CHAPTER TWO
Taylor, it turned out, was thrilled for the chance to quit the bistro and to work more hours with me.
Circe also spoke to her about whether or not her younger sister, Toni, would like to pick up some afternoon hours, and Taylor assured us that she would.
Toni—currently a student at UAB—was delighted with the offer.
Going forward, I would now have Taylor working with me on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and half days on Friday.
On Saturday she would continue to float between my shop and Circe’s.
Toni was now scheduled to work three afternoons a week, as soon as her classes were finished for the day.
On Sundays, she would be with Circe at the candle shop all day.
A week later, I wondered how we’d ever gotten by without the two sisters.
Halloween was only a few days away, and as predicted, our sales had been strong.
That day especially had extremely heavy foot traffic.
While I swept the floor, Taylor was beginning to run the closing reports for the day.
She had a small pad of paper at her elbow and was working her way down the checklist I’d made for her.
“And hit ‘run report’…” she muttered to herself as she pressed the touch screen.
I waited for her to glance up before I spoke. “You’re doing great.”
“Thanks.” She grinned. “I know you prefer to do the paperwork yourself...”
I shrugged. “At first I did, but now that the store’s more established, I need to—”
“Stop being so obsessive and learn to unclench?” Circe finished for me as she strolled over.
I rotated the broom and swatted my cousin across the butt with the bristles, making her yelp and jump back.
“Sassy!” Circe grinned at me.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“I came over to tell you,” she replied, “after checking today’s sales numbers, that I’ve broken all my sales records so far. Even black Friday from last year!” Circe held up a hand to me, waiting for a high five.
“That’s great!” I smacked my palm against hers in celebration.
Taylor waved me over. “Kate, take a look at the preliminary sales report. I think you’re going to be pretty happy.”
I went over to see the screen and did a double take when I saw the sales total. “Holy cats!” I exclaimed.
“Did you break your sales record too?” Circe wanted to know.
“I’ll have to double check to be sure, but I’m damn close,” I told her.
Behind me there was a polite knock on my glass front door. Turning to look, I spotted Hattie Broussard standing out on the sidewalk holding a garment bag. I waved and she flashed me a nervous smile.
For the past few days I’d kept an eye out for her, and she’d finally made it in. I went straight to the door to unlock it. “Hey, Hattie.”
“I came after close,” she said. “Didn’t want to interrupt during business hours.”
“Come in, come in.” I held the door open for her. As soon as she cleared the threshold, I relocked the door. “Taylor,” I said, glancing over. “If you could finish up the reports, Hattie and I are going to have a chat.”
“Sure thing,” Taylor said, returning her eyes to the screen.
I ushered Hattie to the back of the sales floor, where we could have a bit of privacy.
“Your text was pretty mysterious,” I said. “What’s up?”
Hattie Broussard was pretty, in a fresh-out-of-college sort of way. Her brown hair swung loosely down her back, and she wore jeans, sneakers and a green Broussard Family Nursery polo shirt.
“I need your help,” she said, keeping her voice low. “It was my Granny who suggested that I come and speak to you. She told me that she knew your Mama’s people and said that they all have power.”
“Yes, they do,” I said.
“Granny thought you could help me...and honestly, I didn’t know who else I could talk to about this.” Hattie blew out a long breath. “So, I came to see you today—as a friend,” she said, swallowing nervously. “To find out whether or not my wedding gown has been cursed.”
I kept my facial expression neutral, even as my mind whirled with the possibilities.
Occasionally I would run across folks who came into my shoppe with wild tales and claims of being the victim of dark magick. Typically, they wanted attention or had worked themselves into a tizzy because they were new to magick and worried they’d somehow accidentally hexed themselves.
But this was different. Hattie, her mother, and grandmother had all been faithful customers of mine since I had opened.
I was well acquainted with the Broussard family.
Not only did I buy my plants to sell from them, but I was also a frequent customer of theirs.
Their nursery was successful and the mundane standing in front of me was as nice and normal as they came.
I inclined my head toward the garment bag. “Is the bridal gown in there?”
“Yes,” she answered.
“Would you unzip the bag for me so I can see it?”
“Sure.” Her eyes went to an empty hook on the back wall where I typically displayed bunches of dried herbs and flowers. “Okay to hang it up there?”
