Chapter 2

ALL THE WORLD

It was probably a good thing I was sitting on that stool, because I didn’t have to worry about my knees giving way and depositing all eight-plus-months-pregnant of me on the shop floor. About all I could do was blink at this apparition and say, “I beg your pardon?”

She grinned. I wouldn’t say we resembled one another too much despite the similarity in our hair color — my face was oval, while hers was heart-shaped, and she had the kind of skin that looked as if it tanned easily, while I was pale and tended to fry in the sun — but something about that flash of a smile did seem like mine, wide and friendly.

“I know it must be kind of a shock,” she said. “But I finally was able to figure out where you were living, and I really wanted to meet you.”

This time, I managed to reply, “How did you find me?”

Not even a blink. “I consulted the Tarot.”

Most other people might have responded to such an admission with scorn. However, since I regularly read Tarot cards to help me with major life decisions, I didn’t find anything too strange about her answer.

Or rather, it seemed natural enough to me that someone might use such a method for life guidance. What felt utterly crazy, though, was that this half-sister of mine might possess anything similar to my own gifts. While I’d never questioned where my intuition…or my ability to see auras, as unreliable as it often was…might have come from, now I had to wonder.

Was it possible that my talents had come from my absent father’s side of the family, rather than some long-ago great-great maternal grandmother?

“I didn’t think you would think that was weird,” Chloe went on. “I mean, considering your store and everything.”

She made a small wave toward the table that held what I called the “pocket crystals,” the less expensive rock specimens that were the perfect size to ride along in your purse or be tucked under a pillow…or sit on an altar, the way I had a bunch of them displayed at home.

“Oh, I don’t think it’s weird,” I said quickly. “I suppose I was just surprised that you read the Tarot like I do.”

“My dad says it runs in the family,” Chloe returned. “Or at least, he heard from my grandmother that her grandmother supposedly had the Sight. He says he’s not psychic at all, but it must have popped up in me.”

She sounded entirely blithe about the situation. But then, if Chloe had been living with her powers for most of her life, then I supposed she was probably used to them by now, even though she looked as though she was about ten years younger than me and therefore barely out of her teens.

Because that was pretty much all I knew about my half-siblings. I knew that Chloe and her brother existed, that her brother was about eight years my junior and Chloe had followed a couple of years later. Jordan Fairfield — my biological father — had made it clear that, while he was willing to pay child support, he hadn’t planned for me to be born and didn’t want to be part of my life beyond making sure I was provided for. Early on, the realization that he’d basically cut me out of his life had hurt a lot, but as time had worn on and I’d gained some perspective, I’d decided it was better that way. Why try to force someone to love you when he viewed you as nothing more than a mistake?

But Jordan had gotten older and wiser after that time when he’d been drumming in a metal band, had gotten his degree in music, had ended up teaching school and having a family of his own. From time to time over the years, I’d wondered if I should try to reach out to my half-siblings, and something had always stopped me. Not my mother; she’d made her peace with the situation, and while she might have tried to gently let me know that we were all living our separate lives, she would never have outright forbidden me to make contact. Instead, I’d let it go.

However, it appeared that Chloe had no intention of doing the same thing.

“So…the Tarot told you where to find me,” I said. “That’s interesting, because the Tarot is kind of how I ended up in Globe in the first place.”

My newfound half-sister beamed. She was a very pretty girl, with the kind of smile that made her light up from the inside. Because the only photo I’d ever seen of my biological father was a grainy snapshot someone had taken of him at the club where he’d been playing when he met my mother, I’d never had a very good impression of his looks, except that he might have been halfway handsome if it weren’t for that ridiculous heavy-metal shag he’d been sporting.

Ah, the ’90s.

So maybe Chloe took after him in looks, or maybe she favored her mother. Since I knew nothing about the woman, not even her name, I couldn’t hazard a guess.

“That’s exactly what led me here,” Chloe said. “I mean, I turned twenty-one in February, and something about that birthday made me start thinking about things. Like, I graduated from college a semester early because of my AP credits and all that, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. Then I remembered how my dad said once that you were a professional psychic, but everything I tried to look up on you was out of date, and your website was gone altogether.”

