Dead Spell by Belinda Frisch Page A

nervously and waiting for the saleswoman to finish a quote for an obviously grieving widow. She shifted from one foot to the other, biting at the edge of her thumb and wondering what had happened to Jaxon.
    “I’m not going to bite you, Brea.”
    “I know, but you have to cut me some slack. You just assaulted my…” she paused, then said, “my friend.”
    Adam smiled and looked at his knuckles. “Hurt, too.”
    The clerk shot them a dirty look for laughing.
    “I’m sorry,” Brea said quietly.
    The widows crying got louder.
    Adam tugged her sleeve and she jumped.
    “Whoa, easy girl.” He backed away, hands up and pointed at a black, granite headstone in the next aisle. “I was just going to ask you what you thought about that one.”
    She flipped the tag over. “It’s two thousand dollars, Adam.”
    It was going to take a long time to pay that off on a part-time mechanic’s salary.
    “It’s nothing compared to the funeral.” He took a credit card out of his wallet.
    “Speaking of, have you heard from Charity?”
    “I went by to check in on her, but she wasn’t there. The place was unlocked, which is unusual, but I saw what she’s been up to. She’s getting worse.”
    “She’s been getting worse. Last time I was there she taped over every hole and crack with duct tape to hide from ‘the cameras.’”
    “I took this for you.” He held out a small, raggedy teddy bear, Harmony’s favorite, that she slept with all her life.
    Brea held it up to her face and breathed in its scent. It smelled like Harmony.
     “I sleep on her pillow just to smell her. It smells more like me now than anything, but I won’t wash it.” He took her hand and held it to his chest. “You know, I feel her when I’m with you.”
    She closed her eyes and let him kiss her. “Oh, Oh my God. I’m sorry…I…I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. I’m so sorry.”
    He pulled her back and kissed her again. “Don’t be.”
    Her heart was pounding and she almost screamed when her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. “What the...?” She opened the phone. “Hello?” Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat.
    “Where are you?” Jaxon’s tone hinted irritation.
    “What do you want, Jaxon?”
    “An explanation for starters.”
    “Maybe you should ask Rachael or Pete. Maybe they can clear it up for you.”
    “Rachael? That whole thing is over. It’s been over. We need to talk. Is this about what happened last night?”
    “What happened was a mistake.”
    Adam slipped a hand around Brea’s waist and kissed her neck. Brea held the phone away so Jaxon wouldn’t hear what was going on.
    “Brea, are you there?”
    “Yeah, I’m here. I have to go.” The only sounds were the background noises that let her know he hadn’t hung up. “Hello, did you hear me?”
    “Yeah, I heard you.”
    The sales clerk walked over.
    “Jaxon, I really have to go.” She hung up and refused to answer when he called right back.
    Adam took a long look at the black, granite headstone that was his first choice. “So, this one? You agree?”
     “Adam, I have to go back.”
    The clerk tugged the bottom of her navy blue blazer, obviously uncomfortable. “Should I come back in a minute?”
    “No, it’s fine. Go back to what, to him? He doesn’t get you, Brea. What happened to Harmony, what you’re dealing with—what we’re dealing with—makes us different in a way that he can’t understand.”
    “I really should…” The clerk started to back away and Adam held his hand up.
    “Just a minute, I swear.”
    “I’m not going back to him. I fought with my mother and I bolted on her last night. I have to show up or she’ll put an A.P.B. out on me. Will you take me back, please?”
    He nodded. “Just let me do the order and I’ll take you wherever you want to go, okay?”
    “Okay. I’ll meet you in the truck.”
    She waited low in the passenger’s seat where no one would see her and watched Adam sign the credit card slip