Shanna Swendson - Don't Hex with Texas

He knelt and placed the case as I directed, then stood up and looked around the room. “I never really saw you as the pink type.”

“That phase only lasted a couple of years. Two years later, it was purple, but Mom wouldn’t let me redecorate. In high school, I wanted to go all modern with red, black, and white. Now I think I’d do it in pale blue and white.”

He raised an eyebrow, but refrained from further comment. “Are you ready to go?”

“Can you give me five minutes to change clothes? I’m kind of a mess from work.” Once I had the door shut with him safely on the other side, I frantically pulled off my clothes, then put on a nicer pair of jeans and a clean shirt. I tugged the ponytail holder out of my hair and ran a brush through it. I limited makeup to a little lip gloss because I didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard.

Feeling much better about myself, I found him in Teddy and Dean’s room. I gave him a quick tour of the house, avoiding the kitchen where Mom and Granny lurked. In the backyard, the dogs ran to greet us, going straight to Owen. I was a bit insulted at the snub by my own dogs. The dogs escorted us to the edge of the yard where we could see the fields, which were laid out in stripes in various shades of green. “We don’t really farm as a business anymore,” I explained, “but those are Teddy’s test crops.

He plants different kinds of seeds and tests them with all kinds of fertilizers to see what works best.”

“That would be the formula he was talking about?”

“Yes, and like I warned you, don’t ask him about it. It’s like someone asking you a question about how magic works. Now, over there is the barn, which mostly serves as a storage shed. We have a few head of cattle—again, for comparing different kinds of feed—and some horses that are more pets than anything. And there you are. So I guess we need to go talk to Sam?”

He produced the keys to the rental car and said, “Yeah, we’re set for a meeting in fifteen minutes.”

“Then I am part of the investigation, huh?”

“Only because it would be suspicious if I went off by myself so soon after getting here. That would raise too many questions with your family.”

That wasn’t exactly an enthusiastic invitation, but it didn’t stop me from getting into the car with him.

I couldn’t blame him for being a bit hurt and upset about the way things had happened, but I was sure he’d understood. And hey, it hadn’t been a picnic for me, either.

As we drove away, I noticed the kitchen curtains moving and knew we were being watched. Mom and Granny probably thought we were off for a big, romantic night, but except for the one moment when he’d put his arm around me, he’d been acting anything but romantic. He seemed almost as distant as if he were still in New York rather than right there beside me.

“I guess we’re heading to the square,” I said when the silence in the car grew oppressive.

“No, that’s too public for a meeting. It takes too much power to conceal something that complex.

We’re meeting somewhere else.” It was my hometown, but he seemed to know his way around already, turning onto side streets without hesitation. We pulled up in back of the town’s Catholic church, where a lone gargoyle sat on the roof ridge. He swooped down to join us.

“Ah, that’s more like it,” Sam said. “I need a little recharge from perching on a church every so often.

I was afraid if I sat on that courthouse much longer, I’d turn into a lawyer. So, what’s the plan, boss?”

“You haven’t been able to identify our culprit?”

“Hey, Katie-bug here’s the local.” He turned to me. “You know the townfolk. Did old Prances in Robes ring a bell with you?”

“There wasn’t anything particularly distinctive about him—or her. I guess it would help if he’d walked with a limp or had a certain gait that looked familiar, or maybe wore personalized cowboy boots under his robes so they showed when he took a step. I don’t think I even saw his feet.”

“What’s your assessment of our local wizard?” Owen asked Sam.

“Pretty basic magic. Really rough, not a lot of power or control. I’m most worried about him using magic as a pickpocketing tool.”

“Yeah, that does put things closer to the dark side, which isn’t a good introduction to magic,” Owen mused. “I’m curious to see these lessons and how well they work. We don’t often see people learning as adults.”

“How do people learn they’re magical?” I asked.

“It’s an inherited trait, so parents are generally magical and then they know to look for the signs in their children.”

“But what if someone slips through the cracks and doesn’t find out that they’re magical? Couldn’t that happen?”

“I suppose there might be someone with latent magical talent out there who never knew. Families can drift apart and lose traditions, and if they’re not in a place with strong power lines or other magical people for them to learn from, they might not ever realize what they’re capable of. I imagine that’s what we’re dealing with here, someone who figured out he could do strange things that were useful and is enjoying the power.”

“Which is what we gotta put a stop to,” Sam growled. “It ruins things for all of us if some wacko goes out and shows off.”

Owen took my hand then, and shivers went all up and down my spine—not the magical tingle I had from Sam’s veiled presence. I heard a car drive by on the adjacent street, more slowly than normal.

“That’s the third car in the last few minutes,” Owen said. “They can’t see Sam, but what they do see looks like us having a deep conversation.”

I was all for giving them a show, but holding my hand seemed to be as far as Owen was willing to go at the moment. “By this time, my mom will have already heard that I’m with a guy in back of the Catholic church.”

Owen turned back to face Sam, and I saw that the gargoyle’s stone face was etched with amusement.

“We’ll check around and see if someone shows signs of being our culprit. You keep an eye out for magical activity and let me know if anything else happens.”

Sam saluted him with one wing. “Got it, boss.”

As we got back into the car, Owen said, “If you’re showing me off around town and introducing me to people, that gives us an excuse to talk to any suspects. Do you have any suspects?”

“Not many. There’s this weird guy who used to be Teddy’s friend. Mom swears he made the pharmacist give him his prescription for free. I’m still not sure if that’s another one of the magical things she spotted or if that one’s all in her head. Frankly, I can’t see him working hard enough to learn how to do a real spell. If he flunked out of A&M, he’s not going to be able to learn magic. Then there’s Sherri, I guess, but she’s not the magical kind of witch.”

“This isn’t witchcraft we’re dealing with, anyway. It’s entirely different.”

“The first place we have to go is the motel so you can meet Nita.”

“Is she a suspect?”

“No, but she’s my best friend around here, and wouldn’t it look funny for me to show off my handsome New York boyfriend to everyone in town without first introducing you to my best friend?

Besides, something weird happened at the motel a few nights ago. A window disappeared entirely, like that time you made the restaurant windows vanish. There wasn’t any broken glass lying around, and nothing was stolen.”

“The motel is the pink place on the north side of town, right?”

“That’s it.”

“You must really like it, then.”

I groaned. I’d clearly never live down the pink room. At least Owen was showing signs of a sense of humor instead of being more stone-like than Sam.