Shanna Swendson - Don't Hex with Texas

“So, Owen,” he said, “you’re from New York, right?”

Owen didn’t even flinch. He’d gone into his business mode. “Yes. I live in the city now, but I grew up in a small town not far outside the city.”

I held my breath, hoping Dean wouldn’t ask where Owen was born. That was a touchy subject, since he didn’t actually know for sure, and I didn’t want to have to get into that. Fortunately, Dean didn’t go there. Instead, he asked, “Where did you go to school?”

Owen gave him an even gaze and said, “Yale, for my undergraduate through my doctorate.” He didn’t blush, but I felt my own face growing warm with pride on his behalf. Yep, my guy—or ex-guy, or whatever he was—was hot stuff.

Even Sherri seemed to be impressed. “Whoa, so you’re like a doctor?”

“I’m not a medical doctor. It’s a PhD, and it mostly means I spent a lot of time in school writing a lot of papers.”

Dean didn’t see the need to back down. If anything, he was more intent on finding and exposing whatever was wrong with Owen. I wasn’t sure if he was really being the protective big brother on my behalf, or if he was looking for weaknesses so he could assure himself that he was still the hottest guy in town. “And what is it you do?” I was actually rather surprised that nobody had yet asked the question. The fact that Owen had worked with me had seemed like answer enough so far.

Owen very deliberately finished chewing the bite he’d just taken, then took a drink of tea before answering. “I work in research and development for a company supplying specialized technology resources.” I tried to remember that description for future use. Saying “the Microsoft of magic” only worked when I was talking to people who were in on the secret.

Owen held Dean’s gaze, like he was waiting for a reaction. Dean was no dummy, but he’d never applied himself, so I knew he was well out of his league, and it looked like he knew it, too. I felt it was time to jump in. “So, big brother dearest,” I said, trying to sound fond instead of defensive, “does he pass muster? Or should I have held out for a medical doctor who went to Harvard?”

“That wouldn’t necessarily have been an upgrade,” Owen said with a raised eyebrow in my direction.

“Not Harvard.”

“I think he’s swell, Katie,” Sherri said. “Dean, you should lighten up. Does anyone want seconds?”

Before Dean could say anything else, I piped up again. “I was just admiring Sherri’s china. Did y’all get this recently?”

For perhaps the first time in my life, I saw Dean utterly speechless. His mouth hung open, and no sound came out of it. Sherri didn’t seem to notice. “It’s brand-new,” she said proudly. “Y’all are the first ever to eat off it.”

“Well, someone’s trying to score Brownie points,” I continued. “I noticed all that pretty new jewelry Sherri’s wearing. I guess one of your businesses hit the jackpot for you, huh?” Dean couldn’t resist a get-rich-quick scheme. He was the guy all those Internet spam “make money fast” ads were targeted to. And then, almost holding my breath in anticipation, I went in for the kill that was sure to get me a reaction. “It’s lucky you got all that stuff before someone knocked over the jewelry store. It would have been a shame if you’d gotten together the money to buy all these nice things, and someone had swiped them out from under you.”

Their reactions weren’t at all what I’d anticipated. Sherri couldn’t keep a secret to save her life, so I’d expected her to lean forward and whisper to us about buying everything cheap from a guy who’d offered a great deal. Or, if she was our wizard, she’d have started preening, gloating, and acting mysterious. Instead, she nodded sincerely and said, “Yeah, I know.”

Dean’s reaction was even more surprising. He went totally still, only his eyes moving as he looked between Owen and me, then he said in an ice-cold voice, “And I think it’s interesting how the biggest crime wave ever to hit this town just happened to strike the day after your boyfriend showed up.”

I wasn’t sure how to react in order to convey the maximum degree of innocence. Of course, Owen wasn’t the thief, but the mysterious crime wave was related to his visit. I tried for affronted girlfriend and embarrassed sister, which wasn’t much of a stretch.

Meanwhile, Owen went even colder than Dean had been, with the eerie kind of stillness that he got when he was absolutely furious. The last time I’d seen him that angry, he’d almost accidentally sent Grand Central Station plummeting three stories underground after generating a shock wave that could have undermined the foundation. “Are you implying anything in particular?” he asked, his voice even and conversational.

“Dean, don’t be rude!” Sherri said. “Like he’d need to come here to rob the town. If he was a robber, he could have robbed all kinds of places in New York. Now, you apologize right this instant.”

Dean and Owen remained in a staredown, blue eyes locked with green. Under normal circumstances, Owen might have been at a disadvantage because he wore contact lenses and would have to blink, but Owen was anything but normal. I had a feeling that if I’d worn Owen’s magic-detecting necklace, it would have been buzzing up a storm, just from the waves of anger that were coming off him. Dean’s high school portrait that hung on the dining room wall fell to the floor with a crash. There was a strong chance it was pure coincidence and caused by a slipshod job of picture hanging, but I wouldn’t have bet on it.

“Dean, I said stop it and apologize,” Sherri said again, her voice shrill. That broke the standoff, and for the first time since I met her, I actually liked Sherri. “You know he’s not the robber, and besides, your mom was talking about weird stuff happening days before he got here.”

Dean kept his eyes fixed on Owen. “Weird stuff isn’t the same as robbery.”

“Yeah, but still, weird things were happening around town, so it’s not like everything suddenly changed when he got here—except maybe for Katie. I’m sure a lot changed for her.” She looked embarrassed as she said, “I doubt y’all will want to stay for dessert after my husband was so rude. It was just a store-bought cake that I got on special, anyway, and you can bet Lois’ll have something even better when you get back home.” Sherri stood up. “I’m sorry about all this.”

This was one of those times when it was best not to get into an argument, so I got my purse while Owen got his suit coat, and then Sherri walked us to the door. As soon as we were both in the car, I said, “I’m sorry about that. He was a total jerk. I don’t know what his deal was.”

Owen didn’t say anything while he started the car, put it in gear, and then backed out of the driveway.

He didn’t talk until we were halfway home. Then he sighed and seemed to relax a little. “I know he’s your brother,” he began, “and I realize I know absolutely nothing about what it’s like to be part of a family—”

“That most definitely is not it,” I cut in.

“But I think we have to consider him a suspect. It was a classic move—you were getting too close with your questions about all the new things he seems to have acquired lately, so he tried to deflect suspicion onto me. I’m sure if he talks to enough people in town about this, it will be easy for him to make the outsider look like the culprit.”

“Well, considering that he’s got a house full of stuff stolen from the stores in question, and you have nothing on you—and I suspect you’ve arranged it so nothing could be easily planted—that won’t go far. This town may be small and old-fashioned, but we haven’t tarred and feathered a stranger before riding him out of town on a rail since I can remember. And how can he be our suspect? He’s not magical. Remember, my family tends to be immune to magic.”