Death of a Wicked Witch

by Lee Hollis

  “Thank me?” Hayley asked, confused. “Whatever for?”

  “You got justice for Trudy, and for that I will be forever grateful,” Tori said, her bottom lip quivering, trying to fight back her emotions.

  Hayley set the coffeepot down and sauntered over to Tori, whose arms were folded as she looked down at the floor, embarrassed that she was on the verge of crying.

  Hayley set the cup of coffee down on her desk and gave Tori a warm hug, whispering in her ear, “I didn’t know your sister for very long, but I thought the world of her.”

  Tori nodded and rested her head on Hayley’s shoulder for a few moments before finally pulling away and picking up the coffee cup from Hayley’s desk to take a sip. “I promised myself on the way over here I wouldn’t get all emotional, but here I go...”

  “It’s obvious how much you loved your sister even after such a long time apart,” Hayley noted.

  Tori managed to keep the tears from flowing and remain in control, and then she smiled. “I also wanted you to know that I’ve decided to stay in town for a little while.”

  Hayley lit up. “That’s wonderful news!”

  “Ted is understandably lost right now. It’s been tough working through the grieving process while starting his new job as the local pastor at the Congregational church, so he asked me to stick around and help him out for a few weeks. I didn’t know if it was a good idea at first, me being Trudy’s twin sister and all, constantly reminding him of her, but I have a strong feeling about him, that he’s a good man...”

  “He is, I can assure you of that.”

  “A good man who is feeling very overwhelmed right now and quite frankly I don’t have a lot else going on...”

  “I think it’s a fantastic idea, Tori. What about Alyssa? Is she going to stay to be with her father too?”

  Tori cracked a knowing smile. “Um, no. Actually I drove her to the Bangor airport last night. She caught a late flight back to New York. The good news is, apparently she’s booked another gig singing at some club.”

  “She must have been very excited.”

  “If she was, she didn’t show it,” Tori said, shaking her head. “I volunteered to drive her since Ted needed to work on his sermon for Sunday. She barely spoke to me the whole way. At first I thought it was because I reminded her of Trudy, who she never liked, but then I kept glancing over to see her staring at a text on her phone and I realized it was the text that had put her in such a sour mood.”

  “Did you ask who it was from?”

  “Conner,” Tori answered.

  Hayley’s heart began racing. “Oh? What did he say?”

  “She didn’t tell me too much, and she refused to show me the text, but apparently they were supposed to see each other when they both got back to New York, but he had texted her to tell her that it was not going to happen.”

  Hayley heard her phone buzzing in her bag. “Excuse me just a moment, Tori.”

  “Certainly,” Tori said, taking another sip of her coffee.

  Hayley rounded her desk, picked up her bag, and fished for her phone. She scooped it out and pressed the home button.

  “It’s a text from my daughter,” Hayley said, reading the message.

  Mom, can you come home? It’s urgent!

  Hayley’s heart was practically pounding through her chest.

  Her first thought was, Did something happen to Leroy?

  Her second thought, Did something happen to Bruce?

  Her third thought was, Should I feel guilty for worrying about them in that order?

  It suddenly didn’t matter.

  She just had to get home.

  Hayley glanced up at Tori. “I’m sorry, Tori. I have to go.”

  “Of course. I should be on my way anyway!”

  Hayley whipped her head around and called in the direction of the back bullpen where her boss Sal’s office was located. “Sal, I have to go home! I’ll be back when I can!”

  Sal angrily barked, “Sure! Why not? It’s not like you just took a personal day to drive all the way down to Portland so you could play detective—”

  She didn’t hear the rest of his rant because she was already out the door.

  Chapter 43

  Bruce’s car was still parked in front of the house when Hayley frantically pulled her Kia in behind him, nearly colliding with his rear bumper because she was in such a panic.

  She leaped out of her Kia and dashed up the front steps, barreling through the front door. She instantly spotted Bruce in the kitchen, scarfing down one of her ginger snap cookies she had made for the library bake sale and had strictly forbade him to eat.

