But that little girl. She wasn’t going to let Lex assume that little girl was the killer and ruin his relationship with her. Besides…those cool blue eyes had looked up at her and touched Scarlett’s soul and there was simply no way she would ever see Amelie realize that her dad had been afraid she’d killed someone. Even accidentally. Something like that—when it wasn’t true—it would destroy whatever they had.
Scarlett told Lex, “I’m not going to say it’s ok. It’s not.”
“So we aren’t friends anymore?”
Scarlett rubbed her hands over her face and then admitted, “I don’t know. I need…I don’t know.”
His phone rang as she stopped speaking, and he glanced at the screen and said, “It’s Amelie’s grandma.”
Scarlett raised her brows. She wasn’t feeling nice enough to give him privacy, and he didn’t step away. She hoped that meant that he was over lying to her.
“Where’s Ashley?” He asked without any sort of greeting, “I’ve called her about 20 times.”
Scarlett couldn’t hear the reply, but she watched as Lex’s shoulders and jaw tighten.
“What do you mean?” His voice was a whip that made even Scarlett jump.
Scarlett glanced around to see if anyone else was eavesdropping, but mostly she was glancing around to avoid Lex’s gaze. There was no way she was stepping away right now.
“She’s where?”
Scarlett jumped again, realizing she had never seen Lex truly angry. Even under the potion he’d been unknowingly dosed with, he hadn’t been like this. That made her wonder if—even then—he had been able to control what he was capable of. Regardless…
“No, you aren’t coming to get her.”
There was a murmur and Lex cursed and then said, “I don’t care. The custody agreement is between Ashley and me. If Ashley took off, it doesn’t default to you. Amelie is staying here.”
Lex rubbed his brow and then said, “I don’t care if she’s a hobgoblin.”
The murmur grew louder and Scarlett guessed that Amelie’s grandma was full on shrieking at Lex.
His voice was cold and emotionless when he said, “I think we both know you won’t win that, but try me.”
He clicked the power on his phone and hung up on Amelie’s grandma. He hit another tree and then snarled, “She just left. Ashley just left Amelie with her mom and went on some road trip with her new boyfriend. Who does that? Ashley's been gone for 3 months. She abandoned Amelie.”
Scarlett’s brows rose as she thought—well my dad did, but she didn’t say anything. Not with how he was talking.
“How could she do that to Amelie? And then Amelie took off because her grandmother is an idiot. Amelie told me she just walked to the bus stop with a forged note and a bus ticket she’d bought online.”
Scarlett took his wrist, just to anchor him. She realized he was so angry he was shaking with the fury of it.
“Scarlett, Ashley left three weeks ago. Three weeks! And no one even told me. What did they think I’d do when I showed up for my visit? That I wouldn’t even care?”
“Take a deep breath,” Scarlett told him, channeling nature magic. He stared at her, but she raised her brows and as he breathed in she fed him the strength of the roots. The magic wouldn’t remove his fury, but it would balance him out. The shaking in his hand stopped and he pulled away.
“Thanks,” he said. “Tell your mom I’ll be there for Amelie soon. I need to check on some things.”
Scarlett didn’t tell him off like he deserved. He could text as well as she could, but she might be a little too furious to know if that was a reasonable request or not. Given that she was all jumbled up inside she sent the text and tried to think puffy cloud thoughts all the while reminding herself of the things she liked about Lex. She didn’t want to kick him to the curb until she was sure that’s what she wanted to do.
Chapter 4
“What the…” Harper glanced down at Ella and Luna and then stumbled cutting off her curse and adjusting. “What the what with the windstorm, huh?”
“Gus is back,” Scarlett said flatly.
Harper’s brows rose at Scarlett’s tone.
“My dad’s back.”
“What?” Ella squealed, grabbing Scarlett’s hand.
The wind picked up outside again, and Harper muttered a low curse.
“Lex is a dad. His daughter is a hobgoblin who may or may not have…” Dang it, Scarlett thought, Ella could spell now too. How was she supposed to keep secrets? Scarlett thought for a second and then pulled out her phone to text Harper, “Killed the creeper bus driver with her magic run amuck.”
