by Raven Snow
Eric laughed before he could cover his mouth with his hand. He tried to play it off like a cough, but Rowen wasn’t fooled.
“I’m glad you’re finding this amusing,” she grumbled at him. “This is partially your fault.”
“What did I do?” Eric asked, climbing into his car.
“You gave them that picture of my grandmother. As if this town needs another excuse for a witch hunt… Excuse the turn of phrase.”
“Well, I’m sorry for giving the police evidence.”
“You should be.” Rowen got into the passenger seat while the girls piled into the back. They all sat there in awkward silence for a while.
“Where to now?” Eric finally asked. “The hospital?”
Rowen swallowed her residual anger. “Yes, please.”
#
The family was all in the waiting room. Even Terry was there, although he looked like he would rather have been just about anywhere else. He was sitting on a sofa in the corner, watching a sports game on television with ill-disguised boredom. Margo and Rose whispered excitedly near him. They were the first to see Rowen, Eric, Willow, and Peony.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Margo said, breathing a sigh of relief.
Rose got to her feet and hurried over to hug her cousins. “Are you two all right?”
“Yeah,” said Peony, though she sounded a little shaken. This had, undoubtedly, been quite the eventful day for her.
“Where’s mom?” asked Willow.
“I’m sure she’s in with Grammy. I’ll go get her, and we can head home. No point in us all spending the night here.” Rowen got the room number. It was past visiting hours, but she walked down there like she had a purpose. When you walked like you were supposed to be somewhere, people tended to let it slide.
About halfway down the hall, Rowen realized that Eric was following her. She stopped in her tracks and looked back at him. “What are you doing?”
“What? Was I supposed to just sit in the waiting room with your family?”
“That seems like the obvious thing to do, yeah. That or go home.” Rowen considered telling him to just go. Under the circumstances, she wasn’t sure she wanted him being around her grandmother. That felt rude, though. He had chauffeured her around the whole evening. “I’m sorry,” she said, finally. “I know I’ve probably been really rude and short with you. I’m just…I’m on edge.”
Eric shook his head. “You’ve got a role to fill and you’re doing it. You’re focused. You’re determined and sort of ruthless. My parents would love you.” He was smiling when he said that. It wasn’t a phony smile like before. This one was genuine, warm. It made Rowen want to smile back.
There was no time for this. “Come on.” Rowen motioned for him to come along. Rounding the corner, the police came into sight. Ben and a male cop she didn’t recognize sat in chairs next to Grammy’s door. It was insulting. It made it look like Grammy was some sort of criminal flight risk. “Don’t you guys have anything better to do?” asked Rowen, continuing on past them and into the room before they could answer.
Grammy was awake and sitting up in bed. That was a good sign. The television was tuned to some sitcom rerun she didn’t look particularly enthused to be watching.
Aunt Nadine and Aunt Lydia were doing something involving a bit of yarn and a lighter in the corner. Undoubtedly, it was a spell and likely, a serious fire hazard. Aunt Lydia was the first to notice them. She stopped whatever it was she was chanting when the door opened. “Rowen, dear!” she exclaimed. Her gaze drifted over to Eric next. Her expression grew rather less cheerful and more guarded. It figured that now was the time she decided to be a bit more cautious.
“Eric drove me here,” said Rowen, which probably didn’t explain much. To be honest, there was no particularly good reason for his presence. “Nadine, Willow and Peony are out in the waiting room.”
“Oh!” Nadine put down the lighter and hurried for the door. “I’ll be right back.”
“No need,” said Grammy. “You go home and get some rest. I’m just fine where I am.”
Aunt Nadine looked torn but didn’t wait to argue. Not that there was ever any arguing with Grammy. She always had the final say in matters. Aunt Lydia stayed put, only moving to get back to her spell.
“I don’t know what that’s supposed to do, but will you cut it out? If someone smells that, you’re going to get thrown out or worse.” Rowen knew she meant well. She was just trying to protect the family, but geez. There were easier ways. “Please?”
