“Well, then Hannah made the potion,” Malene said loudly, trying to grab ahold of the conversation. “Anyway, those kids fell hard for each other, in love, as it were. Next thing I knew, my son disappeared.”
My jaw dropped. “Disappeared?”
Malene nodded. “Left a note saying that they’d broken up and he was going to find himself. But he never called, and that was not like Matthew. I asked Sadie, but she said she didn’t know any more about it than I did.”
Urleen shot me a pointed look. “And you know trying to get Tuney Sluggs involved in anything important is harder than pulling a buried-up flea off a dog’s back.”
I ran my thumb over my mug. “So you blamed Sadie for your son’s disappearance?”
“Dang right, I did,” Malene said. She tapped her finger on the table and squinted at me. “My boy was torn up about what happened between them. But then he disappears and never comes back? I think Sadie had something to do with that. Course, I’ll never know now, will I? She’s gone and with her went her secrets.”
My right thigh started to throb from sitting in the same position, so I shifted my legs. “It seems to me that losing your son like that, you’d have wanted answers a long time ago.”
Malene stared at the table. Urleen squeezed her hand. “She did everything possible to find him. She hired private detectives and even begged Sadie to tell her what she knew. But Sadie always said that she didn’t know anything about Matthew.”
Urleen spoke. “That’s what made Malene think that Sadie had cast the love spell on him—because he was gone too long. He should have returned.”
Silence filled the room, and I knew exactly what Urleen meant. If Sadie had given a love potion to Matthew or had Hannah do it, and they broke up, Matthew wouldn’t have been in his right mind. He might have done something foolish—might have hurt himself.
Now I understood Malene’s anger toward Sadie. She held her directly responsible for Matthew vanishing. But I had known Sadie for years. She’d never told me about him, why?
Had she simply felt guilty about it, or had there been something else? Had Sadie done exactly what Malene said? Had she enchanted Matthew and then broke it off, sending him into a tailspin?
Every day I knew less and less about my so-called best friend. “I’m so sorry about what happened to Matthew. I don’t know if Sadie was responsible because she never mentioned it. After today I’m not sure who she really was, to be honest; some of the choices she made were so different than what I would have believed possible. But I do know that she helped people.”
My own company excluded, of course. But was that true? Sadie and I had started the business together. She had never been anything but kind and wonderful to me. She had been a great best friend while she lived.
Malene sniffled. “Sadie wasn’t my favorite person, as you know, but I’m sorry she’s dead. I’m sorry that she put you in this financial situation that you’re in.”
I nodded. “It’s okay. I’ll be all right.” I inhaled deeply. “Hopefully, I won’t lose the business. Now, ladies, I believe it’s time we cleaned up this kitchen and went on our way.”
We worked together in silence, and I locked up the house exactly as I had left it. After swinging by the bed and breakfast to drop Sadie’s clothes off with Hannah, I returned to my house.
Yes, I had been tempted to ask Hannah about Malene’s son but didn’t see the point. The past was the past. Asking about it wouldn’t bring Matthew back, nor would it resurrect Sadie.
By the time I got home, I was exhausted and hungry. Lady was too. She gave me a pretty reproachful look when I entered, scratching at my jeans.
I poured her a bowl of dog food, made myself a grilled cheese and slumped onto the couch, ready to veg out on home remodeling shows.
Yes, y’all. I have an addiction to remodels.
But after decimating my sandwich and flicking on the television, a thought struck me—Rufus.
He would go to Dooley’s farm—I just knew it. Growling, I heaved myself from the couch and called Lady.
She scampered toward the door.
“Come on, girl. Let’s go stop a wizard from remembering who he is and ruining my life for a second time.”
Chapter 19
The road out to Dooley’s was filled with ruts. My truck bounced up and down the dirt path that stretched on for a good mile before forking. Straight led to Dooley’s home, and off to the right led into the orchard and the forest beyond it.
I went slowly and kept an eye glued to the left, in the direction of the house. If Dooley saw me out here, sure enough, he’d be revving up his pickup and driving out to see who was trespassing on his property.
I wrapped my fingers tightly around the wheel, my knuckles becoming pale mountains. The truck lurched right and left as we hit rut after rut.
Poor Lady kept getting jostled. I pulled her toward my hip, securing her against me.
