Half-Moon Manor

by Darcy, A. J.

  Henry turned red, “About that. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that rumor.” He turned redder and stammered, “It’s not what you think.”

  Olivia froze and felt the buzzing around her increase as she backed away from Henry. “I’m going to get a ride with my aunt.”

  Striding away from the boys, she felt everything about the exchange shifting into ‘wrong’. She could still turn around, send Jonathan away, and leave with Henry. Right then she would rather deal with the headache. How could Henry possible explain this away?

  Knocking on her aunt’s office door, she called out, “Aunt Melissa?”

  “Come on in, Olivia,” looking up, Melissa Kirkland saw her brother’s eyes in her niece’s face. “What’s wrong?”

  “I need a ride home.”

  Looking at her niece, “Was I supposed to give you a ride today?”

  “No,” Olivia mumbled, the buzzing becoming louder. “I’m supposed to be in Henry’s car right now.”

  “But you aren’t,” her aunt said, stating the obvious.

  “No.”

  “Jonathan?”

  “Yes.”

  “The rumor about Winnie and Henry?”

  “Yes.”

  “Sometimes my daughter is an idiot and Jonathan is an insensitive jerk.”

  Olivia smiled, ignoring the comment about Winnie, “He can’t take a hint.”

  “Henry will get him to come around.” Melissa closed her desk drawer. “You should talk to Henry. My mom did something similar to Weston and your mom and they lost almost eighteen years because of it. We all lost seventeen years because she was afraid of letting her son marry a Mason witch.” Turning out the light in her office, “Let’s finish this conversation in the car. Maybe you are supposed to be going home with me today after all.”

  Olivia closed her eye for a second, “No I still hear too much buzzing.” Jogging to catch up, “I’m not where I’m supposed to be right now. At least my backpack isn’t where it’s supposed to be.”

  “I bet that gets annoying.”

  “Yes, it does.”

  Once they were safely inside Melissa’s car, Olivia sighed, knowing that she would have to take some extra strength pain pills when she got home. She reasoned that hearing the Greene/Whitmore story would be worth it.

  Melissa waited no time in starting the story; she knew she only had about fifteen minutes until they made it to Half-Moon Manor. “When your grandparents and my parents were your age your grandfather was considered a catch. The catch if you ever heard my mother tell it. Martin Whitmore was the son of the town lawyer and if that wasn’t enough he was tall, golden, and handsome. Even today women will sigh when they see him out. He was the prom king and voted most likely to succeed for his graduating class. He was also dating Nadine Paterson. Everybody expected them to be engaged by graduation. It was expected back then. Nadine was tall, dark, and slender. She was the head cheerleader and head over heels for Martin. They were seventeen years old and everything was already planned out for them down to the smallest detail. He was going to inherit his mother’s estate, Half-Moon Manor, as soon as he graduated college. They would be married in the backyard. It was going to be perfect.”

  Olivia looked at her aunt, “What happened?”

  “Your grandfather went out to the movies right before graduation and saw Emilia Mason outside buying tickets with her best friend. It was love at first sight before she had even looked up at him. When they made eye contact for the first time his whole world shifted, but he wisely waited until he could talk to my mother.” Melissa stopped talking and shook her head. “Mother did not take it too well. Up until her death she retold that story. My father divorced her after your father graduated high school. He couldn’t take her ranting and raving about Weston dating ‘that Whitmore girl’, and the constant reminders that he was not her first choice, and that she had only married him because he was the banker’s son. He hated her for what she did to Weston and your mother.”

  Olivia sat stunned, “My grandmother was mean,” was all that she could get out.

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Melissa smiled. “Your father and amazing aunt take after your grandfather.”

  “Dad,” she froze, still not used to the taste of the word in her mouth, “doesn’t talk about him.”

  “He misses him is all. He also didn’t get to apologize to Mom about blaming her for his divorce.”

  “Was he right?”

