,” Landon mused. “That’s kind of funny given the way Clove has been freaking out. How can you guys have overlooked that?”

  “Clove is freaking out over the pain,” I said. “In case you’re not aware, giving birth hurts.”

  “Oh, I’m aware.” Landon’s expression darkened. “I heard the story about the watermelon and the orange.”

  I laughed, some of the weight I’d been carrying since we visited the girls leaving my shoulders. “I’m just saying Clove has had other things on her mind.”

  “Well, if I were in her position, I’d be worried about what the hospital staff is going to do with a glowing baby.”

  Landon was right. Sam’s lineage could very well push Clove’s baby into uncharted territory. Somebody was going to have to raise the issue with her, but it wasn’t going to be me. “I’ll mention it to my mother and aunts and let them tackle that.”

  “Good plan. We still have to deal with this profiler. I think we have to warn everybody to be on their best behavior.”

  That sounded absolutely terrible. “You can tell Aunt Tillie.”

  He made a face. “Thank you for that.”

  I laughed again, more of the darkness that had been dragging me down burning away. “I’m sure it will be fine. We’ve dealt with FBI agents at the inn before.”

  “But we didn’t have Brian and Rosemary to deal with at the time,” Landon pointed out. “Speaking of, they just walked through the door.”

  Chief Terry growled as he turned to look. “Man, is anyone else annoyed that we can’t even have lunch without those jerkoffs showing up to ruin it?”

  “I’m right there with you.” Landon’s hand was on my back again. He was constantly rubbing these days because he thought it would alleviate the tension I carried around. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the only thing that would truly make me feel better was Brian and Rosemary leaving town. That was a little too “Aunt Tillie” for my comfort.

  “You know, Brian was hanging around that clearing behind the Dragonfly right before the parties ended,” I said, my mind drifting back to the night I’d glamoured myself to appear as a teenager and attended one of the gatherings. “Maybe we should ask him if he has any knowledge of what happened to Paisley.”

  Chief Terry lamented, “There’s no way it’s him. That would make our lives easier and we all know that’s not happening anytime soon.”

  I did know that. Still ... . “It will make him uncomfortable. I wouldn’t mind seeing his reaction.”

  Landon nodded. “Okay. Let’s see if they seat him near us.”

  “Can I question him?” I asked.

  Landon shook his head. “That would take it to an uncomfortable place. Let Chief Terry and me do the questioning.”

  I blew out a sigh. “Okay, but you’d better grill him like it’s a Scorsese movie.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  THE HOSTESS SEATED BRIAN AND ROSEMARY one table over from us. Whether that was by design or coincidence, I couldn’t say, but Brian’s smug smile led me to believe he’d arranged it that way. I couldn’t wait for Landon to wipe it off his face.

  “Good afternoon,” Brian offered. “It’s lovely to see the fine law enforcement officials of Hemlock Cove having a relaxing lunch. I guess that means crime is under control in our fair town.”

  “I’m pretty sure they have next to zero crime,” Rosemary offered.

  “You might be surprised.” Brian’s eyes twinkled as they met mine. “How are you doing, Bay? Excited for your wedding?”

  “Of course,” I answered. “There’s nothing better than marrying the person you love and want to spend the rest of your life with.”

  “I feel the same way,” Rosemary said. “We’re already planning for our wedding next summer. We’ve booked the Hemlock Cove Catholic Church.”

  “We’re not getting married in a church,” I said.

  Rosemary almost looked disappointed. “I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t you be getting married in the Catholic Church?”

  “I think the better question is why would we be getting married in a church at all,” I countered. “We’re not exactly pious in our beliefs.”

  That’s when understanding dawned on Rosemary. “Oh.” Her smile disappeared. “You’re probably having one of those heathen ceremonies.”

  “We do love a good heathen ceremony,” Landon agreed. “I love drinking wine and dancing naked under the full moon.”

  “Wait ... there’s going to be naked dancing?” Chief Terry looked horrified. “I hate that idea.”

  I took pity on him. “The only naked dancing will likely involve the usual suspects and after Landon and I have retired for the evening.”

  “So you’ll get to chaperone.” Landon offered Chief Terry a taunting thumbs-up. “Have fun.”

  “We’re not waiting until next year to get married,” I added for Rosemary’s benefit. “We’re doing it in the next few weeks.”

  Rosemary was taken aback. “I don’t understand why you’re doing it so soon.”

  “Because we can’t wait to be married,” Landon replied, his gaze landing on Brian. “Speaking of things I can’t wait to do, I have a few questions for you, Kelly.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Brian didn’t look bothered by the change of topic. “If this is about how much greater our house is compared to that spit of crappy land you own, I have nothing to say. We’re not in the mood to sell our house.”

  “We’re not in the mood to buy it,” Landon said. “We’re going to build our dream house out there. That’s not what I want to question you about.”

