The Witch On Twisted Oak

by Muller, Susan C.

  He gripped the banister with one hand and pushed up with his good leg, while she lifted his other arm, careful not to pull his stitches.

  “How did you get back so fast? I though you expected it to take a while?”

  He twisted his head away from her. “Experience.”

  Yeah, right. And what else wasn’t he telling?

  She held the screen door open as he limped inside.

  “Ramona’s not back yet and Mamacita is still sleeping. Do you want to help me get everything together? I don’t know where some of these things are.”

  “What do you need?” he asked, following her through the house.

  She pulled the letter from her pocket. Shoot. She hadn’t meant to let Ruben see that she’d kept it.

  “I need a ceramic plate, candle holders, matches, salt, and something I can burn these herbs in. You can sit here and tell me where to look.”

  “The salt is with the spices, beside the stove.” He pointed one direction, then twisted to point the other way. “And the candle holders and matches are over here. Plates are in the big cabinet, but if you ruin one of Mamacita’s good ones, she won’t be happy.”

  “This won’t hurt her dishes.” At least Mamacita would be alive to complain. “What about something to burn the herbs in?”

  “I have no idea. You’ll have to ask Ramona when she gets back.”

  “Ask me what?” Ramona set a grocery bag on the table.

  “She wants to set fire to some herbs or something.” Ruben’s head jerked toward his sister, but not before she’d seen him frown.

  The corners of Ramona’s mouth twitched up. “Oh, it’s possible there’s something in my room that might work.”

  The look on Ruben’s face made Tessa laugh. She had liked Ramona from the first, now she knew why.

  By the time Ramona returned, she had everything assembled.

  Ramona set a small, brass incense burner on the table. Ruben stared at it, then looked at Ramona and shook his head.

  Obviously, Mamacita didn’t know everything that had gone on it this house. Neither had Ruben.

  Mamacita’s door opened before anyone had time to make a comment. When her eyes fell on the incense burner, she glared at Ruben.

  His jaw worked, but no words came out.

  A wave of sympathy swept over Tessa and she stifled a laugh. “Sit here, Mamacita. I think everything is ready.”

  She pulled out the chair at the head of the table and touched Mamacita’s shoulder as she sat. Only bone with a thin layer of skin rested under her hand.

  Tessa’s stomach rolled.

  How much frailer Mamacita had grown in only the few days since she’d visited Ruben in the hospital. What if this didn’t work? Would Mamacita’s death haunt her conscience as her mother’s did?

  Everything had to be perfect.

  She pulled the letter from her pocket. The paper was damp and wrinkled. She breathed deeply and smoothed the pages. She’d read it again; make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything.

  The silence in the room dominated everything. It filled the air until each breath rasped in her throat.

  She checked her list. The candles were ready: one black, one white. She nodded at Ramona to light them.

  The acrid smell of the match calmed her stomach. They could do this—together.

  The plate of salt, the lemon, her mother’s athame, waited. All she needed was to light the herbs, have Mamacita slice the lemon into four pieces and dip them in the salt. Then the healing would begin.

  She had the incantation memorized, but she wouldn’t take a risk. She’d read it instead.

  So why did she hesitate?

  Because she only had one chance to get it right. And something was definitely wrong.

  She glanced at Mamacita. Her face glowed with calm acceptance. Ramona’s eyes shone as she stood beside her mother.

  Ruben cleared his throat and her gaze swung toward him.

  Her heart shattered into tiny pieces. “You have to leave.”

  Ruben sat at the old picnic table and cradled his mug of coffee. Tessa had wrapped a comforter around his shoulders for warmth, but he didn’t need it.

  His blood boiled enough to keep him warm.

  How dare she throw him out of his own home? And Ramona agreed. Mamacita didn’t try to stop them, either.

  What the hell did she mean, he was sending bad vibes? The spell wouldn’t work with all his negative energy. He hadn’t said a word. Sure, he wanted this ridiculous charade over and done with. Who could blame him?

  Apparently all three of the women.

  He took a deep breath. The pine scented fall air usually soothed him, but his mind continued to churn. So many questions.

