“Did he fall on top of you or something?” I asked blankly. It was an old joke, but I didn’t buy “accidental” affairs.
“Of course not.” She let loose a sigh. “It started when he volunteered to help me around the house. After Barry’s death, I had a rough time of it. He died so suddenly. We weren’t expecting it. People say that it’s better to go fast than linger. I believe that, deep down, but not being able to say goodbye wrecked me. There has to be a happy medium between the long goodbye and the nonexistent one.”
“Barry was a good guy,” I offered. “He used to help Aunt Tillie pull her plow truck out of the snowbanks by Mrs. Little’s house.”
Lisa chuckled at the memory. “He didn’t even need to drive in that area. He just liked going down there and finding you. He thought it was funny the way you used to torture Margaret by plowing the end of her driveway in so she couldn’t escape. But he never understood how you turned the snow yellow.”
“She’s gifted when it comes to torture,” I drawled. “That still doesn’t explain how you ended up with Adam.”
“I’m getting to it.” She flashed me a tense smile. “Like I said, he came around to help me after the fact. Barry left a lot of unfinished projects ... like replacing the electrical socket in the bathroom and updating the trim in the dining room. Adam volunteered his time to help.
“I thought he just wanted to keep an eye on me at first,” she continued. “He was a good man but out of his element. He was worried I would harm myself because I was so upset over Barry.”
I remembered that time well. A lot of people were worried about that exact scenario. “So he came over a lot.”
“There was no definitive moment,” she supplied quietly. “It wasn’t as if it was a conscious choice. We spent a lot of time talking about different things, including history — we both loved learning about the World War II era — and art. It got to where we’d read the same books and talk about them, like our own personal book club. It spread to watching the same shows and sending emails when we weren’t together. Then it grew to phone calls. Before we realized what was happening, we were looking forward to seeing each other ... and it only snowballed.
“You have to understand that we didn’t plan this. We didn’t want to hurt or embarrass anyone.” Her tone turned pleading. “All we wanted was to be together. We couldn’t stay apart.”
On one hand, I felt sorry for her. The man she’d loved died and left her alone. I couldn’t imagine that happening to Landon. The mere thought gutted me. On the other hand, Lorna was supposed to be her friend. Adam broke his vows and cheated, but Lisa was complicit.
“You think I’m rationalizing what I did,” she said quietly. “Go ahead and say it.”
“It’s not my place.” I meant it. “It’s not for me to judge. It’s not my business. It’s just ... Adam was stabbed in the back and then a fire was started in his shop to cover his slaying. I can’t help but think an affair makes for an interesting motive.”
Lisa was taken aback. “What?”
It was only then that I realized she wasn’t aware of the truth. “Oh, geez.” I felt like an idiot. “You didn’t know.”
“Adam was murdered?” Her voice was shrill as she stood and then sat again. It was as if she didn’t know what to do with herself. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m sorry.” I held my hands up, helplessness washing over me. “I assumed you knew.”
“I thought it was an accident. A tragic accident, but an accident nonetheless.”
“Not quite.” I pressed the heel of my hand to my forehead. I was starting to get a whopper of a headache. “Did Lorna know about your relationship with Adam?”
She nodded without hesitation, catching me off guard.
“She did?” I was surprised. “But ... how did that work?”
Lisa chuckled, the sound low and utterly humorless. “It’s not as convoluted as you might think. Adam was a good man. At a certain point, he told Lorna that he didn’t think their marriage was healthy, that it wouldn’t survive the long haul. She actually agreed. She didn’t put up an ounce of fight.
“They had a very long discussion, something I wasn’t a part of because it wasn’t my place, and agreed to keep the marriage together for Nick and Dani,” she continued. “The kids were sixteen and fifteen at the time. Now they’re seventeen and sixteen. The plan was for Lorna and Adam to remain together until the kids graduated from high school. After that, they would get a quiet divorce.”
“Just like that?” I had my doubts. No divorce I’d ever heard of was that simple. “No tears? No names? No threats?”
“I wouldn’t say there were no tears. They were married a long time. They cared about each other. There were no names or threats, though.”
I looked to Aunt Tillie to see what she was thinking. “If Landon ever does that to me there’s going to be more than names flying about.”
My great-aunt snorted. “He’ll never do that. He’s not the type. Even if he did, he would live to regret it.”
Lisa shook her head. “Not all relationships are based on the sort of love Landon and Bay share. I’ve seen them together. They have a fiery love. It will never be truly easy because they’ll often argue and fight, but it will never be boring.
“I’m not trying to be derogatory to Lorna,” she continued. “I like her very much, although the friendship has basically disappeared at this point. As much as she was okay with letting Adam go, she didn’t feel all that comfortable with me.”
“Do you blame her?” I asked. “I mean ... even if she realized the marriage wasn’t going to last, the way things went down had to hurt.”
“I’m sure it did and I’m genuinely sorry for it. The thing is, after a few weeks, Lorna was not only happier, she was more relaxed. She didn’t even realize how tense she was in the marriage. She didn’t initially want the marriage to end because it made her feel like a failure, but when the decision was taken from her, she felt lighter.”
