by J. C. Hart
"I love this bit," she said, nudging Kelly, who turned and gave her a grin.
Thank heavens for old friends, and soothing over those awkward patches. And for wine.
The sun had long gone down, and Alyssa counted the bottles along the floor. One, two, three. Three bottles of wine. No wonder she felt so good.
"Oh, do you remember Spanna?” Kelly asked. “Did you know she got pregnant?"
"Wow, she's the least maternal person I know," Alyssa piped in. "Is she happy though?"
"Yeah, strangely. Turned her whole life upside down, but she's stoked about it now."
"Well good for her." Alyssa smiled, though it was hard. Not that long ago she’d wanted a baby, but it was never going to happen now. The bundle of fur on her lap was going to have to do. "Oh shit, I just remembered it’s rubbish day tomorrow. We're never going to be up early enough."
"We could just stay up the whole night? Been a long time since we did that."
"We are way too old now." Alyssa pushed herself up from the couch, her legs wobbled a little. "I'm just gonna do it now. Want to come?"
"I'm going to lie here while you get organized, but I'll come outside when you're ready." Kelly had already leaned back, eyes closed.
Alyssa snorted, stumbling to the kitchen to get the bag before loudly dragging it down to the front door. "Come on lazy bones. Give me a hand."
Kelly didn't stir so Alyssa hiffed the smaller bag of paper recyclables at her.
"Ow! What did you do that for? I was coming."
"You were snoring, more like it. Some fresh air will be good for you."
Alyssa left the door open, breathing deep of the cooling summer night. It must be close to midnight now, because it took until then for the temperature to drop enough for her to sleep. They walked the trash to the curb and she looked up and down the street. All quiet and dark, except for... Was that Angie's house?
But no-one lived there now, and Magnus had been sure she would never return.
So who the hell was in the house?
"I have to go and do something," she said. "Why don't you go and wait in the house?"
"What? No. What are you doing?" Kelly looked confused, but giggled all the same.
"I just want to check something out. I won't be long." Alyssa walked cautiously down the footpath, bare feet quiet against the concrete.
Kelly came up alongside her. "What are you doing?" she whispered theatrically.
"That house is empty. Or it should be." Alyssa tugged on her earlobe. "Neighbourhood Watch stuff, you know? Have to check it out. Go back to the house."
"And leave you to have all the fun? Like hell."
Alyssa wished that she had a stick, or maybe the frying pan she'd tried to whack Angie over the head with. It had to work better on whoever was in that house than it had on Angie.
When they were in front of the house the light flickered and went off, Alyssa pressed a finger to her lips and motioned for Kelly to follow her around the back. She'd never been to Angela's place before, but it shouldn't be too hard to get a look in and see what was going on.
She pressed herself against the side of the house and moved along until she came to a window. Glancing in she could see it was the lounge but it was unpopulated. The next window was a bedroom, but there was no-one there either. Kelly stumbled and tripped on something, muttering a curse under her breath. Alyssa gave her a pointed glare but Kelly just shrugged.
"We're going around the back, the kitchen should be there," Alyssa whispered. Kelly nodded and they tiptoed around the corner. Thank goodness there were high hedges here or the real Neighbourhood Watch would call the cops on her.
There was a light in the kitchen, it flashed around the room, which meant it probably came from a torch or something. Why was someone in the house, and what were they looking for?
"Stay here," Alyssa told Kelly, who let out a huff but thankfully stayed put. Alyssa climbed up onto the deck that ran along the back of the house and crawled over to the kitchen window, but by the time she got to her feet the light was gone. The kitchen was filled with dark shadows and any one of them could have been a person. She moved toward the door, placing her fingers on the handle. She began to turn it, but it twisted in the opposite direction and opened, almost knocking her off her feet. She got such a fright that she lashed out, the palm of her hand slapping into something warm and fleshy.
Oh, shit. She really hadn't thought this through.
