“Nobody better dump you,” said Paws.
“That’s not what I’m doing,” said Jasper. “In fact, it is exactly what I’m trying to avoid doing. Please have patience with me.” He sounded desperate.
Shadows played around us. The breeze made the black leaves of the forest move in dark clumps. We were utterly alone, except for the ghosts.
I nodded. Even in the dark I knew he understood what that meant. I would have patience, for now.
He gave a big sigh. “This really might be my favorite place in town. I mean, I love the barn, but it isn’t home.”
“You have a cabin on a lake. That’s the Maine dream,” I told him.
“Don’t get me wrong. I love that place too. But home?” He shrugged.
After our brief and surprising conversation, he didn’t stay. He knew he was wearing out his welcome.
Tank had started practicing hopping jump kicks in his vicinity.
“I can’t kick them off the property if you let them leave,” Tank tried to explain to me.
“I’m sorry for ruining your fun and not letting you be a rabbit thug,” I said.
“I do believe you mean a ghost rabbit thug,” he said.
After every time I saw Jasper, I felt breathless. This time I also felt any a pain in my heart, as if something was slipping through my fingers that was more important than I could measure.
“You have that gutted look about you,” Paws remarked. “It’s kind of how I look when I don’t catch a mouse.”
“And with that charming image and comparison, I’m going to bed,” I said.
As I stomped back to the farmhouse, the two ghosts remembered that they were natural dead enemies and went back to acting as such. Their moment of camaraderie was at an end.
Clearly my dreams weren’t reality. Now I was thinking about something far different from what had been on my mind before I woke up.
Chapter Three
I woke up to somebody poking me in the shoulder. Groggily opening one eye to see who it was, all I saw at first was an out of focus red light. Okay, that was probably my clock, sitting across the room on my dresser.
As the light came into focus, I realized that I had slept later than I meant to, not surprisingly given my late-night wandering.
At the exact same moment, I realized that I wasn’t alone in my bedroom, and that that the imperious Charlie Silver was standing over me, her hands braced on her hips as she looked down at me. I took note of the fact that her hair was wet and she was wearing a white button down.
“Remind me again why I gave you the key to my farmhouse,” I said grumpily.
“You gave it to me in the first place out of pity, but you let me keep it because you love me,” she said.
Before she had moved into the farmhouse, Charlie had been living with her boyfriend, who had dumped her. She hadn’t had any place to go.
“Yes. That,” I said. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m sorry to wake you up. It’s just that you’ve been sleeping for a long time. You’re getting dangerously into Greer’s territory in the sleeping late department. I’ve already run downtown and everything,” she said.
“What did you do that for?” I asked.
“We needed eggs for breakfast,” she said.
“What’s so wrong with cereal?” I asked.
“I can’t serve Hansen cereal,” she said.
“You invited him over for breakfast?” I asked.
“It’s really more like brunch. I know, I know, you don’t think brunch is real. Trust me, it is. Anyway, I don’t think I really invited him. I’m pretty sure he invited himself,” she said.
“Okay, fine. He’s coming over for brunch. Do you want me to leave?” I asked.
“No, of course I don’t want you to leave. What a horrible thought! I want you to stay and have brunch with us. Even Greer is getting up for the occasion,” Charlie said proudly.
“Given that she was working last night, that’s quite an accomplishment,” I said.
“Greer was worried that I’d do the cooking if she didn’t get up. She thought Hansen might stop being friends with all of us,” said Charlie.
“I’m sorry she thinks you’re that bad a cook,” I said.
Everyone knew for a fact that Charlie was that bad a cook.
“I’m sorry she thinks that Hansen and I are friends. We’re rivals, and sometimes reluctant colleagues,” Charlie explained.
Sometimes I wondered how she could live in such a fantasy world. It was clear that the good-looking reporter for the Caedmon Chronicle had a thing for Charlie. It was becoming further clear to me that Charlie might have a thing for him. She just didn’t know it yet.
Hansen appeared to have an infinite amount of patience, but no one really had that. Sometimes I wondered how long he’d wait.
“Thanks for inviting me to a meal that doesn’t exist. I’ll get up and come down,” I said.
Satisfied with my response, Charlie disappeared down the stairs.
After I put on jeans and several layers of shirts, I headed downstairs myself. The wood stove was still burning. Sometimes by this time of year we were able to switch her off for the season, but this year we were set to go through even more wood than usual. The one upside was that February had been warm. We hadn’t used as much wood and kindling as I had expected, and the extra was coming in handy now.
“Smells delicious,” I told Greer’s back. She was still in her slippers and robe, her thick hair piled on top of her head.
I had smelled the bacon the second I’d set foot on the stairs.
Greer turned from the stove to look at me. “Morning! Thanks. I’ve made chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, toast, muffins with our own frozen blueberries, and a few other things. Want to fresh squeeze the orange juice?” she said.
I glanced at the table in the nook, where sunlight was streaming over one of my grandmother’s antique white linen tablecloths. Someone had also set the table with her mismatched but very beautiful dinnerware.
“That’s really not necessary,” Charlie said, emerging from her room.
