“Ok, I know he wants to leave, but I need to talk to her before they go, I’m going to go look for her, I’ll be back,” she said and took off.
“Jax, wait,” I called out after her, but she didn’t hear me over the music that had resumed playing.
“Should we follow her?” Sweets asked nervously. “What if her uncle finds her and gets mad at her and ‘teaches her a lesson’ again?”
I nodded. “Good point Sweets, I don’t think we want to underestimate that man when he’s angry. Come on, she went this way.”
Sweets, Holly, and Alba followed behind me as I led them through the crowd in the direction that Jax had gone. We wound our way behind the bar where I had just seen Jax sneak into the kitchen. I peered over the swinging doors into the kitchen just in time to see Sorceress Stone coming in from the back door of the restaurant.
“Mom!” Jax said with surprise. “There you are.”
I ducked down and quietly moved to the right side of the swinging door and motioned for Holly to follow me so Alba and Sweets could see into the kitchen too over the left side of the swinging doors. Carefully I peered back over the door again with Holly.
“Here I am,” Sorceress Stone said with little enthusiasm.
“Uncle is looking for you,” Jax said.
Sorceress Stone gave her a curt nod. “Very well. I’m sure he wants to leave. It’s time, we’ve overstayed our welcome.” She snapped her little handbag shut and headed towards where the girls and I were hiding behind the swinging doors. Quickly we ducked our heads out of sight.
“Mom,” Jax called out.
“Yes?” By the inflection in her voice, I could tell Sorceress Stone had turned around. I peered over the swinging doors again and found her looking at Jax again.
“What were you doing outside?”
“What do you mean?” Sorceress Stone asked.
“Just now. You came in. You were outside?”
“Yes. I was watching the unveiling.”
“No, you weren’t. I looked for you. I didn’t see you.”
“I’m sure you were just preoccupied. I was there,” Sorceress Stone disagreed haughtily.
Jax narrowed her eyes at her mother and pursed her lips. “Where were you standing?”
“All the way in the back,” Sorceress Stone told her.
“Mother! You’re lying to me!”
“Fine. I was on the roof. I watched from the roof. What’s the problem?”
“Why did you watch from the roof?” Jax asked, confused.
“Does it matter? I wanted a better view.”
“It does matter, Mom. Aunt Linda was almost killed. People might think that you had something to do with it, especially if they knew that you were on the roof just now.”
“That woman in there is not your aunt!” Sorceress Stone’s face twisted into an evil grimace as she leaned forwards towards Jax and pointed her finger back towards the dining room.
Jax’s makeup covered face didn’t flinch. “She is my aunt. And Mercy and Reign are my cousins and I don’t want to hear another word differently.”
“Fool,” her mother hollered at her, then spun on her heel to exit the kitchen.
The girls and I shrank back against the bar wall.
“Did you cause that lightning mother?” Jax asked suddenly.
My eyes opened wider. I had been so sure that Merrick was the one causing havoc, it had never occurred to me that it might be Sorceress Stone.
The older woman spun around in her heels. “You’re being ridiculous. Why would I do such a thing, JaclynRose?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because Detective Whitman and Aunt Linda have taken a liking to each other? I know you’ve been fond of Detective Whitman for years. Maybe you were jealous?”
“Of that – that – woman? Hardly!” she said, snubbing her nose at the thought.
“You were on the roof. Alone. Jealous. It was easy, wasn’t it, Mom?” Jax asked knowingly nodding her head. Trying to make her mother see how easy it was for her to understand. “Anyone would have felt like doing the same thing.”
Sorceress Stone stared off into the distance, unmoving, listening to Jax’s words.
“And then you saw him kiss her. It was just a peck on the cheek, but I’m sure that wasn’t what you wanted to see. Tonight of all nights. All Hallow’s Eve – a witch’s Christmas Eve. Him kissing her under the unveiling sign. It was like watching your boyfriend kissing another girl underneath the mistletoe, wasn’t it? And you hated it. It made you furious. Didn’t it, Mom?”
