Inside? Well, if it was half as impressive as the outside, I was sold. Like Damon’s former home, the house was built of a combination of stone and wood, with several chimneys rising above the steeply pitched roof. On the drive over, Connor had told me the property was just a hair over three acres. I had a hard time computing that; lots in Jerome, even for the larger houses, weren’t very big. What I could see was that the rolling curves of the property were bounded in sturdy stone walls, and ponderosa pines and other evergreens dotted the landscape, clustering around the house, making it feel like something tucked away in an enchanted forest. And, in what seemed an utter extravagance to me, the four-car garage was detached and sat some distance away from the house, with a covered wooden walkway joining the two buildings.
Gawking at the place, I’d fallen a little behind the other two, so I hurried to catch up, even as Lucas was entering the code into the lockbox on the door. I wondered if he had the same talent with locks as Connor and I, and whether he was using the code to be polite.
But then I followed the two of them inside, and I stopped wondering about the locks.
“Holy crap.”
“You said that already,” Connor pointed out with a grin. “So good, so far?”
I could only nod dumbly. Now, Damon’s house had been very impressive, and this place shared some of the same architectural features — huge windows that let in a view of the forest and impossibly blue skies, a stone fireplace that stretched all the way to the ceiling, shining wood floors. But when I’d been at Damon’s, I couldn’t allow myself to like it, because it had been his. Whereas this house….
This house could be mine, if I wanted it.
Granite kitchen counters. Thermidor appliances. A separate refrigerator for wine. A second fireplace in the family room, and yet another in the master bedroom. Spotting it, Connor sent me a significant glance, and I grinned back at him. Never mind that we were heading into the time of year where you really didn’t need a fireplace — it was still something that was important to us.
And I couldn’t find fault with the furniture, either. Nothing stuffy or overdone, or too kitschily Southwest, or anything like that. Big and solid, the dining room table with a top of what looked like solid copper, the couches and chairs covered in warm brown leather, contrasting with the reds and beiges and soft, dusty turquoise blues of the Navajo rugs on the floor.
In a daze, I trailed after Connor and Lucas as we returned to the kitchen. There were flyers from the realtor sitting on the granite-topped island. Price reduced! Prime property in Forest Highlands! I barely glanced at them, since the two men were watching me expectantly.
“Well?” Lucas said at last.
“It’s — it’s incredible,” I replied, glad to see Connor nodding. We hadn’t spoken much as we followed Lucas from room to room, preferring to remain silent so we could let the other person form their own judgments.
As I spoke, I noticed that Connor relaxed slightly, as if he’d been waiting to hear what I had to say. “Yeah, it is pretty amazing. And tons of room.”
That was for sure. The place had five bedrooms and was more than four thousand square feet. Plenty of room for the twins, and whoever might come after that.
Assuming there would be any more after that, of course.
“I should’ve shown you the garage, too,” Lucas said. “It was built with two stories, and although Dave is using the upper level for storage right now, it has lots of windows. It would make a great studio for you, Connor.”
Who was silent, considering…although what he had to consider, I wasn’t sure. The house couldn’t have been much better, frankly. I felt a pang as I thought of the big Victorian back in Jerome, one wall knocked out, the counters and cabinets already demo’d. Buying this place felt like an abandonment, although I knew that wasn’t true. Connor had already made a comment about splitting time between the two locations. Summer here and winter in Jerome? It wasn’t quite living the bicoastal lifestyle, but it seemed like a reasonable compromise to me.
Finally he said, “Are you sure you want to do this, Angela? I don’t want you to feel as if you’re being rushed or pressured.”
“I’m not,” I said at once. “I mean, yes, this is happening sort of fast, but I’ve always thought if the right opportunity comes up, you should go for it. And this place…it feels right. Quiet and sheltered. The trees are amazing. And I love that the one bedroom already has bunk beds in it. It’ll be perfect for the twins.”