"What the hell are you doing snooping around here?" The man rubbed his cheek and flashed the torch in her eyes.
Alyssa squinted against the light. "What the hell are you doing in this house? It doesn't belong to you!"
"It might not, but I do live here. The lights blew and I was trying to find the fuse box."
"Oh..."
"Oh? That's all you've got to say for yourself?" He switched the torch off and closed the door behind him. "I think you should leave now. Unless you know where the fuse box is?" He quirked an eyebrow, but there was no humour in it.
"No, no I don't," she muttered. "Look, I'm sorry. I used to know the woman who lived here, and the house has been empty since she left. I thought maybe someone was trying to rob the place."
"And you thought that you'd tackle them with your bare hands?" Now there was a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.
Alyssa's cheeks flushed and she turned away. "Hope you find the fuses. Welcome to the Bay!" She tossed the words over her shoulder as she walked the length of the deck and back around the corner, where she buried her face in her hands and groaned.
"I can still hear you," the guy called.
Kelly couldn't contain herself and she burst out laughing. Alyssa grabbed her hand and ran with her back to the street and then down to her house, hoping and praying that maybe he wouldn't recognise her the next time they bumped into each other.
"He was kind of hot," Kelly slurred.
"Shut up." Alyssa opened the door and locked it behind her. "Oh my god. That was awful. What the hell was I thinking?"
"No idea, but that was hilarious. You should have seen it!" Kelly laughed so hard she stumbled as she walked into the lounge before collapsing on the couch. "I think I'm just going to sleep here tonight."
"Shove over," Alyssa said, pouring herself another glass of wine before settling on the couch. "I can't believe you let me do that."
"Let you?" Kelly chuckled again, her eyes closing. "No one ever 'lets' you do anything, you do whatever the hell you want..." Her words trailed off and her breathing quickly shallowed out.
Alyssa sighed and shook her head. The alcoholic fog in her brain had cleared pretty quickly once her hand had connected with that guy’s skin, but the details of his face had eluded her, what with the torch being shone directly into her eyes. Knowing her luck, the only way she would recognise him would be from the irate look in his eyes.
Yup, she was going to need at least another glass of wine before she'd get any sleep. And this was one mess she would have to try and clean up in the morning.
Chapter Three
Despite the fact that her head was pounding, Alyssa forced herself to get up when the alarm went off. She went down the stairs, rubbing the sleep from her eyes to find Kelly still snoring on the couch. She opened the curtains, but even the bright morning light didn't wake her friend.
Oh well. At least she could execute her plan without Kelly's advice, which would no doubt be terrible.
Alyssa was going to make pikelets and then take them down to Angela's place to apologise for last night. It seemed like a very 'small town neighbour' thing to do, and since the Bay was a small town...
She turned on some music and set to work, making a double batch so her and Kelly could share some when she got back, and then while they cooled enough to put jam and cream on she quickly showered and dressed in her nicest 'really-I'm-a-normal-person' clothes.
Taking a deep breath, and the plate of pikelets, she put her shoulders back and walked down to Angela's house. The curtains were al
l closed and she wished she'd thought to write a note. What if he was asleep still? She'd just end up pissing him off more! But then she heard a lawn mower start up around the back and breathed a sigh of relief. Alyssa retraced the steps she'd taken the night before and paused at the end of the house, composing herself before she turned the corner.
And there he was, his back to her, shirt already off even though it wasn't that hot yet. She couldn't see his face from here so there was no way to tell if Kelly was right or if it had just been the wine talking. He had earmuffs on so she approached carefully and reached out to tap him on the shoulder. He spun with such force that the plate was knocked against her chest, the pikelets crushing into her t-shirt. He whipped his earmuffs off, his expression halfway between a scowl and an apology.
"You gave me a hell of a fright."
"Then I guess we're even?"
He looked her up and down, deep blue eyes shimmering and then laughed, shaking his head. "Yeah, I guess we can call it even. After all, you were just being neighbourly."
