I held out a hand, even if I was still unsure about where this was going or, if anything, what she hoped to gain by revealing herself to me. My shoulders sagged and my remorse surely must have shown.
“Wait, please, Hal. Come back inside. I was just caught off guard and I reacted poorly. I apologize. Let’s start again, yes?”
Her blue gaze was hesitant. “Are you sure? I think I’ve already done enough of my impression of a bull in a China shop for today, don’t you?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sure. Promise. Please, come back inside and we’ll open a bottle of wine and get to know one another.”
Win put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed his support. “Indeed, and as the hour is nigh, shall we whip up some dinner? Surely you’re hungry if you’ve come from…?”
Hal took my hand and let me lead her up the steps. “Maine. And sometimes a transporting spell can take it right out of you. I could definitely use some carbs to bulk back up.” She flexed her biceps in a mock bodybuilder pose.
I stopped halfway back up the steps and gasped, giving her hand a pat. “You can do the transporting spell? That’s how you got here? Shut the front door!”
Color me impressed. A transporting spell was tricky on the best of days. It was surely one I’d never mastered.
She gave me a half smile, shy and sweet. “Well, it’s probably the only spell I can do really well, but if I’m stressed or anxious, it doesn’t always work. However, it does save on plane fare.”
As we entered the house, and Bel came buzzing down the stairs, I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to know what Hal meant.
“So, about that Christmas factory…”
I heard Win’s laughter from behind us. He knew the way to my heart was anything Christmas. But a factory of Christmas? An entire factory?
Hello, tinsel and mistletoe. My cup runneth over, folks.
However, my cup, I’d soon learn later that night, was about to really runneth over, all right.
Or more precisely, it was about to be run over and annihilated.
Chapter 3
We were on our second bottle of a chichi-foo-foo carafe of white wine Win had shipped to him from his French connection in the hills of someplace even chichi-foo-foo-ier in France as we finished up our dinner.
Seared scallops on a bed of creamy tomato risotto with fresh tarragon and asparagus had made up the menu, and as Win began to clear the table after his culinary masterpiece, the conversation turned to Hal’s hometown of Marshmallow Hollow.
Win filled our glasses as we chatted, and the more I talked to Hal, the more I warmed to her. She was sweet and easygoing, and I felt like a heel for thinking she was here to steal our money.
Belfry liked Hal, too. I could tell by the sound of his voice when he spoke to her, and Arkady was clearly enjoying her company. He’d hardly spoken a word, he was so entranced.
And as odd as it was for Hal, hearing Arkady’s disembodied voice, she responded to him as though he were sitting at the table with us.
Hal tipped her glass at Win and smiled. “That was fly, sir. I can’t remember the last time I had a meal so outstanding, Win.”
Win cocked his head, amused. “Fly?”
“It means awesome,” Hal said with a chuckle. “Hey, was that tarragon I tasted in the risotto?”
“It was,” he said with a warm smile, and I could tell he was impressed by her foodie taste buds. “I’m quite surprised you were able to differentiate the herb. Well done.”
“It added just the right hint of earthiness to the dish. Either way, thank you for inviting me to join you both. It was nice to have a meal I didn’t eat at my desk. It’s been a busy time at the factory.”
Win sat down next to me at our kitchen table by the big bay window and grabbed my hand. “’Tis always a pleasure. I find I rather enjoy cooking. I never had the time…erm, before. But in this new life, which I so boldly took as my own, I must say, I’m rather enjoying myself. And I find the fresh fish here in Ebenezer Falls quite superior.”
I grinned at him, curling my fingers into his hand, a familiar nest for them since Win’s return. “Win’s a food snob. I’m not. I’m a—or was—cereal-for-dinner kind of girl.”
“Bah!” Win barked with a teasing grin. “Would I allow, she’d have Twinkies round the clock. It’s an abomination of disturbing proportions, I tell you.”
“What Zero say is true. My malutka is junk food junkie.”
“Allow?” I crowed. “Excuse me. I do as I please,” I joked.
Hal winced, tucking her hair behind her ears. “I hate to side with Win on this, but I have to side with Win. I’m kind of a foodie myself.”
