That wouldn’t do at all.
Then I reminded myself that Orville and I were simple folk. We wouldn’t need archways covered in rosebuds or ushers or a ton of other things on their lists. My original list, after boiling it down to the bare minimum, only had six things on it. A cake, a wedding dress (I was counting on Orville to handle his own tuxedo), invitations, food, a preacher, and choosing the maid of honor and best man.
Most of those items I already had in hand. Orville had taken care of the preacher, which could have been a big issue. I was hoping to use my mother’s wedding gown, which I knew was in a sealed bag in Sapphire’s enormous attic. Sapphire and I could handle the food. And the maid of honor and best man were no-brainers. Sapphire for me, and Opie for Orville.
That only left the cake, which I had a back-up plan for, and the wedding invitations. I’ll admit, I was breathing a bit easier after that.
I could do this. Shoot. I could probably even help Sapphire with the cake. How hard could it be?
This wedding planning thing wasn’t nearly as difficult as I’d thought it would be.
At least, it wasn’t until my phone rang.
It was Orville.
I said my normal quick prayer to the Goddess before answering. Life wasn’t so easy when the man you loved was in law enforcement. Not in this day and age.
“Hey, Opal.”
The short and terse greeting told me something was up. This wasn’t just a check in call. My heartbeat picked up a notch.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
A short pause. “I’m okay.”
Another pause. I was getting more worried by the second. “Where are you? I’m coming.”
“No. Don’t do that.” Okay, those words were quick enough. “I just know how stressed out you are right now, and I hate to add to your burden.”
My burden? What the.... Oh. “Let me guess. Reverend Castle will not be officiating at our wedding, will he?”
“He will not.”
“I hope he has a darn good reason for backing out on you. Did your deputies convince him he would be doing the town a disservice or what?” Of course, it was entirely possible the man had been having second thoughts about performing a ceremony for a known witch. Either way, I wanted to know.
“It’s not like that, Opal.”
“Then maybe you should tell me what it is like, Orville.”
“I’m working myself up to it, okay. It’s just... well, I’m afraid you’re not going to take this well.”
“If you don’t tell me right this instant, Orville Taylor, there’ll be no more fried chicken in your diet for a year.”
Even over the phone, I could hear him suck in a deep breath. “He’s dead, Opal. Reverend Castle is dead.”
I was kind of glad he’d told me over the phone. That way, he didn’t see my slight stagger as I backed up to the chair and sat down heavily. This was so not good.
“Opal? You still there?”
“I’m here.” Now the pause was on my end. “What happened?”
Truthfully, I wasn’t sure what I wanted him to say at that point. If it was natural causes, then it was entirely possible the universe was trying to tell us something. Oh, who was I kidding? The universe was speaking, all right. Loud and clear. Regardless of how the man died.
“He was murdered.” Orville’s voice was rocky. He was taking the man’s death hard. I could understand that. He’d been an upstanding member of Reverend Castle’s church for over a decade. Orville had bonded with the man. “Right there in the church too.”
“Are you there now? I’ll come to you.”
“No! I mean, that wouldn’t be a good idea right now, Opal. Not a good idea at all. Not with how things are at the office. You need to step back from this one. We aren’t partners yet.” He hesitated. “At least not in detecting. You get that distinction, right?”
Oh, I got it all right. But that didn’t mean I had to be happy about it.
The voices in the background grew louder. “Sorry, Opal, I have to go. I’ll see you tonight at the farmhouse, but it may be later than usual.”
“I’ll keep a plate warm for you.”
“Fried chicken and mashed potatoes would sure make this day a little better. Just saying.”
He hung up before I could answer him. Fried chicken it was.
There was a very good reason why Orville hadn’t wanted to tell me the news. We witches take things like omens very seriously. It’s in our blood. And right now, this looked like a mighty powerful omen that someone, or something, didn’t want the two of us getting married.
First, the wedding cake issue and now the good reverend murdered? I really hoped this wasn’t a bad sign of even worse things to come.
Of course, things couldn’t get much worse for poor Reverend Castle.
Chapter 3
I left the shop a bit early to give myself time for a market run. My man needed his fried chicken tonight, dang it, and I didn’t have a single chicken breast in the fridge. It had been a while since I’d done a full-on grocery run, so I made the most of it. Thank the Goddess that Nancy volunteered to go with me.
We took baby Pearl with us too. Mason and Kimberly stayed behind to close up the shop. The boy needed a little alone time with his mom. Plus, he was a darn good little worker too.
Nancy and I, with baby Pearl all cuddled into her car seat in Nancy’s cart, walked the aisles collecting everything we could think of that we needed. I’d planned on making this run over the weekend, so I didn’t have my list handy.
And, to top it off, both of us were on the snacky side. All that to say that my cart was overflowing by the time we checked out. A couple of hundred well-spent dollars later and we were on our way home.
I changed baby Pearl and handed her off to Nancy to feed. The highchair was right there at the dining room table, so they were close enough if she needed help. Bottles were still a thing, yes, but now solid food was a thing too.
