Page 59 of The Nowhere Witch
“Do you like working for Hawk?”
Her smile dimmed a little, and she nodded.
“He isn’t mean to you, is he?” I asked.
“No. Not at all.”
“Then what is it?”
Her face turned bright red. “I wish he’d look at me the way he looks at you,” she said.
Since I was the only one here, she had to be speaking to me. Still, I glanced around to make sure. Nope, just the two of us. Shit. Now I had to say something back.
“He doesn’t look at me that…” That sounded like a bald-faced lie, considering the way Hawk had just looked at me. This was really not the way I’d planned on starting this conversation. “He’s not the type of man you shouldwantto look at you like that. He’s not someone you can have a real relationship with.”
She nodded. At least she wasn’t utterly delusional about the situation.
She paused outside the shop. “Just so you know, I didn’t always like him. He was damn near mean when I first started working here. Barely tolerable. When he hired me, he said in passing that it was driving him crazy that no one was sitting at that table. Then, my first day, he kept looking at my table and nearly growled at me. If he didn’t pay well, I would’ve quit that day. He was scary and moody and just unlikeable. He was pretty much what everyone said he was, but he wasn’t in that much, and, like I said, the pay was good.”
“Then what happened?” I was shaking my head.
“One day he came in and wasn’t so scary anymore. He seemed happier. He was joking with Musso and Zab a lot and seemed like a different person. You wouldn’t understand because you showed up a week or so after he stopped being so angry.” Her eyebrows scrunched together. “Wait, you did know him before, though, right? Was he like that when you met him too? Is that why you’re still mad at him?”
She kept staring at me, waiting for an answer.
“Yeah, no, he was like that with me too.” Had he really been different after I was gone? It made no sense, considering he’d forced me out. Then when I finally got back, he’d tried to force me out again. Maybe he was happy because he needed help with the wall? There was no way he was happy I was back, not when he was trying to force me out.
24
The broker house was closed for the night, and Gregor would show up any second. Hopefully he’d be the only one. Now that it was empty, the coast was clear. I took a look in the mirror, shifted the dress, fixed the laces on my boots, and gave my hair a fluff.
I shot downstairs to grab a quick tea, but there was other business to handle first. Helen’s gears churned as soon as I stepped inside the office. It was the perfect opportunity.
“Helen, do you know why I got the black cloud?”
Her gears stopped churning. Well, that was a “no” if I’d ever heard one. Helen knew a lot but apparently didn’t want to share this tidbit. Maybe there were rules about what she could share?
“Fine. You can’t or won’t say. Maybe you’re friends with whoever doles out the black clouds. Can you tell me who put Braid and Spike up to picking me up in Salem?”
Still silence.
“Are you giving me the silent treatment?” Why wasn’t Helen talking to me?
The door opened behind me and Hawk walked in.
He leaned a hip on the counter as his eyes took in the extra fluff of my hair and then seemed to get stuck at my glossed lips.
“Waiting for Gregor?” He raised a brow.
“Yes.” He already knew Gregor was coming, so no use in denying it. I wouldn’t clarify our relationship, either. I didn’t ask him where he was most of the time. He didn’t have a right to know my every move.
“I don’t like him,” he said.
“I do.” I crossed my arms, trying to stare him down, knowing it was nearly impossible. He didn’t run from conflict. He wasn’t made that way.
“What is it that you want from me?” I asked. “You force me out and then force me back here. You make it impossible to get a job and then give me one. Now you want to dictate who I see? What do you want? Just tell me.”
He walked over to me, and before I had the chance to argue anymore, his hands were on my waist, hoisting me to the shelf that brought me eye level with him.