“And Win was saying earlier how much alike we were,” I scoffed with a chuckle. “We’re light-years apart. I could live on coffee and boxed cereal with sugary marshmallows shaped like stars forever if not for Win and his mature palate.”
Hal wrinkled her nose. “Ugh. Not me. I love to cook and try new things. Though, I don’t cook as often as I’d like as of late. Not with the running of the factory keeping me so busy.”
I jabbed a finger in the air and smiled. “The factory—now we’re talking. Who needs fresh sea bass coated in panko with a clarified butter sauce when we can talk Christmas decorations?” I teased. “It’s a Christmas factory, you said. What exactly does this mean?”
“Careful what you say here, Hal. Stephania’s a Christmas fiend. If you say too much, she’s going to end up in your charming town, sleeping bag and toothbrush in tow.”
Bel rolled off the napkin on the table and giggled. “Winterbutt’s right. She loves Christmas, but I hate the cold. So don’t get any ideas, missy.”
I giggled and poked Win’s arm. “This would not be a lie. I do love Christmas, and I especially love a Christmas decoration.”
“All the Christmas decorations,” Belfry teased.
“All the decorations,” Arkady confirmed with a laugh. “My little candy cane is go big or go home with the decorations. But is beautiful to see.”
Hal clapped her hands and laughed. “Then you’d fall in love with Marshmallow Hollow! We joke it’s Christmas three sixty-five, twenty-four-seven due to the nature of our biz. But it’s especially Christmasy this time of year. We literally close the factory down December first until January the second, and the town turns into a winter wonderland of pure magic. We have a town decorating party, where everyone helps everyone else decorate their stores and the gazebo in the square. Tinsel Tuesdays, where everyone gets really creative with their fashions made out of tinsel. We have potlucks galore, hosted at the shops in town. There’s an ice skating competition and ice sculpting—even an ice village—a cookie bazaar, and a gingerbread-making class, too. There’s too much to list, but it’s terrific fun, with something new to do every day.”
The warmth in her tone, the joy on her face said it all, and it said she loved Marshmallow Hollow the way I loved Eb Falls.
Okay, so gun to head, I had to admit, we were similar.
I pretended to clutch my pearls. “Okay, slow down before my heart gives out. First, does it snow? I don’t know a lot about Maine, only that it’s cold and it’s famous for Stephen King and lobster.”
“That it is. We’re a blip of a town on the coast, just outside of Bar Harbor, so it’s pretty cold, and yes, it snows, and it’s amazing. I’d forgotten how much I love the snow, and the ocean, for that matter. They have both in New York, of course, but it’s a different vibe. When it snows in Marshmallow Hollow, the whole world stops and glistens.”
Sighing with wistful longing, I smiled. “I love snow. We don’t get much here, but I love it.” I sat up straight and patted the table with my palm. “Now, tell me about the factory. You said you make decorations? What kind? Is it online? Is there a website?”
Hal took a sip of her wine and grinned, clearly pleased by my curiosity. “Yes, yes, and yes. Just Claus makes or sells everything for and having to do with Christmas, from A to Z. Some of our stuff is importe
d from various outlets abroad, but we manufacture a great deal of it ourselves. Artificial trees in every size and color, tinsel, decorative garland, nutcrackers, Santas, snowmen, snow globes, indoor items, outdoor items, everything you can think of.
“We’re in production from January to December to keep up with the demand. I know it sounds crazy for a business that makes Christmas decorations to close right before the holiday, but it’s a tradition my grandparents started, and my mother kept it alive. My nana always said the season shouldn’t be rushed. Plus, we do pretty brisk business all year long to make up for closing in December.”
Win touched the bottom of my chin with his fingertip and offered a husky chuckle. “I think your jaw’s about to unhinge, Dove.”
I snapped my mouth shut, but that didn’t make me any less awed. “The factory is called Just Claus? Hah, I love it!” I rapped the table with my knuckles. “This is my Heaven. My nirvana. The question is, do you love it? Tell me you love it.”
