Page 89 of Witches of Honeysuckle House
And now the loss of her sister.
That was what she’d poured into the wax in her workshop that afternoon. That was what had dripped out of her heart into her fingertips and along the length of twine. She’d felt every moment like she was living it again.
The crash of the car into the tree. The breaking of glass and bending of metal. The crack of the trunk as it crushed her parents beneath it. She’d been so young then, only thirteen. She almost couldn’t believe she’d lived as much of her life without her parents as she’d lived with them. She wouldn’t let the same thing happen with Violet.
“If it does, I’ll never do magic again,” she mumbled.
She set her circle, and she placed her candles. A Caldwell’s power put magic into the world, it wasn’t meant to take it. If Regina wanted this spell to work, she had to offer something in return. Something that would be worthy enough to trade for what she’d be drawing from her sister. The only thing Regina had that came close to that, was her love for Violet. But that wasn’t something she was willing to give up.
Instead, she offered something that was never hers to begin with, something that would make all of this go away.
“I offer Violet’s love.”
As she spoke the words, the walls creaked and the floorboards shuffled and the lamps flickered. She ignored all of it. The house may have come to care for Tillie, but it would get over her leaving Violet in time.
Then, Regina struck a match.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Violet, 1960
Violet left the attic room with her shoulders squared and her head held high. There was a part of her that feared Regina’s retribution, but she knew her magic was stronger.
Still, it wouldn’t hurt to light one more protection candle.
She hurried back to her room, but as she neared it, she heard soft music spilling from beneath the door across the hall—the bathroom she now shared with Tillie—and she smiled. Regina could never take this from them.
She turned the knob and slipped inside. Steam hung heavy in the room. Tillie’s portable record player sat on a stool in the corner, while Tillie lay in the clawfoot tub, her arms hanging over the edge. At the sight of Violet, Tillie tilted her head up. It felt like coming home.
“How’d it go?” Tillie asked.
“Regina won’t try to come between us again,” Violet said. “If she does, she’ll no longer live in this house.”
The pipes under the pedestal sink creaked, a soft, sad sound.
“I don’t want to lose her either,” Violet said to the house, “but she doesn’t get to decide how I live my life.”
The bulb above the sink glowed brighter in agreement.
“I’m proud of you,” Tillie said. “I know that couldn’t have been easy.”
“I never thought I’d have to stand up to my little sister,” Violet said.
“I hate the timing of all of this,” Tillie said. “Your parents’ accident was devastating. If you hadn’t been with my family, if our parents hadn’t fought, it never would’ve happened.”
“None of that was your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but my dad’s. He had too much to drink before we left. He shouldn’t have been driving.”
Tillie held a hand over her mouth. “I didn’t know that.”
With a heavy sigh, Violet said, “No one does.” She hadn’t told the police about the whiskey she’d seen him drinking before her mother and sister came out to the car. “I didn’t want to ruin his memory.”
“The secret’s safe with me,” Tillie said sadly. “But I wish us being together didn’t mean me coming between you and your sister.”
“It doesn’t,” Violet said. “Not as far as I’m concerned. If she were in love with someone, I’d welcome them with open arms.”
Tillie gestured to the tub. “Join me?”
Violet crossed the space between them, her eyes trailing over the outline of Tillie’s form beneath the bubbles. All of her anger, all of her frustration, melted away. This was what mattered, this woman who’d filled a void in Violet’s heart. She knelt down and pressed her lips to Tillie’s shoulder, then her collarbone, then the side of her jaw. With one hand behind Tillie’s head, she brought her mouth to Tillie’s mouth. Tillie’s lips parted, and Violet kissed her long and slow and deep.
