Murder Before Marriage

by Raven Snow

  “Murder Before Marriage”

  A Supernatural Witch Cozy Mystery

  Lainswich Witches Series Book 19

  Raven Snow

  © 2018

  Raven Snow

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner & are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Products or brand names mentioned are trademarks of their respective holders or companies. The cover uses licensed images & are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any person(s) that may be depicted on the cover are simply models.

  Edition v1.0 (2018.06.06)

  http://www.ravensnowauthor.com

  Special thanks to the following volunteer readers who helped with proofreading: Renee Arthur, Dick B, Jim T., and those who assisted but wished to be anonymous. Thank you so much for your support.

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  Table of Contents

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  Rowen Greensmith met her half-sister in the parking lot. Rowen had arrived first but hadn’t gotten out of the car quite yet. She was sitting on the driver’s side, gazing at herself in the mirror. It wasn’t her hair or her makeup she was checking. She was trying to psych herself up for what came next. Rowen had accepted her father’s invitation to dinner, but now that she was there she really didn’t want to go inside the restaurant.

  Coreen pulled up in the parking spot next to Rowen. She didn’t notice at first, not until she glanced over and caught her half-sister looking at her. Coreen’s eyes widened briefly in commiseration. I know, they seemed to be saying. I don’t want to be here either.

  Rowen got out of the car as Coreen did the same. “You sure you don’t want to forget all about this? We could take a road trip. I’ve never been on a road trip. We could go to Vegas or something.”

  Coreen laughed and pushed her fingers through her dark hair. It was tousled, effortlessly silky and wavy. It wasn’t at all like Rowen’s unruly auburn hair. “I’ve been on road trips. They’re not all they’re cracked up to be,” Coreen assured her.

  “Maybe you haven’t been on a road trip with the right person.”

  “Maybe,” Coreen agreed with a smirk.

  It wasn’t all that long ago that Rowen and Coreen had met for the first time. Before that, Coreen had been traveling with their father, Desmond, for most of her life. It was hard to say what she had done for a living then. Rowen tried not to think about it too hard. Desmond wasn’t the most upstanding of citizens. It stood to reason that Coreen had been involved in some pretty shady dealings.

  For now, Rowen was happy enough just to have a sister. Coreen was making an effort to remain on friendly terms, and it helped that she was staying in Lainswich for the time being. Desmond had left, but Coreen had remained. She used the old Trainer household as an excuse. It had gone through probate court and needed to be sold, she said, so she had stayed behind to oversee the renovations. Not that this had made her a very popular person in town.

  The Trainer household had belonged to Rowen’s adopted grandmother. It had gone to Desmond in the absence of a will. Of course, that didn’t stop people from suspecting that there had been a will and that Desmond had likely stolen it. From what little Rowen had learned of her father, they were probably right. Not that they wouldn’t have found other reasons to dislike Coreen. She was a member of the Greensmith family after all, even if she didn’t share the family name or blood.

  So, Coreen had been settling in to life in one place over the past few months. It seemed to suit her well, though Rowen knew she might simply be seeing what she wanted to see. She didn’t want Coreen going back on the road again. Unless it was with her. On a trip to Vegas. Right, the heck, now. God, she didn’t want to go into that restaurant.

  Rowen jumped as Coreen gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Sorry,” Coreen said with a laugh. She had a smile that reminded Rowen of Desmond. Not the best smile to be reminded of, but it was crooked and charming. “It’ll be all right,” Coreen assured her with the conviction of someone who knew. “I’ve had dinner with the both of them before. They’re a pain, but they’re harmless. Just get through it… Or we can do the Vegas thing. If you really want.”

  “Tempting.” Rowen felt a warmness from Coreen. It was the same warmness she felt from her cousins. A certain kind of familial love that was developing between them. It was nice. “Let’s get this over with. Maybe we can hang out after?”

  “A movie marathon,” Coreen suggested. “Sounds good. Ooh, a horror movie marathon.”

  “The horror movies you like scare me.”

  “That’s the point!”

  “I think you just like seeing me scared.”

  “Watching someone freak out is half the fun.” They had crossed the parking lot, and Coreen reached out and opened the door for her sister. Together, they walked into the burger joint with its dark, ambient lighting and sports memorabilia mounted on the walls. “We’re with someone,” Coreen said before the hostess could speak. She was already looking across the restaurant, having spotted Desmond in a corner booth.

  He perked up and raised a hand, waving them over. Next to him sat a woman Rowen didn’t recognize. That must be the fiancé. She was attractive in a way, Rowen supposed. Some men might find her good looking, at any rate. To Rowen, she looked very plastic. It was like her skin had been pulled too tightly over her skull. The lines at her eyes and mouth looked all the stranger for it. She’d had work done. That much was clear. It screamed wealth, as did the jewelry that flashed on her ears and fingers. Her blond hair was most likely a dye job, but it was a well done one. It fell styled over the shoulder of her crisply pressed pantsuit.

