Back Room Bookstore Cozy Mystery Boxed Set: Books 1 - 12

by Susan Harper

  Holly stared at him. “I have a twin?”

  “Guess they must run in my family or something,” he said, squeezing her hand again. “Needless to say, I ditched all my classes that week and went home. I had no idea what to do. I named you Holly. It was around Christmas, you see, so there was holly everywhere. I thought it was appropriate. You were just a few months old. Took you to a doctor and had a blood test run because a part of me didn’t believe Morgan’s story, but I confirmed you were mine. I kept you for a couple of weeks, but eventually, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to take care of you. Not really. I put you up for adoption about a month later, and then I re-enrolled in school that next semester.”

  “And you never heard from my mom again?” Holly asked.

  “No, I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish I could tell you more. I’ve tried tracking your mother down, of course. I started looking for her around the same time I started looking for you, but all I knew about her was her first name and the fact that she had one of my daughters. I want to find your sister one day, too. I hope I can.”

  “Thank you for telling me all of this,” Holly said, letting go of his hand. “So, I have another sister out there somewhere.”

  “Yes,” he said. “I’ve been looking for you both for about five years now. I should have started looking sooner, but I was always afraid you would hate me.”

  “Hate you?” Holly asked. “Dad, I told you, I’ve had a good life. A great life. I don’t hate you at all. I just… I wonder… After what happened yesterday with Angel, I wonder if now is the best time for me to be jumping back into your life? You have your family to deal with right now. To be there for…”

  “You are my family too,” he said. “Holly, please. If not now, then when? I’m upset—devastated—about losing my Angel. And it’s hard. And it’s so, so painful, but I don’t want to lose you all over again too. I want to get to know my daughter. Angel would have wanted to get to know you. You saw how excited Anniston and Angel were yesterday about you.”

  Monica nodded reassuringly at Holly. “We can stay for a few days, Holly. I think Joseph is right.”

  Holly smiled. “Okay.”

  “Your sister… I know that Officer George was telling you to kind of back off, but the autopsy was completed last night rather quickly. Cyanide, apparently. Norah wants to be quick about the funeral. I think she believes it’ll be easier on Anniston to get it over with. We’ve arranged a small get-together this evening, and she’ll be buried tonight. If you want to come, I don’t want you to feel like you can’t.”

  “She’s my sister,” Holly said. “Of course, I’ll come.”

  “Okay, let me write down the funeral home information for you then,” he said, digging around in his pockets. He pulled out a pen and pocket-sized spiral notebook and scribbled on it. “Here, this is all the funeral information. I think it would have meant a lot to Angel for you to be there.”

  “We will be there,” Holly promised him.

  They were not able to talk for too much longer. Joseph had to go be with his wife and younger daughter, and they still had a few more decisions to make about the funeral. Once he was gone, Monica could see Holly slump into her seat a bit as though the weight of the world was bearing down on her. “Are you all right?” Monica asked.

  “I’m okay,” she said. “I’m just… I have a twin sister. He doesn’t even know her name. But now I know my mom’s name, Morgan. That’s awesome, right? But all I have to go on is a first name. I was hoping he’d be able to tell me more than that.”

  Abigail hopped up where Joseph had been sitting. “It’s all a bit strange, isn’t it?” Abigail asked. “How your mom and dad met and how you came to be. Maybe your mom was just as scared as your dad was.”

  “Maybe,” Holly said.

  “Come on, we should go,” Monica said, standing upright. “We might need to find something to wear for the funeral tonight. Maybe we could pick up some flowers too.”

  “Good idea,” Holly said, standing up with her, and they hurried away from the coffee shop.

  10

  The funeral home that evening was packed full of people from all over town. Evidently, the Kents were a well-known and well-loved family. In the room where Angel’s casket was set up for viewing, Anniston was seated on a small chair, rocking and trembling—not looking much better than she had the day before. Next to her, as casual as ever, was Norah—still working on some sort of sewing project to distract herself, occasionally whispering a few words of comfort to Anniston.

