Chapter Three

The next morning, I woke up on Big Jo's couch at The Shack. I stared at the wood-paneled ceiling, remembering the last time I'd woken up here, the summer after my parents died. The couch was still as comfortable as it had been then. Which was to say I was eager to get back to my king-sized bed in Atlanta.

I reached for my phone and unsurprisingly, didn't have a signal. Cell service wasn't too terrible in Eldred's Hollow proper, but out here in the sticks, it was a bit dicey. My work email wouldn't even load, so I searched for available Wi-Fi networks.

Nothing came up.

"Now, I know you told me you have internet here," I muttered to myself, rolling up to sit and rubbing my face.

On one of the few calls I'd taken lately, Big Jo had loudly and proudly announced she'd gotten internet, so now I had no excuse not to visit. I glanced around the room for a modem and didn't see anything. I honestly wouldn't have put it past Big Jo to say she'd gotten it to entice me down then scramble to actually get it after I made travel plans.

The curtains rustled as if by the wind, and I made a noise. "Good morning to you, too. You didn't hide my clothes again, did you?"

The floorboard under my suitcase moved. The Shack seemed to adore my grandmother, but me? I couldn't tell if it hated me or merely enjoyed my shrieks of horror at its lovely tricks, like moving my underwear to the tree or disappearing the shower curtain and cutting the water as I was ready to rinse my hair.

In the kitchen, the fridge door opened and shut. I quirked a brow. "What do you want?"

The curtains rustled again, and the scent of coffee hit my nose, where a fresh pot was waiting. Gingerly, I stood and inspected it, sniffing the pot.

"It's not poisoned, is it?" I asked as I put the carafe down and searched for a coffee cup in the cabinets.

The Shack seemed to want more gratitude, because it snapped the cabinet doors closed on my fingers.

"Ow! Fine. Thank you." I examined my red fingertips. "What am I going to do with you? You'd probably go insane if you didn't have someone to pester." I didn't know what I was going to do with all of it, to be honest. "Any chance you know where Big Jo put that will?"

A creaking. No answer.

"Didn't think so." I rubbed the back of my head. "Guess I should go see that lawyer today, eh?"

Then I could put this mess behind me and get back to reality.

~~

I drove into town. There were more people out than yesterday, but then again, everyone had been at the memorial. Aimee had given me the lawyer's card, but I didn't need to use my GPS to find it.

With a grimace, I pulled into an empty spot on Main Street in front of the Enchanted Cat Cafe. The number on the lawyer's card matched the decal in front of the cafe, so I assumed he worked in one of the windowed offices above it.

I kept my head down as I tried to figure out how to get upstairs without having to go inside the cafe, where half the town would be enjoying coffee, eggs, pancakes, and grits. But there didn't seem to be an entrance, so with a sigh, I opened the door and braced myself for another onslaught.

"Sit anywhere you… Jo?"

The waitress was unmistakable; she looked like she hadn't aged a day in eight years. Kit Meredith had been my childhood best friend, and I shouldn't have been surprised to see her waitressing at her parents' cafe. Being a half-witch, she was something of an anomaly in Eldred's Hollow. I never knew what had caused Kit's witchy mom to fall in love with a green-skinned, grumpy ogre, but at least Kit came out looking human—save some unfortunate knuckle and eyebrow hair she was probably still obsessively waxing off. She, of course, had also inherited the magic that had skipped me, which came in handy as plates levitated behind her.

"Hey," I said with a bashful smile.

"I saw you last night," she said with a knowing look as she walked back to the counter. "Didn't get a chance to say hi before you ran away."

"You know me," I said, awkwardly.

"I do." She sighed. "But it's good to see you. I wasn't sure you'd make it back for the service, but…I gotta say, it made me happy to have you back at the Cove. Even if it was for an awkward speech."

I scoffed. "Aimee accosted me. I was hoping to fly under the radar."

"You? Fat chance." She snorted, putting the carafe back on the warmer. "Hungry? We're serving breakfast for a little longer."

"They've still got you roped into waitressing, huh?" I asked, walking up to the counter.

"My folks are getting up there, you know?" Kit said with a shrug. "Mom doesn't like to stand on her feet as much. Dad—"

"Don't you be telling lies, Kitty," came the gnarled voice of Mr. Meredith from the kitchen. As was common with witches marrying non-witches, he'd taken his wife's name. Two bright yellow eyes set in a gnarled, green face looked back at me from the rectangular window separating the front room from the back.

