I sat in my car staring at the estate. One thing that set it apart from the Mineheart mansion was the very fact of its location. Archie owned enough land around his home to not be subject to any kind of organization that had any right to try to tell him what he could or couldn’t do with it.
Personally, I didn’t know how people dealt with organizations like that. The end result was usually cookie-cutter houses that all looked the same. Row after row, and street after street of them.
How boring was that?
Not that that was the case in this neighborhood. Money talked here and found a way around that little issue.
I jumped when someone tapped on my window. Looking over, I saw a stern-faced woman glaring at me. Rolling down my window, I smiled at her. It didn’t help.
“Can I help you?” she asked, in a not at all helpful tone of voice. “And I should alert you that I’ve already made a note of your car’s make and license number.”
“Good for you. We appreciate you watching out for the Donaldsons.”
Okay, that got a blink. Not a huge reaction, but even so, at least it was something.
“May I ask what ‘we’ you are referring to?”
“Absolutely.” Here is where it got tricky. There were a lot of ways I could go, and I wanted to play it as safe as possible. The woman struck me as the kind to immediately call the family to confirm anything I told her. Not that reaching either Gabe or Riley would be a simple thing to do at the moment, given their current circumstances. Still wasn’t a good idea to take risks, though.
“My father is an old friend of Martha Donaldson. Maybe you’ve heard of him? Archimedes Mineheart?”
Her eyebrows raised. That was a big raise on the single blink. I decided that was a good sign.
“Anyway, we spoke with Gabe yesterday afternoon, and he asked us to keep an eye on the situation here for him.” I shrugged. “Our thinking is that if we can figure out what led to Martha’s stroke—and deal with the issue—maybe we could somehow reach her and help her make it back.”
I’d chosen my words carefully, and every single one of them was nothing more than the truth. There’s genuine power in truth.
Not to mention the fact that I’m not all that good of a liar. Just not the kind of person I am. We all have our strengths, and weaknesses too. Lying was a big weakness of mine. Not as in I was a big liar. As in, I couldn’t do it convincingly.
She stared at me for a moment, then her face slowly changed. “You’re really helping the Donaldsons? Poor Martha? Do you...” Her words trailed off, and she squared her shoulders. Then she pointed up the street. “The HOA office is the ranch house up the street. Could you meet me there? I’m going to assume you will want to talk with me. And I most certainly want to talk with you.”
Then she picked up the signs that were laid at her feet and walked off before I could offer her a ride. Just as well, probably. Some of those signs were rather large, and I wasn’t at all sure they would fit in my little Beetle Bug.
The others had been nice enough to carpool it over to me last night before calling it a night. I hadn’t liked the idea of being stranded with no wheels. It had come in very handy this morning.
As there was no other traffic on the street, I crawled along behind the woman, letting her lead me to the office in question. That gave me the time I needed to take in those signs.
It was pretty obvious that they were pro-dog park. The biggest one on top just said, “Dogs need Freedom too!” It was large enough to cover the others, but I rather figured they pretty much all said the same thing.
The only question I had was why the woman was carrying them. Was she Martha’s opponent on the park? If so, then the woman was indeed right. I very much wanted to talk with her.
Luckily, the office was only a block away. I say luckily for the woman, at least, as the day was a rather brisk one. Spring was still a way off, and Michigan winters tended to be cold ones.
As I parked outside the much more modest than its surrounding structures building, I watched as she threw the signs into a large trash bin at the street. So much for her being the opponent here. She must be taking up the fight for Martha while she was away.
I walked up the stone pathway and into the house. The woman held the door open for me. Once inside, I blinked. I’d been expecting an office, but this was just a regular home.
Well, to give it credit, it did have an office space off to the side of the main entry. That’s where we ended up.
So many questions, but the one I started with was a basic curiosity. “Do you live here?”
She glanced at me as she sat behind the desk. “I do.” There was a hesitation before she continued. “Until Martha Donaldson took over the Presidency last year, I was the head figure in the HOA.” She shrugged. “Shoot, that was true before there even was an HOA. I helped organize the thing to begin with. Believe me, I had my reasons for doing so.”
“Oh?”
The next hesitation was a good deal longer. “Yes. It isn’t easy to live in a normal home surrounded by the rich and famous, you know. A lot of them tried to squeeze me out. I made darn good and sure that my little parcel of land, and my home, was grandfathered in just the way it is. Made it all nice and legal too.” She gave a grim smile. “And there isn’t a darn thing any of them can do about it, either.”
“I take it they’ve tried?”
She seemed to realize that she might have shared a bit too much information with a virtual stranger. “Some of them, yes. Others see my side of the story.”
“You know I have to ask. Which side is Mrs. Donaldson on?”
She smiled. “Mine, thank the Lord. Even I would hate to go up against that woman when she sets her sights on something.”
After everything I’d heard of the woman, I could definitely understand that.
“So what is your role now? There has to be one, right? For your home to still serve as the office?”
