Chapter 26
It’ll take a miracle to bring me back to Treater’s Way.
By the time I found my way back to the Magnolia, the sun was setting. I greeted House, longing for a shower and a chance to collect my thoughts. Thankfully, no alarm shrilled a warning when I arrived. I didn’t have it in me to face Ray again. In any form.
More than a shower, though, I wanted someone to help me process everything I’d learned.
I’d told Lauren I forgave her before I knew what she was apologizing for.
I didn’t know if I could retroactively unaccept an apology.
Not that it mattered. Even with her claims to have changed, a part of me didn’t trust her completely.
The Twins were still in the “no” column. Lydia hated me, and I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Lyra or her division of the Magnolia. And while Brianne would almost definitely provide an ear, I didn’t feel right tearing her away from her family on a Saturday evening.
I finished cleaning up, wrapped myself in the softest pajamas known to humankind, and decided that reality TV would be my companion for the evening.
I should have been more surprised to see Agatha rocking in the living room.
Her form was solid, the same blue Afghan draped across her lap. She smiled at me, and it was a smile I remembered.
“So, you figured out how to break the ward.”
“Did you know?” I sat across from her, pretending it was totally normal to have a conversation with a now-corporeal spirit. “You could have saved us both a ton of pain and effort if so.”
“I had no idea.” Agatha chuckled softly, her voice muffled as if she were talking from miles under the water. “It happened so quickly. I didn’t know anything was wrong for another ten years. I wasn’t quite myself after your mother’s death. Do you remember?”
“Like it was yesterday.” My own tears surfaced. I hadn’t thought about my mother clearly in thirty years. It was like mourning her loss anew. “I remember taking over her position.”
“You were an expert manager. Trained by the best.” Agatha wiped at a mystical tear. “You would have taken over, if I’d let you. Slipped right into the monumental space your mother left behind.”
“I didn’t want to stay, though, did I?”
“Oh, part of you wanted to.” She chuckled again, and it was like a warm blanket tucking me in at night. I’d laughed with her often. “Ultimately, you had to choose your own path. And I was concerned that—”
“That if I stayed here, my path would have been chosen for me.” I leaned back, sinking into the couch. “It’s why I felt so pulled in different directions. I wanted so many things. To stay here and manage the Magnolia. To travel the world with Ray. To establish myself as a therapist.”
“In the end, pain made the choice for us.” Agatha shook her head and sighed. “That’s so often the way it happens.”
“You couldn’t have known I was casting my own spells. I didn’t know myself. I’ve controlled every life choice, even when I shouldn’t. All the times I’d doubted my abilities and told myself I wasn’t capable of doing a thing. All the words I’d used to stand in my own way acted against me.”
I’d blamed the town. Then Ray. Then Jeff. Even my son.
In the end, the only one I had to blame was myself.
“How could one sentence, an oath made in a moment of rage, affect so much?”
I expected the question to be rhetorical, but Agatha leaned forward with an answer that surprised me.
“You have to know, dear one, I had no idea you were a word witch.” She reached for me, unable to make contact. “If I had, things would have been different. You gave no indication as a child.”
“Is it hereditary?” Now that I’d said it out loud, my mouth went dry. I’d wondered where my magical abilities came from. But part of me was afraid to learn the truth. “Was my mother a witch, too?”
“No, dear. You didn’t get this from your mother.” Agatha’s smile was as enigmatic as it was sad, and I knew what that meant. The father I’d never met.
I knew better than to prod for more. I’d done that a dozen times growing up. When it came to my father, both Agatha and my mom had been vaults.
“So I broke the ward when you came to visit me.” I pulled up my notes from the meeting, some of which I’d shared with Ethan a week earlier.
“Patient refused to give full name, asked to go by Stella only and paid in cash.” I scrolled further.
“Had an immediate and positive response to the miracle question technique.”
“An act of desperation from a dying woman.” Agatha shrugged her shoulders. “What can I say, it worked didn’t it?”
“Stella, huh? The woman I saw had striking red hair and impeccable dress.”
“I hoped you’d sense my presence or break the glamor.” Agatha chuckled again. “And I’m a sucker for A Streetcar Named Desire.”
“I’d said it would take a miracle to get me to return to Treater’s Way.” I wanted a cool drink of water, asked House for it, and took my time drinking it down. “What did I say to you that worked?”
“At the end of our session, as you walked me to the door”—she sighed, as if suddenly exhausted—“you said we’d made a miracle happen. It only proved I was right.”
Agatha’s form faded in, out, and back in. I was running out of time with her. I didn’t understand why I’d said we both had a miracle. It wasn’t my usual choice of words. Maybe part of me had known it was her.
Or maybe I was just ready to come home. Agatha wouldn’t have the answer to that, though. And I still had questions.
“It proved you were right about what, Agatha?”
“About you, Simone Cecelia Bardot, who was clever enough to keep her own name when she married. You fought against the ward, even without realizing it. Even when you thought you didn’t deserve it.
” She tapped the edge of her rocker. “You were meant to be here, CC. Never forget that. I believe in you.”
Her encouragement filled the air like a distant tune. I leaned forward to catch it.
“Are you leaving, Agatha?”
“Not quite, dear. I’m here until the next board meeting, no matter what.” She’d never sounded more tired. “Now listen closely, it took a lot of energy for House to bring me to you, and we’re running out of time.”
“You can stay a moment longer.” The words flowed from me like a cool breeze. “I will hold you here, Agatha.”
“Well done, dear.” Her form solidified. Her shoulders dropped in relaxation. Power traveled between us, streams of light in varying shades of blue.
“Tell me all that you can, Agatha.”
She heaved a breath and closed her eyes.
“Mind the Twins. They are mostly harmless but can be mischievous. They will test you as often as you let them, but they won’t stand in your way as long as you push back.
Sweet Lauren has grown a lot over the years.
You’ll have obstacles to overcome, but she’s solid as they come.
Relish your friendship with Brianne. I believe you two are soul mates, such as friends go. It’s why she’s here.”
I’d had that feeling about Brianne from the moment we met. She and I were meant to do great things together. With each word, hope glimmered stronger inside me. I had everything I needed now to repair the damage.
“If you make things right with Doug, your other patients will fall in line. There’s nothing wrong with your methods, Simone.” Her voice hardened. “But not everyone wants to know an end is in sight.”
She was fading again. Fatigue hammered at my limbs. Sweat coated my upper lip. Holding her here was taking a toll on both of us.
“One last thing.” There was a warning in her tone that set my teeth on edge. “The chains of magic can bind, but the bonds of family can shatter even the strongest link.”
“What?” As far as warnings went, it was a doozy. A shiver shot up my spine, like lightning in a summer storm. “What does that mean, Agatha?”
Her lips were moving, but I couldn’t make out words. House seemed to shudder with the efforts to hold her in place. I was sweaty and exhausted.
“I love you, Sweets.” With her final words drifting through the air, Agatha disappeared. The blue blanket flitted to the ground. The rocker swayed a moment longer, moving with the momentum of her presence. Then it too stilled, and I was alone.