“You can finish later,” Grammy told her daughter. She turned a critical eye on Eric, but it didn’t last long. She smiled at Rowen. “It seems our house has a—”
“A new ghost,” Rowen finished. “We know. We had a séance. Oh, Grammy, I was so worried.” Unable to resist any longer, she crossed the room to her grandmother and threw her arms around her neck.
Grammy hugged her back, gripping her tighter than a woman of her years ought to have been able to. “Give us a moment alone, will you Lydia, dear?”
Lydia sighed noisily about the matter but moved to the door. “I’m not sitting with the police,” she assured them. “And I’m certainly not going home and leaving you alone with them here. I’ll be in the waiting room. For now.”
Eric started to follow her out, but Grammy raised a hand. “You wait here, mister. You look like you have some questions you want to ask me.”
“If you’re up for it, ma’am,” said Eric, looking at Rowen as if he also needed her permission to stay.
Rowen pulled up a couple of chairs. She nodded for Eric to sit down with her, and he did.
“You two look like you’ve had a hectic night,” said Grammy.
Rowen laughed. “Things definitely haven’t been boring since I came home.”
“Home,” Grammy repeated, smiling. “I like that you’re calling it that.”
Tonight had reminded Rowen of why she had moved away from Lainswich in the first place. Even so, Rowen didn’t have it in her to argue about the matter. “What happened? I mean, we know the ghost happened, but what do you remember?”
“Not much. I was getting a coat from my closet to go get Peony and Willow from the police station, and then…” she trailed off, raising her hands in a gesture of strangling someone. “What did you two learn from the séance?”
“Just that it wants justice. As far as ghosts go, it’s a pretty irritable one.” To be quite honest, Rowen had never even seen a ghost quite as violent as this one. She hadn’t known they could be like that.
“We think it killed Rebecca Abernathy,” said Eric. “Wow, that sounds crazy to say out loud.”
Grammy shook her head, sadly. “Well, that’s one mystery solved— for all the good it does us.”
“Just one mystery,” Eric agreed. “The real mystery here, I think, is who killed my great grandfather. Assuming the ghost is his, I mean. I’ll admit I’m no expert on ghosts or anything.”
“That would seem to be the most pressing question,” Grammy agreed, sounding a bit impatient. It was obvious that there were more intrusive questions on Eric’s mind. He was just nervous about asking them.
Rowen nudged him with her elbow. “Go ahead.” If Grammy wanted to talk, she wasn’t going to stop her.
“I found a picture of you and my great grandfather. So, I was wondering…” Eric trailed off.
“You were wondering how I knew him,” Grammy finished. “Well, as I already told my granddaughter here, I had something of a fling with the man. Of course, I had no idea he was already married at the time. When I found out, I broke it off.”
Eric cleared his throat. “Were you in a relationship at the time?”
“Eric!” Rowen frowned at him.
“Yes, I was.”
“Grammy!”
Grammy only shrugged. “I’m not going to lie about it.”
Rowen wasn’t sure what to make of this information. “You cheated on Grandpa?”
That earned her a somewhat exasperated sigh
from Grammy. “No, dear. Your grandmother had a few lovers in her lifetime, you know.”
Eric leaned forward in his seat, interest written on his face. “Is he still alive?”
“I imagine so. I saw him at the drug store a few weeks back.” Grammy smirked. “It’s still a bit awkward running into each other, even after all these years. We were pretty close back then.”
“What’s his name?” asked Eric.
“Darrin Mundy,” said Grammy.
“Coach Mundy?” Rowen groaned. “I had him for gym in middle school. I knew he hated me. Who fails someone for gym?”
“I had a word with him about that,” Grammy assured her. “He didn’t take the breakup well.”
Eric looked over at Rowen. “I guess we should pay him a visit.”
“Unless the ghost already has,” she amended with a nod.
