by Tegan Maher
She was floating back and forth, pacing with her hands behind her back. "Maybe this was one of the reasons I was chosen to stay. I thought maybe it was just because you needed my help with Shelby, and everything else, but it's not turnin' out that way. First, Shelby gets an angel kiss, then you go all mind-controlly, and now you've messed with time."
"It's not like either of us meant to." Well, Shelby had kinda gotten herself into her own mess, but she hadn't intended to; it had been a situation brought about by teenage hubris. Still, Addy was right. She'd come back from a place nobody'd ever came back from, with the direct involvement of a full-fledged, honest-to-God, wings-and-all angel.
I thought back to the mind-control incident she'd mentioned. I'd always been telepathic—Shelby too, though her magic had been blocked—but when Justin was kidnapped by a murderer, I'd had to push my abilities farther than I ever had to save the kid. I'd found a gear I hadn't even known I'd had.
And now I'd stopped, or at least slowed down, time.
Her words had taken a moment to sink in. "What do you mean, it’s time I learned about our history?"
She sighed. "When you get home, we need to have a family sit-down. Me, you, Shelby, Rae, and your Aunt Beth. You should probably get ahold of Camille and Aurora, too. Tell them what happened. They're the best ones to help you get a handle on whatever it is you've got going on. And don't dawdle about it. Time ain't nothin' to mess with."
Camille was one of my good friends and worked for our regional Witch's Council. She'd helped Shelby to control her unwieldy powers before she'd broken through her block. Aurora was the president of the council.
"But there's nothing you can tell me in the meantime that may help?"
"Yeah," she said, fading out. "Figure out what, exactly, you were thinking and what your intent was when you slowed time, and do your best not to do it again."
For a minute, I could hear steel drums, then she disappeared altogether, leaving me with more questions than I'd had when I called her. And I'd forgotten to mention Bobbie Sue and Earl's situation altogether.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I NEEDED A GOOD NIGHT's rest before I could even think about talking to Camille about it, so I decided to call it a night. I curled in beside Hunter, afraid my mind wouldn't slow down enough to let me sleep, but it had been a long, strange day, and my brain and body were both ready to shut it down.
The next morning, I woke up feeling much better. Hunter was already up, and I hoped the smell of sausage wafting through the window was from our grill. I dressed and pulled my hair through the loop in my ball cap, then slipped out the door. Hallelujah, it was him cooking.
"Mornin' sunshine." I gave him a peck on the cheek and reached around him to swipe a crispy sausage link off the plate.
"Morning. How'd you sleep? You tossed a little early on, but settled down after that." He flipped a couple over-medium eggs onto a plate along with a few links and handed it to me, then made his own.
"Better than expected," I said, mashing my eggs. "I mean, there's not much I can do about it right now other than make an effort not to do it again. I learned to control my other magic, so I don't see why this should be any different."
Matt popped around the corner right then balancing four giant cups of coffee in a carrier. "Oh my goodness," I said as he handed me a cup. "You're my hero!"
"Hey!" Hunter said, elbowing me, "I made breakfast!"
"I know, but Matt brought coffee."
Anna Mae popped out of their camper. "Did somebody say coffee?"
I grinned at Hunter. "See. It's not you, sugar. It's the caffeine."
"Oh, and sausage links," Anna said, grabbing one as she passed. "You guys are spoilin' us this weekend."
Matt gave her a quick kiss as he handed her a cup. So, did you guys feel that weirdness at the carnival last night?" Matt asked.
Swallowing half a sausage link whole, I said, "Weirdness?"
"Yeah," he said, crinkling his brow. "It's hard to explain, but it was almost like a bad photo-editing job in a movie. Sorta like a skip. Nothing obvious, but it was just ... weird." He lifted a shoulder. "I don't know how else to explain it."
"Actually," I said, grimacing, "that was me."
Matt and Anna Mae knew all about me. For that matter, there'd been rumors flying around the entire town of Keyhole Lake for decades, but only a handful of people knew the truth for sure. She'd found out for sure while we were investigating Hank's death. She'd busted me when, in a thoughtless moment, I'd turned the oven off from across the room.
