Drop Dead Beauty (16 page)

She got back in her Corolla and composed herself. Then she made a U-turn and drove back to the Pottery Hut. She waited in her car for Rudie to let her know the parents and brats had left the party. Her cell phone chirped twice. First message was from Owen.
If you won’t meet with me at least call me.

The second message was from Rudie, texting her that the coast was clear.

Sadie thought for a second and then replied to Owen with
I’ll call you later.

She went inside the Pottery Hut and found Rudie wiping down the little tables. Sadie grabbed a damp rag and began to help out.

“I don’t know how you handle having birthday parties in here all the time,” she remarked. “Don’t they all drive you crazy?”

“A little, but then I remember that the parents are paying me a couple hundred dollars plus the price of pottery to allow the hooligans to torture me and I feel a lot better.” He scraped a clump of clay off a shelf. “I still hold private classes for adults on occasion, but when the economy is tight people spend more money on their kids than they do on themselves.” He straightened to his full short stature and pointed in the direction of the back. “Let’s head upstairs.”

Once they were up in his apartment he wasted no time bringing Sadie into the small room. The large black cauldron on the table had been replaced by a horrific table mirror that had a pewter frame with a carved female face in an openmouthed scream and hundreds of writhing snakes decorating the edges.

“Whoa,” Sadie said, pointing. “What the hell kind of mirror is that and why would you even want to look into something that scary?” She shuddered.

“It’s my Medusa scrying mirror.” He shrugged. “I guess it’s not everyone’s taste.”

Rudie opened a box on one of the shelves and pulled out a pink flannel bag and handed it to her.

“I’ve already enchanted it with power. What I’ve tried to do here is to combine herbs for banishment and pain but also a spell to allow vision.”

“It smells like Christmas.”

“That would be the cinnamon and cloves, but make no mistake—it’s strong enough to kill you,” Rudie warned.

Sadie dropped it on the table next to the ugly mirror.

“I’m pregnant, remember,” she stated. “I don’t want anything that will hurt me or the baby.”

“It’s strong enough to kill you only if you eat it,” he corrected. “It’s not going to hurt anyone unless the herbs are ingested.”

“Why would I eat it?”

“I have no idea why my clients do what they do. You won’t believe the kind of stuff that some people try. Just last week I had a troll who routinely uses austromancy come to me for a potion to relieve his cold, but instead of rubbing it on his chest he snorted it and now he’s got a wart the size of an apple on the end of his nose. He thinks it’s all my fault.” Rudie shook his head.

Sadie just stared at him openmouthed.

“I know, right?” Rudie laughed. “What a crazy thing for him to do! Like I’m supposed to guess that he’d snort a potion.”

“So, um, is your ex-wife
always
around you, like, twenty-four/seven?”

“I don’t really know. I never take my conjure bag off because I don’t want to take the chance.”

“But what if she’s long since left you alone and you’re wearing it for nothing?” she asked.

“It’s a chance I’m willing to take,” Rudie said.

He picked up Sadie’s new conjure bag and tossed it to her.

“So just to be on the safe side, you’ll want to wear both of your conjure bags together. Unless you’re feeling edgy and want to go just with this one?”

“I’m edgy enough these days.”

“Suit yourself.”

Rudie led the way back out of the room and locked it behind them.

“How much do I owe you?” Sadie asked.

“Nothing yet. This one isn’t proven, so no charge unless it works. If it does, five hundred. If it doesn’t, you bring it back and I’ll tweak it.”

“That’s fair. Thank you.”

“So, you got a ghost you can check on?”

She told him there was no lack of ghosts to check on in her line of work, and when Sadie left, she called Maeva to ask if they could hang out in her neighbor’s pantry for a few minutes. If she was going to test-drive a ghost repellent, she needed to have a psychic nearby in case things went wrong.

“You can stop by but it can’t be a long visit,” Maeva told her. “I just got Osbert to bed and I’m planning on an early night myself.”

Sadie agreed to keep it short, and it wasn’t long before the two of them were standing in the neighbor’s kitchen. Sadie wore two conjure bags around her neck and smelled like Christmas gone horribly wrong.

