Witch Reborn Box Set: Books 1-3: Includes Gemstone Coven Holiday Shorts 1 & 2

by Belinda White

  That whole situation just didn’t sit right with me. At all. That subconscious of mine was screaming to beat the band that something was there. Like it had to tell me that.

  I already knew. Malcolm’s death might have been natural causes. I’ll give them that. He was an old man and had lived a full life.

  Ashley Connor was a different story. A little digging there would definitely be in order.

  Pushing the journals aside, I glanced down at baby Pearl. She was staring intently at Bridget. The bird wasn’t dancing, but the two of them had eyes locked. It was enough to make me wonder if there was something more there. Probably just me being silly. Bridget had bright colors that would draw baby Pearl’s attention, and Pearl was a baby and still a bit of a novelty to Bridget. Hence the mutual admiration and interest.

  If only I believed that. That darn subconscious was at it again.

  Chapter 12

  “So, Baby Pearl, are you up for a road trip?”

  She didn’t answer. If she had, it would have given me quite a start. But she did break her gaze from Bridget to look at me. I took that as a yes.

  Of course, with a baby, it isn’t as simple as just getting in the car and going. There was diaper changing, bottle feeding, and burping involved even before I packed a much smaller diaper bag for the trip and we headed for the car.

  I was kind of glad that Kimberly hadn’t taken me up on the offer of switching cars. The road between the farmhouse and the Golden Daze Bed and Breakfast was a curvy, windy one. Not that I’d be taking it at speeds that the good sheriff seemed capable of. But still, I felt much better having a reliable car to make the journey. Especially with the precious bundle in the back seat.

  That is one thing I missed about the whole car seat thing. Not being able to have her right up front with me. They say it’s safer in the back seat, but it’s still a pain not being able to check on the baby as often as you would like. I don’t know how people do it on long drives. It would drive me crazy. Hopefully, that would be a little better once she got old enough to have the car seat at least face toward the front. If only the people in charge would stop upping the age for that to happen.

  I made double and triple sure she was in good, buckles were done properly, and that she had her little blanket snuggle toy. She loved that thing. Nancy had picked that one out. A little square of soft, silky material topped with a tiny stuffed dragon. Of course, I’m fairly sure dragons didn’t really come in all the colors of the rainbow, but no one said it had to be realistic.

  Besides, who knows? Maybe all dragons were rainbow-colored. I’d have to ask my supplier. One of these days I’d wear him down to let me actually see that darn dragon. Just wait.

  The trip didn’t take all that long. Not really. But it took me over the county line. I really hated that part.

  There was just something about it. In Wind’s Crossing, I felt safe and secure knowing that Sheriff Orville Taylor had my back. Well, he had my heart too, but that was a different matter.

  Crossing over into another county meant I lost that secure feeling. Oh, I knew he would still come to me if need be. That, I never doubted for a single second. But the idea of being in some other law maker’s territory always bothered me just a tiny bit.

  You just never knew when you would run into a true witch hater. They were out there still. And sometimes they made it into law enforcement. When they did, the result wasn’t so pretty for us Goddess-loving folks.

  Not that I knew for a fact that was the case with the sheriff of this county. I didn’t. But then I hadn’t heard of many covens over here, either. Sometimes that could be a telltale sign all on its own.

  On the drive, I started out to try and take note of all the places where poor Ashley’s car might have gone off the road. Turns out, there were far too many to count. Country roads were like that, and this road had its twists and turns in spades. Didn’t help that it was probably the hilliest part of Michigan, either.

  My main wonder was whether the accident had happened in Wind’s Crossing or beyond. And whether or not the resulting investigation had been handled by a man I trusted or a total stranger. Made a huge difference, and Orville had pointedly not said either way.

  When we finally pulled up in front of the Golden Daze, I had to admit it impressed me. I’d been expecting some fancy, older mansion redone into a place to rent rooms for travelers. I guess I’d been expecting the place to have put on illusions of grandeur.