“She told you that?”
“She told Adam.”
“So ... there were no hard feelings between them?” I found that hard to believe. “Nothing at all?”
“Not to my knowledge.”
I thought about what Dani had said to me. “What if I told you they’d been fighting and Lorna threw the affair in his face? Would you find that out of the ordinary?”
“Yes.”
She seemed certain of herself, which left me scrambling for the right words. “Adam was stabbed in the back. Someone wanted him dead.”
“And you suspect Lorna?”
I thought back to the way she’d carried on in front of the blacksmith shop. If Lisa was right and she was fine with the divorce, it didn’t make much sense.
“I don’t know what I believe,” I replied. “Lorna seemed distraught about what was happening when we saw her yesterday.”
“Of course she was distraught. Adam was still one of her closest friends. He was the father of her children. The love they shared didn’t go away. It simply changed into something new. Why wouldn’t she be distraught?”
Perhaps I was looking at the situation the wrong way. It all felt off. I didn’t know how to balance my questions, empathy and suspicions. “Lorna might’ve been putting on an act,” I said finally. “She might’ve pretended to be fine even though she was actually angry.”
“I sincerely doubt that.”
“Why?”
“Because she was involved in another relationship.”
Oh, well, the hits just kept on coming ... and coming and coming. “With who?”
Lisa chewed her bottom lip, uncertain. “I’m not sure I should say.”
“Either you tell me or Landon and Chief Terry will confront her. That’ll probably make things worse.” Actually, there was no “probably” about it. Things were definitely going to get worse. “The news will come out either way.”
She heaved a sigh and I saw the resignation dragging down her shoulders. “Fine. But I would p
refer the information not being tracked back to me.”
That was turning into the main game of the day. “No problem. Who is it?”
“Paul Masterson.”
I nearly fell out of my chair. “Paul Masterson? The guy who owns the real estate office?”
“That’s him.”
“The old guy who is also on the township board?”
“One and the same.”
“Oh, geez.” I pinched the bridge of my nose and looked to Aunt Tillie. “This just keeps getting uglier and uglier.”
“Yeah, but I’m getting a cape out of the deal,” she said. “That’s the most important thing.”
Ten
Lisa finished Aunt Tillie’s cape, making sure to test it by tying it around her neck and tugging from five different directions before sending us on our way. She looked exhausted, to the point I was certain she was back to where she was right after her husband died.
I made a mental note to say something to Chief Terry. He had connections with the county mental health facility and might be able to send a counselor her way.
“What do you think?” Aunt Tillie twirled in her cape, studying her reflection in the front window.
“You look like a grown woman dressed like a superhero,” I replied automatically.
She scowled. “Not about that, you ninny. I’m talking about the story she told. Do you believe her?”
“I don’t have any reason not to. Still ... it seems a little weird, right? I can’t imagine being okay with my husband having an affair, and certainly not to where I take off and have an affair of my own.”
“That’s because you’ve already bonded for life with your Fed. Not everyone bonds as strongly as the two of you.”
“I think I prefer being bonded.”
“That’s not always the easiest way to go,” she noted as she gripped her cape tighter and twirled again. I didn’t need to see inside her mind to know what she was thinking. She had bonded for life, too. Only her husband, my great-uncle Calvin, died when they were still in their prime. She’d spent the decades since without him.
Sure, she’d dated a bit. Her last boyfriend, Kenneth, had seemingly disappeared into the ether when she lost interest. I’d considered asking why she’d dumped him, but I recognized it wasn’t my place. If she didn’t want to talk about it, she didn’t have to.
“Yeah, well ... that doesn’t explain the fact that Lorna is dating Masterson.” I made a face as I moved to the edge of the sidewalk and focused my attention on the town square. It was set up for a festival — which was always the case in Hemlock Cove — and the witches raced around the open area, having a good time. In the middle of it all were several local politicians, chatting up the guests, putting themselves on display and feeding off the attention. Masterson seemed deep in conversation with a pretty, dark-haired witch.
I didn’t know him well. He was in his late sixties and boasted snowy hair. There were lines around his eyes, but otherwise he carried himself with the strength of a younger man. He was always impeccably dressed, never a hair out of place. I honestly didn’t know if I liked or hated him.
“What do you think of Masterson?” I asked after a beat. Aunt Tillie knew him better. While she tended to take the theatrical route with enemies, she was a good judge of character when it came to others.
“He’s kind of an enigma,” Aunt Tillie said, turning her full attention to the town square. “I mean ... I’ve talked to him here or there. He’s never really pinged my radar. Why? Do you think he killed Adam?”
“I think this entire relationship game is a big problem,” I admitted. “We have a quadrangle that was messy, no matter what Lisa said. We also have at least one kid in the mix who knew about the affair. What are the odds Nick was in the dark if his sister knew?”
“You think the kids did it?” Aunt Tillie wrinkled her nose. “That’s quite a stretch.”
“I didn’t say that. The thing is, if the adults thought they were hiding it from the kids — and that seems to be the sole reason Adam and Lorna were staying together — maybe they weren’t as under the radar as they thought. It’s possible a lot of people knew about the affair.
