Witch In The Middle: A Crystal Beach Paranormal Cozy Mystery by Karen McSpade

Author:Karen McSpade [McSpade, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Newcastle Media
Published: 2023-11-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Seven

I drove my father and his girlfriend to the motel on the edge of town to get them out of The Rose Garden without further incident. Dad sat next to me in the front seat of Maude, and his girlfriend, Gillian Mead, was in the back with my cats crawling all over her. She looked quite uncomfortable about that. Gillian was a little younger than Dad but, thankfully, still quite a bit older than me.

“Did you know she was coming so early?” I asked, still thinking of my mother’s face when Gillian had turned up. Julia-Mae could sometimes be a person to feel sorry for. Yet there had been a certain tightening around her mouth and a dilation of her eyes, which had done something quite terrible to my insides.

“Like I said,” my father answered quietly, although he didn’t need to whisper as it was easy to have a conversation in private due to Maude’s noisy engine—my old girl did like to make a fuss about getting places. “I thought she would get here later. She decided to surprise me a bit early. She had her friend pick her up and bring her to the guest house after I texted her about staying there. She was trying to be romantic, I think.”

I glanced in the rearview mirror. I supposed Gillian had meant well, and my father did deserve someone nice. “She seems nice enough. Not a cat lover, though. It’s just… that could not have been more awkward back there.”

“I thought your mother acted with dignity.”

“I think she was in shock. Just wait until that passes.”

I had been joking. Well… kind of. My dad did not seem to take it as a joke, though, and he ground his teeth.

“We’re not married anymore, Sidney. It’s been quite some time, you know. I am allowed to move on. And it’s not like I did this on purpose.”

My dad’s speech had the sense of something prepared, like he had been rehearsing it since we got into Maude. He sounded like he was feeling guilty about it. I knew him well enough that he did not want to hurt Mom. Maybe he didn’t even think it was possible to do so. But Jacob Grace was a considerate man, so he would always be careful to avoid the possibility if he could. “I know,” I said.

Looking in the mirror again, I could see that Gillian was tentatively trying to stroke Jinx, who was imposing himself all over her.

“Jacob, honey,” Gillian called out from the back. “Why didn’t we stay at that charming guest house again?”

“Dad’s banned,” I called out mischievously.

Jacob looked sharply at me, and I tried to subdue my smile with little success. “What? The ladies love a bad boy.”

“Why?” Gillian called over the noise of the camper van.

My dad’s eyes flicked across to me again. He seemed reluctant to reply, so I thought I would do it for him. “He was standing up for his family. Like a good man does. It’s a long story, but that’s the short of it.

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