Tonight was a fruit and cereal kind of night. I didn’t figure baby Pearl would give Nancy too much trouble with that. She loved those. If it had been a peas or carrots night, Nancy might not have been so willing. Those nights were rather... messy, to say the least.
Working as a team, we managed to get supper on the table and still have a fed and satisfied baby by the time Kimberly and Mason made it home.
Good thing, too, as Orville arrived soon after.
“I thought you were working late?”
He took a deep breath. “I cut out. I’ve done what I could for today. My team is continuing to work on it, but right now things are kind of pending the crime scene analysis. I’m kind of hoping I missed something that they’ll find, and we can make short work of this.”
I just looked at him. “Have they ever, in your history of being sheriff, found something that you missed?”
Orville scrubbed his chin. “Well, there’s always a first time, isn’t there?”
Still, it wasn’t like Orville to leave the crime scene before his team finished their work. I frowned at him. “So why aren’t you still there?”
His eyes met mine. “Believe it or not, I needed a break.” He hesitated. “Plus, I kind of wanted to talk with you about all this. See how you were holding up.”
That made me stop everything and stare at him. “And what do I have to do with the investigation? You’ve already warned me not to get involved.”
He nodded. “And I still think that’s for the best.” Another hesitation. He glanced over his shoulder, but the two of us were alone. Well, besides baby Pearl in her swing, ever watchful. The others had gone upstairs to wash up for dinner. “I’m more worried about how you’re handling the news of the reverend’s death. I don’t want you reading too much into it and changing your mind about getting married. I’ve waited too long for this to let that happen.”
I folded my arms against my chest and arched an eyebrow at him. “And why on earth would I cancel our wedding because some miscreant murdered a preacher?” Th
en my eyes bore into his. “Unless you’re telling me that you think the two things are related?”
Another chin scrubbing. “And if I thought, just maybe mind you, that they might be?”
I thought about it. He deserved an honest answer. “I’m guessing that you think just a single person killed him? We aren’t talking about a whole town gathered with pitchforks and flaming torches, right?”
He smiled at me. “Just one person as far as we know.”
“Well, then I think our wedding is safe.”
Orville blew out a breath. “Good. I was that worried. You witches read so much into everything.”
“And for good reason.” I stood on tippy-toe to give him a quick kiss. “But that doesn’t mean that we let others sway us from our set path in life, now does it?”
His smile turned into a flat-out grin. “I pity the man who would dare such an atrocity.”
“Well then, there you have it. We’ll figure out who killed Reverend Castle, and if it did have anything to do with our upcoming ceremony, then we’ll know. But until then, I’m going to think the two are totally unrelated.”
I meant that too. I had enough to worry about without adding more to it.
He nodded. “Sounds good.” Then a second later, “Wait a minute... we? I thought you were staying out of this one?”
I just smiled at him and called up the stairs. “Come and get it, everyone.”
The others settled down around the table, but Orville and I took our plates to go. It wasn’t that we were trying to be anti-social or anything, but I had fully meant that ‘we’. And I didn’t figure talking about death and murder was a great idea at a family dinner that included children.
We ended up in the meditation gazebo. I loved it there.
“Should I start a fire?” Orville asked. “It’s just a touch nippy out here.”
“That would be lovely.” The truth was, the fire was all ready to be lit. All it took was a touch of flame to get it going. I could have done it with a flick of the wrist. Orville had to dig for his lighter. Still, starting a fire was generally seen as a man’s work. And Orville could be old-fashioned at times. I liked to give him little pick me ups whenever I could.
Once the flames were going nicely, I turned to him. “So, mind telling me what gives you the idea that the good reverend’s death and our wedding are related?”
He almost choked on the bite he’d just taken. Like he’d thought I was going to let him off the hook that easily. He was a smart man. He should have realized I hadn’t brought him out here just to have him all to myself.
“Well, it isn’t that I really think that. I mean, how egotistical would that be?” He gave half a laugh. “It’s just, what good reason would anyone have to kill the man? He was a preacher, for gosh’ sake. One of God’s shepherds. Who would hate him enough to kill him?”
I took a bite and chewed while I thought. “What is it they say, there are only three real motives for murder? The three L’s, I think you call it. Love, loathing, or loot?”
“That’s just it. I’m kind of having a hard time seeing either of those three as a motive in this one. Reverend Castle was a widower. Lost his wife to cancer a few years back and hasn’t remarried. Not even dating, as far as I know, so love shouldn’t be an issue. And the man’s life work was the church. He went around doing God’s work. Who could hate him for that?”
I watched enough television to know that last one was a bit flimsy. There were plenty of people in this world who hated people for doing the right things. One news show could show you that. And how many churches had been burned in the past year? Far too many. Good people were murdered every day. Hate didn’t have boundaries.
“And the loot thing?”
Orville shook his head. “Nothing appeared to be taken. He still had his watch and wallet, and the collection box wasn’t even touched.”
“Any camera footage?”
He raised an eyebrow at me. “In the church? No.” He took another bite, and I could tell he was thinking. “I’ll check out the area businesses, though. See if any of them have a camera that might have caught something. We’ll know more if the coroner can narrow down the time of death.”