  “Question me?” For the first time, Brian looked mildly concerned. “Is this an official interrogation?”

  “Official? No. I’m simply curious if you’ve been out to the Dragonfly recently.”

  “Why would I go out there?”

  “Last time I checked, you were partying with underage kids in the general vicinity.”

  Brian shot a furtive look toward Rosemary and then shook his head. “That’s a lie. I haven’t been hanging out with kids.”

  Landon continued. “You should know that a body was found in that clearing this morning. A local teenager was killed. We’ll be digging deep on answers regarding what’s been happening in that party spot.”

  Brian did his best to remain calm but his cheeks flushed with color. “You’d better have something to back up any allegations you make where I’m concerned. I haven’t been hanging out with teenagers. You’re just saying that to mess with me.”

  That was a lie. I saw him when I went undercover. I still didn’t know what he’d been doing out there wit
h a bunch of underaged girls and boys, but I knew it couldn’t be anything good. “Why would we want to mess with you in that manner?” I blurted out.

  “Who knows why you two want to mess with me,” Brian shot back. “You’ve made it your life’s mission to ruin me since I came to this stupid town. You took my business, for crying out loud. I have no idea why you do the things you do.”

  “My grandmother says it’s because they’re evil,” Rosemary offered.

  “I never really believed in evil until I met Tillie Winchester,” Brian said. “Now I know what abject evil looks like.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t go there if I were you,” Landon warned. “Aunt Tillie may be mouthy, but she’s pretty far from evil.”

  That wasn’t the tack I wanted to take. “She idles at evil,” I countered. “She’s the evilest of evil, and you should keep that in mind if you continue to mess with us,” I warned. “Also, I know you were out there with those kids, Brian. I saw you. Keep lying to Rosemary, by all means, but you’re not fooling us. I know what I saw.”

  “I didn’t see you,” Brian said. “How odd.”

  “You just said you weren’t there,” Chief Terry pointed out. “How could you see her if you weren’t?”

  Brian opened and closed his mouth, and then shook his head. “You’re trying to trip me up. You can’t railroad me. While we’re at it, I will get my newspaper back. You may think you’ve won but I’m nowhere near done.”

  Landon rested his hand on mine to keep me from leaping over the table and strangling him. “Don’t go near Bay,” he ordered. “I’ve warned you before that I won’t put up with it. If you go after her, I’ll make you pay.”

  “I’m looking forward to the attempt.” Brian was back to smarmy. “May the best man win.”

  “If I were you, son, I wouldn’t be worried about us men,” Chief Terry intoned. “The women in these parts can take care of themselves, and they’re far more terrifying.”

  “Definitely,” Landon agreed. “Just say the word and we’ll let Aunt Tillie off her leash.”

  Brian swallowed hard. “I’m not afraid of that crazy old bat. She’s all talk.”

  Now it was my turn to smirk. “Famous last words.”

  6

  Six

  Brian refused to engage with us after a few more minutes of traded barbs. That left us to eat our pot pies in peace.

  Landon snagged the bill as we were leaving and I stood next to the front door waiting for him, my eyes drifting to the window when something caught my eye. There was a momentary shadow, but it disappeared almost instantly. I narrowed my eyes to look again but saw nothing.

  That’s when Rosemary exited the bathroom and almost ran directly into me. I tried to move out of her way, but she was having none of it.

  “I don’t know why you feel the need to fixate on Brian,” she said. “He’s a good man.”

  “He is not a good man.”

  “Who knows him better? I’m pretty sure it’s me, and I happen to know he’s a great man. I wouldn’t have fallen in love with him if he wasn’t.”

  “I have no idea how your relationship works,” I said. “I don’t really care to know.” That wasn’t entirely true. I was more than a little curious about how they’d managed to hook up in the first place. I didn’t want her to know I was interested, though. It would give her too much power. “As long as you and Brian stay away from my family, I really couldn’t care less about your plans.”

  “We’re going to be happy.” Rosemary was adamant. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

  For a moment, my heart went out to her. Her grandmother, Willa, was a tyrant of epic proportions. She made Aunt Tillie look like a fuzzy pet bunny giving nose kisses. Part of me believed Rosemary didn’t have a chance of growing up to be a decent human being. Then I reminded myself that Rosemary was an adult capable of being what she wanted to be. She’d chosen to be this way.

  “I hope you find the happiness you’re looking for,” I said. “But I don’t want you near me. I don’t trust you. As for Brian, I definitely don’t trust him. I’m not sure if you believe the lies he’s spouting, but he was at that clearing with the local kids.”

  “Why would he hang out with a bunch of teenagers?” Rosemary demanded. “That makes no sense.”

  “And yet you think it makes sense for me to make up that lie to drag you away from him.”

  “You’ll say anything to ruin my happiness.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you hate me. You’ve always hated me.”

  “I don’t even know you.”

