A Witching Well of Magic: A Cozy Mystery (Witchy Women of Coven Grove Book 2) (8 page)

But, Avery was remarkably steering the conversation all the way back to the beginning, rather than postulating about who they should tell next. “If Aiden didn’t burglarize himself, someone else did. And I think you’re right—even if it wasn’t him, it has something to do with his coming here.”

With Avery’s help, Bailey had a plan. They would both keep an eye out on Aiden—even if he hadn’t robbed his own place, there was still something about him that Bailey wanted to find out. Avery would carefully probe Gloria and Trevor about a job at the paper, and would even feed them a juicy, made-up tidbit about Bailey to get close.

Bailey, for her part, would take her concerns about the stone, and Aiden, and possibly even Gloria and Trevor to the witches. That was Avery’s idea; Bailey thought that involving them wasn’t worth it, now that Avery knew and she had an ally in this. But, he made a good point.

“
If this is their stuff—their culture, or whatever—then they probably know something about it that you don’t. If we know what the stones are, then we might be able to figure out why someone would have taken it; and if we do that…”

“
Then,” Bailey finished, defeated, “we can figure out who would have that reason.”

“
Precisely.” And so, Avery decided to go check on Aiden, chit-chat a little, and possibly nerd out over the caves. After all, if anyone knew the caves even close to the way that Bailey did, it was her childhood would-be archaeologist’s assistant.

They got about ten feet out of the door the library, however, when Piper called. She was hysterical.

“
My mother in law got the call,” she wailed, “and she’s been… Oh my gosh, Bailey, she’s so awful. She says it’s all my fault!”

“
What?” Bailey waved at Avery. “What’s your fault? What’s happening, Pipes?”

“
Gavin,” Piper sobbed over the phone, “he left work for lunch and went to Hap’s for a drink. A drink! In the middle of the day. And he started screaming at people, and got into a fight and… he got arrested, Bailey, and his mother’s cousin works booking and he was raving at her about how his life is a mess and he never should have gotten me pregnant and that…” she paused to sob again, “…and that I got pregnant on purpose so he wouldn’t leave me!” She drew out the last word into a keening wail.

Bailey’s heart ached. Her eyes burned. She did this. There was no question. It was her spell, finally unleashing Gavin’s secret fears and issues in a fire of revelation, just like the title implied. “Okay… okay,” she said, “Pipes just… I’m with Avery, and we’re going to come and get you and Riley. Okay? And we’ll go down to the Sheriff’s station and bail Gavin out and get through all of this, okay?”

“
What if he—” Piper started, looking for the worst.

“
Just,” Bailey interrupted her, “just make sure you’re both dressed. We’ll come get you, okay?”

“
Okay,” Piper said, sniffling. “Okay. I’ll see you soon.”

Bailey hung up.

“
What the heck is going on?” Avery asked. “Is she okay? What did Gavin do?”

“
It wasn’t Gavin,” Bailey sighed. Might as well come clean to the one person she could in this situation. “It was me. Piper was so worried about what was going on with him… I cast a tiny spell…”

“
On Gavin?”

“
We need to pick up Piper,” Bailey said, directing them both toward Avery’s parked car. “I’ll tell you on the way.”

She did, and Avery heard her, and was more concerned for Gavin and Piper than he was angry, or disappointed, or frightened of Bailey and her spell casting. That was something, at least—he didn’t judge her for it, though he did comment that maybe it was good to take some things slow; like strange, arcane forces that could do God-knew-what.

Piper was a mess when they arrived. Riley, Piper’s son, was a knot of concern for his mother, but lacked the words to say it. Instead, he seemed vaguely uneasy about everything, and kept saying ‘mama’ over and over again when she began to lose it.

“
It’s just so embarrassing,” she said from the front seat—Bailey sat in the back where they’d fastened Riley’s car-seat in. With her belly, Piper needed the space in the front. “What could he be thinking? Everyone in town knows what he thinks of me—I don’t know if I can walk down the street again in broad daylight. And don’t get me started on his mother. Evelyn is beside herself, but of course she’s not mad at Gavin—oh, no, not her sweet boy. She’s furious at me. She never thought I was good enough for him, and now she thinks he’s only with me because I… what? Trapped him?”