  When Monica and Holly reached the family who were gathered around, Joseph threw his arms around Holly tearfully. “Thank you for coming, sweetheart,” he told her.

  “Of course,” Holly said.

  Monica recognized many faces from the welcome home party. It was strange to have a funeral so quickly, she felt. Roczen kept blubbering and walking off only to return a moment later with the rest of the family. At one point he was gone for a while, so Norah’s brother Weston hurried to go find him to make sure he was all right. They were gone for a while, and Monica had a bad feeling in her stomach.

  The funeral home was large and had many rooms that were not being used, so it took her and Abigail a moment to find them. They left Holly in the viewing room with her father. Inside an empty room filled with casket samples, Monica could hear Roczen and Weston whispering. “I know, it’s hard on all of us,” Weston said, though he sounded a bit distant from the ordeal, much like his sister Norah. “I wish we could turn back time too.”

  “That sweet little girl didn’t deserve this,” Roczen said. “I know it’s wrong of me, but I wish it had been that new girl instead. I don’t know who did this, and they were wrong to try to hurt Holly, but honestly, I don’t know that kid. I wish the killer had gotten it right!”

  This infuriated Monica, and by the hissing at her ankles, she knew Abigail was ready to have her back. Monica flung herself into the room and pulled out her wand, pointing it in Roczen’s direction. Her intention was to give him an attitude adjustment and then of course wipe his memory of having seen her with a wand, but before she could say a thing, Weston shouted, “Retraco!” and her wand went flying out of her hand.

  She glanced over, and Weston now had her wand in one hand and was holding his own in her direction. “What the heck” Roczen yelped in surprise, looking ready to run.

  “Night, buddy,” Weston said, waving his wand in Roczen’s direction and uttering an incantation. Roczen went stiff as a board and fell flat on the ground. Weston pointed his wand threateningly at Monica. “Inside. Close the door. Now.”

  Abigail bolted for help, but Monica had little choice but to obey. She held out both hands. “You’re a wizard?” she asked.

  “I am,” he said. “And it seems you are a witch. Tell me what you were thinking pointing your wand at a mortal like that! Going to get us all in trouble with the Sorcerer’s Council! Lucky, I stopped you from doing something stupid.” He put his own wand away and began to examine hers. He smirked. “Oh, you’re an unnatural. Pity. You’re not a threat to me with this thing, then.” He gave her the wand back, and Monica snatched it angrily.

  “You got a problem with me being an unnatural witch?” Monica asked.

  “No,” he said, glaring at her. “What were you going to do? Shake him up? That was stupid of you, and you know it.”

  “It was,” Monica admitted. “But I heard what he was saying about Holly.”

  “Roczen is a moron,” Weston said, crossing his arms. “An emotional mortal who talks too much. He didn’t mean what he was saying. He’s just upset. He’s really close with Anniston and Angel. Always has been.”

  The door flung open, and Holly and Abigail came running in like they were ready for a fight. “Easy,” Monica said. “He was just stopping me from getting us all in trouble…”

  Holly stared at him. “Abigail said you had a wand?”

  “I’m a wizard. Of course I have a wand,” he said. His face softened. “You talk then?
” he asked, looking down at Abigail. “You’re her familiar?”

  “That’s right,” Abigail hissed.

  He looked at Holly. “Are you a witch?” he asked.

  “No,” Holly said, and she glanced at Roczen angrily.

  “Don’t be mad at him for what he said,” Weston coaxed. “He didn’t mean it. He’s not a bad guy. He’s just a little emotional is all. My brother-in-law’s cousin has never been good at handling his emotions. He’s always been very protective of Joseph, and I think he’s just worried about what you being here might mean for the man.”

  “Why so protective?” Holly asked.

  “Of your dad?” Weston asked. He sighed and crossed his arms. “Something that happened when they were kids. I don’t know if your dad told you about his amnesia?”

  “Amnesia?”

