Chapter Thirty-Five
Shaky Ground
Every time my inbox dinged with a new email, I scanned the subject line to see if it was a digital copy of Bryce’s article. He’d been gone four long weeks. I’d tried to keep busy. Loaded up the clinic’s schedule with extra hours, but he still inhabited every corner of my mind.
He’d sent two brief messages since leaving Harvest Moon.
One that let me know he’d arrived in California safely.
The second was a few cryptic lines that said he was thinking about me and had to work on some things before we could talk more.
Every time I read it, which was too many times over the past month, my mind ran wild with all the things that had gone unsaid between us.
How that might influence what he wrote in the article.
A steaming flat white slid onto the counter in front of me.
‘With the first hint of frost, it’s actually beginning to feel like November,’ Elena said, pushing an almond croissant beside the white porcelain mug.
‘You have to stop with the pastries.’
‘“Drown your sorrows in wine and good sweets” has always been my motto,’ she said. ‘Or, you know, a good roll in the sheets with a hot mysterious man.’
‘Really? I’ve known you for years, and I’ve never heard you say that. In fact, when was the last time you went on a date? Was it that loser from Boulder who kept insisting you needed to invest in Bitcoin?’
‘Hey!’ She pointed a finger at me. ‘We’re talking about your disastrous love life, not mine.’
The day after Bryce left, I showed her his text.
Elena insisted he’d be back. Swore that a guy who stared at me like I was a rare pink sunset was not someone who’d simply walk away.
I loved her optimism, but I was sure of two things.
Bryce was never coming back and the article was absolutely going to blow apart my world.
‘Did you hear about Mo?’ she asked casually.
I tried to not let my eyes roll back in my head. ‘What has she done now?’
‘She’s leaving. Her son-in-law is in some kind of financial trouble, and that’s why she’s been so stressed about her business. She sold the tavern to help. She’s going to live near her daughter and their family in Santa Fe.’
I pressed a hand to my forehead. That explained her desperate need to fill the tavern with tourists. A part of me wondered why she hadn’t been honest when I’d confronted her, but if anyone understood keeping secrets, and complicated family situations, it was me.
‘Sold it to who?’
‘Ask her.’
Like the little phantom she was, Aster slid onto the stool beside me.
This week her hair was a shade of silvery blue.
It’d been three different colors over the last month.
She hadn’t wanted to talk any more about what Clo and Belladonna had revealed, but her constant trips to the salon spoke volumes.
Elena already had a latte and a chocolate croissant ready for her. ‘Tell your sister who bought the tavern.’
‘Dalton agreed to take it over.’
‘Isn’t he busy with the pizza parlor?’ I said.
‘His lease is up at the end of this month,’ she said with a mouth full of pastry.
‘It doesn’t make sense.’ I pushed a napkin toward her. ‘The tavern doesn’t have a pizza oven.’
She took a quick sip of her drink. A cute white foam mustache covered the cupid’s bow on her upper lip.
‘He’s gutting the tavern. Says the place has bad vibes.
Needs a total facelift. He’s putting in a massive new oven, updated furnishings and décor.
’ She gave me a big smile. ‘He even promised a regular flower order for all the dining tables.’
‘That’s good news.’
I held back my next thought. If Bryce’s article claimed what I thought it would, Dalton’s new restaurant would be packed, but that also meant Aster’s business and my practice would likely be flooded with a load of new weirdos.
Even knowing this, anticipating it, I’d decided that no matter what the article said, we had to stay. This was our home. Our life was here. My conversation with Ruthie had reminded me that my family tree had been shaken many times by accusations of magic but never been knocked down.
Magic. Even thinking the word gave me heartburn. I hadn’t let myself accept the thought that the connection I had with animals could be supernatural. I understood them. They understood me. In the end, that was all that mattered.
Elena and Aster continued to chat about the new plans for Dalton’s place.
I swirled my spoon around in my drink. Images of the day Bryce first appeared here filled my mind.
He’d hidden who he was, but he’d also reminded me that what I did was important.
That it had an impact on the community. I just hoped everyone in Harvest Moon would remember that once the article was published.
‘Thinking about Bryce?’ Aster asked in between nibbles of her croissant.
‘Yeah,’ I confessed.
She took another bite, a smudge of chocolate taking up residence on the upper lip next to the deflated foam. God, she was a mess, but I loved her so much.
‘I stand by what I said. He is your match. Your soulmate.’
