Page 6 of Herbs & Hex-breaking

I inclined my head toward the garment bag. “Is the bridal gown in there?”

“Yes,” she answered.

“Would you unzip the bag for me so I can see it?”

“Sure.” Her eyes went to an empty hook on the back wall where I typically displayed bunches of dried herbs and flowers. “Okay to hang it up there?”

I nodded and Hattie slipped the hanger over the brass hook. With one smooth motion she unzipped the garment bag, revealing the gown inside.

I didn’t touch the garment bag, or the gown, but instead studied it carefully. Holding my fingers a few inches above the vintage ivory satin and lace, I took a deep breath and kept my senses open for any sort of harmful energy to reveal itself…but I detected nothing. “The dress is lovely,” I told her a few minutes later. “However, I’m not picking up anything negative from the gown.”

Hattie’s eyebrows scrunched together as she frowned. Clearly that was not the answer she’d been expecting.

“Tell me why you think the gown is cursed,” I said softly. We were far enough away from the front counter where Taylor was working for our conversation to remain private. But still, I worked to keep my voice low.

Hattie proceeded to tell me how her grandmother had always promised that the first granddaughter in the family to get married would be able to wear her gown. Hattie was the first girl to be engaged in the new generation, and so the dress would go to her. This development had not gone over well with a few aunts and female cousins in the family. Apparently, there’d been some bickering and hurt feelings over it.

“Then a month ago, at my bridal shower?”

“Sure, I remember.” I’d been invited and had enjoyed the afternoon.

“Well, my aunt Mae—that’s my mother’s older sister—she took me aside.”

“What does she look like? I asked.

“Aunt Mae wears big leopard print glasses, has bleached blonde hair and Botox fish lips,” Hattie said, pursing her lips.

“I do remember her. Go on,” I said, encouraging her to continue her story.

“Aunt Mae insisted that I should not wear the dress to my wedding, because if I did, it would bring me nothing but bad luck.”

“How rude,” I said.

“I told her she was being ridiculous!” Hattie continued in a furious whisper. “If anything, the dress is good luck. My Granny and Pawpaw were married for over sixty years. My Mama also wore the gown, and my folks have been together for almost thirty.”

“What did your mother have to say about what your aunt told you?” I asked.

“Mama is pissed!” Hattie admitted. “And at first we figured Aunt Mae was being ugly about it all...because Mae was the oldest in the family and she wanted the dress for her daughter—my cousin—Jolene. But then...” She trailed off.

“Then what?” I prompted.

“It was right after—after my bridal shower—that things started to get weird,” Hattie said. “At first it was stuff that could be explained...sort of.”

“Such as?”

“There was an issue with my debit card. We think it got skimmed. But it was a hell of a mess, and it took a couple of weeks to get my bank account straightened out.”

“That sucks,” I said, “but unfortunately is quite common.”

Hattie’s eyes shone with frustrated tears. “As my friend, I’m going to ask you to listen. To everything. And then when I’m done, you can tell me if you think I’m being paranoid, or if something weird is going on.”

I nodded. “I can do that.”

“A week after the debit card thing, my car got a flat tire. The day after that I was driving the nursery van making a delivery, and I had a blow out. Scared the crap outta me.” She took a shaky breath. “Lately there’s been nothing but trouble with our mortgage paperwork. Everything was delayed and it’s taken forever to straighten it out. Johnny and I had planned to move into our house well before our wedding in January, but now we don’t know if the purchase is even going to go through.”

I listened carefully as she spoke, and my solar plexus grew tighter and tighter. A sure sign that something wasn’t right.

“But a few days ago, this run of bad luck turned really scary,” she said. “Johnny suddenly developed an allergy to peanuts—out of the blue. We had to call an ambulance. They rushed him to the hospital. His face was horribly swollen, he had a hard time breathing…it was terrifying. Now he has to carry an EpiPen.”