***
That Canadian loop came and went all too soon. Billy was about beat by the time he trudged up the stairs and opened the door to find her propped up in bed reading a book. The room was neat as a pin. A sharp contrast to the usual chaos of her stripper clothes strewn all over the floor, clutter everywhere and dirty dishes in the sink. She had even draped that purple cloth over the little table and placed the candle Odessa had given him on a matching deep blue coaster.
His mood improved when he noticed the two 8x10 frames on either side of the candle. Their GED certificates. They had both passed the test. Billy picked up his certificate with a sense of accomplishment.
“Thank you for making me do that,” she said, putting down her book. “I’ve already gotten a new job answering the phone and taking appointments for a garage in St. Paul.”
“That’s great.”
“It’s close to my in-laws. I’m going to stay there during the week so I can be with my kids,” she said. “I’m still going to dance on Fridays and Saturdays, at least until I get caught up with my finances. Will it be okay for me to stay here a couple more weekends?”
“I suppose so,” Billy said sitting down beside her. “I really am proud of you already finding a new job and all.”
“I know you’ll be glad to get rid of me.”
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
“I know I’m not an easy person to deal with sometimes.”
If that wasn’t an understatement, he didn’t know what was. “Ain’t we all.”
There was no more fight left in him. The exhaustion hit so hard it was all he could do to kick off his boots, strip down to his drawers and get under the covers with her. For once she did the right thing by curling up against his back and keeping quiet until he passed out.
Chapter 37
“Darling, you are the very vision of loveliness in that gown.” Dinera circled Lizzie, checking the view from every angle before nudging her toward the mirror.
Row upon row of pearl buttons. Handspun lace over the finest silk. A fitted sleeveless bodice falling down to a full ballerina skirt draped with a three-foot train. The veil fitted with a tiara of real diamonds. No rhinestones for European royalty. Dinera’s wedding gown was spectacular.
A perfect Halloween costume, the bride jilted before getting anywhere close to the altar. Lizzie stared into the mirror transfixed by her own image and for once felt ever bit the princess. The only thing missing was a handsome groom waiting for her in a candle lit cathedral.
“I only hope you will let your hair grow out to where you can go back to being a redhead.” Dinera fiddled with the veil. “Why did you ever decide to bleach your hair?”
“I like being a blond.”
“It is a chic look for you, but I prefer red hair on any woman with our skin tone.”
“Well, it’s not like I’ll be wearing this dress any time soon.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Dinera said with a knowing smile.
“Trick or Treat!” Elena called from the bottom of the stairs.
“I guess you’re going to have to trick me because I gave out all the candy over an hour ago.”
“Wait.” Dinera stopped Lizzie from going down the stairs to meet Elena. “You must make an entrance.”
Enough with the ‘Here Comes The Bride’ routine.
The dress was gorgeous and all, but damn if she didn’t feel like a total idiot all dressed up with no potential groom anywhere in sight.
“Whoa! What happened since I left for work this morning?” Elena stared at Lizzie like she was carrying Billy’s severed head behind her back.
“Dinera brought her wedding dress for me to try on.”
“She’s going to need it a lot sooner than she seems to believe,” Dinera said as she trailed behind her down the stairs adjusting the train of the gown.
“It just caught me as weird, being Halloween and all.” Elena fingered the delicate lace of the gown. “The dress is amazing.” She turned to Dinera. “Your costume is rocking too.”
They didn’t bother to tell her that Dinera’s black lacy dress was something she would wear any other day of the year. With her hair pulled back into an intricate upsweep and the ruby pentacle dangling just about the swell of her corseted breasts, Dinera did look every bit the witch that she proclaimed herself to be.
“Don’t you look wicked?” Dinera said, taking it all in stride.
Elena was one hot witch in a clingy black gown cut way up her thigh and the bodice laced so tight her boobs were about to pop right out.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t have a change to get wicked with my man. Wouldn’t you know they would get called off to a fire just as things were about to heat up,” Elena sighed, “I guess it’s just the price I have to pay for dating a sexy fire fighter.”
“I learned many moons ago to never let a man have control over my happiness.”
If only Lizzie could be so strong. Instead there she was feeling like a fool in a wedding dress she would probably never have the opportunity to use.
“It wasn’t Allan’s fault there was a four alarm fire right in the middle of our date.”
“Nevertheless, don’t ever put yourself at a man’s mercy. Especially on this most sacred of days.”
When Elena looked confused Dinera further explained, “Samhain. It’s our night to reconnect with our ancestors and commune with those who have passed before us, such as my dear friend Lois. I do miss her so. I wish she could be here to see her beautiful daughter.”
“You really were her only friend.” Lizzie realized, just as she said it.
“She was so kind when William first brought me back to his country. I hated this town until Lois befriended me all those years ago.”
“You don’t look old enough to have been with William that long,” Elena said.
“I was a child bride at fifteen and then Charles was born just months after my seventeenth birthday. Lois was like a mother to me with my own family so far away.”
“That’s kinda surprising considering how William and Paul have always been rivals."