“Yes, I took that down after I moved here,” I said, a smile of my own tugging at my lips. Maybe some people would have been annoyed to have an unexpected sibling pop up like this out of the blue, but something about Chloe’s enthusiasm was infectious.

She nodded, dark hair slipping over her shoulder. Like mine, it was straight and thick, although much longer than I’d ever worn it. “That was when I decided to consult the Tarot. The first card I pulled was The World.”

Just as I had several years ago, scared to death that Lucien Dumond was after me and knowing I needed to get out of L.A. as fast as I could. The cards had led me to Globe back then…just as they had for Chloe now.

I tilted my head, indicating she should go on, so she continued.

“First I tried Googling your name and ‘the world,’ but that didn’t pull up anything. And there are more Selena Marxes out there than I’d thought there would be, so I didn’t find anything right away.”

I’d learned that same thing several years earlier, so this particular piece of information didn’t surprise me too much. “But then….”

Chloe’s shoulders lifted. “I kept thinking about it, though, and I had a flash of inspiration. Like, I remembered that the world is a globe, so I looked up that word combined with your name. And bam — there was the link to your store’s website. At first, I couldn’t believe I’d been that lucky, but then I realized it was my intuition that had guided me here.”

Again, since I was someone who generally heeded that same inner voice, I couldn’t fault my half-sister for following her gut, even if doing so was the kind of following blind belief that a lot of people would have considered foolish at best.

“Does your father know you’re here?” I asked.

Her shoulders lifted in a too-nonchalant shrug. “I’m an adult,” she said. “I don’t need to ask his permission.”

Maybe not, but she seemed like a very young twenty-one to me. At that age, I’d been on my own for several years.

But I reminded myself that comparisons were a waste of time and energy, so I put that somewhat judge-y thought aside.

Instead, I asked, “You’re out on your own?”

Her slate-hued gaze slid away from mine. “Well, not exactly,” she said after a long pause. “I mean, I kind of still live at home. But I pay rent. It’s not like I’m sponging off my parents or anything.”

The tone in her voice was just defensive enough that I knew I’d better leave it alone. “That’s your business,” I said lightly. “I suppose I just meant that it was a long way to drive without letting anyone know where you’ve gone.”

At once, Chloe’s expression lightened. “Oh, I told my mom,” she said. “And she told me I just needed to be safe, which I was. Had my phone on the whole time, and didn’t make eye contact with anyone when I stopped for gas. And see? I made it to Globe just fine.”

“That you did,” I replied. “And I have to say it’s a very pleasant surprise to see you here. Do you have a place to stay lined up?”

Her pretty white teeth tugged at her lower lip, and then she said, “Not really. I guess I was kind of hoping I might crash at your place.” Again, her gaze slid toward my rounded stomach. “But I suppose that’s probably not a great idea.”

I couldn’t help smiling, even though I knew some people might have been annoyed by her assumption that it would be just fine to couch-surf at her previously unknown sister’s house. Right then, I could only imagine Calvin’s reaction if I brought Chloe home. Technically, we had the space to put her up, since we still had a spare room even after converting one of the extra bedrooms into a nursery, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t be too thrilled to have a houseguest when our first child was ready to meet the world in less than two weeks.

No, I had something else in mind.

“My house is pretty far outside town,” I said. “And while I know my husband Calvin would love to meet you, I have a better idea. A friend of mine has an Airbnb about five minutes from here, and I’m pretty sure it’s available. Do you mind if I give her a quick call and make sure?”

“That would be great,” Chloe replied. “The town looks kind of cute, so it would be fun to stay someplace where I could check things out.”

“Then just give me a minute. You can go ahead and take a look around if you want.”

She seemed amenable to that idea and headed toward the shelves that held my collection of Tarot cards for sale. Good timing, too, because the door opened right then, and a couple of customers came in. They went straight for the candles, though, and since it looked as if everyone was ready to browse in peace for a while, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for texting Hazel.

Hey, I just had an unexpected family member show up. Is your Airbnb available?

After I sent the message, I realized that Hazel might be in the middle of her doctor’s appointment and wouldn’t be able to respond right away. To my relief, though, her answer popped up only a moment later.

