by Tegan Maher
I drained my coffee cup and stood to get a refill. "We're gonna have to narrow it down a bit more than that."
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
I RINSED OUT MY CUP and tried to decide what to do with myself. My thoughts drifted to the curio cabinet. Originally, I'd pictured turning the curio into a rifle rack, but I was rethinking it. I'd been trolling home-improvement and upcycling sites and came up with some better ideas. The settee was another story, though. I knew exactly what I was going to do with it.
After I showered, I loaded the settee into the truck and headed to the shop. I had a back entrance that opened into an alley, so as long as nobody drove through for a solid two minutes, I could magic the cabinet right through the door. I jumped out and unlocked the door, then backed the truck up as far as I could.
I glanced up and down the alley to make sure the coast was clear, then gently raised my hand, palm up, and lifted the settee from the bed of the truck. Moving furniture with magic was trickier than you might think, especially when it was bulky. The important thing was to keep it level, but that wasn't exactly possible when you had to twist it every which way to get it to fit through the doorway.
By the time it was settled in the workroom, I was sweating. Still, my back didn't hurt and I hadn't dropped anything on my toe, so I was calling it a win. Moving heavy furniture is one of the few times I use magical exclusively, at least when possible. I'm a klutz to the point of being a danger to myself and others. And I hate doing it, so—witch's prerogative.
After I maneuvered the settee to my work space, I sucked down a bottle of water and texted Rae and Hunter to see if they wanted to meet for lunch. Both of them said they were too busy, so I ran down to Rae's and grabbed one of her daily specials. She ran a limited lunch menu that usually consisted of one soup and two or three different easy-to-make sandwiches. She was too busy to talk but not so busy they needed me, so I just made myself a chicken salad sandwich and went back to the shop.
Erol still wasn't around, so I turned the TV off and went to the back to finish up the table and chairs. I was glad to see him getting out and about; Addy said he'd shown up for Wednesday movie night at the theater and was finally starting to integrate into the local post-passing community. I missed him a little, though.
I was walking through to make coffee when the sun glinted off something on the counter. I stopped in my tracks to see what it was. My little box of paperclips was knocked over and the clips were scattered all over.
Frowning, I picked them up and put them back in the box, then put the box in a drawer. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how they'd been spilled because Erol sure didn't do it. And I'm pretty sure there was no great paperclip thief running around, though in Keyhole, you could never be sure. Still, a fetish like that wouldn't have flown under Coralee's radar.
I shrugged and slid them back in the drawer, then locked the front door and flipped the "Please knock" sign so I could get to work. It took me less than an hour to clean the final layer of greenish film from the table, and I stood back to admire my work. I was happy with it. A couple of red-checkered cushions for the chairs and they'd be perfect.
I snapped a couple pics of the set for my website, then set to work removing the cracked and faded maroon fabric on the settee. It was so dry-rotted, it ripped when I tried to lift it off all in one piece, so I ended up peeling it off in strips.
The smell of old fabric and musty barn wafted up to my nose along with the fifty years of dust, causing me to sneeze. I didn't usually use masks because they made me feel claustrophobic, but I grabbed one off the shelf and slipped it on.
In no time at all, I had it stripped down to the wood and was pleasantly surprised to find very little damage to the structure. Another downside I discovered the hard way—which was why I didn't blow a ton of money on pieces—was that just because a piece looked sound didn't mean it was. I still could have used parts of the settee had that been the case, but it would have been a bummer.
I'd just finished sweeping up the mess when Shelby texted. She and Cody were going for a ride on his motorcycle and she wanted to know if Hunter and I wanted to join them. I messaged Hunter to see if he was available and when he was, I told her we'd meet her at the farm in half an hour.
When I pulled up twenty minutes later and shut off my bike, she laughed. "You cheated—you started without us!"
I grinned as I pulled off my helmet. "Nah, I was just warming it up. It's so nice out, I couldn't resist." I unzipped my jacket partway. "Where do y'all wanna go?"
