by Boyles, Amy
“My goodness, now this is the best display of fashion I’ve seen in ages.”
I turned to see Burt and Deidre beside me. Burt smiled, which I took to be a good sign. That had to mean that Garrick wasn’t breathing down his neck.
I rubbed his arm. “How’re you holding up?”
“Oh, you know, nothing a little retail therapy can’t help.” The punch in his voice didn’t hide the fact the he looked tired.
“Keep your spirits up.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “It wouldn’t have been so bad, but the sheriff showed up and started asking if I’d ever purchased a divination from Beverly.”
“Absolutely absurd,” Deidre said, her face pinched.
“So you never purchased one?” Which also meant the snake had lied, or was obviously wrong.
Burt shook his head. “No, of course I purchased one from Beverly. Heck, most of the teachers had. It’s just absurd that he would think that since I purchased a divination, that it would make me a murderer.”
I clamped my mouth shut. How was I supposed to go about wiggling more information from Burt without coming out and admitting what I knew?
Maybe I wasn’t supposed to. Perhaps I just had to come out and say it.
“The snake thought it recognized you.”
Burt’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, it recognized me?”
I swallowed the growing knot in my throat. Perhaps I should’ve just kept my mouth shut.
“The serpent told me that Beverly and her friends foretold fake divinations so they could turn around and promise to adjust the future by casting spells to change it.”
“What?” Burt’s eyes nearly popped from his head. “They did what? Scandalous.” He rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes. “So that’s why the police spoke to me. They think Beverly ruffled my feathers with some fake story of the future and for revenge I poisoned her own divination powder.”
He shook his head in disgust. “Darling, if I wanted to ruffle someone’s feathers, I’d grab a hair dryer and drink a frozen margarita in the process. Better to watch the show with a drink than not to watch it at all.”
Deidre rubbed his arm. “You would never have harmed that evil woman.”
Burt sniffed.
My heart leaped to my throat. I felt so bad for him, being caught in the middle like this. It wasn’t fair.
“I tell you who they should be looking at.” Burt adjusted his scarf to cover his neck better. “Those friends of Beverly’s. Ever since the murder they’ve been walking around the halls of the school as if they own the place.”
“It’s frightful.” Deidre pushed strands of hair from her eyes. “Absolutely dreadful.”
“What about Saltz Swift? Has he done anything about it?”
“Oh, they’re perfect angels whenever he’s around.” Burt shook his head. “But once his back is turned, they unleash their claws. You’re really missing out, Pepper. You sure you don’t want to return and give one more lecture, just for old time’s sake?”
I laughed. “No, thank you.”
Deidre grabbed Burt’s arm. “They’re starting up.”
Betty moved to the front of the platform. Mayor Battle, the current mayor, stood next to the women. Apparently he’d introduced them, but I’d missed it because I had been talking.
To be honest, I doubted that I had actually missed very much. Betty and Gilda stood on opposite sides of the platform ready to face off in a death match—I mean, mayoral platform talk.
Betty stood stiff as a wall in front of the crowd.
“Smile,” I whispered. “Smile for the people.”
Finally her mouth split into an awkward if not genuine smile. “First of all, I would like to thank Mayor Battle for his service to Magnolia Cove.”
The crowd clapped.
I took a moment to gauge their reactions to Betty. Most of the townsfolk watched her hopefully. It looked like they wanted her to succeed, which was great. Winning them over was half the battle.
My gaze snagged on Axel. He stood off to the side, his hands punched deep in his pockets. He watched me, his gaze steady.
Warmth spread over my body as if his gaze were filled with light, fluttering kisses that brushed my face and neck.
I smiled at him.
His lips tugged in return.
All was good between us. At least in this moment it was.
Betty said something that pulled my attention back to her.
“And since I pretty much already run this town, I figured it was a natural step for me to go ahead and make it official by being your mayor.”
The crowd’s mood soured. Betty seemed to notice because she stuttered into her next sentence.
