I shook my head, thankful to hear that he was alive. “I’m sorry. I just had a really bad dream about him last night, and I was worried that maybe it was real.”
“Is that why you’re acting so strangely today?”
“Probably. Hey, I’d like to go see him and Gran, Mom. You know, make sure he’s alright.”
There was a pause on the other end of the phone. “Boy, that dream must have really shaken you up. You’ve never had a relationship with your grandfather.”
I glanced over at Holly, who sat smushed in the car next to me. “I’ve never had a relationship with him? Why’s that?”
“Mercy, I think that fall has really messed with your memories. Maybe we should run you into the Aspen Falls Medical Center for a quick evaluation.”
“No, Mom, I’m fine, I swear. I just want to go see Granddad. Where does he live again?”
“As far as I’m aware, the same place he’s lived for years.”
“And where’s that?”
“Mercy, please may I take you to the hospital?”
“Mom, just Granddad’s address. That’s all I need.”
She sighed on the other end of the phone. “He lives at the Institute. In the Stone family’s home.”
32
“And she didn’t say why he’s living with the Stones?” asked Alba as we climbed out of the car and onto the gravel driveway in front of Sorceress Stone’s home.
“Nope.” I frowned. Since I’d hung up the phone with my mother, thoughts of why my grandparents now lived with Sorceress Stone wouldn’t stop spiraling through my head, yet none of them seemed to make any sense. Granddad hadn’t died all those years ago, so we’d done what we’d intended to do when we’d gone back in time and stopped Auggie Stone from killing him. And in turn, we’d obviously stopped Gran from putting the curse on the Stone family. And now the two of them were living in Sorceress Stone’s home? It just didn’t make any sense.
The outside of the gray stone home was stark and somber and more than a bit intimidating as we all stood in front of the oversized wooden door, feeling like unwanted intruders.
I held up a fist to knock, but my hand paused in midair. “Alba, you knock. I can’t,” I whispered.
“Fine, I will.” She shoved me out of the way, moving me from center stage to stage right and positioning herself directly in front of the door. There wasn’t even a hint of hesitation as she reached up to give the heavy door knocker a steady thud, thud, thud.
We waited in silence, with my breath dammed up in my lungs. When no one answered, Alba reached up to knock again, but before her hand could touch the knocker, the door opened with a loud squeak. A weasel of a man with only a layer of thinning black hair on his otherwise bald head stood just inside. “Yes?”
“We’re here to see Clark,” said Alba.
“Is he expecting you?”
“Probably not.”
“Then I shall have to announce you. Whom shall I say is calling?”
“We’re not calling,” said Alba with a curled lip. “We’re here to see him.”
“Yes, ma’am, I understand that,” said the small man. “But whom shall I say is here to see him?”
That was when Reign stepped forward from the back. “Tell him it’s his grandchildren. Reign and Mercy.”
The butler bowed. “Very well. It will just be a moment.” He shut the door, leaving us to wait on the front step.
“This is so weird,” whispered Alba. “Where I’m from, if someone comes to your house to visit, you don’t just leave ’em hanging on the front doorstep.”
I didn’t say anything, but I thought it was strange as well. Gran had never been a very formal person. In fact, Gran preferred to keep things casual. I found it hard to believe that she’d want to live in a place that was as big as this one, so big that it had to have its own butler.
“It’s very rude,” agreed Sweets with a frown.
Two minutes later, the weasel was back. “Please come in,” he said with a slight bow. When all seven of us filed in, he closed the door behind us. Alba, Holly, Sweets, and I had all been in the Stone family home once before, when Jax had given us the unofficial and highly unapproved tour. We’d come in through a basement tunnel that connected the Institute and the Stones’ castle. Because of that, I wasn’t surprised to see the oversized ornate furnishings and the grand rugs and curved staircase. “Which of you are the grandchildren?”
Reign pointed at me. “That’s my sister, Mercy. I’m Reign.”
The butler nodded. “Only you two. The rest of you may wait here.” He gestured towards a high-backed wooden bench that reminded me of a church pew. “This way, please.”
