I shrugged. “I don’t know. I plan to pull whatever information I can on the property this afternoon. Wayne was something of a jerk, so I threatened to send Aunt Tillie after him. I need to call her. She’s not a fan, so she should have no problem terrorizing him. I also want to research Arlen Topper to see if I can come up with a reason people are so intrigued with that property in relation to his history.”
“That seems like a safe afternoon.” Landon grinned. “I wholeheartedly approve.”
“They’re also going to have a competition to see who’s going to be godmother of my baby,” Clove added, finally dragging herself away from the front window. There was a suspicious smear that made me wonder if she’d been licking the glass because of the doughnut smell. I decided to wait until after Landon left to ask her.
“We are?” Thistle’s forehead creased. “I don’t remember agreeing to that.”
“Well, you guys dumped me for an adventure last night and I’m feeling left out,” Clove argued. “I want a godmother competition to make up for it.”
I hesitated. “I don’t know that we have time for that right now,” I said. “Can’t it wait until we figure out what’s going on with Valerie’s ghost?”
“No.” Clove stubbornly folded her arms over her chest. “It can’t wait.”
“And what if we don’t want to play the game?” Thistle shot back. “What will you do then?”
“Watch old episodes of Little House on the Prairie and make you cry all day,” Clove responded without hesitation.
Thistle and I sucked in twin breaths of horror.
“Fine,” I said, resigned. “We’ll play, but I need to do actual research, too.”
Clove clapped her hands and beamed. “Yay!”
I was still grumbling when I walked Landon to the door. “What are you going to do?” I asked.
“Keep at it,” he replied, grinning when I rubbed my nose against his neck. “Are you sure you don’t want to take a nap with me?”
“Just stand there a minute. I need another hit to get me through the afternoon.”
“As long as you need, sweetie. I’m here to make your life easier.”
He said the words, but we both knew he was enjoying this way too much.
Sixteen
“I’m not carrying that around.” Thistle glared with overt hostility at the voodoo doll Clove had wrapped in a towel. “It’s not going to happen.”
Clove feigned patience. “You agreed to compete for godmother duties.”
“That’s not how I remember things.” Thistle ducked her head and turned to avoid Clove’s insistent hand. “I’m not carrying that thing around. You can’t make me.”
Clove cradled the rag doll against her chest. “Is that how you’re going to treat my baby?”
“That’s not your baby.”
“It is for today’s purposes.”
“But it’s not. You realize that’s not really a baby?” Thistle turned her eyes to me. “Maybe we should lock her up until the kid is born. She’s clearly losing it.”
That elicited a scowl from Clove. “I’m well aware that it’s not a real baby. I’m not an idiot.”
Thistle didn’t look convinced. “We should call our moms,” she stage whispered.
“Oh, you suck.” Clove threw herself in the chair, holding the rag doll against her chest as if it really did have feelings. “Don’t listen to her, baby. She’s going to love you ... eventually.”
“Oh, good grief.” Thistle fumed, but her glare was directed at me. “Stop laughing! This isn’t remotely funny.”
“Oh, it’s funny.” I rested my feet on the table. I’d been mixing godmother competition duties with research and had one of the private books from the back of the store open on my lap. “This says there are certain poltergeists that can’t be controlled by a necromancer. It also says that they get more and more destructive, to the point they have to be destroyed.”
“How do you destroy them?” Thistle was eager to disengage from the baby competition and focus on anything else. “Are we going to need a potion? A ritual maybe?”
“It doesn’t say. I don’t think it’ll be easy, though. Floyd was a regular poltergeist and he took a bit of work.”
“We weren’t regularly practicing back then,” Clove pointed out. “We were dabbling, which was a great disappointment to Aunt Tillie. We’ve been better lately.”
She was right. “Yeah. I guess.” I sighed. I still missed the heavenly doughnut smell. “You don’t think women all over town are throwing themselves at Landon, do you?”
Thistle smirked as she settled on the couch. “Probably. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I’m pretty sure he’s a one-witch man these days.”
