“Cade, are you in that awful tree house?” Devin called, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand.
“Maybe if I don’t say anything she’ll go away,” he whispered to us, peeking out of the window.
She wasn’t going anywhere. “I can hear you, Cade.”
“How on earth can she hear you from down there?” Sadie asked, looking out the window at how far down Devin was.
“I can hear you, too, little Miss Perfect. Now, Cade, come on we have to do some wedding planning,” she said, knowing that it would get under Abigail’s skin.
Abigail had taken it about as long as she could, and I knew she was going to snap I just didn’t know it would be so quickly.
“I can’t stand her,” Abby said, making her way to the ladder to climb down.
“Where are you going? It isn’t safe out there,” Cole said, acting a little too dramatic. “You could get a splinter.”
He was trying his best to make her stay in the treehouse, but she wasn’t going to listen. Not exactly her strong suit.
Abigail rolled her eyes and carefully climbed down the latter. “Listen, Devin, Cade has told you a million times over the last couple of days that he doesn’t want to marry you, so why don’t you go back to whatever sinkhole town you came from and leave us alone. He doesn’t want you,” Abigail told her as we cheered her on from the window.
“You tell her, Abby,” Cole yelled, causing Devin to shoot daggers at him with her eyes.
“Why are you so scary?” Cole asked Devin, sticking his head out of the window.
She ignored him and put all of her focus on Abigail. “I need for you to move out of my way. I need to speak with my fiancé, not his cursed ex-girlfriend. Cade, let’s go,” she said, snapping her fingers and causing Cade to tumble out of the treehouse and land on the ground with a hard thud.
“Honey, dust yourself off and let’s go,” she said, folding her arms and walking toward the house.
We all exited the tree house to check on Cade. “She makes Hitler look like a good person,” Cade said, getting up off the ground with his brother’s help and wiping the blades of grass and specks of sand off of his jeans.
“I better get going before she starts turning people into pumpkins,” Cade said, waving before he started walking toward the house.
“I don’t get him. One minute he’s hiding from her and saying he doesn’t want to marry her and the next minute he’s running after her. Agnes, take the voice before I say something I’ll regret later,” Abigail said, magically transferring their shared voice to her sister and climbing the up the ladder to go back inside of the tree house.
Whenever we were kids, and something was bothering us, we would always go up to the tree house to get away from everyone and everything. “Should we go up there with her and keep her company?” Daisy asked, pointing up at the treehouse.
“No, when Abigail is upset it’s usually best to leave her alone. She tends to take out her emotions on other people. Being alone is her best way of dealing with things,” Agnes told Daisy, beating me to it.
When we reached the house, I saw a very familiar man in a very familiar suit sitting at the kitchen table chatting with Grandma Misty and Mara Blackwater. “Daniel, what are you doing here?” I asked.
“I needed to talk to you, and I was wondering if we could talk over lunch?” he asked, the nervousness in his voice making Grandma Misty look at me weirdly.
He was acting a bit oddly toward me.
“Are you two going on a date?” Grandma Misty asked, her eyes darting from Daniel to me.
“No!” we said in unison a little too loudly.
I would never go on a date with Daniel Price No matter how handsome he was. He was too suit and tie for my liking or at least that’s what I kept telling myself.
“Whatever you guys say,” Grandma Misty said, in a sing-song voice.
I had to get him out of that house before Grandma Misty tried to play matchmaker.
“Let me grab my bag, and we’ll go,” I told Daniel, running up the staircase to my room.
Walking into my room, I grabbed my bag and started toward the staircase when I heard Earl having a conversation with someone who wasn’t my Aunt Tilly. Leaning my ear against the door of the guest bedroom, I listened to see what was going on.
“Dad, the plan is going to work. The wheels are already in motion. Stop worrying so much I’ve got this,” the girl said in a reassuring tone. My heart sped up. What was going on here?
“I hope so. Devin, don’t let me down,” Earl told her without his British accent.
