“Hey,” he said as I approached. “I didn’t know you were going to have a booth.”
“Neither did I. But things just seem to keep happening to me. Sometimes I feel like I’m still conked out and all of this is just a dream.”
He looked concerned, surprising me. “Really? Hey, have you seen a doctor yet?”
I shook my head. I’d been half kidding, but his tone gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling. There was someone who might even care!
“Let’s walk around the perimeter,” he said, starting off and motioning for me to come along.
I grinned because he sounded so like a cop. Hunters are mostly a lot like that. Always on the edge, always looking for signs of evil creeping in. But I went along with him, no problem.
We walked toward the end of the park, right up to where the dog show had been going on earlier. Now someone had set up pony rides in the same arena. We stopped to watch and I made a mental note to tell Krissy about them. Gavin would love a pony ride. Wouldn’t he? Or maybe he was still too young.
“So who was your handsome friend?” I asked casually.
He gave me a startled look. “What handsome friend?”
“The one you were talking to in the coffee bar. That seemed like a pretty intense conversation.”
He looked at me sideways. “So you think he’s handsome?”
Did that bother him? I couldn’t resist tweaking him a little. “Definitely. In that strong, manly way.”
“Manly way,” he murmured, and I could have sworn he almost rolled his eyes. “Right.”
“So who was he?”
“His name’s Alessandro. He’s a hunter from up North. Washington State. Claims he just bagged a very bad, very dangerous vampire. A famous guy. Famous for a lot of bad stuff.”
“What’s he doing down here?”
He shrugged. “I invited him. I know some of the same people he knows. His rep is stellar, and I have an issue I need some help with. He answered the call.” He hesitated, frowning as though he was thinking about some element that bothered him. Obviously, he wasn’t ready to tell me about it. “So he’s agreed to spend some time down here for now. I’m sure you’ll get to know him soon.”
Then, as though to change the subject, he looked down at me and asked, “Did you fix your car?”
I looked at him with narrowed eyes. “How did you know something was wrong with my car?”
He grimaced and looked away. I groaned.
“She told you, didn’t she?” I said, talking about Gran Ana. “She put a gremlin spell on my car on purpose. I knew it!” I pulled out the spell and waved it at him. “She even sent a spell to do the job. And you knew, didn’t you? You probably told my mechanic to blow me off so I would have to go back and take care of this myself. Did you?”
He shook his head as though he just couldn’t understand me. “It’s for your own good, Haley. She just wants you to start using your magic. Cast a spell or two. Try it.”
I frowned at him, thoroughly annoyed. “Why do you care? Why do you want me to be a witch? You’re a hunter. Isn’t that supposed to be against your nature or something?”
He looked pained and started to say something, then swore softly and turned away. I grabbed his arm.
“Why Shane? Tell me why.”
He took a deep breath, then turned back and put his hands on my shoulders, looking searchingly into my eyes.
“Haley, you don’t seem to understand what is going on here. This town is at a crossroads of sorts, waiting for the deciding element to fall into place. And when it does, everyone will be taking sides. I want to be sure that you…and your grandmother…are protected. You can’t play around in a happy daze like a normal woman in a normal town. You have to be prepared. And here you are, refusing to learn how to cast important spells that just might be needed to save your life, forgetting to go to your martial arts classes, running around with vampires like they were harmless little fuzzballs….”
“Hey!”
“I mean it, Haley. You’ve got to get serious.”
I knew there was a lot to the advice he was giving me. I was beginning to realize that he wasn’t just being bossy. He really meant it. My annoyance had faded. Maybe I should listen to what he had to say.
Everything except that stuff about vampires. He was talking about Bentley. Bentley!
I started, for the hundredth time, explaining to him what a good guy Bentley was, and he argued with me about it.
“A vampire is a vampire.”
“There are good vampires.”
“Not many. And they are very good at presenting a false face. You can’t trust them.”
This was so wrong!
“Bentley is one of my best friends,” I said heatedly. “He would never hurt me.”
“Any vampire will hurt you under the right circumstances. I’m telling you right now, Haley. Stay away from him.”
Oh! That made me so mad.
“I will not stay away from him! In fact…in fact, I’m having dinner with him tonight.”
He groaned, then cut it back and stared at me coldly. “You’ve got a date?”
The way he said the word it sounded like an insult.
“Yes.”
“Break it.”
“No!”
That was pretty much the end of our friendly walk. Shane stormed off toward the Sheriff’s Station and I headed for Bentley’s law office. Now that I’d made a stand, I thought I’d better check in with him and see if he remembered that he’d asked me out. You never did know with Bentley. He was forgetful.
Chapter 4
Bentley’s office was not that easy to get to these days. He’d worked hard to build a maze in his front yard, digging trenches and planting juniper trees and cypress, attempting to end up with a structure that resembled something out of Alice in Wonderland, just like a lot of merchants did on the street facing the park. I felt personally invested in the plan, since I’d helped with some of the measuring right from the beginning.