  He looked at her guiltily. “Wow, that was like record time. You must have broken the sound barrier getting home so fast.”

  “How many cookies have you eaten?”

  “This is the only one, I swear.”

  He was lying.

  His neck was turning red, which was a telltale sign he wasn’t being honest with her. But him sneaking one of her ginger snaps was hardly the topic in the forefront of her mind.

  “Where’s Leroy?”

  As if on cue, her adorable off-white Shih Tzu bounded down the stairs, tongue panting, tail wagging, looking healthy and happy. She suddenly noticed Conner sitting in the living room, a packed suitcase next to him, his face buried in his phone. Hayley checked her watch.

  “You guys better get going soon or Conner is going to miss his flight,” Hayley said.

  “We’re just waiting for Gemma,” Conner said, not looking up from his phone’s screen, two fingers apparently tapping out a text to someone.

  Hayley raised an eyebrow. “Gemma’s driving to Bangor with you? I thought she had other plans.”

  Gemma suddenly appeared at the top of the staircase, bright-eyed and beaming. She carried her suitcase in one hand. As she descended the stairs, Hayley couldn’t help but notice her waving her free arm around as if she was having muscle spasms or some kind of seizure.

  “Gemma, what’s wrong? What’s happened? Where are you going?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted you to come home so I could say goodbye. I’m going back to New York with Conner.”

  This surprised Hayley. She looked at Bruce, confused, wondering if he had any idea what was going on. But he just stared at her with a big, dumb grin on his face.

  Gemma was now waving her hand so violently in front of Hayley’s face, Hayley reached out to grab her by the wrist out of fear Gemma might accidentally smack her in the face.

  “Gemma, what is this? Why can’t you control your body movements?”

  Gemma sighed, then held up her left hand directly in front of Hayley’s eyes, wiggling the ring finger, which had a simple silver band on it. “We’re engaged.”

  Hayley was struck dumb as she finally realized Gemma had been waving her arm around to draw her mother’s attention to the engagement ring on her finger. It took her a few seconds before she could say anything, but finally Hayley managed to spit out, “Who?”

  “Me and Zac Efron,” Gemma snapped sarcastically. “Who do you think? Me and Conner! He proposed to me again late last night—and this time I accepted!”

  The moment finally began to sink in, and then Hayley let out an excited squeal and hugged her daughter, who was now jumping up and down, unable to contain herself.

  When they finally pulled apart, Hayley had to steady herself because she was still reeling from the news. “I can’t believe it... My baby’s getting married...”

  “After I said yes, Conner jumped on the phone and rebooked my flight so we can go back to the city together,” Gemma said.

  “There are so many thoughts swimming around in my head right now,” Hayley gasped. “But the biggest one is, I feel so old...”

  Conner finally finished texting and joined them in the hallway. “Sorry, that was my director. He had a few notes on the script he wanted me to keep in mind as I prepare for my first rehearsal tomorrow.”

  Hayley grabbed Conner by the
shoulders and gave him a tight squeeze. “I just heard. Congratulations. This is wonderful news.”

  “I want you to know, the engagement ring is just a temporary place holder. I wanted to make it official before we left Maine, and so I didn’t have a lot of time to pick something out...”

  “Conner, the ring doesn’t matter. It’s the love that you two share, that will always be the strongest symbol of your relationship,” Hayley said solemnly, gently taking Gemma’s ring finger to inspect it.

  “No, seriously. My grandmother has this really beautiful French-set halo diamond ring my grandfather gave her back in the 1950s that she’s been waiting to give me for when I got married.”

  “Oh, thank God!” Hayley cried with relief. “I mean, simple can be elegant sometimes, but that looks like something out of a Cracker Jack box.”

  They all laughed, but Hayley still felt the need to add, “I’m kidding.”

  Even though she wasn’t.

