The Magic Of Halloween Night

Chapter 1

Thursday

Today was the first anniversary of my return to Foxtail Lake and Great-aunt Gracie after the accident that had forever changed my life. When I’d come crawling home twelve months ago, a broken and defeated woman, I hadn’t planned to stay. My life had been completely upended after a drunk driver hit me head-on, effectively ending my career, so I figured I’d return to the one place that really felt like home, lick my wounds, and figure out a plan for the rest of my life. A few weeks tops, I’d told myself, and yet here I was a year later still living in the house where I’d grown up with the woman who’d raised me, and the life in New York I thought I couldn’t wait to return to had become nothing more than a distant memory.

“Morning, Aunt Gracie,” I said after entering the warm and sunny kitchen. “Tom,” I turned and greeted the man who lived on the property and acted as Gracie’s companion and the groundskeeper.

“Morning, dear,” Gracie said as she slid a breakfast casserole out of the oven. “Do you mind heading upstairs and shooing Paisley down? If the girl doesn’t get a move on, she’s going to be late for school.”

“She wasn’t in her bedroom when I poked my head in on the way downstairs. I assumed she was already down here. Maybe she’s in the attic. I’ll get her.”

I headed back up the stairs, this time continuing past the second-floor landing to the very top of the house. When I was a little girl, I would sit high up in the attic window overlooking the lake with my cat, dreaming the dreams only little girls can imagine. I’d plot adventures and weave enchanted tales as the seasons turned and the years unwound. It was a magical time, filled with possibilities that existed only in my mind. Since she’d been staying with us, Paisley had likewise spent a lot of time in the room at the top of the house. I hoped she’d found sanctuary in the space as I had after my parents died. For me, the attic became a safe haven where I could hide out from a world that had become too painful to understand. Paisley had been through a lot in the past year. If anyone needed a port in the storm, it was the eleven-year-old girl who’d wormed her way into my life and my heart.

When I opened the door, I found her sitting in the window seat that overlooked the lake, clutching Gracie’s cat, Alastair. “Are you ready for school?” I asked, entering the room and slipping into the window seat across from her.

“I am.”

“Aunt Gracie has breakfast ready.”

She swiped at a tear that I sensed she was trying to hide. “I’m not really hungry this morning.”

Opening my arms, I welcomed Paisley into them. After she closed the distance between us, I tucked both her and the cat next to my chest. “Are you nervous about Aunt Gracie’s visit with your grandmother today?” I knew Paisley had been worried ever since her grandmother had suffered a stroke and been air-flighted to a regional hospital about ninety minutes away.

She nodded. “I wish I could go.”

“I know, but you have school, and Aunt Gracie really needs to have a chance to have an adult conversation with your grandmother’s doctor. I’m sure if the doctor gives the okay, we can work out a time to take you to see her this weekend.”

Paisley turned her face into my shoulder. I tightened my arms around her. To this point, Ethel hadn’t been allowed visitors, but Aunt Gracie had arranged to meet with both Ethel and her doctor later this morning, and after almost a week of waiting for news, we’d finally have some today.

“I’m sure she’s going to be fine,” I continued. “She’s getting the care she needs, and Aunt Gracie told me that your grandma has one of the best doctors in the area.”

“But what if she isn’t fine?” Paisley asked.

“She will be,” I assured her. Despite my words, I understood Paisley’s trepidation. I’d been orphaned at an early age, the same as Paisley, but I’d had Great-aunt Gracie, and I’d never once doubted that she’d be there for me. But Ethel was much older than Gracie, and she’d had health problems even before Paisley’s mother died. Even if she hadn’t suffered a stroke, I doubted she’d have been healthy enough to care for Paisley in the long run, and I suspected Paisley knew it. “You know that whatever happens and however long it takes for your grandma to get better, you always have a home with Gracie and me, don’t you?”

She leaned back and looked straight at me, her lip quivering. “Do you mean that? I mean, really mean it?”

“Of course.”

“Even if Grandma never comes home? Can I stay with you even if it ends up being forever?”

I didn’t answer because I didn’t know. I was sure that Gracie and I were committed to doing whatever needed to be done to help Ethel with Paisley, but what if she didn’t come home. What then? Ethel was Paisley’s grandmother and had taken over as her legal guardian when her mother died. I wondered if Ethel would be the one to choose someone to replace her if she had to step down from her role as her granddaughter’s guardian or if someone else, perhaps the court, would take over.

“Callie? Did you hear me? Can I stay with you even then?” Paisley demanded.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “But I’ll talk to Gracie, and maybe between the two of us, we can figure out exactly what might happen if your grandmother isn’t able to come home. In the meantime, don’t worry about it. Gracie and I love you. We won’t let anything bad happen to you. I promise.”

“You shouldn’t make promises you might not be able to keep,” she said in a tone barely more than a whisper.

“Yeah,” I acknowledged. “I guess adults do that sometimes.” I took a deep breath. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, and I guess I can’t promise an outcome I may or may not control, but I can promise that I love you and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you’re okay.”

She hugged me tight, and I hugged her back. I supposed that was enough to pacify her for now since she got up and headed toward the kitchen with Alastair on her heels, but now that the subject of Paisley’s long-term care had been brought up, I supposed it really was something Gracie and I should look into. Even if Ethel was able to come home after her stay in the hospital, it really did seem unlikely she’d be able to look out for Paisley until she reached adulthood.

“There she is,” Gracie hugged Paisley and then handed her a glass of orange juice. “Did you remember to pack your homework into your backpack?”

“I did,” Paisley answered. “What time are you going to see my grandma?”

“Eleven-thirty.”

“Don’t forget to take the card I made for her.”

Gracie set a plate with egg casserole and toast in front of Paisley. “I won’t forget. I put it right next to my purse, so I’d be sure to remember to bring it.”

“Maybe you can talk to her doctor about letting her come home.” Paisley scooted her food around on her plate but wasn’t really eating it. “I can take care of her. I know what to do. Before my mom died, she said I was the best nurse she’d ever had.”

Gracie’s face softened. “I’ll try to find out what’s going to happen next, but I suspect that it might be a while before your grandma is able to come home. She needs the sort of care she can only get in a hospital.”

Paisley pushed her plate to the center of the table.

“Aren’t you hungry this morning?” Gracie asked.

“My stomach hurts. Is it okay if I go upstairs and get my stuff? I don’t want to be late for school.”

“Certainly,” Gracie answered. “I’ll put an apple and a granola bar in your backpack in case you end up getting hungry before lunch.”

Paisley scooted out of her chair and headed up the stairs.

“She’s really worried about what’s going to happen to her if her grandmother doesn’t come home,” I said after she left.

“I know,” Gracie poured a second cup of coffee for herself and sat down at the table. “And I guess I don’t blame her. She’s only eleven, and her grandmother has been her anchor ever since her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Paisley is very bonded to her. It’s going to be hard on both of them if Ethel isn’t able to continue to care for her.”

“I suppose you might want to bring the subject up when you see Ethel today,” I said. “I’m sure Paisley’s care has been on her mind.”

“I’m sure it has,” Gracie replied. “It’s a difficult situation, but these things have a way of working themselves out. Tom and I won’t be back in time to pick Paisley up from school, so you’ll need to see to that.”

“I was planning on it.” I scooted my chair back and stood up. “I guess I should grab my stuff, so Paisley isn’t late.” I kissed Gracie on the cheek. “Once you speak to Ethel and her doctor and get all the facts, we should talk and come up with some sort of a plan.”

“I think that’s a very good idea.”