I’m sure some of his clients cursed the day he’d been struck by this idea as they tried to find their way to his front door, but I was familiar enough with the layout to make it in one try. That didn’t help me get to him, though. I hadn’t yet factored in that this was a Saturday, as well as a Festival day, so his secretary, the little bulldog who always tried to keep me away from him, wouldn’t be working. And the door was locked. I rang the bell a few times in case he was in his office, but no one appeared to open the door, so I was about to turn away, disappointed, when I heard what sounded like angry voices, coming from the back yard.
Ah hah!
I headed toward the side of the building and started toward the back, but something in the tone of the conversation made me wary, and I moved with a bit of stealth, trying to keep as quiet as possible. I mean, I wasn’t intending to eavesdrop exactly, but I wanted to scope out the lay of the land before presenting myself to whoever was yelling back there. I crept up softly.
Bentley had transformed his back yard into a giant chessboard, with squares of different types of grass forming the playing field and large foam and resin figures, some as tall as a man, as the chess pieces. It was a stunning sight and so much fun to play around with.
But no one was playing now. In fact, as I peeked through the vines that clung to the corner of the building, hiding me from sight, I saw Bentley looking pale and somewhat angry. And with him was that tall, bald man Rennie had called Inspector Cranston. Here he was bedeviling someone else and looking smug and triumphant about it.
Bentley was saying, “Look. Leave me alone. I have to make adjustments to circumstances and sometimes that goes outside the lines. I’m just trying to make my way here the best I can. I don’t want to make waves.”
The Inspector sneered at him. “You’re making waves just by being here. You know that vampires have to follow certain strict regulations in order to be allowed in the havens. You’ve taken things beyond the bounds. You must be reined in. If I had my way, you’d
be run out of town on a rail.”
Bentley shook his head, looking upset. “Yeah, but you don’t have the power to do that, do you?”
“No,” he admitted. “But the Council does. My report to the Council will feature your situation and what I think of your behavior. It will also include a recommendation that you be banned from Moonhaven.”
Bentley’s jaw dropped. “Banned? You’re joking.”
“No, I’m not.”
“What have I done to deserve that?” He pounded his own chest with the flat of his hand dramatically. “No, more accurately, what are you going to tell them I’ve done?”
The anguish in Bentley’s voice went straight to my heart. The Inspector was waving his stack of papers at him, and they turned further away. I couldn’t make out what they were saying anymore. A part of me wanted to rush out and defend him, but I really had no idea what this was all about…and I didn’t want to meddle in something I didn’t yet understand. I might just make things worse. And anyway, I didn’t want the Inspector’s attention to turn on me. It didn’t seem anyone was getting a break from this guy.
So I slunk away. I could ask Bentley about it later at dinner.
I had a hard time understanding why he would care so much what this ridiculous man with his stack of lists and rules would do. I understood the Council, which was made up of VIPs from the town government and appointees from the supernatural community, was administering things with a heavy hand, but please! They couldn’t force people to move, could they? That didn’t seem right.
Regardless, explanations would have to wait. Right now I had bakery business to attend to. I’d left Krissy and the crew to do all the work for too long now and I had to get back.
By early evening we’d packed everything up and schlepped it back to the café and Krissy and I were busy putting things away. We’d negotiated a payment plan for the job I was offering her, as well as conditions, such as whether or not she could keep Gavin with her part of the time. I said sure, as long as he was safe and she was able to concentrate. I’d taken all the money we’d made from the festival and handed out portions to all my wonderful workers, including Lenny, who I still knew nothing about. By the time I’d finished handing out the rewards, I was out of money. Good thing Bentley was going to take me out to dinner. At least, I was hoping he’d remembered.
The others were gone, but Krissy was still washing up.
“Will you go on home? You must be exhausted,” I said to her.
“Not yet,” she said. “I just want to get some dough started for the morning.”
“Oh Krissy, I’ll do that later.”
She hesitated. “I…uh…I was wondering….” She stopped and looked at me as though not sure how I was going to react to what she had to say.
“What is it?”
“Well, I was wondering…..”
“You said that. What were you wondering about?”
She made a face, then launched into it. “I know you have empty rooms upstairs on the other side of the building. I was wondering…are you going to rent them out?”
“Why?” I hadn’t thought a thing about it, but suddenly I realized what she was getting at. “Oh, you want to rent them? For you and Gavin?”
She nodded, looking hopeful. “If they’re going to be available. Luanne and I aren’t exactly getting along. We never have. And that was one reason why I left town when I did. So coming back hasn’t been….” She grimaced and shrugged.
“Oh Krissy, I don’t know. I haven’t thought it through yet.” Hmm, I was thinking fast. Did I want Krissy living underfoot? Did I want a four year old boy here at all times?
“You know,” she said with that hopeful look still shining from her eyes, “if we lived here, I would have no problem getting up early to start the cinnamon rolls baking. In fact, I could add a few other morning items I’ve learned to bake over the last few years. Things like Danish and monkey bread and…and baklava…”
“Baklava?” My ears pricked up. “Oh I love baklava.” I laughed. “Oh Krissy, you’re really tempting me.”
“We always got along great in high school. I think we’d do okay. And I could help you with background stuff you’ve forgotten.”
I was weakening. She looked so earnest. “You know what? Let’s try it for one month and then re-evaluate.”
