Loretta was hovering beside the fireplace.
“We’ve had some success, Loretta,” I said. “We found out it was Leslie Lightfoot who killed Adele.”
“Oh,” Loretta looked surprised. “So I suppose Adele will be moving on soon.”
I glanced at Adele, who seemed to be positively glowing with happiness. “I think so.” Her smile drooped a little. “Actually before I do move on there is one thing I want to tell you, Harper.”
“Oh?”
Adele cleared her throat and floated parallel to the floor, reaching for something under the wing-backed chair.
Loretta gave me a puzzled frown. “What’s she doing?”
Adele grunted as she scrabbled around under the chair. “Here it is!”
“Here what is…?” My voice trailed off as I saw Adele holding aloft a wooden spoon. A spoon that looked very much like the one Grandma Grant accused Adele of stealing.
Adele gave me a nervous smile. “Ta-da!”
Loretta floated closer to take a better look.
“Adele,” I said in a stern voice. “Is that Grandma Grant’s wooden spoon?”
“Yes, you can give it back to her now.”
“So you stole it?”
“I wouldn’t say stole exactly. More temporarily confiscated until the end of the bake-off. I hid it in the trunk of my car. It was just tactics, meant to throw her off her game.”
I opened my mouth to reprimand her but figured it certainly wasn’t the worst thing to happen over the past few days. “I’m sure Grandma Grant will be pleased to have it back.”
Adele smiled sheepishly. “Please apologize for me. I shouldn’t have taken it. I got carried away with the competition.”
“I will,” I said, taking the spoon and resting it on the coffee table.
“I feel so much better now I confessed.” Adele sighed and floated up to the ceiling.
I moved closer to Loretta and tilted my head so I could look up into her ghostly pale face. “How are you?”
“Oh, much the same as usual.”
“I was in Cherrytown library and I looked up Abbott Cove in 1824…”
Loretta looked at me sharply. Ghostly tendrils of hair floated around her face.
I never really thought of ghosts as scary. I suppose because I’d seen so many of them now and realized they were really just like they were when they were alive—normal people, but right now Loretta looked like the scary type of ghost.
I took a step back and gulped. “Don’t be angry, I didn’t mean to pry.”
“But you did anyway, didn’t you?”
I nodded guiltily. “I read about the fire and Nettie…”
Loretta’s face changed. And she stared at me.
“I’m really sorry. She was your daughter, wasn’t she?”
For a long time, Loretta said nothing. She just looked at me. Her expression wounded, as though I’d just slapped her.
“Yes,” Loretta said bitterly. “Nettie was my daughter. She was just five years old and she relied on me to look after her, but I didn’t, all right? Are you happy now? Happy that you know I let her down?”
I couldn’t speak. I shook my head. She'd gotten it wrong. I hadn’t done this to pry into her past, I’d done it because I wanted to understand. Because I wanted to help.
But I couldn’t verbalize how I was feeling. I couldn’t speak thanks to the lump in my throat.
I felt something cold and wet on my cheek and it was a moment before I realized I was crying.
“Harper!”
Adele’s voice brought me back to the present and I turned round and saw her shimmering. Sparkling reflective light seemed to engulf her.
“Goodbye, Adele,” I said, as she began to fragment into a shower of prisms.
“Thank you, Harper. Tell your grandmother I’m sorry. Her green cake was delicious really!”
And a second later, Adele was gone.
My heart felt heavy. Usually when I said goodbye to a ghost, I felt good. Hopeful that they were now happy and at peace, and I’d done something good, but the weight of Loretta’s grief smothered all that.
I turned back to Loretta, held up my hands, and shook my head. “I’m sorry.”
It seemed grossly inadequate, but I couldn’t think of any way to make it up to her.
Stiffly, Loretta floated away from me and stood beside the high back chair, plucking the fabric with her fingers.
“I think it’s best if we don’t talk about this now,” she said.
“You’re right. Let’s not talk about it anymore,” I said quickly, eager to make her feel better.
I grabbed my cell phone from my pocket and opened up the photos I’d taken at spring fair.
“Look, I’ve been an awful friend to you. I’ve been too busy to spend time with you and that’s just not right. I’m sorry.”
I held up my phone and flicked through the photographs so she could see the spring fair.
I’d kept her waiting for ages, and there really was no excuse. I’d been selfish.
I was all Loretta had really, and I needed to make more of an effort.
“Goodness! Is that a green cake?” Loretta asked, blinking at the cell phone screen.
I grinned. “Yes, that was Grandma Grant’s entry, and believe it or not, it actually tasted amazing.”
Loretta considered that for a moment, and then nodded. I scrolled through the other pictures, telling her about the day and the town spirit, which was pretty good, before Adele’s murder.
“Thank you, Harper. I appreciate that,” Loretta said, after I turned off my phone and put it in my pocket. “Sometimes it’s hard being so cut off from people.”
“It must be. And I promise I’m going to try harder from now on to remember that. You just might need to remind me from time to time, okay?”
A hint of a smile played on Loretta’s lips. “All right.”
“So, did I tell you I’ve got a date with Joe?”
“Deputy McGrady! So he did finally ask you out!”
I grinned and nodded. “Yes, and of course I’ll tell you all about it afterwards.”
I heard Grandma Grant’s voice, calling out to me from just beyond the door.
My shoulders slumped. I wouldn’t be able to hide in here with Loretta for much longer without drawing attention to myself.
Loretta brushed me away. “Go, Harper. Your family wants you. I’m fine. I promise, and I’ll still be here tomorrow. You go and have fun.”
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” I promised as Loretta turned back to the fireplace, but she no longer seemed to be paying attention to me. Her mind was otherwise occupied, probably full of memories.
I pulled open the door and plastered a smile on my face, preparing to go back outside and tell Archie and Sarah and Betty from the Lobster Shack everything that had happened that day, and how I had solved Adele Silver’s murder.
I didn’t want to, though. I wanted to stay in the back room with Loretta and make sure she was all right. I hadn’t been a good friend to her recently and that needed to change.
She might not be ready to talk about what had happened to her back in 1824 yet. But when she was, I would be there for her. Because that’s what friends were for.
A note from Danica Britton
Thank you for reading my Harper Grant Series. I hope you enjoyed this book! If you have the time to leave a review, I would be very grateful.
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For readers who like to read series books in order here is the order of the series so far: 1) A Witchy Business 2) A Witchy Mystery 3) A Witchy Christmas 4) A Witchy Valentine 5) Harper Grant and the Poisoned Pumpkin Pie 6) A Witchy Bake-off.
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Also by Danica Britton
Harper Grant Cozy Mysteries
A Witchy Business
A Witchy Mystery
A Witchy Christmas
A Witchy Valentine
Harper Grant and the Poisoned Pumpkin Pie
A Witchy Bakeoff
Acknowledgments
To Nanci, my editor, thanks for always managing to squeeze me in when I finally finish my books!
My thanks, too, to all the people who read the story and gave helpful suggestions.
And last but not least, my thanks to you for reading this book. I hope you enjoyed it.
A Witchy Bake-off Page 16