“Then at the motel with me,” Rory stated. “I want to check on Jim anyway.”
“Jim?”
“The puppy. I’m keeping him and naming him Jim.”
Jennifer smiled. “That’s nice to hear the little guy is getting a home. I’ve been a little worried about him.”
“As I was saying, if ya don’t want to stay in the mansion or the motel, I can take ya home, but I’ll stay there with ya. Wherever ya are, I’m there too. I’m not leaving ya alone.”
Jennifer could not see Rory MacGregor living in a trailer with her, not after seeing his mansion of a house.
“Don’t you think I broke the spell or possession or whatever when I refused to stab you? The anger hasn’t come back.”
All it takes is a dash of destiny, and everything can change.
Rory grinned. “Glad to hear ya no longer want to stab me, but it’s too soon to say whether or not it’s over.”
Rory drove toward her house. She had to stop him from going past it since the last time he’d dropped her off she hadn’t shown in the actual location.
“Park here,” she indicated, pointing to the curb.
He glanced at the two-story house near where she indicated. “It looks charming.”
“I’m sure it is for the people who live there.” Jennifer opened the car door and stepped onto the curb. She carried the latte and muffin with her. “Mine is this way.”
Jennifer cut between the two houses toward the alleyway. She ate the muffin a little faster than in the car, letting crumbs fall on the ground. When they reached the trailer home, she frowned. “Crap. I think my key is back at the mansion.”
Rory chuckled and lifted a finger. “Allow me.”
He went to the latch and jiggled the handle. It opened.
“If this whole billionaire warlock thing doesn’t work out for you, I think you have a real future as a locksmith.” She hesitated as she glanced into the open doorway.
“It would have been more impressive if ya would have locked the door,” Rory said.
Jennifer frowned. “Oh, yeah, I forgot. I ran out of here pretty quickly after hearing that creepy voice.”
She remembered the money she’d left on the kitchen counter and hoped it was still there. If anyone tried the latch, she could have been out her tip money.
Rory went into the home and instantly began inspecting the rooms for an intruder. Jennifer went to the kitchen and grabbed the wad of cash that was thankfully still lying where she’d left it.
“All clear,” Rory called.
“Thanks,” she answered. “Uh, just have a seat in the living room if you like. I won’t be but a minute.”
His broader shoulders made the hallway leading past the bathroom feel small. Rory had to turn sideways to pass the washer. He went to sit on the couch.
Jennifer frowned as she opened the washer. The wet clothes left to sit overnight had a slight musty smell to them. The intruder had disrupted her routine, and she hadn’t hung them over the shower rod to dry for her next shift.
“Do they have a laundry room at the motel for guests?” Jennifer asked.
“If they don’t, I have magick,” he answered.
Jennifer went to the bedroom to pack a duffel bag. She shoved all her cash and what little jewelry she had into the side pocket.
“Is this a picture of you with your dad?” Rory had found her one photo on the wall.
“Yeah, and my brother,” Jennifer answered. She replaced his pajama pants with a pair of jeans and slipped on a pair of shoes. She put his pajamas in the bag to return later. “It’s the only picture I have of us all together.”
“You were an adorable child,” he said.
In many ways, that photo was the most valuable thing she owned.
“Would you mind grabbing the picture for me?” she asked, setting her duffel bag on the counter and getting a small trash bag for her wet clothes. “I don’t feel right leaving it here if I’m not going to be coming back each night.”
“Anything else?” He brought the framed photo to her.
“No, that should about do it.” She put the picture in the bag and zipped it. “I just need to get my work clothes.”
“When is your next shift?” he asked. “I’ll go in with ya.”
At least he wasn’t trying to tell her she couldn’t work.
“Tomorrow,” she answered. “That is if I still have a job after my performance last night. I was a freaking mess. I wouldn’t blame the boss if he docks my pay for all the wrong orders that were sent back to the kitchen.”
“Ya were not a mess. Ya were lovely,” he said.
“Tell that to the lady who never got her margarita,” Jennifer answered. She made sure to lock up as Rory carried her bags for her.
The ride to the motel was quiet. Jennifer drank her latte while worrying about how she’d apologize to Kay about dropping the ball.
At Hotel Motel, Maura appeared only too happy to put them in a room. She admitted that they were nowhere near capacity with the remodeling going on and had plenty of space. She gave them a room close to the parking lot so that they didn’t have to carry their bags too far.
When Rory unlocked the motel room door for them, he instantly recoiled. This time, instead of cherub butts, the theme was clowns.
Nothing but pictures of happy smiling clowns, clown wallpaper, and carnival light fixtures. There was even a giant clown doll sitting in the middle of the bed.
“Oh, hell no, Bruce,” Rory said, even though his twin wasn’t there to hear it. He instantly pulled the door shut. “Wait here. I’ll get us another room.”
Rory ran back to the front office and returned minutes later with a key to the room next door.
“Apparently, Maura didn’t know about the clown addition,” Rory said. His movements were stiff, and he flinched a little as he opened the door to look inside. He let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness. I’ll take commercial banality over creepy circus any day. Sometimes Bruce is a little too artistically strange for his own good.”
What the motel room lacked in character, it made up for in a fresh coat of paint and new carpeting. The pastel landscape on the wall of desert sands and cacti was borderline uninteresting. It matched the delicate pattern of the comforter and a chair next to a small table.
Jennifer found herself staring at the picture of the desert. Her vision blurred, and it looked as if the printed grains of sand were shifting and becoming darker. She blinked, but the idea remained, like a dream trying to peek through to reality.
“Jennifer?” Rory asked.
“What?” She forced her eyes away and found him next to the bathroom door staring at her.
Rory slowly came toward her. “How are ya feeling? Is the anger coming back?”
She shook her head. If anything, she felt sad. She never really talked about her mother and doing so had stirred a lot of feelings.
He lifted his thumb and brushed it across her cheek. She felt it slide in moisture. When he pulled it away, he showed her a dark tear staining his thumb.
Jennifer hurried into the bathroom to look into the mirror. Dark trails had leaked from her eyes down her face. She took several deep breaths, afraid to move in case the mud again filled her mouth. She lightly touched a tear and rubbed it between her fingers. There was a grainy texture to the moisture.