  This was a woman who had money. A lot of it. No wonder Desmond was dating her. If there had been any doubt in Rowen’s mind that he was in this to take her for all she had, it was gone now. Of course, she kept all that to herself as she slid into the booth across from them, Coreen sliding in beside her.

  “Hey,” said Rowen, forcing
a smile. She nodded to her father and then to the woman beside him.

  “Gabriella May. You can call me Gaby,” said the woman, holding out a hand. It was all but limp in Rowen’s when she took it. “Rowen, right? I’ve heard all about you.” She looked to Coreen next. “And, we’ve already met, obviously.” She gave Coreen a conspiratorial smile, like they were the best of friends. A sidelong glance told Rowen that Coreen was smiling back at her. It wasn’t like the smile she had given Rowen in the parking lot. This smile was more forced, the kind of smile you saw in retail settings. Granted, that could have been Rowen’s imagination. She could simply be seeing what she wanted to see. She wanted her half-sister to genuinely like her, to want to spend time with her even after the business with the house was over. It was easy to be biased, to jump on the idea that Coreen wasn’t being friendly with her while she was here for convenience’s sake.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” said Rowen. She paused then as the waitress came with two more menus and took their drink orders. Rowen didn’t have to look at the menu, but she opened it for show anyway.

  “A little drafty in here, isn’t it?” Gaby asked once the waitress had gone. She was looking around, the disapproval plain on her face. “Drafty” was likely the nicest insult she could come up with.

  “It has a certain charm. And it’s not like we can’t get you warmed up.” Desmond put an arm around his fiancé and pulled her in close to his side, while rubbing her arm. It was a sudden movement that elicited a giggle from her. “Besides, you can’t judge a book by its cover. This is Rowen’s favorite place, isn’t it Rowen?”

  “Not really.” Rowen might have lied for the sake of someone she liked more than her father. This restaurant was actually the only place they had ever sat down and eaten together. It hadn’t been picked for its charm or its food. It had been picked because it was nearby and the booths were quiet. “It’s a little pricey for what it is, but it’s okay.”

  Desmond didn’t miss a beat. He laughed and gave Gaby an additional squeeze to his side. “Well, there you have it. Apparently, I invited you all here for nothing. Maybe it’s for the best. We’ll start at the bottom and work our way up. You’ll show us all the best places to go while we’re here, right Rowen honey?”

  Rowen shifted in her seat as her muscles slithered around in her chest, constricting around her heart. There was something about the way Desmond could slip into the role of father with such ease that set her nerves on edge. He hadn’t been there for her. Not really. Not ever. He was worse than her mother, and her mother had been bad, never sticking around for more than a month or two at a time. “Sure,” Rowen forced herself to say rather than giving over to her anxiety and the deep simmering anger beneath it.

  “This town is cute,” offered Gaby, like she felt she needed to say something positive after all that negativity.

  “You’re cute,” Desmond countered.

  “Oh, you.” Gaby giggled and swatted at Desmond. She pulled away, but he only pulled her in closer to his side, planting a kiss on her cheek. Rowen did her best to ignore the additional giggling and hushed flirting that followed. She averted her eyes to the sports memorabilia mounted to the walls, reading pennants for teams she didn’t recognize. Gaby and Desmond weren’t just annoying, they looked odd together. Gaby had to be at least a head taller than Rowen’s short, dark-haired father. That still didn’t keep her from slouching low in her seat to put her head against his chest, though.

  The waitress returned with drinks and orders were made. Gaby sat up straight in her seat once more, and Desmond released her. “So, how have my two girls been doing?” asked Desmond, once the waitress had left him once more. Rowen bristled a bit at “my two girls.” It sounded far too familial for her taste.

  “Oh, you know.” Coreen was much more at ease than Rowen. She slouched down in her seat to sip from her straw before continuing. “I’ve been managing. I’m not used to staying in one place for so long. I’m used to travel. It’s… been an adjustment.”

  “I can imagine,” said Gaby, with a sage nod. She was smiling a knowing smile, an expression undermined slightly by the fact that there was a smudge of lipstick on her straight, white teeth. “A life of travel is so much more stimulating.”

  “It does get tiresome after a while,” said Coreen, words that made Rowen hopeful she really did plan on sticking around after all was said and done. “Sometimes, you want to put down roots for a while. Though, I’m more used to putting down temporary roots in a city. This is the first time I’ve ever stayed so long in a town this small.” That wasn’t entirely true. Coreen had grown up in a small town in Alabama, in an even smaller trailer park where her mother neglected her. She left out that part though, and Rowen certainly wasn’t going to mention it for her.

