Whispering Pines Mysteries Box Set 3

by Shawn McGuire

  We agreed that subtle was better. No need to cause panic. Not that the folks in Whispering Pines panicked about much. Least of all the weather.

  I continued making my rounds and visiting with people I hadn’t seen in a while. When I entered one of the smaller back rooms, this one filled with fortune tellers, I had to smile. Some of them were chatting contentedly. Others were staring across the tables at each other.

  “They’re practicing their mind reading,” the youngest teller, Lily Grace, told me and wrapped me in a hug. “Happy birthday, Jayne.”

  Just that quickly, she released me, arms wide to the side, and stepped back. Uh-oh.

  “What?”

  She shook her hands as though air drying them or trying to shake off something stuck to them. “I don’t know. Everything was bright and sunny, then I hugged you and everything turned black.”

  The girl was freaking out. “I thought you said you didn’t need to make contact anymore to get a reading.”

  She shook her head and crossed her arms, tucking her hands into her armpits as though ensuring she wouldn’t touch me again. “If I’m doing a reading, I can figure out what’s going on in your mind without touching you. This was different.”

  “Different how?”

  “Like a prediction. And it wasn’t about you. More like something going on around you.”

  Lily Grace’s grandmothers, Effie and Cybil, had been watching us, and likely eavesdropping, from across the little room. As Lily Grace explained what had happened, they leaped to their feet and were at our sides in a flash.

  “What did you see?” Cybil barked.

  Effie swatted her arm. “Way to raise the alarm. How about a calmer, ‘Lily Grace, is everything okay? You seem a little agitated.’”

  “Same thing.” Cybil planted her hands on her generous hips. “My way is more efficient.”

  “Everything turned black,” Lily Grace blurted while they discussed etiquette.

  Effie froze and asked, “As in Jayne’s aura?”

  Oh, geez. Just when I thought I’d experienced all the woo-woo this village had to offer. Now they were reading my aura?

  I looked at Lily Grace. “You can read auras?”

  She nodded. “It’s a new gift.”

  And I knew how Lily Grace felt about her gifts.

  “What did you see?” Cybil repeated with a glance at Effie.

  “I was happy to see Jayne,” Lily Grace began. “Everything was cheery and bright orange around her.”

  “Indicating good health,” Cybil explained.

  Well that was good news.

  “Then in a flash it turned kind of red orange.”

  “Great personal power and confidence,” Cybil recited.

  I was good with that too.

  “Then dark red.”

  Cybil nodded, “Centered and grounded.”

  Between the class at Unity and my new stang, I believed that.

  “Then it went black.”

  Well, crap. Even to me, that didn’t sound good.

  All three of the tellers stared at me, none of them offering an explanation.

  “Well?” I demanded, feeling a bit of panic rising in my chest. “What have you got for that?”

  Effie cleared her throat. “A black aura can signify a few things. You may be holding on to negative emotions, feelings, or thoughts. You could be feeling anger or hatred toward someone or something. It could indicate that you’re unwilling to forgive. Or it could indicate a disease hiding in your body.”

  “Since she saw orange just before that,” Cybil reasoned, “it’s not a disease.”

  I waited for more, but none of them offered anything. “So you think I’ve got all these bad emotions or feelings inside me and I’m unyielding in the forgiveness category.”

  They looked at each other and had what appeared to be a private, mental conversation. Then Lily Grace negated my statement. “But I saw so much positivity right before that.” To her grandmothers, “What if it was a premonition rather than her aura? I mean, it came to me so quickly. All of those colors in a two-second flash.”

  After another silent group debate, Cybil conceded, “That’s possible.”

  Lily Grace reached for me, pulled the sleeves of her sweater over her hands to avoid skin-on-skin contact, then placed them on my shoulders and stared into my eyes. “You need to be careful. Something big and bad is coming.”

  “Like a blizzard?” I joked but only partially. Blizzards were bad.