Greer and I noticed that she’d applied a bit of makeup, but for fear of losing a finger or something worse, neither of us mentioned that to Charlie.
“You bought the oranges,” said Greer.
“Hansen doesn’t need fresh squeezed orange juice,” Charlie argued as she carefully closed the door to her room.
“All your secret reports safe?” I asked her.
She nodded. “For now. Don’t leave him alone in here, though. And speaking of reports, I wanted to update you on the Daily Brew meetings,” she said.
“You can update her while she squeezes the orange juice. I want some,” said Greer.
Charlie rolled her eyes but didn’t argue further. Instead she started moving some of the heaping platters Greer had filled with delicious-smelling food over to the table.
“What’s the update?” I asked as I started on the oranges.
Charlie sighed and said, “Basically I got to thinking that this was a very large group that was meeting secretly. They needed a space that was public, and big. What I started to wonder was if the same group had always met in secret. Maybe there was a time before they used the Daily Brew when they met somewhere else. Further, maybe that other place has a record of their attendance.”
“That’s really smart,” said Greer as she spooned bacon onto a plate. Her beloved dog Charger, who had been quietly half asleep in a corner, got up and started paying very close attention to what Greer was doing.
“Thank you. I thought so too,” said Charlie.
“What did you find?” My curiosity was piqued.
“The only other place that would be large enough was either the town hall or Bright Lights. Since the cinema has been closed all these years, it would have to have been the town hall,” she explained.
“Are there records of meetings?” Greer asked.
“None that the likes of me are allowed to look at. Yet,”
said Charlie.
“Do I want to know what that means?” Greer said.
“Doubtful,” said Charlie with a sly smile.
Greer shook her head.
“I have something to tell both of you too,” I said. I hadn’t even mentioned Jasper’s midnight visit, which I knew would shock my roommates. But just as I was about to tell them about it, Charger sprang to his feet and dashed into the living room barking madly.
“I’d say Hansen has arrived,” said Charlie. She pushed herself out of her chair and went into the living room.
Greer gave me a concerned looked and mouthed the question of whether everything was okay. In response I shrugged and nodded.
She didn’t appear convinced, but there was no time to discuss the latest developments in my love life right now, and that was probably for the best. One of the reasons I had stayed in bed was so that I could avoid the topic, so I didn’t even know why I had thrown out a hint. My friends were getting annoyed with Jasper’s behavior, and I didn’t want to give them even more ammunition until I absolutely had to. So I was glad of the temporary reprieve.
Charlie and Hansen’s voices came from the living room. Hansen greeted Charger enthusiastically, and then the two humans and one dog joined us in the kitchen.
“Morning,” I said to Hansen, who was dressed in a dark blue sweater that brought out the blue in his eyes. He also was also wearing dark jeans and brown loafers and carrying his newspaper and a bag under his arm.
Greer appeared completely oblivious to the fact that everyone else was dressed for the day. She waved a greeting to Hansen and then turned back to her task of getting the food on the table.
“I brought croissants from the bakery in Caedmon,” he said. “I knew Greer would be cooking something amazing, but I wanted to contribute.”
“Thank you,” I said.
Charlie took the desserts off his hands and went to put them on a plate. She no longer acted like everything from Caedmon carried the plague. At least not in front of Hansen.
With the addition of Hansen’s offering, there was now officially not enough room on the table for all the food.
“You brought your paper?” I asked him.
He nodded. “There’s lots of news today, of course.”
“Like what?” Charlie asked. “I was working on a story last night, but I didn’t see the front page. Lena kept hinting at a big to-do that was about to be announced.”
Hansen handed over the paper, and the rest of us sat down. Charlie took the Chronicle and started leafing through it, while I busied myself making my plate as absolutely full as possible. Once nothing more could fit on it, I looked up. Charlie was looking at me.
“What does it say?” I asked, frowning. Charlie was giving me such a concerned look that the only thing I could surmise was that the headline was somehow about me.
“It says a new president of the Wolf Corporation has been named. With the acquisition of the Hayview plot, new management is required,” she said.
Hansen added, “It makes a lot of sense. A lot of people in the industry saw this coming.”
Greer grabbed the paper from Charlie. Her eyes moved at lightning speed as she scanned the headline, then she looked up. “We aren’t in the industry, but yeah, I guess we could have seen this coming.”
I grabbed the paper from her next. No one said anything as I read who the next president of the Wolf Corporation was going to be.
I guess I was the only one who hadn’t seen this coming.
Chapter Four
I set the paper down and busied myself eating my breakfast. “Pass the pepper, please,” I said.
Three pairs of eyes were trained on me.
Charlie frowned at me. “You can’t be that relaxed about it.”
Given that she clearly wasn’t going to do it, Hansen took it upon himself to pass the pepper.
“How’s the bacon?” I asked around the table.
Greer was stuffing her third piece into her mouth and paused to say, “It’s delicious if I do say so myself . . .”
“I’d have to agree,” said Hansen, taking to the subject change with gusto. “Best breakfast I’ve ever had. Don’t tell my mom. She wasn’t much of a cook, really.”