Alba’s shoulders crumpled inward. She was disappointed she didn’t get to come along to meet my grandparents. I didn’t blame her. To come all this way and not get to find out what was going on would be irritating.
“We’ll tell you what happens,” I whispered to her as we passed by.
She grimaced. “Don’t forget a single detail.”
I waved goodbye to my friends before allowing the butler to lead us down a series of hallways. Finally we stopped at a pair of carved, sliding wood doors. He pushed one of the doors open and stepped inside. “Your guests, sir.”
“Thank you, Wallace.” I glanced around the room, searching for the face to go with the voice. We were in an enormous office library with dark cherry bookshelves lining every wall, except the one straight ahead of us, which was covered in windows overlooking the backyard, lending warmth to an otherwise stuffy room. Off in a corner, further back in the room sat a dark cherry desk with a high-backed black leather chair behind it, facing the backyard.
“Yes, sir.” Wallace slipped out the door, sliding it shut behind us, leaving us alone in a room with my grandfather.
And then the office chair behind the cherry desk swiveled around, and an older version of the grandfather we’d met earlier in the day was right there in front of us. His face displayed more age lines, and his hair had grayed, but it was definitely Granddad. I wondered if he would remember meeting us. To us it was only a few hours ago. To him, it was decades ago.
“So you’re Reign and Mercy,” he said, placing both hands on his desk and pushing himself up into a standing position. “Finally, I get to meet you!”
Finally he gets to meet us? What’s he talking about?!
Smiling broadly, he gestured us forward as he came around the desk. “Come, come. I’ve waited years to meet my grandchildren. I was beginning to think I might go to my grave without ever getting to lay eyes on the two of you!”
Reign glanced down at me as we slowly walked towards our grandfather. He was just as shocked to hear Granddad’s words as I was. “You mean we’ve never met before?”
Standing directly in front of Granddad now, we watched as his smile disappeared completely. He tipped his head sideways. “No, of course not. You thought we had? What has your mother told you?”
“Honestly, not much,” I said quietly. It was the truth. She hadn’t told us hardly anything about our grandfather, mostly because he’d died before she was old enough to remember much about him.
Grandfather stared at me then, extending his arms to put a hand on either of my shoulders. “So you’re Mercy.” He smiled wistfully. “You look like your mother.”
“That’s what I’ve been told.”
“How’s she doing?” he asked in little more than a whisper.
I shrugged. “She’s alright, I guess.”
Then Granddad moved on to Reign. “And you’re Reign. My first-born grandchild. A grandson.” Our grandfather blotted away the dampness in his green eyes. “I really thought this day might never come. I’m so sorry you didn’t grow up with me in your life.”
I swallowed back the lump that had begun to form in my throat. This was a lot for me to handle. I was sorry that I had grown up without him in my life too, and having him alive now was something I never would have dreamed of in a million years. I had so many questio
ns to ask him, and things I wanted to do with my grandfather, but for now, we had a lot of ground to cover. I knew I had to start there. “Granddad, we came to see you to find out what happened. Why haven’t we been in your life all these years?”
He inhaled a deep breath through his nose and then let it out slowly. “It’s a very long story. I assumed your mother would have told you all of this.”
I shook my head.
Granddad hung his head and sighed. Then he looked up at us and nodded. “Okay. I understand. Then it’s time we had a talk. Let’s sit down and hash this all out. Is that alright with the two of you? Do you have time?”
Reign and I nodded. It’s why we’d come. We had to find out the truth in this new reality that seemed to be getting odder and odder by the moment.
“Very good,” he said, then walked us over to a little sitting area. There were two sofas and a chair. The set was worn and didn’t quite match the rest of the room. “You’ll have to excuse the furnishings. My wife has been pestering me for years to replace this set, but it’s one of the few sofas in this whole house that I can sit comfortably on while reading the paper, and at my age that’s a blessing and worth its weight in gold.”
I looked around. “Where is Gran? I’d like to see her.”