  “Putting down roots is good,” said Desmond, words Rowen wouldn’t have expected to come out of his mouth. He said them to Gaby.

  “As long as it means we don’t stop traveling,” Gaby added, her eyes on Desmond. “That’s part of what I love about you, you know? The fact that you’re so worldly.”

  Rowen wondered what Gaby did know about Desmond. Like what did she really know? “How did you meet?” Rowen found herself asking the question before she had completely formed it in her head.

  Gaby looked away from her fiancé and toward his daughter. “Hmm? Oh.” She smiled and plucked the lemon wedge from the side of her glass. “It was at a fundraiser,” she said, squeezing the lemon into her ice water. “It was this stuffy affair at an estate and there Desmond was, telling stories. He was the life of the party. Literally. He was the only interesting thing there. Of course, I had to steal him away for myself.”

  Rowen could picture that easily. Desmond was certainly a schmoozer, if nothing else. She glanced over at her half-sister. Coreen read the look she was given and smiled. “I was there too. It was a nice fundraiser. For a good cause too, if I remember correctly.”

  “Oh, I’m sure,” Gaby interjected.

  Coreen didn’t mention what cause. She probably remembered, but Gaby clearly didn’t. She wasn’t going to mention the cause after that. She pursued the avenue of conversation Gaby was most interested in instead. “It was a very stuffy party. I do believe the average age in the room was somewhere in the upper sixties. There was a lovely orchestral group but, obviously, no dancing or anything. Well, not much dancing.”

  Gaby giggled again. Coreen had set her up to continue her story and she smiled at her broadly for it. “We danced,” she said, lowering her voice like she was confessing to something far more scandalous. “Your father is an incredible ballroom dancer. Did you know that?”

  “No,” Rowen said, slowly and with emphasis. “I didn’t know that.” The point there being that there was a lot she didn’t know about her father. She barely knew the man. Desmond caught her gaze for a moment, something like a nervous twitch passing across his features before he looked away.

  Gaby continued, undeterred, too wrapped up in her own story. “Well, he is. I’ve never met a man with finer footwork. He swept me off my feet. Literally!” Gaby paused for impact before that last word, like it was wordplay she was proud of. The way Coreen raised both her eyebrows after hiding the rest of her face with a sip of her drink implied it was something Gaby had said a lot. This was a story Coreen had already heard many times over, despite having been there herself.

  “We danced the night away and then we simply sat and talked.” Gaby folded her hands beneath her chin and sighed, wistfully. “What a magical night that was. Do you know how nice it is to be able to talk with someone who understands you? There’s something so comforting about having an easy conversation. You can just tell sometimes. You can tell when you really mesh with someone.”

  “Wow,” Rowen said, purposely keeping her tone flat and unimpressed. She got a pointed look from Desmond for it, but Coreen didn’t even seem to notice.

  “I hear you’re married,” Gaby said to Rowen, pausing to take a sip of her lemon water. “I hope you have
that sort of relationship with your own husband.”

  “I hope so too,” said Rowen, ignoring another glare. It was harder to ignore his swift kick under the table. She would have kicked him right back, but she was afraid of hitting Gaby instead. Gaby didn’t deserve that, not when she was already being taken for all she was worth by Desmond. Not that Rowen had any proof of that. Then again, Gaby seemed so smitten, she probably wouldn’t believe her even if she did have proof. “My husband’s name is Eric. He’s a great guy.”

  “You should have brought him along! This could have been a double date.”

  “I don’t know about that,” said Coreen. “That would have made me the, what? The third wheel? The fifth wheel?”

  Gaby laughed again. It was a fake laugh, much too loud—like Coreen had told the absolute funniest joke. “That’s true.” Gaby shook her head. “What are we going to do with you, Coreen? We have to find you a man.”

  “Don’t rush her,” said Desmond, like he was the doting father nervous about his “little girl” finally dating.

  Gaby swatted at Desmond’s arm. “Oh, hush. Don’t listen to him. We’ll find you a man as good as your daddy.”

  Rowen fought the urge not to cringe. If Coreen had any strong feelings one way or the other, she didn’t let them show outwardly. “I’ve got enough to sort out right now without adding love to the mix,” she said, staying vague.

  Gaby nodded. “Well…” she began like she was going to change the subject. She stopped though, her focus going to something else instead. Desmond’s gaze had gone there as well, and his eyes widened.

  They were looking behind her, Rowen realized. She turned slightly in the booth and saw that someone was walking toward them. It was a woman, but it wasn’t the waitress. She had on flip flops and a drawstring bag slung over one shoulder. She stopped when she noticed all the eyes on her. Rowen felt her face heating up. She hadn’t realized Desmond had invited Tiffany. “You didn’t tell me Mom was coming,” Rowen said quietly, turning back to the table.