  Would Mamacita fall for this mumbo-jumbo and get well, or was something actually wrong with her? Two doctors hadn’t found anything, but doctors missed stuff all the time, didn’t they?

  He set his mug on the table and checked his watch again. Only three more minutes had passed. What were they doing in there? Was Tessa chanting or reciting some type of incantation? Would she carry this witch business too far?

  A gust of wind rustled the leaves. His big toe itched and he glanced down to find a pine needle stuck in the open end of his cast. He stretched his arm to reach it, but the picnic table got in the way.

  He leaned to one side and lost his balance, grabbing the table just in time. Could this day get any worse? If he fell, he’d be stuck, floundering helplessly.

  What kind of a man huddled under a blanket worrying about a damn pine needle while his mother fought for her life without him? He searched for a word that described how he felt.

  Impotent. Not a word any man liked.

  Tessa stood in the kitchen, watching Ruben. She needed to go out and talk to him, but that would be like shutting a door that, for the moment, still stood open, if only a crack.

  Ramona would go, if she asked her. But that would only solve half the problem. Best to rip the band-aid off.

  She placed her hand on the cold knob, and tried to let the chill run up her arm and freeze her heart.

  Maybe she was wrong. Maybe all the anger and disbelief she’d felt radiating off him was a result of being shot, strangled, and beat to hell. A concussion couldn’t help with clear thinking.

  But this had started earlier. She’d felt it building the first time she’d mentioned her powers. And it had done nothing but grow stronger.

  How could he continue to deny it when he’d felt it, seen the evidence?

  Just as he’d closed his eyes to her powers, she’d refused to see his disbelief.

  Still, she held that one nugget of hope.

  Ruben glanced up the moment she opened the door. He watched every step she took with such hope in his eyes.

  “Only time will tell, but I think it worked. The herbs flared as if they had been doused in lighter fluid. We all think we felt something. Mamacita claims a giant weight lifted off her shoulders and floated away.”

  He leaned closer. “So she’s well?”

  “She has to wear the lemon pieces in a sack around her neck until they dry up, probably three or four days. She’s still weak, but she says she’s hungry. Ramona is heating a bowl of soup.”

  “That’s wonderful news.” He tried to take her hand, but she stayed out of reach. “Am I allowed back inside now?”

  The questions in his voice cut through to her soul. “Not yet. We need to talk for a minute.”

  His shoulders sagged and he looked down at the table.

  “I’m a witch, Ruben. I’ve denied it all my life, pretended the things I felt and the odd sensations were just that, funny little quirks. But I know it now and I won’t live a lie. Not any longer.” She held her breath. Everything was up to him.

  His eyes pleaded with her. “That’s okay, honey. If you want to believe that, I won’t stop you.”

  The remaining pieces of her heart fell away. “No, it’s not okay. I can’t be with anyone who thinks I’m delusional. I need to be wit
h someone who has faith in me.” She took a deep, shaky breath. “And that’s not you. I’m sorry.”

  Ramona held Ruben’s arm none too gently as she helped him up the steps and into the kitchen. The room had a spicy aroma that should have welcomed him. Instead, recriminations and resentment filled every inch.

  Mamacita sat at the table, eating a bowl of soup. A mesh bag hung on a ribbon around her neck. She fingered it for a moment, then tucked it inside her blouse.

  The candles still burned on the table, but everything else had been put away.

  Tessa was nowhere in sight.

  “Is she gone?”

  “Flew out of here like her life depended on it.” Ramona turned her back to him and gave the clean counter another wipe.

  Maybe that was best. It gave him time to figure out what he did wrong. Ramona could probably tell him what he should have said.

  “She was meeting Adam at the lake to look for her cat one more time.”

  Icy fingers closed around his heart. That son-of-a-bitch. He had his own girl. He wouldn’t try an underhanded move like that, would he? Those two had been alone plenty since the lake, while he’d become a useless invalid.

  So what was that witch hogwash, just an excuse? Well she didn’t need one. If she preferred Adam, all she had to do was say so. He didn’t plan to live a lie, either.

