Page 9 of Magic Blooms

eight

As much as I wanted to continue our investigation, Joshua insisted there was nothing we could do until later that evening. Despite my protests, he dropped me back off with Lorraine at Fox’s End. Frankly, I had no doubt he’d be pursuing leads without me; that rankled.

What if I’d been put in Peach Plains for this very reason? To catch the killer before he or she could kill again? It was as good an explanation as any.

Trudging up the steps, I resolved to solve this thing no matter who or what tried to stop me, even if it meant a slight delay in figuring out how to get myself back home. A solution would come in time. Also, whatever damage was to be caused by my sudden disappearance had likely already happened.

Whether or not I was meant to show up in Elyria, Georgia, I’d felt more important in these last two days than I ever had in my entire life to that point. Finally, the things I did mattered. I’d saved the piglets, saved Joshua, and I could save countless more if I kept my focus.

Now inside the large, once-cheerful kitchen of Fox’s End, I felt that gentle tug of being needed again.

Lorraine sat alone at the wooden-knot table, her hands folded in front of her as she stared at the weathered surface that had hosted so many intimate meals for her and her staff—and most recently me.

The police had gone, and so had everyone else.

“I gave the cleaners the day off. No point in them staying after all the guests checked out,” she mumbled softly without looking up.

My head spun as I took in this new version of my kind hostess. Gone was the confident spitfire who was proud to make trouble for herself and others, and in her place was a wilted husk.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “About everything.”

Lorraine shifted her gaze to an empty cup that sat on the table before her; I doubted she actually saw it though. How long had she been sitting here on her own? How long ago had the drink in that cup turned cold?

For the first time I was truly happy that Jasmine didn’t have the materials needed to send me home. No, I couldn’t imagine leaving Lorraine like this.

All alone. Not even guests to keep her busy.

She needed a purpose. Needed me.

I choked back a sob of bittersweet bliss.

So this is what it felt like.

How different my life could have been had I been born to a different family.

How much richer without all the trappings of luxury to fill my days with meaningless fluff.

This was real. Lorraine. Me. This place.

“Where did you go?” she asked me now, her voice sounding hollow and empty.

I debated hiding my true actions, but I didn’t think Lorraine needed lies at the moment. “Joshua was worried about you. He and I went to Pinecrest Inn to see if Gerry had anything to do with… well, with what happened this morning.”

Lorraine huffed and glanced over at me, finally breaking her concentration on the empty cup.

“The fool thought Gerry had something to do with this? Ridiculous. He’s too much of a showboat to slink around in secret.

If he wanted someone dead, he’d darn well make sure he got the credit for doing it. Too cocky, that one. Too stupid, too.”

I thought back to the man I’d met. He hadn’t seemed all that stupid to me, but I supposed Lorraine knew him better than I did. “We don't know for a fact she was murdered. Maybe Joshua is just trying to cover all the bases, just in case.”

The corner of her mouth hooked up, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “You’re right about that. That boy’s as paranoid as they come. But his instincts are usually right on the money.”

Hmmm… That’s what Joshua had said too. “Is it because of his magic? The fact he knows things before ever really finding them out?”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “You know I can’t tell you that.”

“I know you don’t want to be the one to tell me. But I think if I’m going to be spending so much time with him then I have a right to know.”

“Why are you suddenly planning to spend so much time with him? You don’t have a crush, do you?” Lorraine’s laugh was mirthless, but the fact she’d gotten a jab in encouraged me.

I was about to ask what a crush was when I saw the look on her face and immediately understood.

“Oh. A crush. Of course not. In fact, I already have an intended back home. His name is Dante, and he’s one of the most respected water elementals around.

Our families have been planning the match for ages. ”

“Just because you’re intended for someone else doesn’t mean you can’t admire others. And Joshua is very admirable. Isn’t he?” She grabbed the cup and wrapped both hands around it. Her shoulders slumped with a sigh—as if she was finally letting some of the tensions she’d held there go.

A surge of hot blood rushed to my cheeks. I hadn’t even considered him in that way. The first night we’d met it had been too windy and rainy to focus on much. And today there had obviously been more important things to deal with.

But now that I honestly thought about it, Joshua was quite appealing to the eye.

And he was protective of Lorraine. Going out of his way to protect her animals in the storm and to help her with this fiasco.

Our goals matched, and I liked that. I was quickly coming to appreciate this new life, and it seemed he’d already had it all along.

Admirable, indeed.

“Whatever the case, I need to get back home to Dante,” I insisted, shaking my head in denial.

“Besides, I can guarantee you that Joshua is not impressed with me.” I’d done nothing to help him today, and yesterday I’d almost gotten him killed.

Not that he knew I was the one who’d caused the storm, but still.

Now it was Lorraine’s turn to shake her head. “You’re right. This is no time to bother with the menfolk. They’re good for nothing most of the time anyway. That reminds me, I have an important job for us to do. Follow me.”

