“You’re welcome.”
Wasn’t it best to have a grandmother? Before, I was alone in the world. But now I had family to share my life with. That was the lesson here, what I should be taking from this encounter.
But still a flicker of resentment flared in my belly. It told me that I should have known earlier, that it was unfair of Malene to have kept this from me. It also suggested that she might never have told me if I hadn’t found the picture of my mother on her shelf.
Of course, now that I thought about it, that might have been Malene’s way of telling me her identity. Maybe she was terrified to say the words and needed a mechanism to draw out the truth.
Maybe, just maybe, she was as broken and fragile as I was.
I forced my lips into a smile that started out tight as a rope. But after a few moments the muscles in my face and heart softened.
Was it worth it to be so angry at Malene? She’d kept the truth from me, yes. But in her mind, Malene had done what she needed to do. This woman had watched over me and made me a chocolate dessert darn near every few days just so I wouldn’t go hungry at breakfast. The least I could do was find it in my heart to forgive her and take a moment for both of us to grieve the loss of my mother.
I picked the picture I’d dropped off the floor and crossed to sit beside Malene. Her brow wrinkled in worry.
I clutched the frame to my chest. “Now, Grandma. It seems you’ve got a lot to tell me, don’t you?”
“She sure does,” Lady said, poking my leg with her nose. “Malene’s got a ton of dirt to dish, and I want to hear it all.”
I laughed and scooped Lady into my lap. “I want to know everything,” I said. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
Malene plated a cookie for me. “You know that your mother and I disagreed on a lot. Unfortunately it caused a fissure in our relationship.”
“A what?” Lady said. “A fisherman?”
“A fissure,” I explained. “A tear that’s like a seam.”
“Oh, got it.” Lady daintily took my cookie between her teeth and murmured, “Continue.”
“I didn’t know she had died until after.” Malene’s lower lip trembled. “That’s when I started keeping tabs on you. You would need guidance with your magical abilities. Since your mother hadn’t given it to you, you would have to get it from someone, so I put a little bug in your ear that if anything ever happened, you would come here, to Peachwood.”
Malene stopped. I stared at her. “Is that it?”
She nodded. “That’s it. Nothing more to say.”
“Oh, I thought the story would be longer. You know, I figured there might be a point when you tried to contact me, or maybe you dressed up in black robes and would occasionally show up for important events in my life. I’d never know who you were until now.”
She quirked a brow. “Do you remember someone like that?”
“No,” I admitted. “I don’t.”
“Good, because if you did, we might have a bigger problem on our hands.”
“How’s that?” Lady asked.
“Well, a hooded figure usually represents death,” Malene explained. “This town is just now starting to become magical again. If I have to figure out a way to beat death, we’ve got a real problem because I’m not up for the job. Clementine here would have to do it.”
I took a bite of shortbread cookie. The buttery confection crumbled in my mouth. A little moan of pleasure escaped my mouth. That was when I realized that Malene and Lady were staring at me.
“Sorry.” I brushed crumbs from my lips. “If death did show up, how exactly would I be the one to fight him?”
“With your spell-hunting abilities. That’s how.” Malene clapped my shoulder.
“Ouch.”
“Sorry.”
For an old lady she had a lot of strength. “Listen, you’ve got John for spell hunting. You don’t need me, too.”