  “I’m serious,” she insisted. “I think you’re going to have to face something. It could be something new. Or it might be something from your past. Either way, it won’t be good.” She tapped her ear. “I keep hearing the words darkness, hatred, and inability to forgive.”

  “That last one is a phrase,” I murmured, my mouth dry, “not a word.”

  She stared without blinking, unamused.

  In the past year, I’d dealt with my Madison PD partner’s breakdown and shooting of a citizen. My brothers-in-blue turning on me. Breaking up with the man I’d dated for seven years. My mother’s dissatisfaction with my life choices. My father abandoning his family. Rosalyn not speaking to me for years. All the deaths in Whispering Pines since I’d arrived. And Flavia Reed’s constant harassment and targeting of me. Was I missing anything?

  Since moving to the village, I had dealt with many of my personal problems. Which of the remaining items on my Past Issues to Resolve list was coming at me now? I literally had a list, Morgan made me create one, but my mind had gone blank. Seriously, what was left on that list? Or was this an entirely new big bad coming for me?

  “Be careful,” Lily Grace pleaded with me. “Okay? I don’t know what that was, but I’ve got this cold, creeping feeling in my arms and legs. Whatever it is, it’s not good.”

  Maybe, like she said, it had nothing to do with me. It might be something revolving around me. Was that better? And just when I thought this day would be a happy one all the way through.

  Chapter 6

  Home again from my surprise party, and Rosalyn’s shopping extravaganza, Tripp and Rosalyn started hauling her purchases, my gifts, and the leftover birthday cake into the house. While they did that, I ran my stang up to the loft and took a minute in my new happy place to stand by the windows and look out at the lake.

  The view was better from the boathouse deck, but this wasn’t bad. The effect, however, was almost identical. As I stared at the snow-covered lake and trees, my pulse slowed and my elevated anxiety over the coming blizzard lowered. The precipitation from earlier had stopped, but layers of clouds still blanketed the sky. They swirled as though confused as to where they were supposed to go. Some blew east, some to the west. Every now and then they’d separate, and a ray of sunshine would poke through only to be cut in two a second later when the clouds closed the gap again. To the south, significantly darker clouds hung on the horizon and made me think of Lily Grace’s prediction. Her “something big and bad” had to be this impending storm.

  In contrast to the vortex-like sky, it was eerily calm at ground level. The snow had a crusty layer now thanks to the icy mist and sleet from earlier. The lake, dotted with villagers’ fishing shacks, looked like a barren post-apocalyptic wasteland instead of the inviting water world it was in the summer. Days like this made me wonder if it would ever warm up again or if we’d slipped into an ice age no one had thought to warn us about.

  Then I thought of people who chose to live in wintery environments, or didn’t have the choice to leave, and told myself to snap out of it and quit whining. Tripp, River, Rosalyn, Meeka, and I were perfectly safe in our sturdy home. I just hoped the villagers in their smaller cottages would be as well.

  As I turned away, I was sure I saw a dark figure streak across the lake. Was it Farkas again? I scanned the lake from right to left. Nothing. But a second later, a short howl raised gooseflesh on my arms. Why was he hanging out over here? Wolves were pack animals.

  “You should be with your family,” I
hollered. “They’re probably worried about you.”

  At the bottom of the stairs, I flicked off the loft lights and left through the side entrance. I tugged hard on the door to make sure it was shut tight, turned toward the house, and found a Subaru sitting in the driveway. My grandmother’s Forester. The one Dad had taken to Madison when he left early Christmas morning.

  “He’s back?”

  I rushed to the house’s front porch—we’d given up on trying to keep both the front and back patios clear of snow—and called for Meeka. She was running laps in the trench Tripp dug in the snow around the house and barked in response to my summons.

  “Grandpa’s here. Come on.”

  She barked again and appeared a few seconds later, rounding the corner of her snow tunnel from the lake side, and barreled toward the front door.

  “Halt!” I ordered when we entered the house. “You’ll get snow all over everything.”