“Go for it,” Maeva told her, pointing to the pantry door.

Sadie took a deep breath and stepped inside. It took a while but finally the old man appeared and Sadie was delighted. He smiled and began talking to Sadie but his lips blurred and there was no sound.

With a frown Sadie told him, “I’m so sorry but I can’t hear you.”

She said the words out loud but no vocal sounds left her mouth either. She shook her head and tried again, but try as she might her lips moved and formed the words but the air around her seemed to swallow the sound.

She walked out of the pantry and looked at Maeva, who’d been watching the entire thing.

“What the hell was that?” Maeva asked.

“I couldn’t hear him and he couldn’t hear me,” Sadie said, relieved that now her voice had returned. “It was like a giant voice sponge was in the room with us, soaking up our words.”

“Weird.” Maeva yawned and stretched. “Call Rudie tomorrow and let him know so he can make some adjustments.”

“What’s he going to do,” Sadie grumbled, “add eye of toad and hair of newt?”

“If necessary,” Maeva said. “I know you’re stressed about everything that’s happened.”

Sadie had told Maeva about Dawn’s visit to Jonelle’s and the subsequent vehicle explosion.

“Just lie low right now,” Maeva told her. “Go home and relax. Things will come together. You’ll see.”

Sadie hoped Maeva was right about things coming together. Right now it felt like her entire world was unraveling quicker than a dollar-store scarf. She went home longing for her own cool, almost-clean sheets and the love of a good bunny. Maybe a woman didn’t need more than that.

When she dragged herself inside, she informed Dean she was heading straight to bed and then closed her bedroom door firmly behind her. After she dropped her clothes on the floor she pulled on her oversized Mariner’s tee and crawled into bed. She was plugging her cell phone into the charger next to her bed when her phone chirped an incoming text message.

It was Zack:
Are you and that guy still together?

She bit the inside of her cheek as she carefully replied:
No.

After Sadie hit send she wanted to text more. She wanted to call him and launch into a huge explanation about how she’d slept with Owen because he was sexy and kind during a time when Zack was cold and aloof. She wanted to scream at Zack and remind him that he’d turned his back on her and their relationship. Instead, she stretched the cord so that the phone was next to her pillow and lay there staring at her bedroom ceiling for an hour, hoping he’d send another message. He didn’t.

In the morning, she once again woke up feeling simultaneously nauseated, ravenous, and heartburnish. She drank some juice, ate a piece of dry toast, and chewed a Tums for dessert. Afterward she went for a jog that was more of a quick-step walk. She was a block away when a sleek BMW pulled to the curb beside her. Owen rolled down the window.

“Get in.”

She glanced at him with his nose taped and his eyes blackened, and she continued to walk-jog without responding. His car slowly kept pace with her. He wasn’t giving up and she was about to collapse from exhaustion.

“I can do this all day,” he told her.

She thought about that and gave in. Ever so casually Sadie sauntered over and hopped inside his car.

“Do you always just show up without calling?” she demanded.

“You texted that you’d call me but you didn’t,” he replied unapologetically. “I figured if Zack’s Mustang was in your driveway this time, I’d keep on going.”

She glanced at his battered face and burst out laughing.

“I’m so sorry. It isn’t funny at all . . . but it is.”

“Glad to know you’re still in there somewhere.” He reached over and poked Sadie in the arm. “I was beginning to wonder where the real Sadie went.”

“This is the real me,” she insisted. “It’s just the scared and worried version.”

“I know,” he said softly.

Instead of going to Sadie’s house, he drove to a Starbucks drive-thru and got himself a coffee and Sadie a water, and then they sat inside his car and sipped their beverages in a long silence. It was Owen who finally spoke.

“I’m moving back to Seattle.”

“No!” she shouted, and because she spewed water she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Don’t do that. You moved down to Albuquerque for a reason.”

“The move to Albuquerque was a temporary one. You knew that. I was waiting for some investment properties to sell down there and most already have. I don’t have to be there for it to happen. I have a house here and I’ve already arranged to move back.”

