Brewing Trouble: A Witchy Mystery (Tree's Hollow Witches Book 2)

by Sara Bourgeois

  "You were right," Esme said from behind me.

  "Oh really?" I said and poked her arm. "I already knew that."

  "I don't know what I'm going to do with my days off now." She said before ordering a giant pretzel from the teenager manning the stand. "If I don't have to torment Brad anymore, I'll need a new hobby."

  I shook my head at her as I dove into my nachos. We'd ordered drinks, so Esme and I walked over to the soda dispenser to fill our glasses. I chose cherry cola, and Esme filled her cup with half orange soda and half grape.

  "I guess I could do some overtime. I could always use more money." She said as we walked back over to Nate and Brad.

  "As long as you stay out of the morgue," I said.

  "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Brad said without turning away from the game he and Nate were playing.

  "Are you sure you don't want to know?" I stated with a laugh. "It's a fascinating story."

  Esme shot me a death stare. I knew Brad didn't know about our powers, so there was no way I was really going to tell him anything. Getting a rise out of Esme was fun. The game ended, and Brad turned to address us.

  "Look, if this is going to be a thing, I need you two to understand that you won't be ganging up on me," Brad said.

  "If this is going to be a thing?" Esme said with one eyebrow raised.

  "If you're going to be my woman." He said and rubbed his chin. "You are going to be my woman."

  As soon as those words slipped from Brad's lips, he pulled Esme into his arms and kissed her hard. It was as if he'd been waiting his entire life for that kiss. She put one hand on his chest as if she was going to push him away she eventually melted into him.

  "I think we should make ourselves scarce," I said to Nate.

  "Good plan."

  We went to the other side of the arcade and played some air hockey for about twenty minutes. Eventually, Brad and Esme wandered over and asked if we would mind splitting up.

  "I know you guys planned this double date," Brad said. "But, I think Esme and I would like to have a romantic dinner alone."

  "Yes! We can totally do that." I said a little too enthusiastically.

  I figured Esme would tell me how it went later. I was going to have to have every detail, and I was ecstatic about how well it was going.

  Nate and I decided that we wanted Italian food. We drove around the town we were visiting until we found a place that was obviously some kind of Italian Bistro. The Basil Fresh Bistro was a newer building, but it wasn't a chain that I'd ever heard of before. I hoped that meant it was a family owned restaurant. I was craving some handmade tortellini smothered in alfredo, peas, and crispy bacon. It was the kind of dish you couldn't get at chain Italian places, and even if you could, it wasn't the same.

  The conversation was pleasant, and I ran my ideas for a fall themed wedding by Nathan. He was far more interested and engaged in the conversation than I'd expected. He mentioned that if we were going to get married in the fall this year, we'd have to set a date soon. He had out of town family who'd need to start making plans.

  "You're okay with us getting married in a few months?" I asked as I speared a tortellini.

  "No," Nate said flatly.

  I looked up, and the color must have drained from my face immediately.

  "Whoa, Lenny. I'm sorry. I was half kidding." He said and took my hand.

  "Half kidding?" I asked and swallowed the lump in my throat.

  "Yeah. I wish I could marry you sooner. I'd like to make you my wife as soon as possible. But, I can see that you've got your heart set on the fall wedding plans, and I'd give you anything you ever ask for. So, how about October. The leaves should be beautiful by then."

  "Yes. That will be amazing. We could even do something with a slight Halloween theme?" I asked cautiously.

  "That sounds like fun."

  I breathed a sigh of relief. Nathan sounded completely sincere, and my mind began to churn wildly with Halloween reception ideas.

  I was in the middle of eating a hunk of bread dipped in olive oil and talking about candy appetizers to supplement the wedding cake when I noticed that Nathan had gone completely pale. He set his fork down quickly and wiped the corners of his mouth with his napkin. He saw the waitress crossing the restaurant and waved her down.

