Page 52 of Herbs & Hex-breaking

“You sure that you’re up for this?” he asked me.

“I don’t intend to kick in the greenhouse door and go in wands a blazing,” I pointed out dryly.

“Then what is the plan?” he asked, walking around to my side of the car. “You’ve been so quiet it’s got me worried.”

“I’ve been trying to ground and center. The last thing I want to do is to lose my temper and control of my magick.”

“You’ve mentioned that before,” he said.

“Well darlin’, believe me, because I detest repeating myself.”

“Why is it I suddenly feel that you’ve been holding back—power-wise—around me?”

I blew out a long breath. “Because I have. I work hard to maintain emotional control, because when my magick gets away from me, bad things happen.”

“All right.” He nodded.

“I’m not joking Dex,” I said. “Unless you want to be disappointed, don’t go reading me or looking too deep into my past. You really won’t like what you find.”

“Kate.” He rested one hand on my shoulder. “There’s nothing that would turn me away from you.”

“I hope that’s true,” I said.

For a long moment we stood beside his car. A part of me hoped he would kiss me, and I found I was a tad disappointed when he dropped his hand and stepped back.

“What do you need me to do?” he asked.

“My plan is to go and chat her up and get a feel for her energy. While I do that… you do your postcognitive reading thing and confirm if she’s our troublemaker.”

Dex took my hand. “I can do that.”

“Remember,” I said, tucking the triple moon pendant beneath the bodice of my dress, “Our goal is to gather information, not to antagonize her.”

He gave my fingers a supportive squeeze. “Ready?”

I returned the squeeze. “As I’ll ever be.”

“Then let’s get this party started,” he said, and together we walked across the parking lot.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Broussard Greenhouses boasted a lovely retail set up and were popular with the locals year-round. As we walked inside the main entrance and retail space, I saw that they were indeed busy that day. Racks for live trees were being set up, and tables full of poinsettias were being stocked. Filled-in tidy swaths of red, cream, pink and variegated varieties of poinsettias were all ready for sale.

A trio of farm dogs came bouncing out from the main display area and went tearing across the main room and outside with happy barks. At first Dex and I simply strolled around, looking like any other shoppers, until I was approached by one of the employees who asked how my house plant sales were going.

“Great!” I flashed him a big smile. “Hey, I was wondering if Jolene was working today? She was so helpful the last time I was in.”

“Oh yeah, she’s in greenhouse two,” he said, pointing to the left.

With a nod we walked over to the second greenhouse—and I felt the energy shift as soon as we walked in. While the main sales area and first greenhouse had been bright, warm and welcoming, this one felt heavy.

“You feel that?” I whispered to Dex.

Dex rubbed the heel of his hand over his heart. “Yeah, I do.”

“There she is,” I said, spotting her working in the far corner, transplanting seedlings into six-pack cell trays.

Squaring my shoulders, I walked confidently towards her. When I was about six feet away, I called out a greeting. “Hey, Jolene. Remember me?”