Brayden Banks was one reason. My fiancé was the town mayor, so we couldn't exactly move away. Our wedding was two weeks away and my future was pretty much mapped out for me.
"The heck you will." Aunt Pearl turned and stormed out of my office. The downstairs door slammed just as Aunt Pearl disappeared into the hall. She abruptly reappeared a few seconds later and walked briskly to my office.
A broad-shouldered man in his late twenties followed behind Aunt Pearl. My mouth dropped open as I recognized the beige uniform that accentuated his athletic build. This new sheriff looked nothing like the middle-aged, balding, pot-bellied men before him. Based on his brisk gait, he was already on the job.
"Now what?" I had a sinking feeling that his visit had everything to do with my pyromaniac aunt who now stood before me, breathless.
"I'll make you a deal," Aunt Pearl said. "You help me with the sheriff, and in return I'll give you a free-ride scholarship for Pearl's Charm School."
"Absolutely not. No deals, and I am not enrolling in your stupid magic school." As soon as the words were out of my mouth I regretted them. But luckily Sheriff Gates was thirty feet away and out of earshot.
Aunt Pearl eyed me up and down and shook her head slowly. "If your grandmother could see you now, she would be mortified at your attitude and your rusty magic. If anyone needs my charm school, it's you, Cendrine."
Technically Grandma could see me, since she materialized as a ghost whenever she felt like it. Grandma Vi had been quiet lately as she dealt with her own issues. She was unhappy that her ancestral home had been transformed into the Westwick Corners Inn. Change was hard for all of us.
"I don't need your school. I've got more important things to deal with."
Aunt Pearl snorted. "What could be more important than magic?"
My eyes darted to the approaching sheriff, but he was still fifteen feet away. Aunt Pearl was oblivious to anyone's activities other than her own, as usual.
"Saving our town, for one. We've worked so hard to save this town from turning into a ghost town."
Aunt Pearl shrugged. "What's wrong with a ghost town? I'm tired of all these interlopers. I want some peace and quiet for a change."
Most of the turmoil stemmed directly from Aunt Pearl's actions. Half the town wanted to banish my pyromaniac aunt, and apparently our new sheriff had designs on her too. "Anything you want to tell me before he gets here?"
"No." Aunt Pearl's right eye twitched, a sure sign she was hiding something. Witch or not, no amount of magic could mask her deception.
"That highway sign better be intact, Aunt Pearl. You promised me you wouldn't do anything illegal."
"I didn’t promise anything of the sort. Besides, even if I did, I had my fingers crossed.” Aunt Pearl’s flabby arms jiggled as she waved her hand in the air.
I rolled my eyes. "We'll discuss this later."
"Am I interrupting something?" Sheriff Tyler Gates stood in the doorway. He was hard to miss, not that I wanted to. His dark wavy hair skimmed the top of the doorframe as he paused at my office door. My heart skipped a beat as my gaze met his chocolate brown eyes. Suddenly Westwick Corners didn't seem so boring after all.
I stood, transfixed by his infectious smile. I held out my hand. "Sheriff, thanks for stopping by. Welcome to Westwick Corners."
"Call me Tyler. This place is too small to be formal." He took my hand and shook it.
I felt a catch in my throat as our eyes locked. "I hope you'll like it here." My face flushed as I stared shamelessly at the best-looking man I had ever laid eyes on.
The sheriff carefully sidestepped Aunt Pearl. "I had planned to drop in later in the week, but something's come up." He tilted his head towards my aunt.
"Oh?" His uniform clung to his muscular chest in all the right places. "If it's Aunt Pearl, she can be a bit over the top sometimes."
I felt a tug at my sleeve.
"Don't talk like I'm not even here." Aunt Pearl leaned in, putting herself between the sheriff and me. "That's what I came to talk to you about. The sheriff—"
I coughed as I inhaled my aunt's eau de gasoline fumes. "I'm not bailing you out this time, Aunt Pearl. If you've done something, own up to it."
I turned to Tyler. "I'm sure we can fix whatever it is." As the town's sole journalist, I wanted a good working relationship with the town's only law enforcement.
Yeah.