  "Can we get our check please?" He asked. "Quickly please."

  "What's going on? Are you alright, sweetie?" I asked.

  Nathan's eyes were glued to someone or something behind me. Before he could answer, I swiveled my head around to see what he was looking at. All I saw was a gorgeous red head and her companion being seated at a table on the other side of the restaurant.

  "Don't look," Nate whispered.

  "Nate, seriously. What's going on?"

  "I'll tell you later. I swear. I just want to get out of here."

  The waitress came back and put the check down on the table. Nate took out his credit card and handed it to her without looking at the bill.

  "Don't you want to check it?" She asked after taking his card.

  "I'm sure it's fine." He said shortly. "Could you please bring a box for my date? Please bring it back with my receipt. We need to leave.”

  Nathan was quiet, and he kept his eyes focused on the table with the red-haired woman and her date. At least, I assumed it was her date. He was an older man, and he could have been a relative or a friend.

  The waitress brought our receipt and the box at the same time. Nathan thanked her and gave a generous tip.

  “Sometimes it takes forever to get a box if they don’t bring it with your credit card.” He mumbled as we stood up.

  We didn’t say much else on the way out to the truck or for the first half of the ride home. Nathan looked so tense that I was almost afraid to say anything to him. There was a thin line of sweat beads across his forehead despite the fact that it was cool outside and in the truck. His mouth was pulled back into a grimace that appeared almost painful.

  “Are you alright?” I finally asked when the tension became more than I could bear.

  “Not really, but I don’t know how much I want to talk about it tonight. I need to get you home. I wish we hadn’t separated from Esme and Brad. I don’t want you staying alone.” He said gravely.

  “You could sleep on the sofa. It’s pretty comfy. I’ve fallen asleep on it many times. Sorry I don’t have a bed for the guest bedroom yet.” I offered.

  “Normally I wouldn’t do something like that, but I think it’s necessary tonight.”

  “Okay, it’s decided then. Can I ask? Is it the man at the table with the redhead? Has he done something?” I asked cautiously.

  “It’s not the man.”

  “You mean it was the woman?” I wondered why Nathan was so afraid of a woman.

  She’d been a slight thing with long red hair. Her porcelain skin and thin limbs made her look like someone who’d walked off the page of a magazine. From what I could tell, there wasn’t anything particularly scary about her.

  “She tried to kill me, Lenny.”

  Chapter Eleven

  I couldn’t believe what I’d heard. Nathan had never told me about a woman from his past who’d tried to murder him. Not that I could blame him for not wanting to discuss it.

  I really wanted the rest of the story, but Nate didn’t volunteer it. I couldn’t bring myself to press him when he seemed so distressed. I got some extra sheets and blankets out of the closet and took the extra pillow off of my bed. It only took me a few minutes to make up the couch while Nate brushed his teeth and put on pajamas in my guest bathroom. We’d stopped by his house to pick up his overnight bag, but we’d only been there for under ten minutes. He had been worried that the red-haired woman might have followed us, so he got in and got out as fast as possible.

  Once he was ready for bed, Nate kissed me on the top of my head softly and then flopped down on the sofa. He mumbled thanks and then flipped on the television. I felt so bad because there wasn’t any cable yet, and I knew
he needed to unwind.

  In the haze of his fear and exhaustion, Nate apparently forgot I didn’t have cable. While he was looking at the remote trying to figure out how to get the television to work, I waved my hand in the air and imagined the tv was connected to the cable.

  It flickered to life, and Nate seemed to relax a little bit. He changed over to Discovery Channel and started watching a documentary about hippos. Part of me wanted to go into my office and see if I could dig up any info on Nate and the woman, but I knew that was wrong. He would tell me when he was ready.

  “I’m going to go to bed.” I figured that was the best way to keep myself out of snoop mode. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “I love you, baby. So much. I hope you understand that, and I promise I’ll tell you everything tomorrow.”