Harper choked as she read and muttered another inaudible curse, but Scarlett could read lips. Ella probably could too now. At this point, Scarlett was going to let it go.
“I want pizza,” Scarlett said as the wind threw a branch into the side of their building. Harper raised a brow at Scarlett. “Shut it.”
A whole swirl of leaves rushed down the street, were lifted into the air, spun around, and then pushed on.
“Really?” Harper asked.
“Ok, fine. So. I want pizza. Netflix. My bakery is down, so I’m sleeping in. I’m gonna sleep in so good. I’m gonna sleep like a bear in hibernation. I’m gonna sleep like you do most nights.”
“Quinton and I were hoping that the girls could come to the arcade with us,” Harper lied. “Maybe after pizza and ice cream? A sleepover at my place”
“Great,” Scarlett said, not even pretending that hadn’t been what she was angling for.
Harper knocked on the window of Quinton’s bookshop, and Scarlett ran into the Witchery next to the bakery for a bath bomb. She left with a bath bomb, spelled tea, spelled cocoa, a calming candle, and a tiny bottle of wine. She also left a very worried looking proprietor staring as Scarlett joined her family.
“Quinton ran ahead to get a table,” Harper said, explaining the lack of Quinton, Luna, and Ella. He was Harper’s very opposite, very perfect for her, boyfriend. They somehow hadn’t caught the attention of Mystic Cove’s gossips yet, and Scarlett was pretty sure it had to do with how different they were from each other. It was like people couldn’t imagine the two of them together, so they just didn’t see the obvious.
“Are you ok?” Harper asked, taking Scarlett’s wrist and holding her back for a second
Given the way the east wind was raking the town over, Scarlett was pretty sure that Harper knew the answer. Scarlett opened her bag and grabbed the spelled oils that Tessa had thrown into the bag. There was one called ultra-calm. Scarlett pulled out the tiny rollerball and rubbed it over her temples, the back of her neck and both wrists. It smelled of magic and lavender and Scarlett pressed her wrist to her nose, breathing deeply.
“So no, then?” Harper finished. “I’ll take the girls for the night. You sleep and do what you can for the bakery.”
“I think,” Scarlett sighed, “I’m going to have to find out about this bus driver. Maybe even call Gram.”
“Mmmm,” Harper said. Her nose was scrunched and then she said, “Don’t go before noon. Sleep.”
“I don’t envision sleeping much tonight,” Scarlett admitted.
“How mad at Lex are you?” If anyone would get how Scarlett felt about parenting, it was Harper.
“I can’t even decide.”
They passed two shops and Abby stepped out of her office. Right after Scarlett had moved back to Mystic Cove Abby had been arrested for blackmail and embezzling. Scarlett wouldn’t have thought she’d get out of jail quite so quickly. “You the reason we’re facing a hurricane?”
“I didn’t know you were out of jail,” Scarlett told Abby just to see her flinch.
“Good behavior. Get it under control. I’d like my roof to stay on my place.”
Scarlett bit back a retort, but Harper asked snidely, “Did your landlord hold your stuff while you were in jail?”
“I wasn’t the killer. I was blackmailed. I was a victim. Bullied for life by Mysti
c Cove mean girls,” Abby sniffed and glanced around as if expecting someone to be on her side.
“Yeah. Right. Go away,” Harper ordered the sour little woman.
“Everyone knows you’re all upset about Gus and his new love,” Abby said. “Especially since you can’t keep your power under control. Poor Scarlett Oaken the woman no one wants.”
Harper stepped forward, leaning into Abby, saying softly, “I suggest you walk away.”
“Oh look,” Abby said snidely. “The only one who cares about you is your fake sister who people want even less.”
The wind picked up and slammed Abby into the wall again. She screamed, but the sounds of it were snatched away by the east wind.