Chapter Nine
It was almost nine when they pulled up to Mundy’s house. It was a bit late for a house call, but there didn’t seem to be much choice. They had tried calling, but no one had answered. Eric agreed that they should stop by, just in case. Waiting until morning was too nerve wracking for the both of them.
Of course, if they got to the house and he was already dead, that would probably reflect pretty poorly on them. They decided to risk it anyway.
The house was a small, cozy one nestled on the edge of town. There were some lights on inside, which was a good sign. If he was home, then he was awake. Rowen remembered Mundy as a cranky old man and doubted he would thank him for waking him up at night.
“You go first,” said Rowen, nudging Eric on the arm. “I’ll wait here.”
“What? Why?”
“Because he hates me.”
“He doesn’t know me.”
“That’s probably better.”
Eric still refused to go up to the house alone. In the end, they went together. It took a few knocks, but Mundy eventually answered. He looked just like she remembered, old and perpetually angry. He had on a robe and no evidence that there was anything beneath it. “What?” he demanded.
At least they now knew he was still alive. Uncertain of what else to do, Rowen held out a hand. “Hi, Mr. Mundy. I don’t know if you remember me. You were my gym coach back in high school.”
Mundy didn’t take her hand, but he did squint at her. “You’re one of the Greensmith girls,” he said with no small amount of distrust in his voice. “What do you want?”
“Well, specifically, I’m Rowen Greensmith.”
Mundy waved a hand. “You all have the same face…Except for the Asian one. I don’t know what’s going on with that.”
Rowen was dangerously close to taking a tone other than polite with this man. Fortunately, Eric intervened. “We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions, sir.”
“Do you know what time it is?” Mundy began to ease the door closed.
“Yes, sir. We’re sorry to bother you at this hour. We tied to call, it’s just—” Eric moved a little closer, putting part of his body in the path of the door so that he couldn’t be cut off. “My great grandfather was Lionel Richardson. I hear you knew him.”
That stopped Mundy. “Knew him?” He spat on the ground, narrowly missing Rowen’s shoe. “That son of a—Sure. Come in. You deserve to know the sort of asshole your great grandfather was.”
“I’d appreciate that, sir.” Eric followed Mundy into the house. He reached behind himself when Rowen lingered at the door, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her on in.
The house was cramped and smelled like cigarette smoke. They had to move a bunch of old newspapers just to make seats for themselves on the couch across from Mundy. At the very least the man seemed eager to talk to them now.
“This was some time ago,” began Mundy. “I’d been dating your grandmother for the better part of two years. I knew the reputation of the Greensmith girls then, but I ignored my friends. I wouldn’t be surprised if the cow bewitched me.”
Rowen fidgeted in her seat. She opened her mouth to say something, but Eric put a hand on her leg to silence her. “The reputation being that they were witches?” Eric guessed.
Mundy laughed. “The reputation being that they were trouble,” he corrected. “That they were witches is just a fact.”
“But while you were with Ms. Greensmith, you cared about her?” Eric prompted for something nice from Mundy before Rowen could explode at him.
“Oh, sure,” said Mundy, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. “It’d be fair to say I loved her then. I had her a ring picked out and everything.”
Hearing that, Rowen felt a twinge of sympathy for the man. Just a twinge, though. “When did you meet the man she was having an affair with?” asked Rowen.
“Oh, I caught them in bed together,” Mundy spat.
“What’d you do?” prompted Eric.
Mundy gave a ‘humph’. “What do you think I did? I fought for what was mine!”
The twinge of sympathy Rowen had felt for him was gone just like that.
“He came back a couple of times after,” Mundy continued. “The last time, I really whooped him. Your grandmother said she never wanted to see me again after that.”
Eric pressed on. “When you say you really, uh, ‘whooped’ him…”
“I beat him within an inch of his life,” Mundy clarified. “Your great grandfather was a real piece of work. I hear he had a wife and kids back home.”
Eric nodded. “He did.”
“What’s this about, anyway?” asked Mundy, growing suddenly suspicious. “What is it you two are fishing for?”