  “No, I suppose not,” Weston said. “It embarrasses him. He got hit by a softball or something when he was a kid. Gave him amnesia. Still to this day, your father can’t remember anything from begore he was seventeen. Complete blank slate. Roczen looked out for him the rest of high school, and he even switched colleges so that he could follow Joseph and keep an eye out for his younger cousin. As far as mortals go, Roczen and Joseph are good men who care about each other. Roczen is basically Joseph’s source for everything Joseph knows about himself from before the accident.”

  “That’s so sad,” Holly said. “No wonder my dad was so eager to put me up for adoption. If he was dealing with that at that age too.”

  “Wait,” Monica said suddenly. “If you are a wizard, that must mean your sister Norah is a witch!”

  “Excellent deduction,” Weston said coolly. “Yes, Norah is a witch.”

  “Does Dad know?” Holly asked.

  “No, and neither does my wife,” Weston said firmly.

  This struck Monica as rather odd. “How can you hide such a huge piece of yourselves from your spouses?” Monica asked. “How does that even work?”

  Weston’s expression went from sour to downright sad. He unfolded his arms, and they hung loosely at his side. “You think we don’t want to tell Joseph and Tora?”

  “You do, then?” Holly asked. “So why don’t you?”

  “Norah and I were both denied licenses,” he said. “Norah gave up after being denied one twice. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve applied for one. Denied each time.”

  “Seriously?” Abigail asked, jumping up onto one of the empty caskets in the room so that she could look at Weston more directly. “They won’t let you tell your own wife? They couldn’t even grant you a specific license for that?”

  “Norah and I have a bit of a past with the Sorcerer’s Council that I’d rather not get into. They don’t care for us,” he said. “Not that I can blame them. We caused a bit of trouble in our youth. Young and stupid, I suppose you could say. We’re being punished for it now. I suppose I should have known better than to allow myself to fall in love with someone I was going to have to keep a huge part of myself from. Same for Norah. But we’ve always liked the mortal world. Came here too often. Interacted with the people. Then I met Tora. I loved her the moment I met her you see. I tried to stay away, but I kept coming back. She loved me too, and I knew it was right. I thought maybe once we were married, the Sorcerer’s Council would grant me a license, but they never did.”

  “Why not just tell them anyway? How are they going to find out anyhow?” Holly asked.

  “They might not,” Weston said. “But if they did, they’d wipe her memories. All of them—every memory of me and our lives together. They’d take her away from me if I revealed our world to her without a license. Same with Norah and Joseph, and frankly, after Joseph’s mind has already been wiped once through natural causes, who knows what a magical mind wipe would do to him?”

  “You have to keep this secret for their own safety,” Monica said sadly.

  “Yes,” Weston said.

  “What did you do in your youth?” Abigail asked eagerly. “That they wouldn’t let you have a license to reveal the world to your own wife?”

  “That’s none of your business, familiar,” he said, and then he raised a brow at her. “You… You’re not a familiar at all, are you? You’re a witch. Are you stuck that way?”

  Abigail hissed at him.

  “Easy, Abs,” Monica said. “She’s serving a sentence.”

  “Then I don’t think you can judge me, Miss Abigail,” Weston said. “One wizard to another. I think we both know how harsh the Sorcerer’s Council can be. How long have you been this way?”

  Abigail grew quiet. “Over three hundred years,” she said.

  Weston looked aghast. “Are you serious?” he asked. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. What did you do?”

  “You first,” Abigail hissed.

  “That’s enough,” Holly said quickly. “Do you guys think you can wake up Uncle Roczen? I kind of would like to ask him a few questions about Dad’s injury from when he was a kid.”

  “I personally would like to break his nose for the way he was talking about you, not get all buddy-buddy with him,” Monica said.

  Weston looked affronted. “I told you, he didn’t mean it. Leave Roczen alone. He’s devastated about Angel. He just doesn’t know how to deal with it.”

  “If you say so,” Monica muttered.