  “You were cruel to me when we were children.”

  I sputtered. “I wasn’t cruel to you. Why would you think that?”

  “Because I was there. My grandmother warned me before our visits that you guys would try to cut me out and be mean to me. She was right.”

  “So your grandmother poisoned you against us before you even met us,” I countered. “I wish I could say I was surprised, but that sounds just like Aunt Willa. I’ve never known her to be anything other than unpleasant.”

  “That’s rich coming from you.” Rosemary’s lips twisted. “You were raised by that horrible witch Tillie. She molded you into monsters.”

  Landon, who had finished paying for our meal, sidled over in time to hear the last part. “What did you just say?” he demanded.

  Rosemary’s eyes snapped to him, and for a moment she looked fearful. She regrouped quickly. “You heard me. Tillie raised Bay, Clove and Thistle to be monsters. She did a good job, too.”

  “If you believe that, why are you living in this town?” Landon snapped. “If you think that they’re so terrible, why would you want to be near them?”

  “I don’t. That’s Brian. He wants his grandfather’s newspaper back. You stole it and he can’t let it go. I don’t blame him. All he has left of his grandfather is that newspaper, and you swindled him out of it.”

  Anger, hot and fast, flashed over Landon’s face. “Nobody swindled him out of anything,” he seethed. “He tried to hurt Bay, ruin her livelihood, and steal that newspaper from her.”

  “It was never hers!”

  Landon refused to back down. “William Kelly left Bay in charge of that newspaper for a reason. He knew she would take care of it, nurture it, and make it what it was supposed to be. There’s a reason he stipulated in his will that Brian couldn’t fire Bay.”

  “Brian only fired her because she was a murder suspect.”

  “He fired her because he took advantage of the situation.” Landon was furious. “He got what he deserved. The people in this town might not all love Bay, but they know how important the newspaper is. They understand that she’s keeping it afloat. Brian would’ve run it into the ground with his get-rich-quick schemes.”

  “You take that back!” Rosemary’s eyes flashed with fury, but that’s not what caught my attention. No, that was the movement in the window behind her. The shadows were back, and this time they were taking form.

  “I won’t take it back,” Landon said. “Brian doesn’t want to put in the work. He expected to sit back and collect a bunch of money. He doesn’t understand about dedicating himself to a career.”

  “Brian is an excellent businessman,” Rosemary hissed. “Bay just wishes she could be as smart as him.”

  Landon slid his arm around my waist. “Come on, Bay. This is a fruitless conversation.”

  I didn’t disagree, but I was too focused on the dark figures in the window to give him my full attention. The figures there were evil, dark wisps of smoke flowing off them. I could see right through them.

  “Brian is going to get his newspaper back,” Rosemary called out to us as Landon shepherded me toward the door. “Just you wait.”

  “Don’t hold your breath.” Landon waited until we were outside to speak again. “She is the absolute worst person I’ve ever met. Like ... the absolute worst.”

  “Brian is worse,” I said, my eyes returning to the window. The shadows were gone.
It was as if they’d never been there and I’d imagined them.

  “Brian doesn’t worry me.”

  “Does Rosemary?”

  “Rosemary worries me only because she knows a lot about your family and could make life difficult if she applied herself. Of course, if she starts spouting nonsense about witches, people are likely to think she’s nuts.”

  I rubbed my cheek, unable to tear my gaze away from the window. I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d really seen something.

  “Why are you so distracted?” Landon asked.

  I turned back to him. “I’m just ... thinking.”

  “About the profiler? Don’t worry about that. I’m sure we’ll be able to figure it out.”

  I smiled because I knew he needed it. “I’m sure we will. Are you heading back to work?”

  “That’s the plan. What are you going to do?”

  “I’m heading to Hypnotic to hang out with Clove and Thistle.”

  “Are you going to mention my glowing baby concern?”

  “No, and neither are you.” I extended a warning finger. “Keep that to yourself. Let my mom and aunts deal with it.”

  Landon kissed me. “Are you sure you’re okay?” He looked legitimately concerned.

  “I’m fine,” I promised. “I just need to think. There has to be a way for us to figure out what’s going on.”

  “Well, I have faith.” He graced me with another kiss and then pulled away. “Call me if you figure something out. Otherwise, I’ll see you for dinner.”

  “I’ll be in touch.”

  “That’s just the way I like you.” He winked and started down the sidewalk, leaving me to stare at the empty window.

  CLOVE AND THISTLE WERE IN THEIR usual spots when I entered their store, the wind chimes above the door alerting them to my presence. From her spot on the couch at the center of the store, Clove shot me a happy smile. Thistle glared at me from behind the counter.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “Clove.” That’s all Thistle said.

  “What did you do?” I asked my pregnant cousin, my eyebrows hopping when I realized she was halfway through a box of chocolate-covered cherries. “Where did you get those?”