Before then, I'd always liked her, but we hadn’t been close because I could never understand why she stayed with such a tool. It turned out she'd had her reasons, and we'd become friends.
Matt tilted his head. "You?"
I explained what had happened, and in true Anna Mae fashion, she just shrugged it off. Matt wasn't quite so light-hearted about it and gave me the whole ripple-effect warning.
We ate for a few minutes in silence, taking time to enjoy the food, the company, and the great weather.
"Oh! I forgot to tell y'all—Louise went into labor last night!"
Anna's eyes brightened. "No way! That's awesome. But wait. Who's running Bobbie Sue's?"
"Shelby," I said. "She's takin' a few days off from Will's and holdin' down the fort until we get back."
I'd no sooner mentioned her name than I felt a rap on the mental door between Shelby's mind and mine. Speak of the devil.
S: Hey - you awake? You're not answering your phone.
I checked my pockets and realized I'd left it in the trailer.
N: Yeah, what's up?
S: Louise had a boy!
N: Oh wow. I bet Max is torqued.
S:Yeah. She named it after him. The cantankerous old fart actually cried. Oh, and make sure Bobbie Sue doesn't worry. Everything is fine here. I want her to have a good time.
Will do, and thanks, brat.
I smiled as I nudged the door shut, happy that the Wheelers finally had some happiness in their lives. I relayed the info to the rest of the crowd and Anna Mae teared up, then started waving at her face.
"Oh, I just love babies!” she said. “And they deserve it!"
She didn't notice, but Matt gave her a speculative look. I couldn't figure out if it was good or bad, and resisted the urge to take a tiny psychic peek to see. My golden rule—I never invaded anyone's privacy without a darned good reason. That's not to say that sometimes strong emotions didn't ping my radar, but I made it a point to never look on purpose.
Folks were starting to trickle though the fair, so we made short work of opening the booths. I lifted the protective spells, but decided to leave the anti-sticky-fingers one in place. If something wasn't paid for, it wouldn't leave the tent.
Turns out, it was a good thing because we got so busy, there was no way we could have kept an eye out. Anna Mae sold a ton of her jewelry along with several of her period pieces and decorative items.
Just for kicks, we'd decided to arrange a couple of displays on the pegboard that combined her stuff and mine, and ended up selling both of them as whole units rather than individually.
"Well, well. Look at this—two of our favorite ladies knockin' it out of the park!" I was surprised to find TJ in the tent, smiling and admiring a vanity I'd made from an old bureau. She elbowed Moira, her best friend. "Wouldn't this go great with my bedroom suite?"
"It would," Moira replied, picking up the price tag and raising a brow, "but you'd have to talk her into giving you the friends-and-family discount."
I'd met the women on one of my very first picks, while they were selling off the contents of her recently deceased aunt's home. She'd had no idea at the time that she was a witch, or that her Aunt Nora wasn't as dearly departed as she thought.
The girls had decided to move from Virginia down to Eagle Gap when the local council had been less than welcoming, despite Moira's pull with them. We'd become friends right off the bat.
"Hey ladies! I didn't know
you were coming," I said, grinning at them. "I'll cut you a heck of a deal on the vanity."
TJ snorted. "I bet you would, considering the profit you made off that old door and end table I gave you thinking they were trash."
"Don't be a hater," I told her. "Your trash, my treasure."
Anna Mae squealed when she saw them and rushed up for hugs. I squeezed an eye shut; her enthusiasm was sometimes ear splitting.
"What are y'all doin' here?" she asked.
TJ shrugged. "We figured since half the people we know from Keyhole are here, we might as well make a day of it and pop over." Eagle Gap, was a little town halfway between the fair and Keyhole Lake, so it wasn't too far.
Putting her nose in the air and drawing in a deep breath, Moira said, "Not to be in a rush, but the smell of barbecue is convincin' my belly my throat's been cut. I'd kill for some ribs right about now. Where’s Bobbie Sue and Earl’s setup?"
