The Professor Woos The Witch
Pandora put a hand on her forehead. “I wish I could say. Mom, I’ve never been so expertly manipulated in my life. I don’t trust her, but she hasn’t done anything suspicious that I can point to. Yet.”
“Trust your instincts, honey. That’s something too many women don’t do.” Corette tipped her head. “How can I help?”
“As the coven secretary, you have access to the ACW’s membership files. I want to see if there’s ever been a complaint about this woman.”
Corette nodded. “If there was, it might be grounds for banning her from becoming anyone’s mentor.”
“Exactly.”
Corette checked her watch. “We’ve got five minutes. Let’s go.”
Thirty seconds later, Corette had the ACW website pulled up and had logged onto her account. She clicked through to the membership roster, an area accessible only to those with certain positions in their covens.
“What’s her name?”
“Lila Aquinos.” Pandora leaned over her mother’s shoulder to see better.
Corette typed the name in, hit enter and the processing wheel started to spin. Two seconds later, it retrieved a file marked Aquinos, Lila.
Corette moved the cursor to the file, but didn’t click. She shook her head. “This is a violation of the oath of office I took.”
“Mom, it’s perfectly within your rights to check the file of a witch who’s come to town if you think she could be a danger to a member of your coven.”
“That’s not the violation I’m talking about.” She gave Pandora a stern glance. “I have the authority to see the file. You do not.”
Pandora straightened. “You’re right. And I don’t want to get you into any trouble. I’ll go wait in the store.”
“Thank you. I’ll be out shortly.”
Pandora walked back into the showroom. She studied the dresses in the window. Pretty beaded confections that would turn some lucky woman into a princess. With a sigh, she went to the front table and snuck a petit four to help pass the time. The dainty little square of lemony cake and tart icing melted on her tongue. “Oh, wow. Delaney, you have done it again. Of course, that’s going to mean an extra ten minutes on the treadmill tomorrow morning.”
Corette came out of the office. “What was that dear?”
Pandora swallowed the last bite. “Nothing, just talking to myself.”
“Did Charisma suggest that?”
“No, I was just—Mom, what did you find out?”
Corette’s mouth narrowed to a thin line. “No report of any kind.”
“Not a single complaint?”
“No. Sorry.”
Pandora pushed a strand of hair behind one ear. “I guess it’s a good thing. Maybe she’s not out to create trouble after all.”
“Or she just hasn’t been caught doing anything yet. A clean report doesn’t mean she couldn’t be up to something.”
“Good point. I’ll keep that in mind.” Pandora smiled. “Thanks. I should get going and let you get to work too.”
Corette smiled. “Happy to help. Have a good day, honey.”
“You too, Mom.” Pandora left and headed to her showing. Her mother’s reminder only confused Pandora more. Was Lila up to something? Or could she really be just a woman who recognized that she’d screwed up and wanted to mend her relationship with her daughter?
If Pandora didn’t give her a chance, who would? Maybe it was time to give Lila a few feet of rope. If she hung herself, that wasn’t Pandora’s problem.
As soon as her showing was over, she texted Cole to let him know she was free like she’d promised him she would the night before.
Come over if you can, he texted back.
On my way.
When she arrived, he was in the driveway pitching stuff into the dumpster. Amazing how sweat and dirt could make a man look so yummy. She waved. “Hey.”
“Hey.” He didn’t smile. “We need to talk.”
“That sounds ominous.”
He looked around. “Inside.”
She followed him into the house, trying not to panic and waiting as patiently as she could until the door was shut. The second it closed, she asked, “What’s going on? Is this about Lila? You didn’t change your mind about staying, did you?”
He grabbed her shoulders and gave her a firm, fast kiss. “I’m staying, that hasn’t changed. But I had a talk with Kaley this morning and—wait, I need to back up. Lila came by last night right after you left.”
“You think she was waiting for me to leave?”
“Yes. She said all she wanted was to take a walk around the neighborhood with Kaley. I agreed, but I made Kaley take her phone.”
“So you could track her with the GPS app, right? Smart.”
He nodded. “That’s all they did, too. Just walk. They were gone thirty minutes and then they were back. Lila said good night and left. It seemed like a good start to letting Lila have some time with her.”
He wiped his hand over his face, smudging dirt on one cheek. “I talked to Kaley this morning. I tried to play it cool, but she knew I wanted to know what they’d talked about on the walk. She said Lila had asked her if she’d found any feathers around lately. Gave Kaley some song and dance about how they’re great for making protection amulets for witches who can see auras and she’d make one for Kaley if she found one.”