“That’s just fine with me. I’m pooped,” said Charlie.
At last, the three of us headed home. Soon I would have to tell Kayla what I had learned from Mrs. Luke, but first we had to see Liam beat the Artist’s Art Gallery!
Chapter Twenty-Six
Despite having been up half the night already, I had a hard time falling asleep. My mind kept running over my strong hunch that Kayla would have closure after all these years, and hopefully Liam would come out of the competition with a win. All and all a productive week, I thought, just before I finally fell into dreamland.
Friday morning dawned bright and cold. Charlie and I got dressed quickly, and even Greer woke up before noon. We had promised to help Liam with the finishing touches of the display, so we needed to get moving. Main Street would be bustling, as people came from far and wide to the opening of the display.
“We really have the best competitions,” said Charlie as we drove downtown. “Mintwood knows what’s up.”
“As long as Liam wins. If he doesn’t, I’m sure I won’t be able to set foot in The Daily Brew again,” said Greer.
When we arrived at Liam’s, we weren’t even the first ones there. A burst of excitement raced through me when I saw Jasper inside the Twinkle Costume Shop. Then, just as we were greeting him, Deacon came out of the back, looked at Greer, and smiled.
“Hey, we thought we’d come by and help Liam. He set us to sweeping,” said Deacon with a laugh.
“There’ll be tons of shoppers today, and the store needs to be spotless,” said Liam, his mouth filled with pins he was using to tack up the maps. The dresses all had covers draped over them, so we couldn’t see them yet.
“Have any of the other storefronts opened?” I asked.
“Not yet,” said Jasper, his eyes lingering on my face. “I think they’re all waiting for the great unveiling. I saw the judges gathering at The Daily Brew.”
“Is your mom coming?” I asked Liam.
“I love the woman dearly, but I told her not to. I said, quite truthfully, that she makes me nervous and I can’t handle her sniping at the moment. She’ll be here in an hour.”
The six of us worked straight through the next hour. Liam hadn’t had an easy time getting the dresses out of the trunks, and the delay had pushed the rest of his setup back. But with five helpers, he was in good shape when his mother knocked on the front door.
“Hello, Gerry,” I said. She tried to push the door wide so she wouldn’t have to slip in through the narrow opening, but I held firm.
“Oh, very well. He’s being silly, though. Everyone’s busy with their own projects,” Gerry said as she slipped past me. I was pretty sure she had changed into a different purple coat, but otherwise she looked the same as when I had met her the other day.
A few minutes later there was another tap at the door. This time it was Mrs. Barnett, who peeked in and said, “Liam, are you ready?”
He took a deep breath and nodded. “Let’s do this.”
“Once your preparations are complete, drop your curtain from the front window and come outside. The town council will circulate with the editor of the Mintwood Gazette and view each display. We’ll rank our top three choices, convene in The Daily Brew to discuss them, and then make an announcement in front of the café. Sound good?”
Liam nodded, his face pale.
Deacon came over and clapped him on the shoulder. “You can do it,” he said.
“It’s in Fate’s hands now,” said Liam. “We did our best. I want to thank all of you for your help, especially Charlie, Greer, and Lemmi, who got held up at gunpoint last night and still came to tell me about the trunks afterwards.”
“You WHAT?” Jasper exploded.
Deacon had the same expression on his face; he was glaring at Greer as if she was in big trouble.
“It’s not a big deal,” I said defensively, hunching one shoulder.
“Why wouldn’t you mention that?” Deacon demanded.
Liam shimmied to the side and looked at me. “Sorry,” he mouthed. Not that we’d had time to tell Deacon and Jasper about Mrs. Luke anyhow, but even if we had, I wouldn’t have done it.
“We didn’t want to deal with you being all dramatic,” said Greer.
Deacon sputtered incoherently.
“We can take care of ourselves,” Charlie piped up.