We sat in silence for a minute or two. Finally, I broke. “You know I’m not in the habit of repeating myself, Orville, but I did ask you a question that I didn’t get an answer to, you know.”
He gave me a lop-sided smile. “Ah, so you caught that, huh?” He took a deep breath. “I know that you told me that people would be upset when they found out we were a couple, but I never really believed it. Oh, maybe one or two witch-haters might have a problem with it, but...”
“But you’re finding out that a lot of people aren’t happy about the two of us being an ‘us’, aren’t you?” I hesitated, not meeting his eyes. “You know, two can back out of a wedding. I was happy with what we had. A ceremony and a piece of official paper will not change how I feel toward you one whit, you know.”
Orville set his plate to one side and turned to me. Then he reached out and cupped my face between his hands. “And that, in a nutshell, is what had me so worried today. All day, when I should have been concentrating on what I was doing, all I could think of was, ‘what is Opal going to think about this?’” He leaned forward until his forehead was resting against mine. “I’m not backing out. Maybe I did have my head in the sand a bit before, but now that my vision is clearer, nothing has changed on my end. If people have issues with us as a couple then that’s their problem. Not ours.”
Then he kissed me. My man’s kisses always had a way of making the world just seem... right. At least for those few precious seconds. And I’ll admit, his words did me good. Now that I’d kind of gotten used to the idea of being married, I really didn’t want to give it up. The ceremony and official paper didn’t matter a bit to me. The everyday closeness it would give us did.
It surprised me to find that it mattered a lot.
Orville had asked me to stay out of the investigation. I hadn’t thought at the time that would be a problem for me.
Now it was.
Chapter 4
Orville left shortly after dinner and a quick round of Dinosaur Chutes and Ladders. The board game thing was kind of a ritual. If he came over to eat, which he was doing more frequently now that we were ‘out there’, then the meal was usually followed by a quick game between him and the kids while us women folk cleaned up the kitchen.
Technically, the women folk would include Nancy, but we let her off the hook for game time. Besides, three in a kitchen, even for cleaning duties, was a bit much.
The next morning, we got the kids off to school and opened up the shop. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw three people waiting outside for us to unlock the doors. Tourist season rarely started in Wind’s Crossing until June. So why was my little shop suddenly so very busy?
It wasn’t just gawkers either, they were buyers. Kind of made me wonder what was going on. Was there an event going on that I didn’t know about?
I’d planned to cut out about mid-morning to make a trip to the local printer to order our wedding invitations. I didn’t want to make the same mistake I’d made with the cake. I was hoping the printing of four dozen embossed white cards with our names and the date and time of the wedding wouldn’t be a big deal. Or take long at all. After all, I needed to get the darn things made out and in the mail.
As it was, with the steady flow of customers, I didn’t get a chance to go until lunch time. And that was delayed a good half an hour. We even had to lock the door to the shop to stop people coming in. It was that crazy.
Which is just my way of admitting, and explaining, the fact that I might have been more than a little cranky by the time I made it to the printers. I walked in their shop a full fifteen minutes before their posted lunch time, and there wasn’t a single person ahead of me in line. Mistakenly, I thought that was one of those good omens we witches liked so much.
I was wrong. Way wrong.
�
�I’m sorry, but we can’t help you.”
I glanced around the empty shop. “Are you taking lunch early?” Not that I saw that as a reason not to wait on a customer who was standing right in front of you. To me, that was more than a little rude.
“No,” the woman behind the counter said, standing up to her full height. “I’m saying we won’t print your wedding invitations.”
I took yet another glance around the shop. Nope, no one had shown up in the past few seconds. It was still just me and her.
“May I ask why not?”
She sneered at me. “I think you know full well why not, but sure, I’ll tell you. This town doesn’t want you marrying Sheriff Orville Taylor. And we will not be a part of it in any way, shape, or form. Good luck getting anything you need for your wedding here in Wind’s Crossing.”
That kind of sounded like a threat to me. And I really, really didn’t like threats. Not when other people made them, anyway. My threats were more like promises of what could happen should someone not see the error of their ways. Big difference.
I had two choices. I could make a scene—after all, who would see but me and her? — or I could turn around and walk out.
I walked out.
By the time I made it back to the shop, I’d totally forgotten to eat. Not that I thought I could swallow a bite right now. No, between my worry and my anger, I was full enough as it was. Adding food to that mix might not be the wisest of things to do.
As it stood, I had a wedding in less than a month. We had no preacher, which could pose a major problem with the whole me being a witch thing. We had no cake. And now we had no wedding invitations.
The omens just kept piling up.
I was starting to think Sapphire had been the smartest of the two of us by just eloping. No ceremony to worry about then.
Of course, the contrarian in me wouldn’t allow the townsfolk to win that easily. We’d have a wedding all right. And it would be a beautiful, loving, friend and family filled day. Or, well, night. I’d see to that personally.
Witch Reborn Box Set: Books 1-3: Includes Gemstone Coven Holiday Shorts 1 & 2 Page 34