by Bailey Cates
“Nothing. He wants to preserve it. Learn more about the tree and the ley lines.”
I rushed out of the booth and gave him a big hug. “You are awesome.” Stepping back, I found myself grinning so hard it made my cheeks ache. “Go tell Wren. She’ll be over the moon.”
On the other side of the booth, Mimsey’s granddaughter was going over a Georgia Wild brochure with a long-haired teenager, oblivious that even more good news was headed her way.
“I want to show you something first. Ben, do you mind if I borrow Katie for a minute?”
“It’s up to Katie,” he said.
“I’ll be right back,” I said.
Steve led me to a nearby bench and we sat down. He opened his messenger bag and took something out. It was the old Life Magazine I’d seen him flipping through at the Honeybee, the one with Kim Novak on the cover.
“Look at this.” He opened the magazine and handed it to me. “It’s about the area around Fagen Swamp.”
“It’s about more than that,” I said, skimming the story. “This confirms that someone else knew about the ley lines as far back as 1958. A PhD, no less.”
He nodded. “Dr. Seymour Gold. The story makes him sound like kind of a wacko, but enough people took him seriously that a magazine of that stature wrote about his theory.”
Our eyes locked for what felt like a long time. Finally I said what we were both thinking. “Could that be how the cypress tree became so powerful?”
“Maybe.” A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
“Do you think it’s dangerous?” I asked.
“It was for Evanston Rickers,” he said. “And at least some of the animals in the swamp were affected.”
“Mutated,” I said. “Like those snakes in Dr. Rickers’ specimen jars were.” Quinn had told me they all had mutations, some freakish and some practical. “Your father isn’t going to rent that cabin, is he?”
Steve shook his head. “No way. Rickers may or may not have been nuts to start with, but it seems likely it was the extended exposure to the tree that sent him over the edge. No one is going to be living in that swamp.”
“Good.” I glanced over at the bake sale booth. “I’d better get back. Mind if I take the magazine and show Uncle Ben?”
He handed it to me.
“Do you think Dr. Rickers really saw maroon bats?” I asked as we walked.
Steve shrugged. “I doubt it. They were just an excuse to keep the swamp the way it was. And to keep his privacy. I wouldn’t be surprised if he planned to stay there instead of returning to Oregon.”
“Wren mentioned going back out there to set up cameras in places the bats would likely roost. Just in case. Do you think Heinrich would let her do that?”
“I think so.”
Steve went to tell Wren the good news. Ben was looking over my shoulder as I approached the booth, and I turned to see what had caught his attention. Declan strolled down the redbrick sidewalk. Steve saw him, too, and veered into his path. He stopped and held out his hand. He said something I couldn’t hear. Declan paused, then shook Steve’s hand before continuing toward us.
Well. Will wonders never cease?
When my boyfriend—could I still call him that?—turned and caught my eye, I realized I had stopped breathing. Ben heard my sudden inhalation and gave me a knowing nudge.
“Declan,” he said, “what can we get you?”
“Nothing at the moment, thanks. Katie? Can we talk?”
This time Ben practically pushed me out of the booth.
We walked to the edge of the echo chamber and sat down on a retaining wall. We were near enough to the Savannah River to hear the water lapping at the shore. Butterflies flapped like bats around the sandwich I’d had for lunch. I ducked my head and looked surreptitiously at Declan’s face. Was he here to break up with me?
“Ben called me last night,” he said.
I sighed. “I’m sorry. Yesterday he asked what was going on with us, and I told him . . . a little. I didn’t expect him to bug you. You should take all the time you need to decide what to do about me.”
He smiled. “What to do about you, huh?” He looked at the toes of his work boots. “You tried to tell me. I didn’t take you seriously enough, I guess. But you did try.”
“I’m sorry I hurt you.”
“I know you are.” He was quiet for several seconds. “And I know you’ll never do anything like that again. Ben pointed out that he’s been with Lucy for almost thirty years, and some weird things have happened. But he loves her, and that’s stronger than anything else.”
The butterflies in my stomach returned to a more manageable size. “But . . . how should I put this? Lucy’s ‘weird things’ and mine might be a little different.”
“Because you’re a catalyst. And something else, from what Ben told me. I still don’t entirely understand what that means.”
“Honestly, neither do I.”
“And I don’t know how I’ll react to future, um, situations, but I’d like to give it a try and see what happens.”
I leaned my head against his shoulder. “Deal.”
He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close.
“You’re a brave man,” I said.
He smiled. “Shut up and kiss me.” A trace of sweet gardenia swirled around us as Declan bent and touched his lips to mine.
Recipes
Mocha Shortbread Cookies
1¼ cups flour
¼ cup cornstarch
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso powder
1 cup softened butter
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sift together flour, cornstarch, cocoa, and instant coffee; set aside. Beat butter with an electric mixer until it is creamy and lighter in color—about 5 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar gradually, beating into butter until thoroughly incorporated. Add flour mixture and mix just until smoothly blended.
Spread parchment paper on a large cookie sheet. Divide the dough into three portions and, covering each portion with plastic wrap, press each one into a circle that is 5–6 inches in diameter. Be sure to press the rounds into place on the parchment where they will bake. If your cookie sheet is two small for all three rounds, use two smaller sheets with two rounds on one and a single round on the other. Remove plastic wrap.
With a very sharp knife, score each round into eight wedges. Bake for 25 minutes or until the shortbread feels firm to the touch (it will puff up a bit first). Remove from oven and rescore each round while it is still quite hot. Slide the shortbread, still on the parchment paper, onto a wire rack to cool. After they are completely cool, break or cut the rounds into wedges along the scored lines.
These are fabulous served with vanilla ice cream!
Chocolate Chip Gingerbread
2½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons powdered ginger
½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
¾ cup molasses
¾ cup boiling water
2 tablespoons grated ginger (or use pregrated ginger found in the produce department)
1/3 cup crystallized ginger cut into ¼-inch dice
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch square cake pan.
Sift together flour, baking soda, and ginger; set aside. Beat butter with an electric mixer until it is creamy and lighter in color—about five minutes. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well.
Combine the molasses, grated ginger, and boiling water. Blend gradually into the butter mixture. Add in the flour mixture and combine thoroughly. Stir in the crystallized ginger and chocolate chips.
Pour into pan and bake for 35–45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool slightly; then turn gingerbread out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Delicious with a simple sprinkling of confectioners’ sugar or a dollop of whipped cream on top. Or both!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bailey Cates believes magic is all around us if we only look for it. She’s held a variety of positions, ranging from driver’s license examiner to soapmaker, which fulfills her mother’s warning that she’d never have a “regular” job if she insisted on studying philosophy, English, and history in college. She traveled the world as a localization program manager but now sticks closer to home, where she writes two mystery series, tends to a dozen garden beds, bakes up a storm, and plays the occasional round of golf. Bailey resides in Colorado with her guy and an orange cat that looks an awful lot like the one in her Magical Bakery Mysteries.
CONNECT ONLINE
www.baileycates.com