"Hello Mr. Meredith," I said, waving weakly. For as terrifying as he looked, he'd never been anything but kind to me. Perhaps because, like me, he was a non-magical creature in a sea of wands and hats.

"Good to see you, Jo." He put the plate on the counter. "Order up, Kitty."

"Thanks, Dad," she said, pulling the plate toward her. "Well?"

"Actually, I was looking for a way upstairs," I said. "Need to chat with the resident lawyer."

She nodded to the back. "Stairs that way."

"Thanks." I smiled thinly. "When I'm done, maybe we can have a cup of coffee?"

"I'd like that."

I walked up the stairs, finding two doors at the top. One was for the Enchanted Cat Cafe's office, and the other said R. Daniel Page, Esq.

I knocked and was beckoned inside, where I found a young receptionist popping her gum behind thick-rimmed glasses. A mark on her shoulder told me she was a werewolf.

"Good morning," I said. "I'm, uh…"

"Jo Maelstrom?" came the voice from inside the larger office. "Come on in."

I followed the voice, expecting to see some salt-and-pepper-haired grumpy man seated at a grandiose desk with shelves of legal tomes behind him. Instead, I found a young man, perhaps a few years older than me, sitting behind…well, it wasn't grandiose, but it was a dark wood, and it filled the whole of the cramped space. The air had a faint scent of must, like the dull green carpet hadn't been cleaned in years. It was a stark contrast to the brown-haired, full-bearded man sitting behind it, who didn't quite look like a lawyer. He wore a button-up, short-sleeved shirt that probably needed to see an iron, and when he rose to shake my hand, the rips in his blue jeans seemed to coincide suspiciously with the placement of his wallet and keys.

"So sorry for your loss," he said, offering me one of the two seats in front of his desk. "Big Jo will certainly be missed."

"I'm surprised you knew her," I said, sitting down.

He gave me a confused look. "Why do you say that? I spent every summer at the Cove."

I scrutinized him until a memory jogged somewhere in the back of my mind. My gaze snapped to the law degrees on the wall. "Wait a second…"

His smile widened, and his eyes sparkled with amusement. "Yeah. I used to be much blonder."

That was an understatement. If this R. Daniel Page was actually Danny Page, the skinny, tow-headed warlock I was thinking of…the last few years had certainly done wonders. The last time I'd seen him, he'd been all limbs and white hair. Now, his hair was reddish-brown, and he filled his clothes well. I might even call him handsome now.

"How long has it been?" I said, putting my hand to my head, debating if I should ask if he'd taken any appearance-changing potions.

"Well, I think I was a few years ahead of you," he said, sitting back in his chair. "Graduated law school four years ago and set up shop here."

"Why here?" I asked.

"Well, the Merediths are my cousins, you know. And besides that, I love it here," he said. "Went to school in Boston to study the finer points of magical and non-magical law, but I found my calling down here. Especially with all the growth over at Eldred's Beach, I'm busier than I anticipated." He gestured to the assistant outside, who was jamming out to something on her headphones. "Added Mavis last year to answer phones and help me with filing."

I nodded. His time was clearly valuable, so I probably should've called to make an appointment, but he wasn't throwing me out. "So I guess I'm here to ask about Big Jo's will. Aimee said you didn't draw it up, but she had one, right?"

"That's right." He shook his head. "I told her I'd be happy to help, but she insisted she'd had all that sewn up years ago."

"What happens if we don't find the will?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Probably roughly the same as Big Jo wanted. You're next of kin, so everything in her name would automatically fall to you."

I nodded, gritting my teeth.

"Probably not what you wanted, though, right?" He smiled.

"How can you tell?"

"Anyone with eyes could see you didn't want to be there last night," he said with a hearty laugh. "Don't think much has changed since you were a teenager."

I wanted to say a lot had changed, that I'd changed, but I really hadn't. I still felt like the fish out of water, the only person in Eldred's Hollow with a useless wand.

"I have a life in Atlanta," I said, after a moment. "But I don't want things here to go sideways, you know? I owe that to Big Jo, at least. So what do I need to do to get it into someone else's hands? Like Aimee's?"

He made a face like he wanted to say something, but thought better of it. "Well, I assume the place is free and clear of debts, right? If so—"

"No, it's not," I said with a swift shake of my head. "For some reason, Big Jo took out a half-a-million-dollar mortgage three months ago. The money's been spent, too."

Danny's brows shot up. "What? What for?"

"I don't know. Aimee didn't either. She didn't even know about it until she was digging around in the office after Big Jo died." I paused, not wanting to take the next step, but knowing I needed to. "I should probably figure out where the money went before anything else. Would I be able to ask someone at the bank?"

