“Thank you.” She mentally braced herself for a wave of grief that didn’t hit, surprising her. “We’ll all miss her, but she’d want us to move on with our lives.”
It was nearly five o’clock in the afternoon when she returned to the store to find an unmarked sheriff’s cruiser parked behind the store in her spot.
Heart racing, she hurried inside through the back door. There was what sounded like a noisy crowd gathered in the front of the store. She pushed her way through people until she found Brad being held back by Detective Haines while he still tried to take a swing at an older man cowering away from him.
“For fuck’s sake!” she screamed at the top of her voice, making everyone else fall silent and look at her. “What in the name of Hecate is going on?”
“I was going to ask you that,” Haines said as he struggled to hold on to Brad.
She stepped in front of Brad. “What the hell is going on?”
He tried to look around her, but she grabbed his head and made him look at her. “Just let me take one fucking swing at him,” he said. “That’s all I ask!”
She glanced at the man and back at Brad. “Who is he?”
“He’s my goddamned father.” He stopped fighting the detective. “Just one punch, that’s all I need.”
Anger flared from deep within her. She whirled on the man. “That right? You his father?”
Somewhere behind her, it sounded like a lightbulb in one of the store display cases exploded with a loud pop, making a couple of people jump and even a few let out startled cries.
The man nodded. “I just wanted to talk to him. I saw the news story and thought I’d—”
“OUT!” she roared. Everyone behind her took an involuntary step back, including the detective, who pulled Brad with him.
The man’s eyes widened. “But, I—”
Another lightbulb exploded and, somehow, the front door flew open. The thought that a sudden gust of wind must have pushed it, as it sometimes did, swept through her mind. She stepped forward as the guy stepped back toward the open door.
Her hands balled into tight fists. “You didn’t just see a news story. That fucking reporter sent you. Get. Out. Of. My. Store. And if you ever come back or say anything to that fuckface slimy reporter about Brad, I will forget I’m not supposed to hex people!” She walked over to the door and pushed it shut, even though the pneumatic arm on it wouldn’t let her slam it in his face.
She turned, stunned silence and wide eyes meeting her. Someone started applauding, and before she knew it, the whole room of twenty or so people were applauding her.
Breathing hard, she walked up to Brad again. “What the hell?”
“I was here getting another statement,” the detective said. “About last night, when that man came in.” He looked around her. Brad’s father was scurrying down the sidewalk and out of sight. “You walked in about twenty seconds after it all started.”
She pulled herself up to her full height and nodded. “Is Brad under arrest for anything?”
“No. Like I said, it’d just happened when you came in. I’m not going to arrest him for not taking a swing at someone. I’ve got enough paperwork.”
“Good.” She looked at Brad and pointed to her office. “Now.”
Without a word, he went.
She took another deep breath to calm herself. “Please, detective, feel free to use my office to take his statement. You can close the door for privacy.”
“Thank you.”
She didn’t know if he looked scared or like he admired her.
She turned to everyone else. “Well? What are y’all waiting for? Get back to doing whatever you were doing. Show’s over.”
Paige, wearing a look of awe, followed her down the hall to the washroom where Mandaline splashed cold water on her face as the shakes hit.
“Holy…holy shit!” Paige whispered. “Sachi is gonna crap herself when I tell her what you just did!”
“What’d I just do?”
“You…Jesus, Mandaline? Seriously? You blew two fucking bulbs out and made the door open!”
Heat filled her face again. She splashed more cold water on it. “That was the wind that made the door open.”
“It’s not windy!”
“And with all the storms lately, it was probably just some sort of power surge or something that did the bulbs in. Weakened them and they coincidentally blew.”
When Paige didn’t respond, Mandaline looked at her in the mirror.
Paige’s jaw gaped. “Fuck. Me. Mandaline, quit trying to play the Queen of Denial! You did that!”
“I’ve never done anything like that before!”
“You’ve never been as angry before as you were out there. I’ve never seen you that angry!”
Mandaline grabbed a paper towel to dry her face. “Maybe Sachi’s right,” she muttered. “Maybe I should take up skeet.”
She didn’t mention what happened to Ellis when he returned from the office around six thirty. Exhausted, she placed a quick call to Sachi to check up on her before going upstairs. “You guys, please, just fend for yourselves for dinner. I’ll make myself something if I wake up before morning. Someone please walk Pers.”
Ellis looked concerned. “Are you okay?”
“Just tired.” She gave him a kiss and headed upstairs. After stripping, she fell into bed and crashed immediately into sleep.
She found herself standing in a sunny, gorgeous bedroom full of IKEA furniture. At first she didn’t recognize it until she heard a laugh and saw Julie spread out on the bed.
“Good choice, sister.”
Mandaline smiled. “Thank you, sister.” The walls had been painted a cheerful pale yellow that perfectly matched the decor.
“That’s ‘Seaside Yellow,’ by the way,” Julie noted. “Don’t forget it.”
Mandaline laughed. “I won’t.” Her smile faded. “About today…”
Julie waved her comment off as she sat up. “You did it. Quit being bashful. You had a lot of anger and fear and energy pent up.” She stood and walked over to Mandaline, where she put her hands on her shoulders. “And thank you for releasing me.”
Mandaline sighed, but she didn’t feel sad. “I guess I won’t see you again, will I?”
Julie shrugged and looked around. “You’ll see me everywhere. In the trees, in the breeze.” She touched Mandaline’s chest. “In your heart.” Then she touched Mandaline’s forehead, between her eyes. “In your mind.”
Mandaline smiled. “Thank you, sister.”
Julie hugged her. “You’re welcome, sister, but I didn’t do anything. You did it.” She kissed Mandaline’s cheek before stepping back. “And the world moves on and on. Namaste.”
As the dream faded from her mind, Mandaline whispered, “Namaste.”
She awoke to find Ellis and Brad trying to carefully get into bed on either side of her without disturbing her.
“Sorry,” Brad said.
“Sorry, hon,” Ellis echoed.
She smiled at them. “It’s okay. I want to paint the master bedroom ‘Seaside Yellow.’”
The men exchanged a confused look before bursting into laughter. “Okay,” Ellis said, “that’s an odd thing to wake up and state, but whatever.”
Brad, however, smiled. “Julie?”
She nodded. “She’s free.” She snuggled between them after giving them both good-night kisses, sleep already dragging her back down again. “And now, so am I.”
Epilogue
They gathered at Julie’s tree at dusk on Summer Solstice, which happened to fall on a Saturday. That evening’s coffeeshop coven would be more a wedding reception than their usual get-together. With Grover, Libbie, Ellis’ parents, her parents, Sachi’s dad, Matt and Sami, everyone from the store, and a few others in attendance, Sachi stood before the three of them with a wicked grin.