  The house in front of me didn’t. In fact, it was nice. If I didn’t love my farmhouse with every fiber of my being, I could totally see myself living here.

  It only had the one story. Unless, of course, there was a basement tucked away underneath. But that one story did a lot. It went on and back for quite a ways. And all the way around it that I could see from the drive, was a wide covered porch. Plenty of places to sit too.

  The yard was landscaped plain and simple, and an old oak tree off to the side even had an old tire hanging from it for any kids to enjoy. I have to admit, it looked tempting, even to me. Might have to invest in one of those for out back. Mason and Nancy would like that. Probably better plan on two.

  I stepped out of the car and went around the back to get baby Pearl out. A little girl came running over, dark curls bouncing, as soon as she saw the baby.

  “Hi! Are you staying with us? Is your baby friendly? Can I hold her?”

  I smiled down at the girl. “No, I’m just here to visit for a bit. Yes, the baby is friendly. And if you want to hold her, we’ll have to go inside, and you’ll have to sit down.”

  She grinned up at me. “Okay.” Then she turned and started running for the house. “Callie! We have company! And she has a baby!”

  By the time we made it to the front door, the door was standing wide and a woman a little older than me stood in the threshold. She was tall, slender, and her hair looked just a bit on the windswept side.

  All in all, she looked like someone I could get along well with. My instincts—or self-conscious, whatever you want to call it— is usually right about these things.

  “She says I can hold the baby if I sit down. Can I, Callie? Please?”

  The woman, Callie I assumed, smiled at me and shook her head. “She just got into the age of really enjoying her baby dolls. I’m afraid the idea of a real one has her a tad excited.”

  “Baby Pearl is worth getting excited about. I hope it’s okay that I offered to let her hold her.”

  “Okay by me if it is with you. We’ll watch her all the same, of course.”

  I didn’t say anything to that. I mean, that went without saying. The girl couldn’t have been over four years old. She’d be sitting within reach of me for sure.

  “Before we get that far, I should introduce myself. I’m Callie Brown, owner of the Golden Daze, and this excited little baby-lover is Tory.”

  “That’s short for Victoria,” the little girl said, sounding the name out carefully.

  “Well, that’s a right fine name. I like it.”

  She grinned up at me. “Thanks! What’s your name?”

  “My name is Opal Ravenswind.”

  I hadn’t expected my name to cause a stir, but it did. Callie had been holding a small metal watering can, and at the mention of my name, the can clattered onto the floor. Luckily it wasn’t totally full of water, but there was still enough to spill out on the beautiful hardwood floor.

  “Oh my, we’d better get that cleaned up before it stains your floor.”

  Callie just continued to stare at me for a second or two, then finally she nodded. “Tory, would you please go get me a towel from the guest bathroom?”

  Once Tory had darted off, I stared the woman straight in the eyes. “Something tells me that you’ve heard of me.”

  She swallowed and nodded. “You’re not at all what I had pictured, though.”

  Well, yes. Most people don’t imagine witches carrying a baby and a full diaper bag. A bag that was quickly growing heavy even with the reduction in
stuff. And baby Pearl’s car seat wasn’t exactly lightweight, either.

  “Is there a problem with who I am?”

  Callie swallowed again. “That depends on why you’re here, doesn’t it? And I don’t know that yet, now do I?”

  “Well, I’m not here to hex you or the house, so you can set your mind at ease on that point. I’m just here to talk a bit. I’d like to hear about your old friend Maggie.”

  Callie’s eyes went involuntarily to the side where little Tory had run, then back to me. “I’ll set you up in the parlor and then join you once I clean up this mess.”

  She led the way into a bright, sun-filled room to the right. It was gorgeous. An open room with comfy sofas, a fireplace with a warm blaze roaring, and plenty of light streaming through the huge picture windows lining the front wall.

  I settled on one of the sofas and then looked back to the woman. “Is it okay if I change baby Pearl here?”

