Page 43 of Grimoires & Glamoury

But instead of complaining, I took some Dramamine and buckled myself in. Comfortable in my jeans and a T-shirt, I reclined back and napped for the majority of the flight. I was woken shortly before we landed, and soon enough we were being driven to pick up our rental car.

Charles had been paying attention to what I’d said the night before, as the car we rented turned out to be a four-door truck. I nodded in approval as I climbed up into the cab and switched out my regular glasses for my prescription sunglasses, and soon we were on our second leg of the journey—the drive into the hollow.

Now I had the advantage as I was familiar with the area. “Your exit is soon,” I told Charles as we drove down the two-lane highway about an hour later. “There’s going to be a stoplight coming up and there’s a gas station. Can we stop so I can grab something to drink?”

Charles glanced over at me. “You’ve been to Hemlock Hollow before?”

I shrugged. “A couple of times.”

“And you’re only mentioning it now?” he asked. “Why did you keep that a secret?”

“I didn’t,” I said. “I literally told you how long of a drive it was and recommended you not drive a fancy car...and to dress casually so we wouldn’t stick out.”

“So you did, and I am wearing jeans,” he pointed out.

“We all appreciate your sacrifice, sugar,” I snarked. Then I pointed out the gas station. “There it is; pull in.”

With a nod, Charles pulled into the station and parked.

“What kind of soft drink do you want?” I asked him, as I grabbed my purse.

“I’d prefer a water.”

“Would you mind if I drove the rest of the way?” I asked next.

His eyebrows rose.

“I get motion sickness pretty easily,” I explained, “and the roads down to the hollow are curvy and hilly.”

“And if you drove, you would be less likely to become car sick.” He nodded in understanding. “Sure, I can ride shotgun.”

He opened the door and stepped out of the driver’s side. I also hopped out and was back a few minutes later with a bag of snacks, a couple of lemon-lime soft drinks and two bottles of water for him.

I climbed up into the cab, claimed the driver’s seat and passed him the bottles and the bag. “We’ll hang a left out of the parking lot,” I told him as I slid the seat forward. “The next junction is about a mile down the road.”

I restarted the truck and backed out of the parking space. Since I was driving, he unscrewed the top off the soda bottle, passed it over to me, and I drank deeply, hoping that it would settle my stomach.

“Do you want to stop at the hotel and drop off our bags, or would you prefer to go straight into town and meet with your friend?” he asked.

“Let’s go straight into town,” I answered. “That way we should make it before Ruby’s shop closes.”

“You seem very comfortable driving a truck,” he commented.

“Learned to drive in a pickup,” I explained. “Although it wasn’t nearly as fancy as this one.”

“Where did you grow up?” he asked casually.

“In the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee. Was about as dirt poor as you could be. It was a hard life. After family services stepped in, my sister and I went to live with our Granny.” I brought the truck to a stop at the next junction and checked for oncoming traffic before pulling out onto the next route.

“And were you happy living with your grandmother?” he asked.

“We were. Best thing that ever happened to us. We were damn near feral by the time she got custody, and lord almighty, was she strict! Made us go to school—we had never regularly attended before. She made sure we did our homework and we had chores around the house too, but we also got to help her out in the garden. Which we both secretly enjoyed. Most importantly, Lulu and I were never hungry or cold again and never had any reason to doubt that we were loved.” Suddenly embarrassed that I’d shared all of that with him, I shut my mouth before I said anything more.

For a few moments we were both silent as I drove towards the hollow, then Charles surprised me by telling me about his brother.

“I have a younger brother, Theodore—Theo. He and his wife, June live in Vestavia Hills. They’re expecting their second child in a few months.”

“What age is their oldest child?” I asked.