Pecan Pies and Homicides (26 page)

“I come bearing gifts,” she said with a smile.

He glanced up from a pile of paperwork and returned her smile. For a second, he was the man she loved, but then a veil fell over his eyes. Ella Mae ached to go back to the way things used to be, though she realized she hadn't been happy then either. She'd always hated lying to Hugh. They would either go forward from this moment knowing everything there was to know about each other, or they'd have to say good-bye. And although Ella Mae couldn't live with deceit any longer, she was frightened to be standing here, at the center of the crossroad.

“I brought you my heart,” she said, setting the box on his desk. She'd meant to sound breezy and cool, but her throat tightened and the words came out as a hoarse whisper.

Hugh opened the lid and peered inside. “Hmmm, they smell good.” He started to reach into the box and then abruptly withdrew his hand. “What are they made of?”

Ella Mae didn't like the distrust in his expression. She moved closer to him, fearing that he was slipping away too fast. She knew that if she didn't catch hold of him now, she'd lose him forever. “Sugar and spice and everything nice.”

“The last time I ate one of your pies, I felt like I'd been drugged.”

And there it was. The opening she'd been waiting for. Ella Mae pulled a chair next to his, close enough so that their knees almost touched. “I saw you in the lake Sunday night.”

He didn't answer. Averting his gaze, he started shifting paperwork around. Ella Mae waited for him to say something, but he kept his lips clamped shut, pivoting his body away from hers. The silence stretched on, filling the room like a dark, heavy fog. Ella Mae knew that she had to choose her next words with extreme care. Everything hung in the balance.

“Did you see me?” she asked softly. “Did you recognize me?”

His hands stopped their fidgeting. She feared he wouldn't answer, that he'd ignore her until she was forced to leave. He stared down at his desk, and then picked up the string that had fallen from the bakery box and wound it between his index fingers. “Why did you take it? Why you?”

The grief in his voice nearly flattened her. “I needed to save my mother. I would have lost her forever. I never expected that you . . .” She paused, confused. “Did my taking the flower hurt you in some way?” She reached for his arm. “Hugh?”

He sighed heavily, and then slowly, haltingly, moved to cover her hand with his. “I've always been different, Ella Mae. The things I could do—they set me apart. It sounds great to be special, but it's a lonely existence. I could never tell anyone or I'd be locked up.” He let out a dry laugh. “Then, I got to know Loralyn and I thought she was a little like me. I felt comfortable around her. It was only after you came back that I began to sense she'd been tricking me somehow. All along, she'd been making me feel things I wouldn't have felt voluntarily.”

“She—”

“And then I fell for you.” He fixed his eyes on her and Ella Mae saw pain swimming in those twin pools of brilliant blue. “A woman like no other woman. I got the same vibe I'd gotten with Loralyn, but with you, I thought I'd finally found a person who wouldn't use or deceive me. I trusted you, even though I knew there was more to you than you revealed. But you fed me a spiked pie, Ella Mae. You put me to sleep. You're no different than Loralyn.”

The accusation made her flinch. “I started to suspect you were a water elemental, and I was afraid that you were the flower's guardian. I didn't want to fight you, to choose between you and my mother, but I had to do everything I could to save her. Can you understand that?”

His eyes kept boring into her. “How did you learn about me? About the flower?”

“In books,” Ella Mae said, relieved that Hugh hadn't pulled away from her touch. “Old books that few have ever seen.”

He stared at her, unblinking. “Who are you, Ella Mae LeFaye?
What
are you?”

She smiled at him, willing the love she felt to wash over him like a wave. “I can't talk about it here. I'm bound by rules and I'll be punished if I don't abide by them.” She squeezed his hand. “But I can show you. I can take you to a special place. If you're able to enter, I can tell you everything. There won't be any secrets left between us. I hate secrets. They destroy people. And I never want to keep anything from you again.”

The tension in his face abated slightly. “You would do that? Put it all in the open for me?”

