I rolled my eyes. “I’m glad you’re getting through this difficult time,” I said.
“Me too,” he agreed. “If you wanted to take me downtown . . .”
Paws couldn’t leave the farm property for any length of time unless he was with me, so when he went to see Honolulu without me, he couldn’t stay long. On the other hand, if I were to go along they could spend all the time in the world together.
“I’ll think about it,” I said.
There were a couple of cars in the Babbling Book parking lot, but I didn’t pay much attention; there were always several cars there. Since the lake was behind the barn, Jasper had an awesome view when he went to work every day.
When we got out of the Beetle, Paws trotted around to the lake without a word. He usually gave Jasper and me space, and I appreciated that. Plus, he preferred to chase birds and mice and anything else within reach to listening to the two of us talk. I didn’t mind that at all.
I knocked on the back door of the building as I always did, but when no one answered I opened it and headed inside. Usually by this time of day Jasper would be alone, and we hung out together a lot in those circumstances. Sometimes we’d order pizza.
“Jasper?” I called out. From the first level I could see up to the second level. His office door was open, but he still wasn’t answering my call. Usually when I stopped in for a visit he came right out to greet me, so I was starting to feel a little uneasy.
Frowning, I made my way up the stairs.
“Jasper?” I tried again. Still there was no answer.
“Jasper?” I called out.
“He’s not here,” said a man’s voice.
I nearly jumped out of my skin, then collected myself and spun around. Standing behind me, having come out of one of the smaller offices, was Jasper’s grandfather.
My heart started hammering as I looked around. I was now standing in front of the open door of Jasper’s office, and he wasn’t inside. That is, I was alone with his grandfather in this big old barn.
I was in big trouble.
“Evening,” I shifted uncomfortably. There were enough lights on so that I could see that Jasper wasn’t in the building. He had been around every other time I’d stopped in unannounced, but we didn’t keep track of each other’s every move, so I told myself that maybe I was overreacting.
On the other hand, however childishly, I found myself blaming him for leaving me at the mercy of his grandfather.
“Evening,” he said. “You looking for my grandson?”
What tipped him off? The three times I had yelled his grandson’s name?
“Yes, I was looking for Jasper,” I said. “Is he around?”
“I’m afraid he’s off working today,” said Dylan Wolf.
“I didn’t know you worked here,” I said.
“I usually don’t,” he said, giving me a wealth of information.
“I see.” I really didn’t.
“I’m just as glad he isn’t here. I’ve been wanting to catch you alone for a while,” said the elder Mr. Wolf.
That sounded ominous.
I couldn’t escape the fact that I was a witch. On top of that, as far as I knew, the Wolfs were all Witch Hunters.
If Jasper didn’t know what he was, his grandfather certainly did. It seemed obvious, if for no other reason than that he disliked me and my family and always had. My grandmother had also always very much disliked him. She had told me to stay away from the man at all costs.
Unfortunately, her dislike had also extended to his grandson. She would have had no tolerance for the fact that I liked Jasper and would have been very disappointed in my choice of a boyfriend. I would have liked to think that if she’d been around, I could have pointed out to her that those green eyes could do a number on any girl.
“You could’ve asked to meet with me,” I said.
The man’s face split into a smile. “I had the strangest idea that you might say no,” he said.
Well, that was certainly true.
“Much better to just run into each other and then we can have a nice chat,” he said.
“What is it you wanted to discuss?” I asked. I could see no way to get out of this.
“Shall we sit?” he asked. He indicated one of the couches that Jasper had set up along the wall; there was a very cool vibe up here and I loved it.
I sat on one of the couches. It did not appear as if Jasper was going to return and save me.
“We haven’t really gotten a chance to talk, you and I,” said Mr. Wolf comfortably.
“No, we haven’t,” I said.
“I have a feeling that you think I don’t like you,” he said.
I shifted uncomfortably. That much was obvious. I didn’t want to be openly hostile to Jasper’s grandfather, the man who had raised him, but he clearly wasn’t a fan of me.
“I’m under the impression that you don’t want me around your grandson,” I said. Might as well just say it.
“Yes, I would have to agree that that impression is correct. Still, it may not be for the reasons you suspect,” he claimed. The man’s voice was level, cultured, and smooth.
I had hardly ever spoken to anyone like him, and certainly not at any length. I could see where Jasper got some of his characteristics, but where his grandfather was cold and distant, Jasper was warm. His eyes lit up every time he smiled, and luckily he smiled a lot at me. Just thinking about it made my insides warm.
I longed to see Jasper. I hadn’t seen him all day. I missed my boyfriend, and instead I was talking to his grandfather, who was inevitably going to warn me away.
“I assume you don’t see any point in this conversation,” said Mr. Wolf.
“I’m not going to stop seeing Jasper like you’re about to tell me to do,” I said.
“On the contrary, I can’t do anything about it,” he said. “I was hoping to appeal to your better sensibilities,” he added.
“And what might those be?” I asked.
“The two of you can’t possibly last,” he said. His words cut deep into me.
