AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He gives me a lopsided grin, “Just trying to be helpful, Nova.”
With him saying my name like that, my stomach flutters and my heart thuds a little harder. I offer him a smile before telling him bye and all but run into the inn. The first person I met from town, and I not only made a bad impression but also made a fool of myself when he tried to offer me nothing but help. This day can’t get any worse. Hopefully, by the time I open my eyes tomorrow, all of this will be like a bad dream, and I’ll be back home by midnight. But with the way my luck is going, I’m not going to hold my breath.
Chapter Three
____________
Nate
After I dropped Nova off at the Inn I headed back home right away. Is it a coincidence that her name is Nova or is it a sign? I spent a good part of the rest of the night trying to figure it out and came up with nothing.
The town takes all its history to heart with Halloween being a big time of year for everybody. The whole island pulls out all the charm and hospitality they can muster with parades, haunted history tours, and a huge trick-or-treat walk where all the businesses and most of the houses hand out candy to the kids. I wasn’t lying when I told Nova the people take special pride in their witch and the history entwined with the legends and stories.
I finally catch an hour or so’s worth of sleep before I’m up and heading to the diner. I plan to get the little star’s car fixed and her off this island before she finds out my dirty little secret. But as soon as I step into The Pink Cauldron, she’s turning from where she is talking to Ruth and I can tell I'm too late.
“You!” Her eyes narrow and she’s heading towards me. “You’re the witch!”
Damn! I was hoping it would take her a little longer before she realized. I shrug my shoulder and give her a self-deprecating smirk.
“Why didn’t you say anything last night?”
“Last night?” I shoot a narrow-eyed glare at Ruth who loves gossip better than anything. “You've already met our sexy mayor and witch of the island?”
“Well, I didn’t know he was the witch I was looking for?”
Is that question as loaded as it feels like it is to me?
“How did the two of you meet? She just got into town mere hours ago.”
“Yes, I'm aware of how long it’s been since she came to the island, Ruth.” I turn back to a pissed-off Nova. “I didn’t intentionally mislead you.”
“Yes, you did. That is exactly what you did! You had ample time to tell me when we were driving in your truck and instead, you just let me prattle on looking like an idiot.”
“You didn’t ask me if I was the witch. Or even if I could show you who the witch was. You were too caught up in finding your female witch.”
Her eyes widen and she raises her chin in a stubborn tilt, “Would you have told me if I had asked? Or would you have continued to lie?”
“I didn’t lie. There was no lie.” I don’t know why I look over to Ruth like I’m trying to convince her too. “I’m not exactly hiding it. You could have asked anyone, and they would have pointed you towards me.”
“Bull crap, you come off…” her sentence drifts off as the lights overhead flicker so badly all eyes are drawn up. That same sense of magic hanging in the air that rushed into the cab when we touched last night comes back and causes me to wonder about the woman standing in front of me yet again.
Before I can ask some questions of my own, the Sheriff comes through the door and walks right to me. “Nate, I’m going to need you to come with me.”
Normally hearing a police officer say that would be a good indicator that your day is going to be fucked dead up. But for me, it could simply mean they need my help calming some stray animal down or helping with the weather so a ‘crime scene’ doesn’t get all messed up. And by crime scene I mean someone stealing something from Old Ed’s farm or something else small and petty.
“Something happened in the woods.” He turns away from Ruth and talks lower than he normally would.
The way he says it makes me wonder if it’s something a little more serious than we normally deal with. The Sheriff is putting off some vibes that tell me this is way more. Something is badly wrong. And why is he taking such an interest in Nova? Why am I upset he's looking at her like he is?
“I’ll be right there, Don.”
Just another perk of being me, you can pick up on people’s feelings and to a certain extent manipulate them. You can influence the weather, cause the crops to grow faster and bigger, and even run a whole town. What you can’t do is shake a small noisy reporter named Nova.
“Can I come?”
“I don’t think…”
“If your town has nothing to hide surely you won’t mind if I tag along. I mean you have to take me to my car anyway.”