“How could you not even tell us?” said Jasper. He hadn’t taken his eyes off my face. He was pulling out the guilt card! That wasn’t fair.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
“You are NOT sorry,” said Charlie, and then to Jasper, “We most certainly are not sorry.”
“We’re maybe a little sorry,” said Greer. “We just didn’t want to worry you.”
Deacon and Jasper exchanged dark looks.
We ended up having to drag Liam out of the Twinkle Costume Shop.
“I just need to adjust this one last hemline,” he said desperately.
“You mean the hemline you’ve adjusted eight times already?” I said.
“It looks a little crooked,” he said.
Jasper came up and stood next to me, his arm nearly brushing mine and sending my heart skittering.
“I’ll help you,” he offered, nodding at Liam.
I moved away, keeping one eye on them as they worked. Jasper was talking quietly to the nervous shop owner, and I could see Liam calming down. I had no idea what Jasper was saying, but he had definitely come to the rescue.
I busied myself refolding already perfectly folded shirts until at last Liam said, “Okay, I think I’m ready to go.” He looked less shaky than he had all morning.
“You have the most gorgeous display in town. It’ll be great,” Charlie assured him.
He smiled weakly at her. “I know. I have Ms. Holly on my side! I can’t possibly go wrong!”
With that, Deacon flung the front door wide and we all tromped outside and stood in front of the window, waiting for the curtain to be lowered and the display to be revealed.
“Come on, Liam, drop the curtain,” Greer yelled. The black curtain stayed in place. The front door was still open, and I could see that most of the rest of the shops on Main Street had already uncovered their window displays.
“Just a second,” Liam called.
Deacon was getting so restless he was about to go back inside when Liam finally yelled, “One, two, THREE!”
Finally the black curtain fell, revealing Liam’s brilliant window display. Charlie clapped in delight and the rest of us cheered.
“That looks awesome,” I told Liam as he tottered outside.
“Thanks,” he said. “I just want them to judge already. The suspense is killing me.”
Liam’s display featured three of Francesca Holly’s dresses, all shades of blue. Draped behind them and on the display floor were maps of the old downtown that Liam had painstakingly colored in.
“Look, he created a plaque that says who the dresses are by,” said Charlie, pointing to the hems of the dresses where three small gold plaques had been placed.
“He’s going to get a lot of offers for those dresses,” I said.
“It’s beautiful,” said Greer. “Well done.”
“Let’s take a walk and have a look at the other displays,” said Liam. Now that his was finished he wanted to check out the competition. “Mom’s going to watch the store.”
The Artist’s Art Galley, as expected, had a beautiful display of paintings. Each one showed Main Street turned into an ice rink and happy people skating. The window overall glowed merrily.
“That’s cute if you like cute things,” Charlie muttered.
We didn’t linger, even when Lindsay waved at our group and Deacon and Jasper waved back. Keith, of Mountain Mucking, had a fitting display of new outdoor gear. He was standing outside admiring his work as we passed. The rest of the displays, from the bookstore to the florist shop, highlighted each store’s wares.
“They’re all pretty, but none are as good as Liam’s,” said
Greer as we reached the end of the street. Fearne and Frannie had created a display of keys in their window; at least they had stopped stealing from their neighbors. At least, so I assumed.
“Are they being funny?” Liam said, incredulous.
“I have a feeling, yes,” I said, and we all laughed.
“We should be getting back,” said Liam, looking over his shoulder. There were now a lot of spectators on the street, and we could see the judges gathering in front of The Daily Brew.
“I have to go stand in front of the store now in case the judges have questions,” said Liam.
We waited quietly while the judges walked around and examined each display. In a shorter time than I would have expected, Lena announced to the gathered crowd that they were going to the café to deliberate.
“Liam looks like he’s sinking into the ground,” said Charlie. Indeed, our friend looked pale as he stood staring up at his display. The largest crowd had gathered around his front door, many people pointing and smiling at the Holly plaques he had created to explain the history of the dresses.