  “Sadly, yes. Mom pushed Beverly on him. She was heard ranting, ‘Those witches won’t get the two most important men in my life!’”

  “Poor Grandfather Greene.”

  Pulling into the driveway, Melissa saw Victoria watching from the porch. Waving to her, “Tell your mother that I said hi.”

  “I will. Thank you for the ride.”

  Walking up the sideway, she braced herself for her mother’s worried reaction, “Aunt Melissa says hi.” Olivia ignored where Henry was sitting on the porch swing.

  “Where were you?”

  “I had to wait for Aunt Melissa to be able to leave.”

  “Why weren’t you with Henry?”

  Looking over at the dejected boy on her porch, “Henry deems it necessary to keep important details from me.” Without another word or look in Henry’s direction Olivia disappeared inside the house.

  Looking at Victoria for advice, Henry waited. Victoria had gone still. Once she shook her head he asked, “Well?”

  “She’ll forgive you. You will both be sitting on this porch wearing…” Victoria paused and blinked. “I can’t tell you that. All I can tell you is to not give up.”

  “I did get Jonathan to leave her alone.”

  “That’s a start. Keep him away from her. My daughter has had too many creeps in her life.” When Henry looked at her questioningly, “You don’t want to know and she isn’t aware of most of them. I hope.” Victoria looked at Henry intently, “You cannot escape Fate when you are a Mason witch, even when your last name is different. Believe me when I tell you that most of us have tried.”

  Victoria paused before saying one last thing, “Don’t give up, Henry, but let Olivia have her space too. Let her have the play before you push the issue again. Let her miss you.”

  “That sounds manipulative.”

  “That’s giving my stubborn daughter time to realize that you are supposed to be right next to her.”

  Olivia only had two options that she could currently see: talk about the omission with Henry or to ignore it.

  She could not understand why hearing the rumor – she knew it was a rumor – had bothered her as much as it had. It was not like Henry had to tell her what Winnie had done; Winnie should have told her. But it was hearing the rumor being used against Henry, by Jonathan of all people, that hurt. She should not have been blindsided like that.

  It was an uncomfortable feeling. It was a feeling she did not want to acknowledge. When Jonathan had told her that rumor Olivia knew that it had never happened. As often as she would talk to Henry during their time apart she knew that he would have told her if he was ever in a relationship.

  Besides, they did not even know that Winnie and Olivia were cousins when Winnie started that rumor. Olivia was, at the time, just some random nobody that may or may not have existed in Winnie’s mind.

  Why did hearing that rumor bother her so much?

  There was no reason to be jealous.

  Jealous! Her! Of a stupid rumor!

  It was not like they had any proof that Henry was supposed to be her ‘IT’. It could be somebody else…

  It could be somebody else.

  Olivia started pacing her room again.

  What if it was somebody else? It would tear Henry apart if she was supposed to be with somebody else. That was part of the problem with emotional attachments and stupid familial curses.

  This was the main reason why they never started dating officially Olivia acknowledged in the back of her mind. What if on her eighteenth birthday she made eye c
ontact with somebody else and the earth moved and he was a jerk? Or Jonathan?

  Or someone in a relationship with somebody else like with her grandparents? Could she handle being the other woman?

  What if nothing happened the first time she made eye contact with Henry? How would it tear apart the foundations of the eventual relationship that they were slowly building?

  “Quit over-thinking it,” her mother stated from the doorway.

  “What if my meant to be isn’t Henry?”

  Victoria chuckled at her daughter’s panic. “Is this because you heard a stupid rumor?”

  “Well, yes.” Olivia paused, “For a moment I was jealous. Jealous! Of Henry and Winnie and a stupid lie! It’s ridiculous!”

  “That’s emotions for you.”

  “What do I do?”

  Victoria watched her daughter pacing from her spot against the door. “Maybe you should take a break. Your aunt is going to post the cast list tomorrow and we know just how focused you get when you are in the middle of a production.”