She went down a hallway to one of the first-floor guest bedrooms and opened the door. Before I even stepped inside, I had a bad feeling. The dream-like image of the woman sprawled across the stretcher returned to me. Her puffy red hair, lifeless blue lips, unseeing eyes.

“This was her room, wasn’t it?” I asked, my voice shaky as the memory finally left me.

“Her name was Karen Harrison. She was visiting from Ohio. A widow who’d been busy blowing through her late husband’s life insurance.

Wasn’t my favorite to deal with, but I wouldn’t wish this fate on anyone.

Fox’s End is meant to be an escape from the real world, not an escape from life itself.

She was healthy as a horse, far as I could tell.

There was no reason for her to go so suddenly. ”

“Are horses especially healthy?” I asked as I took in the unmade bed, the scattered luggage.

Lorraine frowned. “Huh. Well, I guess I don’t know for certain. But they don’t have an obesity epidemic, I suppose. Anyway, Karen went for hour-long walks every day. She’d been a guest here for six days with two more to go. No one at the inn had anything against her.”

“That you could tell,” I pointed out. “Some people conceal their true feelings well.”

“Nonsense. I know everything that goes on here,” she snapped back.

Although we both knew that wasn’t true, I kept that bit to myself. Instead I chose to bring focus back to the job she had planned for us. “Why did you want me to come here?”

“You’re an earth elemental. I don’t know exactly what that means, but I know you have a strong relationship to plants and nature. Right?”

I nodded.

“If a magical being or witch is the reason for Karen’s death, then chances are there was a potion or mixture slipped to her. So, think you can use your elemental sniffer to look around the room for organic matter that could do this?”

I blinked a few times as I tried to imagine how she thought this was going to work. “Well, I’m not so su—”

Lorraine shook her head and held up a hand, stopping me. “I don’t care how crazy you think it is. There’s no reason why you can’t at least try. Please.”

She had a point. I needed to at least try, even if it was only to show Lorraine how much I cared, how much I was willing to help in whatever way I could.

Besides, my magic had been acting strange ever since I’d crash-landed in that field.

It felt like it had been so long ago, but no…

I was still new to this place and still finding out what was possible.

I took a tentative step into the room, willing my mind to stay blank so the magic could act without the interference of my expectations.

The woman who had lived in this room for the past few days was no longer in this world—Karen Harrison—and I’d never been of it. She had been snuffed out like a flame, and here I was, the least likely person to investigate the aftermath.

No. Don’t think.

Just feel.

Listen to the echoes of what was.

I squeezed my eyes shut and felt the energy surround me. When I opened them again, my eyes roamed around the room, taking in each detail passively. This bright and sunny room certainly didn’t look like it held any darkness within the airy cream-colored walls.

A thick white quilt lay bunched in one corner of the bed. A series of gold pillows lined the base of a golden fabric headboard. One of them had fallen to the ground.

The rest of the room carried through the gold, beige, and white color scheme. It was certainly nicer than the room Lorraine had provided me, but since I didn’t actually have any currency to provide her, I had no complaints.

Thinking back to my temporary room, I remembered the plant I’d discovered there.

Were there any in Karen’s room, too?

Organic material, that’s what I needed to bring my magic to life.

I glanced around the room a few more times but came up short in my search. The space was pretty neat and orderly. There were still some clothes piled on one of the chairs and an assortment of personal items on the dresser, but nary a speck of the green I needed to find.

Lorraine hadn’t asked me to use my eyes. She’d asked me to use my magic. So I closed my eyes again and focused on the feeling of the ground beneath my feet, the sun warming my cheek.

And when I exhaled, a piece of my essence went with it. I didn’t fully understand what I was doing, but I let it happen, let the magic guide me.

And then when I opened my eyes, I waited for… nothing.

I frowned. Well it had surely felt like my elemental powers had done something. But everything looked the same as it had a few seconds ago.

Frustrating.

What was I supposed to do now?

Turning toward Lorraine, I shook my head with disappointment.

And in that fraction of a moment, I heard a soft rattling sound from beside the bed and glanced over to see a small black receptacle shaking.

Part of me wanted to back away, but I had a feeling whatever was inside was coming to see me, had been summoned by me even.

I took a few steps closer and watched as dark, snaking tendrils emerge from the bin.

The vines crept straight up before developing branches that stretched out in either direction. A few seconds later, star-shaped leaves blossomed from the stem and spread open in greeting.

And then everything stopped and waited for me to come closer still.

I leaned forward, fearful but resolved to push through that fear.

As I closed the rest of the distance, it became evident that a full, mature plant had grown from a previously empty trash bin. How?

Oh, yeah. Me.

“Wh-wh-what is it?” Lorraine asked with a shaky voice from several paces behind me. “What did you do?”