“She is a local legend, after all,” said Charlie. “Even Mrs. Barnett looked impressed when she saw what he had done.”
Waiting for the results turned out to be agonizing. Everyone else was milling around and having a good time, but we were a tense little group. Liam tried to compliment his fellow competitors, insisting that “All the windows really were incredibly well done. Yesssss, even the gallery’s.” But then he lapsed into silence.
“I’m going to lose,” he said. “They were too good. All the others were too good. Maybe if I’d had more time with the dresses I could have made it happen, but I was rushing to get everything done last night and I’m just not sure I made it.”
“You’ll be fine,” said Charlie. “Even if you don’t win this time, there will be other competitions. There’s always next year.”
“Clearly you never played sports,” said Hansen Gregory, strolling up to her. Deacon gave Hansen a look that said he’d found a kindred spirit.
“Everyone gather around,” called out Mrs. Barnett as she came out of The Daily Brew. A couple hundred people, with the store owners in front, moved to stand in front of Mrs. Barnett’s café.
“This year’s competition was the best,” Mrs. Barnett began. “I say that every year, but this year it was true. I cannot begin to tell you how amazing every display was. Your hard work shows, and you’re all to be commended. You’ve waited in suspense long enough, let’s get straight to third place, with a beautiful display of jewels, Sparkles Are For Everyone!!” A roar of applause went up around the crowd. The display really was quite pretty, though it didn’t have any local flair.
“Second place,” Mrs. Barnett cried as Liam latched onto my arm, “the Artist’s Art Gallery.”
In that moment Liam transformed into a very pale pogo stick. He started jumping up and down, pulling my arm along with him until Jasper put a steadying hand on his shoulder. The applause was still loud, but from the view I could see of the artists and Andre they were not pleased.
“And the winner is THE TWINKLE COSTUME SHOP, with an amazing map display and a feature on the one and only Francesca Holly!!!”
To say Liam was stunned . . . was, well, accurate. He was so happy he was weeping. Everyone in town was cheering, and I felt sure that somewhere nearby, swans were gliding and birds were singing, despite the season. Liam took a long time to compose himself. In the process he hugged everyone at least twice, except for Greer, who doesn’t like affection.
“Thank you three!!! I don’t know how you figured out that her store was in the same place as my store, BUT I’LL BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL! THANK YOU FRANCESCA HOLLY!!!! WE WIN!!!”
Liam collapsed to the ground in a happy heap and said, “Bring on the ribbon-cutting ceremony! And my moment!”
The afternoon was crazy busy after that. At dusk I’d need to go find Kayla, who would have to leave the lake for a short period of time. I spent the time until then helping Liam clean up. Main Street was still packed with visitors, everyone enjoying the festive atmosphere. We all helped Liam put the extra decorations away, and somewhere along the way Jasper and I found ourselves alone together in the back room.
“You were very close with your grandmother, weren’t you?” said Jasper.
I finished putting the maps away and folded my arms awkwardly over my stomach.
“We were close,” I said.
“And then you went away?” he said, “and now you wander around the barn property at all hours.”
“I like the lake,” I said, blushing furiously. I knew Jasper suspected me of something, but I wasn’t sure what. Maybe I didn’t want to know.
“You didn’t do what I asked,” he said, his deep voice low.
“What’s that?” I said.
“Be careful,” he said, his eyes intense on my face.
Sparks burst up my spine.
“You mean the gun incident? That wasn’t really my fault,” I murmured, scuffing my foot.
He brushed his fingers under my chin and I looked up.
“Keep trying, for me, okay? I can’t stand the thought of anything happening to you.”
“I’ll try,” I said.
Jasper clearly wanted to say something else, but for some reason he was holding back. We stood there looking at each other for several moments, during which I could scarcely breathe.
“Your grandmother was serious when she told you to stay away from me, wasn’t she?” he said, his eyes clouding over. Aha, so what bothered him also bothered me.