“Oh, could we?”
I nodded. “Sure. Why not? If it doesn’t work out, we’ll both know it by then. Don’t you think?”
She hugged me and laughed. “Haley, you are just a life saver, you know that? In one day you’ve helped me with two of my worst problems.”
I glanced at her face and was surprised by what I saw. She was happy, but there were dark smudges around her eyes, as if she hadn’t been getting a lot of sleep. It struck me that she looked like someone with a secret sorrow, as P.G. Wodehouse might say.
(Now where did that thought come from? I realize I must have been a P.G. Wodehouse fan at some point in my past. I learned something new about the real me every day.)
At any rate, it was pretty obvious that something was troubling her. A broken relationship? Bad health news? Something wrong with the kid? I didn’t know, but a feeling swept over me and I knew it was time to push all my quandary about who I was and why I was here into the background. I’d been wasting a lot of time and energy on things I had no control over. And hey, I wasn’t the only one with problems.
“Just get over it,” I told myself silently. “Things could be worse.”
But Krissy was still standing there, looking as though she had something else to add and wasn’t sure how to begin.
“What is it?” I said.
“Just one more thing. I don’t want it to get around that we’re living here with you.”
That shocked me. “Why not?”
She took a breath and said, very quickly. “Because that inspector from the council told me I could only stay in Moonhaven for one more week. He wants me to go back to San Francisco.”
I stared at her. “What on earth…?”
“I know it sounds crazy, but there are things about the past that…well, I’m not too proud of.” She looked a bit more tragic. “I’m afraid they’re going to brand me for life. And he doesn’t want me here. But there are reasons…I have to stay. I really do. So anyway, I figure when I move out of Luanne’s, he’ll think I’m gone. And unless he starts coming in here instead of the Grounds for his morning coffee, he won’t have to know I’m still here. Unless somebody tells him. And I’ve been laying low, pretty much. Most people who come in here are complete strangers to me. I’m willing to take the chance. If he finds me here….” She swallowed hard. “Well, I’m hoping once I’ve been here for while and he sees that I’m working and not getting into trouble, he’ll relent.”
Wow. He didn’t seem like the relenting type to me, but it wasn’t really my problem. I was willing to let her stay. In fact, now that I’d had a taste of how helpful she could be, I was ready to risk getting a black mark from the inspector myself. So I reassured her and she looked a bit less wretched. But I had a lot of conflicting thoughts rolling around in my head.
I’d been surprised when Shane had told me that Scotty wasn’t Gavin’s dad. He’d been so firm about it, like there was just no room for conjecture. How would he know for sure? Unless….
I gasped as the thought came to me, and I pushed it away immediately. Shane? No. No way. I wouldn’t allow myself to even think it. But I knew it was going to stick with me like a bad dream. Nothing I could do about that now.
Bentley showed up right on time—how could I have doubted him? And I was glad I’d had a shower and spiffed up a little. After that session I’d had a glimpse of earlier, I wanted to make him feel like things weren’t so bad. He had a friend in me. If he wanted one. And I dressed up for him. Sort of.
“Hi,” I told him as I opened the door. “Come on in and meet Krissy. She’s my new employee and she’s moving into the room upstairs as we speak.”
Since I
knew he would be around often enough to understand about Krissy being here, I’d already explained to her about his problems with the inspector and I knew once I told him something of her story, he’d would be the last person who would ever blow her cover. In fact, as I gave him a rundown, he looked angry and muttered something about how the inspector had to be replaced by someone more reasonable. If only we knew how we could do that.
“This is Krissy,” I said as I introduced them.
“Delighted,” he said suavely. He was looking very debonair in charcoal slacks and blazer with a black turtleneck and his hair slicked back with rare sophistication. I could tell that Krissy was impressed.
Gavin was out back playing with Toto and shrieking with childish playfulness, and Bentley shuddered as we started for his BMW.
“Ah, the sound of children’s voices,” he muttered. “It tends to make my blood curdle.”
“Oh?” I gave him a look. After all, he was a vampire. I wasn’t sure if he should be talking this way. I mean, did he even have blood? “What have you got against kids?”
“Children are not exactly my thing, you know,” he told me, as though he was making a quiet confession. “I’d just as soon keep clear of the little buggers.”
“You were a child once,” I reminded him.
He raised an eyebrow. “How do you know that? I’m actually not so sure I ever was.”
I made a face at him, but he helped me into the soft leather seat and I sighed with happiness. His car was so luxurious, I couldn’t help but melt into it. This was the life.
“I’m glad you dressed up,” he said lightly as he slipped into the driver’s seat. “You look lovely, by the way.”
I was glad he’d noticed, because I’d worked at it and I really did think the results showed the effort expended. My dress was light, with a flirty skirt and a tight bodice that showed off what curves I had to advantage. I had my hair tied back with curly wisps flying around my face in an appealing manner—at least I hoped that was the effect they created. Either that, or I looked like I hadn’t combed my hair for a week. Whatever.
That Old Witch Magic (Wicked in Moonhaven~A Paranormal Cozy Book 2) Page 4