“Let me go,” Abby pled to Scarlett, but it wasn’t her magic that had put Abby against the wall. Harper cleared her throat and stepped back. As she did, the east wind settled back into Scarlett’s rage.
Harper sniffed once and then said menacingly, “I believe I told you to go away.”
“The sheriff will hear of this,” Abby cried and then ran away.
Scarlett handed Harper her calming oil and said, “You should probably sniff that.”
“I didn’t think the east wind liked me,” Harper told Scarlett conversationally and without an ounce of regret. “I guess you rubbed off on me.”
“You’re not a fake sister,” Scarlett told Harper.
“I know,” Harper said simply.
“You want me to beat her up and pound it into her?”
“Yes,” Harper said instantly.
“Ok,” Scarlett said, twining her arm through her sister’s and said, “I’m a good hair puller. And I could be scrappy.”
“You’re not. I’ll take care of it.”
Scarlett considered asking Harper not to, but instead, she said, “Don’t get arrested.”
“Please,” Harper said, glancing over and grinning mischievously. “I don’t think Lex will risk your wrath by arresting me when he’s still trying to get out of the doghouse. I figure I’ve got a grace period of vengeance without consequence. Now to shake upright Quinton and the girls and wreak havoc.”
Scarlett saw Gram at a table in the pizzeria. “Do you think they’re here on purpose? To make me crazy?”
The table contained Henna, Gram, Mr. Jueavas, and Mr. Throdmore. Scarlett’s eye twitched, but she nodded to Quinton and then took the girls to say hello to Gram. The moment they’d kissed her cheek, Scarlett shooed them away and said, “Tell me about Leroy Jenkins.”
“Heard he died,” Gram said. “He always was a sorry piece of work. As I recall your mom hates him.”
“My mom? Why?”
Gram’s gaze met Henna’s, and they shifted uncomfortably.
“Why?” Scarlett’s eyes narrowed on them, and she said, “Tell me.”
“Your dad used to get in trouble with him,” Gram said. “Your dad was an idiot. Leroy was an idiot. That’s his name…Jeb…Jeb was an idiot.”
“Peter,” Mr. Jueavas added, “And Greg. The 5 of them grew up together, got in trouble together, none of them seemed to grow out of it much. I heard Greg got arrested just last year for car theft for the 3rd time. You think he’d learn.”
Scarlett shook her head at that news and glanced at her Gram. Given how Gram’s gaze was fixated on Scarlett’s face, she figured Gram knew about Scarlett’s dad being in town.
“Well. Pizza,” she turned and walked away before Gram jabbed at that open wound in front of everyone.
“Coward,” Gram said loud enough for Scarlett to hear.
Scarlett paused and then said over her shoulder, “Crone.”
* * * * *
Scarlett called her mom and said, “Tell me about Leroy.”
Mom answered with, “We need to talk about your dad.”
“Tell me about Leroy, please.”
Scarlett rose and crossed to the fridge for the cold pizza. The girls were excited about their sleepover, so Scarlett had no guilt about the bubble bath she’d taken, the calming oil she’d rubbed into her skin, or the way she’d eaten the dark chocolate ice cream bar she kept hidden at the back of the freezer behind the peas, so she didn’t have to share with her daughters.
“Scarlett…I don’t want this to come between us.”
“Can you explain to me why Dad showed up, after all this time, without a word and expects me to be cool with it?”
“I ran into him when I went to Boston a few weeks ago.”
Scarlett started flicking the onions from the pizza because she didn’t know what to say about that. About how Mom had said nothing. About how whatever had happened between her mom and her dad had somehow led him here.
“Scarlett?”
Scarlett flicked the next onion too hard and it flew past the nose of her dog who didn’t have the wisdom to avoid it given how onions weren’t great for dogs.
“I don’t know what to say,” Scarlett said. “I…”
“I…look…I didn’t know how to bring it up.”
Scarlett stabbed her fork into the pizza and shoved it away. She took a deep breath and said, “Please tell me about Leroy.”
“Please talk to me.”