Cody, still in that lanky teenage phase, ambled up. "We thought about riding over to The Golden Corral for supper but we're open to suggestions."
I wrinkled my brow. That was almost to Eagle Gap. "That's kinda far. It's gonna get cold after the sun sets."
The distinctive sound of Hunter's pipes sounded and I turned to see him making the curve in the driveway with Matt right behind him in his work truck. When they pulled up, Matt waved and meandered over to us. "Y'all headin' out?"
I nodded. "We didn't expect you to be home so early. Wanna go with us? We're thinking about getting some supper."
He smiled but shook his head. "Nah, you all go on. I have some things to do."
By that time, Hunter'd pulled his helmet off and was standing beside me. "You sure? It's a great afternoon for it."
"I can't argue with that. But I really can't. I already made plans."
The stirring curtains in his apartment the other morning popped to mind and I tilted my head, looking at him sideways. "Plans, huh? Big date?"
His face turned crimson and Hunter nudged me. "Don't be nosey," he said, then dropped a kiss on my temple to take the sting out. "Man said he had plans. Leave it be."
Matt grinned at him. "Thanks, man." He turned and walked in the direction of his place, calling over his shoulder, "Be safe. Shiny side up, and enjoy your ride."
I turned to Hunter when he was gone and narrowed my eyes. "You know something. What is it?"
He tilted one side of his mouth up and pulled me to him. "I know you're beautiful and your heart's in the right place, but you've been hanging out with Coralee too much."
He gave me a sweet kiss, and I almost forgot that he'd just insulted me. Almost.
"Gross," Shelby said. "Are we gonna ride, or stand here and watch you two make out all evening?"
I pushed away. "I don't know. They're equally tempting. But I suppose we should probably get a move on."
We decided to take the backroads to a great little steakhouse on the other side of Keyhole Lake. It wasn't as far as Eagle Gap, and Cody knew a ton of great little back roads. He'd moved in with his Uncle Will after his parents died the summer before, and had spent a lot of time on his bike trying to find himself after the tragedy.
The smell of sizzling meat made my mouth water a block before we pulled into the restaurant. By the time we were seated and the waiter brought us our drinks, I was starving. As usual, I over-ordered and by the time the steak came, I'd filled up on bread and salad. I gave it the old country girl try, but ended up boxing most of my meal. And a piece of cheesecake.
It was nice catching up with Shelby—it seemed like she was always busy, and we hadn't been spending much time together. I made a vow then and there to remedy it. She was in her junior year of high school and I knew she'd go off to college and be gone before too long.
I leaned back, watching in amazement as both Hunter and Cody polished off the last of what looked like twenty-pound ribeyes and laughed when Shelby said, "You know guys, there's no rule that says you have to eat the whole cow in one sitting, right?"
Cody chased one of his last bites with a drink of tea then grinned at her. "Ain't no rule that says you can't, either."
Man logic.
She glanced over my shoulder and crinkled her brow. "What?" I turned to see what she was looking at, but nothing jumped out at me.
"It's just ... I would have sworn I just saw Bobbie Sue, but she wasn't with Earl."
I shr
ugged but craned around harder, my gaze roaming over the crowd. "Maybe she's out with Coralee or somebody."
"No," Shelby said, "it definitely wasn't Coralee, and the somebody was holding her hand. But there's no way."
I waved her off. "Must have been a trick of the light."
She shook her head. "No, it was plain as day."
"There's one way to find out." I pulled out my phone and called Bobbie. Justin answered her phone on the second ring. "Hey kiddo. Can I talk to Bobbie Sue?"
"She's not here right now," he said. "She's at the grocery store, but she forgot her phone. You want me to tell her to call you when she gets back?"
"Nah," I said. "I'll talk to her tomorrow."
"Okay. You're still comin' to get me and my friend tomorrow, right?"
"Absolutely, brat. I'll see you after school."
