Legacy of Magic

by Denise Carbo

  “She means well.”

  “I know she does. It’s her way of showing her love, I think.”

  Aunt Addy nodded and glanced down at her hands. “It’s my heart.”

  A jolt of alarm stiffened her body. Okay, that could mean a lot of things. No reason to panic, yet.

  “What exactly is wrong with your heart? You didn’t have a heart attack, did you?” Surely someone would have called the family for that, wouldn’t they?

  “No, no. I had some warnings, palpitations, shortness of breath, and some pains. Being a doctor’s wife for forty years I know when to go to the doctor. He’s prescribed some medications and I need to be more careful, but I should be okay. It puts things in perspective though.”

  Not exactly great news, but it could be much worse. All right, a plan of action—gather the facts and do whatever needs to be done to make sure Aunt Addy stays healthy. “I’d like to go with you to see your doctor if that’s all right. I think I should know how to help you and what to look for, don’t you? I won’t intrude on your independence. I just want to help and be prepared.”

  Her aunt beamed and leaned over to pat Cory’s hand. “I know dear. I think that might be a good idea. It will give us both peace of mind, I think.”

  “Good, that’s settled.”

  “Yes, now back to my will. As I said, it hasn’t changed since I made it after Albert passed away, but apparently some laws have changed. Sebastian has suggested setting up a trust for tax purposes. You, of course, are still my heir.”

  Cory opened her mouth and then closed it, not sure what to say.

  “Is something wrong, dear?”

  “Umm…I guess I’m a little shocked. I never really thought about it, but what about mother? Shouldn’t she be your heir?”

  “Margaret and I discussed it when Albert passed away. She understood and agreed with my choice. Your mother has no interest in this house, or any need of my money.”

  “Oh.” Cory’s mother was a retired surgeon and her father a lawyer. She knew their finances were in good shape. She couldn’t imagine them wanting to move away from New York either. They were both firmly established and active in their community. Her mother had joined the historical society and had made it her mission to save old buildings and the history they represented. Secretly, she believed her father had suggested the society as a way to keep her mother occupied and not interfere with his own semi-retirement or his golf game.

  “Coralea don’t think you’re under any obligation either. It will be completely up to you what you do with this place when I’m gone. As much as I would love the thought of you making a permanent home here and the house staying in the family for future generations, I’m realistic enough to understand that might not be your want. Whatever you decide is okay.”

  “I don’t know what to say. I feel like I should say thank you, but I really hope this is all a moot point and your will isn’t needed for an extremely long, long time.” Like several decades.

  “Thank you dear, me too. Now there is another matter I do need to discuss with you.”

  “Okay.”

  She brushed imaginary crumbs off the table and then clasped her hands together in her lap. A pinched look between her eyes appeared as she stared out the window, which had Cory tensing. What could be more dire than discussing her health and will?

  “Aunt Addy?”

  “I’m sorry dear, I’m just not sure where to begin, or how to explain.”

  “You’re worrying me here. Is there something else about your health?”

  She shook her head and gave a wan smile. “No, it’s not about my health. It’s family history really.”

  Cory leaned back against her chair and waited for her aunt to continue. Visions of possible dark family secrets shuffled through her head. The way her luck was going lately it could be anything. Criminals in the family tree? A body or two buried in the backyard?

  “Perhaps it’s best if I show it to you.” Aunt Addy stood and leaned against her chair for a moment. “I’ll be right back.” She left the kitchen and headed for her bedroom.

  What could it be? Was there some great family secret? What could be causing her aunt to be so hesitant about telling her whatever it was she wanted to tell her?

  Aunt Addy had been gone for several minutes. Cory was prepared to go check on her when the sound of her aunt shuffling back into the kitchen reached her.

  Her aunt placed a small wooden chest on the table. The sides were smooth with no markings. Black hinges and a black keyhole were the only decorations. She also set a small old-fashioned key down.

