“Hi, Jill.”
“I see you’ve got a new sidekick.” I gestured to the young man a few metres away.
“Don’t remind me. Laze is a total waste of space.”
“Laze? Is that his name?”
“No, it’s just what I call him because he’s so lazy.”
“I saw Blaze earlier in Coffee Games.”
“I bet he was wearing a luminous cat suit, wasn’t he?” She grinned.
“Orange. It was horrible.”
“Oh well. He’s not my problem now, so he can do what he likes. Don’t tell him that I said this, but he’s turned out to be a great rogue retriever, which is more than this lazy oaf will ever do.”
“What are you doing in my neck of the woods?”
“Actually, we’re working on a really interesting case.”
“Tell me more.”
“According to our intel, there’s a witch who lives hereabouts who’s told her human partner that she’s a sup.”
“Oh?” Gulp.
“And from what we understand, they’re due to get married, Saturday after next.”
Oh bum! The game was up.
“I—err—I—”
“You should see your face.” She laughed. “It’s a picture.”
“How did you know?”
“I didn’t. At least, I wasn’t sure until just now when I saw your reaction.”
“You were bluffing?”
“Good, aren’t I?”
“What are you going to do?”
“Don’t worry. You’re safe.”
“Really?”
“By rights, I should take you back to Candlefield, and make sure you never leave again, but if anyone ever deserved a free pass, it’s you. I’ve lost track of the number of times you’ve been there for me. And anyway, I’ve already bought my dress for the wedding. You don’t think I’m going to waste that, do you?”
“How long have you suspected?”
“Ever since you told me you were getting married. I know you well enough to know you wouldn’t go into this without first coming clean to Jack. How did he take it?”
“He was in a state of shock for a long time, but he’s just about got used to it now.”
“Does anyone else know that he knows?”
“No. I haven’t told anyone.”
“Not even your grandmother?”
“Especially not her.”
“Good. You need to keep it that way. And make sure Jack understands that too because if it was ever to get out, I’d have no choice but to—well, you know.”
“I understand. Thanks, Daze.” I gave her a hug. “Are you sure you won’t come on the hen night?”
“Thanks, but it’s not really my scene. Incidentally, is the music festival going to cause you any problems?”
“What music festival?”
“You must have seen all the posters—they’re everywhere. It’s on the same day as your wedding—in Washbridge Park.”
“Jack and Marceau haven’t mentioned it, so I assume they don’t think it will be a problem.”
“Who’s Marceau?”
“Our wedding planner and the bane of my life.”
“My clippers have broken!” Laze shouted.
“Sorry, Jill. I’d better go and see to dumb-nuts.”
Chapter 3
By the time I got up the next morning, Jack was already in the kitchen, eating breakfast.
“Morning.” I managed between yawns.
“Morning, Gorgeous.” He gave me a muesli kiss. “How’s your head this morning?”
“My head?”
“Did the migraine go off last night?”
“Oh, right. Yeah, it’s fine, thanks.”
The previous evening, I’d managed to put up with two hours of Jack and Marceau, arranging and then rearranging the seating plan, but then it had got to a point where I couldn’t stand anymore, so I’d made the excuse that I had a migraine, and left them to it. It wasn’t an out and out lie—the whole thing was certainly giving me one.
“I’m pleased to report that we managed to finalise the seating plan last night,” he said.
“Great.”
“Well, almost.”
“What do you mean: almost?”
“You have to admit that we have some unusual issues to address.”
“Such as?”
“It can’t be everyone who has to accommodate ghosts in their planning.”
“You didn’t mention ghosts to Marceau, did you?”
“Of course not. He would have thought I was crazy. But the fact that I can’t tell him is half the problem. He can’t understand why I insist on having one table more than the official guest list dictates we need.”
“How did you explain that away?”
“I said we might make some last-minute additions to the guest list, so we wanted an extra table, just in case.”
“Very clever. I’m impressed.”
“It still leaves us with a slight problem, though.”
“Oh?”
“I know you said that you wanted your mum and dad, and their partners to sit as close to the top table as possible, but there was no way I could convince Marceau that we should have what he thinks is an empty table positioned there. I had to agree to having it at the back of the room.”
“That makes sense. I’ll just have to explain it to Mum and Dad.”
“While we’re on the subject, we need to talk about the seating at the ceremony itself.”
“What about it?”
“Your mum and dad will have to sit at the back there too.”
“Why?”
“Think about it. If they sit near the front, those seats will appear to be empty to everyone except you. Someone will end up sitting on their laps.”
Oh bum! I hadn’t thought about that.
“You’re right. I’ll just have to try to explain it to them.”
“Surely, they’ll understand, won’t they?”
“I wouldn’t bank on it, but that’s my problem. There’s something else you need to know. I couldn’t tell you last night because Marceau was here. On my way home, I bumped into Daze. You remember her, don’t you?”
“Isn’t she one of those rogue retainers you told me about?”
“Retrievers, but yeah. That’s her. She knows.”
“She knows what?”
“She knows that you know.”
“Are you sure you don’t still have a migraine? You aren’t making a lick of sense.”
“Daze knows that you know I’m a witch.”
“What?” He dropped his spoon onto the floor. “Why didn’t you tell me last night? What’s going to happen? Is she going to take you—”
“Whoa, it’s okay. I didn’t say anything last night because Marceau was here, but also because Daze isn’t going to do anything.”
“How come? I thought that was her job.”
“It is. She’s going out on a limb for us. It’s a big risk because if anyone finds out, she’ll be in serious trouble.”
“Are you sure you can trust her?”
“Absolutely. She made me promise I wouldn’t tell you that she knew, but I’m not prepared to keep any more secrets from you ever again. Whatever you do, you mustn’t let on that you know that she knows.”
“Let me get this straight. I can’t let her know that I know that she knows?
“Precisely. It’s really important, Jack. If she finds out that I’ve told you—”
“She won’t. Look, if I can keep your big secret, I’m sure I can manage this. How did she find out, anyway?”
“Daze is a smart cookie. She knew I wouldn’t have agreed to marry you without first telling you I was a witch. Although, to be honest, she hadn’t been one-hundred percent certain until she saw my reaction when she confronted me. She totally bluffed me.”
Jack had finished his breakfast, and gone through to the lounge, to catch up on the morning’s bowling news on TenPin TV. I was still trying to decide between toast and cornflakes when he called to me.
“It looks like someone is moving in next door.”