Better Haunts and Garden Gnomes_A Cozy Paranormal Mystery

by Michelle M. Pillow

  She stepped closer, studying his face. “Why would you do all this?”

  “Because the trust would pay me, and I need the work.” His arms lifted over his chest as if that would keep her from coming closer. “I know you might find it a conflict of interest, the code inspector also working to fix the codes, but I give you my word that I’m fair. If at any time you find it otherwise, you can fire me and refuse to pay.”

  “I still don’t understand why you would do this.” Lily felt there was more to him, and she wanted to peel back the layers to see what he was hiding. “It won’t make you very popular in town if we’re as unliked as you say.”

  “I wouldn’t say unliked, as much as feared.”

  Instinct told her she could trust him. Logic told her to be wary. Which did she listen to?

  “Where did you two run off to?” Polly called.

  Lily grabbed Nolan’s arm and pulled him toward the front stairs. She tried to walk softly so Polly wouldn’t be able to find them. She gestured that he should stay quiet and follow her.

  Lily tiptoed as fast as she could, but a stair creaked. She bit her lip, freezing to see if Polly had heard.

  “There you are,” Polly exclaimed from below.

  “Nolan has agreed to work for the trust.” Lily motioned to the top of the stairs. Saying, he agreed to work for me, seemed too strange. “We’re going to make a list of where I’d like him to start.”

  “Not as interesting as a rendezvous, but I think it’s an excellent idea. I like a man around the house.” Polly grinned.

  “Hey, what about me?” Dante asked, his voice pouty.

  “Someday, you’ll be a man, Florus.” Polly disappeared from the bottom of the stairs and Lily continued up. “Don’t be in too big of a hurry to grow up.”

  “I’m twenty-six,” Dante stated.

  “Yes, and such a big boy you are, too.”

  Lily couldn’t help the small laugh. Hearing a sound, she glanced back to see Nolan trying to suppress his amusement.

  Lily moved to the master bedroom on the second floor so they could talk privately. A giant wardrobe sat against the far wall. The dark wood had been carved to depict mythological woodland creatures along the top and mermaids swimming around the bottom. It matched the thick paneled sides of the bed frame.

  “Your aunt is a character,” Nolan said. “She must have been fun to be around as a child.”

  “I wouldn’t know. The first time I talked to her was like a month ago when she called me to say I needed to come to Colorado to claim my inheritance. I almost hung up on her for being a phishing scam, but she knew enough information about my mother to make her sound credible.”

  Nolan glanced around the room. “You want me to start in your bedroom?”

  Lily looked at the made bed. “Oh, I guess. I didn’t really think about which room would be mine.”

  He pointed behind her. “I’m assuming that bright blue luggage is a little too girly for your brother, and not girly enough for Polly.”

  He was right.

  “I don’t care where you start. Just get rid of that stack of citations you gave me,” she dismissed. “What do you mean, feared? What did my relatives do?” Running footsteps sounded overhead. Lily looked up at the ceiling. “What is that?”

  “Every old house makes its own noises,” Nolan dismissed. “You’ll get used to it.”

  “You don’t think it’s another animal, do you?”

  “No.” He seemed fairly confident, so she let it drop. “To answer your question, Lucky Valley was founded by the Goodes and the Crawfords during the 1800s as a refuge for certain types of people who weren’t wanted in the old country. Jedediah Crawford had struck gold, and the Goode family had the money to set up a full mining operation. They combined forces and together they built this town.”

  “Go on,” she prompted when he paused. Getting conversation out of him was like trying to get a straight answer out of Polly—darn near impossible.

  “All I know are the stories I heard as a kid.” The light through the window had dimmed, and he reached to flip on a light switch. The lights flickered. “I’ll fix that.”

  “The stories you heard as a kid…” she reminded him. There was no way she was letting him go until she heard why someone wanted to burn the lawn and spray paint the house.

