Meg’s eyebrows rose. “What?”
“You heard me. I was surrounded by vampires and werewolves and psychics.”
“You weren’t kidding when you said your dream was wild.”
“I’m just getting started,” Pamela said. “The panel of judges were all ghosts.”
“Just when you think that things can’t get any weirder.”
“I’m still not done. For some odd reason, the talent competition took place in Bozeman, Montana.”
“How random.”
“That’s what I thought. Of all the places for a paranormal talent competition to take place, Bozeman would be near the bottom of that list.”
“I can’t argue with that. Although, of all the odd details in your dream, the location is the last one that sticks out to me. I mean, it’s pretty crazy to think that there was a paranormal talent show in the first place.”
“True. And that’s not even the most peculiar detail.”
“It isn’t?”
Pamela shook her head. “One of the ghost judges was my dearly departed mother.”
“No way.”
Pamela nodded.
“Wow. Your mother was judging you from beyond the grave.”
“That’s why I think this dream has really stuck with me. Those other wacky details are just kind of window dressing. At the heart, it really freaked me out to see my mother judging me.”
“I guess the question is, do you think there’s a kernel of truth to your dream?”
“That’s the problem. I’m not sure. It’s really easy to dismiss what happened as just a crazy dream. But what if it was more than that?”
“Say it wasn’t just a dream. What would your mother even have to judge you about? You’re a successful woman.”
“Professionally speaking, I am. But romantically speaking, my life is one big hairy mess.”
“I’m sorry about that. Even though I’m not single, I certainly know a thing or two about hairy situations,” Meg joked.
“Was that a werewolf pun?” Pamela asked.
Meg smiled. “What can I say? My grandmother’s sense of humor is rubbing off on me.”
“It certainly is,” Pamela replied. “That said, even though your fiancé is part werewolf, at least you have a great man in your life. Here I am with access to countless spells, yet my love life is anything but magical.”
“That is pretty ironic. But as you know, there’s a limit to our powers.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“Hey. The right guy will come around. You just have to be patient.”
“Meg, thanks for the support. But you don’t know for sure that I’ll ever meet the right guy.”
“Pamela, you have to admit that my instincts are usually pretty spot-on.”
“I can’t argue with that.”
“And my gut is telling me that a little patience will pay off,” Meg said.
Pamela crossed her fingers. “I hope you’re right. In the meantime, I guess I’ll just keep having crazy dreams.”
“Crazy is definitely the right word. Talk about a wacky experience.”
“I’m telling you, the full moon was behind it. Some lunar cycles have a way of throwing things completely out of whack.”
“I agree. Your dream isn’t the only wild thing that has happened in the last few days.”
“Isn’t that the truth? It has been a bizarre couple of days for both of us.”
“Then again, things are rarely dull in Enchanted Bay.”
“True. Even so, they also aren’t usually this wild,” Pamela said. “Which makes you wonder what surprises are in store for the future.”
Meg put her hand up. “My vote is for no surprises.”
Pamela chuckled. “I didn’t realize you had any say in the matter.”
Meg stared off into distance. “I don’t. I just figured I would throw my opinion out there in case the universe is listening.”
“I love that optimism,” Pamela said. “I hope it pays off.”
“I will find out soon enough.”
Pamela looked down at her phone. “Speaking of time, I’m running a little late today, so I need to take my order to go. I wouldn’t want to be late to work.”
“You certainly wouldn’t.”
“Before I go, though, I wanted to mention that I did get your text yesterday regarding a possible werewolf cure spell,” Pamela said. “I just don’t have an answer for you right now.”
“I can’t say that I’m surprised. That topic seems to have stumped a number of people.”
“I’m going to do some digging around when I get home tonight. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get lucky.”
“That would be great.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“Thanks, Pamela,” Meg said.
“Don’t thank me yet. I might completely strike out. After all, a werewolf cure isn’t exactly the easiest topic to find information about.”
“Oh, I know. Why do you think I texted you? I’m desperate for all of the help that I can get.”
“I’ll let you know if I’m able to dig something up.”
“Fantastic,” Meg said.
“In the meantime, I need to take my donut and run,” Pamela said.
Chapter Thirteen
A few minutes after Pamela left the donut shop, Connor arrived. After exchanging a pleasant greeting, Connor told her about seeing Josh Gilbertson on his street earlier.
Meg’s eyes widened. She then remarked, “That is something.”
“Something suspicious, all right,” Connor said. “What a morning.”
“Does that mean you don’t believe Josh’s story?” Meg asked.
Connor shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Are you worried that he might have an eye on getting revenge?”
“I certainly can’t rule that out.”
Meg grimaced. “As if you didn’t have enough to worry about already.”
Connor groaned. “I know, right?”
“What a wild few days,” Meg said.
“Speaking of wild things, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Connor said. “Now that you’ve seen the wolf side of me, it doesn’t change anything between us, does it?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Why would it?”
