CHAPTER TWELVE: EPILOGUE

Life is full of surprises. Or at least it should be. Martine was grateful to her happy visions of familial bliss, recognizing that her own deep-seated distrustful tendencies would probably have caused her to pull away from Morgan before they even had a chance to get started. But she wanted the surprises as well, in their long future together.

Delphine promised to help Martine learn to control whether she could block her foresight or allow it to flow in. Until then, Delphine gave her a translucent gray crystal fashioned into a bracelet that, when worn, would effectively mute the barrage of incoming images.

*****

Martine met one final time with her chastened psychiatrist. Dr. Fox’s fishing cousins were alive and well, thanks to Martine’s meddling forecast warning about the storm.

“I have to admit now—yes, I did think that you are a little bit crazy. And if I were to tell anyone what you are capable of, which I won’t because it would be a violation of confidentiality, they would also think that I was crazy.”

“Heaven forbid,” Martine said. “Whereas, I’m totally cool with people thinking I’m crazy.”

“I feel a little ridiculous. But there’s something I have to know about my future. I mean, whether it’s good or bad, I just need to know, and if it’s bad, I’ll just accept it.”

“What is it?”

“I got divorced ten years ago. And I’ve been alone ever since, living my life, focused on my career, which is fine. But I just wonder sometimes, is this it? Am I always going to be . . . alone? Oh, that sounds so pathetic. But I don’t want to wait and hope for something that’s never going to happen. Oh, I can’t believe I’m asking this.”

Martine leaned forward and held her palms upward, and Emily Fox gently placed her hands on them. Martine closed her eyes, just for a few moments.

“Who’s Reggie?”

“Reggie! He’s my next-door neighbor. Really sweet guy. And smart. And funny. Not very happy right now—he just went through a nasty divorce.”

“You and he are going to honeymoon in Rome.”

The doctor was awestruck and brimming with gratitude.

*****

Emily Fox was not to be the only beneficiary of Martine’s talents. Morgan promptly fired his weather guy and hired Martine as his replacement. After all, her meteorology talent had to be put to lifesaving use.

And so, Martine became known as the Oyster Cove weather girl. She developed such a trusted reputation for long-term forecasts that people would stop her in the streets and ask her whether this particular week was the right time to take a vacation, or whether that particular weekend would be good for an outdoor wedding. She had, in fact, turned into something of a local celebrity. Her opinion was prized—she was always right. And the general anxiety of the fishing families quickly receded.

*****

Christopher Milner never made it out of the state. Even before their confrontation, Martine had emailed the rap sheet she had compiled on him to the Oyster Cove Police Department. Of course, Christopher Milner was only one of his many aliases, and there were enough outstanding warrants on all of them to keep him behind bars for twenty years.

*****

For a while, Martine resisted sharing the origin of her powers with Morgan. That is, after all, a rather difficult conversation to have. Things were going so well. Did he really have to know? According to Mayor Wanda Macomber, yes, he did.

Jeremy thought it was finally time for his two favorite transplant witches to meet face-to-face. Martine could hardly contain her surprise and excitement over meeting someone who could relate to having their life transformed by Lilith Hazelwood’s organs.

The mayor was so young, just a couple of years older than Martine herself. She had the smoothest, most hypnotic voice, but it was filled with kindness and compassion.

“I hope you’re not thinking about keeping this from Morgan. You can’t. It’s just too big a secret to hold from someone you want to spend your life with.”

“Yeah, I sort of get that. But . . . a witch! Nobody really wants to be married to a witch. I think it might freak him out a bit. And when you think about it, it doesn’t really affect our day-to-day life. So it doesn’t really hurt him not to know. I’m not sure that it’s such a good idea.”

“You’re going to tell him that you’re a witch.”

“I’m going to tell him . . . I still really don’t want to tell him. But I am going to tell him. Why am I going to tell him?”

Wanda grinned guiltily. “Because I told you to.”

“That is an unpardonable abuse of power, Mayor.”

“You’ll thank me afterward,” Wanda said.