“A-a-and as your mayor I will make sure Magnolia Cove remains a safe place for witches to live. Thank you.”
Betty was crimson from her forehead to her clavicle. She’d botched the speech. It wasn’t only evident to her but to the entire town.
“Oh no,” I groaned. “Maybe Gilda will be bad.”
Gilda smiled brightly, looking more like a governor than a mayor. Confidence dripped from every inch of gold that covered her body.
“Hey, y’all,” she said in that breathy voice of hers. “I want to just take a second to thank all of y’all for coming. Honeys, it is so good to see you. And before I get started on my speech, I’d just like to address something my opponent has said.”
I bit my lip. Please don’t let her talk about the knowledge.
Gilda continued. “Betty says she wants to keep us safe, but it’s well-known that the Craples own a scroll that will make us look like mortals to humans.”
Scroll? No one had said anything about a scroll.
Gilda continued. “Right now we stick out like sore thumbs. We may look mostly human, but even the smallest amount of magic will be noticed. It makes it dangerous for us to live around them. Don’t y’all remember Salem? Honeys, I want to keep us safe, and keeping us safe means making us safe from humans—outside of Magnolia Cove. Don’t y’all agree?”
A wave of encouraging murmurs washed through the crowd. Gilda pivoted toward Betty and addressed her.
“Madam Craple, if you want to lead this town, you need to start sharing your secrets, starting with the scroll that will keep us safe from humans!”
Cheers spewed from the crowd. My cousins shot me worried looks.
A sinking feeling invaded my soul. This scroll or knowledge would have to be investigated or else the welfare of my family would be at stake.
THIRTEEN
Betty was in bad spirits by the time we got home. She didn’t even pull out her corncob pipe and smoke a bowl of tobacco.
She must’ve felt horrible, y’all.
The whole scroll-knowledge thing was a touchy subject. Seeing as I didn’t want to broach it, I let it lie—at least with my family. Before we left the platform talk, I made arrangements with Deidre to speak with her about my family’s history.
I had to get to the bottom of this scroll business—one way or another.
“Betty, can I get you anything? Some cocoa or tea?” I pegged my purse and waited.
She rocked back and forth, staring at a spot on the wall.
I shot Cordelia a concerned look. “Betty?” I said louder.
Her head whipped in my direction. “Hmm?”
“Can I make you something to eat?”
“No.” She shook her head. “No, I’ll be all right.”
“You sure?”
She didn’t answer. My cousins and I headed off to bed, leaving Betty alone to suffer in silence.
The next morning everyone sat silent and stony cold at breakfast. Their grim faces killed me. I mean, almost every morning Amelia and Betty argued about something. Usually it was that my cousin should grow her hair out or that Amelia should date a new wizard that just moved into town.
Both conversations burned Amelia’s biscuits so bad she always looked like she wanted to strangle Betty. But now the atmosphere resembled a funeral. Ser
iously. The only life in the whole place was Hugo chewing on a bone.
Worse, I had no idea what kind of bone it was.
“What’s Hugo eating?”
From the cauldron Betty ladled up what looked like a bowl of gruel. Okay, I didn’t actually know what gruel looked like, but if it was gray and resembled oatmeal but not quite, then that’s what I stared at.
Betty waddled over with a bowl. “I bought him a sack of bones from the barbecue place. He’s slowly working through them.”
I sniffed. “What is this?”
“Oatmeal.”
“It doesn’t look like oatmeal. There’s chunks of stuff in it.”
“Those are apples.” Amelia narrowed her brows as if to suggest I not ask any more questions because she and Cordelia had already found out all there was to know and I wouldn’t like the answers I received.
She was right. If those tiny yellow chunks floating in a sea of gray lumpy stuff were apples, then I didn’t need to know anything else.
I’d be eating breakfast out.
No one said anything as they gazed into their bowls. Their long faces wormed into my brain, trying to drag me down with them. There was no reason for my family to take Gilda’s words so seriously.
