Page 8 of The Curse Breakers

I left for Myra’s bed and breakfast to help out with the morning chores. It was odd to think of it as Myra’s now and not Daddy and Myra’s. It may have been handed down several generations in my father’s family, but the truth was, it had been Myra’s place for some time. Daddy’s Alzheimer’s had stolen him from us years before his physical death.

Myra was sitting at her desk in the small office when I walked in through the back door, the heavenly smell of cinnamon rolls and bacon hitting me as soon as I entered.

“Good morning, Ellie.” Myra looked up and smiled, but dark circles underlined her almond-shaped eyes. My stepmother was second-generation Chinese, which drew quite a bit of curiosity when I introduced her as my mother. “How are you?”

I leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I’m fine,” I lied. “How areyou? You look tired.” I’d lost my daddy, but Myra had lost her husband. Sometimes I forgot I wasn’t the only one affected by his death.

“I am.” She closed her eyes and rested her cheek in her hand. “I’m working overtime at the park site, and we’re sold out here at the B&B for several weeks, which is good since we’re in financial trouble. But with the funeral…and everything…I’m having trouble keeping up with it all.”

I squatted next to her. “I’m sorry I haven’t helped more with the inn—”

She looked down into my face and cupped my cheek. “Ellie, you just lost your father, and not under normal circumstances. I don’t expect you to help. I expect you to grieve. You don’t even need to be here now.”

“What am I going to do, Myra? Sit around and wait…” I stopped myself from saying “for the end of the world.” I had told Myra about Daddy sacrificing himself to close the gate, but I hadn’t told her that the supernatural beings had escaped before that happened. She had enough to worry about without adding fear for my safety to the mix.

“Wait for what?”

“Nothing. I’m being a bitch and feeling sorry for myself.”

She frowned. “Don’t say that.”

I rested my head on her lap, and she stroked my hair like she used to do when I was having nightmares as a girl.

“I love you, Ellie. I may not have had children of my own, but you know I consider you my daughter. I wish you didn’t have to go through this.”

I looked up into her face. “Myra, I barely remember my mother. Just bits and pieces. I love her, especially what she did for me.” I paused as the usual pang of guilt struck me. “But you’ve been there for me for all the big stuff. Makeup. Boys. Daddy.” My voice broke. “I know I call you Myra, but I think of you as my mom too.”

“Oh, Ellie.”

I rose to my knees and threw my arms around her neck.

She squeezed me tight. “We Lancaster women need to stick together.”

“We always have.” I hugged her again and stood up. “I’ll be able to help out more at the inn until the restaurant reopens.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know, but I want to. The inn’s part mine too.”

The reminder looked like it pained her. Not because she didn’t want to share the ownership, but because it made her think about all the money I’d scraped together over the last couple of years to keep the bed and breakfast afloat.

“How have you been doing without working these past couple of weeks?” She looked worried. “Any word on when the New Moon is going to reopen?”

I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. The restaurant I worked at had been closed for two weeks because the manager had been found dead. “No. But Tom Helmsworth thinks all these mysterious deaths have something to do with me.”

Her eyes widened in alarm. “Are you in trouble?”

I gave a quick shake of my head. “No. If anything, he’s worried about me.”

Fear flickered in her eyes. “Is everything okay?”

My mouth lifted into a tight smile. “Of course.”

Myra had never believed in the curse. It had been pretty much the one and only long-standing argument between her and Daddy, especially when he tried to goad me into relearning everything I’d forgotten after my mother’s death. But on the night of Daddy’s death, Myra had seen Okeus’s messenger spirit—the one who had come to try to take Daddy’s soul. She had seen enough to make her a believer.

“They’re going to have to replace Marlena with a new manager.” My voice broke and I forced the hurt back down. Marlena was dead because of me. Just like Dwight, a guy I’d dated a few times, and Lila, one of the waitresses who’d worked with me. When I let the truth of their deaths sink deep down, I nearly collapsed with the guilt. But I reminded myself that I was just as much a victim as they were. I had never asked for this. Collin had just thrust it upon me. Their deaths weren’t on my head. They were on his. “I don’t know when they’ll reopen. But I can pick up hours on the lunch shift at Darrell’s Restaurant if I need money. They get all that courthouse business, and they’re busier than ever with the reappearance of the Lost Colony. They told me I had a job there if I want it.”

“You can always move back home, Ellie.”

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