“It’s one thing for me to tell you that I’m a werewolf. It’s another to see the beast in person. That’s why I warned you to leave yesterday before I transformed.”
“I know you’re worried—”
“Of course, I am. I hate this curse.”
“Connor, I love you. And nothing I saw yesterday changed that.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes.”
“Wow. What a relief,” Connor replied. “I have to say, you are amazingly understanding.”
“Don’t get me wrong. It was pretty shocking to see my fiancé turn into a werewolf in front of my eyes. But that’s not who you are. The real you is a loving, caring, incredible man. A man that I want to spend the rest of my life with,” Meg said.
Connor smiled. “I’m so happy you feel that way.”
Connor leaned in to give Meg a kiss.
He stopped when he saw her staring out into the distance.
“What are you thinking about right now?” Connor asked. “Me turning into a werewolf?”
Meg snapped out of her haze and shook her head. “No. I was actually thinking about Isaac Forrester.”
Connor’s forehead wrinkled. “Really?”
She nodded.
“Why?”
“It’s just weird to think that I had an uncomfortable run-in with Isaac yesterday. Then you had an uncomfortable run-in with Josh today. I can’t help but worry what’s going to happen next.”
“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. I’m going to pay Isaac a visit.”
“All right. Well, be careful,” Meg said.
A fire came to Connor’s eyes. “
The way I see it, after the way he confronted you in that parking lot, Isaac is the one who needs to be careful.”
Chapter Fourteen
When Connor left Enchanted Donuts, his next stop was Isaac Forrester’s house.
It was safe to say that Isaac wasn’t happy to see the detective. Especially considering how Connor was showing up unannounced at Isaac’s house.
Isaac had been busy working on an old car in his garage when he spotted Connor approaching him. Isaac narrowed his eyes at the detective.
Connor managed to get the first word in, though. “You have a lot of nerve, you know that?”
Isaac tightened up the grip on the wrench that he was holding. “The way I see it, you’re the one with the nerve. What are you doing here?”
Connor stared at the wrench, then at Isaac. “Why don’t you put the wrench down?”
“What’s the matter? Does it make you uncomfortable?”
Isaac seemed to be getting a rush out of annoying the detective.
Connor tried his best to keep a cool head, but that proved to be a difficult task. “Are you going to put it down?”
“No.”
“Why not? Are you deliberately trying to get under my skin?”
“Hey, you’re the one who showed up here unannounced. You can leave at any time. In fact, the sooner, the better.”
“Isaac, you brought this on yourself. What were you thinking, confronting my fiancé yesterday?”
“The way I see it, I was doing her a favor.”
Connor scoffed. “You must have a serious twisted mind to believe that.”
“I was only trying to warn her about you.”
“Isaac, I’m the good guy here.”
“That isn’t the way I see it.”
“You must be looking at things through a really distorted lens. You don’t know the first thing about me.”
“I know enough. You ruined my life.”
Connor shook his head. “I didn’t force you to break the law. That was all you. You’re the bad guy here.”
“You need to get your facts straight. I served my time. And ever since I got out of jail, I’ve stayed out of trouble. So, I think it’s unfair to characterize me as a bad guy.”
“You’re definitely not a good guy. That’s pretty obvious after the way you confronted my fiancé yesterday.”
“Clearly, you’re bent out of shape. But guess what? I didn’t do anything illegal.”
“I never said you did.”
“Not explicitly. But you’re sure treating me like a criminal.”
“That’s because you are a criminal.”
“Not anymore. Like I said before, I did my time. And I’m a free man now.”
“Of all the things that you could do with your freedom, it seems highly suspicious that you’d choose to harass my fiancé,” Connor said.
“I wouldn’t call that harassment,” Isaac said.
“You can characterize it however you want. Just don’t do it again.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No. I’m just warning you to leave me and my loved ones alone.”
“I could say the same thing to you,” Isaac replied. “I was just here minding my own business and then you showed up out of the blue.”
“You sure know how to make yourself sound like a victim. But you’re not fooling me. I know what you’re capable of. Which is why I’m telling you to back off. Got it?”
“You’re the one who needs to back away right now. Why don’t you get lost?”
“Before I go, I have one more thing to say. If you truly are a changed man, prove it by staying away from me and my fiancé.”
“Are you done now?” Isaac asked.
Connor nodded. “Yes. But I’m going to keep an eye on you.”
Chapter Fifteen
When Connor left Isaac’s house, he returned to work. Even though Connor’s goal was to go about business as usual, that was a difficult feat to pull off. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts about Isaac. It didn’t help that it was a slow day on the beat.
If Connor received a number of calls on his police radio, it would at least keep him busy. Instead, there was radio silence. Normally, it would be a refreshing surprise for Enchanted Bay to experience no crime. In this particular instance, there was nothing to distract him from that disturbing encounter with Isaac.