Anna Mae and I looked at each other, and I raised a brow and coughed. "Uh, unfortunate choice of words, maybe."
Moira didn't miss much, and she picked up the change in my tone. "How so?"
"One of the judges was murdered Friday. They found him with a barbecue fork stickin' outta his back," I said. "And on top of it, it seems like everybody in the campground had a reason to do it."
Max trotted up to TJ, who happened to be one of his favorite people on the planet, mostly because she always gave him food and scratched his back whenever he wanted. "Yeah, it's tough. They've been grilling everybody," he said, waggling his furry eyebrows.
Anna Mae groaned. "Really, Max? That's what you came up with?"
Moira smothered a laugh. "Yeah Max, that's forked up."
I shook my head. "Enough with the gallows humor. Earl's one of the one's they're lookin' at."
The smiles slipped from their faces. "Earl?" TJ said. "Why? Earl's not exactly the back-stabbing type."
Max snickered and Anna fixed him with a glare. He cleared his throat. "I'll just be over here ... 'til the smoke clears."
I sighed, wondering for the umpteenth time what I'd done to deserve such a smart-mouthed donkey.
The crowd had thinned, so I pulled them to the side out of hearing range of any customers, and explained the whole recipe situation. After that, I filled them in on the bribery accusations and sauce-versus-rub drama.
TJ whistled. "Wow. So how, out of all of that, did they pick Earl as a prime suspect?"
Running a hand over my face, I said, "I don't know—" My sticky-fingers alarm triggered and the hair on the back of my neck stood up right before a muted clang sounded from the other side of the tent. Anna Mae had her back turned to that corner while she was dealing with a customer, and spun around.
We'd locked our petty-cash money in my cash box overnight after we divvied out the profits, and I'd accidentally left it on one of the tables after we took the money out and put it in our aprons. Glancing up to try to catch the culprit, all I saw was a few people scowling and looking over their shoulders. Whoever tried to rip us off had gotten away.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
WE'D HAD SUCH A GREAT sales morning that we decided to close up long enough to go check on Earl and grab a bite to eat. When we got there, everything was a mess and Earl was digging through the cooler like there was gold at the bottom of it.
I poked my head inside. "Earl? Is everything okay?"
He spun around and flung his hands in the air. "Sure, if'n you consider my chicken burnin' to a crisp and my sausage disappearin' bein' okay."
"Wait, what?" I asked, confused.
"You heard me. I had to drop out of the chicken competition this mornin' cause Susie Q burnt mine to a crisp. Now I can't find my sausage." He rubbed his chin, looking through the small fridge they kept the sauces in. "It takes too long to make, so I had it made up already."
He scratched his head, scowling and looking at the racks of bread like the meat was hiding next to the garlic toast.
Nothing he said made sense. Sausage links weren't prone to meandering off, and Earl sure as heck didn't burn meat.
"Did you lock the truck last night?" TJ asked, and regretted it as soon as it left her lips.
Earl slammed his fists on his hips and glowered at me. "Why on earth would I be silly enough to lock up fifteen grand worth of equipment and supplies?" He huffed out a breath and shook his head, grumbling, "Course I locked the truck. And double-checked before I went to bed. And Noelle put some hoodoo on it, too."
"Okay," TJ said, "Was the truck unlocked at any point today when y'all weren't here?"
He collapsed down on a cooler, and dropped his chin on his hand. "No. 'Cept when we went up to watch the chicken judgin'." Glaring at his grill, he went on, "And I don't know what happened to Susie Q. I set her to where she shoulda cooked that chicken perfect just like always, and twenty minutes later, it was burnt to a crisp."
Bobbie Sue popped around the corner. "Earl, he said—" she pulled up short when she saw us. "He tell you somebody up and stole our stuff?"
I looked between the two of them. "I think we passed a grocery store a couple miles before the grounds. I don't mind runnin' up and gettin' whatever you need."
He shook his head. "Won't do no good. I already called 'em and they don't carry lamb. I ain't got time to remake it anyway."
