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Chapter Twenty-Seven

SUNNY

B efore long, the roof was fixed, and Asher was behind the grill, cooking up burgers under the careful supervision of Abe. While Sunny brought out her pesto pasta salad and chips, Ruby was... Wait, what was Ruby doing exactly?

“What’s she doing?” Sunny motioned to Ruby with her head.

Julie was setting the picnic table up and said, “Ruby? Oh, she’s talking to her crows.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

Sunny had been around the Blacks her whole life. She was used to all the unusual things that came with that, but talking to crows was a new one.

“Yeah, Esther feeds the crows, and they started bringing Ruby little trinkets. Now they follow her around, and she talks to them. At first, I saw it as a sign of loneliness but then Bridget explained that, given her lineage, they might be familiars.”

“What did I explain?” Bridget asked as she walked from the woods, like it was to totally normal thing to do.

“About Ruby and her crows,” Julie said.

“Oh, yes. Ruth had quite a gift with the animals. I do believe she had a cat that understood her better than any person alive besides her husband.”

“I remember Professor Acorn,” Sunny said fondly.

“Professor Acorn?” Julie asked, her head cocked.

“That was the name of the cat.”

Sunny looked around at the familiar but odd sight of the cookout with the Blacks.

Abe and Asher were manning the grill, totally ordinary, while Ruby talked to crows. Sunny made pasta salad, totally normal, while Bridget brought good luck punch. Which she was totally going to drink, but all the same, it was strange.

Just as Asher was pulling the burgers off the grill, a black Cadillac pulled into the driveway.

Sunny’s heart dropped.

Surely, the coal company wasn’t back to bother her again. But after the engine turned off and the door opened, Esther Black stepped out.

“Mama!” Ruby cried.

The crow gave a squawk of indignation before flying off as Ruby ran to her mother.

Esther smiled and bent, lifting Ruby off the ground in a big hug.

“I miss you, darling.” Esther dropped a kiss on top of her head before putting her down, then walked over to the crowd like her sudden appearance after being gone for a few weeks was totally normal.

“This looks delicious. Sour cream and onion, my favorite,” she said, reaching her hand into a bag of chips.

“Esther, you’reback,” Julie said.

“Welcome home,” Abe said skeptically.

“Well, burgers are done,” Asher said, trying to smooth over the sudden awkwardness. “Your time is impeccable as always, sister.”

“What can I say? It’s a gift.”

“Go wash your hands,” Abe said to Ruby.

Ruby disappeared up the stairs.

Sunny slowly made her way to Esther, having had no chance to catch up with her since she’d been back.

She would be lying if she said she wasn’t intimidated to talk to who her, even though they’d once been best friends.

“Hey, Es, it’s really good to see you.”

A rare smile spread across her dark features before she pulled Sunny in for a hug.

“It’s really good to see you, Sunny. Did my brother finally pull his head out of his ass?”

“Well, I’m the one who need to pull their head out of their ass, but all asses and heads are where they need to be now.”

“Good. We should catch up soon.”

“Where have you been?” Abe said as he stalked over to the table.

“I told you I had some loose ends to tie up in Tennessee. Thank you so much for watching Ruby.”

“Oh, it was no trouble. We loved having her,” Julie said.

“We did, but I still have questions for you.”

“And you can keep having them.” She patted his broad chest and continued to fix her plate.

“That’s it?” Abe’s brows came together with a deep crease as he waited for his twin sister to explain her absence.

“That’s it,” she said, grinning at him.

“Well, this is a lovely family reunion. Welcome back, sis. We’re glad you’re home,” Asher said as he sat with a plate piled high with food.

Ruby came bounding out the door, softening the crease between Abe’s brow, and they all found a seat ready to eat.

“You’re back just in time for my piano recital, Mom. It’s this week on Thursday night.”

“I know. That’s part of why I was so ready to get back. I needed to see you. How’s your teacher?”

Sunny’s ears perked up. While everyone seemed to think highly of Nox, she didn’t trust him and his beady red eyes.

“Mr. Whittaker? He’s good. He was asking about you last week when he noticed you hadn’t been the one picking me up. I told him you had to go back to our old house to get stuff. Then he asked if you were married,” Ruby said in a sing-song voice.

“Ruby. We don’t need to talk about that to people,” Esther said with words laced with such finality that even Sunny pulled back at the harshness.