  But just for the record, he’d kept his hands off Jillian when he realized Adam was interested.

  All this love nonsense was for the birds. He’d been right to avoid it all these years. Look where it got Ruben Jacinto: dead.

  Mamacita looked up from her soup, her eyes more alive than he’d seen them in two weeks. “I love you, son, but you’re a damn fool.”

  Chapter 42

  Ruben’s eyes kept straying from the road. The change in Mamacita over the last two weeks was nothing short of magical. She was still thin, but her eyes and skin glowed. If she hadn’t been waiting on the porch when he pulled up, he might not have known her.

  The grin she wore wasn’t even the biggest change. She’d cut her hair. She kept patting the back of her head as if she couldn’t believe it was gone. Neither could he. She’d had that braid all his life. All her life, probably.

  Did she have on makeup? No wonder she didn’t look so pale anymore.

  And had she ever worn anything beside a dress? The pants and sweater she had on were stylish and modern. Ramona had said they went shopping before she left, but he never expected this.

  She glanced at his clothes and shrugged. That was all? He wasn’t in line for a lecture? He couldn’t get his slacks on over his cast, so he’d worn a suit coat and tie with black sweat pants.

  Better than Adam deserved. He’d done everything he could to avoid talking to his partner. Ex-partner if he had anything to do with it.

  He didn’t answer when Adam phoned, and only returned his calls when he knew the scumbag was at work. Adam had left a couple of messages asking if he’d stand up for him. Stand up for him? Was he in trouble at work for the way he’d handled the whole Jacinto affair? Good.

  If Adam hadn’t gone off for the weekend, he’d have been available for backup when Jacinto broke into Tessa’s house. No matter that wasn’t when Jacinto attacked him. Adam had acted more than willing to come out to the lake and help with Tessa’s protection. And now he knew why.

  But Mamacita wouldn’t let him off the hook about this stupid party. Maybe it was for the best. They needed to bury the hatchet if they had to keep working together. All he had to do was figure out where he wanted to bury it. The back of Adam’s head sounded good to him.

  All the spots in front of Adam’s house were taken. Who were all these people? He should have gotten here earlier. After two and a half weeks in a cast, he’d learned how to manage, so the short walk didn’t bother him. Ringing Adam’s doorbell did.

  A tall man with a wild thatch of white hair opened the door. Adam’s father. Shit, his mother was probably here, too. He couldn’t beat the guy up in front of his parents.

  “Ruben, how are you? Adam was worried you wouldn’t make it. I told him you wouldn’t miss this for the world, cast or no cast.” He took Mamacita’s hand. “Sofia, how good to see you again. Adam said you’d been ill. I think he must have lied.”

  Did Mamacita actually blush?

  “Adam’s brother and his family got in from Alaska last night. Wait till you see that baby. No doubting he’s a Campbell.”

  Was there anyone here he could talk to without wanting to throw up? Maybe it was the smell of all those flowers that had his stomach in knots.

  There he was—Adam. The guy usually wore a sport coat and slacks. His ties were notoriously rumpled and often hinted at his last meal. Today he had on a new suit, what looked like an expensive tie, and his shoes were polished. Even his hair was tamed. He could have stepped from the pages of GQ.

  Maybe he should have tried harder to get real pants over his cast. And he could have worn a better tie.

  Might as well get this over with and shake the guy’s hand. They’d know each other too long to let a woman come between them.

  He’d only taken a couple of steps when he saw Tessa. Fuck, he should have been prepared for that. His stomach clenched as she placed her hand on Adam’s shoulder and whispered in his ear. They both grinned and she gave him a quick hug before disappearing toward the bedroom.

  “There you are.” Adam’s voice boomed across the room. He pulled Ruben into a bear hug. “I couldn’t have done this without you, man. Thanks.” His voice lowered. “I’m sorry about inviting Tessa. I know that must be hard on you, but Jillian insisted. They’ve become good friends over the last few weeks, and you know, Jillian never had many friends, so this is important to her.”

  Adam tugged on his arm. “Come on, it’s time. Stand over here.”