  “I love you too. We can talk over breakfast and then maybe I’ll rope you into helping me finish my unpacking.” I said and kissed him.

  He clasped my chin between his thumb and forefinger while looking deep into my eyes. “Anything for you, Lenora. I mean it.”

  The next morning I woke up to the smell of French toast and sausage. For a moment, I thought Abby had figured out how to interact with the physical world, but then I realized that Nate had gotten up before me. And, he was making breakfast.

  He looked a little less stricken in the light of day, but I could tell he was still tense. I had to wonder if he was anxious because he thought the redhead was going to show up at my house, or if it was because he had to tell me his secret. I stood in the kitchen doorway and watched him silently for a few minutes. I’m not going to lie, I was looking forward to spending my life watching his big biceps flex as he cooked. What more could a woman want?

  “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to think I had too much baggage.” He said without looking up from the pan he was using to cook sausage.

  “I understand that,” I said and crossed the kitchen to him.

  “I’ll tell you the rest of the story over breakfast. Why don’t you grab us drinks?” He said and offered me a half smile, but he did look reassured.

  The story isn’t a pleasant one, and my heart ached for Nate as he told me. The woman’s name was Irene. She and Nathan had been in a relationship that lasted from the end of high school until a few years ago. Almost ten years they’d been in a relationship.

  As Nate told me about their relationship, I started to realize that they weren’t your typical high school sweethearts. At first, Nate had taken her actions and written them off as typical insecurity. Irene was beautiful, but even that didn’t protect teenage girls from feeling awkward in their body and afraid of heartbreak.

  As time went on, she had started to spend more and more time worrying about them breaking up. By the time they’d been together for a year, Irene was consumed with fear that Nate would dump her. He’d thought that was strange because Nate had always assumed the longer a couple was together, the more secure they’d be in their relationship. At least, that’s what he’s seen from his friends around him.

  “I should have paid more attention to how my buddies interacted with their girlfriends. If I had, I would have known that things were way off base with Irene and me.” He said without looking into my eyes.

  He explained to me that it crept up on him so slowly that it was hard for him to process that things had been getting worse. If she’d started acting the way she did for the rest of their relationship at first, there was no way he’d have stayed with her. But, by the time he realized how bad things were, he’d already been in a committed relationship with her for almost two years.

  The first time she’d hit him had been at prom. She thought he’d been looking at another girl and dragged him out into the hallway for a talk. This was what she said when she intended to berate him into apologizing for whatever imagined wrong he’d done recently. Only this time, Nate got angry and stood up for himself.

  In his head, he still loved Irene, but he was tired of the way she treated him. He kept thinking that if he could just figure out why she was so mad all of the time, things would be good again. Sadly, he could no longer remember when they had been good.

  The girl he was accused of looking at the wrong way was Cheryl. She was one of Nate’s childhood friends, and the two of them had been close since preschool. There was never anything romantic between them. They’d been like brother and sister for years.

  But, Irene had been jealous of their friendship and had driven a wedge between them months ago to the point where Cheryl and Nate no longer spoke. When Nate saw his old friend at the dance, he couldn’t believe how lovely she looked. He was so happy for her because she’d come to the prom with the guy she’d had a crush on since 7th grade.

  That’s all it was. Nate was just happy for his old friend, but Irene took it as him wishing he could be dancing with Cheryl instead of her. She’d practically dragged him out into the hallway and started berating him. About the third time Irene accused Nathan of cheating on him, he snapped.

  He didn’t yell at her, but he did take a step back and told her to stop. Nate told her that she was acting crazy and that he couldn’t take it anymore. He’d never even thought about cheating on her, but he wasn’t sure if they could be together.

  At hearing that, Irene started to sob. Feeling sorry, Nate took a step toward her because he wanted to pull her in for a hug. Despite everything she’d put him through, he couldn’t stand seeing her cry. As soon as he got close enough to her, Irene reached out and slapped him across the face. It wasn’t for show either. She’d hit his jaw with the heel of her hand hard enough to make his ears ring and his teeth ache.

