Carol seemed to instantly age. “She’s fighting that perfectionism hard. Out of all the places she wants everything to be just right, her restaurant is that space for her, but she’s having to compromise and give up some things. The crew is doing amazing work though. Their magic and craftsmanship are a great combination.”
“Well, that’s good,” I said.
She rubbed her face. “It’s good, but I see a breakdown coming. We need to be ready for it.” Then, she gave a little smile. “Marquis is being a serious help though, and he actually knows how to calm her down. It’s like his warlock powers include calming magic.”
Beth grinned. “I wouldn’t be surprised. He is a successful doctor for a reason.”
“At least she has support, so we can take care of this,” I said.
They nodded.
Squaring off with the house, we all took a deep breath as one. We had no idea what this Nick would be like. We just had to hope this would go more smoothly than it went with Robert.
"Let's do this." We headed up the walk, and I raised my hand to knock on the door. It took several loud raps before we heard any movement inside. The creaking of floorboards echoed through the thin walls, making me wonder if the entire house was in as rough shape as the exterior.
The door finally swung open, revealing an older man with a scowl plastered across his weathered face. He looked like he'd just woken up from hibernation, his hair disheveled and bags under his bloodshot eyes. "What do you want?" he said, clearly annoyed at being disturbed. "I was sleeping."
"Hi there," Beth said, putting on her best reporter face. "We wanted to talk to you about the tree incident with your neighbor and what happened after. We're planning to submit a story for the newspaper about it." She extended the hand with the glove,her grip firm as she shook the older man's hand. I could tell by the subtle movement of her wrist that it wasn’t him.
"Look, I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't have time for this nonsense." He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "If you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to bed."
"Wait," Beth said quickly, trying to keep him from shutting the door in our faces. "We're just trying to get to the bottom of what happened. Can we please come in and talk for a few minutes?"
Right, because even if he isn’t behind the curse, he could still be mixed up in this somehow. We needed to explore all options before letting this guy get away. One part of being an investigator is being thorough.
He hesitated, his gaze darting between the three of us before he sighed heavily. "Fine," he stepped aside to let us in. "Come in but make it quick." Nick opened the door wider to let us inside. The house was dimly lit, and my eyes struggled to adjust. A musty odor clung to the air, making me think of mothballs and dusty bookshelves.
"Thanks." I tried to infuse some cheer into the situation. "So, Nick, tell us about the trouble you had with your neighbor."
"Technically, I am Nick." He rubbed his eyes again. "But I'm Nick senior. It's my grandson who had the issue with that girl, Deva. He's Nick the third."
"Ah, got it." I nodded with a spark of excitement. We were getting closer. "Can we talk to him?"
"Fine." Nick senior sighed, clearly not thrilled about it. "I'll go wake him up."
As he disappeared down the hall, I exchanged a glance with Carol, wondering what kind of person Nick the third would be. Would he be like his grandfather, grumpy and irritable? Or maybe he'd be the exact opposite, friendly and welcoming. Whatever the case, I hoped he'd give us the information we needed.
"Here he is," Nick senior said, reappearing with a young man in tow. "He goes by Trey. Trey meets these women who need to talk to you about what happened to the backyard, for some reason."
My jaw nearly hit the floor, Nick the third, AKA Trey, was absolutely gorgeous. He had dark, tousled hair that fell around his pale, sculpted face, and his intense blue eyes bored right through me. Despite his attractive appearance, there was somethingoffabout him. Something that sent goosebumps racing all over me.
"Hi." Trey gave us a casual wave. "What's up?"
"Um, hi." I tried to regain my composure. I was in love with Daniel, despite how much I thought this young man was a snack on a platter. "We were just talking to your grandfather about the tree incident and how it affected your relationship with Deva."
"Ah, yeah," he said, his eyes narrowing. "That was a real pain in the ass. I spent months and thousands of dollars trying to fix my backyard after that tree fell."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Carol said sympathetically.
But Beth had other priorities. "Hey, Nick," she said, extending her hand for a shake. "Nice to meet you."
Trey eyed her outstretched hand with suspicion, then shook his head. "Nah, I'm good."
"Suit yourself." Beth shrugged, but she was disappointed. She'd been hoping to use her magical glove to figure out whether or not Trey was the one who'd cursed Deva, but without physical contact, there was no way to know for sure.
"Anyway," Trey said, "I don't know what else you want me to say. The whole situation sucked, and it's all Deva's fault."
"Really?" I asked, finding it hard to believe that our sweet, nature-loving friend could be responsible for such misery. "Why do you blame her?"
