The green itself was nearly deserted, the tourists long gone, but I could hear laughter coming from the Cauldron, the village pub.
When Higgins, Nick’s Saint Bernard, spotted Missy and me, he surged into a gallop. Nick immediately let go of the leash so his arm wouldn’t be pulled from its socket.
“Higgins!” I said as he neared. I pointed at the ground. “Pzzt! Down!”
It was a trick Harper taught me once, and it had come in handy more times than I could count.
Higgins immediately sat, his tongue lolling, and Missy ran over to him to give her hellos.
“I still don’t know how you and Harper do that,” Nick said, picking up the leash again. “He doesn’t listen to me at all.”
“That’s because you’re a big softie,” I said.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever been called a softie in my whole life.”
“There’s a first for everything.”
Curving an arm around my waist, he pulled me flush against him and kissed me. When he finally let me go, my cheeks were hot, my breath was shallow, and my heart beat hard against my rib cage.
“Like that?” he said. “I think that’s the first time I’ve kissed you right here.”
I could only nod.
“Or here.” He sidestepped to the left, and pulled me close again, and repeated the process. “Right?”
Smiling, I said, “I think you’re right.”
“Say it again,” he teased, repeating my earlier words.
I laughed, which caught Higgins’s attention. He jumped up, planting his giant paws on our shoulders as he licked our faces.
“Down!” I said. “Pzzt! Pzzt!”
Undeterred, he continued to lick.
Laughing, Nick backed up, dragging a reluctant Higgins with him. “He likes kissing you, too.”
“Well,” I said, wiping my face, “the feeling isn’t mutual. Sorry, Higgs.”
A tiny yip sounded in the distance, and looking past Nick, I saw Starla headed our way with Twink bouncing along next to her.
Higgins leapt toward the pair, taking Nick with him.
Starla let out a startled squeal and scooped up Twink before he was trampled. Nick managed to get Higgins under control before he jumped on her, but the big dog still managed a few swipes of his tongue on her arm.
She held it out as she walked over, drool still dripping. “I’ve been slimed!”
“Welcome to the club.”
“Ugh. You don’t have a hose on you, do you?”
“If I did, I’d be using it on my face,” I said.
Peering closely at me, she said, “He got you good.”
“He always does.”
She shuddered and set Twink back on the ground.
“How’s Vince doing, Starla?” Nick asked, letting Higgins’s leash out a bit so he could sniff around Mrs. P’s bench.
“You heard about that?” Starla looked at me.
“What?” I said, shrugging.
“He’s just fine,” Starla said. Then she coughed and added, “Or he will be after he recovers from the concussion. Cherise cured the worst of it, but he still has to take it easy for a few days.”
Poor Vince.
She added, “I don’t suppose either of you want to take me driving tomorrow, do you?”
“No,” we both said at once.
She pouted. “I’m not that bad.”
I supposed that depended on who was asked. “Maybe Evan will take you,” I said.
“I already asked. He said no.” She waved a hand. “I’ll figure something out. Now tell me everything you’ve learned about Raina. I missed out on all the good gossip today while taking care of Vince.”
As we walked the paths of the green, we filled her in.
“The fertility charm was created by Andreus’s mother? Wow. How’d Raina get it? Did Andreus give it to her?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “It’s a big question mark at this point.”
“I mean, why would he have it?” Starla asked.
“Good question,” Nick said after a long moment. “If she died, then maybe she left it to him?” He looked at me. “Did you have any luck finding anything about her at the library? Before, well, you know.”
“Know what?” Starla asked.
“No,” I said. “I didn’t get a chance to look up Zara Woodshall at all.” Then I explained about Glinda—and how badly Mimi reacted to seeing her.
Starla said, “That’s horrible. Is Mimi okay now?”
Nick said, “She’s still not talking about it. I think maybe she needs time to sort through it all.”
“I’m not so sure,” I said to him.
His jaw jutted. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that she’s had time,” I said. “What? Nearly five months now? It’s not helping.”
“I don’t know what else we can do.” Nick retracted Higgins’s leash a bit to keep him from going in the street.
I told them how Mimi’s initial reaction to seeing Glinda had been happiness. “If I hadn’t been sitting there, I’m not sure she would have stormed out. She loves us, but she also loves Glinda. She’s only upset at Glinda on our behalf, so she’s really struggling with what she feels.”
“It shouldn’t be a struggle,” Nick said tightly. “Family first.”
Missy circled back to me and sat at my feet. I faced Nick. “I don’t think it’s that simple.”
“Why not?” Nick asked. “It sure feels that simple to me.”
“Because,” I said, trying not to lose my temper, “what defines family? You and I both know it’s not just blood relatives. It’s people we love. It’s Mrs. P and Pepe. It’s Evan and Starla. It’s Archie and Godfrey. To Mimi, it’s Glinda.”
He dragged a hand down his face. “So, what are you suggesting? That we let Mimi be friends with Glinda again?”
