Chloe had to fight to keep her shoulders from trembling with laughter. It was serious, she could tell that from the way Bailey delivered her lecture on biology. And she wasn’t entirely wrong. Still, Chloe did her best to fix the damage. “Did Mrs. Mills tell you about how some things can get passed to a parent’s children, while some other things might be… hidden for a few generations? If you have a great great grandmother with red hair that you didn’t know—who knows? You might have gotten it from her.”
“Really?” Bailey wondered. This new information undermined her working hypothesis. But she didn’t fight it—she merely attempted to find a place for this information. “That’s… not all, though.”
“Okay,” Chloe said. “Well, what else, then?”
Bailey shook her head, and looked down at the muffin. “I don’t know… just… a feeling. I don’t have it all the time. But sometimes, at night, or when I get home from school…” she trailed off, and shrugged. A moment later she wiped her eye. When she looked up they were wet. “I don’t know, Miss Chloe. I don’t know the words.”
“It’s okay, darling,” Chloe breathed, and came around the table. Bailey didn’t pull away when Chloe put an arm around the girl and hugged her close. She did inhale deeply, though.
And a heartbeat later, she turned and put her arms around Chloe’s waist, and cried. Chloe didn’t, through sheer force of will.
When the spell passed, Bailey picked at her muffin while Chloe called Wendy and Ryan to inform them that their little girl was safe, that she’d come to the bakery. Relieved, they assured her they were one their way.
Chloe hung up, and pressed her head to the wall above the phone as she took cleansing breaths and cleared her mind and heart of the pain. This was the way it had to be. It was her mistake, getting involved with… well, even thinking his name was potentially dangerous; could call his attention. Not that he was even likely to care after all these years. But then again, maybe he would. It was impossible to predict what a wizard did or didn’t care about from moment to moment. Chloe had thought, for instance, that he cared about her. Right up until he vanished into thin air.
When she returned to the dining room of the bakery, she heard Bailey humming a tune. Something familiar—a lilting sort of somber, upbeat melody that Chloe swore she must have heard on the radio recently. Or perhaps in a movie. “What are you humming, Bailey-Bee?” She asked.
Bailey shrugged a shoulder self consciously. “A song.”
“It sounds familiar,” Chloe told her as she sat down across from her daughter again. “Did you hear it on TV?”
Bailey shook her head. “I don’t remember.”
“It’s very pretty,” Chloe said. “Are there words to it?”
“No,” Bailey breathed. Her fingers paused in the act of pinching another bit of muffin off. She stared into some distance behind Chloe, brow furrowed in concentration. Finally, she shook her head again.
“I don’t think it’s very pretty, Miss Chloe,” she said quietly, before she looked into Chloe’s eyes. “I think it’s very… sad.”
A chill spread from Chloe’s spine to the rest of her, and she rubbed her arms. For the next few minutes before Wendy and Ryan arrived, she and Bailey sat in mutual silence, as though listening for some distant music that Chloe, at least, couldn’t hear.
******
Thanks for reading!
You can find all of my books by visiting my Author Page.
Sign up for Constance Barker’s New Releases Newsletter where you can find out when my next book is coming out and for special discounted pricing.
Sign up to be a part of my ARC Team. You’ll recieve a free copy of my newest release in exchange for a review on Amazon.
I never share or sell your email.
Visit me on Facebook and give me feedback on the characters and their stories.
Witchy Women of Coven Grove Series
The Witching on the Wall
A Witching Well of Magic
Witching the Night Away
Witching There’s Another Way
These books are all from my Caesars Creek Series
A Frozen Scoop of Murder (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book One)
Death by Chocolate Sundae (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Two)
Soft Serve Secrets (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Three)
Ice Cream You Scream (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Four)
Double Dip Dilemma (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Five)
Melted Memories (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Six)
Triple Dip Debacle(Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Seven)
Whipped Wedding Woes(Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Eight)
A Sprinkle of Tropical Trouble(Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Nine)
A Drizzle of Deception(Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Ten)
Sweet Home Mystery Series
Creamed at the Coffee Cabana (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book One)
A Caffeinated Crunch (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Two)
A Frothy Fiasco (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Three)
Punked by the Pumpkin(Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Four)
Peppermint Pandemonium(Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Five)
Expresso Messo(Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Six)
Whispering Pines Mystery Series
A Sinister Slice of Murder (Whispering Pines Mystery Series Book One)
Sanctum of Shadows (Whispering Pines Mystery Series Book Two)
Curse of the Bloodstone Arrow (Whispering Pines Mystery Series Book Three)
Mad River Mystery Series
A Wicked Whack
A Prickly Predicament
Eden Patterson: Ghost Whisper Series
The Mystery of the Courthouse Calamity
The Mystery of the Screaming Elms
The Mystery of the Morbid Moans
The Mystery of the Ominous Opera House
Witching The Night Away: A Cozy Mystery (The Witchy Women of Coven Grove Book 3) Page 14