The Missing Librarian: Supernatural Witch Cozy Mystery (Lainswich Witches Book 4)

by Raven Snow

  Now, there he stood wearing a sharp suit with his graying hair slicked back. He looked like he had come straight from one of his talks. Rowen looked to Margo to see what she thought of all this. Norman was her father, after all.

  Margo was staring. It was difficult to tell precisely what she was thinking. Mostly, she just looked stunned. Who could blame her? Rowen had felt similarly when Tiffany had just showed up a while back. “What are you doing here?” asked Rowen.

  “Visiting my family!” Norman sang.

  Rowen didn’t believe that for a minute, and tt must have shown in her face.

  “I came because I heard you got engaged,” Norman said, changing his answer just a bit. He came closer, reaching for her hand so that he could inspect the ring.

  “I just got engaged,” Rowen pointed out. “You couldn’t have possibly had time to get from Europe to here.”

  Norman waved a hand dismissively. “I was in the neighborhood.”

  Rowen was about to ask why he was in the neighborhood, but he had already moved on to Margo.

  “Look at you!” Norman put a hand on his daughter’s head and ruffled her hair. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

  Margo shrugged off her father’s hand. “I’ve changed a lot,” she argued, glaring at him. Grudgingly, she gave him a hug. “Welcome back, Dad.”

  Norman squeezed her, grinning. “I missed you so much, Pumpkin.”

  Rowen wouldn’t have let Norman’s absence slide like Margo did. She was a lot more forgiving than Rowen thought was practical. Maybe it came from having neither a mother nor father in her life. Maybe she just craved some sort of paternal figure. Maybe she craved affection in general, and that’s why she had put up with Terry for so long.

  “How did you get in?” asked Margo, pushing her father back to arm’s length.

  “The door was unlocked,” said Norman.

  “Sure,” said Margo, not sounding like she believed that for a minute.

  “What?” Norman feigned total innocence. “It was.”

  Rowen was sure he had picked the lock and headed inside on his own. Norman was great with that sleight of hand stuff. He would make a great stage magician. “We need to work,” said Rowen, sensing that Margo wanted someone to step in with Norman. “Have you been by the house yet? I’m sure everyone would want to see you. My mom is probably even there.”

  Norman grinned. “Tiffany’s in town? Great! We’ve got the whole gang together.”

  “Except Grammy,” Willow needlessly pointed out.

  Norman’s smile fell at that. “Right… I haven’t visited her since she got put away.”

  Rowen hated to even offer, but she supposed it would be weird if she didn’t. “I’m probably going up to see her tonight with my fiancé. She doesn’t know we’re engaged yet, and Aunt Lydia wants me to give her the good news in person so…”

  “Fantastic!” Norman said with entirely too much enthusiasm for someone visiting a relative in prison. “I’ll come with. For now, I’ll get out of your hair.”

  “Thanks,” Rowen said curtly.

  “See you at home, Daddy,” said Margo, forcing a smile.

  Everyone watched Norman leave. The mood of the room stayed awkward even once he had gone. Everyone kept glancing over at Margo, waiting to see what she made of her father’s return.

  “Margo, will you give me a hand in here?” asked Rowen, heading to her office. It was an obvious ploy to lure Margo away from the others so that she could check to make sure she was handling everything all right.

  Margo came along without complaint. When the door was closed, she gave Rowen an expectant look. “Well?”

  Rowen couldn’t believe she was playing dumb. Surely, she knew why she had been asked in here. “That was weird, wasn’t it?” she asked, motioning to the door.

  “What?” asked Margo.

  Rowen raised an eyebrow at her. “Your dad showing up out of the blue? Him breaking into the office? You know. It was weird. Are you… Are you okay with all this?”

  “Of course I am,” said Margo, like the idea that she wouldn’t be was ridiculous. “So, he just showed up? So what? It’s what he does, isn’t it? It’s just like your mom.”

  “And I wasn’t too thrilled to see her show up out of the blue,” Rowen reminded her. “That’s why I wanted to make sure that you were all right.”

  “I’m fine,” Margo insisted. “And you and your mother seem to be getting along fine now.”

  “We get along all right,” Rowen admitted. She got the feeling that Margo was holding back. She wasn’t going to push her. There wasn’t much of a point. Let her feel how she wanted to feel. If she wanted to vent about this later, Rowen would be there for her. “Okay. Whatever. Come take a look at these pictures I have of the library. Tell me which one you think I should run.

  Chapter Four

  They finished with the bulk of their work just before Eric called. He had David at the house. David would be staying in the trailer just outside, apparently. Eric had talked him down from getting a hotel room. There wasn’t much point. No one said it outright, but it was really only a matter of time before David and Margo made up. After that, he would be staying in the main house again, no doubt.

  What Eric was really wondering about was the strange older gentleman who kept hugging and welcoming him to the family. “None of your aunts seem to even like him,” said Eric.

  “That’s Norman,” Rowen sighed. “He’s Margo’s dad. Remember? I told you about him once or twice, I think. I’ll be there in a little bit. Don’t worry. We still have to go visit Grammy. Which I told him he could come along for. Sorry about that.”