They needed perking up, and I knew just how to do it.
I laid my spoon on the table beside the bowl of yuck. “Axel says he’ll mate with me for life.”
All movement stopped. Cordelia’s lids fluttered as her gaze landed on me. Amelia’s jaw actually dropped. A small smile tugged on Betty’s mouth.
Looked like I had their attention.
Heat flushed my face. I hadn’t meant to reveal such personal information, but his words had stuck in my head for days now, and I needed to talk about it.
“That’s what he learned when he left town—that he would mate for life.”
Betty chuckled. “I take it you were ready to move to the next plane of your relationship.”
Now my face really burned. “Ahem. Well, I, uh…that doesn’t matter. I’m telling y’all because I’m not sure what to do. I love him. I definitely love him, but all this talk of mates is scary. I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”
“But you wanted him back,” Amelia said. “When he left, you were so sad. I mean, like you were moping and everything. Of course you want to be with him.”
“I mean, yeah.” I didn’t sound very convincing.
Amelia’s voice grew agitated. “Everything you’ve done has been to help him. Look, you even created a potion that tamed the werewolf so he wouldn’t be slave to the beast. I don’t understand why you’re making such a big deal.”
“I don’t understand why you’re so angry.” I raked my fingers through my hair. “I thought you’d find this amusing.”
Cordelia placed a hand on Amelia’s fist. “I think what Amelia’s trying to say is that this should be a dream come true for you. You love Axel. Why wouldn’t you want to be mated to him?”
Now agitation bloomed in me. A conversation I thought would be a humorous diversion had quickly turned challenging.
“I don’t know…‘mated’ is a dated word. It sounds like I’ll be his cave woman or something.”
Amelia snorted. “Does Axel seem like the kind of man who would make you be a cavewoman?”
“No, but—”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“We’re talking about the rest of my life.” My words ejected from my mouth like bullets. “We’re talking about for life. Like the rest of it.”
Amelia’s face fell. She looked like I’d just stomped on her hopes and dreams. “I thought that’s what you wanted,” she whispered. “Happily ever after with Axel.”
“I did. I do.” I wove my fingers together and rested them to my nose as if in prayer. “When Axel and I first got together, we joked that our relationship didn’t mean anything, even though it obviously did. We got close, and then he left. Now he’s back. My feelings for him haven’t changed. In fact, they’ve grown, but we’re talking about—”
“Marriage?” Amelia finished for me.
A shiver ran up my spine. “No one’s said that word. Neither of us.”
“But that’s what scares you, isn’t it?” Cordelia said.
Silence crept into the room like a stink you couldn’t ignore.
“Yes, I suppose that’s what bothers me. Mating means marriage, but he hasn’t said anything about that.”
“Maybe he’s waiting to hear your response,” Betty said. “When you relax into the idea of being with him, maybe then he’ll consider next steps.”
“We haven’t even known each other a year.” I flattened my palms to the table. “Don’t you think we should know each other a long time before we make any type of giant leaps?”
“Not necessarily,” Amelia said. “When you know, you know.” Pink dusted her cheeks. “At least that’s what I’ve heard.”
Her words punched me in the gut. Of course. Amelia thought I was being immature and stupid. She wanted a relationship but hadn’t found the right person.
Here I’d found the right person and was having frozen feet. Forget cold feet. I’d gone straight to walking in blocks of ice.
“It’s not that easy,” I said. “We’re talking about something I’m not sure I’m ready for. This is lifetime stuff. It’s just—a lot. Part of me wishes Axel had never said anything. Then I wouldn’t have to think about it.”
“We all have to grow up sometimes.” Amelia’s voice cut knife-sharp.
“I am grown-up. I think I’ve matured a lot since I moved here.” I pressed my hand to my breastbone. “I’m not the same person who stepped into Magnolia Cove all those months ago. That person couldn’t pay her bills and wouldn’t have known a loser from a good guy unless he bit me on the butt. Heck, I didn’t even know it then.”