Sorceress Stone’s head snapped around. “You have no idea, JaclynRose. That woman has been a thorn in my side for twenty-five years.”
The sound of an almost confession had my mind on fire. I wanted to go in there and tear Sorceress Stone apart limb from limb. Instead, I let my rational side take over and quietly, I grabbed the microphone off the counter of the bar. Flipped the switch to ‘on’ and slid it into the kitchen. Alba watched my little masterful idea and immediately fled to the dining room.
“She kept my brother away from his own son all those years ago. She ruined my brother’s life. He’s never been the same since her!” she ranted, now in a full on rage in the kitchen.
And little by little, I could hear the music being turned down as the sound of Sorceress Stone’s voice carried throughout the dining room.
“It wasn’t Aunt Linda’s fault that Uncle didn’t know about his son,” Jax countered. As far as I could tell, she had no idea that their conversation was now being broadcast throughout the entire restaurant or that a pall had fallen over the crowd so they could hear the conversation.
“It was her fault that she got pregnant,” Sorceress Stone declared. “She shouldn’t have been with my brother in the first place! But the minute I found out who she was, that was the end of that.”
“Wait, you had a hand in her binding?” Jax asked, stunned.
Suddenly my mother rounded the corner of the bar. I’d never seen her in such a rage in my entire life. She rushed into the kitchen, but before Sorceress Stone could turn around to face her, my mother had a handful of her hair. She pulled her out of the kitchen, past the bar and into the dining area where she let her go, shoving her towards the empty dance floor.
“It was you!” my mother hollered at her. “You were responsible for having Merrick and I bound?! How dare you! You ruined three lives in the process.”
“Obviously I didn’t do the binding. So if you’ve got anyone to be angry at, it’s your own dear sweet mother. I only set the wheels in motion,” Sorceress Stone sneered.
Merrick broke out of the crowd. “How could you SaraLynn?”
“Oh, brother. You were always blinded by that woman. You still are. It’s ridiculous really. Mother and I both agreed that you made a fool out of yourself with that one. If only you could have seen what we saw. Thankfully, her mother agreed with us. I only had to tell her who you really were.”
Jax, who had followed our mothers into the dining room, hollered out, stunned, “Mother! How could you?!”
Sorceress Stone feigned appall, rolling her eyes dramatically at her daughter. “Oh, I know for someone as sweet and cheerful and innocent as yourself, it’s really hard to believe that anyone could ever do something so devious, but that’s the life of a true witch, my darling. Maybe someday you’ll understand.”
Jax’s mouth hung open, as did mine. Her own mother had made a dig at the fact that Jax wasn’t a witch.
“So you’ve been the one causing me problems since I’ve been here?” asked my mother.
Sorceress Stone laughed a throaty devilish laugh. “I did hear that someone has been plaguing you and that you’ve been blaming it onto my brother.”
“SaraLynn!” Merrick chastised from across the room.
Jax shook her head. I could tell she was upset, even though her face was painted green. I could see it in the way she stiffly pointed towards her mother. “You were on the roof. She told me that she was on the roof!” Jax
said, turning towards me. “You made that sign fall on her, didn’t you Mom?”
“Fine, I did it,” Sorceress Stone admitted. “I couldn’t have her sink her claws into another man in my life. She’d ruin him, just as she did my brother’s!”
“Mother!” Jax cried. “How could you do it? How could you want to hurt Aunt Linda?”
“She’s not your aunt!” Sorceress Stone roared, her face filled with rage. “You aren’t related to her! I don’t want to hear another word about it!”
“She is the kindest, sweetest, most loving mother there is! I wish that I had grown up with a mother that was half as kind and loving as she was. If I had, my life would be so much different right now.”
Sorceress Stone held a hand to her chest. “JaclynRose!”
“I’m sorry, Mom, but you weren’t there for me growing up. Magic was your life. Becoming more powerful was your life. Being a mom wasn’t even a line on your priority list. I took care of myself. I didn’t have a mother raising me, I had Sorceress Stone raising me. I missed out on having a family. So I’m sorry if you don’t like me calling her Aunt Linda, but she’s part of my family now. Maybe if you had been part of my family for the last seventeen years, I wouldn’t need more family, because I’d have you. But I don’t have you, Mom.”