  Was that Tenequa, in a dress? Wow. Those legs were enough to make him forget everything he’d ever learned. And holding a Bible?

  He glanced at Adam, tugging on his new tie and chewing his lower lip.

  What a jerk he’d been, doubting his best friend. Feeling bad didn’t give him any excuse for the way he’d acted. He threw an arm around Adam’s shoulder. “I’m proud you asked me. I’d stand up for you any day.”

  The wedding didn’t take more than fifteen minutes, but Ruben was so nervous it might as well have been an hour. Watching Tessa stand up for Jillian didn’t make it any easier.

  And who knew Tenequa had a secret life as a part-time minister? Apparently Adam did.

  He sipped on the glass of champagne in his hand, wishing it were a beer. He’d put money there was a case of Shiner Bock waiting in a cooler in Adam’s kitchen or on his deck. Maybe he could ease outside and start looking for it.

  The scent of Tessa’s shampoo told him she was near before he saw her leaning over the deck rail.

  “That was nice, seeing you standing with Jillian. I didn’t realize you two had become so close.”

  “She helped me get my house back in order. Then I traded some painting with Adam for repairing my wall and sink.”

  Ruben twisted toward the house. “Did you do one of those elegant gardens for his dining room?”

  “No, this was something else. He’ll show you when he gets ready.”

  “I’m so sorry you lost Bob. That must have been hard. I’ve been back to the lake twice looking for him, but no luck. I’ll tell you what.” He pulled his keys from his pocket and twisted one off the ring. “Why don’t you go out there and spend a couple of days? You could paint all you want. Maybe Bob would come to you.”

  “No, I . . .”

  He looked down at his feet. “Of course you wouldn’t want to. What was I thinking? After everything that happened, you wouldn’t feel safe.” What an idiot he was. Seeing that place was bound to give her new nightmares.

  His heart lurched as she put her hand on his arm. “It’s not that. I’d love to go out there someday and paint. But Bob came home on his own. He was waiting outside my back door this
morning. A little worse for wear, but nothing a few good meals won’t cure.”

  He’d heard stories of dogs traveling miles to come home, but he’d never believed them. And a cat? Through those woods and across highways and busy streets? Wow.

  A ringing sound came through the French doors. Inside, Adam tapped on his champagne glass. “My family has already seen this, but for the rest of you, Tessa Reyna painted a beautiful mural in one of the bedrooms for us. Come see it.”

  Tessa smiled up at him. “I’ve already seen it, so I think I’ll head home. I don’t want to leave Bob alone for too long. It was nice to see you again. Say goodbye to Mamacita for me, will you?”

  He watched the door long after she left. There was always a chance she’d decide to come back.

  Mamacita pulled on his arm. “Let’s go see this painting I’ve been hearing about.”

  He limped after her and peered into the room. Christopher Robin’s Hundred Acre Wood stared back at him, with Winnie the Pooh up a honey tree. Kanga and Roo, even Eeyore, Tigger, and Piglet played on the other two walls.

  Against the fourth wall rested a baby bed, complete with stuffed animals and a mobile.

  Ruben swallowed a lump in his throat. “Let’s head home, Mamacita. I’m kind of tired. Texas Tech is playing this afternoon. We could watch the game together.”

  Mamacita fluffed her hair. “I’m ready to go, but you’ll have to watch the game from your own apartment. Mr. Rivera is taking me to the church to play Bingo tonight.”

  Chapter 43

  The Red Raiders pulled ahead 27-21, but missed the extra point. Ruben let his cast clunk on the coffee table as he leaned back against the sofa cushions. They should have been farther ahead by now. Sure, the game was exciting, but Tech’s defense sucked.

  They needed to bench that sorry excuse for a kicker; he’d already missed a three pointer. So why wasn’t he more upset? He had his beer, a pizza, and a close game on TV. Why was he brooding about Adam with a new wife and a baby on the way?

  He struggled to convince himself how happy he was for his friend, but the hollow space in his gut didn’t believe him. That was a life he didn’t even want. He’d made a misstep with Tessa but had managed to get away scott-free.