“I don’t know what that means in the grand scheme of things,” I continued. “It could mean absolutely nothing. It could also mean there’s a clue in there we simply have to sort out.”
“Who is this ‘we’ you’re referring to?” Aunt Tillie queried. “I’m not involved in this. I have my own mischief to manage.”
She wasn’t wrong. “You’re going to the festival tonight?”
“Of course. Margaret will be there ... and Hazel.” Aunt Tillie’s eyes turned dark. “There has to be a way for me to punish them both with the same plan. That will make me look like a genius and force them to turn into whiny babies who curl into balls and cry for days.”
“I doubt they’ll do that.”
“You don’t know. I’m good at what I do.”
That was true. “Just be careful when you’re doling out punishment. If Mom finds out ... .” I left it hanging. My mother had been in a remarkably good mood of late — finally embarking on a real relationship with Chief Terry had seemingly made her a happier person than I ever remembered — but that didn’t mean she would simply sit back and watch Aunt Tillie run roughshod over the gathering’s premier guest.
“How many times do I have to tell you I’m not afraid of your mother?”
We both knew that was a lie, but I decided to let it go. I needed Aunt Tillie on top of her game. “Just be careful.” I patted her shoulder. “Try not to get your cape tangled in any tree branches while you’re riding. You might get hurt.”
She turned haughty as she retrieved her scooter and moved it toward the street. “Don’t you worry about that. I’ve got everything under control.”
“How can you control an accident?”
“With magic. You keep forgetting, Bay, we’re witches. We can do whatever we want. That includes casting a spell that makes capes something more.”
I didn’t want to know what that “something more” was. “Just be careful. We have enough on our plates.”
LANDON PICKED ME UP AT THE Whistler shortly after his shift ended. He greeted me with a friendly kiss and then linked his fingers with mine before dragging me toward the festival.
“You must be hungry,” I noted as I struggled to keep up. His legs were longer than mine and he appeared to be a man on a mission.
“How do you know I’m not in a hurry to get you in the kissing booth?” he asked, slowing his pace a bit. “This could all be about you rather than my stomach.”
I shot him a dubious look.
“Or it could be about the new bacon food truck that I saw earlier,” he added sheepishly.
“There’s a bacon food truck?” Seriously, how did I miss that? “Who’s running it?”
“Who cares? It’s bacon. I saw the menu when I was walking past and it’s glorious.”
He looked like a kid who had just gotten the new bike he really, really wanted for Christmas. “What if I don’t want bacon?”
“Don’t tease me, Bay.” His response was dry. “Everybody wants bacon.”
“Not all of us love it as much as you. Besides ... how many different things can they make with bacon?”
“I’m glad you asked.” He tightened his grip on my hand and his expression turned distinctively dreamy. “They have maple bacon doughnuts, bacon-stuffed fried Twinkies, bacon-wrapped chicken drumsticks, bacon sliders and something called bacon-wrapped cheese bombs. I have no idea what those are, but I’m eating ten of them.”
“Well, at least you have a plan.”
“I do,” he agreed, his eyes sliding to me. It was only after a moment of searching my face that he appeared to slow down. “Tell me about your day.”
He was perceptive. That was one of the best things about him. He might’ve initially missed the hints about my mood because of his bacon mania, but it didn’t take him long to catch up.
“I learned a few interesting tidbits,” I admitted. “I think you need to hear them ... but I come off looking like an idiot at the beginning of the story.”
“Did you put yourself in danger?”
“No. I simply believed something Mrs. Little told me that turned out not to be true.”
He scowled. He hated Mrs. Little as much as the rest of us. Sometimes I thought more. We were used to her, had grown accustomed to her nonsense over the years. He didn’t have the luxury of finding any of her antics funny. “Did she say something to you about the campground?”
“Not exactly.” I told him about my afternoon. I did a run-through of my discussion with Mrs. Little, included my embarrassment at interrogating Sheila and finished with my distaste following my conversation with Lisa. It took almost twenty minutes.
“You’ve been busy,” he said as he gently slid a strand of hair behind my ear and considered what I’d told him. “That’s quite the romantic quadrangle there. What do you know about this board member?”
“Not much. I even asked Aunt Tillie about him. She said he’s never pinged for her, but the truth is that she’s never paid that much attention to him. With Mrs. Little constantly acting up, there was no reason to focus on Masterson.”
“You must’ve had some run-ins with him.”
“I guess.” I searched my memory. “I don’t remember talking to him more than a few occasions. I interviewed him a few times. He’s simply a non-entity.”
“We’ll still have to talk to him.”
“I figured.” I leaned close and rested my head on his shoulder as he pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I should probably tell you now that I enlisted Aunt Tillie to go after Mrs. Little. I was frustrated at the time because she sent me after Sheila. Now I’m starting to wonder if it was a terrible idea.”
Instead of commiserating with me, Landon snorted. “Please. That woman has it coming. I can’t wait to see what Aunt Tillie dreams up. Now that she has a cape there will probably be a superhero theme to her punishments. That sounds entertaining.”
I hadn’t told him about the cape. “Did you see her in it?”
Witchin' Around the Clock Page 10