“
It’ll be okay, Pipes,” Avery said. Bailey was having a hard time thinking of anything to say that wasn’t an apology, and she couldn’t even offer that. Not without having to explain what she’d done and everything that came with it. “I know it’s not the best way for this all to come out, but, you know… now that it has… maybe you two can finally start sorting things out, right?”

“
Us and the whole town,” Piper said, her voice tight. “I mean we got a second one on the way! And poor Riley—”

“
Riley, Riley,” Riley chimed, singsong. He reached for his mama, and Piper smiled at him, a pretty, tear-stained smile, and reached for him and let him play with her fingers.

“—
I just don’t want him to grow up knowing his father thinks he was a mistake, you know?” Piper finished.

Avery sighed. He glanced in the rear-view mirror, and Bailey averted her eyes. No, he wasn’t angry but… still. She’d caused all this pain. He had to at least think she was grossly irresponsible. Or, maybe he was trying to be reassuring to her like he was to Piper.

“
Secrets,” Avery said to Piper, though Bailey felt part of it was directed at her as well, “have a way of festering over time. Like the bad apple in the bunch, it spreads and starts to ruin everything around it. Trust me, now that this is out, things can start to get better. I wish it didn’t happen this way, but… well, it had to happen somehow.”

It didn’t help much, but Bailey at least clung to the hope that once the spell ran its course, Gavin would calm down and start talking to Piper. They had to. Not just for the kids—Piper and Gavin had been practically an institution for their generation in Coven Grove. Elementary school sweethearts, Middle School couple, High School royalty—kind and queen of every dance they went to. When they’d gotten married, over half the town had been there. They’d been excited when Piper got pregnant with Riley. Or, at least, they had seemed to be.

It took them pooling money to pay Gavin’s bail, and they still had to wait several hours. Only once did Bailey reflect that whoever stole the stone was probably getting away with it, now hours ahead of them, but she felt guilty for thinking it and turned her attention to her friend. This was more important right now, she told herself.

Gavin looked like he’d been through the ringer when he came out. He’d sobered up, but he looked… older, somehow. Wrung out and hung up. He could barely look at Piper.

Avery had suggested that Bailey and him simply take Piper and Gavin back to their house—or anywhere else, and maybe they could even take Riley and give the two of them some alone time to talk things over. But Piper insisted. She wanted allies with her, just in case. And Gavin knew them. Whatever he had to say to Piper, he could say in front of her closest friends.

To say it was awkward, didn’t really cover it. They drove to the park on the beach. Riley wanted to play in the sand, so Avery occupied his attention while Bailey sat with Piper and Gavin on the beach. For a little while, they just watched the waves.

“
I don’t know what came over me,” Gavin said. “I can’t believe I said those things…”

“
Did you mean them?” Piper asked. She was angry. But, she had that cool, neutral tone. She knew how to put her emotions away when they might do more harm than good. Bailey wished she could learn that trick.

Gavin opened his mouth to speak, and then coughed. After a moment, he shrugged. “I wish I could say I didn’t… but it’s not what it sounds like, Pipes. I promise… I love you, and I love Riley, too. Sometimes, though… I feel like I’m under so much pressure. I don’t know if I can handle it. It’s hard. Trying to keep my family happy, and, well; you know Mama. She’s a handful.”

“
That’s underselling it,” Piper said, only a little snippy.

“
And that’s the other thing—I wish you two got along, but I know I can’t do nothing about that, Pipes. And it feels like I’m gettin’ torn in two.” He sighed, and kicked sand.

Piper glanced at Bailey, and squeezed her hand a little. She wanted something, Bailey could feel it, but she didn’t know what. She opened her mind just a little to Piper, almost afraid to let her power touch either of her friends a second time.