  As though hitting a glass wall, she came to a stop with her paws on the edge of the large rug in the entryway. She whined and squirmed while I removed her booties and doggie parka.

  “Okay, you’re free.”

  I kicked off my boots and then looked around the corner into the great room in search of Dad. Not there.

  “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”

  I spun right toward the kitchen and found my khaki-wearing salt-and-pepper bearded father standing next to me, Meeka pawing at his leg for him to pay attention to her.

  “You came back.” I opened my arms wide to accept a hug.

  “I haven’t been in this country for my daughter’s birthday in at least two years,” he murmured into my hair as we embraced. “It’s been probably four or five since we’ve been together for it. I’m in the States, a few hours away. Of course I came back.”

  When he released me, I leaned to the side to look around him.

  “She didn’t come,” he said softly, knowing I was looking for Mom.

  I blushed, feeling foolish for even hoping she’d be here.

  He put his arm around my shoulders and walked with me to the kitchen where Tripp and Rosalyn sat at the dinette table. She was waiting for us to join them. Tripp was talking to someone on the phone.

  “She thought about it,” Dad offered in condolence, “but you know how your mother feels about the village.”

  She hated it. Not just Whispering Pines, she hated this house and the villagers too. She hated it and them more than she cared about me.

  No feeling sorry for yourself, Jayne in my head scolded.

  “She sent a gift, though.” Dad stood a little taller. “Actually, she and I went shopping and chose it together.”

  My momentarily dark mood brightened again. “Does that mean things are progressing with the reconciliation?”

  When he was here for Christmas, Dad had come to realize he was letting his past dictate his present. He told Rozzie and me he regretted being overseas at his dig sites so much and intended to make a real effort to be stateside with us more often. And he wanted to fix his fractured marriage.

  “‘Progressing’ is a good way to put it.” He sighed, a part-contented part-exasperated sound. “She’s letting me stay at the house but nowhere near her bedroom. I have to sleep in the guestroom in the basement.”

  “I’m surprised she’s not charging you rent,” Rosalyn joked.

  Dad chuckled. “Believe me, she considered it. I took her to the grocery store and stocked up on all her essentials. I completed her surprisingly long honey-do list of household tasks. I also took her out for dinner at her choice of restaurants.”

  “La Stella,” Rosalyn and I said in the same breathy voice the man in their commercials used.

  Rosalyn added, “Mom gushes about that place. Not that I know anything about it since she hasn’t taken me there yet.”

  Tripp ended his call with a warm, “We’ll talk again soon. Bye,” and pushed the end button. He stood to return the phone to its cradle and, being a far better host than I was, offered, “Can I get you something to eat, Dillon?”

  Dad pointed at the kitchen bar. “Some of that birthday cake would be just fine. With ice cream, if you’ve got any. And I wouldn’t say no to a cup of coffee. I wanted to be here for your party, Jayney girl, but I hit that storm they’ve been talking about on the other side of Wausau. I can’t believe it’s not here yet. The roads got worse the closer I got to the village, so I’m sure it’ll be here soon.”

  Like a massive monster preparing to descend on the innocent villagers.

  “We’re just glad you made it here safely,” Tripp assured him.

  “Wait a minute.” I stood to the side where I could see Dad, Tripp, and Rosalyn all at once. “You knew about the party?”

  Dad’s eyes darted to Rosalyn and back to me. “Yeah.”

  I pointed an accusing finger at my sister. “You called him, didn’t you? When we got to Triple G, you asked Maeve if you could use her phone. You called Dad?”

  She shrugged. “He was supposed to be here by one. Giving them time to set up the pub wasn’t the only reason I was stalling.”

  The four of us ate cake and ice cream and drank coffee while discussing Dad and Mom’s plan for continuing their reconciliation, which was the best birthday present they could have given me. The bright-red knee-length ultra-warm winter parka and off-white merino wool tunic sweater were also nice. And very welcome, especially the parka. My old one was losing feathers at an alarming rate.

  We’d been sitting there talking for an hour when a gust of wind shook the house.