“Just wanted to hear about my ancestors, since I was in town and all.” It seemed Eric wasn’t too comfortable with telling Mundy the truth. “We’ll get out of your hair.” He looked at Rowen who gave a small nod in agreement. They were likely both thinking the same thing.
“One more thing.” Mundy pointed at Eric. “You get out while you can. She may be pretty, but she’s not worth it.”
Rowen balked. “Excuse me?”
Eric looked equally taken off guard. “What? We’re not dating.”
Mundy snorted. “Then don’t start. All the Greensmith girls are trouble. Every last one of them.”
“Thanks for your time,” Rowen said without really meaning it. She headed outside, trusting that Eric was right behind her.
“Well, I can’t imagine why your grandmother would ever cheat on a gentleman like that,” he said to lighten the mood. It didn’t help much.
Rowen said nothing until they got back into the car and the house was well out of sight. Finally, she just sighed. “So, I guess we’re both thinking the same thing?”
“That Mundy doesn’t know he didn’t just beat my great grandfather within an inch of his life?” Eric guessed.
Rowen nodded. “I’m betting he killed him.” She took a deep breath. The next conclusion she had come to was the one she didn’t like. “And my grandmother hid the body away; she probably sealed the trunk with magic so that no one could find it.”
“I didn’t want to say that out loud,” Eric said sheepishly. “But, yeah. That’s what I was thinking, too.”
Rowen sank down in her seat with a groan. “What am I supposed to do about this?”
Eric pulled the car over in an empty lot. He cut off the engine and looked at her, his expression serious. “I’m not going to tell the police,” he promised her. “This has more of an impact on your family than it does on mine. I won’t go behind your back this time. I’m sorry I did the first time.”
Rowen shook her head. “I overreacted. You barely knew me then. You had every reason to.” Granted, they still hadn’t known each other for all that long. It felt like it, though.
For a while Eric said nothing; he just watched her. “You would be worth it,” he said at last, mostly to himself.
“What?” Rowen wasn’t sure what to make of that.
“That guy back there,” said Eric, motioning over his shoulder in the direction of Mundy’s house
. “He assumed we were dating—said you wouldn’t be worth it. I don’t know. I think you would be.”
Rowen could only manage some nervous laughter at first. “Thanks?” she ventured.
Eric looked away, clearly nervous and trying to hide it. “After all this is over, if it’s not too weird…” He trailed off and shook his head. “Never mind.”
Geez, he was cute. It was obnoxious how cute he was,not to mention inconvenient given the circumstances. Oh, what the hell? Rowen leaned across the arm rest and kissed him on the cheek. When he turned his head in surprise, she kissed him on the mouth. He kissed her back this time. He was a good kisser. A first kiss said a lot about a person. Eric didn’t overstep his boundaries, but it wasn’t completely chaste either. He bit her bottom lip just a little before their mouths parted.
“So, I guess that means we can go on a few dates after this is all over?” he asked with a laugh.
“Consider this our first date,” Rowen told him, unable to suppress a genuine laugh of her own. “One that’s gone on long enough. I suppose you wouldn’t mind taking me home? I still have to write a report to my boss. God only knows how I’m going to spin all of this.”
“All good things must come to an end, I guess,” Eric said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He put the car into gear and headed back to the Greensmith place.
Chapter Ten
Rowen wasn’t sure why she had thought she could just go straight on up to her attic room once she was home. Her cousins were all there to ambush her the moment she got in the door. More than that, they had seen her plant a good night kiss on Eric before seeing him off and heading inside.
“I thought we were supposed to avoid that guy,” Margo said, crossing her arms over her chest. “And here he’s been following you around like a puppy.”
Rowen rolled her eyes. “He’s harmless,” she assured them. “I’ve had a chance to get to know him.”
“How well can you know him after one day, though?” Rose asked, looking hesitant to even bring it up. She had a point. Of course it looked odd that Rowen was so intimate with a man who had every reason to be working against them.