Aside from being so damn hot, Tyler Gates seemed pretty normal. In fact, way too normal for Westwick Corners. He was about my age, unusual compared to his middle-aged predecessors who arrived in Westwick Corners only as a last-ditch stop when no one else would hire them. But the fact he was even here meant Tyler Gates was damaged goods. His issues just weren't visible on the outside.
I turned back to my aunt. "What did you do that you're not telling me?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you, Cen. Listening has never been one of your strong points." She leaned closer and whispered. "I had to use a little magic."
I glared at her.
"You had to use what?" Sheriff Gates furrowed his brows and bent slightly. "I didn't catch that."
My heart almost stopped. This was one secret we had to keep.
"A hatchet," I said. "She used a hatchet to cut the sign. Isn't that what you said, Aunt Pearl?" It had to be that damn sign. She just wouldn’t let it go.
My arsonist aunt shrugged. The corners of her mouth turned up ever so slightly, amused at my bad rhymes.
Sheriff Gates looked confused. "The sign was torched, not chopped. I'm not quite following."
I waved him away. "Aunt Pearl gets a bit confused sometimes."
"I do not!" Aunt Pearl stamped her foot. "I'm sharp."
I glared at her, then turned to smile sweetly at the sheriff. "She won't do it again, I promise."
Aunt Pearl snapped her fingers at the sheriff.
"Do what?" A split second later he froze in suspended animation.
"Aunt Pearl! Take that spell off him!" I was horrified at her flagrant disrespect for our new sheriff. "You talk about my magic! What you did is an abuse of power."
Aunt Pearl winked as she snapped her fingers twice in quick succession. "Too late."
The Sheriff teetered slightly then regained his balance as the spell lifted.
"It's never too late for justice." Sheriff Tyler Gates winked back at her, his nose crinkled from the fumes. "I think I'm really going to like this place."
"You are?" we both replied in unison.
"You bet I am." He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a notepad. He scribbled something with his pen before he tore it off and handed it to Aunt Pearl. "Less than one day on the job and I'm already earning my keep."
Aunt Pearl's smile vanished as she read the paper. She dropped it on my desk. It was a five-hundred-dollar fine for public mischief.
This sheriff meant business.
I liked him already.
CHAPTER 2
A cool, late-summer afternoon breeze softened the swelter. I drove with the windows open, relishing the breeze.
Summer is my favorite time of year, but I also love the promise of fresh new beginnings that autumn brings. The approaching change of season promised a new start in more ways than one. Tonight's Westwick Corners Inn grand opening ushered in our new family business, and two weeks after that was my wedding, when I would start a new chapter in my life.
Instead of excitement I felt heaviness in my chest. I just assumed we would do the happily ever after thing like everybody else. But everything changed earlier this year when Brayden became the youngest-ever mayor of Westwick Corners. His political ambitions now seemed to trump any time we spent together. He constantly canceled our plans to attend one networking event after another. I wasn't cut out to be a political wife, but it seemed too late to do much about that now.
I didn't even have anyone to talk to about it. All my friends had left town soon after high school to attend college or work in Seattle or further afield. In fact, any place o
ther than boring little Westwick Corners. Brayden and I were the only ones in our graduating class to stay. Everyone else in town was married with kids. The few singles in town were mostly my relatives. Witches aren’t all that big on marriage, but I digress.
I probably would have moved away too if I wasn't with Brayden. I made that choice freely, but I missed hanging out with my girlfriends. At least I would see most of them at my wedding in a few weeks’ time.
I drove up the winding tree-lined driveway and reached the hilltop. Our rural property sat above the town on a hill that overlooked the valley. The Westwick Corners Inn was formerly our family home, a stately mansion surrounded by a vineyard and a formal garden. Like everyone else in town, we needed a way to earn a living, so we planned to operate the Inn as a sort of country bed & breakfast as a way to support ourselves.
Our newly renovated property also served as my wedding venue. Brayden and I would exchange our vows in the garden gazebo. Today's rehearsal was a quick run-through, mostly to satisfy my perfectionist mom that we would get hitched without a hitch.