  “Holy crap!” Rosalyn cried out and shot out of her chair.

  “And here’s the blizzard.” Dad grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to his side to keep her from bolting. When she was little and got scared during storms, she would run around the house until she found a place to hide.

  “I’m okay,” she insisted, but didn’t pull free from his grip.

  Because Whispering Pines has a very sick sense of humor, a call came for me over my walkie talkie seconds after that gust.

  “Maybe a cottage blew away,” Rosalyn suggested as another gust hit. She was joking but pulled her chair closer to Dad as she sat again.

  “Or maybe a villager blew away. I didn’t see Flavia at Triple G.” I grabbed the talkie from its charger. “This is Sheriff O’Shea.”

  “This is Jola. I’ve got a situation at Unity.”

  Around here, that could mean pretty much anything from a nasty hangnail to a death. Usually it was the latter. “What’s going on?”

  “A woman stumbled into the Sundry parking lot about half an hour ago, and Lorena brought her over here. She’s in bad shape. I know it’s asking a lot considering the weather, but I think you should come check her out.”

  She wanted me to check out a patient? My knowledge of medical issues was rudimentary at best, so she wasn’t looking for a second opinion. I knew Jola. She’d never ask if it wasn’t something important.

  “All right. I don’t know how long it’ll take, but I’ll get over there.”

  “I’m going with you,” Tripp insisted before I’d set the unit on the counter.

  Another blast of wind made the house creak and pop. “Unity is two miles away. I’ll be fine.”

  “Reed is at school in Green Bay,” Tripp reminded me. “If he was here, you’d call him to meet you, right?”

  I hesitated, feeling like he was setting me up. “Most likely. He is my deputy.”

  “Right. If he was here, you’d go on this call with your partner.” He sounded very much like a prosecuting attorney. “You don’t have a partner right now. I’m going with you.”

  I looked to Dad and Rosalyn who watched with amusement. “Your honors, he’s leading the witness.”

  “I agree with him,” Rosalyn stated and dabbed at the cake crumbs on her plate with her finger.

  Even though the peanut gallery had already made the decision for me, I agreed, “It would be irresponsible to not have someone with me. You can come.”
r />   “Take the Forester,” Dad insisted. “Your Cherokee is on its last legs.”

  “We have my truck.” Tripp pulled the keys from his jeans pocket.

  Dad held a hand in the air. “I just drove the thing from Madison, and it was rock-solid. I had to go slow, but it never slid even once. Take it.”

  Tripp sighed and stuffed his keys back in his pocket.

  We left Meeka with Dad and Rosalyn. We also left a walkie talkie unit with them because they both insisted on regular updates.

  The usual five-minute drive took closer to half an hour. While we crept along, my eyes glued to the road, I asked Tripp, “Who was on the phone earlier?”

  “Aunt Addie. They want to know if we’d like to go to Hawaii with them next month.”

  “What?” I tried to hide my initial excitement, but I might have squealed. And swerved a little. Good thing no one else was on the road.

  “She said they haven’t had a proper vacation in years. They also want to celebrate my birthday and meet you. I think they mostly want to meet you.”

  I was about to say they were always welcome here, but who would choose northern Wisconsin over Hawaii in February? No offense to northern Wisconsin.

  “And they haven’t seen you in years,” I added as my mind drifted to lying in the sun on the beach and hiking through a tropical forest.

  “We’ll have to pay our way there, but they’ll cover the hotel.”

  My heart sank as fast as it had inflated. Funds were tight. I agreed from the start to not take a paycheck for running the B&B this first year. Tripp received a minimal one as he did more work around Pine Time than I did. Every possible penny needed to go toward proving to my parents we could be profitable. Room and board was included, and my sheriff’s salary took care of everything else, but it wasn’t enough to cover plane tickets to Hawaii. I didn’t think.

  “How much are plane tickets?”

  “Don’t dismiss it right away,” Tripp scolded. “Let’s check out the options and see what we can come up with.”