“I can’t,” Scarlett snapped. “I just can’t. I am so mad at you and at him that I want to scream. But mostly, I don’t understand how you could just spring him on me like that. I don’t see how you could talk to him until he felt comfortable enough to come here. All the while without telling me. I thought we were trying to fix things between us. And yet…here we are.”
“I am trying to fix things. Scarlett…it’s complicated.”
“How?” Scarlett demanded. “HOW?”
“I…I told him to leave when you were little. It was my fault.”
“You told him to leave?” Scarlett would have sat down if she weren’t already.
“He was into so much bad stuff. He and Leroy and those other idiots…they were running scams and getting into trouble, and I didn’t want it to effect you.”
“Did you tell him not to call?”
Mom cleared her throat and then said, “No.”
“For my whole life did you prevent him from calling me?”
“No.”
Scarlett rose and crossed to the window to look out. What would she have done if that were her ex, Grant, who was a criminal? Say what you might of Grant—he was an idiot, a selfish jerk, and a cheater—he wasn’t a criminal. Scarlett—couldn’t blame her mom for telling Dad to leave. The anger kicked in because Scarlett was in her 30s and her mom had never explained the whole story.
“Why does everyone lie to me?” Scarlett asked. “Why am I so disposable? So easy to leave? Dad, you, Grant, Lex, Gus…the only people who aren’t lying to me right now are my daughters and Harper. Even Maeve has her secrets.”
“Scarlett,” Mom said shocked, “You are not disposable.”
“There seems to be compelling evidence to the contrary. But, I’m done. We’re counteracting all the witching I’ve done to calm down. I’m done.”
“Scarlett,” Mom said, but Scarlett didn’t wait. She hung up and then turned her phone off. Harper had a key to her apartment and was down the hall if the girls needed her. Anyone else could wait until Scarlett turned her phone back on.
Chapter 5
Gram knocked on Scarlett’s door at 6:00 am. Scarlett stumbled to the door and actually fell into the doorjamb as she opened it.
“What? Huh?”
Gram handed Scarlett a cup of coffee and said, “Your mom cried most of last night. I could hear her. You should be nicer to her.”
Scarlett stumbled to the couch, grabbing a throw to wrap around her shoulders, and asked the embers in the fireplace to flare up.
“I am nice.”
“You broke her heart.”
“No I didn’t.”
“You might have.”
“You don’t know anything about it,” Scarlett said scratching at her face and wishing she was still asleep. Her Gram really did need a little nippy dog like Luna
said. One that couldn’t sleep through the night without needing to go out.
“You’re a brat.”
“You’re an interfering crone,” Scarlett said as she yawned.
“You always were spoiled rotten.”
“Do you know that I could have slept in?”
Gram’s evil smile answered that one.
“Why are you here?” Scarlett yawned so hard it hurt. She wouldn’t have watched so many episodes of Criminal Minds if she thought Gram would ruin her one chance to sleep in.
“To help you find the killer of course.”
“Lex’s apartment is like 3 streets over. He’s who you want.” Scarlett curled her legs in, so her toes would be covered by the throw and wondered why she didn’t have a real blanket on the back of her couch.
“To help you find the killer.”
“He’s the sheriff.”
“You’re good at this, and I know you’re already thinking about it.”
“Please let me sleep,” Scarlett said, nuzzling her face into her knees.
Someone knocked on the door and Scarlett moaned.
“Aren’t you going to get it?”
Scarlett shook her head.
“It’s Henna.”
Scarlett closed her eyes and wished alone thoughts. They were unsuccessful since her evil Gram let Henna in.
“I told you that we shouldn’t come so early,” Henna said brightly.
“That,” Scarlett said. “Exactly that.”
“She’s awake now,” Gram said without an ounce of remorse.
“I could go back to sleep,” Scarlett said, her jaw cracking on a new yawn.
“Don't be stupid,” Gram said, “Your ovens are only going to be down for so long. And with holiday baking, you won’t be able to prance around town like you normally do, leaving the bakery to Henna.”
Hobgoblins and Homework Page 3