Witching For Hope: Premonition Pointe, Book 2

by Chase, Deanna

  “You didn’t even consider it?” he asked then thought, did she even love me the way I loved her?

  “Of course I loved you,” she blurted and immediately regretted it. Her ability to read minds was a complete menace, and if she were in his shoes, she’d very much regret him being able to look into her mind. “Sorry. I can’t help it when thoughts come through.”

  His lips quirked up, and he gave her a gentle kiss. “It’s all right. I know you’re not doing it on purpose. I guess that will keep me honest.”

  “You’re always honest.” That was one thing she knew all the way in her bones. They’d had a lot of issues in the past, but trust had never been one of them.

  “I like to think so.” He squeezed her hand and added, “Now, I’m interested in hearing why you never even considered moving back East with me.” His tone was more curious than accusatory and, not for the first time, she found herself in awe of this man. If he were the one telling her he’d never considered staying in Premonition Pointe, she’d have been crushed.

  “It’s not that I didn’t consider it. I probably did, briefly. It’s just that I didn’t seriously consider it. I knew right away I wasn’t going. I had my gallery, and you’d already left me once. I was independent, and you know that was important to me. I wasn’t ready to give up my entire life to chase you around the country. Especially when I was the one who had to give up everything.”

  “You’re saying the gallery and your independence was more important than us?” he asked. This time there was some pain etched in his expression.

  Hope reached up and smoothed the lines between his eyes. “No. They weren’t. That’s what I’ve come to realize. But what was more important was me. Because of my past trauma of being left by the two people I loved most, I had to put my own needs first, and unconsciously I did that.”

  He stared at her, waiting for her to continue. There was no judgement rolling off him, and it was that more than anything else that encouraged her to continue.

  “I needed roots, Lucas. A home. A support system. Ties to my mom and stability. Premonition Pointe gave me all of those things. My coven, my gallery, my home, the possibility that my mom would show up and I’d have a family again.”

  “I could’ve given you stability,” he said quietly.

  She shook her head. “Not the kind I needed. Not back then, anyway. It took me a long time to realize why I didn’t run off to Boston with you. My gut just wouldn’t let me, and I think for a while I thought that was a sign that I shouldn’t be with you. But the truth is, I have huge abandonment issues, and it was impossible for me to run off to an uncertain world where I had to depend on someone else. Don’t you see? I had to make something of myself here, just like you had to make something of yourself somewhere else. I didn’t go because of me. Not because of you. It’s important you understand that.”

  His hold tightened around her and he buried his face in her neck.

  She let him hold her like that and barely breathed while she waited for him to say something.

  Finally, he lifted his head and kissed her temple. “I wanted to stay with you, baby. I really did.”

  “I know,” she said softly.

  “You do?”

  She smiled up at him. “My conversation with your mom was really enlightening. It turns out we both had something to prove. We just had to go about it two different ways. I know why you left. And I even understand it. Staying here wasn’t in the cards for you. Just as leaving wasn’t for me.”

  “I’ve always loved you. You know that, right?”

  “Yes,” she said, not even caring that her eyes stung with tears. “I’ve always loved you, too. There’s never been anyone else who’s had my heart.”

  He moved his hand to cover the left side of her chest, and her heart sped up under the weight of it. “Same here. I’m home now, Hope. Do you think we can finally put everything behind us and start again?”

  “I’d love nothing more than that,” she said with a shaky laugh. “The question is, what happens in the future? Are we a couple who moves through life together, or are we both still so independent that we’ll never compromise when it comes to our careers?”

  “I can compromise,” he said quickly. “I’ve moved home for my mom. But I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about coming back for you for the last fourteen years. That first year in Boston, I was too hurt. But then I started to miss you, and…” He shrugged. “I’m here now, and I’m not leaving. Not ever.”

  “What if I get a job in Boston? Or down South? Or in Europe? Will you come with me?” she asked, even though those scenarios were highly unlikely. Her coven was in Premonition Pointe. So was her entire life. She didn’t want to leave. She knew that about herself. Still, she wanted to hear his answer.

  “If my mom is taken care of, then yes. I’m going where you go.” His conviction was off the charts, and it warmed her from head to toe.

  “Lucas,” she said, turning and taking his face with both hands. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. I want to be with you forever.”

  “I want that, too,” he said, staring at her intently.

  “Good. Do you think we can make a promise to each other that if one of us has an opportunity outside of this town we will make the decision together on what’s best for both of us? For our life together instead of what’s better for you or for me?”

  “You mean like a team?” he asked, his eyes crinkling with joy.

  “Yes. If we’re going to live the rest of our lives together, then let’s do just that. I’ve planted my roots and you’ve made yourself into a very successful businessman. Let’s figure out what’s next together.”

  “Deal.” He stood in one fluid motion, still holding her in his arms. Hope let out a gasp of surprise and held on tighter. “I think what’s next is a trip to your bedroom,” Lucas said, his voice husky with need. “What do you say?”