Leaning on her hand, Hal rested her head and sighed with what I detected was remorse. “I didn’t when I was growing up. In fact, I wanted nothing to do with Christmas. But it was my mother’s favorite holiday. Hence my name with the kooky spelling, by the way. When I got older and went off to college, and then to New York for my career, I missed it more than I can ever tell you,” she said wistfully.
I heard the sadness in her tone, and I reached across the table to grasp her hand. “I’m so sorry about your mother, Hal. You were close?”
A tear welled in her eye and she shook her glorious mane of hair. “Not always, but we grew much closer as I got older. It wasn’t only Christmas I didn’t like. I didn’t love being a witch who wasn’t allowed to use her powers because I lived in a town where no one knew about us. We argued often about my sometimes rebellious use of them.”
I looked down at my glass of wine. It was my turn to be sad. I didn’t always miss being a witch, but every once in a while, when I met up with a fellow witch, it niggled me a bit.
Now Hal squeezed my hand. “I’m sorry, Stevie. Did I upset you? I mean, about your powers?”
I flapped a dismissive hand. “Nah. I’m mostly over the disappointment of losing my powers. The hardest part for me was losing communication with the afterlife. I had a lot of friends there.”
Hal frowned, her beautiful face confused. “But you were able to communicate with Win and Arkady? How does that work?”
“You know, we still don’t know how that came to be. But this isn’t about me, it’s about you, Hal. Tell me about your mother. What was her name? What was she like? I wonder if we’ve ever crossed paths?”
Running a finger around the rim of her cup, Hal smiled fondly. “My mother—her name was Keeva—was a free spirit from the word go, according to my nana. Nobody told her how to live her life. I guess that’s a small indication of how I ended up here, huh? She had an affair with Hugh when he was shooting a movie in Marshmallow Hollow, despite my grandmother’s warnings she’d end up hurt.” She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. “Anyway, she was beautiful and funny and…whimsical, I guess, is the best word to describe her, and I loved her. More than I can ever tell you. She died in a plane crash, coming back from a yoga retreat.”
“Were they both witches?” Win asked.
Hal nodded, her eyes sad. “They were.”
I cocked my head when I looked at her. “Were? Your nana’s gone, too?”
She made a circle on the kitchen table with her index finger. “Yep. It’s just me and Atticus now, and Rupert, who helps me run the factory.”
My heart tightened in my chest. Hal’s sorrow was palpable. “I’m so sorry, Hal. I didn’t mean to bring up something that’s still so fresh.”
But she swallowed hard, visibly so, and shook her head. “It’s okay. It really is. I miss her like crazy, but she lived her life on her terms and I’m grateful she taught me that lesson, because now I can, too.”
Pressing my chin into my hand, I smiled as she talked about Keeva. “So you mentioned you inherited the business from your mother, right?”
“Who inherited it from my nana, and like I said, both were Christmas lovers through and through. I used to be an interior designer back in New York. I worked for a big company, doing interior design for five-star hotels. Naturally, the last thing I expected was the death of my mother, who was so full of life. It was all so sudden. The final push over the cliff and my eventual move back home was my ex-fiancé’s cheating.”
I sighed in solidarity. “I had one of those, too. A cheating fiancé, I mean. I can relate.”
“I caught him the day my mother died. I came home from work early, looking for a shoulder to cry on, and instead found him in a compromising position with a partner in his law firm in our bed. I guess I caught them by surprise.”
My eyes widened and my heart skipped a beat in sympathy. “Oh, Hal. How utterly dreadful. I’m so very sorry. And for him? The fleas of a thousand camels upon his bed for eternity.”
Hal tipped her head back and laughed. “Turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened to me. Moving back to Marshmallow gave me hope. When everyone heard, because everyone always does, the employees at the factory—and in fact, the entire town—embraced me to welcome me back. They loved my mother. Most of them are like a warm hug after a long, cold journey. So, after the reading of my mother’s will, where Mom actually gave me a choice about whether I’d like to run the factory or hand it over to her right-hand man, Rupert, and the surprise about Hugh, I decided Marshmallow Hollow was just the balm and the boot in the butt I needed to leave New York and move back home.”