His accent was the only thing I liked about him, but even that was fake. But the biggest bomb that was dropped in the conversation was that Devin was Earl’s daughter.
My brain should have been laying on the floor in a million pieces because it was blown.
21
“Wait, so you think that the mystery girl is your Aunt Tilly’s fiancé’s daughter?” Daniel asked, taking a bite of his grilled ham and cheese sandwich.
Brown Bag Deli and Bakery had the best sandwiches in all of Cat’s Cradle, and I was completely taken back that Daniel hadn’t been there yet. He had ample time to have spotted out all the hole-in-the-wall hidden gems in Cat’s Cradle. I was disappointed in him, to say the least.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I think, and I heard them talking about some top secret plan. She called him Dad and told him not to worry, so yeah I’m pretty sure that means she’s his daughter. Oh, and his British accent is a total fake. Everything about him is a sham,” I told Daniel, sipping on my lemonade.
“His accent was spot on. He should look into acting,” Daniel said, picturing our suspect starring in a leading role in his head. I could tell because he was staring off into space.
While Daniel watched a movie starring Earl in his head. I tried to take what clues I had and piece them together. Bobby had a connection to Earl. The bad blood between them would certainly be a good motive. Devin was Earl’s daughter, and they were plotting some evil plan, but the only thing that didn’t make sense to me was what Earl wanted with my Aunt Tilly and what Devin wanted with the Blackwater’s.
“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” I asked Daniel, hoping it was another clue.
“Um, well, would you think I was a loser if I just didn’t want to eat alone?” he asked grinning.
He couldn’t have been a loser if he tried, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. “You’ve always been a loser, so this doesn’t change anything, Atlanta.”
“Why thank you, Suzie Q. I can always count on you to make me feel worse about myself,” he said, pressing his mouth into a hard line.
“Anytime,” I replied, taking the last bite of my grilled four cheese sandwich.
We spent the rest of our lunch and the whole way home talking randomly about movies and music. It was strange. I didn’t feel as on edge as I usually did around him. We had more in common than we had anticipated, and that started something like an actual friendship. . After Daniel had dropped me off, I changed into all black and made Abigail do the same. After our wardrobe switch, we jumped in Grandma Misty’s very old, but very trusty car and swung by Cade’s hotel.
He ran out of the lobby door wearing black from head to toe. Looking around, he spotted the car and made a beeline for it.
“Alright, let’s get our stalk on,” he said, rubbing his hands together after he shut the door behind him.
We were going to follow Devin around to look for anything suspicious. She was supposed to be meeting Cade for dinner, so the only fancy steak house in town with some French name I couldn’t pronounce was our first stop.
“Did you put the ‘listen in’ spell on him?” Abigail asked, smiling from ear to ear. She was thrilled to have the chance to spy on Devin and catch her doing something that would show what kind of person she really was.
“I did. We will hear everything she says to him and everything he says to her,” Cole said, laying across the back seat as we d
rove to the restaurant.
“He better not say much to her,” Abigail said, sounding like she was forgetting that she was no longer Cade Blackwater’s girlfriend.
Seeing the large sign of the restaurant, I pulled in the parking lot and found a parking space by the window, so we would have a perfect view of Cade and Devin.
I hoped that she would give us something and that I wouldn’t leave without at least one more clue as to what was going on. Bobby’ Matthew’s murder case had taken so many turns I was starting to get dizzy.
I needed a big break. I needed an ‘Oh’ moment. You know that moment when everything clicks and all of you hard work has paid off? Yeah, I was way overdue for that moment.
The purpose of that night was to find out what Devin wanted with Cade Blackwater and to see if she would meet up with Earl.
“I also put the ‘listen in’ spell on a necklace that Cade is going to give Devin that way we can hear,” Cole said not even realizing that by saying that he had just made himself my new best friend.
“Why would he give her a necklace?” Abby shrieked, folding her arms and pursing her lips together.