Feeling torn, I said, “Do you think people can change?”
Nick said, “Do I think people can change? Yes. Do I think Glinda can change? No.” He touched my arm. “You don’t seriously think she’s changed, do you?”
Had she changed? Or had she always loved Mimi? Before now I’d always assumed she’d only been using her. Tonight, however, I’d seen that love plain and clear. “I don’t know what to think.”
He nudged my chin. “What is this, Darcy? This morning, Glinda was still your mortal enemy.”
Sighing, I looked between him and Starla. “Tonight after Mimi stormed out, I looked at Glinda, ready to tell her off. . . .”
“And?” Starla asked.
As hard as I tried, I couldn’t forget the look on Glinda’s face. The tears. The grief. “She was shattered.”
Nick’s jaw clicked, and I loved him even more for not saying “Good.”
I added, “And yes, she may hate me, but she loves Mimi.”
“What a mess,” Starla said softly. “One Glinda created, I might add.”
“I know,” I said, remembering the hell Glinda had put Starla through.
“I’m sorry,” Nick said, “but I can’t forget all the pain Glinda caused. No way is Mimi spending any more time with her. She will get over it. In time.”
In my head, I knew he was right. In my heart . . .
Starla cleared her throat. “Maybe some therapy?”
“Maybe,” I murmured and started walking again. They were right. There had to be another option than to involve Glinda in our lives again. I just wanted Mimi to be happy. And not have to pretend to hate someone just because she thought it was what she should do.
The big pretender.
Ah, sweet Mimi. My heart hurt for her, and my anger grew toward Glinda for putting her in this situation.
“Or, maybe,” Starla said, her voice light with humor, “I can take Glinda for a drive. . . .” She eagerly rubbed h
er hands together.
The look of anticipation on her face made me laugh despite myself. “What is with you and learning to drive, anyway?”
She shrugged. “It’s stupid.”
I bumped her with my elbow. “Spill.”
Sighing, she said, “When I moved into my old place I suddenly realized how much I relied on other people my whole life. That becomes really clear when suddenly you’re the one getting on a ladder to change a lightbulb or have to plunge the sink. So, I’ve slowly been learning how to do things on my own. I cleaned my gutters last week. I caulked the tub. I hired a bug guy to get rid of the spiders—I’m not crazy. But two weeks ago, I needed a ride into the city . . . I didn’t like asking Vince for one, even though he was more than happy.”
Ah. It was all making sense now. In the five months since she’d learned the truth about her ex-husband, Starla had come into her own. She was speaking her mind more, becoming independent. It was all part of her process of healing.
“How did you explain to him that you have a license but can’t drive?” Nick asked.
“Easy. I said I got my license at sixteen like all regular teens and just never used it, but was thinking about getting a car so I wanted to brush up.”
I grabbed her arm. “Are you really thinking about getting a car?”
She laughed and peeled my fingers from her skin. “No. The village is safe enough. For now. I just want to know that I can drive if I have to.”
“Hey!” someone shouted. “Wait up!”
Looking over my shoulder, I saw Harper running toward us. She was gasping for breath but still managed to Pzzt! Higgins into submission.
I suddenly noticed her outfit. A T-shirt, jammie bottoms, and loafers (Godfrey would have a stroke). “What’s wrong?”
“I saw a light,” she finally said after catching her breath.
“A light?” I asked.
She pointed. “At the Tavistock house. It blinked on, then off. Like a flashlight.”
We all pivoted. The house was dark.
“Are you sure?” Nick asked.
She glared at him.
I guessed that meant she was sure.
“Someone could be in there right now looking for those diamonds,” she said. “There!”
We looked. Sure enough, in an upstairs window, a light flashed, then an instant later was gone.
Nick handed me Higgins’s leash and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He took off for the house, and Higgins immediately followed. Missy kept pace with him, and I had to sprint to keep up with them. At Mrs. P’s bench, Nick stopped and said, “Wait here.”
Starla and Harper caught up and we all watched Nick approach the house, then disappear behind it.
“If I knew you all had dog-walking parties,” Harper said, “I might have gotten a dog and not a cat.”
I said, “I’m sure Nick would let you adopt Higgins.”
Harper looked at the drooling dog. “I’m happy with Pie.”
“Look,” Starla said, “there’s the light again.”
It appeared as though the intruder was walking between the upstairs rooms, one of which had curtains, one didn’t. It was why the light kept disappearing.
My heart pounded with worry for Nick—he’d been dressed casually, without his gun.
All of a sudden, I heard shouting. Starla grabbed my arm, and Harper clasped her hands together. “We should go in,” she said. “Help him.”
“No,” I said. Nick would kill us.
“I can’t just stand here,” Harper said.
She started forward and I grabbed her shirt just as the front door of the house flung open, and someone dressed all in black bolted out, jumped the front gate, and darted across the street.
The intruder didn’t seem to notice the three of us at all.
“Hey!” Harper yelled.