“She told me to stay away from Wolfs, but she never knew you,” I said quietly.
“Same difference,” he said. “Do you ever think . . .” Jasper let the words hang there and my heart stopped. All I wanted to do was look up into his face, but I knew if I did it wouldn’t help the whole shaky knees thing.
Oh, forget it. I looked up.
Bright green eyes with flecks of molten gold were staring intently at me. Where was I? What were we talking about? Did I care? No, no, not at all.
“Hi,” he said, smiling.
If I wasn’t a goner before I sure was gone now. I gave him a shy smile.
“Hi,” I said.
His hand twitched at his side, and I wondered if he was trying to keep it from moving. Where did he want to place it? The side of my cheek would be nice. I wouldn’t mind that.
“Do you ever think, I mean, would you ever consider, going on a date with me?” he said, his voice warm.
My mind turned to mush just as my heart started to race. Was he asking me out or asking me to consider what I would say if he did ask me out?
“You have such pretty eyes,” he said, his voice so warm my knees wobbled. “Sometimes I’m looking at them and I forget about everything else.”
Just as I was about to respond with something eloquent, or about as eloquent as a car horn sounding, a harsh voice interrupted us. As if snow had suddenly been dumped over my head, my body went from hot to cold. Jasper’s grandfather was striding toward us, his eyes flashing. He gave me a curt nod, but that was my only acknowledgement.
“Can you come with me?” he said.
“Just a second,” said Jasper. He spared his grandfather one quick glance, but that was all. His grandfather continued to stand there in Liam’s back room, of all places, refusing to give us any privacy. Air had found its way into my lungs, luckily, because you need oxygen to stay alive.
“We can finish this later,” I managed to say. Why did I do that? Because Jasper’s grandfather wasn’t going anywhere, or to buy myself time?
Who was I kidding? His grandfather was never going to let us be anything.
Just as I spoke, Greer showed up. She took one look at the three of us and said, “My bad timing is getting better. Lemmi, you ready?”
I swallowed hard and nodded. I was shocked by what had been happening, but now that his grandfather had arrived, we apparently weren’t going to finish our conversation any time
soon.
Heart pounding in my ears, I whispered a quick goodbye and hurried away.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Detective Cutter called to say they’re going to charge Mrs. Luke, but they aren’t sure with what yet,” said Charlie. “He asked if I planned on writing an article about it, and when I told him I was, but purely from a professional point of view and not a personal one, he sounded surprised, but grateful.”
“Do you think our names can be kept out of it?” I wondered anxiously. This whole being the Witch of Mintwood secretly wasn’t as easy as I had hoped it would be.
“Shouldn’t be too hard,” said Charlie. “Detective Cutter isn’t going to talk to any other reporters.”
“You mean Hansen Gregory?” said Greer, wiggling her eyebrows.
That night I went to the lake with my friends and Paws to convince Kayla to come with me to the cemetery. I told her there was someone she needed to meet. Reluctantly, she agreed.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to get her to go?” said Paws as we drove to the cemetery.
“Yeah, who’s at the cemetery anyway?” Charlie asked.
“The man who killed her,” I said grimly.
The cemetery was dark when we arrived. Hopefully Funnel would be there.
“I hope that damn dog isn’t around,” Paws muttered.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” I said.
The three of us humans got out of the car, with Paws following close behind.
“Funnel came to visit me and said there was a ghost here who wanted to talk to me,” I said. “I’ve come to have a chat with him.”
We walked for a bit among the gravestones. I had told Kayla to watch us and stay out of view until I called to her, so at the moment she was nowhere to be seen, but I knew she was close.
“This is creepy,” Charlie whispered.
“You say that a lot,” said Greer.
“It’s true a lot,” said Charlie, still keeping her voice very low. “We’re three women alone in a cemetery at night. Creepy!”
“Should be fun,” said Greer, but her voice had taken on a grim note.
Witch Some Win Some (Witch of Mintwood Book 2) Page 18