"Twice. I was neighbourly twice. I think you should mow my lawns for me now," she quipped as she began to peel pikelets off her shirt and put them back on the plate with a grimace.
He laughed even harder before reaching over, carefully peeling one off her and shoving it into his mouth. "Hey these are pretty good," he said, still chewing. "You can leave them here, I'll eat them."
"You're kidding right?" She quirked an eyebrow, watching his full lips as he chewed, but he only grabbed another in response. "Okay then. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for slapping you last night. I got a fright and I couldn't see, and, well, you were there. I had no idea someone had moved into the place, and when I saw the light I thought I should check it out."
"Apology accepted. Sorry for messing up your peace offering."
"Like I said, you can mow my lawn." She winked at him, shocked that she could flirt in a situation like this, but damn if Kelly hadn't been right. He was kind of hot, and if he was already eating food off her chest on their second meeting... oh the places they could go. "I'm Alyssa by the way."
"Brandon. Nice to meet you." He wiped his hand on his pants and Alyssa fumbled to do the same before reaching out to grasp his fingers. He had a firm shake and his thumb rubbed a circle on the back of her hand before he released it.
Yup, it had really been too long. While there were some fine looking men in the Bay, she’d spent most of her time dealing with ghosts and awful women. Love, or lust, hadn't really factored into the equation. That could quickly change.
"Right, well, um, I'll just leave these on the deck then?" She took a step back, trying to get a little space between them. "I guess I'll see you around. I'll, ah, try not to slap you again."
Brandon grinned, his tongue darting out to lick a little cream off his bottom lip. "Thanks for the snacks. See you around, Alyssa."
"Yes, no doubt. Small town and all." She stumbled over the words and headed for the deck, leaning against it for a moment to stabilize herself. Holy smokes. Brandon completely disarmed her. The grump from last night was probably going to be better for her health than this half naked, handsome man. He'd already turned back to his lawns, focused on cutting the rather wild grass.
She’d barely thought about Angie since their last run in. Magnus had promised that the woman would never return, and so far he'd been right, but last night had sure given her a hell of a fright. Even thinking about her now raised Alyssa’s heartbeat, though not in the same way that Brandon had.
And that was the last time she would ever think about them in the same breath. Ugh.
Alyssa pushed her way into her house, noting that Kelly was still asleep on the couch, and went upstairs to get changed. Again. By the time she made it back downstairs, her friend was up and heading for the kitchen.
"Coffee," Kelly muttered. "I need coffee."
"Sit down." Alyssa laughed softly. "I'll make you one."
"What the hell are you looking so chipper for?" Kelly asked as she plonked herself down at the table. "And why were you up early enough to make these?" She took a bite of a pikelet. "And they're cold. Where has Alyssa gone and what have you done with her?"
"Kelly! I felt bad about last night, so I wanted to apologise for, you know—"
"Bitch slapping your new neighbour."
"Yeah, that." Alyssa plonked a cup of coffee in front of Kelly and then sat across the table, grabbing a pikelet. "You were right. He is hot."
"Good. I was hoping that wasn't just the wine talking." Kelly raised her eyebrows and grinned.
"You keep your hands off," Alyssa said, pointing a finger at her friend.
Kelly gave a look of mock shock. "I have a live-in boyfriend now, remember?"
"Oh yeah, I'd totally forgotten. Sorry."
"No biggie." Kelly shrugged it off. "So, come on, tell me what the plan is. What are we going to do while I'm down?"
"God, it would have been nice if you'd have given me a little time to think about that before you got here." Alyssa poked her tongue out at Kelly. "What do you want to do?"
"Well, I need to meet that Mrs Nolan, and—"
"No. No bloody way."
"Look, normal people don't go ignoring letters from official sounding societies. She said there would be consequences, and if you don't want to find out, then fine. But I want to make sure that my best friend isn't getting herself into a world of trouble just because she's a stubborn so and so."