  Cory stared at the chest for a moment wondering what could be inside. She looked at her aunt now seated across from her. Aunt Addy stared at the chest with what could only be described as fear. What on earth was in the chest?

  “Aunt Addy?”

  “You’ll probably think of me as a fool.”

  “Of course, I won’t.” Cory stretched across the table and gave her aunt’s hand a gentle squeeze.

  “I feel like one. Here I am, an eighty-seven-year-old woman afraid of a box.”

  “What’s in the box?”

  “I don’t know,” she whispered.

  “You don’t know? I’m confused.”

  “I’m sorry dear. I’m really not handling this especially well.”

  Biting her lip, Cory looked back and forth between the chest and her aunt. Her aunt sat rigid in her chair. How could she not know what was in it, and yet be afraid? Cory had the urge to put the key in the lock and open it herself, but she didn’t want to upset her aunt or her heart.

  “I stumbled across it while cleaning out my father’s things when he passed away. You see, my mother had been ill for some time. She barely left her bed at all, and then my father passed away abruptly from a heart attack. I moved in temporarily with her. The plan was for her to come live with us, so I was sorting through all their belongings. I found the chest in my father’s safe. There was no key, so I showed it to my mother and asked if she knew what it was and where the key was.”

  “When she saw the chest, she made the sign of the cross and told me to get it out of her sight. My mother was a religious woman, but I’d never witnessed her act in such a manner. Naturally, I didn’t want to upset her, so I put it back in my father’s safe intending to ask his lawyer about it. When I returned to my mother’s room she said it was cursed and made me promise never to speak of it again—to anyone. She was so agitated I had to agree.” Aunt Addy plucked a tissue tucked in her sleeve and dabbed at her nose. “She died the next day.”

  “I’m so sorry that must have been awful for you. But are you saying you think it was the chest?”

  She gave her a sad smile. “Not really. My rational brain tells me how ridiculous that is.” Aunt Addy smoothed back her hair. “I found the key when I opened my father’s safe deposit box.”

  “You’ve never been tempted to open it?”

  “Oh, I opened it the same day.”

  Cory rubbed her forehead. “I don’t understand. You said you didn’t know what’s in the box.”

  “Yes. You see inside the chest is a note and a box. I don’t know what is in the box.”

  “What does the note say?”

  “It was written by my father’s grandmother. It says the box is cursed and must be protected and kept secret from anyone outside the family.”

  “That’s it? No explanation? Who cursed it and why? It doesn’t say anything else?”

  Her aunt swallowed audibly. “A list of names and dates of their deaths. There’s an engraving on top of the box. It sounds like a curse.”

  “You think their deaths have something to do with the box?”

  Her hand fluttered next to her pale face. “I know how silly this all sounds. I was overly distraught. I had just lost both my parents in a shockingly short time. My brother Joseph, your grandfather, had died in the war a few years before. It seemed like maybe our family was a bit cursed. I felt deeply alone. If it wasn’t for
Albert, I don’t know how I would’ve made it through.”

  The events had all happened long before Coralea was born. She’d never met her grandfather. He had died in the Vietnam War. Her mother really never talked about him, or his parents. She did know her aunt was never able to conceive children and had gone through a bit of depression over it.

  “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine all the loss you’ve experienced.”

  “I thought about throwing the box away, but I was afraid to. Afraid something bad would happen. So, I locked it away in a safe deposit box and pretended it didn’t exist.” She stared at her hands clenched in her lap. “Coralea I’ve tried to decide what the right thing to do is. I don’t want to transfer this burden to you, or your mother. I think your mother would decree it ridiculous and throw it away. I fear it enough, not to let that happen. It said it must be protected and kept secret. I have done that, but with my health lately I thought it best to tell you all I know. I didn’t want you to find it if something happened to me and have no forewarning.”

  Cory pondered over the box and her aunt’s fearful warnings. She glanced out the window of the back door. The tree branches swayed outside the window. Leaf buds covered the tree and soon shades of green would blanket the branches. Spring was in full swing. A time for new beginnings, wasn’t it?