“It was Lois who asked William to be Lizzie’s god-father, not Paul"
“William and Mom grew up together in New Orleans. My Grandpa DuBois owned a restaurant and guest house in the French Quarter.” Lizzie felt the weight of the ring that Grandpa had given Gran and on impulse switched it back to her left hand. No matter how much Daddy scolded her, the huge diamond just felt better on that finger.
Dinera nodded and with the slightest smile said, “Clarence made the best beignets I’ve ever eaten. Tourists go to Café du Monde. Locals went to DuBois.’”
“I wish I could have met him. Cooking is my passion. Well, other than Allan,” Elena said with a little laugh.
“Your spinach soufflé was delectable,” Dinera said. “It was so nice of Lizzie to have dinner waiting for me since I don’t care much for dining out any more.”
“Thank you.” Elena beamed with pride. “You should join us for one of the chocolate éclairs I made at work this morning.”
“In that case I really need to get out of this dress.” Lizzie tugged at the tight bodice.
“Nonsense, you need to grow accustomed to the elegance of the gown so you’ll be at ease while wearing it on your wedding day.”
“I don’t think I’ll have to worry about that any time soon.”
"If only I was a size 2 instead of a 12,” Elena eyed the dress longingly. “I would be begging you to borrow that dress for my big day.”
Lizzie hadn’t wanted to think about Elena and Allan’s wedding. She didn’t know what she was going to do without Elena there in the house with her. As far as she was concerned, they could just skip the whole month of December. If her first Christmas without her mother and the anniversary of meeting Billy wasn’t bad enough, then there was the sucking it up to be maid of honor at Elena’s wedding.
“I’m sure you’ll make a radiant bride. Have you considered something in white
velvet to show off your sensuous curves?” Dinera suggested as they followed Elena into the kitchen.
“I don’t really care what I wear as long as it’s Allan waiting for me at the altar.” Elena placed the éclairs on the pretty blue plates she had found for a steal at a thrift store.
“Ahh, the thrill of young love.” Dinera daintily bit into her pastry. “The only thing better is the decadence of chocolate.”
“How about some more of that Sangria?” Lizzie asked in an attempt to get away from all this love and marriage talk.
“A perfect accompaniment to Samhain festivities."
“So that’s where mom got the idea from?”
Dinera nodded and smiled. “We discovered the very best Sangria at this little dive of a restaurant in Mexico City when William and Paul were touring there several years ago. Lois begged the bartender for the recipe and finally got it on our last day there. I’m so glad she wrote it down for you.”
Elena had their glasses iced before Lizzie finished topping the fruit punch with the last of a bottle of red wine. The liquid was a rich blood red when it crackled over the ice cubes with a satisfying hiss.
Lizzie opened the cabinet for a wooden stirring spoon and saw the bluish and purple swirled candle Dinera had sent her over the summer. It hadn’t been lit since that horrible night she had tried to call Billy. It might not be magickal, but at least it was pretty, so she lit it and carried the candle over to the table.
“Where did you get that candle?” Dinera asked.
“It’s the one you sent me. I got it on the fourth of July.”
“I never sent this to you.” Dinera picked up the candle for closer inspection.
“The nerve of that little cunt.” She slammed the candle onto the table so hard the flame sputtered.
“Do what?” Elena looked at Lizzie in confusion.
Lizzie shrugged, as lost as Elena was.
“It’s one of Odessa’s spell candles – Moonlight Mystique.” Dinera blew out the candle. “William’s mistress sent this to you.”
Lizzie’s hand flew to her mouth, “It had a New Orleans postmark. I just thought-”
“She gave it to him to get it to you and now I’ve touched it.” Dinera bolted towards the sink, running her hands under the water for several minutes. “She must think that now that William is retiring, she’ll sink her claws into Billy.”
“You know about Odessa and William?”
“And Billy?” Lizzie added.
“Of course I know of that Jezebel.” Dinera trembled with anger as she spat out the words. “This time she’s picked a fight with the wrong witch.”
Lizzie had never seen Dinera so riled up. She was in such a hurry to find something that she dumped the contents of her carpetbag sized purse right out onto the table.
“Goddess guide my powers and protect us from her evil.” She lit a white stub of a candle and unsheathed a scary looking silver knife with a white pearl handle. “I call upon the Earth for grounding, the air for clarity, water for cleansing and fire for strength.” She waved the knife in a circle before putting out the purple candle’s flame with a dash of water.
Dinera cut into the candle with such intensity Lizzie feared she was going to scratch the table. Neither of them had the nerve to stop her. Elena and Lizzie both stepped back and watched with wide-eyed intensity. Dinera didn’t stop whacking until that candle was cut down to minuscule shards of wax. With that done she kissed the blade of the knife and said what must have been some kind of prayer in her native tongue.
After finishing her incantation, she scooped the remains of the candle into a black velvet pouch retrieved from the jumbled contents of her purse.
“May I borrow your phone to call my driver?” She asked her voice back to its normal calm resonance.
With the phone call taken care of, she collapsed into one of the kitchen chairs and drained her glass of Sangria.
“So the two of you know of this Odessa?”
Elena nodded, “Yes, I saw her with Billy the day he left town.”
