He propped his shoulder against the door to free both hands. “Give me your word that you’ll leave my family alone or I’ll have no choice but to stop you. Permanently.” He lifted his right hand. “I’ll count to three. One, two and—”
He never got to three.
CHAPTER THREE
Angus hadn’t wanted to come inside. Nor had I wanted him tainting my store with his presence. But a wind that whirled up like a targeted cyclone overpowered the big man and he staggered in, tripped and fell face first at my feet.
“He’s basking in my sunbeam,” Mr. Bixby said. “Thank goodness I moved when I did.”
“Mr. MacDuff! Angus! Are you all right?” I wanted to retreat but held my ground to be sure he wouldn’t die in my store. On the other hand, it could be a ploy.
“Should I call Drew?” Ren asked.
I shook my head. “Not yet. Give him a minute. But stay there.”
Angus rolled over on his back, stared at the sunflowers now dipping almost to the floor, and mumbled, “What just happened?”
“It felt like a very strong wind.” I patted my hair, which was still whipping curls into my face. “Sometimes it happens quite randomly on Main Street.”
“Other times, it isn’t random at all.” The voice came from the distinguished septuagenarian standing in the door. Her silver hair was in an elaborate coronet and there was a fox stole draped over her navy wool coat.
Cousin Liberty stepped over Angus in heels higher than my own, followed by Harold, her Australian shepherd. He was another of my spectral rescues and came back with power so gusty it blew villains into my store. I rather preferred they blew out, but Liberty no doubt had her reasons.
“What do you want, Liberty?” he said, pushing himself clumsily to his feet.
“I want you to stop harassing Janelle and her friends, obviously.” She glanced at me. “Did he threaten you?”
“Mind your own business.” Angus tried to get back to the door, but the pesky wind returned to set up a barrier. “We were just talking.”
“If threats pass for conversation these days,” I said.
“Angus, how dare you?” Liberty was incensed. “I know you were ordered to stay away from the Brightons, not to mention your daughter and son-in-law. Yet here you are.” Liberty went to fling her fox stole on the window seat and thought better of it. The sunflowers left little room. “The very moment I heard you’d been released I came down here, only to find your heinous backside sticking out of Janelle’s store. In plain view on Main Street. Are you a complete and utter fool?” She raised an imperious hand. “Never mind. I know the answer.”
Harold continued to pace, blowing Angus’s hair around. The big man was vain enough to try to hold it down with both hands. “Janelle and I understand each other, so back off, Liberty.”
She crossed her arms over the stole and hugged it. “But I don’t understand and I’m the Brighton matriarch. Explain yourself.”
“I just told her to stay away from my daughter. The Brightons are a bad influence.”
Liberty signaled for Harold to increase the wind, ending all hope for Angus’s combover. The man staggered from the force of it and needed both hands to balance. “You’re the one who attacked our town leader,” she said. “I was at City Hall to protect Ruthann in her time of need. I can’t imagine why you were released before your trial.”
He tried to shrug and failed. “Places to be, things to do. The authorities saw things my way. Sensible people.”
“Not buying it.” She signaled again and Harold picked up speed. “Do bribes work on these sensible people? Inquiring minds want to know.”
“Cousin Liberty, our displays are a mess. People are staring.”
“Or trying to,” Bixby added. “The sunflowers make a nice screen.”
“Never mind,” I told the dog, adding yet another bloom to the window seat garden. I worked hard to calm my diaphragm and all it got me was a new and different sunflower. There were more varieties than I remembered seeing.
That got Liberty to stand down. The hiccup problem both irked and embarrassed her. It had been a challenge in her youth but she’d outgrown it as she gained confidence. Despite her exhortations for me to do the same, the problem continued. I couldn’t overcome years of literally fleeing magic to become instantly confident around it. Especially when so many of my efforts went drastically wrong before they went right. Indeed, I nearly ended my own life by sharing too much of my energy with her. She’d come out of it with some of my powers on top of her own, but all I got was a lousy case of magical hiccups.
“Not all,” Bixby said, silently now. “You got more than that from Liberty. She was so weak you’ll need to find those seeds and grow them yourself.”
“Let’s continue this another day, Angus,” Liberty said, signaling for Harold to release him. “I’ll get to the bottom of what you’re doing, mark my words. You and I will chat again.”
“Not if I see you coming.” He grabbed the door handle, triggering the bell to offer its siren sound again. That made Liberty smile. She had charmed the bell decades ago and I’d found it by chance at a farmer’s market. Or maybe it wasn’t chance at all. Either way, I loved having it here.
“You won’t.” Liberty followed Angus and held the door open as he bolted. “It’s always fun to see a big man flee, isn’t it? Oops! He tripped over a planter. Poor Angus.”
“Call Harold back, Liberty,” I said, setting Mr. Bixby down. “People will talk and this is the biggest time of the year in retail.”
“They’re already talking.” She gestured to the sunflower gallery. “Do something about that garden.”
Ren and Sinda beat me to it, pulling flowers out by the root and creating a couple of bouquets. There was a faster way, but it meant killing the blooms with a little energy pulse. It stung my heart to do that unless necessary. They were living things and it wasn’t their fault they grew in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“You’ll need to toughen up, Janelle,” Mr. Bixby said, out loud. Sinda, Ren, and Liberty could all hear him, as well as my other rescues. Harold was a dog of few words. He laughed in my head now as he trotted back inside through the door Liberty held open for him. She was a handful and he adored her. In fact, he’d died pining for her and waited decades for his chance to cross back and begin anew. It was a beautiful relationship.
“Your familiar is right, Janelle,” Liberty said, striding to the counter. “If you feel bad about zapping flowers, how can you protect yourself against people like Angus?”
“I’ve done it before. Being kind to flora and fauna doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on crime. Why would they set that man free, Liberty?”
She peered into the full-length mirror she’d had installed for her own convenience. It was unneeded in a jewelry store, but I found myself using it, too. Perhaps there was something charmed about that, as well, because my reflection often looked better than I felt.
“I’m not sure.” Liberty patted her elaborate coronet, which had withstood the wind amazingly well. Maybe that’s why she wore it that way. “I’ve got feelers out among the few allies I have left.”
Ren turned, with her arms full of flowers. “Is there such a thing as magical jail? It must be hard to keep it secure.”