It’s available. I have someone coming on the 21 st , but that’s a ways off.

Nearly three weeks from now. I could only hope that Chloe would have gotten her itch scratched by then and headed back to the San Fernando Valley, because I would definitely have my hands full by that point.

Perfect. Can you meet us there after 5:30?

I’ll just put the key under the mat. It’ll be easier.

Right, because I realized Hazel probably wouldn’t want to hang around in Globe, waiting for me to get off work. No, I was sure she’d already planned to go home with Chuck to their ranch after her doctor’s appointment.

That’s fine. Thanks so much.

No problem. You can fill me in later.

And that meant she wanted to know who I was putting up in the Airbnb, which made perfect sense. Although I’d told Hazel that I had half-siblings out there in the world, I doubted she would ever imagine either of them was my unexpected guest. The only relatives who were truly part of my life were my mother and Tom, and since they owned a large Victorian mansion on the edge of town, it wasn’t as if they had any need to crash in someone’s Airbnb. True, there were Tom’s kids and their spouses, but the mansion was big enough to hold all of them if necessary.

Luckily, though, none of that group had any desire to be present in Globe for the birth of my child. We managed to be civil to one another on the few occasions when we were forced to spend time together, but I had nothing in common with them and they had nothing in common with me and my husband, and I was more than happy to have them safely several hundred miles away the vast majority of the time. Tom himself was a different matter — I often wondered how such a wonderful man had managed to have such irritating children, and guessed they took after his ex-wife — but even he probably wasn’t going to stay in Globe the entire time my mother planned to be here. Instead, he’d go back to SoCal as necessary if any important concerns came up regarding his plumbing supply business, then would return to Arizona once anything pressing had been handled.

Chloe came wandering back from the crystal display, her gaze inquiring, and I said, “It’s all settled — Hazel’s leaving us the key for her Airbnb, but I won’t be able to take you over there until after I close up at five. Think you can hang on until then?”

“Oh, sure,” she replied at once. “I’ll just wander around and take a look at things. I passed a cute coffee shop on the way in, and maybe I’ll grab something to drink there.”

That would have been a good idea, except….

“I’m afraid that Cloud Coffee closed at three,” I told her. “But you should be able to get an iced tea or something at Olamendi’s. It’s the Mexican restaurant at the end of the block.”

To my relief, Chloe didn’t look too dismayed at being deprived of a latte, or whatever she’d been hoping to order at the coffee shop. “That works,” she said. “I’ll come back a little after five.”

“See you then.”

She nodded, then hoisted her fringed black purse a little higher on her shoulder as she headed out the door. As she left, Olivia came in, looking cheerful as usual.

Perfect timing.

Obviously, I wasn’t going to say anything to my assistant about the unexpected arrival of my half-sister; word would probably get around town soon enough, but I didn’t see any reason to speed up the spread of that information. Olivia was a great girl and had really helped me out over the past couple of months, and yet I could tell she was already half-checked out of Globe, ready to get away and start college and see more of the wider world.

Somehow, I got the feeling she was one of those who wouldn’t see any need to return to her hometown and would instead set her sights on a future that provided many more opportunities.

But she was here now, and I had to be happy about that.

“Hi, Olivia,” I said, glad I sounded completely normal and not as though I’d just had my long-lost half-sister walk through the shop door, “that new shipment from Llewellyn Press came in this morning. Do you think you could unpack it for me?”

Chloe came back a few minutes after five. I’d told Olivia she could leave right on the hour since there wasn’t any real tidying up that needed to be done, and she headed out, obviously happy that she’d still get paid for time she could now use for homework, or maybe just hanging out. After all, she’d already been accepted to her school of choice and was probably trying to skate by this last semester without having to exert herself too much.

And although I knew that having Chloe stay at the house wasn’t an option, not with the baby so close to greeting the world, I also knew I needed to do my best to still be a gracious hostess, despite the way she’d appeared out of nowhere. That meant bringing her to the house for dinner, even though I certainly hadn’t planned to have any guests. Luckily, I had a big batch of chili going in the crockpot, which would be plenty to feed all of us.

Unless she was vegan, in which case I’d just have to throw together a salad for her or something.

