I shed the vision that fills my head every time I think of that place.
“What is it?” he asks.
“What is what?”
“Your eyes just went unfocused. You saw something. What was it?”
How can he still read me so well?
I blow out a breath and then decide: What the hell?
“When we went to the house to find our grandmother’s grimoire, Mama led me out to the garden. Said she wanted to show me her roses or something. We were alone because Millie and Cash were upstairs, looking for the book, and Brielle stopped to look at something in the house. Anyway, she led me into the backyard. The rose bushes were ridiculous, Jack. As if they were grown with fertilizer on steroids. I reached out and touched a blossom.
“Now, I’d been so careful throughout the entire house because…well, you know.”
He nods, his eyes narrowed, and I keep going.
“Anyway, she was rattling on about how she killed my father. And I touched the bloom. Suddenly, it was as black as a moonless night, and my father’s voice started cackling in my head—an evil, awful laugh. I hadn’t seen him in years, not since Miss Sophia helped us get rid of him with a spell. But he’s buried in that garden, Jack. And his spirit is still very much in that house.”
“Jesus,” he murmurs and presses his fingertips to his eyes. “I’m so damn sorry, Daph.”
“I’m fine,” I assure him, even though not much about my childhood was fine. “I’m used to all of this. It’s happened forever.”
“And that just pisses me right off,” he says, but his voice is soft. “No one deserves to be taunted the way the three of you have been.”
“Four,” I remind him. “Mama got the worst of it. But she’s doing great now. Unbeknownst to all of us, we found out Mama’s a witch.”
“What? I thought she punished you guys if you talked about those kinds of things.”
“Oh, she did. Well, whatever possessed her did. But we discovered that not only was she a witch before, she was also a member of Miss Sophia’s coven.”
His eyes fly to mine. “Our coven?”
“That’s right.”
“And no one did anything? Said anything?”
“Miss Sophia said that Mama was always a little…difficult. Moody. Probably from being married to my dad.” I shrug. “She didn’t know what was happening at the house.”
“No one ever said anything to me about your mom,” he mutters in confusion.
“They’d probably tell you that it wasn’t for them to talk about. Or that it wasn’t time.” I roll my eyes. “This mystical stuff is damn frustrating.”
He shrugs and then nods. “Yeah, I can see that. Still, it’s all fascinating.”
“Thanks for the coffee. And for checking in.” I stand and straighten my robe, enjoying a brief moment of female satisfaction when Jackson’s pupils dilate. “But I have to get over to Brielle’s so we can go see Mama.”
“Yeah, I have places to be, as well. I was going to ask you to dinner, but since you’re spending time with your sisters, I’ll save that.”
“Jack.” I sigh as I walk him to the door. “We aren’t dating.”
“Who said anything about dating?” He winks, flashes that knee-weakening smile, and then he’s gone.
I shut the door and look back into the room. “Why does he have to be so damn charming?”
* * *
“Do you think Mama’s ready to get out of the hospital?” Millie asks as we drive to the place Mama’s been living since she was removed from the house in the bayou.
“She’s stronger than ever,” Brielle reminds our sister. “She’s been able to go out and enjoy things. So many spells protect her at this point, nothing’s going to get at her.”
“We hope,” I whisper and turn my car into the parking lot of the hospital. “Let’s see how this goes.”
My sisters and I have held a grudge for years. Like Miss Sophia, we had no idea that our mother was possessed. We just thought she was awful. That she was content to live in that mean old house.
But we’ve come to realize that our mother is not the mean old woman we thought she was. Since being free of the possession, she’s mourned the years she lost with us, and she’s been kind and helpful.
The type of mother all three of us needed from the start.
I find a place to park, and we make our way through security and up to Mama’s floor.
We find her sitting in a chair by the window, reading a book, with a soft smile on her face. She’s tall, with long, blonde hair like Millie’s, but Mama’s is streaked with gray. Her face is free of makeup, but she’s wearing her mother of pearl pendant. I notice someone painted her fingernails a pretty light pink.
When she looks up at us, her face transforms with a bright smile.