The intruder stumbled, changed directions, and started running the other way.
I rolled my eyes, quickly bent down, and unclipped Higgins. “Get him!”
Higgins galloped off, giving chase just as Nick appeared in the doorway of the house. He saw what was going on and followed suit.
Harper took off, too. I glanced at Starla. She picked up Twink and shrugged. We broke into a sprint.
Ahead, I could see Higgins gaining on the intruder. A few more steps and . . . yes! The intruder went down with a thud.
Nick quickly closed in, and we were just steps behind.
“Get him off me!” the intruder shouted as Higgins bathed the side of the man’s face in slobbery kisses. Missy joined in. “Oh my God. Make it stop!”
A village police car pulled up at the curb, its lights flashing.
I tossed Nick the leash, and he hooked Higgins and tugged him off. The man on the ground rolled over, swiping drool away as he did so.
Andreus Woodshall.
He looked at me. “I do not suppose you have an extra towel on you, Ms. Merriweather?”
“Sorry,” I said, very grateful he was under a streetlamp, his face fully illuminated.
“That’s too bad indeed,” he said as the police officer jerked him to his feet.
Nick handed me control of Higgins again. “Can you take him home to Mimi? I need to go to the station for a while.”
“Do you want me to stay with her until you get home?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Thanks.”
I nodded.
As Andreus was being led away, I glanced back toward the Tavistock house and couldn’t help but wonder if he’d found anything before being chased off. . . .
Chapter Sixteen
The next morning, I fought back a legion of yawns as I went for my morning run around the village. I’d barely had any sleep. An hour. Maybe two.
“Stop it,” Starla said, jogging next to me. “You’re making me”—she yawned—“yawn, too.”
“I can’t help it,” I said. “I don’t know how you’re so awake.”
“It’s a gift.” She smiled, her ponytail slashing the air behind her.
After Andreus’s takedown, Starla and Harper had volunteered to come with me to Nick’s place, and the three of us had talked long into the night after Mimi had fallen asleep about anything and everything, ranging from the case to Glinda to drool to why Andreus would be so careless in looking for the diamonds.
Nick had returned around four and we all drowsily trooped home.
It was barely eight now, and the village was just starting to come to life. There was a steady stream of customers in and out of the Witch’s Brew coffee shop, and I could smell Evan’s creations two blocks away.
The Roving Stones had converged on the green and maroon tents were already popping up—without Andreus. Though, according to Nick, Andreus would be out on bond by noontime. He’d been arrested on breaking and entering charges only, as there was still no evidence that he’d had anything to do with Raina’s death.
“Heads up,” Starla said.
I looked ahead and saw Glinda out walking Clarence.
“U-ey?” I asked, and we both turned back the way we’d come.
“We can’t avoid her forever,” Starla said.
“We can try.” I smiled.
She laughed. “Yes. Yes, we can.”
Fluffy clouds floated across the sun, shading the village. Although rain was predicted for later tonight, it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.
I was slowly waking up as I heated from exertion, and started making mental to-do lists for the day. First and foremost, I wanted to get back to the library to finish going through those microfilms. While there, I’d search the files for any mention of Zara. I also wanted to find out about that fertility charm, but figured that was the easiest of the tasks, since Ve seemed to know so much about it.
After a quarter mile, Starla said, “What’s
with Ve?”
I looked toward As You Wish. Ve was in the front yard marching to and fro, hands in the air, her voice raised. We were too far away to tell what she was saying, but it didn’t look like it was anything good.
“What’s she wearing?” Starla asked, stifling a giggle.
“Her robe.” The short satin one that barely reached midthigh. Her hair was wrapped up in a towel, too, as though she’d just gotten out the shower and decided to have a breakdown on the front lawn. I didn’t have a good feeling about this. We kicked up our pace.
A small crowd had gathered on the green, watching her. Mostly Roving Stones vendors, but I saw Glinda on the fringe, openly curious.
My bad feelings about the situation were verified as we reached the yard just in time to hear Ve say, “I’m going to kill that witch!”
I cringed and hoped the crowd merely thought she was using a euphemism. “Aunt Ve! What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong? Look around!” she said, her eyes wild. “She’s gone too far this time. Too far.”
“Who?” Starla asked.
“Dorothy,” Ve said, stomping back and forth.
I didn’t see anything unusual when I scanned the yard. Missy gazed at us from behind the closed gate. The mourning dove bobbed along the porch roof. Archie wasn’t in his cage but that wasn’t all that strange—he could be meeting with the Elder or on his morning flight around the village. Terry was openly watching from his front window.
It was interesting that he was keeping his distance. I wasn’t sure whether that was smart or foolish of him.
“I’m going to kill her with my bare hands.” Ve mimicked wringing a neck.
Smart of Terry, I decided, taking a step back. I’d never seen Ve so mad.
“What’d she do this time?” I asked.
Some Like It Witchy: A Wishcraft Mystery Page 15