The word just sort of popped out. I hadn’t really intended to say anything about it, as Connor and I were still keeping that piece of news under wraps.
Too late now.
Lucas’ eyes widened. “You’re having twins?”
Connor smiled and sort of ducked his head, as if not sure exactly how to handle this. Then his shoulders lifted slightly, and he said, “Yeah, that’s what the doctor told us. It’s too early to know much more than that.”
“Well — congratulations, you two!” Lucas’ expression of surprise might have been comical under other circumstances, but I knew now that part of it was him trying to figure out how twins fit in with the whole Wilcox heir conundrum. There can be only one, and all that.
“Thanks,” Connor and I said, nearly in unison. We both laughed a little, more to break the tension than anything else.
Then I said, “So…what now?”
“Now I call Dave and tell him the good news, and we’ll set up an appointment with the realtor. This will happen pretty quickly, since you won’t have to deal with getting a loan approval or anything, but I’d still recommend a house inspection, and then there’s a title search, deed transfer — ” He broke off and peered over at me. I must have been looking a little green, because he went on, “Yeah, I know, it sounds like a lot. But buying a house is a big deal. Even with all that, we might have everything ready to go in as little as a week. I’ll see what I can do to help…move things along.”
And I had no doubt that he would. After all, Connor had told me that Lucas’ particular gift was luck. All we needed was him to assist in overseeing the transaction, and I had no doubt everything would go as smooth as silk.
“Sounds perfect,” I told him.
“It sure does,” Connor chimed in. “And it means we’ll have a lot to do.”
“Not that much,” I pointed out. “I mean, the house is already furnished. And most of the clothes I can fit into are at your place anyway, since I just bought them here in town.”
“Okay, so it won’t exactly be a typical move. But….” He seemed to stop himself, and gave a quick glance at Lucas before returning his attention to me. “I guess we can figure out the logistics later.”
“That’s for sure,” Lucas said. “Let me get this call in to Dave so he can be in touch with his realtor, and then I’m taking you two out to lunch to celebrate.”
His tone was so firm that I knew I couldn’t really protest. I smiled, then went over to Connor and held hands with him as Lucas called his friend to let him know we wanted to buy the house. After that we had lunch at the country club nearby, and I was glad I’d put on a new pair of dark jeans and a pretty peasant top so I didn’t look too out of place. As it was, I couldn’t help shooting surreptitious glances at the other people dining in the restaurant during lunch. After all, these people would be our new neighbors. Compared to Jerome, they looked pretty buttoned up, and I couldn’t help wondering what they’d think if they ever discovered that the young couple who’d just bought the house on Bear Allen Way were a couple of witches.
“Did you like it?” Lucas asked as we headed out to the parking lot afterward.
“Lunch was great.”
“Good. I’m glad you enjoyed the food — once you’ve purchased the house, you’ll be members here, so you can come any time you want.”
Seriously? I looked over at Connor, whose mouth was twitching a bit. Probably trying to keep from bursting out laughing at the idea of Angela McAllister, prima of those bohemians from Jerome,
being a member of a country club.
“Oh,” I said faintly. A thought struck me. “So how are you a member here? Your house isn’t in this neighborhood.”
A devilish grin, one almost worthy of Damon Wilcox — except that I knew there was nothing more sinister than amusement behind Lucas’ current expression. “I might have called in a few favors.” His phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket, glanced at the display, and said, “Hey, Dave. Hmm…two o’clock at the realtor’s?” He paused, raising his eyebrows at us as if for confirmation that this would be okay. We both nodded, and he continued, “Sounds perfect. Down on Riordan Road? We’ll be there.” After ending the call and slipping his phone back into his pocket, he asked, “Are you ready to do this?”
As one, Connor and I nodded. It was crazy, and it was scary, but it also felt right. If the worst happened, I wanted to make sure my children would be someplace safe with their father. Yes, I was a McAllister, too, and they’d need to know that side of the family, but they needed to be with Connor more.
