Chapter 27
Jenna stepped into the little tavern/sports bar/burger joint. She'd been in here before during the day, as Randall's was the local hangout. It seemed to be anything and everything for the small town of Belle Hollow.
She shouldn't have been surprised to see a cluster of tables pushed together in the far corner or that green eyes and a red ponytail tracked her entrance. Delanie lifted her hand and waved to Jenna, her wrist adorned with beaded amethyst and jade. “Jenna, join us!”
But she was just stopping in before heading back to her hotel room. So, with a smile in place, Jenna tried to wave the other woman away. “I’m grabbing a burger then heading back towards Charlottesville.”
“No, you have to stay. The gang's all here. Well, mostly.” Delanie waved more forcefully, hand motioning and words insinuating that Jenna was already part of the gang.
Of course, she couldn’t protest. Ford was motioning to a couple at the next table and taking one of their unused chairs.
Her heart shouldn't be fluttering as he placed the empty chair next to himself and motioned for her to sit. It would be rude to say no, though she’d planned on a very quiet night in the motel with a burger and the movie that was going to cost far too much upon checkout.
As she sat down, the conversation began flowing around her again. Smaller clusters at the other end of the table put their heads together. Delanie, on the other side of her, looked back at the door again. “Avery should be here by now.” Her dark reddish brows pulled together, lips pressing tight.
“Are you worried?” Jenna asked and watched as Delanie took a moment, a deep breath, and paused to let her shoulders relax.
“No,” she said. “It was irritation. I guess she's not coming after all.”
“Oh, really?” Ford lifted the beer and the two of them shared a nod as if they knew something about Avery Goodman that newbie/not-actual-gang-member Jenna wasn't privy to. But the server quickly appeared wanting an order. “Jasper just texted that he’s not coming either.”
Jenna watched as a light dimmed in Delanie’s eyes, but Ford was already smiling up at the server. “Hazel! I’m adding Jenna to this ticket.”
“Oh, I can get myself—”
“I've got you,” Ford said brushing off her protest as Delanie forcibly perked herself back up and added, “If you save a life, you're responsible for it.”
Her eyes darting to Ford, Jenna wondered if he felt that was the case.
She was in no mood to be anyone's pet. Only as she'd approached the age of thirty, had she'd discovered how much her parents had reined her in and held her back. She loved them, but they’d made her believe that was where she—and all women—belonged. Worse, it hadn't felt bad. She’d felt cherished and like their instruction was love. But she’d also felt she didn’t belong.
Maybe because she was adopted. Or maybe because she wanted more than they wanted for her. So she’d lingered in the middle: too stubborn to do what they suggested and just marry the first half-decent option. But not stubborn enough to push for college and do whatever the hell else she wanted.
She had a good life. She had parents who loved her.
They'd encouraged her to follow her dreams, even if they tended to dictate what she could and should dream. It wasn’t just to go from high school to the nearest coffee shop.
They praised her more for the boyfriend she kept for three years than for the promotion she'd earned.
When her last promotion had taken her further from home and had been the keystroke to the end of that relationship, Jenna celebrated.
Her parents lamented the loss of ‘such a nice boy.’
She loved her dad, but Jenna didn’t need to marry a man like him.
She reminded herself once again that though Ford Velasco might make her heart flutter, the last thing she needed was another bad boy.
Another rescuer. Another man to tell her he knew what she needed, or that she didn't have to lift a finger.
He'd do everything, including think, for her.
“No drinking for me tonight,” she told him as he added a beer to her tab. “I'm driving back to Charlottesville after this.”
“No worries,” Delanie told her. “If you want the beer, have it. Avery and I live right above the shop, and she's not coming home tonight.” There was a touch of anger in the sigh that followed. Then she offered, “You should come stay with me anyway!”
It was beyond tempting. Though Jenna felt the socially ingrained urge to say no, to not hang out with a crowd her father might have deemed bad kids: into witchcraft and all of that, she desperately wanted to say yes. The little voice said exactly those words: say yes. Pick a beer from the menu.
“You should be joining us, Hazel,” Ford said next. As if he was just adding women to the party. He said it with a smile that made Jenna realize none of his were reserved for her.
She was a stupid fool for feeling the flutters anyway.
She would be fine without any attachments to the likes of Ford Velasco.
She'd come here to find her grandmother and she had!
She'd come to meet one of the cousins who matched her ancestry counts.
And she even had information on two others.
She now knew the person in her listings only marked as ML must be Marina Lockheart.
Jenna also knew Marina and Teagan were listed as living close by.
Not in Belle Hollow, but in this general area of Virginia.
She wondered again why she hadn't told Annelise she had information on her missing aunt and cousin. Maybe because she didn’t know yet if the locations were still current.