Anyway, I’d texted Calvin that my half-sister had shown up in Globe and that I’d be bringing her home for dinner, and although his return text had been startled, he would never have told me that wasn’t a very good idea. The Standingbears were very big on family, even when they showed up on your doorstep with no warning.

“How was downtown?” I asked her as she approached the counter. I’d told Olivia I would lock up, knowing that I needed to keep the front door open for a few minutes past five. In fact, I got out the key even as Chloe was replying to my question.

“Good,” she said. “I got some iced tea at Olamendi’s like you suggested, and then I kind of wandered. That Sundowner Gallery place has some nice stuff. I especially liked the paintings by an artist named Hazel Marr.”

I allowed myself a smile. “Hazel is an amazing artist,” I agreed as I carefully lowered myself from the stool where I’d been sitting. “She’s my friend who owns the Airbnb.”

“Wow, she is?” Chloe responded, looking impressed. “Does she have any of her art at the house?”

“No,” I said, and my half-sister’s expression fell a bit. “She decided to take out the original paintings because she didn’t know whether it was a good idea to keep such valuable pieces hanging there when she didn’t know how people would treat them.”

Chloe pursed her lips. “I suppose I can understand that. But it’s still cool that I’ll be able to stay at her place.”

“I think you’ll like it.” By then, I was able to make my way to the front door so I could lock up — good thing, because I’d spied a couple who looked like they were probably in their middle forties beginning to make their leisurely way down the sidewalk toward the store. Under other circumstances, I might have been fine with waiting and closing up shop until they’d had a chance to browse, but today I only wanted to make sure Chloe and I were able to get out of there on time.

Once the door was settled, I went back to the cash register and stowed the key in its spot under the cash drawer. I had a duplicate on the key ring I carried with me at all times, but I kept this one here in case of emergency, since I could always count on my friend Victoria to open the shop if necessary, thanks to the way the same key unlocked the door that opened on the rear lobby and the one to her studio upstairs as well.

“You’ll need to follow me,” I said. “Are you parked out back?”

“Yep,” Chloe replied cheerfully. “I wasn’t sure about the street parking, so I thought it would be safer to use the parking lot. There were lots of spaces.”

Something that might have been a marvel to a person from overcrowded Southern California but was par for the course around here. A lot of people liked to park out on Bridge Street, so there were many days when it was only my white Jeep Renegade and Victoria’s bright red Mercedes SUV holding court out back.

Today, though, a metallic gray Volkswagen Beetle was parked a couple of spaces away from my Jeep, and an odd little pang went through me. I’d driven a similar car for years, although mine had been the Denim edition convertible, and this one wasn’t quite so fancy, although meticulously maintained. A while back, I’d given up my Beetle because it just wasn’t suited to driving on the rough road out to the house every day, but even though I loved the Jeep and had been glad of its four-wheel drive on more than one occasion, I still found myself missing my VW from time to time.

“Your car?” I asked with a nod toward the little gray Beetle, and Chloe nodded.

“Yeah, I had to put in a lot of hours at Chipotle to pay for it.”

She still wore a small smile, so I guessed she didn’t have too much of a problem with having to earn her way toward vehicle ownership. It made sense, I supposed; a high school music teacher probably didn’t earn enough to be buying cars for his kids, even if he’d held the same position for a long time and was at the top of his pay scale. I could relate, since I’d had to work hard to afford my own car in high school, a beat-up Sentra with nearly a quarter-million miles on the odometer by the time I traded it in for my brand-new Beetle.

“They’re great cars,” I said. “I had one of my own up until a year or so ago. But it just wasn’t up to dealing with country roads on a regular basis.”

“You live out in the country?” Chloe asked.

“Sort of,” I replied. “Our house is on the east side of town, a couple of miles off the highway.” Although the day had been sunny enough, I could feel the wind starting to pick up, and the air was cooling noticeably as the sun slipped toward the horizon. “But let’s get you over to the Airbnb.”

She seemed amenable to that suggestion and headed toward her VW while I laboriously clambered behind the wheel of the Jeep. Each day, that particular task got more and more difficult, but I stubbornly continued to drive myself to work even though I’d had offers from several people to play chauffeur.