  “I respect you and your fear. I can’t say I believe in curses though.” She looked down at the chest. An urge to pick it up and open it surged within her. “I want to know what’s inside. What if it’s just a memento and your great grandmother was a bit over dramatic? Didn’t people used to be really superstitious? It could all be coincidence.”

  “It doesn’t scare you at all?”

  “Honestly? No. I just really want to open it.”

  “All right, it’s your decision now. Maybe I am just a silly old woman in a long line of them.”

  Cory leaned forward earnestly. “Oh no. I don’t think you’re silly at all. I’m just saying I’d rather know for sure.”

  “I would like to resolve the matter and stop worrying about it.” Aunt Addy crossed her legs.

  Cory picked up the chest and carried it closer to her and then picked up the key and inserted it into the lock. It turned with a bit of jiggling, and she lifted the lid. Inside was just as her aunt had said—a folded note stating the box was cursed. Protect it and keep it a family secret. A short list of names and dates of their death accompanied the note. She set the note aside and examined the box nestled in a bed of black velvet. Where the chest was exceedingly simple, the box was ornate in comparison. Scroll work surrounded the short verse engraved on the top of the box.

  A secret entrusted

  A burden shared

  My heart and soul bared

  Our lives forever ensnared

  Okay, that didn’t really sound like a curse. She didn’t know what it meant. It could be anything really, or nothing at all. Cory picked up the box and when her aunt gasped out loud, she almost dropped it. Smiling to reassure her aunt, she once again surveyed the box.

  The sides held more scroll work, leaves and flowers were engraved in an intricate pattern. She tilted the box right and left and lifted it higher to see the bottom. There was no seam. Was there even a way to open it? Maybe it was just a cube of wood someone had decorated. Stories had a way of getting twisted in the retelling. It could be nothing more than a carved hunk of wood an ancestor told a fanciful tale about that got blown out of proportion over the many years.

  She gave it a shake. A slight knock could be heard. It did sound like something might be contained within, but how?

  “I don’t know how to get inside. Are you sure it does open?”

  “Well no, I’m not sure. I’ve told you everything I know.”

  Cory examined it from every angle and tried pulling each side, but nothing happened. It appeared to be a solid piece of wood. She placed it back in the chest and grinned at her aunt. “Well it looks like it’s just a piece of wood someone kept as a memento or something. The verse could mean anything, don’t you think?”

  Aunt Addy put her face in her hands and shook her head. “Now I really do feel like a fool.”

  “Please don’t. Your great grandmother was obviously afraid for some reason, and her note made everyone since then also afraid of the box.”

  “Humph. I suppose I should put it back in the safe.”

  “Actually, do you mind if I keep it for a bit? I’d like to look at the carvings a bit more. It’s really quite beautiful, don’t you think?”

  “It’s yours now, Coralea. I still find it disturbing.” She rose and stepped over to the stove. “Dinner should be ready soon.”

  Cory looked down and was surprised to find her fingers tracing the words on the box. The wood felt warm. A tingle danced down her spine. She closed the lid on the chest and locked it tight. “I’ll go put it in my room and be right back to help.”

  Chapter Three

  Finn walked naked out of his bathroom. Water glistened among the hairs on his chest before he wiped them away with a dark gray towel. He strode over to the dual windows of his bedroom and finished drying off before tossing the towel in the general direction of the bathroom. The windows were about shoulder height on most people, but on him the bottom sill started just above his abdomen. He was in no danger of exposing his charms to any voyeurs, not that he gave a damn.

  He’d bought the single story ranch a little over three years ago when he’d relocated his business here as well. People told him he was crazy to make the move to what they considered the middle of nowhere, but the quietness and space appealed to him. Lucky for him, he had built his reputation enough his clients didn’t mind traveling a little extra distance. Working on high end sports cars fed his passion for fast cars. His business catered to the rich, but since moving here the town’s residents considered him the new local mechanic and brought him their cars to fix also. The income accounted for less than five percent of his profits, but he didn’t mind. As long as it didn’t take away from his bread and butter he was happy to do it, and it made him feel like a part of the community. Something he was surprised to find he actually wanted.