He looked confused. “Auggie? She’s around here somewhere.” His chin jutted back slightly as if to show surprise. “You want to see her?”
“No, not Auggie,” I said, lifting a brow. “I want to see Gran. You know, Phyllis, our grandmother.”
“You want to see Phyllis?” Granddad’s face went ashen. “But, sweetheart, Phyllis is dead!”
“Dead?!” Reign and I shouted in unison.
My eyes were wide. Surely, I hadn’t heard him correctly. Surely my grandmother wasn’t dead?! “That’s not possible,” I breathed as my heart rate sped up.
Reign put a hand on either of my shoulders to steady me. “When did she die?”
Granddad’s eyebrows rose high on his forehead as he sucked in another deep breath. “Oh, years and years ago. I believe Linda was only about five years old when her mother passed.”
“But you mentioned your wife,” said Reign.
“Oh, yes, Auggie. Surely you’ve heard your paternal grandmother and I married? Of course, Auggie and her girls went back to her maiden name after her first marriage to the children’s father ended badly. She decided not to change it when we married.”
I had been so shocked to hear that Gran was now dead that I couldn’t have possibly heard what he just said correctly. I shook my head. “Wait. You’re not telling us that you actually married Auggie Stone, are you?” After everything we’d done. I still only had one grandparent, and now Auggie Stone was Granddad’s wife?
Granddad nodded. “Yes.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe your mother didn’t tell you any of this. I mean I assumed, but…”
“How long have you been married?” asked Reign.
“For a very long time. You see, when your grandmother died, Auggie and her children were staying with us. She’d just found out her first husband, your paternal grandfather, had left her for another woman, and she’d needed a place to stay. Of course, Phyllis, your grandmother, being the sweet, big-hearted woman that she was, allowed her old friend to stay with us until she got back on her feet. But then, Phyllis passed.” His voice softened and he took on a faraway look. After a few moments of silence, he seemed to remember that he had been telling a story. He glanced up at Reign and me, cleared his throat, and continued. “Auggie offered to stay through the funeral, to help us with the arrangements and to help me with little Linda while I grieved the loss of my dear, sweet Phyllis.”
As he explained, I felt Reign’s grip on my shoulder tighten. Gran had died after we’d left. Grandfather had never taken her and the kids to the bus stop! We’d left too soon! My eyes welled up with tears. Gran was really gone? We’d had our differences over the years, but I loved my grandmother. I didn’t want to see her dead!
He continued. “Once the funeral was over, I asked Auggie where she’d go, and she didn’t have a clue. She had no family to help her, and now her best friend was gone. She was grieving just as I was. So I told her she could stay awhile longer. And as things sometimes happen, we bonded over our mutual loss, and eventually we discovered that we’d fallen in love.”
“Grandfather, didn’t anyone ever warn you about Auggie Stone?” asked Reign.
“Warn me about her? What do you mean?”
I balked. “Didn’t anyone ever warn you that she liked to steal her men from Gran?”
“Steal her men from Gr—are you talking about Auggie’s first husband, Samson?”
“And you, obviously!” I said, louder than I intended.
“Well, I hardly think she stole me from Phyllis.” He chuckled. “Phyllis was gone before Auggie and I fell in love. But, yes, Phyllis did tell me about her college relationship with Samson. But she’d buried the hatchet, and because my wife was able to forgive and forget, I could hardly hold that against Auggie.”
I didn’t understand. How did he not remember us coming and spilling the lemonade and saving his life? That singular incident had become a major turning point in all of our lives! Tears began to run down my face.
“Granddad, how did Gran die?” I asked through the tightness I felt in my chest.
He shook his head sadly. “We’re really not sure. I was outside, working in my shop one day. Your grandmother had taken Auggie’s children and your mother into town to do some grocery shopping. They’d only just come home and unloaded the truck when Auggie spotted your grandmother outside in the backyard dead. She’d gone out to take the clothing off the line. We’re really not sure what happened. The doctor thought she’d had a heart attack. Though she was so young that I’ve always had a hard time believing it was her heart.”