I laughed to break the tension, but all I received in return were blank stares. I scrubbed my scalp with my fingers. Why did a conversation that was supposed to be silly go so wrong?
I rose. “I’m a horrible person, is that what y’all want me to say?”
“Yes,” Cordelia shouted. Her face broke into a smile. All of us laughed. Finally the tension eased.
Amelia picked at her gruel. “Sometimes, Pepper, I think you take your relationship with Axel for granted.”
The sting of her words sliced deep in my heart. “I don’t think so.”
“You want to help him and be with him, but when he tells you the commitment level he’s willing to give you, you freak out. You’ll probably start blowing him off soon.”
“I’m not going to blow him off. I think he thinks so since I accepted a protection amulet from Rufus.”
“Why would you want to take a gift from Rufus?” Amelia lifted her spoon, and clumps of oats or whatever dripped into her bowl. “Axel already gave you a locket for protection. What more protection could Rufus offer?”
“I…I…” I didn’t know what to say. “I don’t know.”
“The best protection comes from love and a person who accepts that love unconditionally.” Betty chomped on a bite of food. “Axel has offered you that sort of love. He’s even given it to you in the form of the locket.”
I glanced at Cordelia for help. She shot me a wimpy smile. “You did take the amulet from Rufus.”
I covered my face with my hands and groaned. “I know, but I didn’t think I was doing anything really bad when I took it. I now know how Axel must’ve seen it—that I have a thing for Rufus. I don’t.”
“But you’re letting him get between you and Axel,” Amelia said. “That’s what’s happening. You’re not trying to stop it, either.”
“I am. I have. Rufus knows how I feel about Axel. He knows I want to be with him.”
He did, right? I’d told him. Rufus knew. I hated that everything they were saying made me question myself—my words, my choices, everything.
“But does Axel know how you feel?” Amelia prodded.
It was enough. I’d had enough
. For the past few days all I’d done was explore my feelings about Axel, trying to find out if I was ready for a crazy lifetime mating thing.
I’d come up blank.
“Does Axel know how you feel?” Amelia asked again.
“I don’t know how I feel!” I shouted it so loud the neighbors probably heard and were spelling their ears to grow so they could hear our conversation better.
I sank back onto the chair. “I don’t know how I feel. I thought I did. I love him. I don’t want to be with anyone else, but I’m not ready to tell him that I want to be his life mate.”
“Why not?” Amelia had asked it. It was a simple question, and yet the words lit a fire in my gut that burned with frustration.
“Because what if I’m wrong?” They stared at me in silence. “What if I’m wrong? What if for some stupid reason I’ve lied to myself about my feelings for him? Before I met Axel, I couldn’t pick a good guy. Y’all know that. I’m so afraid I’m wrong. What if I ruin him?”
They stared at me.
“Y’all see? It’s not because I’m afraid of being dragged around by Axel. Heck, I’d probably let him drag me by my hair if he asked. Yes, I’m that crazy about him. But what if I’m the wrong choice for him? What if…what if I’m not enough?”
Betty frowned. “But you’ll be mated.”
“And what if that still isn’t enough? What if he’s bound to me but later realizes that I’m not what he wants? He’ll be forced to be with me because of the whole stupid mate-for-life thing. But what if that’s not what his heart will want—in the future, I mean. He says it’s what he wants now. But what if that changes and he eventually realizes I’m not a good mate?”
Betty pushed her bowl forward. “Is this because he left you?”
I quirked a brow. “What?”
“Are you saying all of this because he left once?”
I knuckled a tear from under my lashes. “Maybe. Yes. I don’t know. I think so but—it’s just what I’m afraid of.”
Amelia and Cordelia exchanged sympathetic looks. Cordelia reached across the table and took one of my hands. Amelia grasped the other one.
“Have you told Axel this?”
“What? Why I’m afraid? No. What’s he going to say? He’s already explained to me that he knows what he wants.”