  “Just wake him up,” Holly said. “Like I said, I have some questions for him.”

  “Whatever you say,” Weston said, removing his wand. “Solve fasciculos!” A blast of light emitted from his wand, and he hurried to hide it as Roczen suddenly bounced back up to his feet, rubbing his eyes in utter confusion as to what had just taken place.

  11

  “You all right there, Roczen?” Weston asked, slapping the man’s shoulder.

  Roczen finished rubbing his eyes and looked dead at Monica and Holly, his face turning a horrid shade of scarlet. Monica figured the man was contemplating what he had been saying before he had been put under Weston’s sleeping spell, and he was likely worried they had overheard. Despite Monica’s desire to blast him again with her wand, she smiled and pretended that everything was okay. “Yeah, you took a tumble there,” Monica said, and Roczen in his current state of delirium seemed rather quick to take this suggestion.

  “Yes… I fell…” he said, shaking his head. He straightened himself up. “I suppose the past twenty-four hours have really gotten to me. How are you holding up, Holly?”

  Holly smiled sadly at the man. “I think I’ll be all right.”

  “I need to go check on Tora,” Weston said after a moment of uncomfortable silence. “She was pretty shaky this morning. She and the girls were always really close.”

  “Go do what you need to do,” Roczen told him, gripping onto one of the empty caskets to keep himself upright.

  Weston gave Monica and Holly an approving nod before leaving the room. Monica stared at Roczen, feeling a hint of resentment. “So, Roczen, you and Joseph were always real close from what I understand? You’re his…older cousin?”

  “That’s right,” Roczen said.

  “I heard that Joseph had a bad accident when he was a kid. That you looked out for him?” Monica asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” Roczen said, slowly coming out of his befuddled state. “He grew up in a single parent kind of household. His mom was my aunt.”

  “What about his dad?” Holly asked curiously.

  “Out of the picture,” Roczen said. “Don’t know what the deal was, really. Joseph’s mom didn’t like to talk about him. Said he just left them when Joseph was just a baby. She was a tough woman until the cancer got her. Even then, she was kind of a badass, your grandmother.”

  Holly smiled. “I’d love to learn more about her.”

  “I guess you’d have to talk to me about that,” Roczen said sadly. “Joseph’s accident happened when he was seventeen. His mom died two years later, so he doesn’t really remember much about his mom. It’s sad, really. He asks me questions about her all the time. I do
my best to help fill the gaps for him. The accident happened at a ballpark, from what I understand. I wasn’t there—just his mom and his teammates, I guess. He got hit in the head hard by a ball, and then boom, he couldn’t remember a thing. Didn’t even recognize his mom. Broke her heart. We were close before, but after that, I just… I just got paranoid, I guess. That’s what Weston tells me, at least. I worry about him.”

  “I’m glad he had you to look out for him,” Holly said. “Wait… Did he meet my mom before or after the accident?”

  Roczen paused. “You know, I’m not sure. I know she showed up at college looking for him. I’m not sure if they, er, had their meet and greet before or not. I mean, he did a DNA test on you, Holly. Not like someone just showed up with a kid trying to pawn a baby off on some guy with amnesia. You’re his. You don’t need to worry about that.”

  “I know,” Holly said. “I guess I was just wondering how hard that must have been on Dad to have some woman show up he couldn’t even recognize, if that’s true that is.”

  “I’m pretty sure it was after,” Roczen explained. “Because after the accident is kind of when our…wild phases started. That’s when he got the fake ID and we started going to bars. I’m pretty sure that’s how he met your mom.”

  “Yeah, that’s what Dad told me,” Holly said. “So it must have been after the accident that they met.”

  “Yeah, that sounds right,” Roczen said.

  “But you weren’t there at the accident?” Monica asked to be certain.

  “No, I wasn’t. Just his teammates,” Roczen said and straightened himself up a bit. “I should be heading back in there. I just needed a minute.” Roczen left the room, his shoulders slumped and a look of guilt on his face.