“That is a prediction, which is my territory. But since you’ve worked your voodoo on me, I think you owe me a big favor.”

The mayor was hosting a series of dinners with the governor and mayors from around the state. They were discussing a range of matters from local budgets, to school reform, to environmental preservation. It wasn’t difficult for Martine to convince Wanda to hold all of these VIP dinners at Jason Isaac’s restaurant, accompanied by a lot of positive press. And the raving Yelp review from the mayor was the cherry on top. Jason Isaac was back in business.

*****

Uncle Pierre was in town for another three months. But he balked at the prospect of spending the winter up north. Martine couldn’t really blame him. Winters in Haiti. Summers in Oyster Cove with his favorite niece and the Beaumonts. It was going to be a pretty sweet schedule. He’d already made himself extremely useful with his fishing expertise, and he regularly accompanied Remy and Anchor on the fishing trips.

*****

Although Martine had promised herself that she would never abuse the lottery system for personal gain, it offered the quickest path to irrefutable proof of her witch talent.

“Sweetie, have you and Dr. Fox had a discussion about believing that you can see the future? And I don’t mean to be judgmental. You’ve spent so much of your time alone, and I can see how that might have led to . . . imagining all kinds of things. But that really is something that the doctor might be able to help you with,” Morgan offered, patiently.

“We’re going to the drugstore. Right now.”

“For some more sunblock?”

“For lottery tickets.”

While Morgan was a little worried about Martine’s mental condition, he thought it best to humor her. He dutifully bought the tickets with her recommended numbers, and he was certain that after the tickets lost, it would help Martine to understand that these powers were just a figment of her imagination. Bone marrow transplant from a witch! But crazy, zany, or confused, Martine was the only woman in the world he wanted. They were just going to have to work out these issues together.

The following evening, Morgan found himself in possession of a winning ten-thousand-dollar ticket. And a fiancé who was a witch. The couple held hands as Morgan’s mind continued to swirl around this new revelation.

“So, does this mean that you’re not actually a meteorology whiz?” Morgan wondered.

“I barely know how to spell it. But I can tell you the weather forecast for next week, next month, and next year—temperature, inches of snow, hurricanes, everything. Your family is never going to go out into a dangerous sea, and no other Oyster Cove family either.”

“And you know what’s going to happen . . . with us?”

Martine hesitated. “I’m not really the trusting kind, or at least, I never used to be. I think I probably would have run away from you and your family if I didn’t know that I was meant to be with you.”

“Well, I must have some kind of special powers myself, ’cause I knew that from almost the moment I met you. The whole family knew it.”

The certainty of the Beaumont family that she belonged with them may not have had its roots in witch powers, but it was strong and unshakable nonetheless. Martine could not have asked for a warmer haven. Her former aversion to family ties became a distant memory.

She increasingly thought of Morgan’s family as her own. And one priceless benefit of life with the Beaumonts—they were smart enough to know that the most perfect way to celebrate a twenty-sixth birthday was to throw a bouncy house party!

*****

“At least this girl will be able to squeeze information out of the Hatches. It doesn’t appear that they were directly responsible for my demise, but there’s no telling what they may have collectively witnessed,” Lilith mused.

“At least we now know that Fiona was able to strengthen herself with Arabella’s heart. Though, that still does not confirm guilt for either of them,” Delphine said.

“Fiona must be interrogated by someone who poses no threat to her. That is when she will let her guard down.”

As if she could sense herself being discussed right that moment, Fiona walked across the path of Delphine’s boutique window, glancing inside indifferently. Then, she stopped in her tracks and peered inside, staring in the direction of Lilith’s spirit. With a contemptuous smile, she continued on her way.

Lilith bristled. “She never used to be able to sense the dead. Her powers have grown.”

“As long as it does not imperil the safety and well-being of those sweet transplant beneficiaries, I will try to see that the matter is thoroughly investigated.”

Lilith was willing to leave it at that. But there was no question in her mind that the safety and well-being of the transplant witches were expendable. Her vengeance would take precedence above all other things.