“I’m Martha’s Vice President. If the others thought that voting me out of office was going to go their way, well, Martha put a stop to that line of thinking right from the start. The position of President is a community vote. The Vice President, however, is appointed by the current President.” She gave an evil smile. “You should have seen all their faces when she named me to the role. Could have knocked me over with a feather too.”
“So the two of you are friends, then?”
She waggled her head. “I’m not so sure I’d go that far. We have our differences, Martha and I. But at least I trust her to do the right thing most of the time. And more importantly, her idea of the right thing is usually the same as mine. That matters.”
Something in the way she said it made me ask my question. “But you were with her on the dog park issue, right?”
She frowned at me for a minute before her face cleared. “Ah. You must be talking about my removing the signs promoting the park.”
I nodded. Not much to say there. She was right.
“Well, I’m afraid you’re wrong on that one. But regardless of my feelings on the matter, the signs have to go. Signs divide a community. I can’t let that happen any more than it already has. And no, we don’t allow political campaign signs either, and for the same reasons. We strive for a united community here. Even if we are rather off that base at the moment.”
“So you are for the dog park?”
“I am. I’ve never had kids of my own. But I have had pets. Dogs, mostly. I’d have one today if we could get Martha to agree to dividing that park and giving our dogs a place to run free.” She was quiet for a minute. “My little Pooky didn’t have that, and I always felt bad about it.”
Her eyes went to a picture on her desk. I tilted my head forward. A little Yorkshire terrier stared out of the frame at me.
“A Yorkie! My cousin has one. In fact, right now, she and her fella have three. Well, one full-blood and two little pups that are half Pomeranian.”
If the woman had been made of snow, she’d have melted right
then and there.
“Your cousin has Yorkie-Pom pups? Are they for sale?” Then her shoulders slumped. “Not that I could afford one right now. But still, a gal can dream.”
I smiled at her. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think Ruby is giving up either of her grand-puppies. They’re... very special pups.” That was putting it mildly.
“Well, if that changes, please let me know. If I got a cute little Yorkie-Pom, and Martha got to know it...” Her words trailed off.
Yeah, it wasn’t hard to know where her mind went on that one. Martha would not be falling in love with a puppy any time soon. Not lying soul-less on a bed at the Lake View.
“Is there any improvement at all?”
I took a deep breath. “I’m really not the one to ask, but no. I don’t think so.”
She reached out to straighten the photo of her Pooky, her eyes sad. “Do you really think that taking care of the things that were stressing her out will help bring her back?”
“To be perfectly honest, I don’t know. But it’s the only thing we can think of to do to try to help. Plus, according to Mr. Donaldson, it would definitely be a plus to have these things taken care of before she comes to and has to start right back where she left off.”
“I agree with him there. Only...”
“Only you want the dog park.”
“Yes. I do. But I also want Martha back where she belongs. How does one reconcile conflicting interests like that?”
“I guess one does what one feels is right. And if you think that the right thing to do is fight for the dog park, then I think that’s what you should do. No one ever said the issues had to be resolved in her favor, did they?”
Her eyes met mine and a slow smile crept up. “No. I guess they didn’t at that.”
I stood. I’d covered enough ground here for one day, I thought. “I’d appreciate it if maybe you could hold a meeting on the issue and let me attend it as well. To see the lay of the land, as it were.”
She grinned at me. “Well, you’re in luck on that one. There is a meeting this very afternoon at three o’clock. At the gazebo in the park. Nothing like having them all right there where they can see our plan.”
“I’ll be there.” I held out my hand. “By the way, I’m Amethyst Ravenswind. I don’t believe I caught your name.”
“I’m Stephanie Baker,” she responded, gripping my hand firmly.
The shock was instant and enough to make both of us jump the tiniest of bits.
Glancing down at her shoes, she frowned at her feet. “I really need to stop wearing these rubber-soled shoes. They do that to me every time after I walk across this carpet.”
I nodded and left. I’ll admit, a part of me just didn’t buy the whole rubber-soled shoes bit.
I thought just maybe that woman had a touch of magic to her. Whether or not the woman had magic raised a very good question.
If she did have magic... did she even know it? Some people had access to power their entire lives and never used an ounce of it. Never even knew it was there. Kind of like me before I met Arc, and we did that whole accidental familiar thing.
But if she did know and did use it?
Was it a use for good?
Or for evil?
Chapter 10
I ended up with a little over five hours to kill before the big dog park meeting. That was something I really wanted to be there for. There was just something about all this that was drawing me in.
Maybe I just felt the same way the person who wrote that sign did. Dogs deserved freedom too.
At our estate, Yorkie Doodle and his pups had tons of room to run and play unencumbered by leashes. It meant a lot. Dogs were creatures of nature. They needed space and a place to roam and investigate new things. Okay, mostly smells. Dogs were all about smells for some reason.
To limit them to the same four walls and a short walk or two every day just didn’t seem right. I’d be helping Martha settle her issues to the best of my ability, yes. That had been the initial goal and agreement. However, losing a battle was a valid way of settling an issue as much as winning it.
And I was sticking to that thought, too, dang it all.