So we drove to the realtor’s office, and met the mythical Dave, who seemed to be a few years older than Lucas and far more high-strung — which, if he was going through a nasty divorce, made some sense. He did seem to relax visibly after Connor and I signed the offer paperwork, and even more so after Lydia, the realtor, said she was fast-tracking the whole process and could have a house inspector out to look at the property the next day, and the title search wrapped up by the end of the following week.
Feeling a bit punch-drunk, Connor and I made our goodbyes to Lucas a little after four, then drove back to his apartment, which did feel a little cramped and small after the splendor of the house in Forest Highlands. I couldn’t drink champagne, obviously, but Connor broke out a bottle of San Pellegrino, and we ended up toasting with that.
But after the high faded a bit, he asked, “So what are you going to tell your family?”
Crap. “The truth, obviously.” Much as I really didn’t want to do that, I knew it was only fair. “They’re going to have to come to terms with it eventually. You and I are together, and you can’t relocate to Jerome permanently, and I can’t live here in Flagstaff permanently. They’re just going to have to…share…us.”
“That sounds very reasonable,” Connor said. “Which means they’re probably going to bitch and moan.”
“Not probably,” I told him. “They will.” I paused, thinking. The wheels had been set in motion, so unless the house inspector found termites or wood rot or lead paint — none of which was very likely in a newer-construction luxury home — that meant in less than two weeks Connor and I would own a home together. The McAllisters and the Wilcoxes would just have to learn to work together, and I figured there was no time like the present. “Maybe if we sat down with everyone and told them how it was going to be….”
“‘Everyone’ who? The McAllister elders?”
“Well, yes, them, but also the Wilcox elders.”
“We’re not really set up the same way,” Connor pointed out. “I mean, Lucas and Marie served sort of the same function in some ways, but since she’s disappeared off the face of the planet — ”
“Yes, but we still have Lucas. Can you think of a better ambassador for the Wilcox clan than him?”
Connor didn’t reply right away, only rubbed a hand over his chin, apparently deep in thought. Then he asked, “Margot’s one of your elders, right?”
“Yes, so?”
“I can only imagine the scene if Lucas tries to buy her a drink.”
I couldn’t help grinning. “Well, if she has any brains, she’ll take him up on it. Anyway, they’re adults — I’ll let them sort it out.”
“I smell a disaster.”
As much as I wanted to call him out for his negativity, I had a feeling that Connor had a point. But we all needed to move forward, to understand that we were treading new ground here, and getting the clans to cooperate was part of that bigger picture. Yes, we still had to work on that damn curse, but I also wanted to make sure I left behind a more stable relationship between the two clans, should the worst happen and I not be around to raise my children. Connor and the two extended families would all have to do it together.
Who knows…maybe that would turn out to be my legacy.
* * *
Since she seemed the most sympathetic to my situation of the three elders, I called Allegra Moss to say Connor and I would be coming back to Jerome over the weekend, and we had some important matters to discuss.
“Yes, I imagine you do,” she said in her sweet voice, one that always sounded as if it had a hidden undercurrent of laughter in it.
“And — I want to bring Connor’s cousin Lucas with us.”
Silence for a second or two. Then she asked, “Whatever for?”
“Because what I have to say concerns both our families, and — well, Lucas is sort of the clan elder for the Wilcoxes. He’s been an enormous help to Connor and me. So I want him there when we all sit down to talk.”
“Margot and Bryce won’t like it,” she warned me.
“They don’t have to like it,” I said, my tone curt. “They just have to be there. Let’s tentatively plan for meeting at my house at one-thirty on Saturday.”
Whether it was because she heard a note of command in my voice, or whether she didn’t want to argue with someone she thought might be experiencing some early-pregnancy mood swings, she replied quickly, “Of course, Angela. I’ll let them know. You take care.”
“You, too,” I said, and hung up.