‘He’s not coming back, Ast, even if you’re right this time. His life, his career, is in LA.’
‘Whatever this is.’ She lowered her voice. ‘Intuition. Synesthesia. Magic.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘The link between the two of you is strong. Mark my words, he’s not done with Harvest Moon yet.’
There was so much faith in her eyes that I didn’t want to argue. Too many other things were on shaky ground, and I wanted her to believe in this one concrete part of her life.
‘Heard from Lia?’ she asked.
‘She went on a three-day hike. Said she needed to clear her head. Would call when she got back.’
I’d seen Lia for exactly ten minutes since the moment she’d left our grandmother’s house the night of the fire.
She still wouldn’t reconsider leaving Harvest Moon and was serious about staying away from Belladonna and Clo.
I’d decided to give her the space she needed, but she couldn’t run from the truth forever.
Elena came back with new drinks for us, leaned her elbows on the counter and said, ‘What’s Lia told you about that hot blond guy who’s been hanging around town?’
‘You mean Aiden?’ Aster said, her eyes quickly flashing with amusement before she sobered. She’d seen something about him the day of Mara’s rescue but was keeping quiet about it.
‘Yeah. I saw him and Lia talking, well, more like arguing, outside the station last week.’
‘Arguing? About what?’ I said.
Elena shrugged. ‘Not sure, but it looked pretty intense.’
Crap. Lia didn’t need another worry in her life.
Aster continued to wolf down the rest of her croissant and eyed mine.
‘Here.’ I pushed the plate in her direction.
Elena went back to wiping down the counter. She was mid-scrub when she stopped and narrowed her gaze. ‘Uh, your sister’s back.’
The thud of heavy boot stomps made their way toward us. Lia appeared a second later, a chaos of dust, dirt and tangled brown curls. What was tucked underneath her arm made my blood go cold. ‘Is that what I think it is?’
Her eyes softened, and I hated how her chin trembled as she nodded at me.
She laid the glossy magazine on the counter. The four of us stared at it like it was a venomous insect we were all too afraid to touch.
‘Did you read it yet?’ I asked breathlessly.
‘No. I wanted to do it with you two.’ She deflated onto a stool next to Aster.
‘I’m sorry I ran away the night of the fire.
We’ve always tackled the difficulties of our life together, but this time I left you hanging.
’ Her lower lip trembled and Aster squeezed her hand.
‘I hope you can forgive me and accept that I will never walk away from you guys again. That as long as you’re in Harvest Moon, I will be too. ’
Ruthie’s words about the strength of Ambrosia and Sylvia played in my head. No matter what happened next, I was sure the three of us would be okay, because we had our bond, our love, our sisterhood, to see us through.
Elena dabbed at her eyes with the corner of her apron. ‘Every time you guys make up after a fight, it makes me wish I had a sister.’
‘You do.’ Aster beamed at her. ‘Well, I mean you have three.’
Elena blinked back more tears and swiped the magazine off the counter. ‘Do you want me to read it and tell you the verdict?’
My sisters turned to me for an answer. I trusted my best friend. She’d warn us if the fallout was going to be bad.
‘Go ahead,’ I whispered.
Elena flipped the pages and then stopped at the center spread. Her gaze flew back and forth across the page, and I swear not one of the McGuire girls took a single breath for the next few minutes.
When she was finally done, she laid the magazine down and closed the cover.
‘Well?’ Lia prompted.
‘Is it bad?’ Aster heaved out.
With a gleam in her eye, Elena said, ‘Who wants more coffee?’
She strutted away, and Lia grabbed the magazine.
Her shoulders trembled as she began to read the article to us.
The opening paragraphs were cinematic, describing the hiking trails, the town and the community.
There were portions dedicated to Veggie Fest, and the hard work done by the firefighters and SAR team, especially during Mara’s rescue.
I held on to each beautiful line, hearing the cadence of Bryce’s voice in my head. How he managed to paint such a colorful and fascinating picture of the place I loved. Lia pulled in a steady breath and read out loud the portion about the town’s history, and its strange ties to magical lore.
She was nearly to the end when she stopped abruptly, her eyes blinking like she was holding back a whirlwind of emotions.
No. It was bad.
Why hadn’t Elena warned us?
‘Did he talk about the fire? What he saw in the woods?’ I asked.
A shockingly wide smile lit up Lia’s face. She pushed the magazine across the counter until it sat in front of me. ‘Read the last lines. I’m pretty sure they’re a message for you.’