“I would rather discuss that later. Let’s handle Kelly and figure out how to deal with the Gilmore situation.”
He couldn’t accept the reality that this kept happening to him. He was fine when I was magical. Now that it was happening to him … well … it was too much for him to bear. “Sure.” I paused. “It’s going to be okay.”
He managed a rueful smile. “Isn’t that my line?”
“Yes, but this time you need to hear it.”
“I think you’re right. You can repeat it to me when you’re naked and feeding me bacon in bed later. I’ll likely be more open to hearing it then.”
TWO HOURS LATER, ROSEMARY SAT IN the Overlook’s dining room, staring into space, an untouched cup of tea in front of her. Despite my protestations to the contrary, Landon and Chief Terry had taken Brian into custody. They had enough evidence against him regarding Paisley’s murder to hand the case over to the prosecutor. There was nothing else they could do.
For her part, Rosemary was a morose mess.
“I don’t understand how this happened,” she said, her eyes bouncing between Aunt Tillie and me. She was unnaturally pale, dirt smudging her cheeks. She looked like a completely different person from the one who attacked me at the Whistler office.
“You opened yourself to it,” I explained, looking to the door. Aunt Willa was reportedly on her way, Mom and my aunts waiting for her in the lobby. Apparently they wanted to have a discussion with her before she saw Rosemary.
“But ... I didn’t.”
“You must have,” I insisted. “The shade couldn’t have gotten a foothold inside of you if you didn’t open yourself to her.” I hesitated and then blew out a sigh. “She said that Brian made the request of you.”
“He did, but ... I was trying to make him happy. That’s all I wanted.”
Aunt Tillie stirred. “I think there’s a lesson in there for you.”
“What lesson is that?”
“You need to worry more about yourself and less about others. If someone suggests something that’s likely bad — oh, say like allowing an evil spirit to take you over — perhaps you should put your foot down and say no.”
“I didn’t know it would turn out like this.” Rosemary sounded pathetic. “I just ... wanted to make him happy.”
“I think you wanted to make yourself happy and you thought Brian was the only way you could do it,” I countered, thinking back to what the shade had told me. “You were lonely, abandoned by your mother. She never took proper care of you from what I can tell, and often left you to fend for yourself. You were also oppressed by your grandmother. Brian was your escape.”
“I love him.”
“I’m not sure you ever knew him.”
“We’re engaged.”
I looked to Aunt Tillie, who held out her hands and made a face. “Brian is in jail right now. I’m not sure he won’t be staying there.” I opted for the truth. “He’s ... in big trouble. The smartest thing for you would be to distance yourself from him.”
Rosemary’s mouth dropped open. “But ... we’re in love.”
“Again, I don’t know that you ever met the real Brian. Even if you did, he was never going to be the person you wanted him to be. He only hooked up with you because he thought he could use you against us.”
“I want to believe there was more to him than just a revenge plot and lies.”
“Well, that’s something you’ll have to deal with yourself.” I refused to coddle her. “It’s time you picked a path and struck out on your own. You can be your own person, Rosemary. You don’t have to do what Aunt Willa tells you to do.”
Rather than gain strength from the statement, Rosemary dissolved into tears. “She’s going to be so mad at me.”
Disgust rolled through me, and before I could decide what I wanted to say in response, I heard footsteps on the hardwood floors. I found Aunt Willa standing in the open doorway. She looked stricken.
“What’s happened?” she demanded. “What did you do to my granddaughter?”
I opened my mouth to tell her exactly where she could shove her accusations – we still had days of shade cleanup from the mess Rosemary and Brian had created – but Aunt Tillie placed a hand on my wrist to still me.
“I’ve got this,” she said, flicking her eyes to her half-sister. “Let me do this.”
It was probably a mistake — Aunt Tillie could never be considered gentle — but I was too tired to argue. I nodded and leaned back in my chair.
“I’m going to give it to you straight,” Aunt Tillie said. “Rosemary was possessed by an evil shade. Apparently it was your birth mother, although I never got a chance to talk to her to confirm that. Why she would lie about that is beyond me, but never say never when you’re dealing with evil.
“Rosemary allowed the shade to take her over at Brian’s behest,” she continued. “He willingly embraced his dark side to go after us because he’s a bitter little troll with a pencil eraser for a penis. He’s in jail, likely headed for prison.
“Bay freed both Brian and Rosemary from the shades possessing them. She did this after they both tried to kill her. I should point out that Bay would’ve been well within her rights to kill them. I believe you owe her a thank you.”
Aunt Willa was incredulous. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” Aunt Tillie refused to back down. “Rosemary is only alive because of Bay. Her life is a freaking train wreck. You should recognize that, because your life has always been a train wreck.”
