Chapter 24 #2
Owen shook his head. “I didn’t know Tillie was connected to your family when I first got here.
Nothing my grandpa said about her over the past year made sense, and he never talked about it with my dad when he was younger.
When I started asking around about my great-aunt, people told me she was one of the curse’s early victims. I wanted to talk to Evie about it, but I overheard her telling Angela how tired she was of trying to convince people she’d broken the curse.
I was afraid she might fire me if she knew the truth, so I started coming around here. ”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you,” Florence said. “I might be a Caldwell witch, but I don’t know much more about the curse than anyone else in this town.”
“But you gave up your magic because of it,” Owen said, confusion clear on his face.
“Evie and I did a tarot reading after our mother died,” Florence explained. “I drew temperance reversed and the hermit. It was a sign that our magic was out of balance, and a call to put it aside for good.”
“It sounds like Evie interpreted it differently,” Owen said.
“She thought we needed to use our magic more, to make it available to everyone in town,” Florence said bitterly.
“Maybe one of us was right and our efforts canceled each other out, or maybe neither of us were. But the tower card you pulled? The house catching fire? The curse is coming, and now we’ll never know if we could’ve stopped it.
The best I can do is try to keep everyone away from the house.
We’re out of time and we’re out of options.
Maybe if I had more to go on than a few tarot cards.
” She shook her head. “I don’t even know how the curse started. ”
“What if you did?” Owen asked. “Could you undo it then?”
“I don’t know,” Florence said. What was the point wondering?
The town’s accounts of the curse had done little to tell her what had happened behind the walls of Honeysuckle House.
She turned the photograph over in her hands, looking for any other secrets it might be hiding.
“There’s no chance you have the other half of this, is there? ”
Owen frowned and shook his head. “I thought maybe if I could figure out where it was taken that I’d be able find more information about Tillie, but I haven’t had much luck with that, either.”
All at once there came a thump from behind the couch, and with it the cracking of glass.
As Florence and Owen turned to look over the back of the sofa, Ink hopped up to investigate.
A picture frame lay face down on the ground behind them.
They shared a look of confusion and excitement that had Florence wanting to reach across the space between them and take Owen’s hand.
She resisted the urge and instead jumped up and followed the cat.
Owen had the same idea, and they met behind the sofa, crouched down facing each other.
Florence turned the frame over, careful not to touch the broken glass.
It was a photo of her grandmother, and on the door behind her was a sign that read Grey’s Gifts.
“I remember seeing that picture in the hallway at Honeysuckle House,” Owen said, “where your sister has photos of all the Caldwells who died. How did it get here?”
Florence was less concerned with the how and more interested in the why.
“Ink the shop had a tie to Evie and Clara as well. If something was connected to one of them, the shop could use it to cause mischief.
Owen took a closer look at the photo. “Is that …?”
He flipped the frame over and started to remove the backing; the lights glowed brighter overhead.
When he pulled the picture loose, he found half of it torn.
He stared at it for a moment then stood quickly and grabbed the photo of Tillie and Violet from the couch.
When he held it up to the one of Regina, it fit perfectly.
“The other half,” Florence gasped. She leaned closer to Owen, so close their shoulders brushed and her mind tripped back to her hand on his bicep after the shop had dropped her in his lap. She shook the thought away.
“This photo was taken here,” Florence said. “Right out front. The bookshop used to be Grey’s Gifts.”
“What does it mean?” Owen asked. “Why would my grandfather have this, and why would your grandmother be torn out?”
Florence shook her head. “I don’t know. My mom rarely talked about her mother, and she never mentioned Violet.”
“Maybe they had a falling out?” Owen asked. “Like you and Evie?”
“It’s possible,” Florence said. “But that doesn’t help us understand why the curse started.
If we’re going to solve this, we need to go back before Regina and Violet.
We need to know what happened to my great-grandparents.
I’ve asked around before, but it was seventy-eight years ago.
There aren’t many people still alive who are old enough to remember the details.
It was a tragedy—that’s all they could tell me. ”
“We could go to the library, see if there are any old newspaper clippings,” Owen said.
Florence shook her head. “I’ve tried. There’s nothing pointing to any sort of magical cause. It was a car crash.”
“There might be a police report,” Owen suggested.
“But it was an accident,” Florence said.
“It’s still worth a try.”
Florence nodded slowly. They didn’t have much else to go on, and if Owen really wasn’t interested in her, then maybe Florence could get her own feelings in check to keep him safe.