  “Yes,” she said and kissed him on the lips. “Definitely, yes.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Hope moved through her day with a permanent smile on her face. Her evening with Lucas had been nothing short of magical. She could still feel his touch on her skin, his soft lips, and his warmth as he held her all night. She’d never been a snuggler, not even when they were together before. But this time around, it was as if they needed to make up for all the years they hadn’t held onto each other.

  If that wasn’t enough, she’d woken to fresh coffee and egg croissants. Who knew that when Lucas had run off to the East Coast he’d learned to cook? They had a leisurely morning and then made plans for that evening after they were both done with catching up on some work.

  Nothing was going to ruin her good mood. Not even her mother, who was currently making comments about everything that ran through Hope’s head. She’d tried to clamp down on the memories, but some kept popping up at the least opportune times. Like when she’d walked into the kitchen to grab a fresh cup of coffee and remembered exploring every inch of Lucas’s body the night before.

  “Just make sure he reciprocates, bunny. Oral sex should be a two-way street,” Angela said without looking up from the newspaper she held in her hands.

  “Mother! Please. If you can’t stay out of my head, at least keep your commentary to yourself,” Hope groused, trying to make her mind blank.

  “I’m just saying. Women have needs, too.” She smiled at Hope. “I’m glad you had a good time last night. Does this mean I might get a son-in-law someday soon?”

  “Ohmigod,” Hope said, rolling her eyes. She shoved a cookie in her mouth and ignored her mother’s question. As Hope made her way back down the hall, she heard her mother snickering to herself. “You’re going to pay for that,” Hope called and then closed herself up in her home office.

  * * *

  “I don’t think we’re going to find dogwoods,” Skyler said, eyeing the potted trees at the nursery. Hope had met up with him in the afternoon to discuss the flowers and greenery they were going to use at the d
og wedding.

  Hope had already told him they were a longshot unless he wanted to order them online and have them shipped. “They don’t bloom in the fall anyway. Don’t you want something that has flowers?”

  “Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “I just really liked the idea of dogwoods for the dogs.”

  “I don’t think we need to be so on the nose,” Hope said with a laugh. “What do you think about sunflowers? We can do a photoshoot of them running through a field and then have them at the ceremony. Sunflowers are just so happy; they seem right for the occasion.”

  He pursed his lips and then nodded slowly. “I could get on board with sunflowers. They’re—”

  Hope’s phone rang, cutting him off. “Just a sec,” she said to Skyler, recognizing the ringtone she’d picked for Jackson. “Hey, what’s up?” she said into the phone.

  “There’s been another overdose,” he said, his voice low as if he were whispering into the phone. “This time it was our delivery driver. He was rolling in our weekly supply of cups when he just passed out in the back room.”

  “Delivery driver?” Hope asked, remembering what her mother had said the day before. “Is he still there, or did the paramedics take him already?”

  “No paramedics, and yes, he’s still here. It wasn’t as bad as Whitley’s episode or Spencer’s. He came out of the seizure pretty quickly and even knocked my phone out of my hand when he realized I was calling for help. He’s terrified of being forced to talk to the authorities, but I think he wants to tell someone what’s going on. He seems nervous, but he’s in no hurry to leave.”

  “I’ll be right there,” she said and hung up.

  “You’re leaving me?” Skyler asked, blinking at her in disbelief. “But how will I know when I’ve gone completely off the rails?”

  She reached over and gave him a quick hug. “I’m sorry. It’s an emergency. Just don’t buy anything today. Take pictures of what you like, and we’ll go over them together, okay?”

  “Not buy anything?” he asked with a laugh and then winked at her. “Good one.” He sobered then as if remembering that she’d just told him she had an emergency. “I hope everything is okay. Talk to you tomorrow?”

  “Definitely.” She blew him a kiss and took off.

  * * *

  Ethan Pomeroy sat in the back room of Pointe of View Café with his back pressed against the wall, sipping a cup of water. He wore black faded jeans and a white polo shirt that had a Seaside Delivers logo stitched near the collar. Hope eyed him, wondering what she could say to get him talking. Jackson had read the guy right. He definitely did not want to leave. But he didn’t seem to be interested in talking either.

  Hope sat down right next to him and said, “Rough day?”

  “You have no idea,” he spat out and then started coughing. “My boss is a bitch, and because of her, I almost died today.”

  “Almost, but you didn’t,” Hope said, trying to sound reassuring.

  He snorted. “No thanks to her. If I’d taken as big of a hit as she required, then I probably would be in a coma right about now. I can’t keep doing this. Either she’ll kill me, or the drugs will.”

  “Who’s she?” Hope asked.

  He jerked his head in her direction. “My boss. Who else would it be?”

  Hope shrugged. “No idea. Are you talking about your boss at Seaside Delivers?”

  Ethan glanced around and then shook his head slowly. “I mean my boss, the one who controls everything I do with that damned drug.”

  “She forces you to take it?” Hope tried again.

  He stared at the floor for a long moment, and just when Hope was convinced he wasn’t going to answer, he nodded. “Before and after every shift. It’s to keep us addicted to it so that we’ll keep her secrets.”

  “That’s brutal, Ethan. If you don’t mind me asking, how did you get involved in this?”