I nodded and Hattie slipped the hanger over the brass hook. With one smooth motion she unzipped the garment bag, revealing the gown inside.
I didn’t touch the garment bag, or the gown, but instead studied it carefully.
Holding my fingers a few inches above the vintage ivory satin and lace, I took a deep breath and kept my senses open for any sort of harmful energy to reveal itself…
but I detected nothing. “The dress is lovely,” I told her a few minutes later.
“However, I’m not picking up anything negative from the gown. ”
Hattie’s eyebrows scrunched together as she frowned. Clearly that was not the answer she’d been expecting.
“Tell me why you think the gown is cursed,” I said softly. We were far enough away from the front counter where Taylor was working for our conversation to remain private. But still, I worked to keep my voice low.
Hattie proceeded to tell me how her grandmother had always promised that the first granddaughter in the family to get married would be able to wear her gown.
Hattie was the first girl to be engaged in the new generation, and so the dress would go to her.
This development had not gone over well with a few aunts and female cousins in the family.
Apparently, there’d been some bickering and hurt feelings over it.
“Then a month ago, at my bridal shower?”
“Sure, I remember.” I’d been invited and had enjoyed the afternoon.
“Well, my aunt Mae—that’s my mother’s older sister—she took me aside.”
“What does she look like? I asked.
“Aunt Mae wears big leopard print glasses, has bleached blonde hair and Botox fish lips,” Hattie said, pursing her lips.
“I do remember her. Go on,” I said, encouraging her to continue her story.
“Aunt Mae insisted that I should not wear the dress to my wedding, because if I did, it would bring me nothing but bad luck.”
“How rude,” I said.
“I told her she was being ridiculous!” Hattie continued in a furious whisper. “If anything, the dress is good luck. My Granny and Pawpaw were married for over sixty years. My Mama also wore the gown, and my folks have been together for almost thirty.”
“What did your mother have to say about what your aunt told you?” I asked.
“Mama is pissed!” Hattie admitted. “And at first we figured Aunt Mae was being ugly about it all...because Mae was the oldest in the family and she wanted the dress for her daughter—my cousin—Jolene. But then...” She trailed off.
“Then what?” I prompted.
“It was right after—after my bridal shower—that things started to get weird,” Hattie said. “At first it was stuff that could be explained...sort of.”
“Such as?”
“There was an issue with my debit card. We think it got skimmed. But it was a hell of a mess, and it took a couple of weeks to get my bank account straightened out.”
“That sucks,” I said, “but unfortunately is quite common.”
Hattie’s eyes shone with frustrated tears. “As my friend, I’m going to ask you to listen. To everything. And then when I’m done, you can tell me if you think I’m being paranoid, or if something weird is going on.”
I nodded. “I can do that.”
“A week after the debit card thing, my car got a flat tire. The day after that I was driving the nursery van making a delivery, and I had a blow out. Scared the crap outta me.” She took a shaky breath.
“Lately there’s been nothing but trouble with our mortgage paperwork.
Everything was delayed and it’s taken forever to straighten it out.
Johnny and I had planned to move into our house well before our wedding in January, but now we don’t know if the purchase is even going to go through. ”
I listened carefully as she spoke, and my solar plexus grew tighter and tighter. A sure sign that something wasn’t right.
“But a few days ago, this run of bad luck turned really scary,” she said.
“Johnny suddenly developed an allergy to peanuts—out of the blue. We had to call an ambulance. They rushed him to the hospital. His face was horribly swollen, he had a hard time breathing…it was terrifying. Now he has to carry an EpiPen.”
“I’m sorry, Hattie,” I said and reached out to place my hand on her shoulder in support. It was meant to be a casual gesture and yet, the physical contact almost took me down to my knees.
Immediately, I felt it.
While there wasn’t a curse on the gown, there had been a hex laid against the bride. A rather nasty one too.
Fighting against the need to snatch my hand away, I tightened my grip and instead pushed past it. The muscles in my chest tightened painfully, even as I allowed my eyes to go unfocused to see what I could detect with my third eye.
As soon as I did, I spotted the magick that had been cast against Hattie. Black, shadowy and draped all over her like a nasty spider-webby looking shawl. The spell was tangled all around her and she was firmly ensnared. Like a butterfly caught in a web.
It was everything I had not to shudder in reaction.