  “Some say the Goodes became greedy. Some say the Crawfords became careless. Others claim it was a pact with the devil. And a few think maybe it was the very first of the bad luck curse. The one thing everyone agrees on is that the Goodes and the Crawfords did not get along, and it was that feud that began the run of bad luck the town became known for.” Nolan walked to the window and looked out. His shoulders lifted as if he took a deep breath. “Out there, in Unlucky Valley—that’s what locals call the remains of the first town—there were a series of calamitous events. In the span of three days, a church went up in flames, a disease spread out over the crops, and the mine caved in.”

  “And they think my ancestors did this?”

  “They think it was a byproduct of the magic being used between the feuding families. Everyone in town had a family member who died that day, most had more than one. The two families couldn’t agree on a way to save the miners and refused to work together. Their individual efforts weren’t enough, and by the time they’d dug through to where the men were holed up, a hundred and eighteen workers died.”

  “That’s tragic. So did my ancestors sabotage the mines? Or skip corners with safety?”

  “They say it was magic.”

  “So they magically dried up crops, destroyed churches, and ruined their money making gold mines? That makes little sense. Why would they do that? It doesn’t seem like it was beneficial for anyone.” Lily shook her head. “Maybe it was nothing more than plain old bad luck.”

  He stiffened. “I wouldn’t dismiss the stories in front of others, if I were you.”

  “I didn’t mean to insult anyone, but I’m still trying to determine how a mining accident—in a time where there were probably hundreds of unsafe mining accidents in this country—equals my siblings and me being evil.”

  “Well, your mother…”

  Lily sighed and nodded her head. “Right. Never mind. Now it makes sense.”

  Marigold wouldn’t have helped the family reputation.

  “I don’t want to speak ill of the dead,” he said.

  “The last time I saw my mother, she was standing outside my apartment window, tapping her fingernails on the glass while muttering nonsense. She was too thin. Her hair looked like wild birds might have been living in it, and her black lace dress was in tatters. When I tried to go outside to get her help, she’d vanished. All that was left was a strange symbol drawn in blood on the glass. So please, don’t feel the need to sugarcoat anything on my behalf.”

  “They say she stirred dark magic when she married a Goode and awoke the old curse. Like I said, I was a kid at the time, but I remember people shunning her in the streets. We were all scared of her. Bad things were happening, and every misstep was blamed on your family. I remember her how you described—thin, almost skeletal, with overgrown hair and nails. She always talked even though no one was there to answer her. We were told to stay away from Marigold Crawford Goode, or she’d steal our souls and leave us wandering.”

  “I don’t know about soul stealing.” Lily surprised herself at the small defense.

  He again turned his attention toward the window. “You didn’t ask me why the people who came here needed a refuge.”

  “Wasn’t it because of religious persecution, or people being exiled, or potato famines, or something? My history is a little rusty, but I’m pretty sure that’s why most people came to America in the first place.”

  “That’s true, but the one thing that joined everyone in Lucky Valley, the one thing that still joins us is,” Nolan turned, his eyes glowing with the inner light of a shift, “we’re all supernaturals.”

  “Supernat…” Her words trailed off as
she stared at him. At first she tried to tell herself it was a trick of the overhead light on his face, but as he stepped closer, the yellow glow didn’t leave. “So you’re a witch too?”

  “No, only the Goodes and Crawfords are witches. The Dawsons are werewolves, shapeshifters. No matter who we marry, that always seems to come out as the most dominant gene, at least in the males.”

  “Are you…?” She reached her hand out, compelled to touch him. “Are you going to shift now?”

  “No.”

  “But…” How cool would it have been to see a real live werewolf? Then again, maybe not. That usually didn’t end well in movies. She wasn’t sure if she should feel disappointed or completely freaked out. Maybe she was broken. All of Polly’s crazy had done something to her mentally.

  “I’m not a circus act.”

  “You brought it up, not me.” Lily crossed her arms over her chest. “I think it was a fair question, considering you went all crazy eyes on me.”

  The glow went away. “I don’t have crazy eyes.”

  “Um, yeah you do.” She nodded several times.

  “I do not. They shift to improve my vision.”

  Lily sighed. “I guess all I have to do is prove to the town that I’m not my mother, and that I’m not going to open an unsafe mining operation anytime soon. Shouldn’t be too hard.”

  “I have shifter eyes.” He hadn’t let her comment go.

  “Fine. You have shifter eyes.”

  “Thank you.” The lights flashed overhead, and he studied the light fixture. “What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll turn this into a bed and breakfast. There’s so much room, and I’ve worked in customer service for years. I could hire a few people to help out. I need to earn money for what isn’t covered by the trust fund. A girl’s gotta eat.” Lily didn’t know what compelled her to say such a thing, but the moment it was past her lips, a bed and breakfast felt like an actual business plan. She wasn’t sure about having people staying in her home, but this didn’t feel like her home. Maybe she could live in one the cottages, away from the guests.

  “The bathrooms will need to be updated.”

  Lily chuckled. “That’s it? No, you can’t do it? No, the town will never let that happen?”

  “You’ll need a bigger water tank. Individual heaters. It can get warm in the summer months, so I’d recommend individual air conditioning units in the rooms, as well. As to the rest, your sanity remains to be seen, and tourism is good for local economies.”

  “Even if it’s tainted Goode-Crawford tourism?”

  “Lily, I won’t lie to you.” He touched her arm. Warmth spread from his fingers, causing her to shiver. She couldn’t pull her gaze from him, watching for signs of a physical change. “Supernatural threats are not like human ones. This won’t be easy. You won’t know how much danger you’re in until you figure out who is threatening you. If it’s a couple of kids daring each other to taunt the witch, you’re fine.”

  “You don’t think it’s kids, do you?” She continued to study his expression, trying to decipher what he was not telling her.

  “There is no way to explain to you the people who call Lucky Valley home. Hollywood movies only touch upon a small percentage of what’s real, and they often get it wrong.”

  “I’m a witch without magic witch-powers. I’m a Goode and a Crawford who doesn’t know a single thing about her families. What I don’t know could probably fill a dozen spell books, but the one thing I am is a fighter. I’m not afraid. I’m not going to quit. I’ll solve any mystery that is put in front of me. So, mystery of the lawn-burning, spray-painting bandits is priority number one. Then the mystery of my missing witch powers if I even have them. And finally, the mystery of the creaky noises, leaking basement appliances, and the hopefully disappearing stack of citations will be last.”

  Nolan’s fingers tightened briefly and then released their hold. “I believe you. It’s a good thing you hired me.”

  As he tried to leave, she touched his arm to stop him. “Why a good thing?”

  “You’re clearly determined. I think it’s going to get you in trouble, especially in this town.” A small smile curled the side of his lips. “You’re going to need protection, even if you don’t realize it yet.”

  At that, she laughed. She was hardly a damsel in distress. “And what makes you think you can protect me?”

  His eyes flashed with gold as he stepped backward toward the door. He pointed at his chest and said, “Werewolf.”

  The parting move would have been confident if not for the fact he tripped on a gnome placed near the door. She hadn’t noticed the statue until he was stumbling out of the room into the hall.

  Lily waited until she heard him right himself. “Gee, I feel so much safer already.”

  “You should,” he said, not coming back into the room. “I’m really good at what I do.”

  Chapter Seven

  Lily had made a grave mistake. It wasn’t that she had gone to Stammerin’ Eddies to drink the best-worst coffee in town, or that she had tried to patronize local businesses to prove she cared about the new town she was moving into. It wasn’t even that she had tried to talk to a total of seven locals, the last of whom had grabbed her child and ran.

  The woman actually ran down Main Street.

  Down freaking Main Street.

  Compared to this, those things were nothing.

  Compared to this, well... nothing compared to this.

  Lily looked down the tree to where the cat-human and the dog-human circled beneath her. If the strange noises in her new house, the randomly appearing gnomes, and glowing eyes of her contractor-handyman hadn’t convinced her that Lucky Valley was full of the unexplained, this definitely did the trick. The cat roared and hissed. The dog growled and barked. They both looked like they wanted to eat her.

