Chapter Eighteen #2
Just like Lia, she grabbed her coat and took off down the stairs, the door slamming loudly behind her.
Clo’s stare remained on the dark lake, and I moved to stand beside her.
‘Do you agree with Lia? Are we in trouble?’
She waited a minute before speaking. ‘It’s moments like this that I miss your grandfather. He always had a special bond with her.’
‘Clo,’ I pressed. ‘Is this as bad as I think?’
‘I don’t know. Lia was right. He certainly charmed us tonight.’
‘Why help him then? Tell him to go back to the archives?’
‘Because I’ve already asked Ruthie to limit the materials he sees this time.’
Her clipped voice warned she still wasn’t happy about me keeping our first trip to the library a secret.
‘Even if that happens, he’ll still keep digging,’ I insisted.
‘Yes, because he has a lot at stake too.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘I looked up more than just his journalistic accolades.’
She went quiet again. Tugged her cardigan tighter around her shoulders. ‘You must feel worried and conflicted too.’
Panic crawled through my bones. Had she figured out that I’d crossed the line with Bryce? Or maybe she knew about the journal. Had Ruthie given me away? I should have told her, but the truth stayed jammed in my throat.
‘It’s all right, sweetheart. Aster told me about Bryce’s color.’
That panic stayed coiled within me for an entirely different reason now.
‘She and I had a long talk about it.’ A sad sigh left her lips. ‘I made Aster understand that what she does, sees, can come at a price. Telling you what she did about Max, well, she was still trying to figure out her gift back then. It was a hard lesson for her to learn.’
‘Just wish my complicated life wasn’t part of that lesson.’
Her attention went back to the lake. ‘The idea of soulmates can be tricky. Did you know your grandpa Beau was not the first man who caught my eye?’
‘He wasn’t?’
‘No. There was a boy I knew in high school. Felix Cornell. He was the class clown. Always creating mischief. Hiding the teachers’ answer keys for tests. Switching the classical symphony music with Elvis Presley during the daily announcements. He was my first kiss. My first real date.’
‘What happened to him?’
‘All while we were dating, people whispered behind our backs. Told him that I was descended from dangerous witches. That if he ever tried to break up with me, I’d curse him. Shrink his balls until they were smaller than grapes.’
‘What?’ I let out a roar of a laugh. ‘That’s awful.’
I quickly sobered when sadness crept across the lines in her face. ‘People can be cruel when they want. Magic was a way they thought they could bully me, which you also know too well.’
My thoughts flashed to the bubbling gravy. The way the flowers wilted when our conversations grew heated. Even the weird flicker of the chandelier. I shook my head. All this talk of magic was making me see things that weren’t there.
‘The curse thing may have come in handy in Max’s case,’ I said, trying to make things light.
She patted my hand. ‘Even I know you’re too tender-hearted for that.’
‘Yeah, that may be the problem.’
She arched a white brow. ‘That needs some explanation.’
The connection I felt with Bryce was on the tip of my tongue, but instead I said, ‘Lia spoke the truth tonight. I do shield her and Aster from a lot. When it comes to my own feelings, though, I tend to swallow everything down. Put on a brave face. Guess I have Belladonna to thank for that.’
She let out a resigned murmur.
‘Did the rumors scare Felix off?’ I said.
‘No. He was too good for that. We were together until graduation. His family did not have money for college so he joined the navy. Got stationed in Hawaii and never came back.’
‘That must have made you sad.’
‘It did for a while, but the longer he was gone, the less it hurt. With time, I realized we would have never worked. We wanted different things.’
I took an uncomfortable gulp because her words were too much like the excuses Max had used when he’d left me. ‘What other things did he want?’
‘He had an adventurous spirit. Wanted to travel the world. I was happy here. Never saw my life anywhere else but in Harvest Moon.’
‘And Grandpa Beau?’
A wide smile spread across her lips. ‘We met while I was taking a pottery class at the community college. He was awful at it, but he kept trying.’ She sighed.
‘It was what drew me to him. He’d lope into the class, all long legs and skinny arms. Set his bum down on a stool in front of a wheel, slap out a chunk of clay and set his hands right to it.
At first he could make a decently round vessel, but then it was like he got too much into his head and the entire thing would collapse. ’
Her words reminded me of how much Grandpa Beau and I were alike. How we overthought every little scenario until things spun out of control.
I swallowed down the ache in my throat before asking, ‘Had you known him before at school?’