Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Turning, I smiled at him, pleased to see another of our newer transplants. Unlike Pace, Gant worked for a living. He’d opened a nursery, and Natalie Bauer, who had been our only local florist, had been thrilled. Because while her shop had flowers and created the arrangements for everything from weddings to funerals, graduations to new babies, his nursery carried every exotic bush, plant, and tree known to man. His greenhouse was like an enchanted world. He had a butterfly house, a bamboo forest that could be rented for meetings, and a Japanese garden complete with a koi pond, a beautiful footbridge, and cherry-blossom trees. Just walking under the archway of his nursery, aptly named Sanctuary, was for many, myself included, instantly calming. Something about the way the breeze meandered through the trees, the birdsong, and the scents of flowers from places most of us would never see, all blending together, was intoxicating. I told Lorne I could have easily lived there.
“Fairly good?” I baited him.
Mal smirked as he stepped up beside me. “Fine. It’s very good, though all that stuff about the founders of Osprey is a bit of a snore.”
I squinted at him.
“Oh, come on, Amanda agrees.”
Of course they were friends. Amanda liked people who shared her love of sarcasm. “Amanda being in agreement should not be something you hang your hat on.”
It was his turn to squint. “Hang my hat on? How old are you?”
I shook my head at him, and he waggled his eyebrows back. I turned to Diana. “I was sorry to hear about your bees. I hope you’ll be able to rebuild your colony.”
“There’s nothing to rebuild from. I would need—”
Sirens interrupted her. Lights and the blaring sound rendered us mute, and we stared as three police utility vehicles, an ambulance, and a fire truck, all flew down Main Street.
“I have lived here all my life and never seen that,” Diana said once they passed us.
It was the same for me.
“Did I see you conversing with an orange tabby?” Mal asked me with a chuckle.
I wondered where in the world Lorne was going, and that was all I could think about, pushing aside even what Thero had told me.
“Xander?” Pace prodded me.
“He’s so rude,” Diana sniped, irritated that quickly. “Always has been, and he was probably talking to a cat, Mal. He’s a witch, you know.”
Mal grunted. “I don’t know about that. The only witch I know in this town is Cordelia Wormwood who owns Witch and Wild over on Union Street.”
“Cordelia,” she scoffed. “Her name was Kathy Hayes when she went to school with me and Xander.”
Interesting how suddenly it was “me and Xander.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah. She’s no more a witch than I am.”
“And Aurora Moon?”
“You mean Lynette Fornell who owns the Cupcake Coven? Are you listening to yourself?” She sounded really shrill, which was a change, even for her.
“No? Not a witch either?” He was chuckling.
“Everything in Lynette’s shop gets shipped in, and all she does is repackage all that crap. Not much of a witch.”
“She holds séances,” Pace pointed out. “I’ve even been to one.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, what on earth made you think a woman who dresses up to look like a Gothic vampire has a direct line to the spirit world?”
Pace turned his attention to me. “But you’re saying Xander is an actual witch?”
Her gaze met mine. “Probably not. He just had an eccentric grandmother.”
“She was,” I agreed, staring at her. “In the very best way. And everyone loved her.”
She let out a frustrated breath. “That much is true.”
I noted the dark bags under her eyes and wondered if she too had not been sleeping. I was about to ask but then realized I didn’t care.
“I had no idea you were a witch, Xander,” Mal said fondly, shoulder-checking me. “I’ve never seen you in a pointy hat.”
I groaned, and both men laughed.
“So is anyone hungry?” Mal asked. “I was on my way over to Waxing the Moon for some dinner.”
I was going to immediately beg off so I could call Lorne, but my phone rang, saving me the trouble, as it was the man himself. “I need to get this,” I rushed out, walking a few feet away before answering. “Hey, are you all right?”
“No,” he rasped. “And I need you.”
“Of course. Where am I going?”
“To Kathy Hayes’s home over on Union.”
It was a ten-minute ride on my bike. “Okay, I’ll be there shortly.”
“I would come and get you, but I can’t leave.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll get right over there.”
“Come around the back, though, and wait a bit. I can’t have you in the house until they take the body.”
All the air rushed from my lungs. “Body?” I barely got out.
“Yeah.”
It wasn’t my place to ask, but I knew he’d tell me. “Was it an accident?” I asked hopefully.
“No, it wasn’t,” he replied, sounding hollow. “She was murdered.”