Page 11 of Starlight Witch

My phone jangled and I reached for it, holding it up so I could see. Bran was texting me.

hey sweetheart. how are you feeling? would you like to go out for dinner? i thought we could go to carter’s steakhouse. i want to talk to you about something.

tonight? i’m free.

i’ll pick you up at seven, then. dress up. love you.

By the time Grams arrived home, I had made a batch of chocolate chip cookies, distracted Gem and Silver from the thunderstorm, lost a game of Scrabble to Fancypants, and was sorting through my closet for something nice to wear. Nice was a relative term. To me, nice included leather but I didn’t think that was what Bran meant. I spotted a cobalt blue dress in the back. It was a cold-shoulder dress, a light jersey knit. It had a plunging V-neck, and with a patent leather black belt, it would be warm, cozy, and pretty. I redid my makeup, then dressed and put on a pair of chunky-heeled patent leather boots that laced up the front.

“Don’t you look pretty?” Grams said as I returned to the kitchen. “Where are you off to?”

“I’m having dinner with Bran. He’s taking me to Carter’s Steakhouse. He said he had something important to talk about, and asked me to dress up.”

A delighted look spread across Grams’s face. “I wonder…” she murmured.

I was fixing a latte. “You wonder what?”

“I wonder if he wants to ask you a certain question.” She held up her hand before I could protest. “And don’t you stop me. I know what you’ve been going through, and I know how you feel. But it’s plain as the nose on anybody’s face how Bran feels about you. There’s no way that you can deny it. That man is in love with you. And I know that you love him. And yes—I know you also love Faron. I’m not questioning your devotion to him. But don’t throw away a jewel in your hand, for the hope of one that might be hiding in the bushes.”

I sat down by her at the table. “I know you’re right. And yes, I do love Bran. But how can I accept a marriage proposal from one man when I’m waiting to see if the other love of my life even remembers what we had? What if Faron hears about the engagement and then remembers what we had? Would it be fair to him for me to move on, before he’s had a chance to remember? It was only a few months ago that he was hurt, so should I throw away what we had without giving him time to heal?” Even as I desperately tried to argue, I could feel my protests weakening.

“I suppose you make sense, but what if he doesn’t heal up? I mean, what if he doesn’t remember what went on between the two of you? How long are you going to give him before you move on with your life? I don’t mean to sound harsh, but you can’t keep Bran in the wings. I’m going to ask you this once, and you don’t have to answer but I want you to think about it. Are you using Bran as a backup?” Grams leaned back in her chair, patting her lap. Silver jumped up, curling up on her apron.

I stared at my latte, stirring it slowly. “No, I am not using him as a backup. I really do love him. And I know he loves me. But Grams, I can’t walk away from Faron without knowing whether he’ll ever remember us. I won’t wait forever, and Bran isn’t my second choice, but I can’t pretend that Faron and I were only friends.”

“Well then, at least you have your foundation. Just remember all this, in case he asks you.” Grams picked up a takeout menu. “If you’re going out to dinner, I might order in. I haven’t had fried chicken in a while, and though I prefer my own, to be honest, I don’t feel like cooking tonight.” She sorted through the rest of the menus.

“I won’t push you,” she said. “I always found it hard enough to deal with one relationship, no matter how much I loved your great-grandfather. Trying to juggle two lovers seems like an abnormal amount of time and energy. But that’s just me. We’re different, everybody’s different. I trust that you know what you’re doing.”

“On other subjects, did you put a down payment on the house?”

She lit up at my question. “I did, with the contingency that it passes inspection. He’s supposed to come out in a couple of days—probably Monday. I think there’s a ghost in the house, but she feels like she’s been there a long time, and I don’t feel anything malign coming from her.”

“That’s good. Say, Grams, I have a question about my father’s journal. You said that he belonged to the Witches’ Council of Port Townsend?”

“Yes, he did. They invited your mother as well, but she deferred. I don’t think she wanted the responsibility. Why do you ask?”

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “Because the second entry in his journal mentioned powerful people trying to influence him to do something bad to his clients. I’m not sure what, but I got the feeling he meant financially. And he said that he hid a letter to my mother in the house somewhere. But if she never read the journal, there’s a good chance she never found the letter. When we go up there for Thanksgiving, maybe we can look around for it?”

Grams frowned, and she set the takeout menus to the side. She seemed hesitant to answer for a moment, then said, “I suppose we can. Your father didn’t say much to us. I don’t know if he talked to your mother about this at all, but I have a feeling he didn’t. I know that he was concerned over something that was going on behind the scenes. Possibly something to do with the Witches’ Council. That’s dangerous water to tread. There are many powerful people on the council and it’s not wise to stir up old issues.”

“I understand that, but what if he was murdered? What if he didn’t kill himself? You yourself said that they hushed it up. What if they did so for a reason? If he did kill himself, then I’ll accept it. But if he was murdered, shouldn’t we look for justice?” I glanced at my phone. Bran would be here in a few minutes. “I better get my purse and keys.”

“We’ll talk it over on the drive to Port Townsend. Maybe we should go up early?”

“Oh gods, no. He’s been dead for twenty-eight years. A few more days isn’t going to make any difference.” I heard Bran’s truck pull up outside. “Okay, Bran is here. Love you and I’ll see you later. I don’t expect to be out too long, but I have my keys in case you want to go to bed early.” I gave her a kiss on the cheek and headed for the door. The fact that Grams was nervous about looking into my father’s death told me that she suspected there was something wrong. And I wanted to know what it was.

CHAPTER FIVE

Carter’s Steakhouse was an upscale eatery, innocuously rustic on the outside, while quietly luxurious on the inside. It was one of the better restaurants in town, in terms of fine dining. The inside decor was a quiet melody of browns and golds, with supple leather seats, and quiet wallpaper pattern that whispered of old money. It had a sports bar attached to it, called the Dragon, and businessmen came here to watch the games and drink scotch. While there were several country clubs in Starlight Hollow, the Dragon served a similar function for those who chose not to belong to one of the elite clubs.

The hostess, who was dressed in a white ruffled shirt and black pants, checked off our reservation and picked up the menus. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to your booth.”

She led us through a labyrinth of tables, toward the back where there were four booths. I slid into one side, while Bran slid into the opposite seat. The hostess handed us our menus, then motioned to the waitress to fill our water goblets.

“Our specials tonight are steak soup, the filet mignon and lobster tail surf and turf, and our pumpkin risotto with lamb croquettes. If I may take your drink orders, I’ll have someone bring them right out.”

“I’ll have a spiced cider, nonalcoholic.” I glanced over at Bran.

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