Moira didn't know Earl that well, so I put my hand on her arm and shook my head when she opened her mouth to speak. She'd been ready to suggest he just skip the lamb—the question had popped out at me loud and clear—but Earl's head would have exploded. With him, you do it right or not at all, and his idea of right was way stricter than most, especially when it came to cooking.
She snapped her mouth shut, and a heavy-set guy in bib overall shorts and a white apron strode into camp looking panicked. Earl glanced up at him, and the man musta read the look on his face because he slumped. "You too? I came to borrow lamb, but you look like a kicked pup. They got yours too, huh?"
"Yup, shore did," Earl said, propping his elbows on his knees and dropping his head between his shoulders.
"Anybody else havin' problems?" Bobbie Sue asked. "Or is it just us?"
Jimbo held his hand up. “They got me for my sausage meat, and I was enterin' my beans too. They're gone. I 'spose I could enter what we've been servin', but they ain't the recipe I was plannin' to use. Even if I had what I needed to start over, them beans take at least eight hours to cook right."
Earl pulled off his apron. "I'm gonna grab a shower. Ain't no need to do any more cookin' today. Got plenty of pulled pork to get us through the evenin', then as far as I'm concerned, I'm ready to go home tomorrow after Justin competes."
Bobbie Sue scowled. "Now you know we can't do that. What kinda example would we set for Justin if we skip the closin' celebration?"
Earl frowned. "I reckon you're right, but it's gonna grind a little, knowin' we coulda won and didn't."
"Well, us and most of the other folks here,” she said. “We cleaned up in brisket and ribs, and Justin's got a good shot at his division tomorrow, so we done better'n most. Plus we got away for the weekend as a family. Things coulda been worse."
He reached up and grabbed her around the hips and pulled her onto his lap. "Woman, you shore do know how to make a feller feel better."
She hmphed and gave him a kiss on the temple. "Well if ya wasn't so used to winnin', I wouldn't have to take ya down a peg or two every now and again."
I always loved watching the two of them interact, and hoped someday I had the kind of relationship built on years of living through the ups and downs together. Glancing at Hunter, I couldn't help but wonder if he'd be the one I'd build it with. He met my eyes and gave me a half-smile.
Jimbo untied his apron, too. "I reckon you're right, but Earl's right, too. It'll burn not winnin' when I should have."
Earl grinned at him. You mean it'll burn not takin' home the second-place prize money like ya woulda."
His friend and competitor barked out a laugh as he headed back toward his t
railer. "I reckon we'll see about that at the Fourth of July celebration over in your neck of the woods. I don't mind beatin' ya in your own backyard."
I waved to him, and when I did, Max fell into my line of vision, pulling a half-eaten pulled pork sandwich out of the trashcan. "Max! Spit that out! You have no idea who had their mouth on that."
He grumbled something about wasting food, but dropped it and wandered over to plop down by Earl. Patting his head, he said, "Don't worry big guy. I'll feed ya, and I think I still have some Glenlivet in there, too. Matter of fact, I'm ready for a drink, myself."
Bobbie Sue slid from his lap so he could get up.
"A man after my own heart," Max said, climbing to his feet, doing a full-body shake, and following him toward the truck.
For some reason, Earl'd taken a shine to Max pretty much as soon as they'd met, and even when I was poor, he'd made sure Max had his scotch. Now that they had a little spare time, They often spent time at our farm, and Max and Earl would play chess on a giant floor version that I'd had made just for my wayward donkey.
I had no idea what the appeal was; Bobbie said it was the stubborn streak they shared, and maybe the love of good scotch.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
LOOKING AROUND, I REALIZED Justin was nowhere to be found and asked Bobbie Sue about it.
"Billy came over right after the chicken incident, and Earl was so miserable, I figured Justin may as well go play. No need to make him stick around and listen to us piss and moan." She glanced at TJ and Moira. "What brings you ladies over?"
"We figured we'd come over and make a day of it. Eat some food, check and see how y'all were doin'. Maybe go to the carnival. They're havin' more food stuff in the great hall too, aren't they? A neighbor of ours mentioned she was entering some of her jams," TJ said.