  Rowen headed back to the house, and Margo came along, of course. She made some excuse about wanting to visit with her father, but Rowen knew better. She wanted to check in on David.

  It was hard to tell who was less popular at the Greensmith house this afternoon. Both Norman and David were getting their fair share of death glares from the ladies of the house.

  Aunt Nadine pulled Rowen aside almost as soon as she came through the door. “What is he up to?” she whispered, indicating Norman across the hall in the kitchen with Eric and David.

  “I don’t know,” said Rowen, not sure why Nadine thought she would have any clue. “He just showed up. I think he broke into our office.”

  “Well, he’s up to something,” said Aunt Nadine.

  That Aunt Nadine thought something was up really said something. Nadine was one of the nicest, must trusting people that Rowen knew. If she knew Norman was up to something, that spoke volumes about his character. “I don’t doubt it,” said Rowen. “But I’m not sure we can do anything right this second. Just keep an eye on him, I guess.”

  Rowen continued on to the kitchen, where her fiancé was engaged in an awkward conversation with Norman. “There you are,” he said, visibly relieved when Rowen approached. He put an arm around her, pulling her into a hug.

  “Look at that!” said Norman, smiling at them. “You two are such a cute couple.”

  David offered them both a more genuine smile. “I’m happy for you,” he said, sounding like he actually meant it. “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks,” said Rowen, touched that David, at least, seemed happy about their engagement. She noticed then that his gaze grew a bit distant and saw he was looking past Rowen and Eric to someone in the doorway.

  “Welcome home, Pumpkin,” said Norman, turning to wave over his daughter like this was his home. It hadn’t been his home in decades.

  “Hey, Dad,” said Margo. Her eyes were on David, though.

  “We should get going,” said Rowen, trying to hurry this along. She knew Margo didn’t actually want to spend time with her father. She might as well get him out of the way and speed this up. “Visiting hours end soon, so we need to pile into the car now if we’re going to make it.”

  Eric got the hint and headed for the car immediately. Seeing everyone else go prompted Norman to start moving too. “Sorry, Sweetie,” h
e said to his daughter. “We’ll visit more when I get home.”

  Margo didn’t seem terribly concerned. She nodded a bit, but mostly, she seemed focused on David.

  Only Tina was there to intercept them on their way out. She was still there, apparently. How long was she going to stay? “Did you hear anything?” she asked.

  “We probably haven’t heard anything you haven’t heard,” Rowen said with a shrug. “They still haven’t found her, but Ben says that it’s too early to jump to any conclusions. Don’t worry, Tina. They’re looking into it.”

  Tina nodded, but it didn’t look like she was going to be able to simply ‘not worry.’ She did, however, continue on to the kitchen. Let Margo deal with her for the rest of the night. Rowen was going to have to deal with Norman.

  “What was that about?” asked Norman when they had gone through the front door.

  “Long story,” said Rowen, leading the way to her car. “A woman she works with at the library went missing. Tina thinks she saw her body last night, but there hasn’t been any sign of her. The police are looking into it.”

  Norman gave a low whistle. “That’s crazy.”

  “Yeah, well, this is Lainswich,” said Rowen. “’That’s crazy’ should be our town motto.”

  The prison was quite a drive away. Visitation hours were reaching their end as they arrived, but Rowen doubted they would be turned away. It wasn’t a very crowded prison, and the correctional officers seemed to like Grammy. Aside from being a witch and a murderess who had locked the body of a former lover that threatened the family in a trunk for several decades, she was an exceptionally likable woman.

  “Greensmith family?” the correctional officer at the front desk asked when the door opened. “We were expecting you guys.”

  “How does she always know?” asked Eric.

  Rowen could only shrug. Precognition wasn’t a trick she had ever learned.

  Grammy was waiting alone at a table when they came into the room where you met with the inmates. She beamed when she saw Rowen, standing to greet her with arms wide open.

  Rowen went to hug her Grammy and noted how her face darkened when she saw Norman. Apparently, she wasn’t the best at predicting everything. Rowen wondered if she had predicted the engagement.

  “Norm.” Grammy let go of Rowen and held her arms out to her son. She didn’t pull him into a hug immediately and held him at arms’ length, giving him a critical look.

  For once, Norman’s showmanship faltered a bit. He looked more than a little uncomfortable under his mother’s stern gaze. “Hey, Mom,” he said. “Sorry that I haven’t visited before now.”

  “That’s fine,” Grammy said immediately. She had never demanded that people visit her in here. Her critical look seemed to be about something else. “What brings you back to Lainswich?” she asked. “Last I heard you were doing pretty well for yourself.”

  “I missed the family,” said Norman. “And maybe… Maybe I ran into some trouble.” He looked uncomfortable going into detail about what had happened, but it was unlikely he would even attempt to lie to Grammy. Instead, he tried to shift the conversation. “Anyway, I’m just here with Rowen and Eric. They came with some news.”

