A decade might have passed, but Lorna could see the woman’s sorrow. Any mother could empathize with what it must have felt like—unimaginably awful. Now that Lorna knew, she saw how that might have made Heather the woman she was today—hardworking, focused, never talking about men or dating. She had a wicked sense of humor, the kind with wry, sarcastic undertones that belied a sharp mind and quick wit.
Such loss would have brought a new kind of perspective, one which no parent should ever have to gain. Heather didn’t sweat the small things, didn’t dwell on inconsequential problems. She took care of what needed her attention and just kept moving forward.
“I’m very sorry for your loss,” Lorna said.
“Thanks.” Heather nodded but didn’t look like she wanted to discuss it further. She began straightening the items on the countertop.
“I can take care of that,” Lorna said. “It’s why you hired me.”
Heather nodded and stopped what she was doing.
“Oh, I think a friend of yours was here looking for you.” Lorna tried to change the subject. “Vivien Stone?”
Heather gave a small laugh. “You met Vivien? I hesitate to ask how that went.”
“She was… nice,” Lorna managed. She glanced at the remaining children by the door.
“Nice is one way to put it,” Heather said. “What did she say to you?”
“Not a lot. She mentioned we were going to be friends.” Even though Heather had shared about her son, Lorna didn’t want to talk about the drama of losing her kinda-husband. Odds were Vivien would fill Heather in later if she didn’t already know.
“Ever since we were girls, Viv has claimed she has psychic powers. No one ever believed her and she was teased mercilessly for it,” Heather said. “Sometimes I think she might be right. She is perceptive when it comes to people. It often makes her quick to jump into a conversation the other person doesn’t know they’re having. She means well though.”
“So you’ve been friends for a long time?” Lorna began counting the popcorn containers to see how many she’d given out to the girls to update the inventory.
“We have.” Heather smiled to herself. “We just found each other when she moved here in middle school and clicked. She was a wild child with hardly any supervision. Her grandmother raised her. I was a Warrick. To everyone in town that meant I came from a family of witches, which we weren’t. My mom liked the Warrick money, and hated the Warrick reputation. She did everything she could to counteract it. Vivien and I thought it was cool. I liked being special. In high school, we’d go into the woods or to the beach and used to try to cast spells together.”
“Spells? Like magical-type spells?” Lorna lost track of her counting and had to start over.
“Yeah, magic spells. We’d go to the different campsites and build fires, make up chants, and even once tried to boil a potion recipe in one of my mother’s stockpots. Mom was not impressed when she found the scorched metal in her kitchen cabinet. It was all in stupid fun.”
“And your brother? William?” Lorna inquired.
William Warrick. Lorna thought about the handsome man more than she should have. He’d caught her attention as someone she’d like to get to know… before she realized his connection to her boss.
Heather didn’t readily answer the question. She knelt down and leaned her head close to the floor to examine the toe kick beneath the counter.
Besides witchcraft and spellcasting, property management and construction work must have run in the Warrick blood. William worked as a contractor, building houses in a new development. He had the rugged hands-on appeal of a man who spent time outdoors doing manual labor.
It didn’t matter that she found him attractive. Lorna had spoken to him several times and during each conversation she overthought every word that came out of her mouth. She doubted he thought about her at all.
“What were you asking about my brother?” Heather asked as she stood back up.
“Did he do spells with you?” Lorna realized she’d stopped partway through her stack of popcorn containers and had to start over yet again.
Six. Six were missing. She wrote the number down.
“William?” Heather laughed. “Oh, heck no. He thought we were crazy. He hates everything about that part of our family legend. William is always very logical and serious. He likes things you can see and touch.”
“Vivien invited me out for drinks with you tonight,” Lorna said. “I don’t think I can make it. Please thank her for me, though.”
“That’s too bad. It’s no hot bath and a book, but I think you’d have fun.” Heather fussed with the candy display inside the case, lining up the boxes. “Viv has been traveling through New Zealand and Australia for the last month. So she’ll want to talk about all her conquests—trails she hiked, zip-lining adventures, wild animals she petted, men she… petted.”
Lorna felt a pang of jealousy. “I’m not looking for a relationship, but I do miss,” she lowered her voice, “petting.”
She’d been with Glenn for so long that it was hard to imagine another man in her bed. How did a woman in her mid-forties start dating again? Apps? Social media? Speed dating at bars? None of those things felt like her scene. Flirting might as well have been a foreign language in which she was not fluent.
Heather lowered her voice so no one else could hear her. “I’ll invite you the next time someone throws an adult toy party. It’s like buying candles, only not candles. You can purchase yourself plenty of new boyfriends. They’re quiet, and they’re fine when you lock them away in a drawer. They don’t make a mess. They’re dishwasher safe. They don’t care what you look like.” She gave another laugh. “They’ll even swat stuff out of the high shelf if you swing them hard enough. Just as good as the real thing.”
“If they can take out the trash and change the lightbulbs, I’m sold,” Lorna teased.
“I suppose you could ask it several times and it would never get done. That’s kind of the same thing,” Heather answered with a shrug.
Lorna pressed her lips together to keep from laughing too loudly.
“You okay?” Heather nodded toward where Lorna rubbed her knee.
She hadn’t realized she’d been doing it. “Yeah, it’s fine. I banged it earlier with my toolbox when I was fixing that loose seat bolt.”
“Speaking of fixing, that reminds me.” Heather pulled out her notebook and flipped it open to her current list. She grabbed a pen and spoke along as she wrote, “Glue theater loose toe kick.”
“I can do that if you want,” Lorna said.
“It’s fine. I have glue at home.” Heather stared at the list before crossing off a few items. “I need to check on those spotlights to see if I can’t get them working before the recital. Anything else you need me to look at while I’m here?”
Lorna shook her head in denial. “Not that I can think of. The concessions order came today so as soon as the girls are gone, I’ll be in the storeroom unpacking.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be in the theater on a ladder if you need me.” Heather shoved the notepad into her pocket and made her way past the curtain into the theater. Brighter lights came on, shining through a part in the thick red material. Lorna went to follow her to ask if she needed help with the ladder but stopped as Heather lifted her hand toward an empty seat and mumbled, “Hi, Grandma. How are you today?”