Page 69 of Witches of Honeysuckle House
“Don’t call here again.” Violet set a finger on the switch and prepared to press it down, but she stopped short at what her sister said next.
“I have a daughter.”
Violet’s hand fell to her side as she stood shocked by this confession and her sister’s hypocrisy. “So you can have a lover, but I can’t?”
“There is no lover,” Regina said. “There’s only my child, and I’m afraid I’m going to lose her.”
“If you treat her the way you treated me, that will be your own doing.” Violet tried not to imagine her niece. She couldn’t let herself guess at her age and wonder if she had Regina’s dark hair and worry after how a child would turn out, raised by her sister’s hand.
“That’s not what I mean,” Regina said. “Our family is cursed.”
“If you mean the way you tried to tear me and Tillie apart—”
But her sister cut her short.
“No,” Regina said. “Actually cursed. I realized it after you left. The whole town did. It was thirteen years to the day after our parents’ deaths.”
Violet narrowed her eyes. “That’s not proof of a curse.” But something about the word felt right. Tillie’s death hadn’t made sense. The police had told her bathtub drownings were rare, but they happened. A person who’s too tired or had too much to drink slips below the surface of the water and doesn’t come back up. But Honeysuckle House should’ve saved her. It should’ve woken her up or drained the tub or done anything other than let the water fill her lungs. It was part of the reason Violet had left that same week.
Not only had she lost Tillie, but the house she trusted had failed her. Her own spells had failed her. All of her protection candles hadn’t been enough. For thirteen years, Violet wondered if her sister hadfound a way around them. If she’d taken Tillie’s life with magic. But she had no proof, and she feared that, had she accused Regina, her sister would’ve made Tillie’s family suffer even more.
But if there really was a curse, then Regina hadn’t hurt Tillie after all. Yes, she’d tried to break them apart, and Violet didn’t know if she could ever forgive her. But there might be a chance for at least some sort of peace between them.
“It takes someone we love,” Regina said. “Mother and father were the first. Then your …” Regina trailed off.
“The love of my life?” Violet supplied.
No one spoke for a few seconds.
“Her name is Linda,” Regina said. “My daughter. She has Mom’s eyes and your way with the bees.”
“If we’re cursed, I don’t know how you expect me to help,” Violet said.
“I thought maybe the two of us together could break it. My magic has felt off kilter for almost a week. My candles are all wrong, and some of them won’t even light.”
Violet pressed a hand over her heart, where she’d felt herself fraying. She’d thought it was grief that had wormed its way into her spellwork, but if it was happening to Regina, too, there might be something else at play.
“If it was only me at risk, I wouldn’t bother you,” Regina said. “But it isn’t. It could take Linda from me. Or me from her. Or you before you get the chance to know her.”
“If it takes someone a Caldwell witch loves, I don’t know how that puts me at risk,” Violet said.
A sharp intake of breath came through the receiver. Violet tapped her fingernails against the wall.
“You may have left, but I still love you.” Regina’s voice came out slow and measured. After what she had said about the curse, it felt more like a threat than an olive branch.
“You drove me away,” Violet said.
“I didn’t … I couldn’t …” Regina stopped. After a few seconds, she said, “You were all I had.”
Violet didn’t speak.
“Please,” Regina said. “I can’t do this without you.”
Violet gently set the receiver back on the switch, cutting off the line. Then, she rested her forehead against the doorframe and started to cry.
A few hours later, Violet had given up on her Negronis and started drinking her gin straight from the bottle. She’d turned up her music, trying to drown out the memory of her sister’s voice and her growing guilt. Part of her wished Regina had told her about her niece sooner. She didn’t think she’d have gone back to Burdock Creek, but she could’ve sent gifts and postcards and things to make sure the girl didn’t turn out like her mother.
If this supposed curse claimed Regina, then Violet would be the only person left to care for her. She couldn’t leave her niece to fend for herself.