  She nodded. “Of course. Do whatever you need to do for her.” She glanced nervously behind her.

  Something about my being there was bothering her. I was hoping she wouldn’t let that interfere with Tory holding Pearl. I didn’t want the child disappointed just because of who I was.

  I was also really hoping that Callie wasn’t one of those witch-haters I’d been so recently thinking about. It was possible that she was just nervous because she didn’t know how to act around one. If that was the case, no problem. She’d see within minutes that I was just another person. We probably had a lot in common, if she’d let loose enough to be able to see it.

  By the time she came back, I had baby Pearl all changed and back in her car seat. It doubled as a travel chair in times like this.

  I was glad to see that Tory followed right behind her. The little girl’s eyes were focused on Pearl in the car seat.

  I patted the sofa beside me. “Come sit here, Tory, and I’ll get baby Pearl for you.”

  Tory dove onto the couch and then sat stiff as a board, ready for her golden opportunity to hold a real-life baby doll. She probably wouldn’t have been nearly as excited about the prospect if she’d come in the room a few minutes earlier. Baby Pearl could fill a diaper better than any baby I’d ever seen.

  It didn’t take long to get her settled. Once she was holding Pearl and talking to her, Callie finally relaxed enough to sit down herself. After she’d pulled a chair a little closer to the sofa, that is.

  I was trying to figure out the relationship between Callie and Tory, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. There was no family resemblance that I could see. But then, sometimes that happened. What they called the milkman’s baby syndrome.

  “So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?” Her voice was friendly enough, if a little on the uptight side.

  “I understand that you had a friend named Maggie years ago. And that her daughter, Ashley, stayed with you here a year or so ago. Is that right?”

  She nodded but said nothing. This could take a while.

  “Can I ask how you knew Maggie? And a little about her? I’m afraid I only know her first name.”

  Callie took a deep breath before saying anything. “Her full name was Maggie Connor. She was a friend of mine from all the way back in grade school. We were close.” A faint smile touched her lips. “I think they call it BFFs these days. We were pretty inseparable for a while.”

  “But that changed?”

  Her smile faded, and she turned away. “Maggie got pregnant out of wedlock. Nowadays that isn’t anything, but back in our day...”

  “It was.”

  She nodded. “Yeah, it was. Especially when the father refused to come forward and do the right thing.”

  Kind of hard for a married man to do the right thing when doing the wrong thing had brought new life into the world. But I couldn’t really say that, could I? Privileged information.

  “What happened?”

  Callie shrugged. “She moved away. We kept up for a while, letters and the occasional phone call. Eventually, though, we drifted apart.”

  “She died, didn’t she?”

  “Yes. A little over a year ago, actually.”

  “Did Ashley’s visit have anything to do with that?”

  She sat up straighter. “Maybe. It’s possible that the girl just wanted to get away for a while to get her head on straight. She’d cared for her mother through a long bout of cancer.” Callie looked a little proud. “Ashley was a nurse. A darned good one too. She didn’t deserve what happened to her.”

  “I heard that she drove off the road coming back here from Wind’s Crossing. I’m very sorry about that.”

  Glaring eyes met mine. “She didn’t drive off that road. And she wasn’t drunk, either. Ashley didn’t do those kinds of things.”

  “Then what do you think happened?’

  “I think she was murdered.”

  See, just like I thought. We did have something in common.

  Chapter 13

  I noticed she was looking at me rather strangely.

  “That didn’t seem to surprise you. I’m wondering why.”

  I reached over and rearranged baby Pearl a bit on Tory’s lap before answering. When I did, my voice was low. “That’s because I’ve been kind of thinking the same thing.”

  Her eyebrows arched upward. “Truly? Because everyone else seems to think I’m obsessed with the whole thing. Not that my obsession has ever gotten one single bit of resulting action. The whole world except for us seems to be ready to believe the worst of Ashley. But then, they didn’t know her, did they?”