"K. Bye."
"She's there?" Shelby asked, puckering her lips in confusion as I put my phone away.
"No. He said she's at the store."
I thought back to the morning at the QuikStop. There was definitely something weird going on.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
I HAD A HAIR APPOINTMENT the next morning, and was looking forward to hearing what the Keyhole Lake Information Dissemination Center had in the works that day. That was one of the kinder ways of saying I was looking forward to visiting the gossip mill.
First, though, I went to the shop a little early to bake and hang out with Erol. Angus and his girlfriend Trouble stopped in to say hi, too. They'd been recently reunited, and Angus was a different ghost. He'd always been kind and funny, but for the entire time I'd known him, there were shadows behind his eyes, like he was just plumb wore down by life, then by death.
It turns out, Trouble was the cause of that sadness, and I was tickled pink they were back together. It seemed tragic to me that they'd missed a lifetime together, but when I mentioned it, Angus just smiled and said, "Sugarplum, you can't be sad about that. We have forever together. Sides, a lot of folks wouldn't be who they are today if things'd been different. Everything happened just like it was meant to."
What do you say to that? We hung out for a bit and watched a couple game shows while the goodies were in the oven, then I put it over to the Cozi channel so they could watch the old shows that weren't so old to them.
I made sure I was a little early for my appointment—Belle got her knickers all in a twist if you were late because she said that they built being fashionably late into the appointment time.
When I got there, Bobbie Sue was finishing up with Roberta, one of the members of the inner sanctum. She did a lot of charitable work around the community and had been one of the folks cursed a few months before. That' another story you've probably already heard so I'll skip the details, but all was right in her world again.
Roberta was okay, but she had a bit of a self-righteous streak. She could look down her nose at you with the best of them and was a pro at backhanded compliments, but she was—mostly—harmless. Coralee and Belle kept her in check when her tendency toward meanness got a little too far off the rails. Over the years, I'd wondered if it was meanness or just lack of empathy because she'd had a silver spoon in her mouth for so long.
Whatever it was, I got on with her okay. I said hello and glanced toward the little mini-fridge Coralee kept to see if she's set out brownies. Coralee wasn't a witch, but both her scissors and her brownies were sheer magic.
"They're in the back, Sugar," she said. I had the Harrison sisters in this morning, and Lord, those girls'll eat you out of house and home if you leave food out."
While she was cementing Roberta's impossibly tall hairdo into place with half a can of Aqua Net, I made myself at home and fetched a couple. They were so rich, you needed a glass of milk to do them justice, but sometimes you just have to take what you can get.
"What's going on with the murder?" she asked around the bobby pins in her mouth.
"Not much." I swallowed the gooey chocolate and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. "You probably know everything I do."
She smiled. "I certainly hope so. I also hear tell Matthew has a beau."
I leaned forward, then felt instantly ashamed of myself. Matt was a good guy and my friend. If he wanted me to know, he'd tell me.
Belle noticed my expression and swooped over. "Now don't you go thinkin' we're letting speculation run wild on him. That ain't the case. Matthew's one of us, and woe be to the woman who does him any harm. We'd ruin her."
Let the record show that's the first time I'd ever heard those girls threaten to intentionally wield their powers for evil. But have no doubt, it they set their minds to it, they could have someone tarred, feathered, and rode outta town on a rail.
"That's right," Coralee said. "We just want to know who's caught his eye."
I narrowed my eyes. "Tell me you don't have a pool going on him." Just for entertainment purposes, they kept little side bets going on everything from when somebody was gonna fix their mailbox to when a person was gonna kick the bucket. They could get detailed.
For instance, when Hank was killed, they had a double bet running on him. Not only did you have to guess the approximate time frame, you also had to choose murder or natural causes. With the way he abused people and stuffed fried food and donuts into his pie hole, it was just a matter of time before one or the other did him in.