“You can’t possibly know that,” I said, with more bravery than I felt. Invisibly to Mr. Wolf, my throat was squeezing shut.
“I know a lot more about the situation than you think. I know more about the wider world and the forces at work here. And I know that this quiet town is not all that it appears to be. At least you do know that much.” He was looking hard at me. Suddenly I had the distinct impression that he knew that my grandmother was a witch. And that somehow, whatever was going on in Mintwood, he was involved in it.
Bad news travels in packs. This felt like a dictionary’s worth of work in one sentence.
If Jasper wasn’t an active witch hunter, Dylan Wolf definitely was.
And he’d found me.
Chapter Ten
My heart was thumping wildly, and I was certain that white showed all around my eyes.
“Have you talked to Jasper about any of this?” I asked, my voice sounding remarkably calm to my own ears.
“What my grandson and I have discussed is not something I can share with you,” said the owner of the company Jasper worked for.
“And how are you going to try to convince me to stay away from him?” Never. Never. Never.
I felt a bit strange that just the night before the witches had confronted me about Jasper, now tonight it was his grandfather.
Trying to ignore the coincidences, I pushed forward.
“I was hoping to have a reasonable conversation with you,” said Mr. Wolf, an edge creeping into his voice.
“Does Jasper know you’re talking to me?” I asked.
“Most certainly not. You already knew that, didn’t you?” he asked.
“What is it you want to say?” I pushed.
“Who you are, and who he is, those two people can never be together,” said Dylan Wolf. “This is not the first time in the history of the world that something like this has happened, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. If your grand
mother were here she would tell you the same thing.”
“My grandmother told me to stay far away from Wolfs,” I said.
“In that your grandmother was very correct,” said Mr. Wolf, smiling slightly.
I remembered visiting my grandmother’s grave, hoping that her ghost would appear. It never did. I remembered one time when I had gone out there and a car had driven up and then drifted away. I wondered if Mr. Wolf knew who had been in that car.
“I understand where you’re coming from, kind of, but Jasper can make his own decisions,” I said.
“I was hoping to appeal to your rational side. I can see that I’ll have to do more work to reach it,” said Mr. Wolf standing up.
“Most people do,” I said with a crooked smile.
He smiled in return, but he looked concerned, and searched my face.
After extending his hand for a farewell shake he said, “Until we meet again.”
I watched Dylan Wolf walk away. He strolled back into his office, leaving me alone on the second floor. I guess he expected me to show myself out, and that was just fine with me. I didn’t want him to pretend to be my friend.
Jasper’s grandfather had made it clear that he didn’t think I was right for his grandson. Maybe he wasn’t even wrong, but it was still Jasper’s choice to make. It was enough for now that this was the least hostile Mr. Wolf had ever been to me. Small comfort, I supposed.
I didn’t want to see if he came back out of his office. Instead, I hurried down the steps and out of the barn.
Paws was nowhere in sight, so when I reached parking lot I yelled.
I didn’t care if Mr. Wolf heard me yelling. The cat came running.
“Lemmi?” Mr. Wolf had appeared at the back door. He wasn’t looking at me, he seemed to be looking at Paws.
He blinked several times while looking toward the cat. For his part, Paws stood glaring at the man, his fur sticking out in all directions.
“What?” I snapped. I had the distinct impression that he could see Paws. I didn’t know what that meant, but I knew it was very bad.
After the barn door had closed behind me I sat in the car and stared forward.
“Yes, I think he saw you,” I said. “Maybe witch hunters can see ghosts.”
“Well, good thing I look good then,” said Paws, preening.
“I don’t know where to go now,” I said.
I felt lost. I was angry at Mr. Wolf for not wanting me around his grandson and not explaining why, I was mad at my grandmother for also not explaining why, and I was mad at Jasper for not being there.
Only one of those three people could I currently talk to.
I peeled out of the parking lot.
“Aren’t we going back to the farmhouse?” Paws asked. I turned in the opposite direction.
“No, we’re not going back to the farmhouse just yet,” I said.
“We’re not going to see Honolulu, either.” The cat’s shoulders slumped.
“Can you open the glove compartment?” I asked as I drove.
“No, I’m a ghost. I can’t open anything,” said the cat.
“Oh right, I forgot,” I said. I reached over and opened the glove compartment and pulled out a scrap of paper.
“What is it?” Paws asked.
“It’s Jasper’s address,” I said.
“What could possibly have possessed him to give you that?” he asked.
“He seems to like me,” I said.
“What a fool,” said the cat.
At first I hadn’t thought much about the address except to notice that it was on one of the three lakes in Mintwood. Then I got to thinking about it.
“Wait a minute,” I said at last. “Isn’t this the same lake the Witch Hunters live on?”
I had set the address on the passenger seat, and now Paws looked at it.
“Yes, as a matter of fact it is.”
“Do you think his grandfather has been keeping an eye on him all this time?”