No, I wanted to hold on to that small piece of freedom while I still could.

I drove slowly so Chloe wouldn’t have any trouble keeping up. Since it was a drive of only a half mile or so, it didn’t take too long for us to reach Hazel’s Airbnb, a cute little cottage of only a bit more than a thousand square feet. She’d clearly been preparing for spring, because I noted several new annuals blooming in the flowerbeds out front, even as the daffodils and irises had already begun to make their yearly appearance.

There was a garage, but Hazel kept that for storing supplies and spare furniture. I parked out front and hoped Chloe would get the hint that it was okay to pull into the driveway, even if the garage was off-limits. She seemed to understand, because rather than parking behind me, she turned into the drive and then shut off the engine.

“It’s adorable!” she exclaimed as I clambered out of my Renegade’s driver’s seat and closed the door behind me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen houses like this in the Valley.”

Probably not, since the vast majority of my old stomping grounds had been built after World War 2, and the houses tended to be stucco, not little bungalows with yellow-painted siding and cheerful green shutters.

“No,” I said. “There are places like this in the older parts of L.A., but I remember the Valley being pretty much ranchers and McMansions as far as the eye can see.”

Chloe chuckled. “It is pretty vanilla. This place seems to have a lot more character.”

Well, that it did. While some parts of Globe still looked kind of rough, the street where Hazel’s Airbnb was located was lined with ’20s-vintage houses that had also been restored, so the overall effect was pretty much postcard-perfect.

“Let’s go inside,” I said. “I think you’ll like the decor, too.”

Because even though Hazel had taken down her original artwork, all the furnishings in their cheery shades of green and blue and yellow remained, and she’d made sure that the canvas prints she’d hung to replace her art still worked beautifully in the space.

“I think it’s the cutest place I’ve ever seen,” Chloe declared. She’d been carrying an oversized weekender bag in addition to her fringed purse, and she set it down now on the flowered rug as she glanced around the living room. “It’s obvious she chose everything in here carefully. Why doesn’t she live here instead of renting it out?”

“She got married a while back to a man who owns a ranch outside town,” I explained. “So she decided to keep the cottage as an income property rather than sell it.”

I stopped there, though — there wasn’t any point in telling my half-sister that long ago, this house had also belonged to my friend Archie, way back in the 1950s before a vengeful witch turned him into a cat for daring to spurn her advances. The curse had been broken thanks to Archie falling in love with Victoria Parrish, but while I guessed that Chloe would meet Archie and Victoria eventually, there was no way in the world I’d divulge those secrets without getting my friends’ express permission.

“That makes sense,” Chloe said, and I was relieved she didn’t seem inclined to ask any further questions on the subject.

“Well, then,” I went on, “now that we’ve got a place for you to stay, Calvin and I were hoping you’d come to the house for dinner tonight. I’ve got a big batch of chili going, and I’ll make cornbread muffins.”

Not for the first time, my half-sister’s gaze went to my rounded belly. It seemed clear to me that she didn’t think I should be doing much of anything except ordering takeout at this point.

However, she seemed to realize that commenting on my advanced pregnancy wouldn’t be very diplomatic, because she only said, “All that sounds great. My schedule’s been kind of weird lately, so I’ve been eating a lot of takeout. A home-cooked meal would be fab…as long as it’s not too much trouble.”

“It isn’t,” I assured her. “And since our gravel road can be kind of rough for regular cars, I can drive you and then have Calvin bring you back here.”

“Are you sure?” Chloe returned, looking dubious. “I don’t want to be an inconvenience, especially with showing up out of the blue like this.”

“You’re not an inconvenience,” I assured her. Then, keeping my tone gentle, I added, “Is there anything you want to tell me about why you’re here?”

Because for all I knew, she’d argued with her parents and had decided it seemed better to get out of town and be around someone who still technically counted as family, even if I’d never been a part of her life before now.

Her chin went up, and I could practically see her jaw harden with resolve.

“Yes,” she said. “There is something else. I know I have gifts, but I don’t really know what to do with them.”

A pause, and then she spoke again.

“I want you to teach me how to be a witch.”