“Gladly. I love you, Hugh. If I had known you weren't like other people, I would have done this at the very beginning.” She could feel hope blooming in her heart. “I've hated having to tell half-truths or omit entire parts of my life to the
one
person I want to share everything with. You deserve more than that. And I've been burned by lies, Hugh. That's what Sloane did to me. I don't want you and me to end up that way. I want us to strip down to our bare souls in front of each other.”

He nodded. “Call me an idiot, but I believe you. And I'll go wherever you want, but not right away. I'd like some time to process everything that's happened so I'm ready to handle our next chapter.”

Ella Mae's smile grew wider. “Take all the time you need. And you're no idiot. You're the man I've loved before I even knew what love was.”

Standing, he pulled Ella Mae to her feet and slid his arms around her back. “So you're not planning on seducing me with the pies in that box?”

She ran her fingers down the line of his jaw. “On my life, I will never do something like that to you again. Besides, why would I take a shortcut when doing it this way is so much sweeter?”

And then she kissed him. He hesitated at first, but then pressed her closer to him. The kiss was long and deep, and though Ella Mae waited for the feel of sparks against her lips, the burning sensation never began.

Breaking off the kiss, she whispered, “Is it possible? Could we be cured?”

Hugh didn't speak, he just held her tightly to him. They stood there for a long time in the warm haven of each other's arms. Hugh stroked Ella Mae's hair from root to tip, his fingers lingering on the skin of her neck before starting at the top again. She pressed her ear against the soft cotton of his shirt, feeling his chest rise and fall as he breathed. Closing her eyes, she listened to his heartbeat. The rhythm reminded her of waves curling onto the shore, beautiful in its predictability. For there, in the cadence of Hugh's beating heart, Ella Mae heard the sound of eternity.

• • •

February arrived and Havenwood began to show signs of an early spring. The sun burned off winter's gray pall and the chilly wind that had nipped at everyone's ears and noses moved north. Articles on Jarvis Gaynor and the murders of Eira Morgan and Barric Young moved from the front page of the newspapers to be tucked among pieces on car theft and domestic abuse, and Havenwood began to feel tranquil again.

Ella Mae made raspberry and white chocolate heart-shaped pies for every customer that visited The Charmed Pie Shoppe on Valentine's Day and she was so flushed with love—for Hugh, her family, and her friends—that she didn't need to use magic to make her patrons feel special. Following the murders and the departure of the tourists after the winter carnival, she'd expected February to be a slow month, but the pie shop continued to draw new customers from around the region.

After a particularly busy Saturday, Ella Mae hung the closed sign and turned to stare at the empty dining room. She was exhausted but content. This was the life she wanted to lead. She wanted to bake the most wondrous food she could, bring joy to others, and spend her free time with the people who made her world a warmer, more colorful and wondrous place. Ella Mae was ready to take a breather from the stress of living and working among magical people, so when her mother and three aunts entered the kitchen carrying a garment bag, a hairbrush, and enigmatic expressions, she felt a stirring of alarm.

“What's in there?” She gestured at the garment bag.

“It's one of my vintage treasures. I added a few embellishments and I think it'll fit like a glove.” Dee smiled.

Ella Mae's mother nodded. “There's no time to do anything but slip it on and give your hair a quick brush.”

Ella Mae held up the garment and moaned in admiration. The strapless emerald green satin evening dress had a sweetheart neckline and a cascade of moss green satin falling from the left hip to the bottom hem. Clusters of beads shaped into tiny clovers had been stitched into the moss-colored fabric. “It looks like springtime. What's the occasion?”

Verena pointed toward the restroom. “You've been summoned by the Elders. Hurry, hurry!”

Now Ella Mae was genuinely nervous. “Why?”

Sissy made a shooing motion. “You'll find out soon enough.
Go!
”

Casting a brief, questioning glance at her mother, Ella Mae hustled to the restroom, shucked off her work clothes, washed her face and hands, and shimmied into the dress. Dee was right. It fit perfectly. She brushed her hair, touched up her lipstick, and then turned this way and that in the small mirror above the sink. Even in the dim light, she had never felt so beautiful, and when she reappeared in the kitchen, her mother and aunts were momentarily speechless.