  He picked up a piece of coffee cake that Jackson had left for him and started to crumble it into pieces. “It was through my delivery job, actually. It was only my second day when my supervisor told me to make a special delivery. It was for an extra hundred bucks, so I did it and ended up at this fancy house in the hills. The woman who opened the door was really sweet and invited me inside to this swank-ass party. Damn, it was cool. Champagne, gorgeous views, gorgeous women, and plenty of drugs.” He shook his head sadly. “I was so naïve.”

  “We all are sometimes,” Hope said, hoping to keep him talking. “Something happened that night. What was it?”

  He closed his eyes tightly and shook his head. Hope had the distinct impression he was trying to dislodge the memory from his brain. But then suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked right at her. “A girl overdosed that night. She didn’t make it. Oh, god. She didn’t make it,” he said with a sob, covering his mouth with one hand and doubling over to rock back and forth. “That girl died, and when I freaked out, demanding that the paramedics be called, I was told that I was the one who supplied her and the rest of the party with ashe, and if any authorities were called, I’d be the one getting arrested.”

  It was Hope’s turn to blink at him. “They pinned the drugs on you?”

  He shook his head. “No need to. I was the one who delivered the drugs. Only I had no idea what was in that package.” Ethan slumped forward and said in a quiet voice, “I wanted nothing to do with any of that, but when I tried to leave that night, they cornered me. Told me they had it all on video. That’s when they threatened me. I could either work for them or go to jail for trafficking drugs and possibly even manslaughter. They didn’t leave me a choice. Now I’m out there picking up the product from the supplier, delivering it to the pushers, and being forced into addiction so I won’t care what they do as long as I get my hit.”

  Hope wanted to tuck the kid into her pocket and take him home to keep him safe. He couldn’t be older than nineteen, and somehow, he’d managed to get leveraged into a major drug trafficking scheme. “What would you say if I said I could help you?”

  “You can’t. Trust me on this,” he said, leaning forward and resting his forehead on his knees.

  Hope stifled a sigh. Of course, she could help him, but what would that mean for Ethan? It certainly sounded like the people controlling him were ruthless. Getting him to open up was going to be hard. She could see that he was terrified about being caught up in a drug ring but also terrified that if he didn’t say something things were only going to get worse. “You said you pick up the drugs from the supplier. Can you give me a hint of who that might be? Then I can investigate and leave you out of it.”

  He shook his head, but Hope was ready for him. She opened her mind and studied him, waiting for his thoughts to seep in.

  “I can’t tell you,” he muttered over and over again, leaving her tired from trying to listen in on his almost nonexistent inner thoughts.

  “Okay.” Hope stood and held out a business card. “If you ever want to be the hero, all you have to do is call this number. I’ll be ready to listen. I swear.”

  He stared at her card, and then just like that, his thoughts poured into her mind. Everything was a jumble at first. The voices overwhelmed her, and once again, she felt both admiration and pity for her mother. Hope could not do that all the time.

  Some of the clutter in Ethan’s mind had vanished, and a scene at Lucas’s shop started to play in his head. It was Lucas spraying his sawdust with some sort of liquid treatment, and then a few days later, Ethan picked it up and delivered it to a warehouse where workers were waiting to process the sawdust.

  The scene shifted to them turning the sawdust into small pellets that were then sent off into the world as party favors.

  Hope sat frozen next to him, her mouth dry, and she felt as if she was going to pass out. That scene had started at Lucas’s shop and had shown him treating his sawdust with some unknown substance.

  Ashe. It had to be.

  Which meant the man she loved was the supplier for ashe.

  “I’m going
to be sick,” she said and rushed to the bathroom.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “Hope? Are you all right?” Jackson called through the door of the bathroom.

  She was standing at the sink, splashing water on her face. After connecting Lucas to the drug ashe, she’d lost the contents of her stomach, and her thoughts were whirling. How was it possible that Lucas was involved with distributing drugs? The man had never taken them himself. Was it a money issue? Did he need the cash to take care of his mom?

  That didn’t make sense either. She’d recently retired from the school district and had plenty of benefits through the state.

  “Hope?” Jackson tried again. “If you don’t answer me, I’m going to kick the door in.”

  She flicked the lock on the door and pulled it open. His expression was haggard, and he looked like he’d aged ten years in ten minutes. Hope glanced in the mirror, winced at her pale skin and the dark circles under her eyes, and decided he looked better than she did.

  Jackson slipped into the bathroom and leaned against the closed door. “Do you need anything? Ginger ale? Or maybe some saltine crackers?”

  She smiled weakly at him. “That’s sweet of you, but I think what I really need are answers.” She needed to talk to Lucas.

  “I think I know a way we can make that happen,” Jackson said.

  “How’s that?”

  “One of the girls who overdosed a few weeks ago told me she’d be willing to meet me to talk. I texted her a few minutes ago, letting her know there was another incident. She said she’d meet us at Beachside Beer Garden in a few minutes. I thought if we got her together with Ethan, that maybe they’d be willing to talk more. You know, strength in numbers?”

  Hope nodded. “That’s a good idea. Besides, it can’t hurt. Give me just a sec, and I’ll be right out.”