Page 23 of Best Hex Ever
Nour poked her head around from the front passenger seat.
“Are you excited to see that handsome man this weekend?”
“How do you know Scott’s going to be there? Were you snooping, Mama?”
“No—and I knew you thought he was handsome!”
“Mama!”
“Oh, pssh. I just have a feeling in my bones about this weekend, that’s all,” Nour said, her eyes glinting with mischief. In Dina’s experience, her mother’s “feelings” always had a tendency to come true.Romance is on the horizon.
“Who is this handsome man we’re speaking of?” Robert Whitlock asked, his eyes remaining on the road.
Dina sighed. “Scott Mason. He’s actually Eric’s best man.”
“Is he now?” her dad said, sounding amused.
“I didn’t know that until last night. So, yeah.”
“Well, if your mother likes him, I like him,” he said, giving Dina a smile in the rearview mirror.
“Thanks, Baba. But it’s not like that.”
“Oh, please! Robert, take my word for it, they’re practicallyin love,” Nour said, which earned her a swat on the arm from Dina. She had just met Scott, for goddess’s sake—she wasn’t in love with him!
“Mama, are you going to tell me what you foresaw for this weekend?”
Nour smirked. “Where would be the fun in that?”
The cobbled country road wound abruptly to the right, and Honeywell House came into view, surrounded by tree-lined hills and, behind it, an imposing forest. Although it was a clear October day, clouds hung low around the mansion, creating long shadows that moved about the hills.
“Well, it’s certainly…striking,” her dad said.
“I wouldn’t get married there,” Nour muttered under her breath.
“You two eloped, of course you wouldn’t get married somewhere like this,” Dina replied.
Her mother looked over at her dad and she could practically see the hearts in her eyes.
“And I would do it again in a heartbeat,” Nour said.
Robert reached out and caught his wife’s hand, kissing it delicately, and whispered, “Cariad.”
Dina wanted a love like her parents had: unflappable, unscathed by time.
They drove down a long gravel driveway lined by stoic, serious evergreens. Honeywell House looked formidable at first glance, like a determined old tyrant lording itself over the landscape, but as they approached, Dina could understand why Immy had fallen in love with this place.
Ivy clung to the sandstone battlements, and stern gothic windows flanked the medieval arch of the front door, complete with a wrought-iron handle. Small faces were carved into the stone cornices, and the wicked face of a green man grinned down at them from above the main door. It certainly had a haunted feelabout it, and Dina wondered if she might spot a ghost looking down at them from an attic window.
Behind the house the land fell away into dense forest, tall pines blocking out any autumn light. Wonderfully spooky.
Immy and Eric must have heard them pulling up, because the front door creaked open ominously to reveal them standing there, like the lord and lady of the manor.
Immy came running up to Dina.
“Don’t you just love it?” she said, gazing up at the stained-glass windows.
“I do. The wedding photos are going to be epic!” Dina squealed, squeezing Immy’s hand.
