Page 35 of Black Willow Witch
No one else actually considered them ‘bad boys’, though. That was only Carver’s assessment. In reality, they were just reckless and immature.
Reluctantly turning away from the view of the lake, Ripper stalked along the dock, the boards creaking beneath his boots. He weaved his way through the tall trees that framed his house, arriving at the small parking area just as Carver pulled up.
He wasn’t alone.
His two sons had come along – one was riding shotgun, the other was in the middle of the rear passenger row. Both watched Ripper carefully. Neither would meet his gaze for more than a few seconds at a time, though.
Sunglasses concealing his eyes, Carver hopped out of his truck. ‘I’ll be two minutes,’ he told them. He flashed Ripper a charismatic grin that pulled at his wiry beard – like his thick mussed hair, it was brown with little streaks of gray. ‘I was hoping you’d be home.’
Ripper didn’t greet him. He just folded his arms and waited.
Carver strutted toward him. Literally strutted. Like he could take on the world. Which he could not.
Thickset with a bloated stomach that spoke of his fondness for beer, he was a few inches shorter than Ripper and carried a lot less muscle. If a fight ever broke out between them, Carver would be overpowered by Ripper fairly quickly.
‘I meant to come see you yesterday.’ Carver removed his sunglasses and slipped them into the breast pocket of his flannel shirt. His amiable smile lit his deep-brown eyes, but there was also a glimmer of uncertainty there. ‘I know you hate chitchat and dancing around shit, so I’ll get straight down to it. You know why I’m here.’
Ripper inclined his head. ‘It’s an easy guess.’
‘Reena was so sure the land would end up in her possession.’
‘Yeah, I got that.’
Carver scratched at his sideburns. ‘It never occurred to me that she’d be wrong. It’s only right that a person’s children inherit their belongings. Both Dez and Gill were clear to me that the land would be free to build on; that it would be sold to their High Priestess. A contract was drawn up. Money changed hands. Blueprints were—’
‘Save your speech. I’ve told Reena, and now I’ll tell you: I’m not giving up the land. It’s mine,’ Ripper firmly stated, no ‘give’ in his tone. ‘It’ll stay mine.’
Carver’s lips flattened. ‘Youhaveland. You don’t need more.’
‘Same goes for you and Reena. But neither of you would give it up in my position.’ They were both hypocrites.
‘Maybe, but that don’t matter much when it’s not really yours to keep. I wasn’t gonna say anything, but . . .’ Trailing off, Carver hooked his thumbs through the waist loops of his jeans, but there was too much tension in his frame for the move to seem casual. ‘Look, I’m gonna give you a friendly heads-up – there’s a good chance you won’t get to keep the land.’
‘Is that right?’
‘I heard all about Millicent’s will, and I agree with Dez. The whole thing is weird as hell. She left apersonto you, for shit’s sake. He thinks that Millicent’s sanity was suffering at the end. Makes sense to me. Her family didn’t notice because they didn’t have enough contact with her. But yeah, Millicent clearly didn’t have all her faculties.’
Ripper’s scalp prickled. ‘That’s the angle the coven’s gonna go with, is it? Millicent wasn’t in her right mind and so the conditions of the will should be overruled?’ He ground his teeth, figuring he should have seen this coming.
‘They’re not wrong.’
‘What they are ispissed. They’ll try anything to have that will scrapped. And you’re only supporting their argument because it suits you.’
Carver’s brow creased. ‘You’re honestly telling me that the will didn’t seem at all strange to you?’
‘It was drawn up by Millicent Vautier.Of courseit wasn’t conventional. Nothing the woman did ever was. That doesn’t mean her sanity wasn’t intact. I bought potions regularly from her. She wasallthere, sharp as a tack right until the end.’
‘Someone “sharp as a tack” doesn’t think they can bequeath people in a will,’ Carver countered.
‘She was hinting at me claiming Emberlyn as an ally. Which I have. You’ll have already heard about that.’
‘And you think it’s smart to be allied with the devil’s witch? That’s what the coven call her, you know. They’ve told me all kinds of stories.’
‘Yeah, they do that. Turns out they extract important details first. I learned that for myself on hearing her and Reena talk yesterday.’
Movement in the corner of Ripper’s eye plucked at his attention. He tracked it to see Crew casually striding toward them. He’d no doubt heard that Carver and his sons were ontheir way here so had come to ensure that Ripper had backup should he need it.
Carver gave the newcomer a quick chin tip before turning back to Ripper. ‘After what happened with Rosemary, I wouldn’t have thought you’d want to closely associate with a witch. Your parents would be alive if it weren’t for Rosemary, and you wouldn’t have spent years of your life Rabid.’