Sitting in my car, I thought about the next logical step to make. I couldn’t come up with another thing to do to help the present situation. Although, I should most likely be checking into the whole fundraising thing too. Just in case.
The only problem with that was that I didn’t have a clue what cause the woman was raising funds for.
That was probably worthy information to have on hand. A phone call to Arc was a good plan.
But first, I needed to get moving. I had a couple of long drives ahead of me.
No. Driving an hour and a half home and then having that same trip back again wasn’t necessarily the logical thing to do with my time. But while it might not be the logical thing, to me, it was the smart thing to do.
For two main reasons. My man, Trevor, and my familiar, Destiny. Goddess help me, but my familiar was close to the top on that list too. Not because I felt she was more important in my life. You really don’t get more important than a best friend and soul mate like Trevor.
That being said, Trevor would understand, and most likely approve, of my being absent to take care of family business. Which I was totally classifying this as. I mean, this all started with Archie thinking he was going crazy, right?
Destiny, however, would be a little harder to convince of that. Me being outside of her range of influence for too long made her worried. The worry I could handle. It just meant she cared about me.
The bad thing was, my absence also made her cranky. Very, very cranky. And trust me when I say you do not want to have to deal with a very, very cranky Goddess-ridden familiar of a cat.
It wasn’t a good thing.
So, yeah. I was going to drive an hour and a half there and an hour and a half back again. That would only give me a couple of hours to spend with the two of them, but it would be worth every minute if it would avoid the before mentioned crankiness later down the road.
Only time would tell if my slight sacrifice would be enough to achieve that lofty goal.
On the way, with nothing but drive time to kill, I made that call to Arc.
“Hey, Amie. I hear the Shaman is coming tonight. You’ll be there, right?” He sounded worried. I got that. Last night had been a close thing.
“I’ll be there.” I hesitated. “But I do have somewhere I need to be at three, though. If it runs later than I think it will, try to stall them from starting without me, okay?”
He grunted. “Don’t think that will be a problem. I think we’re all agreed that no one touches Martha in any magical way without you in the room.”
“Not just me, either. You guys made the difference last night. Don’t sell yourselves—or your magic—short. You Earth witches are powerful.”
“Thanks for that. It’s good to keep that perspective every now and again.” He paused. “So, why are you calling?”
That was my brother. Straight to the point. Then again, I was calling him at work, and the law firm was always busy.
“I was wondering what cause Martha was fundraising for. I didn’t think to ask yesterday.”
“You know, I’m not really sure. Might be some kind of political thing. Or one of her pet charities.”
That made me think twice. “Martha supports pet charities? I wouldn’t have guessed that as hard as she’s against the dog park in her community.”
Arc laughed. “Not PET charities. The charities themselves are Martha’s pets. Things she nurtures and gives to on a regular basis. You know... like you do pets. That kind of pet charity.”
“Ah. That makes more sense.” Of course, it didn’t answer my question, either.
“I bet it’s on their family website, though. I’ll take a look when I get the chance.”
“The Donaldson’s have a family website? Really?”
“Oh yes. I think that’s one of the reasons Martha drives Gabe an
d Riley so hard. She doesn’t want to be the lowest branch on the family tree if you get my drift.”
I did. I got it. That didn’t mean I understood it. My raising had been a world apart from that kind of thing. I had never been as grateful for that upbringing as I was right at this moment.
I’d take my family over one like the Donaldson’s any day of the week. Love meant more than money and power. Although to give my family credit, we had a lot of the latter. Just not the kind of influential power that having a fortune in the bank brings.
That was more than okay with me, too.
“Look, I’ll message you a link to their site, okay? But if there isn’t anything else pressing, I really need to get back to work. We’re trying to make sure we get out of here on time tonight.”
Yeah, that wasn’t an everyday occurrence. Now that my cousin was actually trying her hand at cooking suppers for her man, it was a constant annoyance to her. It had gotten to the point where she just set a time for dinner and making that time was on him.
Sometimes he did. Enough to show he really tried, anyway. That’s what counted.
We rang off, and I let my mind wander as I drove. Too bad it didn’t wander into a solution to the problem.
I was still waiting for my witch’s intuition to kick in. It was being way too quiet on this one.
I CALLED TREVOR WHEN I was about a half-hour out. It wouldn’t do me much good if I missed him and he’d driven into town for something. Or picked up another shift as I wasn’t home. He did that sometimes.
Luckily, he was home. He even offered to put some leftover Carny’s pizza into the oven to warm up for an early lunch.
I tried to ignore the fact that he’d had Carny’s for supper last night while I’d eaten snack foods out of a vending machine. Not that I could hold that against him. Not really. He’d offered to drive over after his shift to keep me company on my vigil. I’d turned him down on that one.
Maybe if he hadn’t been coming off a twelve-hour work stretch, I’d have taken him up on it. But as much as I needed him—and pizza—he needed his rest, too.
Team Destiny and Archie's Apparition (Team Destiny Paranormal Cozy Mystery Book 2) Page 6