“Look, Owen, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea here, but—”

“You’re uncertain about us and I get that,” Owen finished. “But that doesn’t change the situation. I’m still the father of your baby.” He paused and looked at her pointedly. “You did say it was a for-sure thing, right?”

“Yes,” she said curtly.

He held up his hands.

“Good enough for me. I thought about it and realized it would’ve been a helluva lot easier for you just to pretend the kid was Zack’s or just to leave me out of the loop entirely. I appreciate that you didn’t do either of those things.” He drank some more of his coffee. “But like it or not, I am going to be there for you any way that I can. I can do those birthing classes with you. . . .”

“Lamaze?” Sadie asked with a smirk.

“Yeah. Those.” He nodded. “And of course, I’ll cover your expenses and pay child support.”

“I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves here, and I don’t know who I want to be my birthing coach yet, but I’ll keep your offer in mind.”

“I want to be part of the kid’s life, and if you let me, I’ll be part of your life,” he said firmly.

The very real thought that this man was now connected to her forever and for always hit her like a smack upside the head and she swallowed thickly.

“We could try and make it work,” he continued. “Think about it and I promise I’ll respect your choice . . . even if that choice throws a mean right hook.”

She didn’t tell him that she and Zack were done and buried; she just nodded and thanked him. Then another thought occurred to her.

“You were with someone else in Albuquerque, right? This shouldn’t interfere with that either,” Sadie told him quickly.

He didn’t respond, which Sadie took to mean she’d hit the nail on the head. After a few more minutes he drove her home and in the driveway he said, “I know you’re Miss Independent, but I want to be kept in the loop. So when you see doctors and get those ultrasound things, I want to know about it. And if we end up being a couple—hey, I’ll do all that kind of stuff with you even.” He cleared his throat. “And about the money situation . . .”

“I’m doing okay,” she stated evenly.

“Sure, but even if you have suddenly won the lottery, it doesn’t matter.” He put the car in park and turned and looked at her. “The cost is half mine. I don’t renege on my debts. You send me the bills and I’ll pay up. There’s no way this is all on you.”

He laughed quietly and Sadie looked over.

“What’s so funny?”

“You. Us.” He waved his hands. “This.” He chuckled some more. “Even though it wasn’t planned, I bet we made ourselves a kick-ass kid.” He poked her in the belly.

Sadie burst out laughing and then thanked him for taking the time to make sure they talked.

“I want a decision about the you and me thing,” he said seriously. “I’ll be back for your thoughts on that. I’m not giving up.”

Sadie just nodded. She still felt overwhelmed by the journey ahead, but at least she knew she had the option of having someone to turn to if things got even rockier than they were now. It was pouring now and she hopped out of his car and hustled up the sidewalk to her front door, grateful she didn’t slip and fall on the slippery pavement.

Once inside she was grateful that Dean wasn’t around to ask her questions. She got into the shower and then burst into tears. The worst part was that she didn’t know why she was crying. Once she finished being a big baby, she checked her voice mail and listened to a lengthy message from an attorney’s office.

Turns out the lawyer was representing the estate of an elderly woman who died alone in her Redmond home. Her body went undiscovered for a week until her newspapers piled up. She had no family and had left the house and all its contents to charity in her will. Now the lawyer was in charge of following through with her bequest. Part of that involved cleaning up the mess left behind—namely her own bodily decomp fluids as well as the mess of her half-dozen dogs, who’d all been placed in loving foster homes.

Sadie called the lawyer back and made arrangements to come by his office after lunch to have him complete the contract and get the necessary keys. She disconnected the call and debated how to spend the next couple hours.

“I could do laundry, or clean Hairy’s litter box,” she said to herself.

“I have a better idea,” Dean spoke up from the entrance to her office.

“Have a nap?” Sadie asked hopefully. “Make French toast? Bake cookies? Yummm . . .” She began to salivate at the thought.

“You keep eating like that and you’re going to have a lot more than baby weight to lose in a few months,” he warned.

“Thanks.” Sadie leaned back in her office chair. “As usual, your powerful motivational talks have inspired me to do more.” She stretched. “I’m going to nap and then bake cookies and then go to work. I have a very full day planned out. I might squeeze in a little solitaire, if I have time.”