Sorceress Stone stopped moving. Jax had stunned her. I silently wondered if Jax had ever said any of those things to her mother before. Or if this was all coming as a surprise to her.
“Well, I knew I wasn’t the greatest mother in the world,” Sorceress Stone admitted weakly, her hands trembled as they fluttered next to her throat. “But I had no idea you felt so strongly, JaclynRose. I always thought you understood my position was important.”
“Of course I understood that your position was important. But that didn’t mean that I didn’t long for my mother to be my mother.”
She nodded, but it looked like her legs were preparing to crumble out from underneath her. Merrick sensed it as well and caught her as they began to fold.
“JaclynRose, I’m – ,” she began, unsure of what to say or how to move forward with her daughter after that defining moment. “I’ll do better,” she promised as her weight sagged in Merrick’s arms.
Jax shook her head. “After what you just did to Mercy’s mother? I’m not sure that I need you to do better anymore. You did a horrible thing, Mom.”
Sorceress Stone’s head bobbled anxiously. “I did. I did all of it. All the silly pranks, I admit it, JaclynRose. I was weak. I wasn’t in my right mind.”
Jax nodded her head towards my mother. “Apologize to her.”
“JaclynRose –,” she began.
“Mom!”
Sorceress Stone cast her grey eyes towards my mother. “I’m sorry, Linda. It was jealousy. I hope you can forgive me.”
My mother didn’t know what to say.
Detective Whitman, who had been hiding out in the shadows absorbing the confessions all around him, preparing to pounce on anyone that went too far, finally stepped out into the dim light cast from the kitchen. “SaraLynn, I’m disappointed in you. I thought I knew you better than that. I never thought you’d stoop to hurting someone else just to get what you wanted.”
Sorceress Stone shook her head. “No. Mark – I didn’t mean to hurt her, really. I swear! I just wanted her to move back. The pranks were harmless. I knew the signs weren’t going to fall. I only wanted to scare her.”
“I don’t think I can trust you anymore, SaraLynn,” he said, shaking his head sadly. “I think you should leave.” He looked at Linda, waiting for a sign of her approval. When she nodded, he pointed a finger towards the door.
Sorceress Stone nodded sadly and then looked at Merrick. “Let’s go.”
Detective Whitman walked towards the two of them. “Mr. Stone,” he said formally. “For what it’s worth. I’m sorry. I really thought it was you all this time. I was only trying to protect her.”
Merrick eyed Detective Whitman for a long moment. Then he nodded and took the hand that was extended to him. “I still love her, you know.”
Detective Whitman nodded. “I know. May the best man win.”
“Indeed,” Merrick agreed. “Come on, SaraLynn.”
And without warning, suddenly the entire room full of Aspen Falls citizens, erupted into applause. On and on it went, thunderous applause. Someone from across the room shouted, “Bravo!”
I looked at my mother curiously as a slow smile spread across my face. The people thought it had all been a show. They thought we were acting out a scene in a play!
The girls from the Witch Squad glanced over at me, with wide eyes. Jax had the biggest smile of all. And then she did the funniest thing, she took a bow. And when she did – the applause got louder! When my mother noticed the effect that Jax’s bow had on the audience, she bowed as well. Mom held a hand out to Reign and Detective Whitman to each take a bow, which they did grudgingly. Merrick and Sorceress Stone must have realized how crucial keeping their secrets safe was to them, and instead of ignoring it and leaving, they took the final bow as well.
Finally, Reign stood up on the little stage the DJ was sitting on and grabbed one of his microphones. “I’d like to thank you all for coming out tonight to our little show. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves! It’s been a fun and exciting evening, but the festivities have to come to an end. Habernackle’s Bed, Breakfast, & Beyond will be open tomorrow evening for supper. I hope you can come on and out and have dinner! Thank you folks and good night!”