“I think that even if his grandfather weren’t a witch hunter, he’d be keeping an eye on his only grandson,” said Paws. “Jasper will inherit an empire. You don’t want him hanging out with just anybody.”
“Are you looking at me when you say that?” I demanded.
“Just a complete and utter accidental coincidence,” said the cat.
“I doubt that,” I said.
“You’re right, it was on purpose,” said the cat.
“This way,” I said, turning onto one of the summer roads. The biggest lake in Mintwood was the Peeper Leaf Peeper. The second biggest was Hobnobbledy and the last, the one I was headed for, was Turtle Pond.
Being the smallest of the local lakes, Turtle Pond was the most exclusive, so naturally it was also the one that Jasper’s house was on. Its exclusivity was why I had hardly ever gone there.
As we drove along I told myself that at least we were on a different road than the one Paws had taken me down that night when we had spied on a group of witch hunters. Watching the house numbers, I concluded that Jasper’s little cottage was clear on the other side of the water. The only problem was that the water wasn’t that big.
“It’s beautiful here,” I said.
Eventually, as the road snaked through the woods and around the lake, I saw a long row of trees, just beyond which Jasper’s cottage sat on the edge of the water. The night was clear and cool, a perfect summer night. The sky was an array of pinks and soft blues and there wasn’t a ripple in sight.
“This would be pretty if it weren’t so dangerous,” said the cat.
“Why do you think it’s dangerous?” I asked.
“Well, mostly because we’re going to see a Witch Hunter after having been threatened by a Witch Hunter,” said Paws. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I’m seeing a pattern here.”
I pulled up next to Jasper’s truck and got out. I could see some lights on inside the cottage.
“I’ll just make myself scarce,” the cat offered.
“Why don’t you,” I agreed.
“It’s almost as if you don’t want me around,” said the cat.
“Almost,” I said.
Paws trotted off into the woods, muttering something about how many mice he could find in an hour. I went up to the unfinished wooden door and knocked. The area smelled like logs and leaves.
Jasper had been staying at his unfinished log cottage, but I hadn’t realized just how unfinished it was until now. I knew that sometimes he slept at the office, and I could see why. This cottage very well might not have running water.
Inside, the music stopped. I waited.
When the door opened and Jasper stood there, I wasn’t sure what I was going to say. A lot of options had raced through my mind, but when I first laid eyes on him only one thing happened. It was very unexpected.
I dissolved into pools of tears.
Chapter Eleven
I hated crying in front of people at the best of times. Okay, so nobody likes crying in front of people. Some people do it more than others, though. In all my life I had hardly ever cried when anyone else was around. Even when my grandmother died I avoided crying in public.
Greer and Charlie had seen me get weepy, but they had the decency not to say anything about it. Now I had sought Jasper out and then immediately started crying. The horror was almost too much to bear.
Jasper look shocked, but he did the only thing he could, he took one step and wrapped his arms tightly around me. He whispered into my hair that everything would be all right and gently stroked my head.
I flung my arms around him and tried to consider how I could get the tears off my face without getting them on his shirt. Almost immediately I accepted that it was an impossible task and wept freely on his shoulder.
Once I hiccupped and calmed down a little, he ushered me inside.
“What happened?” he asked, ignoring the wet spot on his shoulder.
I just shook my head.
“Here, have a seat,” he said. “I’ll make some tea.
Lavender?”
I managed to nod. He had one old sofa in the living room and not much else. I guess he wasn’t much of a one for decorating. The inside of the house was nowhere near finished, but I could see that it was eventually going to be beautiful.
He went over to make the tea. While the water was heating he brought me a box of tissues, a task that required him to search through nearly every cupboard in the kitchen before he found some.
He placed them in front of me and went back to the tea, then came over and settled on the other end of the couch, facing me but giving me some space.
Was he ever unsure about anything?
Meanwhile, I was busy admiring the beautiful view of the water. There probably wasn’t as nice a view anywhere else in all of Mintwood. Even his barn couldn’t compare to this.
“Tell me what happened,” he said.
“Nice cottage,” I said.
He looked around and smiled a little. “It’s a long way from being finished, but I like it.”
“Me too,” I said. Then I took a deep breath and plunged in. “I went to the barn to see you,” I explained.
He must have known that his grandfather was working there tonight, because he put two and two together immediately.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting to see you today,” he said. “What with the library skeleton and all I figured you’d have your hands full as an amateur investigator.”
“I can’t possibly think why you’d have the idea I’d be interested in that,” I said with a smile.
“No, definitely not. I just heard you were the one to discover the skeleton and all,” he said.
“Yeah, that doesn’t make anyone curious about what happened or anything,” I said.
“So then you went to the barn and ran into my grandfather,” he said.
“Yes, that’s about it,” I said. “He wants me to stay away from you.”
Jasper shifted. He didn’t look happy. “We’ve had that conversation,” he said. “I told him that I’m my own man and can make my own choices.”
“I don’t think he likes what you told him,” I said.
“No, I suppose I knew that,” he said.
I took a sip of delicious lavender tea. “Why would you have lavender tea handy?”
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