It ended up being an eerily quiet morning. Connor wondered if the afternoon would play out the same way. He would find out soon enough. In the meantime, his stomach was rumbling.
When Meg called him and asked if he wanted to grab some lunch, Connor jumped at the opportunity. The couple decided to head over to Guillermo’s Mexican Restaurant. It was a local favorite. There was nothing quite like delicious food at an affordable price.
Meg and Connor didn’t have to look at their menus for very long. In fact, they pretty much knew what they wanted to order the moment they sat down at the table. The only reason they even glanced at the menus was to see if Guillermo had added any new items recently. Since he hadn’t, Meg and Connor ordered the same things as usual. Meg went with the chicken burrito while Connor decided on the beef burrito. Each of their orders came with a generous amount of rice and beans. Plus, bottomless tortilla chips.
Meg’s mouth began to water just thinking about her upcoming meal. She then looked across the table and smiled at Connor.
“What a treat,” Meg said.
Connor nodded. “Yeah. We’re lucky to have a place like Guillermo’s in town. The burritos here are just outrageously good.”
“I agree. But that wasn’t the treat I was talking about.”
Connor squinted. “What were you referring to then?”
“The fact that we’re able to sit down in a restaurant and peacefully eat a meal together in the middle of the day.”
“That’s a good point. We do eat on the fly a lot.”
“It’s not just that. Granted, we place a lot of takeout orders. But more often than not, we’re typically too busy to even eat lunch together.”
“Isn’t that the truth?”
“So, for us to be able to sit here and take our time is a rarity.”
Connor replied with a playful tone in his voice. “Are you implying that peace has been hard to come by over the years?”
Meg chuckled. “That’s putting it lightly. Sometimes, I feel like the whole town has gone bonkers.”
“I don’t think you’re far off. I can think of a few colorful ways to describe the events of the last few years.”
“I’m sure you can,” Meg said.
Connor laughed.
“It’s nice to see that you have a sense of humor about it.”
“It’s a good coping mechanism. The way I see it, some experiences are so crazy that there’s only two possible reactions. Either laughing, or crying.”
“I agree. And I’m glad you choose to laugh.”
“It’s definitely better than the alternative.”
Meg nodded. “In more ways than one. Face it, if you didn’t have a sense of humor, you and I wouldn’t get along quite so well.”
“What a shame that would be.”
“Are you kidding? It would be a tragedy.”
Connor’s nose scrunched. “I’m not sure that tragedy is the right word.”
“Maybe not. But you get my point.”
“I do. It’s just that your statement reminded me that you and I have experienced some actual tragedies in recent years.”
Meg exhaled. “We have. Far too many, in fact.”
Connor grimaced. “It’s probably best if we don’t delve into that topic.”
“You’re right. I wouldn’t want to spoil the peaceful mood,” Meg said.
Rather than replying, Connor stared off into the distance. Uh-oh. Was the mood already ruined? Meg prayed that wasn’t the case. Things weren’t looking good, however.
Meg waited a few seconds to see if Connor would pull his head out of the clouds. When he didn’t, she spoke up
.
“Honey, is everything okay?” she asked.
Connor snapped out of his daze. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s nice that I’m not staring down a case load that makes me want to pull my hair out. On the flip side, things seem to be almost too quiet right now.”
“Are you worried that this might be the calm before the storm?”
“Exactly,” Connor said. “So, naturally, I keep asking myself, how long will this calm last? And how brutal will the storm be?”
“Talk about some tough questions.”
“Let me tell you, some of the potential answers aren’t pretty.”
“I’ll bet,” Meg said. “But what if you’re worrying over nothing? I mean, maybe the other shoe isn’t going to drop at all.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice?”
“It’s certainly a possibility.”
“Meg, we live in a world where witches and werewolves exist. Very few things in life are truly impossible.”
“I suppose you’re right. With that in mind, why don’t I revise my statement?” Meg said. “It’s possible that the universe has finally decided to give us a break.”
“Do you really think that’s what is happening?”
“I don’t have a definitive answer to that question. All I know is that things are relatively peaceful at the moment. I’m doing my best to appreciate that.”
“I’m trying to embrace this newfound quiet as well,” Connor said. “I’m just not doing a great job of it.”
Concern filled Meg’s face as she stared at her fiancé. “Your gut is really acting up on you, isn’t it?”
Connor nodded.
“Are your instincts telling you to be worried about Josh?”
“Unfortunately, I have a bad feeling about Josh and Isaac.”
“I don’t blame you. I’ve done a fair amount of worrying about both of them in the last couple of days. I certainly can’t rule out one of them being up to no good.”
In a wild twist of timing, just as Meg finished speaking, Josh Gilbertson entered the restaurant. Connor and Meg both stared at the front door.
“Speak of the devil,” Connor said.
“What a crazy coincidence for Josh to show up here right now,” I replied.
“I’m not sure it is a coincidence,” Connor said.
Halloween Witch Cozy Mystery Ten Book Set Page 65
