The Witch of Belladonna Bay Read Online Free PDF Page A

killed.”
    He laughed at me, put his mug down, and then looked me straight in the eyes. “I know you, Bronwyn. You’re lying. And I can’t understand it, but I’ll play. It’s silly; we’ve already had a black president. Hell, I bet you any money it’s more racist up here in the back of people’s minds than down there where at least it’s out in the open.”
    He was right, I was playing the race card to push him away. But knowing that didn’t make me back down. It’s funny how mouths keep on running even when there’s nothing else to say.
    â€œThis is no time to be idealistic, Ben. I won’t lose you over some kind of Northern amnesia about the way the world really works. I’ve lived here long enough to get complacent, not stupid.” I said those words and felt smart. But Ben was right. I was making up a good excuse for a feeling I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
    â€œYou’ve never let on that your family was racist, Bronwyn. Are they?” he asked hesitantly.
    â€œIt’s not my family I’m worried about. And besides … my family is now reduced to my drunken, eccentric father, a little girl named Byrd, and a great-aunt who thinks she’s the maid. I’m worried about the rest of Magnolia Creek. The Old-timers and the Towners.”
    â€œWhy? Do they still lynch black folks, these Towners of yours?”
    â€œWell, Ben, I don’t rightly know.” My voice eased back into its comfortable Southern slur whenever I even mentioned Alabama. “And the reason I don’t know for sure is because there ain’t no black people for miles and miles.”
    I let him turn all the information over in his mind.
    â€œThis racist shit you’re pulling is bull, and we both know it, so I won’t play. But you do seem serious about wanting to go alone, for whatever reason.”
    â€œI’m dead serious, Ben.”
    â€œAll right, I hear you. But I’m still going to come. Not right away, though. I think part of the reason you want to go alone is to make peace with Naomi. I think you want to see what you left behind without any outside influence. Am I close?”
    â€œI guess,” I said, but I didn’t know for sure. Ben had a way of making sense, so why argue.
    â€œI’ll give you a week,” he continued. “You won’t change my mind about that. And there’s one more thing…”
    â€œWhich is?”
    â€œPromise you’ll marry me when the whole thing is over.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œDon’t play with me, Bronwyn. We belong together. I want to get married, and have a family. Say yes this time.”
    Something had shifted between us, a tension we’d avoided from day one.
    â€œBen, is this some kind of ultimatum or something?”
    â€œThat’s exactly what it is. And this is the last time I’m asking. If you don’t say yes, I’ll never ask again. We’d stay close forever, but I can’t promise I’d wait any longer. I have a life to live, too.”
    I took a deep breath, completely intending to have the “I’m not ready” argument again. “Okay” fell right out of my mouth instead. If I emerged from the whole ordeal, I’d have no earthly reason left to deny him.
    Ben’s smile widened and he had that glint in his eye, the one he got when he was about to beat me at Scrabble.
    â€œWait here!” he said happily.
    He reemerged quickly on the porch and got down on one knee.
    I laughed. “Is this necessary?”
    â€œTotally.”
    He produced a blue velvet case. “This ring has been in my family for generations. I want you to wear it and never take it off.”
    He cracked open the case. Staring at me was the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen. A crescent moon sapphire, with an emerald tucked next to it like a dangling star, set in silver. It sparkled in the morning sun.
    â€œBen,