“He doesn’t seem bothered by the prospect, though,” I noted. “He could at least pretend to be upset.”
“It’s fun for him now, when you’re the one rubbing up against him. When Mrs. Little starts doing it, then we’ll hear some crying.”
The thought hadn’t occurred to me and I immediately brightened. “I bet he’s going to have to talk to her, too, because of her visit to me. She tried to make me swear I wouldn’t tell anyone about her interest in the property, but we all know I never intended to follow through.”
“That’s weird, right?” Clove shoved the doll at Thistle. “Hold her. Love her.”
Thistle rolled her eyes but finally accepted the doll, resting it on her chest as if it weighed twenty pounds and she was having trouble breathing. “I don’t want to hear another thing about this stupid doll. Do you understand?”
Clove ignored her. “Are we assuming that Heather killed Valerie and the ghost turned into a rage machine and killed Heather as part of some revenge plot?”
I shrugged. “That’s one possibility. Another is that someone else killed Valerie and enlisted her ghost to turn against Heather because that property is important for some reason. There might still be a human killer out there.”
Thistle snorted. “You do realize how stupid that sounds, right?”
“Welcome to our lives,” I said dryly.
“What if it’s a mixture of both?” Clove asked. “I mean, like, what if Heather and Eric conspired to kill Valerie and her ghost was enraged but someone else came along to enslave her to kill Heather?”
I opened my mouth to dispute the idea but then snapped it shut. It wasn’t as out there as I initially believed. “I guess that’s possible,” I conceded. “It seems a bit of a stretch, but everything we’re dealing with is kind of a stretch.”
“You met Heather,” Thistle prodded. “Do you think she was capable of murder?”
“She was ... a facade,” I replied, turning to my memory of the incident. “She made a big show of welcoming us, but an underlying current of nerves permeated the house. The thing is, I can’t decide if she was nervous because she actually did something or because she didn’t want to be judged for having a relationship with a man already involved with someone else.”
“I thought you said she denied knowing Eric and Valerie were a thing,” Clove interjected.
“She did, but I don’t believe her. She might not have known at the very start, but I think she knew before everything came to a head. Eric is a tool. He probably started putting the moves on her right away. If Valerie was working in the same office, how hard is it to pick up on those vibes?”
“Good point.” Clove bobbed her head and tapped her bottom lip. “If Sam ever cheats on me and his girlfriend kills me, I’m totally coming back as a poltergeist to haunt both of them. Valerie has the right idea. Revenge should be terrible ... and apparently she’s good at it.”
Thistle and I exchanged amused glances. That was such a Clove thing to say.
“I don’t think you have to worry about that,” I reassured her. “Sam is completely in love with you.”
“And, from what I can tell, he’s thrilled at the prospect of becoming a father,” Thistle added. “I think you’re okay.”
Clove straightened. “I�
��m just saying. I think some things are worth turning into a poltergeist for.”
That was also a Clove thing to say. “If Landon ever cheats on me I’ll send Aunt Tillie after him. I won’t even have to dirty my hands. She comes in handy for certain things, which is why I sent her after Wayne.”
“I don’t know why you went to him at all,” Thistle said. “Why not go to Eric? He completed the sale to Heather. He would know more about her family ties.”
“Yes, but Wayne was representing Mrs. Little, and she’s the one so excited that the property may be on the market again,” I countered. “Wayne is all kinds of dirty. It’s possible Eric is simply stupid.”
“He cheated on Valerie,” Clove spat. “That makes him evil.”
“Or weak,” Thistle argued. “It sounds to me as if Val was clingy and Eric stayed with her out of habit. When Heather came along, he decided he wanted something else but had a hard time breaking ties.”
“Yes, but did he fall for Heather because he was genuinely attracted to her, or because she had money falling out of her butt?” I asked. “His motivations are murky either way, but one makes things so much worse.”
“That’s a fair point,” Thistle acknowledged. “Maybe we should head over to Eric’s office and question him. Clove can watch the store.”