I didn't learn about the betting system until right around the time somebody killed him. Come to find out, they were running one on when Hunter and I would go on our first date. And they currently had one running on when we'd get hitched, but as far as I was concerned, they were playing the long game on that one. We weren't in any hurry and were perfectly happy to click along at our own pace.
"Course we have a bet goin'," Belle said. "Sorta, anyway. At this point, it's just on when he'll take somebody out. He hasn't shown so much as a wink of interest in anybody, so we couldn't come up with a clear betting pool of names."
I shook my head as I climbed into the chair and Coralee wrapped the cape around me. "Y'all have no shame."
Coralee snorted. "Shame's for when you're doin' somethin' wrong, and we're not. So who is she?"
I heaved a sigh, giving up any pretense of outrage or shame, myself. "I have no idea. I'm almost positive there's somebody, but don't have a clue who it may be."
"Well when you find out," Coralee said, "I expect you'll let us know so's we can monitor the situation."
I rolled my eyes. "I have utter faith that you'll know long before I do."
Belle puffed up a little since her faith in their snooping skills was restored. "Course we will. We'll be sure to let you know so you can keep an eye on her at your place, too. Won't do for some two-bit floozy to come traipsin' in tryin' to take advantage of our boy now that he's finally gettin' his life back." She crossed her arms. "We won't have it."
I bit my lip to keep from smiling, but it actually warmed my heart to know they'd taken him under their wings. That was no big thing for them and like she said, Matt didn't need any bullshit just when things were finally coming back to level for him.
"Oh, I keep meaning to ask," I said, "Did Buddy ever apologize for proposin' to you on Valentine’s Day?"
Buddy was her boyfriend of fifteen years, but he'd been hit was a love spell and had updumped her apple cart—and his for that matter—by breaking their agreement and proposing marriage.
A sappy smile spread across her face. "Yeah. He's such a sweet man. He promised he'd never do it again, and built me the cutest set of planters out of old truck tires."
I tilted a corner of my mouth up as she leaned my head back into the sink. "All's well that ends well, then."
Roberta was due at the church to do the books, but she told me as she left how beautiful a September wedding would be. I rolled my eyes. At least I knew what time of year she had her money on.
For the next several minutes, I just basked in the sheer pleasure of her acrylic nails massaging my scalp. I swear, sometimes the
re's not a better feeling in the world than having somebody else—especially somebody as skilled as she was—messing with your hair.
By the time she wrapped a towel around my head and tilted me back up, I was much more relaxed. Her scissors flew around my head as she trimmed off dead ends and thinned out my wild mass of curls so they were at least somewhat manageable.
She was doing the final scrunching blow dry when my phone zinged with a text from Hunter.
"What on earth was that?" Belle asked.
"The Doppler effect with a motorcycle," I said.
"The what?" she said, scrunching her brows together.
"It's a motorcycle passing by."
"Oh," she said. "Why didn't you just say so?"
I rubbed my face. Why not indeed.
When it zinged a second, then a third time, Belle huffed. "Back in my day, that woulda been rude," she said.
"Honestly," I said, willing to take my licks because I deserved them, "it is today, too. I'm sorry about that."
Motioning toward my phone, I asked Alyse to hand it to me from where I'd left it by the brownies so I could see what he wanted and mute it.
I swiped my phone open and scanned his messages.
"Well," Coralee said, "What's the big emergency?"
Before answering, I chewed on my lip, trying to decide how much to share. Lifting a shoulder, I figured they may as well get it straight from me—they'd know about it in a couple hours, tops, anyway.
"They found a man who owns a green truck. According to some of the farm hands, Marcus screwed him out of some money, so Hunter's going over to question the guy. He roughly fits the description Max gave us."
"Oh, thank you sweet baby Jesus," Alyse said. "Maybe we'll finally be able to get a solid night's sleep without worryin' because the doors are unlocked."
Coralee just took a deep breath, shook her head, and patted her on the arm. "Bless your little heart."
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN