“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask. Is what they say about your grandma true? All I know is what I’ve read on the plaque.” Lorna had wanted to ask Heather about Julia but had never known the right time to broach the subject. “Did she really do what it says?”
“My grandma was a bit of a free spirit. She was a well-known medium and would host séances. What she could and couldn’t do is up for debate. I already told you how much my mom hated it, but I was convinced witchcraft and magic flowed in my veins. I always felt different from the other girls. I wore black and cast my mystical spells. I wanted Bobby Turner to take me on a date, and when he asked me to the school dance like two months after I cast a love spell, naturally that meant I had superpowers. He dumped me the next day for Karen Smithers but that’s beside the point.”
“Clearly that’s proof of magic.” Lorna chuckled.
“Right?” Heather drawled wryly. “Anyway, if the family magic works is up for debate.”
“So did Julia use those trick tables with uneven legs and secret levers for her séances?”
Heather studied the ring on her finger. It looked as if she would say more, but she hummed softly to herself and waved her hand in dismissal. “Trust me. You don’t want to hear the crazy hocus-pocus of my family tree without a stiff drink in your hand.”
Lorna started to answer that she did, in fact, want to hear about it when it occurred to her that she might have inadvertently insulted Julia by implying she was a fraud. Before she could apologize, movement caught her attention. A white cat ran across the front of the theater.
She pointed after it. “We have a visitor.”
Heather turned and gave a small laugh. The cat made a beeline for the office. “That’s Ace. Someone must have let him inside. He’s a harmless scamp who usually lives at the bookstore but occasionally he comes around for a visit.”
Heather didn’t appear concerned.
“There you are. Why aren’t you picking up your phone?” William came from the direction of the side door leading to the alleyway. She’d only ever seen him in t-shirts, jeans, and work boots, so the button-down shirt instantly drew her attention. His brown hair appeared clean-cut while his shorter beard added a bit of rebellion to the look. He was the unfair combination of brooding and sexy, and he caught her eye every time she saw him.
Those meetings had undoubtedly been more memorable for Lorna than they were for him.
He wasn’t anything like her late husband. Glenn had been charming and loud. When he walked into a room, he demanded notice and kept it. Maybe that’s why she was fascinated by William. He did most of his talking with his green eyes and didn’t seem to care about being the center of attention.
Lorna had thought she was past certain stages of her life. Being single was one of them. It felt strange to admit she was attracted to someone. But then to act on it? How did she even do that? She’d been horrible at flirting when she was twenty and pretty and fit into a size six. She’d never really dated. Glenn had pursued her.
Lorna wasn’t body conscious. She’d outgrown that insecurity. It had been years since she’d been a size six, but when it came to dating society continually told her that men wanted younger, newer, prettier.
“Hey, Lorna, good to see you again,” William said when she merely stared at him.
“Hey.” She nodded, telling herself to smile, then reminding herself not to smile for too long.
“Did you let Ace in?” Heather asked her brother.
“He wanted to visit you,” William answered with a small smirk. “He misses you.”
“You’re so helpful.” Heather sighed, even as Lorna got the impression that she didn’t mind her brother teasing her. “Why were you trying to call me?”
“I missed you, too,” William said.
“Oh, no, what? Money or Mom?” Heather asked.
“It’s never money.” William chuckled.
“I know, but a girl can dream.” Heather rubbed her temples. “What did she do?”
“Fired the gardener you hired for her. She thinks he was peeping in her windows.” William lifted his hands as if he was done with the situation.
“I didn’t hire a gardener for her.” Heather looked more exasperated than worried. “I hired a lawn service to come by and mow. They’re the same crew that does all my rental properties. They’re solid.”
Lorna busied herself while they spoke, staying on the sidelines of the conversation.
“They also have riding lawn mowers that seat them high enough to see into her living room window, and one of the guys was peeping at her,” William said.
Heather grimaced. “Tell Mom to close her curtains and stop saying the word peeping.”
“Peep. Peep. Peep.” William laughed when she tried to swat him. “What are you going to do about it?”
“Me? Oh, no. It’s your turn.” Heather picked up the bottle of window cleaner off the floor by the candy case and handed it to Lorna. “Get your lawn mower ready, favorite child.”
“Would you just call her? See if you can’t smooth it out?” William insisted. “She’ll listen to you.”
“I was thinking about going down to the coffee shop. Does anyone want anything?” Lorna wanted to give them some privacy.
“Great idea, I’ll walk with you.” William patted his sister on the shoulder and gestured for Lorna to join him. “You can call her while we’re gone.”
“Heather?” Lorna asked.
“Latte,” Heather muttered, still staring at William. “And maybe a new brother.”
“I love you.” William touched his hand over his heart.
“Yeah, me too.” Heather wrinkled her nose and waved at them to leave. “Oh, can you let Melba know Ace is here so she doesn’t worry? Tell her I’ll leave food out for him.”
“Will do,” William answered.
Lorna hadn’t been expecting the company. He held open the door for her and walked along the street side of the sidewalk. She wasn’t sure why she noticed the etiquette, but her attention was focused on his actions. His gaze swept her face, and she forced her eyes forward.
“Are you enjoying your new town?” he asked.
“It’s nice here. I’ve been down to the beach a few times but haven’t explored past city limits too much. I like working for your sister. She’s been amazing.” Lorna twisted the ring on her forefinger. “She was telling me about Julia Warrick when you came in.”
She felt a subtle change in William’s demeanor. “They’re just stories.”
“So it’s not true? She wasn’t a medium?” Lorna asked.
They passed a couple on the sidewalk, and William said a quick hello. He paused to let them walk away before answering, “No, Julia claimed to be but she wasn’t.” He took a deep breath and sighed. “Please tell me you’re not into that stuff like my sister. You seem sensible. Don’t let her stories of family history influence you.”
“I can see why people want to believe they can communicate with the dead.” Lorna had that same wish herself. What was wrong with needing answers and trying to find them?
“But wanting something and getting something are two different things,” William countered. “I love my sister, but Heather always thought we had some great witch legacy. Having a con artist in the family who takes money to pretend to talk to loved ones, to me, is a family shame, not a family badge of honor. I want nothing to do with that. I even sold Heather my half of the Warrick building inheritance for a dollar. If it weren’t a historical landmark, I would have torn my half down.”
Obviously, this was a sensitive topic for him. Lorna didn’t intend to comment further.
“I’m sorry. This is a strange turn of conversation. My family has been living with Grandma Julia’s eccentricities for generations. I can’t tell you how many times people have heard my last name and then asked me if I can see their dead relatives with them. Sometimes they’re teasing. Sometimes they’re serious and desperate. One lady tried to shove money down my shirt and began screaming whe
n I wouldn’t help her. Deluding yourself about the great beyond isn’t helping anyone,” William said. They turned the corner toward the coffee shop. “And I have no idea why I keep talking about this.” He gave her an apologetic smile. “You were telling me how you like living in Freewild Cove.”
“It’s fine, nice. I’m settling in.” Lorna could empathize with his frustration but found his strongly expressed opinions slightly off-putting. “That must be very difficult to have people asking those things of you.”
He stopped walking several feet short of the coffee shop door. “You want to say something more, don’t you? You’re agitating your ring and I feel a giant but at the end of that sentence.”
Lorna glanced down to where she twisted the ring on her finger and released it as she debated answering. “Okay. Yes. I get how it would be difficult to have people asking you if you can talk to their deceased family members, but it’s a little harsh to call the need to believe in something a delusion. Sometimes people just need answers. Sometimes those answers can only be given by someone who is no longer with us.”
“People?” he repeated.
“Yes, people.”
“You mean you.” William’s eyes said more than his words, and he looked at her as if he knew all the secrets she was hiding. A cool breeze swept down the sidewalk and clouds moved over the sun, casting a shadow over them.
“Fine, yes, I mean me.” Lorna crossed her arms over her chest, feeling exposed. All the emotions she repressed rose to the surface. She glanced to the side, seeing a couple holding coffee cups staring at her. “It’s all over town, isn’t it? Everyone knows about me, don’t they?”
“Well, I—”
“I need to get back to work.” Lorna kept her head held high and her expression even. She walked past the bookstore window to go inside the coffee shop. The smell of coffee overwhelmed the narrow wooden room. Everything appeared to be for sale except the wi-fi. Paintings from local artists hung on the wall next to displayed t-shirts. A lady sold assorted pastries to the right as the line for coffee formed to the left. Tea tins and homemade jams crowded kiosks. A display near the cash register held handcrafted necklaces.
“He’s beautiful, isn’t he?” Vivien suddenly appeared next to her.
“Excuse me?” Lorna gave a small jolt of surprise. What was with this woman? Did she always start conversations in the middle as if the other person had been listening to the thoughts inside her head?
“William. He’s got that James-Dean-Gerard-Butler-bad-boy-brooding-sex-machine vibe,” Vivien whispered as if she shared a girlish secret. Then louder, she said, “Hey, Janet, how are those grandkids? And is that a new jam flavor I see?”
When the woman by the pastries answered Vivien, Lorna’s gaze moved to the window to see William walk toward the bookstore to talk to Melba about her cat.
“Try this.” Vivien handed a small cracker with a green gelatinous substance on it.
“What is it?” Lorna asked, sniffing it.
“Green pepper jelly,” Vivien said. “Tell me if it’s any good.”
Lorna put it in her mouth and chewed. “Spicy-sweet. Not usually what I think when I think jelly. It would be good in a pork glaze.”
“Do you cook?”
Lorna nodded. “Sometimes. When I have people to cook for.”
Vivien turned and grabbed a jar. “Thanks, Janet. I’ll pay with my coffee.” She turned to Lorna and handed her the jelly. “Welcome to Freewild Cove. Janet said to pour it over softened cream cheese and serve it like a dip with crackers at your next party.”
“Uh, thanks,” Lorna said in surprise. She glanced over her shoulder. William wasn’t outside. “So, can I ask, are you and William…?”
Vivien shook her head in denial. “Dating a friend’s brother didn’t seem advisable when I was in middle and high school. Then he just fell into the friend zone so I’ve never considered him in that way.” She gave Lorna a strained look. “Not that I’ve ever dated a friend’s brother to have definitive proof that it’s a bad idea, so if you wanted to try—”
“I don’t,” Lorna interrupted.
Vivien hummed and looked as if she knew differently. “If you say so.”
Lorna pretended to study the jar as she rolled it in her hands.
“I’m sorry you couldn’t make it out for drinks with us. I think you would have had fun. Twenty-something tourists stopped for the night.” She winked. “So pretty to look at, and so transparent. One spilled beer on his shirt and did a little material-lift-up maneuver to unnecessarily check out the mess he made just so all the ladies would get a peek at his stomach. He had great abs, by the way. Well done, college lad. That was one boy who hits the gym more than the books, I guarantee it.”
“My kids are college age,” Lorna said. “I don’t tend to think of that age group in that way.”
“Oh, yeah, I can see that,” Vivien acknowledged. “I don’t have kids, so I guess I don’t think about it the same way you do. Don’t get me wrong. When it comes to dating, I tend to draw the line at mid-twenties. I might be an eternal cougar. I think it’s because the love of my life was that age when he died, and their energy reminds me of him.”
To that, Lorna could relate. Four years ago she would have said Glenn was the love of her life. She just wasn’t the love of his. “I’m sorry you lost him.”
“That’s sweet of you. It was a long time ago.” Vivien touched the corner of her eye as if to stop a tear from forming. “Oh, but he was beautiful. Seeing them left me nostalgic. I went home and pulled boxes out of the attic and ended up looking at old photos. Man, I was so young and clueless. I thought the world was ours and would last forever.”
“What happened to him?” Lorna asked. The woman clearly wanted to talk about it.
“Cancer. I was twenty-two and we’d been married for four years, three amazing ones before he found out he was sick. Sam was a grade above me in high school. We were inseparable. Everyone said we were stupid for getting married so young but as soon as I turned eighteen, we eloped. We had no money, no family support, and I would give everything to have that time back. It happened so fast. One day he was laughing and trying to convince me we could live in a van and camp along the coast. The next he was in the hospital. That last year was nothing but doctors and tests and…” Vivien took a deep breath and again touched the corner of her eye. Lorna noticed a ring on her forefinger. “None of it mattered.”
Vivien shook her body as if she could push off the sadness. “Anyway, enough of that. Let’s talk about anything else.”
The line moved forward, inching them closer to place an order. She felt someone standing a little too closely behind them. When she looked back, she half expected it to be William. A bearded man smiled. Lorna nodded once and inched away from him to regain some of her personal space.
“That’s a pretty ring.” Lorna gestured at Vivien’s hand.
“Isn’t it? I don’t remember owning it, but I found it last night in my memory box.” She held up her hand. “This is the only finger it fits on. I think I’m a little swollen because it doesn’t want to come off.”
“Last night?” Lorna looked at her own hand. “That’s so weird.”
“Why is that weird?”
“Because I found this ring last night.” Lorna held up her hand. “And it fits snug on my finger.”
“Oh, pretty,” Vivien said. “It looks good on you.”
“And Heather found a ring going through tax receipts or something.” Lorna’s hand began to tingle. “Was yours tarnished until you put it—”
“What can I get you, ladies?” Stu, the young man behind the counter, asked. His long hair pulled into a man-bun on the top of his head. Lorna knew him from when she’d come to the shop before. Barista wasn’t his real gig, as he put it. He was a musician. His current specialty was playing for tourists down at the beach, hoping to be discovered by the right one passing through town.
“Two vanilla lattes and…” She glanced toward the window. Wi
lliam stood outside, waiting. He hadn’t mentioned what he wanted.
“Make that three,” Vivien said. “And throw in an extra shot of espresso.”
“Make it four,” Lorna decided. She pulled her bank card out of her back pocket, ready to swipe.
“Put it on my tab,” Vivien intercepted. “And the green jelly too.”
Stu nodded in understanding. “Caffeine overload coming right up.”
“Thank you,” Lorna said.
Vivien agitated her hand as they stepped along the counter to where they would pick up their drinks. “Maybe I need to take this thing off. It’s kind of tingly. It might be too tight.”
Lorna glanced down, realizing she’d been twirling her ring again. Her hand tingled too. The vibrations were light, but there.
“I don’t want my finger to fall off,” Vivien continued, tugging at the ring.
“Let me see.” Lorna touched Vivien’s hand.
A strange rush of energy shot up her arm at the contact, leaving her light-headed. The noise of the other patrons softened, and the lights dimmed. They instantly let go of each other. Everything went back to normal.
“What was that?” Vivien whispered.
“I have no idea.” Lorna rubbed her arm. The sensation lingered.
“Ha!” Stu gave a short laugh and nodded toward them. “Static buildup. You should touch metal. It will neutralize the electric charge.”
Lorna smoothed down her hair, feeling the strands cling to her fingers. Vivien’s hair had started to lift from her shoulders. They both reached to touch the metal handrail and received a small zap from the static electricity. The tingling sensation lessened but didn’t go away completely.
“You said Heather found a ring too?” Vivien didn’t stand as close as before. “I think maybe the three of us need to have a conversation.”
After Stu gave them a cup holder with four lattes, they met William outside. He carried the drinks and didn’t say much as he walked with them to the theater.
As they neared the theater doors, he handed the lattes to Vivien. “Give us a minute, Viv.”
“Sure. I’ll fill Heather in on our new magic powers,” Vivien said with a wink. Lorna had a feeling it was more to annoy William than anything else. She gestured toward the jelly. “I’ll take that in for you.”
Second Chance Magic Page 4