“Did it ever occur to you that Auggie poisoned her?” I asked through a face of messy tears.
“Mercy,” whispered Reign. “Now’s not the time. You have to hold it together. We need answers right now, not accusations.”
“Auggie?! Poison my wife?!” Granddad shook his head. “No, she’d never! She loved Phyllis as much as I did. They were dear friends.” He looked at me sadly. “Is that what your mother told you happened?”
I ignored his question. “They weren’t dear friends,” I muttered. “Auggie was an evil, evil witch!” And I wanted to wring that evil witch’s neck for murdering my grandmother! Somehow, she must have erased Granddad’s memory of our little intrusion, and instead of lacing his drink with her potion, she’d gone after my grandmother.
“Mercy, I know your mother feels a certain way about her stepmother, and that’s partially my fault. Auggie didn’t treat her as well as I would have liked over the years. I get that. I should have been more assertive in putting your mother’s needs over the needs of my wife and her girls. Maybe then I would have gotten an opportunity to be in my grandchildren’s lives over the years.”
Reign shook his head. “I don’t understand. What happened? Why weren’t you in our lives?”
Granddad shrugged lightly. “When your mother became a teenager, she’d had enough of Auggie treating her poorly. She asked to be sent away to a boarding school. I suppose if that had never happened, she would have never met your father.”
“She would have never met Merrick?!” I said, in shock. “But Merrick lived with you, didn’t he? She would have already met him.”
He smiled. “Merrick lived with us for a very short time. But he was always very resistant to me. He didn’t want to be my son. He was Samson Smith’s son, and no matter what I tried, he disliked me immensely. When he turned eight, he asked to go live with his father and his new wife and their new child. Linda was only five or six when Merrick left. Auggie was so disappointed in Merrick’s decision to leave her that she never spoke of him in front of Linda or her girls. The girls stopped speaking of their brother as well. It was as if Merrick didn’t exist anymore. So when she went awa
y to boarding school, Merrick was only a vague memory, just a little boy she played with on the swings in her backyard. Then, when Linda was sixteen years old, she met him at her boarding school. Merrick was returning his stepsister to the very same boarding school, and the two of them just happened to meet again. From what I understand, it was love at first sight. The next thing I knew, she was pregnant with you, Reign.”
I looked up at my brother. He couldn’t tear his eyes off my grandfather. The story seemed to have him mesmerized. While I was over here mourning the loss of our beloved grandmother, he was there feeling feels over the meet-cute scene between our parents. It made me want to slap some sense into him.
“When Linda came home and told us that she was pregnant, we were understandably shocked and upset. She was so young, after all. But when Auggie discovered that her son was Linda’s beau and had fathered the baby, she became enraged. She demanded that I force Linda to leave our home, and because Merrick wanted nothing to do with his mother or me, he picked Linda up and we never saw or heard from her again. Years went by and I had no knowledge of anything about my daughter’s life. It was heartbreaking. I didn’t know if I had a granddaughter or a grandson. I didn’t know if my daughter was alright. I didn’t know where they lived or what they did for a living. It wasn’t until SaraLynn bought the Paranormal Institute for Witches that we discovered that Merrick already owned the Paranormal Institute for Wizards next door.”
“Granddad!” I exclaimed. “How could you let Auggie Stone kick our mother out of your house? How could you let her treat your own daughter like that?!”
Our grandfather’s mouth opened, and then promptly shut again. He scooted forward on his easy chair and leaned his elbows on his knees. “Look, you have to understand. Auggie, is a very… opinionated woman. After your grandmother died, Auggie did a lot to hold me together. She was strong when I was weak. I guess I let her get out of control, and by the time I realized how she really was with Linda, I’d lost my voice where my daughter was concerned.”
Reign and I both stared at him. I certainly couldn’t read my brother’s thoughts, but it didn’t sound like he’d tried very hard to be a father to my mother. Especially after she’d lost her own mother.
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