Chapter Nine
“Too pink or too red?” Heidi asked, turning away from the mirror and pursing her lips for my opinion.
Too much. Tell Heidi not to wear so much lipstick, and she should skip the gloss.
“Too pink.” I rummaged through one of my makeup bags, searching for the shade of reddish-brown lipstick I’d bought in New York City before moving to Paramour Bay. With my black hair, I usually stuck to my usual brown hues with just a hint of red. Too much red made me look like one of those mannequins that Mindy swore Ted was in love with at her boutique. “Try this. It’s called Cinnamon Flair.”
Lipstick gets on my fur, and I can’t get it off. And gloss? Don’t even get me started!
“Don’t you think it’s a bit odd that Jack is going to a New Year’s Eve party here in Paramour Bay when he lives all the way over in New Haven?” Heidi asked before carefully applying the first coat of Cinnamon Flair to her lips after wiping off the too pink shade she’d tried first. She rubbed her lips together and then leaned back to get the full view of her appearance. “I like this color, Raven. I might need to steal your supply.”
What does Heidi see in Jack, anyway? He has no pedigree.
Jack was really a nice guy, but Leo wouldn’t want to hear that right now.
No, I don’t want to hear that tripe. Will he be man enough to bring her a live mouse?
“You can have that tube,” I offered, ignoring Leo’s comment about the mouse. He’s never hurt one since I’ve moved in here and was really rather gentle with them when they crossed his path. Ted managed to capture the tiny grey furry creatures and remove them from my cottage without harm. “I have a similar shade.”
We both put the finishing touches on our makeup. Leo had given a huff and left the bathroom, no doubt to go sulk by the living room window. I wouldn’t allow him to start the New Year off feeling down, so I’d written down a spell that only required rosemary and a touch of catnip. Both the small piece of paper and the herbs were in my green purse to be used at the appropriate time.
“You’ve been awfully quiet since Saturday night,” Heidi pointed out, leaning her right hip against the bathroom sink. “Raven, we have a plan in place to search for Norman Palmer’s wallet. It will work. I don’t see how it can fail.”
Heidi wasn’t wrong about a few things. One, I had been rather down since Saturday night. The locater spell had left me with a lot more questions than I’d had originally, which was saying a lot. Two, the incantation had left me with certain doubts regarding Nan’s innocence. Three, which was totally unrelated to my latest quest, I was nervous about this evening’s date with Liam.
I closed the bathroom door, not that the measly wooden barrier could keep the pesky familiar out should he want to pop in. He could hear every thought in my head, but only if he was tuned in to me at the time.
“I’m beginning to suspect Leo is right about my date with Liam.” There. I’d said my fear aloud. Unfortunately, my verbalizing the cause of my apprehension didn’t lessen my anxiety. I moved past her to sit on top of the toilet. This certainly wasn’t the most ideal place to have this conversation. “I’m a witch, Heidi. These past three months have been a whirlwind, and I think I’ve clung to the thought of a date with Liam to keep me anchored in the real world.”
“So, what if you’re an odd duck?” Heidi opened the shower curtain on its oval track so that she could sit on the edge of the claw foot tube. We were both wearing the dresses we’d chosen over the Christmas break, though she’d picked more of a cocktail style dress than I had. Mine was longer with more flowing material, allowing me to wear my favorite knee-high boots with two inch heels. At the end of the evening, it probably wouldn’t matter what I had on. I’d end up in my pajamas with a quart of chocolate chip mint ice cream. “Raven, you’ve done nothing but grow as a person since you’ve been here in this town.”
Heidi’s observation had me raising an eyebrow, because we normally didn’t have the why are we even here existential conversations.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, three months ago you were passing strangers by on the sidewalk in the Big Apple without a thought to who they were or what they were going through.” Heidi had a wistful look on her face, which was currently framed with blonde curls. She reached out and took a hold of my hands. “Pearl walked into the shop yesterday, clearly upset that Henry still wanted to go to his winter home in Florida. You spent five minutes trying to figure out what the real problem was with her, only to discover she has a fear of getting on a plane. You promised to make her a tea blend that would ease her fears.”