“I wonder how William must feel to know his harlot sought the comfort of another man behind his back. It serves him right that she would play him for a fool.” Dinera accepted a refill on her drink and took a long sip before continuing, “He bought her a house. I found the deed in our safe deposit box. One would think he would have enough sense to not place it in our shared box, but obviously she’s affected his rationality.”
“Yeah, guys tend to think with their dicks and not their brains when a whore is involved.” Elena commiserated. “Even a man as worldly as William Fletcher.”
“Is she attractive?”
“She’s a knock out. Actually she looks a lot like you, probably about ten years younger.”
“I would expect nothing less from William. It would take a twenty year old strumpet to make him stray for the first and only time during our marriage.”
“She’s only twenty?”
“Oh, I’ve done my homework.” Dinera nodded. “I suppose he hates the fact that Paul, no disrespect to you Lizzie, had her as a seventeen year old virgin.”
More information about her daddy that Lizzie really didn’t need to know.
“William pretended to make a big ado over discovering I was only fifteen when he first bedded me, but it was all an act. He knew how young I was before we made love for the first time on our wedding night.”
“What are you going to do about Odessa?” Lizzie asked, not even sure that she wanted to know the answer.
“Tomorrow I shall pay her a visit. That is the main purpose of this trip. I want to be the one to tell her that William is retiring next month. There won’t be any more matches in Raleigh. He’ll forget all about her when he’s at home with me every night.”
A car horn sounded and Dinera rose to peek out the window. “There’s my driver. I’ll be back in just a moment.”
She returned with a shopping bag that she thrust into Lizzie hands. “This will counteract Odessa’s spell and bring Billy back to you where he rightfully belongs.”
“Please be careful tomorrow.”
“I shall be fine. Odessa is going to learn the hard way that her supposed powers are no match for mine. My darling, you must learn to trust and believe.”
Dinera was so sure of herself that there was no way they could doubt her.
“Anoint this candle with my Passion oil. Take a cleansing bath and then focus on the flame. Pour all your energy and desire into the wax. Billy will feel your pull. He shall be yours again on the next full moon.”
She kissed both their cheeks and then embraced Elena, “Thank you for looking out for our Lizzie. I wish you and Allan a lifetime of marital bliss.”
“Wow, she is something else,” Elena said as they stood in the doorway watching Dinera’s limo pull out of the driveway. “Strumpet? What a perfect word to describe Odessa. Crockett should book their confrontation for Dorton Arena. I know I’d buy a ticket.”
“Do you think there is anything to all that magickal talk?” Lizzie wondered aloud. “Is Dinera really a witch?”
“Believing is nine tenths of reality. If Billy shows up here on the next full moon, I’ll never doubt Dinera again.” Elena laughed shaking her head. “Let’s see what’s in that bag.”
They sat down at the kitchen table and Lizzie pulled a bolt of red silk out of the bag. She unwrapped the lustrous fabric to reveal a candle molded into the form of a gigantic penis. It was so lifelike you could see the veins bulging on the shaft, the engorged head and the detail of the testicles that formed its base.
“Damn!” They both said in unison.
“If that thing was any more lifelike, it would hop out of your hands and start screwing your brains out.”
“It does kinda resemble Billy’s….” Lizzie held up the candle. “Don’t you think?”
“I concur.”
Lizzie opened the vial of oil and took a whiff, “This smells like sex in a bottle, all musky and spicy.”
The heady fragrance drifted through the room, making her want to run upstairs strip off this gown and start working some magick.
Elena opened up her planner, “Let’s see, the next full moon is…”
Lizzie leaned over to look at the calendar. “Thanksgiving night.”
“Maybe Billy will be booked at the Coliseum. Paul is wrestling William for the world championship that night. They are already making a big deal of your daddy saying he’s going to retire if he doesn’t win the title.”
Like he’ll ever quit. In a way, Lizzie wished he would retire so that Billy could come back to Charlotte and maybe, just maybe, they could pick off where they had left off.
Lizzie absentmindedly stroked the cool wax thinking about Billy and the last night they had been together. She didn’t care what had happened or why he had left. All she knew was that she wanted him back. She wanted him more than she had ever wanted anything else in her whole entire life.
A spark of energy shoot through Lizzie’s hand as she stroked the candle. Instead of letting go she tightened her grip and felt it again.
“This thing is for real.” Lizzie’s voice came out as an astonished whisper. “I can feel its energy.” She cradled the candle to her chest and could have sworn she felt it vibrate against her skin. “Touch it. See if you feel it too.”
Elena ran a tentative finger up the shaft. “You’ve had too much Sangria.”
“No, I really felt something.”
“Go on upstairs and play with your candle.”
Lizzie didn’t care what Elena thought. She knew what she had felt.
“Elena,” she called from the bathroom. “You’re going to have to help me get out of this dress.”
Dinera had the lacy fabric cinched so tightly she couldn’t even pop out her boobs to try to slide the gown down around her waist to work on the pearl buttons.
“I know a couple of dicks I’d like to burn.” Elena pointed towards the candle sitting on the vanity. Lizzie had already coated the wax with oil and lit it to where the flame danced in the large mirror that hung over the sink.
Desire Page 25