  Bruce stepped up behind her and kissed her on the neck. “Sure, dear. We believe you.” Of course, his comment was laden with his usual sarcasm. Then he turned to Gemma and Conner. “We really need to hit the road.”

  “Call me the minute you get home so we can start discussing wedding plans. We need to reserve the church and a reception venue. We can bring Liddy in to help because, well, as you know, her own wedding blew up in her face last June, but she knows all the best florists and dressmakers, and she can really help us with all the details . . .”

  Gemma smiled, shaking her head, and then glanced over at Conner. “I told you she’d be like this.” She turned back to Hayley. “We haven’t even set a date yet. Maybe sometime next summer.”

  “It’s never too early to start planning. You know how busy it gets around here. Places book up fast,” Hayley insisted.

  “Conner’s parents live in upstate New York, so we shouldn’t automatically assume we’ll be having the wedding here in Bar Harbor.”

  “It’s the most beautiful spot in the United States!” Hayley insisted.

  “But you’re not biased or anything,” Bruce cracked.

  Again with that sometimes annoying sarcasm.

  She did love him, though.

  He was just so darn cute.

  “Come on, let’s get out of here before she has me trying on dresses,” Gemma said, heading for the door.

  “We already know you fit into Liddy’s wedding dress, the one you wore for the Witches Ball. You looked so lovely in that,” Hayley said.

  Bruce reached the front door first and opened it, ushering Gemma and Conner, who were carrying their suitcases, out of the house and to his car parked.

  “Take care of that arm, Conner! I don’t want it still in a sling come your wedding day!” Hayley yelled.

  Bruce finally stopped her with a hard kiss on the lips. He was such a good kisser it left her swooning for a second, her thoughts a muddled mess.

  “I’ll be home in time for dinner,” Bruce said and then hustled out, leaving Hayley standing in the front doorway.

  “I’m serious, Conner, your parents will love Maine!”

  They loaded the trunk, hopped in Bruce’s car, and tore off down the street, probably happy to finally escape the overly excited mother of the bride.

  As Hayley watched them disappear around the corner, she couldn’t stop smiling.

  Finally, she stepped back inside the house, closed the door, and leaned up against it, closing her eyes.

  And that’s when she broke down in tears.

  Tears of absolute, unbridled joy.

  Island Food & Spirits

  BY

  HAYLEY POWELL

  As many of you already know, I was recently blindsided by my daughter’s sudden engagement. Quite frankly, the news sent me over the moon, and I have already been busy with all the wedding plans. That distraction, however, caused me to ignore keeping up with my housekeeping and yard work duties. So finally, last Saturday, I decided enough was enough. Enough putting things off. My husband, Bruce, and I would spend the weekend sweeping inside and trimming outside. He could tackle the yard on Saturday and I would hit the bedrooms and bathrooms with my arsenal of cleaning products on Sunday.

  Of course, the challenge was getting Bruce to join the cleanup effort. He had declared the night before that he was planning to spend his Saturday stretched out on the couch, reading the sports page and just relaxing until the big football game on Sunday he was excited to watch.

  This certainly did not fit into my plans, and so I knew he was going to need a good kick in the... I mean, a little extra motivation.

  When Bruce came down for his morning coffee on Saturday morning, I told him I was going to run errands with Liddy in Ellsworth and wanted to make a deal with him. If he raked the entire yard, which was blanketed with fall leaves from our trees and what looked like most of our neighbors’ trees, and trimmed the hedges for winter, and got it all done by three that afternoon when I planned to arrive home, I would make his favorite Philly Cheesesteak Patty Melt sandwich for the next four Sundays, and he could watch his beloved football games with absolutely no complaining from me.

  Well, I had never seen him put down a newspaper so fast as he jumped up, and with a twinkle in his eye and his mouth already watering, blurted out, “You got yourself a deal!” The idea of four blissful Sundays of uninterrupted football, my delicious patty melts washed down with beer, and no nagging from me was just too enticing to pass up.