"You'd have to set up the estate and become the personal representative," he said. "I'd be happy to handle that for you. We'd need the death certificate. Unless you know the passwords to her online accounts?"

I shook my head. "I don't even know if Big Jo had a computer." She certainly didn't have internet.

"I've already requested it on my end, but sometimes the family can get it faster. Either way, you're looking at a few weeks," he said, scribbling on a piece of paper. "Unless there was something strange about her death." He paused and looked at me with dark blue eyes. "Was there?"

I honestly hoped not. "As far as I know, no."

He nodded, as if expecting that to be the case. "Once we have the certificate, we can tackle the rest of it."

I pulled out my phone and jotted that down on my notes app. "Okay, so once we do all that, and I've got things figured out… If I wanted to sell the bar to Aimee, how would I go about doing that?"

"If you've got a half-a-million-dollar mortgage on the place, you'll need to satisfy that first," he said. "You're probably better off selling it to someone who can pay full price for it so you can cover the note."

"I don't think Aimee can get a loan that size."

He nodded, and I sensed that might've been what he was going to say earlier. "I don't disagree."

"And as much as I want to wash my hands of everything," I said, "I can't let it go to just anyone, you know? The Cove is an institution. It's made Eldred's Hollow what it is."

He nodded, and I felt a bit like I was trying to convince myself of something.

"Aimee's the best person to take it," I said. "And we'll just have to make that happen somehow."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out."

That must've been lawyer-speak for, "You're delusional."

"Thanks, Danny," I said, rising.

"Oof, no one's called me that in years," he said. "Well, except my cousin down there."

"Sorry. I hate it when people call me Little Jo, so I'll call you…Dan? Daniel?"

"Daniel is fine," he said. "If I hear anything about the mortgage or the will, I'll give you a call."

"You have my number?" I asked.

He tilted his head and cracked that wry smile. "Who do you think texted you that she died?"

I was comforted by that fact a little. "Thank you for letting me know."

"When are you headed back to Atlanta?" he asked.

"My flight leaves tomorrow, but…" I stood there, realizing that my dreams of popping in and out were most likely a fantasy. Something told me I needed to hang around until everything was figured out, and if the past day was any indication, there was a lot to sort through. "Somehow, I wish I'd had the foresight to drive down instead of flying. This rental car isn't cheap."

"I'm sure Big Jo's broom is around there somewhere," he said, sitting back in his chair before wincing. "But you probably don't want to use it."

Considering the last time I'd attempted to ride a broom solo, I'd ended up face-first in the field in front of The Shack, I wasn't in any great hurry to try it again.

"I'll put it on Big Jo's tab."

~~

I walked down the stairs, the weight of the world on my shoulders. Before I continued on into the Enchanted Cat to have that long-overdue talk with Kit, I pulled out my phone and dialed my boss's number.

"Hey, Joel," I said, looking up.

"Jo, how's it going? How was the funeral?"

"Um…" How to explain it? "Fine. But I've hit a bit of a snag."

"What's up?"

"My grandmother's affairs are a bit more complicated than I anticipated. I'd hoped to be back in town tomorrow, but it's looking like I may need to stick around and sort through everything. Is that all right?"

"Of course. Whatever you need. You've got your laptop, right?"

I did, of course—never went anywhere without it. Internet, however, was a different story, but I didn't share that with him. We discussed specifics about clients I was working on and my plan for managing them in my time away from the office. Most of what I did, I could do remotely, which certainly made this impromptu visit down south easier.

"Like I said, sorry to leave you in the lurch, but I really feel like I need to be here."

"I get it. Good luck. Keep me posted."

I ended the call and sighed, rubbing my forehead.

"He sounds nice." Kit was standing on the other end of the hall, her apron in hand.

"Is it quitting time already?" I asked.

"Not quite, but things slowed considerably," she said. "And not to alarm you, but you've got a visitor."

I blanched. "A what?"

"A visitor," she said with a look. "Dad told me to scram, so I'm going to head home and grab a shower. Want to meet me at the Cove for a drink?"

I craned my neck around her, looking for who it might be. "Is there anywhere else we can go?"

"You know as well as anyone there is nowhere else in Eldred's Hollow." She walked by and patted me on the shoulder. "See you in an hour?"

"Yeah, see you then."

"And, uh… Good luck with Cal." She made a face. "Try not to sell the place out from under Aimee, will you?"

I did a double-take. "Cal? Cal Reaves? The vampire is waiting for me? What in the world could he—"

She walked out the back door.