Looking in the rearview mirror, I saw that Cole was looking at her like she was missing a few screws. Girlfriend was cray cray.
“Did you not just hear anything I said?” he asked. “I don’t think you did because if you had listened, you would have heard that I put a spell on the necklace, so that we can hear everything Devin says as long as she wears it,” Cole said, making sure to speak slowly, so Abigail heard every word.
She narrowed her eyes at Cole through the rearview mirror. “My brother sure messed up when he let you get away,” he said, mocking her.
“Cole, if I were you I’d stop talking before she jumps back there and hexes you,” I told him, offering him a piece of friendly advice.
Looking at the restaurant, I saw Devin and Cade walking in all dressed up. She was wearing a huge smile while he was sporting a huge frown. He looked miserable.
“Oh, goodie, he looks like he would rather jump off of Clearwater Bridge than be on this date with wicked witch Barbie,” Abigail said, pulling binoculars out of her purse.
“Someone came prepared,” I said, shaking my head.
Focusing on the restaurant, I saw that Cade and Devin were seated right by the window. We had a perfect view of them.
“I’m so glad you came to your senses and deiced to take me out. You deserve someone like me, not someone like that Abigail girl,” Devin’s snooty voice said like it was coming through the speakers, but it was actually coming out of thin air.
Waving my hands over the locks, I spelled the car shut because that was the only way I was going to be able to keep her in the car and from marching into that restaurant and pulling her blonde extensions out of her head.
I should have known when I brought Abigail along to spy on Cade’s date I was going to be in for an interesting night.
22
Cade looked beyond bored the whole date. Devin talked about herself the entire date and Cade just through in an ‘Oh, wow!’ or a ‘really?’ and a fake laugh when the conversation called for it.
I was beginning to think that Devin wasn’t going to give us anything to go on, but I was wrong.
“So, Cade, what does your family do with the syphoned powers of witches?” she asked, attempting to be casual, but she wasn’t doing a very good job of it.
It struck me funny that Aunt Tilly was thinking about siphoning her powers and Devin wanted to know what happened to the powers once it was siphoned. That was no coincidence.
“You’d have to ask my mom, Devin. I’m not interested in siphoned powers,” he said, boredom dripping from every word.
He didn’t want to be there at all, but he was taking one for the team. He was a good sport, and I liked that about him.
“Didn’t your Aunt Tilly tell you she planned to get her powers siphoned after she married Earl?” Cole asked.
“Yep, one of them plans on taking her powers. I wonder what kind of spell Earl used on Aunt Tilly? It’s not like any love spell I’ve ever seen. It produces results rapidly. I know a love spell produces love at first sight, but it usually doesn’t produce marriage after two weeks,” I said, watching Devin flip her long blonde hair and giggle for the millionth time that night.
She was really laying it on thick. Cade wasn’t saying much, but when did say something she laughed at it, even if it wasn’t funny. And I knew Cade Blackwater. He wasn’t funny at all. Cole got all the humor while Cade got all the charm. Humor and charm usually went hand in hand, but not when it came to Cade and Cole. They had either or, definitely not both.
Abigail would have disagreed with me about Cade not being funny, but deep own she knew I was right. She only laughed at Cade’s attempted jokes for the same reason Devin was laughing at them. He was handsome.
“I never knew my brother was so boring. And yeah, you’re right. If it indeed a love spell that he placed on your Aunt Tilly, it’s a very powerful one. If you happen to find out what kind of spell it is will you let me know? I need to make Agnes love me,” he said, sounding defeated.
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that she wanted a normal life. She didn’t want to marry a warlock. No, she wanted to build a life with a certain silly deputy named Dale, and Cole Blackwater was out of luck.
“It would take more than that to make Agnes love you, Romeo. You are so not her type,” Abigail said, twirling a piece of hair around her finger as she smacked on a piece of gum.