  Before Bruce had the chance to grab his rake and get started, I told him the catch. If he wasn’t done by three when I got home, he would agree to spend the next four Sundays accompanying me out for a day of my choosing, no matter what it was.

  This gave him pause as his mind must have contemplated the agonizing activities I might cook up for the two of us. Clothes shopping, an arts and craft show, or, God forbid, helping me plan my daughter’s wedding. But he was determined to watch football so we shook hands on our little wager.

  I kissed him goodbye and off I went to Ellsworth with Liddy. I was reasonably confident I was going to win our bet because Bruce was notorious for getting distracted by a neighbor or phone call or even a Law & Order rerun on TV. I was already planning our first outing for next Sunday: apple picking in Levant.

  But when Liddy dropped me off at the house at three o’clock on the dot later that afternoon, I was utterly speechless. The yard had been completely cleared of leaves, the trees and hedges perfectly trimmed, and all the debris disposed of at the town dump.

  And there was Bruce sitting idly on the porch with a beer in hand and a big satisfied grin on his face.

  Bruce informed me that now he was free to watch football on Sunday. He had already invited his friend Reverend Ted Lancaster over to join him as well as his sister-in-law, Tori, who could hang out with me while I prepared his Philly Cheesesteak Patty Melts and served cocktails. Spending the afternoon with Ted and Tori would certainly take the sting out of losing the bet.

  The following day, while the boys were yelling and cheering for the Patriots on TV, downing their beers and sandwiches, Tori and I sat in the kitchen gossiping and sipping my delicious Pumpkin White Russians.

  There was a knock at the back door, and when I got up to answer it, I found Shawn Cooper, a nice local boy who owned a lawn and yard service. He told me he had been up all night worrying that he hadn’t been able to take care of the large limb hanging over the back of the garage yesterday in the time frame he was given to complete the job of cleaning our yard. Given the generous amount of money Bruce had paid him, it only felt right that he come back, cut it down, and haul it away today so it wouldn’t collapse and cause any damage.

  I smiled and invited Shawn in, and promptly led him to the living room where I picked up the TV remote and shut off the game. Bruce and Ted sat up, confused.

  Well, Bruce’s face went completely white at the sight of Shawn because he knew that he was totally busted. Shawn apologized in advance if the sound of his electric saw might drown out
the game.

  I happily told Shawn not to worry about getting it done today because he could come back next Sunday since we wouldn’t even be home. We would be apple picking up in Levant, and so he could saw that tree to his heart’s content. I also promised to bake him an apple pie for being so thoughtful with the haul Bruce and I planned on picking all day long.

  “Right, Bruce?” I asked, my arms folded across my chest.

  Bruce nodded and took a big bite of his Philly Cheesesteak Patty Melt, knowing it would be the last one he would be getting for a long time.

  PUMPKIN WHITE RUSSIAN

  INGREDIENTS

  2 ounces vodka

  1 ounce Kahlua

  1 ounce heavy cream

  1½ tablespoons pumpkin puree

  Add all the ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake until well mixed.

  Pour over ice in a cocktail glass and enjoy!

  BRUCE’S FAVORITE PHILLY CHEESESTEAK MELT

  INGREDIENTS

  1 medium onion, diced

  1 green pepper diced

  8 ounces mushrooms your favorite

  8 slices provolone cheese (2 per sandwich)

  1 16-ounce steak

  1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

  Texas toast (or your favorite bread)

  ½ teaspoon kosher salt

  ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

  Butter

  2 tablespoons olive oil

  Slice your steak as thin as possible against the grain and marinate in the Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper for 1 hour at least.

  In a sauté pan add your olive oil, onions, peppers, and mushrooms and sauté until soft. Salt and pepper to taste.

  Remove the veggies and set aside. Add the sliced meat to the pan and cook until your desired doneness. Do not crowd the pan, so cook in batches if you must.

  Heat a nonstick griddle on medium heat. Butter four slices of Texas toast and place two butter-side down on the heated griddle.