I parked and glanced towards the Westwick Corners Inn as I crossed the driveway towards the garden. The Inn's twelve suites included two private suites on the ground floor for Mom and Aunt Pearl. I lived in a separate self-contained tree house at the rear of the property.
My charming cottage in the trees had been custom-built by my grandfather for my grandmother more than a half-century ago. It probably sounds like a children’s playhouse, but my hideaway was much grander than that. It was a thousand square feet on two levels, built right into and around the massive oak tree that supported it. It was the best of both worlds; close but not too close to my eccentric family. I felt sad that I would be leaving it once I moved in with Brayden after our wedding.
My heart sank when I pulled into the parking lot and noticed that Brayden's BMW was conspicuously absent. The road leading up the hill to our property was completely devoid of traffic too. I was annoyed that Brayden couldn't at least arrive on time for our wedding rehearsal. His late arrivals just wasted other people's time, and it annoyed me to always be waiting for him. Mom would be unhappy to have her schedule messed up on such a busy day too. I hated making excuses for him and feared he might even be late on our wedding day.
I was actually a few minutes early, so maybe I was being unfair. I walked through the formal rose garden and inhaled the delicate scent on the way to the gazebo. The garden was in full bloom, a perfect setting for our ceremony.
The gazebo's exterior was partially covered with several varieties of lush clematis vines that wound around the pillars and provided partial shade. Large white blossoms were interspersed with smaller star-shaped pink flowers, creating a carpet of blooms.
Mom and Aunt Pearl were already at the gazebo; their voices drifted towards me as I drew near. They stood just outside, where Mom busily reattached a vine that had worked its way loose while Aunt Pearl watched. I was a little surprised to see my aunt, since she wasn't one to fuss over weddings and such. Mom had probably enticed her to come along just to keep her out of trouble.
Mom looked up and waved to me as I approached. She was short, like Aunt Pearl, but that’s where the similarities ended. Aunt Pearl was flesh-and-bone compared to Mom’s plump figure, the result of always double and triple-testing her cooking and baking. Today Mom seemed frazzled from ticking items off her to-do list. The Inn's grand opening, my upcoming wedding, and her perfectionist tendencies were stressing her out. "We thought you were stuck in traffic or something."
Traffic jams in Westwick Corners were unheard of. It was just Mom's non-confrontational way of berating me for making her wait. Mom never said things directly, especially not negative things. She kept her emotions bottled up and stressed herself out instead of expressing herself and possibly upsetting someone. It was her way of not making waves. It wasn’t all that effective since keeping the peace just gave her migraines instead.
As I drew closer I noticed beads of sweat on Aunt Pearl's forehead. She had to be up to something. What, exactly, was unclear, but I had a feeling I'd soon find out. As if her highway sign pyrotechnics hadn't already caused enough trouble.
I sucked in a deep breath and channeled my inner calm. I wouldn't react to Aunt Pearl no matter what she did. She disliked me marrying the mayor, even though Brayden was my high school sweetheart and she had known him for years. Suddenly he was the establishment, and she held him personally responsible for every rule she disagreed with.
It was a foregone conclusion that we would marry long before he proposed. Everyone else in our graduating class had moved away as soon as they could, so Brayden was pretty much the only single male in town not collecting Social Security. Other than our new sheriff, of course. But Tyler Gates didn't count. He would be gone within months, just like the other sheriffs before him.
Aunt Pearl and law enforcement didn't mix. She had run half a dozen sheriffs out of town directly as a result of her antics. Her magic and authority figure issues were a catastrophic combination for law and order. At least, until now. I flashed back to the moment earlier today when Sheriff Tyler Gates had fined Aunt Pearl. Those warm brown eyes never wavered. He wasn't bad to look at, either.
"Cendrine!" My aunt's cackle shattered my reverie. "Pay attention!"
Uh-oh. She was still mad at me.
I quickened my pace.
"Huh?" I hadn't done anything except side with Sheriff Gates on shutting down her pyrotechnics. It wasn't often that I got under her skin. I had to admit that it gave me a small sense of satisfaction.
"I haven't got all day. Get your butt over here," Aunt Pearl snapped. "I've got to stand in for that no-good boyfriend of yours. Real men don't leave their women standing at the altar. It's a bad omen. I keep telling you, but you don't listen. You're better off single."