“And I can’t share any of that with Liam,” I explained, understanding just how much witchcraft had become a part of me. “Being a witch is a big part of who I am, Heidi.”
“And you’re just beginning to learn about the gift you’ve been given.” Heidi squeezed my hand as she attempted to explain my so-called growth. It wasn’t like I was a different person. “Don’t you see? You never would have taken five seconds of your busy morning to ask the person behind you in line for coffee why he or she was upset. You—”
“Because they would have thought I was flipping crazy,” I protested, not having been gone from the city that long. “People mind their own business in the city.”
“Exactly. And now you’re in Paramour Bay helping Otis with his arthritis, creating tea blends to help Wilma get over her cold, and helping Henry Wiegand realize that he loves Pearl with all his heart.” Heidi gestured toward the bathroom door. “Leo and Ted are now an integral part of your family. You’ve created a life here, Raven. You are exactly where you belong.”
I hadn’t thought of my life in those terms, but Heidi was right. Leo just wasn’t Nan’s familiar anymore. He’d become my confidant and…my friend. I couldn’t imagine my life without his incessant commentary and his quirkiness nor Ted and his peculiar slow and steady manner.
“But they accept me for who I am,” I said, unable to stop the sadness from tainting my words. “Liam can never know about my lineage.”
“Are you sure about that?” Heidi tilted her head, causing her curls to bounce. “The world hasn’t ended with my realization. I haven’t gone up in flames, and this coven Leo speaks about hasn’t broken down your door to carry you away on a rail. Raven, you’re going on a date. You’re not getting married tonight, no matter how much I want to be your maid of honor. You’re not sharing your deepest, darkest secrets. This new chapter in your life is just beginning, so allow yourself to have some fun—dinner, wine, a little dancing…and maybe, just maybe, a shared kiss at midnight, if you’re lucky.”
Heidi was right, which never ceased to amaze me. She usually came across as the spontaneous, carefree friend who would be the one using her one phone call from behind bars to say the excitement was all worth the price of admission. She would still do that, but there were times that she was able to help me see the forest before the trees.
“Thanks, Heidi.” I leaned forward and gave her a hug of appreciation just as the doorbell chimed. I’d wanted to bring up Otis’ suggestion about her taking over for Beetle this evening, but I’d run out of time. “You’re the best.”
“But do I look my best?” Heidi asked, both of us standing and giving our reflections a onceover for final approval. “Are you sure I shouldn’t have done an up do? These curls are a little wild for a first date.”
“Your blonde hair against the black fabric of your dress is what completes the package.” I swung open the bathroom door and hurried across the hardwood floor. The bonus of living in a cottage like this was that it was a large open floor plan, not to say that there weren’t a few hidden spaces. Within half a second, I was at the door. Would the man on my front doorstep be Liam or Jack? Both were picking us up separately. “Ready?”
No, not in the least.
Leo was in his usual spot in the front window with his back to us. I hadn’t told him of my surprise, and I wouldn’t until the time was right.
“Ready,” Heidi called out, the black ruffled sleeves of her dress making it look as if she were part of a coven that I wasn’t sure even existed. “Wait.”
Don’t be preposterous. Of course, the coven exists.
“Are we sticking to the plan?”
Say no.
The plan had us searching for Norman Palmer’s wallet in the wax museum, just as the locater spell had shown. The black leathered billfold wasn’t in plain sight, but I did have a vision as to where it had been left. I assume Norman had been talking to Rita at the museum before she’d left for England, and he’d somehow dropped his wallet while engaged there. It was the only reasonable explanation as to why the billfold hadn’t been found to date.
Just say no.
“Yes, we’re sticking to the plan,” I declared, unsure if mixing witchcraft business with pleasure was such a good idea. After all, I’d just gotten done telling Heidi that Liam couldn’t know about my true identity. Alas, it wasn’t like I’d have any other opportunity to search the museum the way I would be able to this evening. “Just don’t get caught.”
You are purposefully ignoring me.
