remember the whole story,â he said. âBut back when Tansy was a teenager, her uncle died â her mumâs brother. Because her mum had been cut off by her family, sheâd not seen him for years. They didnât even bother to tell her heâd passed away.â
âHorrible,â Harry said.
Jamie carried on.
âHer mum developed depression, I think. She was so fixated on the fact that sheâd never got to say goodbye to her brother that she went looking for a way to speak to him after he died. She spent thousands and thousands of dollars on dodgy psychics, mediums, spiritualists â you name it.â
I shuddered. Some witches could see spirits â Harry herself was often seeing things that werenât there â and I hated to hear about frauds exploiting grieving people.
âWhat happened?â I asked.
âIt nearly broke their family â financially and in terms of her parentsâ marriage,â Jamie said. âBut Tansyâs mum eventually got help and they managed to rebuild their lives.â
âOkay,â I said, beginning to understand Tansyâs aversion to magic.
âTansyâs a scientist,â Jamie explained. âShe doesnât believe in God, she has no time for ghost stories or horoscopes â and sheâs positively hostile to anything âother-wordlyâ. If she so much as got wind of witchcraft sheâd assume we were all crazy. Sheâd think this was like some weird version of The Wicker Man. And I can absolutely guarantee that she would pack her bags, leave Claddach as soon as that road opened, and I would never, ever see Parker again.
Jamie looked so upset at the idea of losing his little boy so soon after heâd found him that I clutched his hand tightly.
âDonât worry,â I said. âItâs fine. Weâll sort it another way. If you say no magic, then thereâs no magic.â
There was silence round the table as we all contemplated what that meant. I felt a bit sick.
âWhat about Esmeâs dad?â Harry asked suddenly. âHe doesnât believe.â
She had a point. Weâd never hidden our magic from Dad, who was as straight-laced as he was straight-backed. But despite our openness heâd have laughed if anyone had told him his daughter was a witch â it was like he just couldnât see it.â
âYes,â I said, seeing a chink of hope. âTansy could be like Dad. Sheâll just think itâs a wacky hobby.â
But Jamie shook his head.
âShe wonât,â he said. âSheâs like a dog with a bone if thereâs something she doesnât understand. When she was little, if she asked her dad a question â you know like kids do, like why is the sky blue â he would make her look it up and learn the answer. Itâs how she works. If she thought there was something strange about us, sheâd start asking questions. Sheâd talk to people. Loads of people here know all about you guys â remember when that guy wanted to buy the café? It didnât take him long to ask around and find out, did it. Sheâd make notes. Sheâd dig and dig and dig. And eventually sheâd find out the truth and it would blow her mind. And then she would take Parker and sheâd go.â
He looked straight at me.
âPlease Esme,â he said. âI know this whole thing is just shit. Itâs not how we planned our wedding to be. And the snow has made everything a million times worse. But that wee boy upstairs is my son and heâs amazing, and I canât risk losing him, Ez. I canât.â
I knew when I was beaten. I laced my fingers together behind Jamieâs head and pulled him in for a kiss.
âOkay,â I said. âI promise. No magic.â
Sunday
Chapter 12
I slept like the dead that night, exhausted physically by the avalanche, emotionally by Jamieâs request and