“I don’t think I like your tone,” Aunt Willa hissed.
“I don’t think I care.” For once, Aunt Tillie wasn’t in a joking mood. She was deadly serious. “Brian Kelly is at the very least going to be named a suspect in Paisley Gilmore’s murder. That will make him a pariah in this town. If Rosemary chooses to stay with him — which is a mistake — it will reflect badly on her and you. Do you want that?”
“He’s not a murderer,” Aunt Willa insisted. “I would know.”
“You can’t even see the truth of yourself,” Aunt Tillie fired back. “How can you see him when you’re oblivious about yourself?”
“I’m ... not.” Aunt Willa studied Rosemary’s profile. Her granddaughter was a disheveled, shaking mess. “I don’t understand how this happened.”
They were the same words Rosemary had spoken. “She allowed it to happen,” I snapped. “You helped it happen. There’s a lot for you two to break down. Just for the record, no matter what she says, she knows what occurred. She remembers. She was there. You can talk to each other about that, argue to your heart’s content, but we’re done with you.”
Aunt Willa rolled her eyes. “You’ve always been an ungrateful girl. It’s because you were raised by an ungrateful ass.” She gestured to Aunt Tillie. “I don’t believe a word you’ve said here today.”
“That’s your prerogative.” I turned my attention to the kitchen door as it swung open, smiling as my mother handed me a baggie full of bacon. “Thank you.”
“Terry called,” Mom said. “He’s on his way home. He said Landon is going straight to the guest house.”
That was my cue. I pushed myself to a standing position. “I need to get home.”
“We’re not done here,” Aunt Willa argued. “We’re nowhere near done.”
“Oh, we’re done.” I was fed up with her and everything she represented. “I have nothing left to say to you. As it is, it’s going to take days to clean up the mess your granddaughter left in our town. You need to go.”
“You can’t just kick me out of town.”
“I can, and that’s what I’m doing.” I started for the hallway. “You have three days. Pack up and get out.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll have every ghost in town haunt you.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s a promise.”
“She’ll make them sing show tunes,” Aunt Tillie warned. “Bad ones. You’ll never know peace again.”
Aunt
Willa worked her jaw, searching for words. “This isn’t my fault,” she moaned. “I didn’t know.”
“You might not have known, but it is your fault,” I countered. “Now it’s time for you to do the right thing and fix what you broke. You can’t do it here, though. This is my town.”
Aunt Tillie smirked, but didn’t speak.
“Where are you going?” Aunt Willa demanded. “We’re nowhere near done.”
“I’m going home to feed my fiancé bacon and make wedding plans,” I replied. “He’s earned a mental break. It’s time you took responsibility. You’re just as much to blame for this as Brian and Rosemary are.”
“This is not my fault!”
I was too tired to keep pressing the issue. Instead, I met Aunt Tillie’s gaze. “Can you take it from here?”
She grinned and bobbed her head. “This is why two super witches are better than one. It would be my pleasure to finish this up.”
For once, I wholeheartedly agreed with her.
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About the Author
I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read my novels. I have a particular brand of humor that isn’t for everyone – and I know that.
If you liked the book, please take a few minutes and leave a review. An independent author does it all on their own, and the reviews are helpful. I understand that my characters aren’t for everyone, though. There’s a lot of snark and sarcasm in my world – and I know some people don’t like that.