  “What will I tell Henry?”

  “I’ll tell Henry to give you your space.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  November

  Holidays in the Whitmore household were a mixed bag of emotions.

  Martin Whitmore was thankful to have his daughter and granddaughter underneath his roof for Thanksgiving; it had been far too long since there had been merry voices echoing throughout the old house. It reminded him of the time from before Victoria went away to college when Emilia was still alive. Scents of turkey and rosemary, pumpkin and cinnamon, drifted throughout the house.

  Victoria was relieved; she had already seen the perfect spread of turkey and dressing, cranberry sauce, real mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole spread out on the rarely used dining room table. She saw various family members including Weston and Melissa’s father stationed around the table.

  Olivia was stressed. The very talent of knowing what goes where was constantly buzzing as she tried to work in the kitchen with her mother. Nothing was going where it was supposed to and there were so many different components to the meal itself that Olivia’s head was spinning on top of her normal headache. No pain pills were going to do her any good today.

  “Olivia, calm down. Melissa and Winnie will be here soon and you can go run lines with Winnie.”

  “We don’t have enough people.”

  “Invite Henry, Michael, and Sophia over.”

  Victoria watched her daughter carefully as she made that suggestion. She knew her daughter was being ridiculous about forgiving Winnie for her rumor. She had to forgive her cousin since they both had starring roles in the winter production of A Midsummer’s Night Dream. But she had yet to forgive Henry for not telling her about the ugly rumor. The elements needed for Victoria’s vision to happen have even occurred on several occasions with no tangible results. So still they – Victoria and Weston – waited until their daughter wised up and forgave Henry for something he had no control over.

  “I think they went to visit their grandparents near the river,” Olivia carefully answered. She managed to leave out Henry’s name even as her tongue prompted her to let it roll off or her tongue. “Besides, Sophia is still suspicious of Winnie even though Winnie has sworn a vow of singleness until the play is over.”

  “That’s just two more weeks, right?”

  Rolling her eyes, “That’s next week, Mom.”

  Hiding her grin, Victoria stayed mixer deep in potatoes. She knew a little distraction would help her daughter calm down. She observed the mixer and its contents as a “healthy” glob of butter went into the potatoes followed by a decent sprinkling of salt and pepper.

  “The set is amazing. It’s much better than I expected considering the theatre budget. Aunt Melissa is amazing at set design and even lets everybody involved to throw out their own ideas. The Art department – you should see the art teacher’s hair – helps out during their classes and everything is almost ready for the first dress rehearsal on Tuesday.”

  Victoria remained silent as Olivia removed the green bean casserole out of the oven and slid the sweet potato dish into the center of the oven. “Just a few more minutes,” she heard her daughter whisper before closing the oven door.

  “We have lights hanging from above the stage and they are mixed in with these tree branches that look like willow branches,” Olivia rambled. “One of the freshmen stage hands said that weeping willow trees always made her think of fairy houses and fairies and Aunt Melissa went with the idea. Behind the trees and hanging branches the Art classes painted a night sky with actual constellations using glow in the dark paint in a few places to highlight the most familiar constellations.”

  “Don’t forget about the floor,” Winnie reminded Olivia as her parents followed her into the kitchen. “Where do we put the pie?”

  “Kitchen table,” Olivia pointed. “The grass was your idea; why don’t you tell it?”

  “We used reeds and that grass that you find around the reeds…”

  Melissa interrupted, “Still reeds, dear.”

  “Thank you,” Winnie grinned. “We put that stuff around the trees and on the left and right edges of the stage that lead into the wings. It looks incredible. We weren’t certain that it would work but it looks amazing.”

  “They are on rolling flats for set changes,” Melissa stage whispered to Victoria. “How are you doing?” Melissa asked in her normal voice, not noticing when her husband disappeared into the living room with Weston and Martin.