I swung open the door so that I didn’t have to have this redundant conversation with Leo again. He’d made his thoughts known, but in five minutes he’d forget all about this conversation.
You don’t give me enough credit.
“Ted?” I’d been expecting Liam or Jack, but an unsmiling Ted stood on my doorstep. The unsmiling part wasn’t unusual, but I could definitely sense his unease. “Is everything okay?”
“You must not go to the museum tonight.”
Why doesn’t Ted want you to go to the museum?
Sure enough, right on cue, Leo’s short-term memory loss had kicked in.
“Not you, too.” I slumped my shoulders slightly, because I really didn’t want to get into an argument with both Leo and Ted on the night we were ringing in the New Year. I also didn’t want to have a conversation with the door open. We were letting all the warm air out of the cottage and into the night, so I gestured for Ted to come in so I could shut the cold out and talk. Unfortunately, he remained standing on the doorstep, frozen in place. “Alison and Oliver Bend are hosting the town’s New Year’s Eve party. It would look odd for me not to be there. Ted, I realize the cold doesn’t affect you as much, but I’m freezing. Come in out of the cold.”
Wait. It’s coming back to me.
“There was a reason for your grandmother’s annual donation to the museum every year.”
Ohhhhh, that reason.
Leo quickly stood on all four paws, his whiskers twitching uncontrollably.
You can’t go to the museum tonight. I just remembered.
I tried to wait patiently for either Leo or Ted to continue, but I should have known that Ted’s usual one sentence thing wouldn’t change just because we were standing in the doorway freezing solid. Neither would the fact that Leo was still trying to protect me from…I don’t know what, because he wasn’t being completely honest with me.
Shivers were now beginning to set in, and I was tempted to close the door in Ted’s face.
You wouldn’t dare.
No, I wouldn’t.
“Ted, please come inside so that we can discuss this without me turning into an icicle,” I practically pleaded before catching sight of a pair of headlights. “I insist. Hurry. Tell me why I shouldn’t go to the party before Liam or Jack get out of their vehicles.”
Jack is coming to the house? To pick up Heidi? How could you let this happen to me?
“Miss Raven, your grandmother did not kill Norman Palmer.”
I could have told you that. Geez, this is really becoming silly.
Relief and frustration spread through me, though neither was enough to chase away the goosebumps that covered my body from head to toe. We’d been standing in the doorway for far too long, but Ted just refused to come inside.
“Raven, it’s Liam,” Heidi whispered after crossing the floor to come and stand beside me. She’d crossed her arms to keep whatever body heat she could, considering it now felt like the next Ice Age had begun inside my home. “You better make a decision quick.”
It was beyond infuriating that these two had information that would give me peace of mind, but they both refused to give me the details so that I could make up my own mind.
Why?
Well, it’s like on those television shows where the individual wasn’t part of the crime, but they have to do the time, anyway. You see, being an accomplice can…
“Leo, I don’t have time for one of your shaggy dog tales,” I whispered, having heard a car door shut. “One of you tell me something useful before I leave for the party. And make it quick.”
“Raven, is everything okay?” Liam asked, his voice carrying down the walkway. The gate made that horrible high-pitched squeak as he opened it to gain entry to the sidewalk. I was glad to see that I wasn’t the only one who caused the hinges to make such a horrendous noise. “Ted, are you joining us this evening?”
“No, thank you.”
The closer Liam got to us standing in the doorway, the more perplexed his expression became. I couldn’t blame him. Ted was, as usual, not as forthcoming as he could have been, given that he was still staring at me with…sorrow?
“Oh, my,” Heidi whispered, giving me a slight nudge with her shoulder.
I understood perfectly what she was referring to, because Liam looked dashing in his black suit with a tie that contained numerous beautiful green hues. His brown hair was combed to perfection, without a strand out of place, and his freshly shaven jaw made me want to place my hand on his cheek to see if his skin was as soft as it looked in the cold night. For just a second, I’d forgotten the reason Ted was standing on my doorstep.
I don’t know how you could forget someone like Ted.
