Gran Ana was waiting to greet me in her entry hall. It was larger than most living rooms and she sat in a huge bamboo chair that looked like a throne. I walked up and stood in front of her like a penitent. And I felt like one.
She looked beautiful, all in white lace with a blue parrot on her shoulder. Her white hair echoed the lacy look of the dress and her blue eyes matched the bird. Quite a presence, my Gran Ana. She didn’t smile.
I forced back my nerves and began.
“I’ve come to thank you, Gran Ana. And to apologize. I’ve been a self-centered brat and you deserve better.”
She arched one painted eyebrow. “Explain.”
I hesitated. I wasn’t very good at eating humble pie. I felt like I’d already had all I could stomach with my first statement out of the gate. Did I really need to give her more?
But I bit my tongue and silently chastised myself. Yes, I did need to do more. She was right and I was wrong. Might as well own up to it.
“I’ve been avoiding all that you’ve tried to do for me,” I admitted. “I resented you signing me up for martial arts training. I rejected the spells you sent my way. I hated being tested.”
Finally, she almost smiled. “And you took off the cabochon I had fashioned especially so that I could communicate with you. Didn’t you?”
Reluctantly, I nodded. “Yes, I did.” I bit my lip, then tried to explain. “I don’t think I can make you understand, but deep down, I so want to be a normal person.” To my utter horror, my voice broke on the word normal. I steeled myself. I was here to show regret and make an apology—not to show weakness. “Normal people use cell phones,” I added.
She waited for more. What more could I give her? Well, there was the fact that she’d been right to make me use the spells. I hadn’t used them the way she’d wanted, but they had come in handy against Alessandro.
“I…I’m sorry I didn’t use the spells where you wanted me to. I failed you and…”
Suddenly she was all smiles and coming down from her throne. The parrot flew off, complaining and heading for his perch near the window. But my grandmother kept coming, grabbing both my hands and holding them, smiling up into my face.
“Silly girl,” she said. “I never expected you to use them for the jobs I sent them for. I knew you would balk. But I also knew you would need them, and I wanted you to have them in your arsenal when the time came to use them. You did everything I expected when you vanquished that awful vampire. Everything I could have hoped for. I’m proud of you. I know now that you can fight when you have to. And that means you can survive.”
I was stunned. I’d never expected to get even one word of praise from this woman and here she was showering me with blessings.
She took my arm, chattering away pleasantly, and we walked out to the back of the house and took the footbridge to the island. She’d had it set up again and it was covered with vines and blooming tropical flowers and palm trees. An exotic oasis in what was basically a desert by the sea. Shane was out there, talking to Oliver. He turned as we approached and smiled at me. I melted. Somehow I was just a little too highly strung at the moment, my emotions close to the surface and vulnerable. I sat down as he pulled out a chair for me, bowed my head and said a little prayer that I wouldn’t cry. And somehow that did put some steel in my spine.
We had a lovely lunch of freshly fried tempura shrimp and seaweed salad, California roll sushi on the side. We talked as old friends do, about this and that and people we knew. Gran Ana became a bit tired and had to go in to rest, but made us promise to stay and have some dessert. Oliver served a plate of chocolate fudge cream puffs with rum drizzled whipped cream and raspberries. So delicious. Very nice. It was all very nice.
But as so often happened lately, I felt a sad thread of loss, a bit of regret. There were so many blanks in my memories. I had to know more about why I was here and what was expected of me.
“I’m glad you made it through that ordeal last night,” Shane said as we finished the bottle of Cabernet and sat back, sated. “I’m sorry you had to do it, but you did well. So I’m proud, just as Gran Ana is. You’re showing promise.”
I could have taken that the wrong way, but I didn’t let myself indulge. “I’m glad it turned out well, too,” I said lightly.
He shook his head. “I was really worried about you earlier, when I couldn’t find where you’d gone.”
I looked at him evenly. “You mean when you told me where Rennie was to be found and I followed that advice and found her? Didn’t you think that was exactly where I might have gone?”
He looked the tiniest bit uncomfortable. “Well, yes. But I drove by there and didn’t see a sign of life, much less your car.”
“I had it pulled way in back,” I said. But I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. It was enough that he showed some humility. Just a hint. “Did you find out any more about those little knitted caps Rennie was running around with?”
“Yes. In fact, I think I know what her rationale was, crazy as it may seem.”
“Tell me.”
“She was so worried about the mayor and his molt taking so long. So when she heard, as she always seems to hear anything going on at the station, about the animals being found drained of blood—and believe me, we’d been finding them for awhile-- she began to worry that the mayor and his buddies might be involved. Just being rowdy molting beasts, I guess. Seems they’ve done some pretty crazy things before. So she got the caps made and was running around planting them in places where the animals were being drained in hopes of turning the deputies attention to Brick and his blood suckers in order to cover what she was afraid might be the mayor’s tracks.”
