She sat bolt upright and stared at me. Why would you ask that?

I shrugged defensively. “Just trying to get a timeline in my head, that’s all.”

With a hissy growl, she settled back on her side. Fifty-seven years ago this month.

In one swift movement, Jade leapt off the counter and streaked across the shop. She scratched at the door, so I let her out. Without a backward glance, she shot out and ran around the building, likely heading for the woods.

With a sigh, I closed the door, unsure what to do. I didn’t have much time to think about it because the bell rang. Tim stepped inside, grinning and waving a greeting when he saw me. I forced myself to smile back at him.

“Maria is busy with a client, but she asked me to drop this by for you.”

It was a burgundy envelope with my name on it. Tearing it open, I pulled out a card with layers of paper flowers glued onto it.

Sage,

Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your products from the shop. I’ll be in again soon! I hope your first day went well.

Best of luck,

Maria.

I smiled up at Tim, rather wishing Maria had delivered it herself, but it was a sweet sentiment.

“Your wife is the sweetest,” I commented. Tim’s eyes softened.

“She is. I’m a very lucky man.”

I tucked the card away in the space behind the front counter, making a mental note to do something nice for Maria to try to repay her kindness in some way. As I looked up at Tim, it occurred to me that he might be more forthcoming with information than Jade had, at least about the family.

“You know, since you’re in here, have you done much research on this family feud between the Farrows and the Blacks?”

The smile slid from Tim’s face as he ran a hand through his hair. “Genealogies don’t really give information on things like that. I do know a little bit.”

I raised my eyebrows inquiringly. He let out a long, slow breath. “I’m sure a lot of this is hearsay, and stories get distorted as they’re passed down through generations, but there was a murder on the old Black property quite a long time ago, and one of the Farrows tattled to some witch council thing. The Blacks claimed they dealt with it, but the Farrow person and the council didn’t approve, apparently.”

He paused, looking distinctly uncomfortable. I thought back to what Jade had said, that she’d killed a man. Was this the same murder Tim was talking about? A chill crept up the back of my neck.

“It sounds like this Farrow person felt they were the right person for leading a Woods Crossing coven or whatever, even though the Blacks had supposedly led the coven for many generations before. Of course, all this witchy stuff is nonsense. I’ve no interest in it. The real power comes with their town holdings…”

And he was off on another dull explanation of the Black Family’s influence in Woods Crossing from the year 1790 to the present. My eyes glazed over as he continued to drone on, and I wished a customer would come in just so he would shut up. Why wasn’t he at work? Who had this kind of time to sit around and recite ancient history?

The large grandfather clock on the other end of the room chimed five o’ clock, and I let out a silent sigh of relief.

“I’m so sorry, Tim, but I need to close up,” I interrupted him. “Thanks so much for dropping off the card, and please tell Maria I said hi.”

He smiled that dimply smile of his and gave a friendly wave before leaving. I locked the door immediately after it closed, feeling that Jade might have the right idea about him.

An odd sort of heaviness fell over me as I walked home from the shop. I wished Jade were there to walk home with me, but I must have touched a nerve because she hadn’t been back to the shop all day.

The house felt unbearably large and empty. I wondered briefly if this was how Grandma had felt after Grandpa passed away. The thought sent such a wrenching pain through my heart that I closed the door and locked it again, heading for my car instead.

I pulled up to Faith’s house ten minutes later, which looked a little more eerie in the semi-darkness of twilight. After knocking, I called out to let her know it was me. I once more heard the scraping of deadbolts before Faith peered out at me, clad today in dark green pants and an overlarge off-white sweater.

“Sage! Back so soon?”

I tried to stop my lip from trembling with no success. Crossing my arms tightly over my body, I looked down at my feet.

“I read some things about the family on WitchNet and…I just…”

Faith took me gently by the elbow and led me inside, tut tutting as she went. After getting me settled on the couch, she bustled away to the kitchen and reappeared several minutes later with a tea tray laden with warm slices of homemade bread, a butter dish, slices of cheese, black olives, and carrot sticks. She set it on the coffee table and immediately poured some tea for me into an old, chipped mug.

“Thanks,” I murmured. “I’m sorry to just show up for the second time in a row.”

She shook her head as she took up her own mug. “Nonsense, Sage. I’m happy to have you come anytime. What did you read about?”

I took a shaky breath. “I…I read that Willa died in a duel with Chandra, and I came across Grandma’s obituary for Grandpa. Or…OWitchuary, as they called it.”

Faith gave a sad smile, the steam from her tea clouding her glasses. “Yes, that’s all true. Willa had a rather strong will, and she hated the idea of anyone pushing her or her family around. It got her in trouble in the end. It should have been me that…”

She trailed off, her eyes distant. I felt horrible bringing up the deaths in the family again, but Faith had at least had some time to grieve. I was being hit in every direction with news of dead relatives I’d never gotten the chance to know, all because of Chandra.

Even thinking her name made my stomach twist.

“What was Grandpa like?”

Faith’s smile grew. “Oh, he was handsome. Your grandmother had it bad for him. She didn’t admit it for the longest time, but Willa and I both knew. He finally got around to telling her how he felt, and they got married pretty quick after that.”

I found myself smiling as well, thinking of my grandparents dating in their old-fashioned way so long ago. The tight knot inside me eased a little to see Faith’s joy as she remembered her sister’s happiness.

“You know, I’ve got an album somewhere around here…”

She stood up and started shuffling through the piles of books, moving them one by one, shaking her head each time she looked at a cover. Moving to a smaller shelf on the far end of the room, she gave a cry of triumph. She hefted a large, old album and brought it over to the coffee table. Opening it, she pointed to a black and white photo of three young women.

“That’s us! Celeste is there in the middle.”

I gazed down for the first time at the face of my grandmother, feeling tears once more forming behind my eyes. She did look incredibly like me. We had the same heart-shaped face, the same slightly upturned nose.

“You resemble her quite a lot, you know.”

I smiled as I stared hungrily at the picture. “Some older ladies in the shop the other day told me that.”

Faith chuckled. “That was probably Lily and Eva.”

I looked up at her in amazement. “It was! You know them?”

She shrugged. “They were some girlfriends of ours from long ago. I haven’t talked to them in years, though.”

A silence stretched between us as we looked down at the photo again.