45

Karin knew Margaret Conant by reputation only, but that was enough to send her anxiety spiraling. She waited in the lane closest to Margaret's tidy home, the sort where you tiptoe around and speak with hushed tones lest you disturb its owner. Ethan and Adam were on time, but appeared equally somber, and the gloom of an early Saturday morning did nothing to dispel their collective mood. "So we've been summoned," Adam joked.

"So it would seem," Karin said.

They walked together to the front door, which opened as if on command. "Enter," said a powerful woman's voice, commanding them with her very tone to do her bidding.

The interior was dimmed by lowered shades, and Margaret's face was hidden in shadow. "So you're the one who's turned Ethan's head. Come here where I can see you." Margaret turned on a lamp closest to her chair and stared up at Karin with inscrutable blue eyes.

"I'm Karin."

"I know exactly who you are. Sit."

Karin balanced herself on a wobbly stool and watched Ethan and Adam arrange themselves on a lumpy sofa. This was a house meant to shun visitors by any means necessary, as if its owner wasn't enough to give one permanent nightmares. The woman's power was so palpable that Karin started feeling queasy, and that only increased as Margaret stared her down. "What do you want with my son?"

"I love him."

Margaret made a scoffing motion with her hand. "Perhaps you do, but it's not why you're here. This all comes down to the love of William Conant, and we both know he's not Ethan."

Adam looked ready to jump to her defense but Karin shook her head. "You're right, but it doesn't matter."

Ethan's beautiful eyes bore into hers. "What does she mean, Karin?"

Karin cut off Margaret's sharp retort. "He was the man I loved back in Salem, but he only had eyes for Samantha Blake. I couldn't compete with that."

Now Margaret got her two cents in. "But you're forgetting the best part. Your lovely fortune teller had a vision that William would be reborn in this generation, only she got the dates wrong. She was off by 19 years."

That hit home with Adam before Ethan caught on, but he paled when it finally sunk in. "Karin, why is my mother saying these things?"

Karin met his gaze, willing him to know that none of it mattered now. She loved only him, and nothing would change that. But his growing distress forced her response of, "Because it's partially true."

The muscles in Ethan's jaw worked as he looked at his mother. "How do you even know these things?"

Margaret leaned forward and speared them all with her sharp gaze. "Word gets around. I also know that the coven on Crowhaven Road is in this up to their eyeballs."

She didn't know the half of it. "You got me, Margaret. My position is indefensible."

"Damn straight it is." Margaret pulled her shawl around her shoulders and sat silently for a moment before gazing at Adam and abruptly changing the subject. "One of your friends visited me the other day."

Adam's eyes glittered. "Let me guess. Faye Chamberlain?"

Margaret's smile never reached her eyes. "She's her mother's daughter."

"I suppose she filled your head with her usual lies."

"Not at all. In fact, she was very happy to tell me you've found love with the Blake girl."

Karin watched Adam's face twitch in annoyance. "What else did she say?"

"Nothing much. We talked about Henry Chamberlain, and the weird way he died."

Karin ignored Adam's warning glance. "You mean the way he was murdered?"

Margaret looked at her with distaste. "He died of a heart attack."

She looked at her fingers before staring hard at the old lady. "Did he now? Well you would know."

Margaret's rage was palpable. "Don't you dare be uppity with me, Sibyl Balcoin. You think wearing that cross protects you? When Francis comes around, you'll be the first one he visits."

Karin nodded. "And I'll be waiting."

An uncomfortable silence fell over them like a pall and finally Ethan said, "We should get going. The restaurant doesn't run itself."

Margaret sniffed in disdain. "Of course it does. How else can you explain its existence after so many years in a drunken stupor?"

Adam shot to his feet with balled fists. "That's quite enough. Let's go, Dad."

Karin cut in, "But not before we break the news, Adam."

"What news?" Margaret asked crossly.

She patted her belly. "Ethan and I are expecting twins."

Karin had to suppress a smile when Margaret nearly fell out of her chair. Whatever she had been expecting, it wasn't that. "This wasn't supposed to happen."

Now she grinned, leaning over to pat the old lady's shoulder. "Oh, but it was, Margaret. With this man, and in this time. Because when I came forward and finally met Ethan, I knew he was the one, not William."

And with that, she turned her back on Ethan's mother and made her way out the door. Ethan and Adam were close behind her, and when they were out of sight of the house, Adam said, "What the hell was all that about?"

Karin looked out to sea for a moment before looking at the two Conant men. "My destiny."