“She certainly looks the part now, doesn't she, Adelaide?”

Ella Mae's mother nodded and helped her daughter into her coat.

“You're not going to tell me what this is about, are you?”

“If I knew, I would. Only Verena knows and she won't say a word.”

They drove to the grove in silence, Ella Mae sitting as close to the air vent as possible. She wore her tennis shoes on the trail, but as soon as she entered the grove, she left her coat and shoes in a pile near the rock wall.

She and her mother and aunts walked quickly through the orchard, across the clearing, to where a small cluster of people waited near the silver ash tree. Ella Mae recognized a town librarian, physician, attorney, and the high school principal. One woman and three men.

When they drew close, her mother stopped walking and Ella Mae followed her lead. Only Verena kept going. She took her place next to the female doctor and turned to face Ella Mae and her two sisters.

“We are the Elders of Havenwood,” the male librarian intoned. “We have asked you here today to thank you for your service to our community, and to extend an invitation to join us.” He gestured at his fellow Elders. “Never has one so young been offered this honor, but we believe that you might be the key to our future.”

Ella Mae shook her head. “That's kind of you to say, but—”

“We are not being kind,” the attorney stated in a deep baritone. “Please come forward and hold out your right hand.”

Ella Mae glanced at her mother, who nodded soberly.

Moving over the velvety grass, Ella Mae did as she was told. The attorney took her hand and turned it, palm facing up. He examined her clover-shaped burn scar and then stepped back and bowed. It was a formal act, such as a courtier might perform for a sovereign. Each of the Elders did the same. One by one, they looked at her burn and bowed. Even Verena.

“You have been marked,” said the principal. “You have freed us from being reliant on a Lady of the Ash. Now, we ask you to take up the mantle of Elder. A new danger is coming from across the sea and we will need everything you have to offer, my lady.”

“Please. Call me Ella Mae.” She was discomfited and embarrassed to be addressed this way, especially on the heels of all the bows. These were Havenwood's Elders, for crying out loud. They were the most important people she'd ever met. “What is this new threat?”

“Principal Strong misspoke,” the librarian said. “It is a very old danger, though newly awakened. A woman named Nimue. Centuries ago, Morgan le Fay was able to place her under a sleeping spell, but the spell has been broken and she is bent on revenge. Our people in Wales and Scotland are already suffering her wrath. Should she come here, which she is certain to do, we will face the fight of our lives.”

Ella Mae glanced back at her mother and aunts. They looked frightened. “I will do anything I can to protect us.” She hesitated. “But I must ask something of you as well.”

Verena signaled for her to continue. “Go on.”

“I'd like Opal Gaynor to become an Elder. Tonight.”

The librarian shook her head. “No. Her husband—”

“She and her husband are separate people,” Ella Mae said quickly, thinking that she needed to convince Hugh to enter the grove soon or the Elders might question the wisdom of her having a relationship with a water elemental. “And if the descendants of Morgan le Fay and Guinevere do not unite, we'll eventually disappear from the earth. If this terrible threat is imminent, then this is the perfect time to join forces. I believe we can break Merlin's curse for good if we work together. Merlin cursed both of our lines, so it's about time we united to put an end to centuries of misery. Just think of it! We can marry and have children without risk. We can grow strong and live in safety. As Merlin's descendants fade and die, ours will grow more powerful and more numerous.”

“Seven Elders,” the attorney mused aloud. “The prophecy is being fulfilled.”

Again, they all bowed and then Sissy was dispatched to collect Opal Gaynor and Reba. Ella Mae couldn't go ahead with the ceremony unless Reba was present. After all, she'd been at Ella Mae's side for most of her life. She wasn't about to become an Elder without her.

The ceremony itself wasn't much to speak of. Opal was uncharacteristically subdued and kept staring at Ella Mae in wonder. But when her turn came to recite the creed to accept her role as an Elder, she stood, back straight and chin raised, and vowed to protect the grove and its people with her life.

When it was over, the Elders drank sweet wine out of gossamer-thin glass goblets and made plans to meet again soon. And then they dispersed.