“…
can’t stand to ask him myself. I don’t want to know where he’s going after work…”

Bailey shut it down. It was the piece missing. If it was bad, though, it would be really bad. She didn’t want to stir things anymore. She recalled at that moment that she’d heard one of the deputies thinking about Gavin and Marla… and whether he’d gone to see her recently. It was such a familiar name.

Again, she opened herself up, and reached out to Gavin’s mind. It was shaky, the same as he looked, but worse. That was the last time she did magic like that. She made that promise to herself then and there. Marla… who was Marla?

Focusing on the name was a little like sifting through the panicked, ragged thoughts running through Gavin’s head until one that matched stood out from the rest. Doctor M. Marla. Marla was a doctor… no… Gavin talked to her, sometimes twice a week. On a couch…

Doctor Marla. Of course. Marla was a shrink. Gavin hadn’t been cheating, he’d been seeing a counselor.

Armed with that, Bailey felt more at ease broaching the subject. “Gavin,” she said, “I know maybe it’s none of my business but… well, Piper’s a little worried about why you’re staying late after work.”

Gavin’s face turned red, and he dropped his eyes. “Oh… that’s…” he sighed, and turned to Piper. “I didn’t want to worry you. I got so much going on in my head, and at work, and at home… if I’d known it was eating you up I’d have told you, but Mama… well I’d rather you didn’t say anything to her. I’ve been seeing someone.”

Piper gasped.

“
Gavin,” Bailey hissed.

“
Oh, geeze, Pipes—no, I meant, I’ve been seeing a doctor. A shrink. A counselor. Doctor M; Marla Meisner, over in East Point center.”

Piper’s body seemed to shake something loose. She collapsed forward into a long hug with Gavin. “Why didn’t you tell me, baby?” She muttered.

“
Cause I didn’t want you to think I was weak, Pipes,” he said. “That I couldn’t handle it.”

“
Baby, I could never think that. I know how strong you are,” Piper said. “But all those things you said… we have to talk about all that. Either just us, or, you know… I could go with you to see the doc. Like couples counseling.”

“
Yeah,” Gavin said, a mix of shame and relief in his voice. “Yeah, I guess we could.”

Bailey took that as the cue. She stood. “Well… I can’t leave you two stranded out here but it seems like you’ve got a lot to talk about. Want a ride home?”

“
Just to Hap’s,” Gavin said. “My car’s still there. We might go out… you know, wait a bit to go home. What with Mama there and all…”

“
I can drive,” Piper added. Gavin grimaced, and gave them both a nod.

Avery hauled Riley up to the car on his shoulders, where Gavin took him and buckled him in. They rode in relative silence except for Riley’s chatter—a secret language that only Piper apparently spoke because she responded as though it all made perfect sense—and ultimately deposited them back at Gavin’s car.

“
We’ll check up on you to later on, okay?” Avery said before they left them. “If either of you need to talk, you can always call us.”

“
Always,” Bailey confirmed. Everyone hugged, again, and Bailey and Avery were alone again.

“
So,” Avery said wryly. “What have we learned?”

Bailey rolled her eyes. “Not you, too,” she muttered. But she sighed, and watched Gavin and Piper’s tail lights turn the far corner. “Chloe was right. She said magic can solve problems, but it’s never easy and never without a cost. I hate that Piper and Gavin are having to pay that cost.”

“
Well, they’re the ones getting the benefit, if they take it,” he said. “It makes a certain kind of sense.”

“
I suppose,” Bailey said. She checked the time. “I need to talk to the Coven…”

“
But?” Avery asked, sensing some other alternative.

“
Well,” Bailey said, “I’d rather go to them with something a little more solid, if I can. So they can’t shut me down again. Some kind of proof or, something…”

Avery put fingers to his forehead, eyes closed as he took on a dramatic face that Bailey could only interpret as his impression of a stage psychic. “I’m sensing,” he said ominously, “another dangerously irresponsible attempt at amateur investigation…”

“
Har har,” Bailey said. But, she bit her lip and held up her thumb and forefinger, pinched close. “Only a teensy bit dangerously irresponsible. A crime scene.”

“
The tour office?” Avery asked.