{ Chapter Twenty-Four}
After Reign’s final address to the crowd, the lights flipped back on and everyone around the room began to head for the door. Sorceress Stone and Merrick had been the first to leave. I said my goodbyes to Alba, Sweets, and Holly. “I’ll meet you all back at school,” I assured them. “I need to be with my family tonight and help clean up. Make sense of this whole mess.”
Alba nodded and gave me a little smile. “We can stay and help clean,” she offered.
I shook my head. “That’s so sweet of you, but you girls did so much in helping get this place ready. Just go back to the Institute. I’ll be there in a little while.”
“Are you alright?” Sweets asked me.
“Yeah,” I said. “Thanks, Sweets, I’m fine.”
“Ok, well, we’ll see you back at the dorms.”
“Ok, bye girls,” I said and watched as the three of them took off.
It took about ten minutes for the entire restaurant to clear out, but once it had, all that was left was Jax, Reign, Mom, Detective Whitman, and I.
“Well that was a night!” my mother exclaimed as she plopped down at a table amidst the filthy restaurant.
“Yeah, wow, what a mess we have to clean up,” I said, exhausted. It was almost impossible to fathom the amount of things that had been revealed. We knew who had killed Ronnie Edwards, we discovered who had been messing with my mom, Merrick Stone was put in the clear, Sorceress Stone had essentially tried to off my mother, and Jax had let her mother have it.
“Don’t worry about the mess,” Reign said with a yawn. “We’ll deal with it in the morning. I’m beat!”
I leaned back in my chair and crossed my striped legs. “I can’t believe that Sorceress Stone alluded to the fact that she helped Granny bind you and Merrick,” I said across the table to my mother.
Mom nodded. “All these years I knew something had to be the catalyst. I just never understood what it was.”
Detective Whitman looked at my mother curiously. “What could SaraLynn possibly have told your mother that would have caused her to permanently separate you and Merrick?”
Mom shrugged, looking bewildered. “I have no idea. Did your grandmother tell you why she did it?” she asked, looking at Reign.
Reign looked down at his hands. “She said she had her reasons. Nothing she’d say specifically. She said someday the truth would all come out.”
“When is someday?” Jax asked with frustration.
Reign
shook his head sadly. “You’ve got me. I’d like to know just as much as the next guy.”
Detective Whitman glanced across the table at my mother. “So, Linda, what are we going to do about SaraLynn? Regardless of the fact that she apologized, she could have killed you tonight. We can do something about that, you know.”
My mother nodded and patted his arm. “Thank you Mark, but the restaurant doesn’t need that kind of publicity. All those people that came tonight thought we put on a show for them! They had no idea all of that was real. If she’s arrested, it will be in the papers and then everyone will realize that all of that was really happening. I think it would be a little too much for Aspen Falls to handle. Don’t you?”
Detective Whitman nodded. “You might have a point, but I don’t want to see her hurt you again.”
Linda laughed. “Now that I know who’s gunning for me, I can watch my back. I’ll watch that woman like a hawk! Sorry, Jax,” my mother said and rubbed Jax’s back.
Jax shook her head. “No, no, it’s fine. I feel so bad for what my mother almost did to you. And she ruined your sign! She should at least have to pay for the damages!”
My mother looked down at her hands and then back up at Reign and Jax. “I think the only thing she damaged is her relationship with her family.”
Jax nodded quietly. “You can’t really lose something you never had,” she said, looking up at me with a tight smile and tears streaming down her cheeks.
I got up and walked around the table and wrapped my arms around her. “It’s been a long day. Should we go home, Jax?”
She nodded. “Yeah, let’s go home.”
***
“I’m exhausted,” I said, slouching in my seat in the courtyard. The party the night before had been the most ridiculously bizarre event I think I’d ever attended. Thankfully we’d wrapped a bunch of mysteries up and I felt better about that, but man had it worn me out.
“Me too,” Jax agreed. “I’m also super bummed that our night with the boys got completely messed up. I totally thought the party was going to be all about my date with Tristan.”
Witch Degrees of Separation: A Witch Squad Cozy Mystery #3 Page 21