* * *
Although I’d gotten permission to bring Lucas with me to the house on Saturday, I thought it would be pushing things to have him stay anywhere in Jerome. Cottonwood was still technically McAllister territory, but having him put up for a night or two there wasn’t quite the same thing as impinging on Jerome’s hallowed ground, so I suggested he see if he could find a place down the hill where he could stay. If not, I’d have him crash in the guest bedroom, and we’d all just have to deal with the consequences.
But, being Lucas, of course he found a last-minute cancellation at a highly rated local B&B, and reserved two nights. “Just in case,” he said cheerfully. “If nothing else, I’ll hit a couple of the wine-tasting rooms down on Main Street before I head back to Flagstaff.”
I had no doubt he would. If this meeting went anything like I feared it might, I’d ask him to have a couple of pours in my name as well, since I wouldn’t be drinking any wine for a long time. If ever.
Those thoughts kept skittering through my mind, refusing to be still. Yes, I could tell myself that I wasn’t due until December, and that gave us plenty of time to work on the curse, even with Marie taking a powder…but I was still worried, and scared…and trying desperately to conceal those emotions from Connor. It wasn’t good for him, me, or the babies for me to be in a state of perpetual anxiety. I knew that intellectually, but my emotions weren’t being good biddable things, unfortunately.
At least the wreckage in the kitchen wasn’t visible from the dining room. I whispered a thank-you under my breath to the formal Victorian architecture, so unlike houses being built now, with their “great room” concepts and everything open to everything else. To be fair, the contractors were very good about cleaning up after themselves, and they’d made great progress over the past few days — the extension of the one side of the kitchen was already framed and wired, and they’d also extended the roofline and laid down tar paper in preparation for installing composite shingles. It could have been a lot worse.
We did have Lucas come up early, though, and took him out to lunch at Grapes, where he charmed Tina, our server, so much that she was blushing like a schoolgirl and giggling at almost everything he said.
“You really ought to behave yourself,” Connor said, trying to sound stern, but I could tell he was more amused by Lucas’ antics than anything else.
“I thought I was,” Lucas replied.
Even I laughed at that remark, although I
sobered up pretty quickly as we climbed the hill back to the house. Although I’d called this meeting, now I was sort of regretting setting it up in the first place. Well, there wasn’t much I could about it at this point, although I couldn’t help wishing that I’d inherited some of my Great-Aunt Ruby’s commanding air along with her prima powers. It would’ve really helped to keep the clan elders in line.
Since the kitchen was so torn up, I couldn’t offer much in the way of refreshments, although that was partly why I decided to have the meeting at one-thirty. If the elders hadn’t eaten lunch by then, it really wasn’t my problem. In the garage there was a Frigidaire even more ancient than the one I was replacing in the kitchen, and I sent Connor to fetch some bottled water I’d been storing out there, since the other refrigerator had already been hauled away — to the junkyard, or possibly a museum for antique appliances. Lucas helped me pull some glasses out of boxes, and I hurriedly cut some roses from the bushes in the backyard to set in a low vase in the center of the dining room table. By the time we were all done, the room looked downright respectable. You’d never know what chaos lurked on the other side of the door that led to the kitchen.
Not a moment too soon, though, since a knock came from the entryway just as I was shifting the vase of roses a fraction of an inch to the right. I straightened, as Connor and Lucas looked at me quizzically.
“I’ll get it,” I said. “It’s probably better that way.” I didn’t add that I thought this meeting was going to be tense enough without my answering the door flanked by a couple of Wilcoxes.
Leaving the two of them behind, I went to the entry and opened the door. As expected, there stood Allegra and Bryce and Margot, none of them looking all that happy to be here.
“Come on in,” I said, stepping aside so they could enter.
Bryce came in first, walking warily, as if he expected Connor and Lucas to be lurking somewhere in the foyer, ready to pounce, and he would be forced to protect the two women who accompanied him from bodily harm. I didn’t quite heave a sigh, but there might have been some eye-rolling involved.
Darkmoon (The Witches of Cleopatra Hill Book 3) Page 15