“No way.” Clove immediately started shaking her head. “I won’t be left out again. Not two days in a row.”
“You know we didn’t cut you out of what happened last night to be mean,” I challenged. “We were doing what we thought was right for you.”
“Yes, keeping me from s’mores.” Clove jutted out her lower lip. “You guys are just using the baby as a reason to cut me out of things. That’s how you are.”
“That’s not true,” I protested, annoyed. “Dani is dangerous. You would make an easy mark if she wanted to terrorize us. The only thing keeping her in check is fear of Aunt Tillie. She might overlook that fear if she thought she could control us by threatening your baby.”
“She’s also afraid of you,” Thistle argued, her gaze pointed when it landed on me. “She knows you took out her aunt. It’s you she wants to pay back.”
I swallowed hard. “I’m well aware.”
“That means she could go after Landon,” Thistle persisted. “I know you want to believe she’s still capable of being saved, but I don’t believe it. She’s biding her time and will attack at the exact worst moment, like when we’re trying to fight off a murderous ghost bent on revenge.
“As for you, Clove, we really are trying to protect you,” she continued. “I’m pretty sure the baby shouldn’t be around waves of negative energy. That’s all that’s flying around whenever Aunt Tillie and Dani get in close proximity to one another.”
Clove wasn’t quite ready to cede the point. “Yeah, but you guys made the decision to cut me out before you even knew Aunt Tillie was coming.”
That was true. “We still don’t want Dani to use you as a weapon,” I insisted. “It’s better for you not to be around her.”
“So ... just you and Thistle are going to be in constant danger?” Clove looked perplexed. “I guess I can live with that.” The smile she shot Thistle was mischievous. “By the way, you won the godmother competition.”
Thistle was taken aback. “Me? Why did I win? Bay answered more of the questions correctly.”
“Yes, but you purposely tried to get them wrong.” Clove’s tone was breezy. “Besides, we do it in a circle. If you’re my baby’s godmother then Bay has to be your baby’s godmother. I’m pretty sure you’re going to give birth to the antichrist when it’s your turn.”
I straightened in my seat. That hadn’t occurred to me. I pictured Clove as the ultimate helicopter mom. That was essentially the worst possible scenario. I hadn’t considered what sort of evil Thistle would birth. “Wait. I think we should start the competition over. I wasn’t really trying the first time.”
“Oh, no.” Thistle looked a little too pleased with herself. “Things worked out exactly as they were supposed to. This way I have to deal with Sam instead of Landon for the Wiccaning. I’m liking how this turned out.”
Ugh. I should’ve thought this through. “Well, great. I ... .” I trailed off when the chimes over the door signaled Aunt Tillie’s entrance. She swept in with her cape trailing behind her — and she wasn’t alone.
“Hey, Annie.” Thistle perked up and dropped the voodoo doll on the couch, completely discarding it, much to Clove’s chagrin. “How’s it going?”
Annie Martin and Thistle were close. It was Thistle who first noticed the dazed young girl stumbling down the road in front of the inn. She’d been in an accident with her mother Belinda, and it was only through magic that we managed to save the older woman.
Annie and Belinda had lived in the attic room at the inn for several months. Belinda worked for our mothers, saving money so she could eventually get her own place. Even though she was given the option to continue living at the inn rent free until she put more money away, Belinda opted to rent another place closer to town. She had her reasons, and one of them was the fact that Annie was so infatuated with Aunt Tillie that she began to emulate her at times.
Aunt Tillie was put in charge of our care quite often when we were kids. She was something of a reluctant (and absent-minded) babysitter. She found trouble at least three times a week when she was supposed to be watching us. As grateful as Belinda was for everything we’d done for her, she recognized potential trouble and had opted to move out on her own. She didn’t want to keep Annie from Aunt Tillie, but she did want to limit their time together. Aunt Tillie didn’t realize how her actions affected young minds, and with a huge pot field behind the inn — something Annie believed was oregano — Belinda put her foot down.