“I love Big Apple,” Arkady agreed. “One time when I was there on mission, I go to house of ill repute to—”
“Arkady!” I chastised. “Let’s ease Hal into your spy-capades, eh?”
Bel spread out his wings, his tiny feet clinging to the edge of a napkin. “That’s a big move. Do you miss New York, Hal? Was it hard to adjust to being home again after the big city?” he asked.
Hal shrugged and winked at Bel. “Sometimes I miss the bagels and pizza, and I definitely miss some of my friends, but mostly, I love being back home in my mother’s rambling old farmhouse on the bluff, where I can see the ocean and smell the salt in the air. I have a barn, and a ton more work to do on the inside, but when it’s totally done, it’ll be really beautiful. It’s kept me busy when I most needed my mind occupied.”
I took the last sip of wine and rose to make coffee. “So the big question here is, does anyone in Marshmallow Hollow know about you being a witch? You said you had to hide it, but have you ever shared your secret with anyone?”
“Um, nuh-uh,” she said on a laugh. “We kept our powers hidden. Though, my mother often kept everyone on their toes with suspicion, and she was always the one folks suspected when anything strange happened, but luckily, rather than be the town’s laughingstock, my mother and her insanely charismatic charm kept that from happening.”
I held up the coffeepot and asked, “Coffee?”
She nodded her head and smiled. “Please. So, do they know about you here in Ebenezer Falls, Stevie?”
I filled the coffeepot with water and laughed, too. “Heck no. Though, there’s not much to know anymore. They just think I’m the crazy imaginary-ghost-talking lady who moved back home after getting a mysterious windfall of money some swear was a payoff for being a rich elderly gentleman’s mistress, bought a rundown old house, renovated it with my ill-gotten gains and runs a psychic reading shop in town. Eb Falls, much like your Marshmallow Hollow, mostly embraced me when I returned.”
Bel snorted and rolled to his back. “Mostly being the key word here. She had her share of troubles, but she’s done just fine, haven’t you, Stevie B? Also, she’s given so much back to Eb Falls with just the reno on this place alone, by giving kids and assorted townsfolk jobs, she earned her place here.”
“Speaking of renovating,” Hal commented with a glance around our kitchen. “This place is gorge.
I mean, it’s ‘wow’ gorge. You have a woodfire pizza oven, for the love of oregano. It’s amazing.”
Win rose and tipped an imaginary hat. “Thank you kindly, Hal Valentine. Coming from someone skilled in the art of design, I’ll take that compliment. And if you only knew the teeth I pulled in order to have that oven installed.”
Hal cocked her head in question. “So you did all this since you returned to this plane? How?”
“No. He did all this from up there,” I said with a snort, pointing to the ceiling.
“Via Stephania’s diligence, of course.”
I grinned and shook my head. “Yes. He barked orders and I furiously shopped online. I’m no interior decorator, believe that.”
“Oh, indeed,” Win teased me. “Believe that.”
We grew quiet then, knowing there was an elephant in the room still not discussed that none of us wanted to address due to the lovely conversation we’d been having. But we had to address it.
Hal’s face softened as she spoke. “So, I guess you’d probably like to know about my vision? First, please let me say, it’s honestly not the only reason I came. I really wanted to meet you both. You especially, Stevie. I don’t want you to think otherwise. But what rushed me here, what made me zap here instead of using a conventional method of travel, was the vision and the urgency of it—how it made me feel. I know I caught you both off guard, and I sort of barged my way in, but I’m not very good at pretense. I figured honesty was the best policy.”
Gosh, I felt bad about how I’d greeted her. “It’s more than fine, Hal. I regret my behavior earlier. I’m always cautious because of Win and how he came to be here. I just overreacted because of that.”
Win’s face grew serious as he toyed with the handle of his coffee mug. “I hate to interrupt this lovely visit we’ve been having, too, but yes, Hal. Indeed, I’d like to understand your vision. If you’ll allow, I’ll give you some background first?”
The mood grew somber as Win gave Hal a summary of all that had happened since meeting me, and before. The incidents leading up to his death, everything that had occurred before he had the memory of the hand with the tattoo, and everything thereafter.
Witch it Real Good Page 3