  “I didn’t know her either, but I find the timing extremely odd for it to have been an accident. But I suppose it is possible that she was upset and simply missed a curve?”

  Callie shook her head fervently. “No. Not Ashley. She was killed. I’m sure of it.” She hesitated. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume you know why she was in town?”

  “Pretty sure she was here to meet her father.”

  Callie nodded. “And I take it you have an idea who that is?”

  “I’m thinking Malcolm Fontaine.”

  She took a deep breath. “You’re thinking right. Maggie was working as a maid for the Fontaines when she became with child. She never told me he was the father, but I had my suspicions.”

  “How did Ashley find out?”

  Callie looked away. “On her deathbed, Maggie weakened and told her. Had her pen a letter to her father and everything. She couldn’t bear the idea of leaving Ashley alone in the world without someone to look after her.” She grunted. “Like Malcolm would have been up to that job.”

  “Did he turn her away?” I knew the answer to that from the journals, but I wanted to know how she thought things had gone down.

  “No. He didn’t even care enough to meet her. Even after Maggie’s letter, he refused to see her. Not that I expected any different from the man. He always was a greedy old turd. Probably afraid she was out to claim an inheritance or something.” Her watery eyes were back on mine. “That wasn’t why she was here, you know, money. She truly just wanted to know her dad. Sad she never even got to do that.”

  “What if Malcolm never got that letter?” I was pretty positive that if he’d gotten a letter from the lost love of his life he would have at least mentioned it in his nightly journal round. He hadn’t.

  Her eyes narrowed. “Are you suggesting that he didn’t know she came to town?”

  I thought for a minute before nodding. “I’m not saying that’s what happened. But I think Malcolm felt bad for how things went with Maggie. I think, there at the end, he wanted to make it right.” And the telltale sign of all was the fact that he hadn’t even known of Ashley’s death. They had even kept that from him.

  Callie looked down at her hands. “I’d never thought about that possibility. I guess I’ve spent so many years hating the man for sending my best friend away from me that it never even occurred to me he might have been kept from her.”

  She paused, and I k
ept my mouth shut. She wasn’t finished yet, and I wanted to know what else she had to say. It took a few minutes.

  “He really didn’t have anything to lose that late in life, did he?” she asked, her voice sounding more as if she were talking to herself than to me. “And it would make sense that as the end drew near, he would try to make amends. Old turds do that sort of thing. Try to make things right at the end when it really doesn’t matter anymore.”

  Tory grunted, drawing my attention down to her. “Are you getting tired, dear?”

  She nodded. “My arm is tired a little. But Pearl is really cool. Will you come back again when she’s bigger so we can play together?” There was a lot of hope in that tiny little voice.

  I looked over at Callie.

  “I’m afraid there aren’t many children her age around here for her to play with. Most of our guests are adults and business travelers. It’s seldom we get a couple with kids. Shame, really.”

  I smiled down at Tory. “Well, baby Pearl has an older brother pretty close to your age, and a kind of sister a little older. I think they’d love to have you over to the farmhouse for a play date, if that’s okay with Callie.”

  Callie didn’t seem too sure about the idea. “Let me think on that. I mean, we have only just met, Opal Ravenswind.”

  “Point taken.” I hesitated. “Maybe I’ll bring the whole lot of us over here sometime. Rent a couple of rooms and let the kids get to know each other first. Would that be better?”

  She smiled. “Now that sounds lovely.”

  Good. Every child needed playmates.

  Even little heiresses. Because I was fairly certain that little Victoria was really Victoria Connor Fontaine.

  I was also sure that for some reason, Callie didn’t want anyone else to know that. Made me wonder why that was.

  And when I wanted to know something, I generally found a way to do so.

  WE SAID OUR GOODBYES, and I promised to call soon to make that reservation. I’d have made it right then to show her I was serious about it, but I needed to check with Kimberly first. After all, better than half the kids involved in the arrangement were hers. Kind of important to let her in on the plans before setting them in stone.