  Lily tried to catch her breath as she hugged the trunk and balanced on a tree branch. Her hand shook as she fumbled for the phone inside her pocket. It slipped from her fingers and she caught it between her legs. Beneath her, the shifters continued to pace and stare up at her. The cat roared louder and jumped several feet off the ground. She jerked out of his way so he couldn’t grab her.

  “Breathe, Lily, breathe,” she whispered.

  She brought up her phone contacts and tapped Nolan’s name. The dog jumped, and then the cat, as if competing to see who could get closer. She yelped in fright as claws knocked off her shoe.

  “This is Nolan,” he answered.

  “Where are you?” she demanded.

  “Lily? Is that you?”

  “Where are you?”

  “Near the woods outside of town. Why? Is everything all right?”

  “Nolan, you know how you said I would need you, and that I was lucky to have you because you knew the supernatural stuff around here and—”

  “Whoa, easy, calm—”

  “—I didn’t know about that stuff and—”

  “Slow down.”

  “—there is a cat and dog trying to eat me and I don’t particularly want to be on the menu—”

  “Wait, what are you talking about? You’re not making any sense. Can you get to better reception?”

  “No, I can’t get to better reception,” she yelled. “I’m stuck in a tree.”

  “A tree?”

  “Seriously, is this the best help you’re going to—ah!” Lily felt a tug on her shoe and the second one fell off. “I think I found who has been threatening us. And they want me dead.”

  “Lily, where are you?” Nolan’s voice filled with concern, though she would have liked a little more urgency in his tone to indicate he understood the full horror of her situation.

  “Some park with a statue of a naked mermaid.” She lost her balance for a moment and wobbled on the branch.

  “Poseidon Park. I’m on my way. Who’s after you?” Nolan asked.

  “A cat and a dog,” she said.

  “Wait, what? Seriously?”

>   “Dog-man and cat-man,” she said. “I don’t know what to call them. One second they’re smoking by the public restrooms and the next they’re sprouting fur and chasing me up a tree.”

  “Catshifter, wolfshifter?” he asked.

  “Are you really going to lecture me about my language choices?” she demanded. “Never mind. Some bodyguard contractor you are. I should have called the police.”

  “No, wait. Here’s what I need you to do. Tell them you’re on the phone with Nancy Felinus.”

  “I don’t think they’re going to care, Nolan.”

  “Just do it, Lily.” He mimicked her tone.

  “I’m on the phone with Nancy Felinus,” she yelled.

  The cat stopped jumping and grabbed the dog’s arm.

  “Now say she’s calling Darcy,” Nolan said.

  “And she’s going to call Darcy,” Lily yelled before ad-libbing, “She’s not pleased.”

  To her surprise, it worked. The two shifters ran off, leaving her in the tree.

  “Nolan, I can’t believe that worked. Who are Nancy and Darcy? Local law? Animal patrol?”

  “Their mothers,” he said with a small laugh. “Trust me, that’s worse than anything law enforcement would do.”

  The catshifter came running back, and Lily stiffened. She drew the phone back, readying to pelt him with it.

  He held his hands up as the fur retracted into his face. He looked like a high schooler. “Please don’t tell her you caught us smoking, Ms. Goode. We’re sorry for scaring you. We were just joking around. I promise, we won’t do it again.”

  Lily frowned. He even sounded like a kid. His young voice held more fear than threat in his human form. “And you’ll stop vandalizing my property?”

  “I don’t know what that means, ma’am. We don’t go on Goode land.” He bounced on his feet as if he might run away at any second. “I swear. We know better than to tempt the spirit of Marigold Crawford Goode.”

  “Lily? Lily?”

  She realized Nolan was still on the phone yelling at her.

  “Good point. You think your mom is frightening, you better get home before my mother comes,” Lily told the kid, feeling only mildly guilty using Marigold as a threat. He nodded and ran. She lifted the phone. “Yeah, I’m here. All good. Thanks.”