White Magic Christmas

Chapter 23: December 21

Ivy and Shep hardly spoke on the drive back to Slate Hollow. Ivy had plenty of questions she wanted to ask and things she wanted to say, but Shep had just received life-changing news. If he wanted her help analyzing, he would say so.

Shep pulled around to the side of the inn without asking. "You going to be okay?" he asked as she climbed out. That he would worry about her right now was the most touching thing she could imagine.

"This is my battle," she said. "I'll get through it. But if you need anything, I'll be around."

"Will you?" he asked, and Ivy felt a pang.

"I'm not going anywhere unless it's on my terms. I promise not to disappear on you. I'm not done with this place yet."

He gave a small nod, and Ivy closed the door. She went in through the back door. Everything was quiet inside. In Geri's apartment, even Jeffrey's teapot was quiet, the lid in place and no steam coming from the spout. She sat down on the couch next to a napping Maggie and tried to focus. She could not keep avoiding Gavin, as much as that seemed like the easier course.

"I did hear you come in," Geri said, poking her head through the kitchen door. "Everything okay?"

"Except for the part where my problem turned up before I was ready to solve him? I'm okay."

"Did you have a successful trip?" Geri came into the room and took a chair at the table, leaving Ivy some space.

"Maybe too successful," Ivy said. She reached out a hand and gently stroked Maggie's fur. The cat rumbled a little, but did not wake. "But I need to think about Gavin before I think about that. Do you know if he's around?"

"He left right after breakfast and I haven't seen him since," Geri said.

Ivy thanked Geri, then walked up to the front of the inn and looked out the windows. The usual visitors drifted by in the twilight that passed for afternoon around here, popping in and out of the shops. She didn't see any sign of Gavin.

The inn's door open and a pair of women with rosy cheeks stepped in.

"The sign says free cookies?" one asked hopefully.

Ivy glanced over at the pastry counter. One lonely plate sat inside with two cookies left on it. She felt a pang of guilt that she'd left Brynn high and dry the last couple days.

"You're in luck! Last two cookies of the day." Ivy went around the counter and pulled the cookies out, handing one to each lady. She didn't know when these had been baked, and hoped they weren't too stale.

"Any news from the lake today?" Ivy asked. She hadn't thought to ask Geri.

"Nothing yet!" one lady asked. "Has this ever happened before?"

"I don't think it has," Ivy said. "I'm as surprised as you are."

"Become a local authority, have you?" Ivy jumped as Gavin appeared from behind her. He must have been up in the room, after all.

"I've been doing the background research," Ivy said, trying not to sound defensive. "I can tell you there's been ninety years of history without a single miss."

"And yet this year, the year we're here to make observations, nothing," Gavin said. He sounded accusatory, but of what? Did he somehow blame Ivy? Did he imagine the townspeople were trying to trick him? Also, who was this we that had come out to study things?

The two women, sensing the tension, waved to Ivy, stuffed the last bites of cookies in their mouths, and headed back out into the cold.

"I went down to the lake today," Gavin said, crossing his arms and leaning against the counter. "There isn't a single thing there worth commenting on. A lake with holes drilled in it. A few icicles hanging on the rocks around it. Not a whiff of anything usual. I don't really think we need to keep hanging around here. You said it yourself - if it was going to happen, it would have happened by now. This report doesn't need to be complicated."