“Raven, you look absolutely stunning this evening,” Liam complimented me, his dark gaze warming me just a tad. At least, until Liam’s uncertain gaze landed back on Ted. “Is there something wrong, Ted?”
Yes. Very wrong, and it’s all your fault for taking…
“I don’t believe the party will be very fun,” Ted declared over Leo’s meows.
A second vehicle could be seen pulling off the main road and onto the gravel path that led to my cottage. Detective Jack Swanson had arrived to pick up Heidi, and I wasn’t so sure he would be as patient with Ted the way Liam was on any given day. Heidi had summed it up perfectly a bit earlier—small towns were like a family tree, with many far-flung branches.
Raven, maybe we should get a hellhound. You know, one that I can boss around. One command from me and he would sink his sharp canine teeth into Jack Swanson’s—
“Ted, Liam is taking me to the New Year’s Eve party,” I explained to the gentle giant as gently as I could while gesturing for Heidi to grab my dress coat. She did one better and also handed me the purse I’d chosen to carry, all loaded up with more than just rosemary and catnip. I’d packed an extra special emergency kit, just in case. “I hope you have a good evening here at the cottage. Please make sure Leo stays out of trouble.”
On instinct, I raised up on my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to Ted’s cheek. Of course, he had to lean down to receive it, but surprisingly enough he did. One of those rare, crooked smiles of his crossed his face.
“Goodnight, Ted. Goodnight, Leo.”
Yeah, yeah. See you next year and all that jazz.
Liam shifted until he was able to pass Ted and take ahold of my dress coat. He held it open for me, allowing me to seek its warmth. It wasn’t long until we were passing Jack on the sidewalk, who appeared only to have eyes for Heidi as he muttered a greeting in passing.
“Is Ted still standing at the door?”
I was afraid to turn around myself. Guilt had flooded my system, but I needed answers. If Leo and Ted weren’t inclined to do that, then I needed to take matters into my own hands.
“Yes, he is,” Liam replied after a quick glance over his should
er while carefully guiding me around his personal vehicle that he’d left running to keep the interior warm. He usually drove the sheriff’s SUV, but he’d traded it in tonight for a black F-150. Living in Connecticut, it wasn’t feasible to drive anything without four-wheel drive…unlike my beat-up old Corolla. Maybe I could afford one of those Subaru sedans. They had all-wheel drive. “Would you like me to walk back and convince Ted to join us? It feels wrong leaving him here like that standing out in the cold.”
“You’d do that, wouldn’t you?” I asked in bewilderment, adjusting my scarf so that the cold wind wasn’t so harsh on my neck. We’d made it to the passenger side of his truck where he’d opened the door. “Ted is…different. Not a lot of people are comfortable around him.”
“Ted’s unique, but he’s always offering his help to the townsfolk where and when needed,” Liam explained with a half-smile, shifting so that his body protected me from the gust of wind. “Say the word, Raven. I’ll go back and try to talk him into going with us.”
I gave it some serious thought while I used the running board for leverage to get up into the passenger seat. It was beyond cozy and comfortable, making me wish we could stay inside the cab of his truck for the entire night, listening to the local radio station. I was able to see the front door through the driver’s side window, catching sight of Ted standing there watching Jack and Heidi make their way down the sidewalk.
I wasn’t too sure bringing Ted with us was the smartest thing to do. It was best to leave well enough alone, especially considering all the effort Heidi and I would need to put into locating Norman Palmer’s wallet.
“Thank you, Liam, but I think it’s best if we go to the party by ourselves.”
And maybe, just maybe, there was something inside the wallet that would help me solve Norman Palmer’s murder.
Chapter Ten
The drive to the wax museum had taken less than ten minutes on the slippery snow-packed roads, but Liam and I remained in the truck in the parking lot for a good twenty minutes discussing the very special yet eccentric folks who made up the small town of Paramour Bay. His recount of the town’s history was interesting, but honestly, I could listen to him talk about his filing system at the station and still be fascinated.
Enchanting Blend (A Paramour Bay Cozy Paranormal Mystery Book 3) Page 8