Smacking on gum was a pet peeve of mine, so I snapped my fingers and made a tissue appear out of thin air. “Spit that gum out right now. You know that gets on my nerves,” I told her, holding the napkin in front of her mouth.
She rolled her eyes at me as she spat the gum in the napkin “There. Happy?” she asked, letting her sour attitude really come out to play.
“Thrilled,” I told her, forcing a smile.
“Glad I could make you happy,” she said, pulling her hair up into a ponytail.
Cade tried to turn the conversation to her family pretending that he wanted to know about her, but he was really fishing for some more information on Earl. Devin wasn’t biting.
“I’m boring and so is my family. You don’t want to hear about that. So, where does your mom keep the syphoned powers, Cade? I know you. You can trust me,” she said in the sweetest voice she could muster up.
It may have worked on Cade, but he knew what a cold hearted witch she was.
“I have no clue where she keeps it, nor do I care. Why are you so interest in siphoned magic?” he asked.
“Oh, I just find it interesting. So, you wanted to hear about my family? Well, I grew up in Manhattan. I come from one of the most prestigious families of witches on the Upper East Side.”
She was lying. I knew that because I had met all the witch families on the Upper East Side when I was in New York for my job. She didn’t belong to any of them, so that meant just like everything else she had said that as also a lie.
I was starting to think that Earl and Devin didn’t know how to tell the truth.
After Cade and Devin said their goodbyes, he waited for her to get in her car before making his way toward us. Opening the back door, he slid in beside his brother. “I can’t stand that girl and mom expects me to marry her. It’s not going to happen, so she needs to get it through her thick skull,” Cade said and I could feel his anger.
I was about to say something when Devin’s voice cut through the air like a knife. “Dad, my date is over, but he wouldn’t give me any information on what happens to syphoned power. I’m leaving Cat’s Cradle right now and heading to Cold Creek. It’s a two-hour drive, but I need you to meet me there. This is our chance to find out what happens to the syphoned powers because all the Blackwaters are out of town. Knowing where it’s located will make it that much easier to grab it when the time comes.”
Without even asking Cole, Cade, and Abigail I started driving toward Cold Cree
k.
I probably should have let Cade call his mom first, so he could ask her permission to go, but I didn’t.
At that moment I didn’t care if I got him trouble. I mean he was twenty-six years old it wasn’t like she could ground him.
23
“Mom is going to kill me,” Cade said, burying his head in his hands.
He was only moments away from hyperventilating. His mom was scary a scary woman, I knew that from what I had seen. But it seemed to me that he was overreacting.
“Grow up,” Abigail said, under her breath.
I liked Cole, but she was right he was old enough to make decisions for himself.
“Whatever,” Cade said as we pulled across the street from the Blackwater’s house. Devin’s car was already there.
“That witch better not be in my room,” Cole said, getting out of the car.
We couldn’t risk Devin or Earl recognizing the car or us for that matter, so I changed Grandma Misty’s car into a bright red VW hippie van and made all of invisible. Well, invisible to Devin and Earl. We could still see each other because if we couldn’t have seen each other, that would have made working together near impossible.
“That is the ugliest car I have ever seen,” Abigail said, scrunching her nose up in disgust.
“It was all I could think of, Abby. Now, we need to split up. Who wants to go with me?” I asked.
Abigail opened her mouth to claim the honor of going with me, but Cole beat her to it. “I want to go with you because if I go with one of them, I’ll have to listen to them talk about each other and I’m tired of it,” Cole said, walking to my side.
“Great, I get the twenty-six-year-old Momma’s boy. Let’s get this over with,” Abigail said, rolling eyes before walking away.
Cole was right. Cade and Abigail would complain about each other the whole time, and that would make spying on Devin impossible. And I really needed it to be possible.
“I’m so glad to be rid of those two,” Cole said as we walked through the front door of his house. Like we literally walked through the door without opening it.
Cursed on the Second Date: A Witchy Cozy Mystery (Cursed Coven Cozies Book 2) Page 11