“But they weren’t.”
“No. Stu had nothing to do with all of that. I am going to have to deal with Brick soon, but one thing at a time.”
I was glad to find out how that had all turned out.
“So tell me when was it that you realized that Alessandro was a fake?”
His grin was lopsided. “Pretty much from the beginning.”
“Oh, right!”
“No, really. That’s why I got him the office at the station, so I could keep tabs on him. Then when I finally got in touch with the Sheriff in Washington State who knew him best, I got the full story.” He shook his head. “It’s a shame the real Alessandro was killed. He was a good man.”
“Next time I hope you get the full story a little quicker,” I said archly. “We spent a few uncomfortable hours in that cave.”
“I know.” He reached across the table and took my hand in his. “But you came through like a real trouper.”
His smile was warm and I soaked it up. There were times when a small tendril of hope began to emerge in my heart and soul. Then he had to get back to the station and I walked him to his car.
“Your grandmother and I have been discussing how to let you in on our plans and thinking. We’ll be filling you in on things soon,” he said.
I had to hold back my first reaction to that. But I was glad. I wanted to be in the know. It was no fun being expected to prepare for war when you didn’t really understand what war meant or what it would mean to everyone.
He kissed me softly, then dropped into the driver’s seat and started off down the driveway. I treasured the moment, then went in to say goodbye to my grandmother.
She was reclined on a chaise lounge that gave her a view of the ocean. The blue parrot was watching disapprovingly from his perch. As I came in, Gran Ana offered me her hand and it was pretty obvious she was ready for me to leave. I took her hand and looked down into her beautiful blue eyes.
“Gran Ana, I want to know more about my past,” I told her. “I want to know what happened in that car, and who those girls were who went into that lake with me.”
“Of course you do, dear. And I’m sure you’ll learn things as we go along.”
That wasn’t the answer I wanted. “Can’t you tell me anything?” I asked. “Do you know their names? Do you know where the accident was?
Do you know why I was with them?”
She actually looked sorry to tell me she didn’t. “I’m afraid I was in France when it happened,” she told me. “I do know that your parents resolved to take your brother and go into hiding right afterwards,” she added, giving me a bit of information I hadn’t known. “But I don’t know where they went or what happened to them.” She squeezed my hand and looked hard into my eyes. “That’s what I brought you back for, my darling. It’s your job to find these things out and tell me. I’m afraid, it can’t be the other way around. I know virtually nothing about it.”
Oliver drove me home and I sat in the passenger’s seat like a zombie, unable to talk, unable to think. I’d been so sure that my grandmother knew it all and would dole out information as she saw fit. To find out she knew nothing was a blow. What was I supposed to do now?
“Carry on,” Oliver said softly as he dropped me at the café. “The truth will be revealed in time.”
I nodded. I couldn’t blame anything on Oliver. He was a good friend and always there when I needed someone.
“Haley,” he said, calling me back as I started for the house. “I have one thing I can tell you. The song that is driving you crazy? I know what it is.”
“You do?” I leaned into the window. “Seriously? What is it?”
He smiled. “Twilight Zone by Golden Earring. Go in and call it up on You Tube. I think you’ll see what I mean.”
“Oh.”
I was thinking about it, trying to remember the tune in my head.
“Thank you so much!”
“No problem.”
And he was off. I went on toward the café, realizing that I wasn’t going to get everything I wanted right away. But I was taking baby steps. At least I was headed in the right direction.
Yes! I stabbed a fist into the air and laughed out loud as I danced up the steps to the Twilight Zone beat. Things were going to get better all the time. Oliver had said so.
The End
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Also by J.D. Winters
Moonhaven 1: Even Witches Get the Blues
The Destiny Bay Cozy Mysteries Series…
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A Ghost for Christmas
#2
Ghost On Duty
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A Ghost In Time
#4
Cloudy with a Chance of Ghosts
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Little Ghost Lost
#6 Mele’s Ghostly Halloween Caper & Sami’s Story
About the Authors
J.D. Winters is a pen name for Helen Conrad, an award-winning, bestselling author of more than 90 romances published under various pseudonyms with Harlequin, Silhouette, Loveswept and others--as well as the extensive series, Destiny Bay Romances. Cozy mysteries are a new venture, less romance, but more fun!
JD Winters Website
Dakota Kahn lives and writes on the Central Coast of California, assisted by a large record collection and a meddlesome cat.
Other Works
Kate & Blake vs The Ghost Town
Kate & Blake vs The Cat Heir
Kate & Blake vs The Billionaires
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That Old Witch Magic (Wicked in Moonhaven~A Paranormal Cozy Book 2) Page 17