I wondered if that was one of the things he saw in Charlie. “She did make a mean French toast, though,” Hansen added, almost as an afterthought.
“My mom liked to make that too,” said Charlie.
We all chewed in silence for a few minutes. Then I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Okay, spill. What do you know about this purchase of Hayview?”
“Haven’t you been reading my articles? I write one nearly every day,” said Hansen.
“About that and witches,” Charlie grumbled.
For a split second Greer froze. I knew my bartender friend had been hoping Charlie wouldn’t bring up that little fact, because Hansen hadn’t stopped writing about the witches that he suggested were among us, and Greer had grown increasingly nervous that his poking around was going to expose me as the Witch of Mintwood. But the moment passed and Charlie got back onto a safe topic.
Well, relatively safe.
“I know you know more than you put into print,” said Charlie. “What are they turning Hayview into?”
All anyone around town had been able to talk about for the past few weeks was Hayview. What the Wolf Corporation was going to use the lots for was a closely guarded secret.
So of course everyone was speculating about it.
“I don’t have very good sourcing on that. I’ve asked Jasper a number of times. He’s always responded that I’ll have to wait and see,” said Hansen.
Just as we were finishing our breakfast, the phone rang.
The sound was so unusual in the farmhouse that for a split second all four of us just stared at the phone as if it had materialized out of nowhere.
“Harriet calling to let us know where she’s landed?” said Charlie.
“Maybe,” I said, and slid out of my chair to go answer the call. Hansen poured himself more coffee while Charlie grabbed her second croissant and Greer went for a fourth slice of bacon.
“Hello?” I said into the receiver. I listened for a couple of minutes, then said, “Okay, I understand, Lena. Are you sure you don’t want to speak with her directly?”
The click on the other end of the line was my only response.
“What?” Charlie was frowning at me.
“Lena said there’s a big story and to stay by the phone until you hear from her,” I said.
Charlie scoffed. “Nothing helpful ever came out of staying by the phone!”
Hansen surreptitiously checked his cell, but there was no service in Mintwood. He knew that perfectly well, but a habit is a habit. “Maybe I should get going,” he said. “If there’s a big story developing, my editors are probably trying to get in touch with me, too.”
“Sit right there. You aren’t going anywhere without me!” said Charlie, pointing an imperious finger at her competition.
“Afraid I’ll get the jump on you and write a better story?” he asked.
Charlie’s mouth fell open. Of course that was what she was afraid of.
Just then we heard the sound of a siren outside the house, and all banter was forgotten. Greer dropped her bacon, and Charger’s head snapped up hopefully. Charlie nearly knocked the table over in her effort to get to the living room as quickly as possible.
Hansen followed her with all deliberate speed.
“If someone is coming to arrest Charlie, she’s doing them a favor by racing toward them. Whoever heard of such a thing?” Greer wondered as we followed the two reporters at a more leisurely pace.
“There have certainly been a lot of firsts with Charlie,” I said.
“Who is it?” asked Greer, peering through the living room window. Charlie had opened the front door and was standing on the porch, Hansen close behind her.
“Tom. It’s only Tom,” said Charlie, sounding disappointed. “No
way they’d send Tom to arrest one of us.”
“He came with his siren on,” said Greer. “He must want something pretty important.”
Tom came bounding up the steps and gave us a nervous smile. “Lemmi? Detective Cutter sent me directly. He wanted me to come get you,” he said.
“Is he starting a knitting circle? Because I know he wouldn’t send for her to do investigative work,” said Charlie, crossing her arms over her chest.
Tom had been afraid of Charlie ever since she’d been bored in August and harassed him for stories to write about. Being afraid of Charlie also showed plain old good sense.
“I can’t say on what matter she has been requested,” said Tom stoutly.
“Might this be the big event Lena was referring to?” Hansen asked, giving Tom a pleasant smile. The deputy relaxed slightly.
Charlie was observant. She had started to notice how people warmed to Hansen and not to her. He had an easy manner about him that everyone liked, but I could tell that whenever she tried to mimic him, it pained her.
“I’ll come with you. Anything for Detective Cutter,” I said.
Greer rolled her eyes.
“You can’t just take her away!” Charlie exclaimed. “You have to tell us where you’re going. We’ll follow in my Volvo. You too, Hansen. I’m not letting you out of my sight!”
“Is that a threat or a promise?” Hansen asked, his dark blue eyes suddenly warming.
Charlie’s own eyes went wide. She looked petrified. Hansen’s smile widened. Tom coughed.
“I’ll go change. You tell Charlie where you’re taking her. You know very well she’ll find out anyway,” Greer said to Tom.
Resigned to the wisdom of this advice, the deputy said, “We’re going to Hayview. That’s where the detective is. You’ve been requested, like I said.”
“The detective requested me?” I was very confused.
Tom shook his head. “I’m not at liberty to say.”
“I’ll get my stuff.” Charlie dashed away.
“I’ll need five minutes. The breakfast nook has tons of extra food if you’re hungry,” I told him.
Tom held up his hand. He looked very tempted, and I thought he was going to say yes. “I couldn’t possibly.”
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