  He said that he wasn’t going to allow her to hit him and turned to leave. That’s when Irene blurted out that she was pregnant, and it was probably the hormones making her act so crazy.

  That made Nathan’s heart sink into his stomach. His entire body felt like lead. There was no way he could leave her if she was having his baby, but he felt all of his dreams and goals flying out the window.

  As it turned out, she wasn’t pregnant, but it was a lie Irene trotted out every time Nathan started making plans to leave her. Intellectually he knew she was lying, but there were always the what ifs. What if this time she was telling the truth? What if he left his baby alone with Irene and she wouldn’t take him back? He couldn’t stand the thought of abandoning an innocent child to her cruelty.

  Eventually, though, it stopped working. It was a chance encounter with Cheryl at work that did it. Nate had recently started his job as a Forest Ranger, and Cheryl brought her husband and toddler to the woods for a day of hiking. They’d stopped in at the ranger station before heading out, and Nathan happened to be on his way out.

  Cheryl was so happy to see him and introduce Nathan to her son, Charles. She’d married Bart, the guy who’s taken her to prom all those years ago. Cheryl had gone to tech school after high school and was working as a carpenter. Bart was working as a nurse at a hospital about an hour away.

  The family was going to hike for the day, but they asked Nathan to meet them for dinner when his shift was over. He agreed, and over dinner, he spilled everything that had been going on to his old friends.

  They helped him make plans to move out soon, as Irene had really been putting the pressure on Nathan to get married. She could feel him slipping away.

  Cheryl and Bart helped Nathan get an apartment without Irene knowing so that once he told her he was leaving, he could move out immediately. They kept all of the information at their house so that Nathan didn’t leave a trail behind for Irene to follow.

  Then Cheryl suggested he move his things out while Irene was at work, and leave a note. Nathan didn’t like the idea at first, but he realized that it was the only way to keep himself safe from Irene’s violence and manipulation. She would hit him for sure, and who knew how far it would go when Irene found out that Nathan already had a place to go. She could lose her mind when she realized he’d been planning his escape for mont
hs.

  In the end, Nathan packed his things and got a moving truck as soon as Irene walked out the door for work the day he left. Cheryl and Bart took the day off work, and they drove to the town where Nathan lived to help him with his move. They left their son with his grandmother for the day, and they were able to help him with no distractions.

  Nate had been planning the move for months. He’d even been moving things around in the apartment, so they’d be easier to pack. He did whatever he could do to make his escape easier without raising Irene’s suspicions.

  Every second that they were packing and hauling boxes down to the moving truck, Nathan was terrified that Irene would come home. He was convinced that she knew what he was doing and that she’d show up at any moment to “catch” him betraying her.

  He was surprised when everything went as planned. Nathan, Bart, and Cheryl were gone long before it was time for Irene to get off work. In fact, they had everything moved into his new apartment in Tree’s Hollow before it was time for her to be home.

  Nathan knew he hadn’t left anything behind that would help Irene find him, but he still couldn’t sleep for a week. He ended up having to take a few vacation days because he let himself get so exhausted.

  As the days became weeks and the weeks became months, Nate told me that he started to relax. It would turn out to be a false sense of security. At first, Nathan hoped that Irene had been so mad at him that she’d decided he wasn’t worth her time.

  Instead, he told me, that he started seeing someone in a hoody and jeans standing outside of his apartment window at night. Then, he began seeing the person out on the trails at work. Whoever it was, they were always too far away for him to get a good look at their face.

  One day, another ranger startled the person who at the time was following Nathan as he walked out to check a campsite. The person whirled around and took off running.

  “Her hoodie came down, Lenny.” Nate practically whispered. “I almost started to cry when I saw the shock of red hair flying behind her as she ran away.”