  Grammy likely knew she was being avoided. She looked at Rowen and Eric anyway. Her eyes fell on the ring. “Oh, my gracious,” she said, reaching for Rowen’s hand.

  Rowen couldn’t help but smile. She let Grammy see the ring. “I’m surprised Aunt Lydia didn’t end up blabbing to you, but yeah, he proposed.”

  “Well,” began Eric. “The entire family figured out I was about to propose, I decided not to, and then Rowen more or less proposed to me with the ring I bought. That’s about how it went down.”

  Grammy laughed. “That sounds about right. Oh, that’s fantastic. I’m so happy for you.”

  They all sat down at the table together. Rowen was all smiles now. She hadn’t realized it, but she had been worried as to how Grammy would react. She wasn’t sure how she would have handled it if Grammy thought their union was a bad idea too. Rowen valued Grammy’s opinion more than anyone else’s.

  Grammy seemed to guess at what she was thinking. Grammy was good at reading people like that. “Don’t worry about what the rest of the family says. You two are a good match. I can tell.”

  That got a smile from Eric. He reached over and took Rowen’s hand in his own. “I like to think so,” he said, shooting Rowen a smile.

  “Now there is the question of where this wedding is going to happen,” said Grammy, getting down to business. “You should have it here.”

  Rowen almost laughed then realized Grammy was serious. “Grammy, we can’t get married in a prison.”

  Grammy sat up a little straighter in her chair. “Why not?”

  “Because it’s a prison!” Rowen couldn’t believe she had to point that out.

  “Well, how else am I supposed to go to the wedding?” asked Grammy, frowning.

  “I don’t know,” Rowen admitted with a shrug. “I thought… I dunno. I thought we would just bring you a video or something.”

  Grammy snorted. “A video,” she scoffed. “I need to be at my granddaughter’s wedding.”

  “Well, we haven’t made any plans yet,” said Rowen, trying to stop talk about the wedding. Granted, she already knew full well that whatever plans they made weren’t going to be at a prison. “There’s another possible murder,” Rowen said, changing the subject like Norman had.

  “Oh?” That did get Grammy’s interest. She did like her gossip, and that particular story hadn’t made any major news quite yet.

  “It’s too early to say for sure,” said Rowen, “but a librarian is missing. One witness says they saw a body, but when the cops got there, no one found anything. There hasn’t been any sign of her since.”

  Grammy’s brow furrowed. “That sounds odd. Which librarian was it?”

  “Jeana McCormick?” said Rowen. She hadn’t known her that well, but Grammy might have. Grammy had been in Lainswich a lot longer than anyone else Rowen knew.

  Grammy did seem to know her. Her eyebrows raised, and she looked to Norman. “Did you know about this?”

  Norman sat back in his seat. He shook his head. “They told me someone was missing, but they didn’t say it was Jeana.”

  Rowen looked at her uncle. She hadn’t expected a response like that. “You knew her?” Rowen asked.

  “Knew her?” Grammy scoffed. “Those two dated for the longest time. They were as off and on as much as Margo and that David fellow.”

  “That was a long time ago,” said Norman, his gaze fixed down at the table. It was difficult to tell exactly how he felt about all of this.

  Rowen looked at Eric, wondering if he was thinking the same thing she was. This wasn’t good news. Norman had come into town around the same time that Jeana had disappeared. If the right people caught wind of that, it would be negative attention for the Greensmiths all over again.

  The rest of the visit was pretty ordinary. They all chatted and caught up and skirted upsetting subjects to the best of their ability. There were hugs before they parted ways. The ride home was spent, largely, in silence.

  By the time they got home, dinner was on the table. Everyone was just waiting for Rowen, Eric, and Norman to return. Margo and David were already seated at the table. They were sitting awfully close, talking to one another in hushed whispers. Rowen wouldn’t be surprised if they had already made up.

  The mood had lifted quite a bit. The family seemed more willing to make an effort with Norman. Tiffany pulled him aside for a lighthearted chat about maybe going to dinner and a movie the next day.

  Once everyone was seated at the dinner table, things began to feel a bit more like home. “So, I know it’s short notice, but have you thought about having the wedding at the Fall Festival?” asked Aunt Lydia.

  Rowen was not surprised to hear her aunt trying to set a date already. “We haven’t even really discussed it yet,” said Rowen, glancing over at Eric. He
had plenty of money. They could get married just about anywhere they liked. Heck, they could probably have a destination wedding if it struck Rowen’s fancy. “Besides, I don’t think they actually let you get married at festivals like that.”

  “Not at the festival,” said Aunt Lydia, rephrasing. “Maybe just near it. They set up the whole town for it, you know. It’s so pretty around Lainswich that time of year.”

  Deep down, Rowen should have already known that there was no getting married outside of Lainswich. It just wasn’t going to happen. “We’ll see,” said Rowen. Aunt Lydia was right; it was a very pretty time of the year. She was illogical to commit to anything so soon, though. Still, it was nice to think about. Rowen enjoyed having a wedding ahead to plan—at least she did right now. It might grow old or tedious after a while.