"You only see all the bad, not his good side." For all her snappiness, Aunt Pearl really just wanted the best for me. At least that's what I told myself.
She raised her brows. "I don't like his good side, bad side, or any other side. None of us do. He's AWOL at his wedding rehearsal? Really, Cen. Dump him while you can."
Mom shrugged and held up her hands as she stood slightly behind Aunt Pearl.
Aunt Pearl turned to Mom. "Ruby, you're getting a no-good son-in-law."
"Now Pearl, I'm sure he has a good reason to be late. Besides, Cen's marrying him, not you." Mom stepped between us like a referee at a prizefight. It wasn't easy being peacekeeper in a family of strong-willed witches. "Brayden's already a part of the family, whether you like it or not. He's got some wonderful qualities."
As usual, Mom's words had a calming effect, and we both fell silent. I breathed a sigh of relief. Though I had twenty pounds on my ninety-pound aunt, she could outwit, out-trick, and out-magic me a hundred times over. I didn't stand a chance.
"We've got to wrap this up. The first guests are arriving in less than an hour." Mom wrung her hands as we headed towards the gazebo steps.
"Brayden called to say his meeting ran overtime. He'll be here in a few minutes." It was a lie but it was easier than the truth.
"Let's use a stand-in. He can take over when he gets here," Mom said.
"But who—?" I followed her gaze to my cranky aunt. "Oh no. I am not marrying her."
Mom waved her hand. "It's just a rehearsal, Cen."
"But why rehearse without the groom? I don't see the point."
"Haven't got all day, Cendrine." Aunt Pearl tapped her watch. "Ruby's right. Got things to do, places to go. Want my services or not?"
I didn't want to give in, but they were right. Brayden should be here but he wasn't. I felt pathetic making excuses for him, but I didn't want Aunt Pearl to dislike him more than she did already.
Mom stepped in. "Stop stirring up trouble, Pearl. The only place you have to be is right here, supporting Cen at her rehearsal."
Technically it wasn't my rehearsal, since our wedding party and the marriage commissioner weren't here. Mom had i
nsisted on a pre-rehearsal rehearsal. The absent groom only irked her perfectionist sensibilities.
I was angry with Brayden too. So what if it was a rehearsal of a rehearsal. Our wedding was just weeks away. Didn't I rate enough for his physical presence? I hated playing second fiddle to his political schedule and ladder-climbing.
"Places, ladies." Mom clapped her hands and ascended the gazebo steps. I fell in behind and followed her up the stairs into the gazebo.
She stopped at the top of the stairs and motioned us inside.
I barely noticed. My eyes remained locked on the still empty road, wondering where Brayden was. The next few seconds were a blur as my foot hit something heavy and I tripped and fell backwards.
"What the hell?" Aunt Pearl screamed as she fell on top of me.
"I can't breathe!" Ninety pounds of bone and skin pressed down on my chest. I pulled my arms free and struggled to shift my weight. But I was pinned to the floor.
"Oh my god, he's dead!" Mom shrieked as she pulled Aunt Pearl off me. "There's a body in the gazebo!"
I instinctively rolled over, only to face a bloodied corpse. A dead man's face was just inches from my own.
I screamed and rolled the opposite way as fast as I could, hitting the gazebo wall. I scrambled to my feet and ran to the farthest corner where Mom and Aunt Pearl cowered. We all stared at the scene before us.
An obese man lay belly up on the floor of the gazebo. His face was so covered in blood that he was unrecognizable. A pool of blood stained his clothes and seeped out from under his body.
"Oh my gawd." Aunt Pearl gagged and turned away. A second later she turned back. "Never seen him before. He must not be from around here."
My mouth dropped open as I recognized him. "That's Sebastien Plant of Travel Unraveled. Our VIP guest."
Aunt Pearl now crouched by his body and checked for breathing or a pulse. "Uh-oh."
Mom nodded slowly as realization set in. "He hasn't even checked in yet."
"More like he's checked out." I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and punched in the Sheriff's number. We needed help and needed it fast.
Witch You Well Page 2