"Fine, you go. I don't want anything to do with her. What else did you want to do?" Alyssa chewed her lip, not wanting to admit that Kelly was right. She'd been stubborn for weeks, she wasn't going to change her mind now. Besides, it's not like being a witch was something you could just turn on. There was no internal switch that would magically make Alyssa everything that Mrs Nolan wanted her to be.
"Lie on the beach and drink wine. Can we walk from here?"
"Yeah." Alyssa cleared the empty cups and gave them a rinse in the sink, not feeling very much like entertaining right now.
"How about we do that today? Works been a real bitch lately and I could do with some lazy time."
Alyssa could tell that Kelly was trying to switch topics and she appreciated the effort. "Cool. I've got some things I need to drop into the store. We can grab some supplies, and then drive there and walk home?"
"Perfect. But first I need a shower. Best wash off last night’s efforts before I start again." Kelly crossed to Alyssa and swung an arm over her shoulder. "Sorry for being a pushy cow."
"If you weren't a pushy cow, we probably wouldn't be friends." Alyssa grinned. "Go on, shower. I'll get organized." She wiped the bench down as Kelly left the room and then looked out the window to the garage. There was still a bit of stuff there, but that wasn't really why she wanted to go to the shop. Sam was pretty much the only person in town she spoke to on a regular basis, and maybe she would know what Mrs Nolan's deal was. So far Alyssa had managed to avoid that conversation, but it was always there, hovering. She knew there was more to the Bay than what was obvious, but she hadn't been ready to dive into that. Not yet.
Chapter Four
Brandon had pulled everything out of the cupboards in Angie's house and he still hadn't found anything useful. A few family heirlooms, sure, but nothing that was going to make a huge difference to Michael's overall health. The kid was going to die if he didn't complete this job and get this mystery cure that was on offer.
He'd yet to check in with Mrs Nolan though, despite the fact that she was the key. He was, in fact, stalling. There had been something about her tone and request when she'd called that put him off, not to mention the fact that she knew about Michael and it wasn't the kind of thing widely talked about. If it hadn't been for that then there was no way he'd have taken the job, but things were getting desperate and the kid was on a fast track to death if Brandon didn't find a solution.
Brandon had already staved death off once; it had only been a matter of time before it came back to bite him on the ass.<
br />
He sighed and stood up, leaving the boxes on the floor and moving to the lounge window. It looked out onto the street and the sun shone brightly, filtering through the tall kowhai in the yard. He smiled. He'd spend a lot of time playing in that tree as a kid; Michael had never had that opportunity. Not yet, but he would if Brandon had anything to do with it.
A car drove past and he caught a glimpse of blonde hair, fair skin. Alyssa...
Now she was something else. A fine looking woman, but more than that, quick with her tongue and full of surprises. And they'd only met twice, who knew what future encounters might bring? Certainly it was an added bonus to being in town.
Not that he should be thinking about a woman when his sister was sitting by Michael's deathbed and his nephew was in pain...
He grimaced and turned to the cupboards he'd yet to attack, though he couldn't quite shift his mind off Alyssa.
Chapter Five
Alyssa parked the car in front of the store and opened the door. "Stay here for a minute, just want to check I brought the right things, okay?" she said when Kelly went to get out too.
"Sure," Kelly said, though she pursed her lips, clearly not happy. Alyssa didn't have time to think about that right now though.
She walked into the store, inhaling deeply of the scent Sam always had burning. It instantly relaxed her. Every time. Even now when she was about to do something she really didn't want to.
Sam looked up from the counter and smiled. "What are you doing back so soon?"
Alyssa let out a sigh. "I need to talk to you, but my best friend showed up on my doorstep last night so I lied to her and said I needed to bring some stuff down here. Can you pretend like that was the plan?"
Samantha narrowed her eyes slightly, as if she were trying to gauge whether Alyssa's intentions were above board. "Okay, but you have to explain this all later."
