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“Thank you. Ireland was amazing, but I’m glad to be home. I know my wife, Hollie, is as well. What about you? Married? Kids?”
Laughing, he said, “I’ve been too busy working.”
I leaned back in my chair and asked, “What made you leave Augusta? City planner is an important job, and I thought you loved Maine.”
His eyes turned sad. “My mother was diagnosed with cancer some time back, but she’s in remission now, thank God. That’s the main reason I came back.”
“I’m so sorry, Matt. I wasn’t aware of that, but I’m glad to hear she’s recovering.”
He gave me a weak smile. “My dad told me I didn’t need to uproot my life because of it. At first I drove back and forth from Maine to Salem, but when Mom was feeling better, they decided to move back to Salem. Ever since then, I’ve had a strange pull to return as well.”
“How long ago was she diagnosed?”
“A year ago. She’s doing great, but recently she’s been talking more and more about one person in town. She claims this person has helped her in more ways than her doctors ever could. I grew suspicious and came back for a visit a few months ago. Sure enough, that woman owns a store here in Salem.”
Curious, I asked, “What kind of store?”
“A witchcraft store.”
Oh hell. I know where this is going.
When we were younger, Matt had always teased the kids whose parents practiced Wicca. He never believed in it, and I was pretty sure his skepticism had been passed down from his father and his father before that. It was strange since the entire family was from Salem.
“Why is that a problem?” I asked. “You’ve lived here long enough to know that it isn’t anything new.”
He sighed. “It isn’t a problem, but I’m worried my mother will fall under the strange spell some of these so-called witches have. They sell bullshit things and market them as spells to help heal or get rid of negative energy.”
Narrowing my eyes at him, I asked, “So you don’t believe at all that they could possess some sort of magick or gift?”
He laughed. “Gift? Is that what they call it? The magic of pushing their wares on innocent people who want to believe in something like that is the only gift they have. I don’t want my mother falling prey to it.”
“Has she stopped treatment?”
“No, no, nothing like that. She’s done with it since she’s in remission.”
I leaned forward. “Then why are you worried about it? If it makes her feel better, why not let her believe in it?”
Scrubbing his hand down his face, he sighed. “I don’t know what it is, Lucas. Everyone speaks highly of the woman who runs the shop, but when I went in to simply question what she’d sold to my mother, she got all defensive.”
Raising a brow, I asked, “Did you simply question her, or did you accuse her of something else?”
He winced. “I might have accused her of ripping people off, but it was only because she got under my skin so much.”
I laughed. “Sounds to me like you like her.”
Then it dawned on me. Matt had once liked Sarah, Hollie’s sister.
“What?” he said with a laugh. “Lucas, we’re not ten on the playground anymore. This woman went on the defensive immediately. To me that screams that she’s guilty.”
“Of what? Selling a product she believes in?”
“No! Of making my mother think some stupid spell is going to help her.”
Shrugging, I said, “Maybe you insulted her and she was defending herself, her belief.”
He rolled his eyes. “You don’t believe in all that hocus pocus bullshit, do you?”
“As a matter of fact, Matt, I do.”