Special thanks go out to Heidi Bitsoli and Phil VanHulle for correcting the (numerous) errors that creep into a work of fiction.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
For more information:
author@amandamlee.net
Books by Amanda M. Lee
An Avery Shaw Mystery
Who, What, Where, When, Die
If it Bleeds, it Leads
Buried Leads
Shot Off The Presses
Misquoted & Demoted
Headlines & Deadlines
Misprints & Mistakes
Bylines & Skylines
Off the Record
Unwritten & Underwater
Extra! Extra! Dead All About It
On Deadline & Under Fire
Above the Fold & Below the Belt
Oracles & Obituaries
New Media & Old Grudges
Mayhem & Mistletoe
Weddings & Whodunits
A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Mystery
Any Witch Way You Can
Every Witch Way But Wicked
Witching You Were Here
Witching on a Star
Something to Witch About
Witch Me Luck
Life’s a Witch
Charms & Witchdemeanors
The Trouble With Witches
Murder Most Witchy
A Witch Before Dying
A Breath of Witchy Air
Witch, Interrupted
Flip the Witch Switch
Witchin’ Around the Clock
To Love a Witch
The Witch is Back
A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Short
Careful What You Witch For
Wicked Brew
On a Witch and a Prayer
You Only Witch Once
The Christmas Witch
Bewitched
A Solstice Celebration
Witchdependence Day
Happy Witchgiving
Merry Witchmas
Four-Leaf Clover
Thistle While You Work
Landon Calling
I Dream of Twila
How Aunt Tillie Stole Christmas
A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Fantasy
Witchy Tales
A Witch In Time
Make A Witch
A Witchmas Carol
All My Witches
Close Encounters of the Witchy Kind
An Aisling Grimlock Mystery
Grim Tidings
Grim Offerings
Grim Discovery
Grim Reunion
Grim Expectations
Grim Holiday
Grim Rising
Grim Tempest
Grim Vows
Grimlock Family Shorts
Grim Like Me
Grim & The City
Now & Grim
Grim & Bear It
Grim & The Dead
Death Gate Grim Reapers
Only the Lonely
Only the Quiet
Only the Lost
Only the Devout
Only the Strong
Only the Buried
A Mystic Caravan Mystery
Freaky Days
Freaky Lies
Freaky Hearts
Freaky Games
Freaky Places
Freaky Rites
Freaky Witches
Freaky Reapers
Freaky Fangs
Freaky Seas
Freaky Mage
A Charlie Rhodes Cozy Mystery
The Bigfoot Blunder
The Chupacabra Catastrophe
The Werewolf Whoops
The Megalodon Mix-Up
The Undead Uproar
The Incubus Impasse
The Killer Clown Calamity
The Banshee Brouhaha
A Moonstone Bay Cozy Mystery
Witchin’ USA
Witch Out of Water
Freaky Deaky Tiki
To Spell With It
Hex Type Thing
Brewing Up a Storm
Long, Hot, Witchy Summer
A Spell’s Angels Cozy Mystery
Bad to the Crone
No Crones About It
No Crone Unturned
Cut to the Crone
Romancing the Crone
A Two Broomsticks Gas & Grill Cozy Mystery
Sinfully Delicious
Caffeinated Calamity
A Little Slice of Death
Covenant College
Awakening
Whispering
Conjuring
Waxing & Waning
Graduating
Living Covenant Trilogy
Rising Covenant
Dark Covenant
Eternal Covenant
Dying Covenant Trilogy
Haunted Covenant
Desperate Covenant
Everlasting Covenant
2019 Shorts
Wolf on the Job
Luke on the Loose
Cupid in Crisis
Millie on a Mission
Jerry Takes Charge
Elemental Witches of Eternal Springs
Bat Out Of Spell
Spell on Earth
Hotter Than Spell
Spell or High Water
Books by Lily Harper Hart
A Maddie Graves Mystery
Grave Homecoming
Grave Insight
Grave Delight
Grave Misgivings
Grave Concerns
Grave Discovery
Grave Decisions
Grave Seasons
Grave Holiday
Grave Haunting
Grave Paths
Grave Danger
Grave Missteps
Grave Demands
Grave Wedding
An Ivy Morgan Mystery
Wicked Days
Wicked Times
Wicked Places
Wicked Warning
Wic
ked Fog
Wicked Season
Wicked Winter
Wicked Hearts
Wicked Wishes
Wicked Whimsy
Wicked Haunts
Wicked Delight
Wicked Respite
Wicked Decisions
Wicked Reunion
Wicked Games
Wicked Wedding
Wicked Honeymoon
A Harper Harlow Mystery
Ghostly Interests
Ghostly Issues
Ghostly Deceits
Ghostly Worries
Ghostly Images
Ghostly Wrecks
Ghostly Asylum
Ghostly Tricks
Ghostly Distress
Ghostly Despair
Ghostly Holiday
Ghostly Ordeal
Ghostly Fears
Ghostly Charms
Ghostly Business
Ghostly Camping
Ghostly Wedding
A Rowan Gray Mystery
Welcoming Seas
Murky Seas
Stormy Seas
Sunken Seas
Choppy Seas
Churning Seas
Dangerous Seas
Perilous Seas
Raging Seas
A Hannah Hickock Witchy Cozy Mystery
The Dirty Coven
A Fistful of Demons
Boot Scootin’ Boogeyman
The Monstrous Seven
Dances With Witches
All the Pretty Witches
A Supernatural Speakeasy Cozy Mystery
The Hexorcist
Witch Confidential
Curse A Brew Streak
Witch is the New Black
Hex, Drugs & Rock and Roll
Crossovers
Wicked Ghosts
Wicked Seas
Ghostly Seas
Grave Seas
True Grit Spirit
Ghostly Graves
Hardy Brothers Security
Deadly Intentions
Deadly Intuition
Deadly Illusions
Deadly Proposal
Deadly Prospects
Deadly Ever After
Deadly Honeymoon
Deadly Questions
Deadly Addition
Deadly Vacation
Deadly Secrets
Deadly Storm