It had come up more than once that Annelise didn't know where the women were, but Jenna had a lead and the next thing she wanted to do was find them.
But if the other Lockhearts were close and they hadn’t reached out .
. . maybe they didn’t want to mingle with Story and Annelise.
Jenna wasn't angling to reveal anyone. She just wanted to meet her family, get to know them, not cause problems. She’d held her tongue and would continue to do so until she found the others and until they told her they wanted to see the other relatives. She would have to wait and see.
When Hazel brought Jenna’s beer to the table, she next took Jenna's order for a cheeseburger and the fried pickles Ford promised she would love. She watched as he grabbed Hazel's hand. “Join us when you get off shift, Hazel.”
Hazel let her fingers linger lightly in Ford's. “You know I can't.”
“Fine,” he told her. “Next time, then.”
Jenna wanted to turn to Delanie and ask if there was something going on between Ford and Hazel, even though it shouldn't matter at all. But if she knew it, then she could use it to turn down her own stupid thoughts and feelings.
But Delanie shook her head as if to say, “Of course not. Ford's just that way with everyone.”
Jenna took that to heart too. Nothing special about the girl in the car on the side of the road.
Nothing special about the fact that he picked her up a few days later and drove her to get to her car, helped her inspect her things, and said, “I hope everything survived.” And then “I'd love to get to know you more.” Maybe he was just a man who cared. Or maybe he was just a playboy.
She thought about it as she watched his fingers hold onto Hazel's now. Maybe he was just a social butterfly. Either way, she wasn't anything special to him, and Jenna reminded herself of it.
Across the table, Delanie caught her gaze and made a motion that asked “the two of them?” As if Jenna was asking about Ford’s love life. Quickly, she shook her head to say no, don't, but Delanie was already talking.
“Hazel and Ford were friends all through school, then Hazel left town after graduation. Ran off with some older man. Came back seven years ago with two little kids in tow and no husband.”
“Oh, wow,” Jenna said, knowing she shouldn't be participating in gossip. That was one of the things her parents—and her church—had drilled into her. Yet she'd come here and craved it like water.
“Everyone here lives in everyone else's pockets,” Delanie offered as explanation. “However, the father—or fathers—of Hazel's kids are the best kept secret in town.”
Did it bother her? Jenna wondered, that she desperately wanted to know, as clearly Delanie did too.
The conversation moved and she was asked if Annelise was training her.
That was all they said but it was clear they meant witchcraft.
Jenna was surprised at the casual way everyone seemed to accept that not only was her cousin a witch, but that Delanie was too, and even Hazel.
Jenna asked if the Hales, like the Lockhearts, had been in town for generations.
Hazel must have been standing right behind her. Jenna startled as the voice told her. “Yes, but not as long as they’ve been here. My family goes back to Salem.”
Jenna's mouth fell open into an O and she quickly snapped it shut. It'd be best if she didn't ask more of these questions tonight, so she enjoyed the burger, told Ford he was right about the fried pickles, then followed her new friend home.
Ford hugged each of them goodnight. First Hazel at the bar, then the two others at the far end of the table.
Then out in the parking lot, he hugged Delanie goodnight and Jenna in turn as if she were truly now accepted as one of the group.
She tried not to notice the firm muscles as he enveloped her.
She told herself the feeling of safety it gave her was her own stupid imagination. She said what she should.
“Thank you for the burger and beer.” And she told herself she didn't feel the flutter again. Then she followed Delanie three blocks down the street while her new friend chattered softly the whole way.
“I’m so glad you’re coming over. Annelise has had a monopoly on you—which is fair!” She raised one hand to God, “But it’s a small town and everyone knows everyone. A lot of the local kids leave for college and never come back, so it’s good to see someone our age here.”
“I have to say, I didn’t expect such a warm welcome.
” Jenna smiled into the night as they moved along the old main street.
The road was cobbled and narrow and it looked like they’d moved the car traffic around it some time ago.
It felt as if she’d stepped back in time—but further back than the row of houses along the creek sent her.
“You mean after the weather tried to kill you?” Delanie laughed. “We’re all glad Ford found you.”
There it was again: the idea that she was one of Ford’s strays.
“Here it is,” Delanie stopped with a smile and a snap of her fingers.
The lights in the upstairs unit came on.
They headed around the white building with cute black shutters and another snap had a light illuminating the stairs as Delanie led them up.
She waved her hand over a digital lock, and Jenna heard the bolts slide open.
Even as they stepped inside, Delanie was motioning her in, adding, “Annelise is powerful, but I'm practical.”
Jenna suddenly realized she was going to learn more about Belle Hollow and her own history tonight than maybe everything up until now.