“I didn’t tell him anything. I just said my dad wasn’t around anymore.”

“Ruby,” Esther said with a glare.

Although there was more concern than fury behind it, those two emotions seemed to cause the same reaction out of Esther Black.

Esther had always been one of Sunny’s best friends, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t also a little terrified of her.

But Ruby didn’t even seem to notice as she shrugged and picked up her burger.

“Ye know,” Bridget said, breaking the tension. “I must say it’s good to be in a coven again.”

All eyes turned to look at her, some surprised, others confused. No one expected that, but when did Bridget ever say things people expected?

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been around so many magical people all at once. It feels good, no?”

Sunny looked over at Asher, who flashed her a small smile.

It was true. There was a coven here, and there hadn’t been one since the night of the accident.

That had to mean something. And if there was a coven here.

.. Maybe she could tell them about some of the crazy dreams and visions she’d been having.

That was part of being in a community, especially one with magic.

As dinner wound down, Asher stood and cleared the plates.

“Let me help,” Sunny said.

“No, we got it,” Abe said, standing to help Asher. “Don’t we, Ruby?”

“Yes, Uncle Abe.”

“Let’s go, Peanut. I’ll wash, you dry,” Asher said, ruffling her hair.

Things had been so intense with Asher since her return she had almost forgotten the peacemaking role he played so well in their family. He made life easier with his gentleness, although the night before, he’d been anything but gentle. Just the thought of that was enough to redden Sunny’s cheeks.

Asher, sensing her emotions, looked over at her, cocking a fucking sexy eyebrow, and she glared at him.

“Did you have some questions for Bridget?” he asked.

“Yes! I did!” Sunny turned to Bridget, whose interest had piqued, but Bridget was also right. This was a coven if she wanted it to be. “Do you all want to come up into my dad’s office. I have some questions.”

“Lead the way, my dear,” Bridget said, standing from the table.

Sunny led Bridget, Julie, and Esther inside.

“His office is upstairs.” The three women followed her up the stairs.

“Oh, Esther.” She turned at the top. “I feel like I should give you a heads-up. When my dad died, he was working hard to try and figure out the car accident. He never believed that they ran off the road swerving to miss a deer.”

“No one believed that,” Esther said coolly.

“I know... but there are some pictures and other stuff... I just wanted to tell you in case you didn’t want to see things like that.”

“I appreciate it, but if you think he has new information, I think I need to know.”

“Okay,” Sunny said as she headed down the hall.

When they reached the door, she put her hand on the doorknob and couldn’t help the zip of nerves that shot up her spine.

This was a lot. This was bringing these women she respected into the mind of a man who was not well at the end of things. All these things had brought her life crashing down around her years ago.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself against those nerves and opened the door. She turned the knob, and it creaked.

They all entered the space, and she waited for them to take it all in.

The look on Julie’s face was of cautious concern, whereas the look on Esther’s face was murderous... which tracked.

“Well, would ye look at all this?” Bridget said as she inspected the board. “Yer father certainly was a busy man.”

“One thing that is mildly concerning is this man,” she said, pointing to the center of the board. “Bradford Wilkes. He’s the suit who was in town a few weeks ago. He made me an offer on the house. I think he’s trying to get the land. And it looks like he was trying to get it before.”

“He’s from VenDeer?” Julie asked, looking at the papers on the table.

“Yeah.”

“Also, I keep getting this vision. It’s come in a dream and in waking visions.”

They all listened as Sunny told them about the rain on the road, the fire and smoke, the big black truck, and when she mentioned the red eyes, “Coal Miner’s Daughter” started blaring up the stairs.

Sunny held her hand out in a see? gesture.

The music cut off, and Asher called up from the bottom of the stairs, “How’s the witching going, my love?”

“We’re good,” she called down to him. “That’s the other part. Anytime something happens with any of this, that radio blares ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter.’ I’m starting to hate that song.”

That, of all things, pulled Esther’s focus.

“Sunny, you know we don’t speak ill of Loretta Lynn.”

“I know,” Sunny said, hiding her irritation. “I’m just so tired of that freaking song playing and making me jump clear out of my skin.”

“That is strange...” Bridget said as she looked out the window.

“Has your house acted this way before?”

That question wasn’t as straightforward as it would seem.