I believed Aunt Tillie was still sore about it.
“Hi, Thistle.” Annie immediately went to the couch and climbed up beside my dark and twisted cousin. They had an unshakeable bond, and as fond as Annie was of the rest of us, Thistle would always be her favorite. “What are you guys doing?”
“We just had a competition to see who’s going to be godmother to Clove’s baby,” Thistle replied, her smile smug. “I won.”
Aunt Tillie snorted at the news. “Oh, you didn’t think that one out, did you, Bay?” She shook her head and made a tsking sound. “Now you’ll have to be godmother to Thistle’s baby.”
“Are you having a baby?” Annie’s eyes went wide.
“I’m not having a baby,” Thistle reassured her. “I’m not even married yet.”
“My mom says Clove wasn’t married when she got pregnant.”
Now it was my turn to smirk. “Yes, Clove was a bad girl.” I earned a scathing look from my cousin. “Thistle won’t be a bad girl like that.”
“Yeah.” Annie nodded, her expression thoughtful. “I haven’t seen you guys in forever.”
Guilt washed over me. In truth, spending time with Annie had been a priority when she was staying at the inn — mostly because we thought breaks from Aunt Tillie were a necessity — but things had spiraled for us in the months since she’d moved out and we hadn’t seen her much.
“We’re sorry,” Thistle offered. “It’s been a crazy time.”
“Because Clove got pregnant before she got married?”
Thistle nodded without hesitation. “That’s exactly why.”
“I hate you,” Clove hissed, her eyes narrowing. “You’re just the worst.”
Aunt Tillie smirked and moved to the other side of the couch, leaving Thistle sandwiched between her and Annie. “I ran into Annie downtown. Belinda was shopping and Annie was bored, so she gets to spend some time with me. And her mother gets a bit of a break. It’s a win-win scenario.”
“What were you doing when you ran into them?” I asked.
“Stalking Wayne Lawson.” Aunt Tillie didn’t bother denying the truth. It wasn’t in her nature. “He’s a piece of crap, by the way. You were right about him being in cahoots with Margaret. I saw hi
m going into her shop. Of course, he saw me too. I thought he was going to crap himself.”
The image made me smile. “Well, that’s something, right? Why do you think she wants the property?”
“I have no idea, but I plan to find out. If she gets that house, she’ll be happy. You know how I feel when she’s happy.”
“Yes, you’re bereft of joy,” I agreed. My mind drifted to Hazel. “Have you checked in at the campground today? We promised her regular breaks from Dani.”
“No, but I plan to go out there once I drop Annie back with Belinda,” Aunt Tillie replied. “I’m in the mood to terrorize someone and Dani makes as enticing a target as anyone.”
“Is Dani the girl that used the birds?” Annie asked, her expression dark.
Surprised, I flicked my eyes to her. “How do you know about that?”
“I heard the birds whispering.”
It wasn’t the first time I’d suspected that Annie had a bit of magic in her. In fact, the more time went on the more I suspected Annie was going to be a powerful witch — with the proper training. Her mother was aware that we wanted to spend time with her, mold her, but Belinda had been reticent. The bird information was troubling.
“What did the birds say?” I asked.
“They said she was bad,” Annie replied, rubbing her cheek. “They also said you knew she was bad and didn’t do anything to stop her.”
“Me personally?”
“All of you,” Annie said. “I don’t understand why you’re spending time with her instead of me. I can do stuff too. Shouldn’t you want to spend time with me?”
I caught Thistle’s gaze and saw she was feeling the same level of guilt.
“We want to spend time with you,” Thistle reassured her quickly. “In fact, we’re going to carve out some special time for you. We just need to make sure nothing else bad happens with Dani first.”
“Why can’t I be with you when you’re doing that?”
“Because ... um ... .”
“It’s not safe.” Aunt Tillie swooped in to save Thistle. “I already told you that. You need to let it go for now. We’ll figure something out as soon as this crisis is behind us.”
To Love a Witch Page 16