The Rules of Magic (Practical Magic #2)(24)

April came directly to the Owenses’ town house. She had a packet of lavender in her pocket, for luck.

“Look who’s here!” Susanna Owens tried to sound cheerful when she opened the door, but her pose was a flop. In fact, she looked panic-stricken at the mere sight of her niece. She most certainly didn’t want the responsibility of overseeing this difficult girl, whose influence might lead her children to the brink.

As for April, she was unreadable as she slipped inside the house, a Cheshire cat who had arrived with a single suitcase. She looked younger than she had in the summer, her white-blond hair pulled into one long braid, her face free from makeup. She was dressed in black, with knee high lace-up boots.

“Surprise, surprise,” April said. She turned to Jet, whom she considered a pal. “Although I’ll bet you knew I’d be here.”

The family turned to Jet. “What is that supposed to mean?” Dr. Burke-Owens said, always looking for a neurosis to pin down. “Are you and April in cahoots?”

“It doesn’t mean a thing,” Jet said, doing her best to skirt the issue. When she and April exchanged glances, she was glad she’d said nothing and was stunned to read her cousin’s thoughts. April did have something of a cluttered mind. Certainly, it couldn’t be this.

“You can read me like a book,” April assured her cousin. “You know why I’m here.”

“Jet?” Susanna said with alarm. Since the incident with that boy, she had taken to checking her daughters’ room every night, and she made sure to pick up the extension should Jet receive a phone call—which only caused Jet to be very adept at quickly hanging up.

Now Jet gazed at the floor and refused to respond. She never divulged privileged information, hers or anyone else’s, though she knew why April had come. If their cousin wished to make a scene, so be it.

“It’s silence, is it?” Susanna said. “Well, then April can stay the night but she’ll leave in the morning.”

“You’re kicking me out? Just like that?” April shook her head in disbelief.

“Your parents will want you to come home,” Susanna said. “I’ll phone them.”

“If anyone understands wanting to escape Boston it should be you. From what I’ve heard, we’re two peas in a pod. Difficult to control. I heard you were sent to two different boarding schools, and that when you went to Paris you turned your back on who you were.”

Susanna’s fierce distaste for this annoying girl was evident. “My dear, you are young,” she said coolly. “Therefore I’ll excuse your rude manner. You may stay through breakfast.”

The sisters made up the spare room for their cousin. It was a cramped, chilly space with a single bed. Years ago, another family’s cook had resided here, and had cried herself to sleep every night. It was still possible to see tearstains on the floor.

“Where’s Henry?” Jet asked.

“My parents killed him, of course. They said he got into the rat poison, but I’ll never believe that.”

April lay down on the bed, weary, one arm flung over her eyes. As it turned out, she was not immune from rejection.

“Your mother hates me,” she said.

“Our mother is too well bred to hate,” Franny said. “She disapproves.”

The crow found his way to the room and let out a shrill caw.

April opened her eyes. “You have a familiar,” she said to Franny. “And your parents haven’t killed him yet?”

“He’s not a familiar,” Franny said. “He’s a foundling.”

“Fine,” April said. “Tell yourself that.” She gazed down the hallway, then turned to Jet. “Where’s your brother? Out raising hell?”

“Guitar lessons,” Jet said. “He’s quite serious about it.”

“I suppose he has time for hell later on.” In an attempt to rally, April sat up and gazed in the mirror. She unbraided her pale hair and dabbed on some lipstick. The sisters exchanged a look, for unless they were mistaken, their cousin’s eyes were brimming with tears.

“April, I’m sorry,” Jet said.

“Why on earth should you be sorry?” Franny asked her sister. “She’s the one who arrived here without an invitation.”

Instead of the smart talk they were used to from April, their cousin cried for a moment, then pulled herself together.

“Do you need some water?” Franny said, touched by the sight of her adversary in tears.

April shook her head. “Did your mother warn you not to fall in love?” she asked the sisters. “Did she say it would ruin you? Because it’s common knowledge that she ran off to Paris with some Frenchman she was mad for, but he had some sort of accident, and that was that was that. She can be cautious now if that’s what she wants, but as far as I can tell, love is like a train that will keep going at full speed whether you like it or not, so you may as well enjoy the ride. If you try to avoid it, you’ll just make everything worse. What’s meant to happen will.” She looked at Jet more closely. “Congratulations. I can see it’s already happened. I hope he’s worthy. Who is he?”

“Levi Willard,” Jet said.

April looked stricken. “That’s a bad idea.”

Franny was quick to defend her sister. “I don’t see how this is your business.”