  Resting his arm against the side of the window frame, he stared up at the second story of Addy’s house. She had mentioned putting her niece in the bedroom on the left which meant those two windows now belonged to her.

  He couldn’t help but smile. Coralea Bishop, what a firecracker. After he got over being pissed off about the near miss they’d both had due to her reckless driving, he could properly appreciate what a stunning woman she was. Dark red hair, snapping blue eyes, skin like cream, and a body begging for a man’s touch. His hardening body reminded him it had been several weeks since he’d had a woman. Thoughts of what it might be like to get Cory in bed drifted through his aroused mind. Would she be a firecracker in bed too?

  A soft snort escaped him. She was more likely to punch him rather than allow him to lay a hand on her.

  Finn walked to his dresser and grabbed a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Maybe he should give Joni a call. She was always willing to scratch a mutual itch without any clinging expectations. He headed into the kitchen, but instead of the phone he grabbed a beer out of the fridge. Joni wasn’t the one he wanted.

  ****

  “Coralea, you have a phone call,” her aunt called up the stairs.

  Cory frowned. Who would be calling her on Aunt Addy’s phone? Her parents were the only ones who would have that number, but they would call her cell phone. Unless her mother had called to talk to her aunt first?

  Her aunt waited at the bottom of the stairs with a smile. “It’s a time for new beginnings dear, remember that.” She held the phone out to her and then walked away.

  Umm…okay, what was that cryptic comment about? “Hello?”

  “Hello Coralea. I hope you’re settling in to Adelaide’s all right?”

  Sebastian Marks? She recognized his smooth voice. Why on earth was he calling her? “Yes, thank you. What can I do for yo
u Mr. Marks?”

  “You could call me Sebastian.”

  Cory sat down on the stairs. She had a feeling this was a personal call. “All right, Sebastian, what else can I do for you?”

  A warm chuckle danced across the wires. “You could say yes to having dinner with me tomorrow night.”

  He hadn’t wasted any time. “Sebastian, I’m flattered really, but I’ve just arrived here at my aunt’s, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to desert her so soon. I want to spend more time with her and get situated here first.”

  “Would it help to know I’ve already asked Adelaide’s permission, and she thought it a wonderful idea?”

  That explains the new beginnings comment. She bit her lip and stared at the ceiling. Should she go?

  “Was I too presumptuous?”

  “Umm…no, I’m just thinking.” It’s just dinner, right? Not a life commitment for goodness sake.

  “I promise to be on my best behavior,” Sebastian stated.

  “I’m sure you’re always a perfect gentleman, Sebastian.” It’d probably be a healthy thing to do. A step in the right direction, and all that. Sebastian was sure to be a charming dinner companion. “Yes, I’d like to have dinner with you.”

  “Wonderful. I’ll pick you up at six o’clock.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Until tomorrow, Coralea.”

  “Goodbye, Sebastian.”

  Cory switched off the phone. Had she made a mistake? She’d been here less than a day, should she really be accepting dinner dates already? It would be the first date since her divorce. Oh God, the first date she’d been on in more than seven years!

  She leaned her head against the wallpaper and closed her eyes. It wasn’t like she was afraid to start dating again, but it had been so long. Had dating rules changed?

  Good grief, Cory, get a grip. Sebastian struck her as the type who always knew what to say and do. He was a charmer and a gentleman, but if the date progressed poorly she could always leave. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, just a few hours of her time.

  Shaking her head over her musings, she rose and climbed the stairs. Really, after what she’d been through over the last several months, a date was nothing to get worked up over. Still, she planned to give Melanie a call to ask her advice. What did people wear on dates these days?