The Witch's Beauty by Iris Kincaid

Author:Iris Kincaid [Kincaid, Iris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-01-30T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

After Lorna had dropped him off at his car, there was still an hour to go before sunset—a perfect time to visit her mother’s grave. It was a pilgrimage that she still made on all birthdays and special holidays, and this week would be the anniversary of her parents’ death. Perhaps it was a good time to show her mother that the burns were gone and that she was really going to be all right.

There was always another visitor or two in the peaceful, expansive cemetery. But today’s fellow visitor made her heart skip a beat—it was Max Crowe. His head was bowed in front of a large tombstone, clearly missing someone.

What did Delphine say? That his mother had been killed by a witch when he was very young. Even younger than herself when she lost her own parents. It felt like fate. Or at least, she would never forgive yourself if she didn’t at least try. Quietly, she joined him at his side.

“My mother is here too. I was older than you were, though. I was twelve and I think that you were only eight. That’s a very young age to lose a mother. Although, there’s really no good age. No time when it wouldn’t devastate you.”

Max nodded agreement, wondering, How does she know that I was eight? Who has she been talking to about me?

Lorna continued, “My father died on the same day, but he’s not here. His will said that he wanted his ashes scattered into the river near where he was born in Maine. I wish he were here, but last wishes have to be honored.”

“I only wish I knew what my mother’s last wishes were. I had a child’s grasp of the world. I could only see what she was to me. But she had her own dreams, her own needs, her own life that I wasn’t old enough to see,” Max responded.

“I know the worst possible thing is for parents to lose a child. For the rest of their lives, they think to themselves, oh, he would have been thirteen now, and we would’ve taught him how to use the wood shop tools. Or she’d be graduating from high school today, and we’d be celebrating with a coast-to-coast road trip before she leaves for college.

“But the same thing happens when you lose a parent. You think, she would have been in her forties now, and she would’ve gotten her scuba certification because that was something she always wanted to do. Or, she’d be sixty-five now, and ready to retire, and booking cruises right and left. And badgering me about grandchildren.”

Lorna and Max shared a moment of silence. Lorna continued, “It’s hard to get over that feeling—that this is wrong. This was not supposed to happen. They should be here. They should be here.”

Max examined his lovely new acquaintance with wonder and relief. So much grief and passion beneath that beautiful surface. And at long last, someone who seemed to know exactly what he was feeling.

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