  “Very much pregnant,” she groaned in response while rubbing her lower back. “I only have a few more weeks to go. I’m hoping that I can at least make it past next weekend and the theatre performances. The doctor seems to think that he’ll be a Christmas baby.”

  “Any names yet?”

  “We keep talking around the M’s because of our fathers.”

  Melissa looked at Victoria curiously.

  “Weston keeps insisting that this baby is our second chance. He doesn’t care that Martin Matthew Matthias Michigan Morgan Jacob Last-Name-Not-Yet-Determined is not his. He just keeps wondering if he can find George Bell and get him to sign over his paternal rights.”

  Melissa froze in mid-chop with a carrot now wedged on the knife, “Bell?”

  “Yes.”

  “George Bell?”

  “Yes.”

  “George Alexander Bell?”

  “His middle name did start with an A, I think.”

  Yelling towards the other room, “Weston, I think we have a problem!”

  The girls watched as their mothers disappeared into the living room. “What was that about?”

  “I don’t know,” Olivia whispered, quickly searching for anything that told her that something was out of place. She found nothing. “All I do know is that the sweet potatoes need to be on that pot holder,” she responded, pointing to the spot next to the green bean casserole.

  “The timer hasn’t gone off yet.”

  “We still have to put the marshmallows on top.”

  The mashed potatoes went in a pretty dark green bowl.

  “Do you really think your parents will actually call your little brother Michigan?”

  Laughing, “No, they won’t. Yesterday it was Marshmallow, Macaroon, and Macaroni and Cheese. I think Mom was hungry at the time.”

  “Who is George Bell?”

  “Little Michigan’s biological father. D – Weston can’t legally give Macaroon his last name until George signs over his rights, but Mom does not want George to know that she was expecting.”

  “They could get married. It’s not like it isn’t a long time coming.”

  Olivia paused while moving the salt shaker over an inch, “Mom said that something still needed to happen for that vision of the future to happen.” Turning to dump the marshmallows on the sweet potatoes, “Sometimes I wonder if Mom feels as if her visions are just as much of an annoyance as I find my senses.”

  “What do you
mean?”

  “Sometimes she waits to do something until she knows that it’s the right thing to do. Very rarely does she make an uninformed decision and when she does you know there’s a reason for it.”

  Winnie looked down at the glop of marshmallows that Olivia did not smooth out. The lack of order surprised her. Moving a few around, “I have a question,” she finally stated.

  “Go ahead.”

  “Did you set Michael and Sophia up?”

  “Indirectly; his class ring is supposed to be around her neck.”

  Still moving around marshmallows, “What about me?”

  Olivia knew what her cousin meant. “I haven’t seen him yet. You might not meet him until college.”

  Abruptly turning around, “Do you know how lucky you are to know that you’re going to belong with Henry? I don’t know why you haven’t forgiven him already. It’s not like he did anything. It was all me.”

  “I have forgiven him,” Olivia answered while returning the sweet potatoes to the oven. “I just haven’t told him yet.” Facing Winnie, “And there is no guarantee that I’m supposed to be with Henry. We won’t know that until next year.”

  “We all know that if it isn’t Henry then there is something seriously wrong with the universe. You’ve been drawn to him ever since you met him ten years ago. How would you know if the earth moved when you were seven? His mom adores you. You’d be attached to the hip already if it wasn’t for my stupid rumor and play practice.”

  Removing the sweet potatoes from the oven, Olivia considered her answer.

  “Henry does not need to be attached to my hip. He needs to figure out how to stand on his own two feet and have his own friends. My D- Weston is not always over here; he spends time with his friends and at work too.”

  “He’s your father; you can call him Dad.”

  “It sticks in my throat.”

  “Well, unstick it.”

  Weston paced the living room while his sister revealed what she had discovered. “Your George is also Alex Bell.”

  Martin and Melissa’s husband sat there confused while Victoria let out a gasp and sat down hard on the sofa. “No, that’s not possible.”