I shook my head. “A likely story.”

Trey gestured at the seemingly innocuous rosebush again. “So she was angry. And embarrassed. And eager to do anything to hurt him and his wife.”

“Do you think she had any idea this would work?” I asked. The spell that Trey’s mom had cast in a moment of fury had resulted in the deaths of Olivia, Candace, Stephani deMilo, and countless others for whom Grandmother Simmons and Violet had issued deaths. It had nearly killed Tracy Hartford and Mischa, and—in a roundabout way—had resulted in the deaths of Mischa’s parents and Michael Simmons. Amanda Portnoy and Henry had both come very close to dying, too, and both of their lives would be forever changed due to injuries they’d incurred… all because of the fateful words that Mary Jane had chanted while planting this very rosebush by the light of the moon.

Trey shook his head. “I doubt it. My mom told me that after a while, she really did fall in love with Walter. I mean, at least she loves him now. She loves him enough to have kept all of this a secret because she didn’t want to hurt him—at least until recently, when the threats about the money became more demanding. She thinks the money was just about Simmons wanting to scare her into moving our family far enough away that his wife would never find out about me.”

I rested my hand gently on his shoulder and asked, “She knows now, doesn’t she?”

Trey hesitated, thinking about Violet’s mother. She’d looked out of her mind with horror when we’d seen her last at Violet’s house, shortly after she’d discovered her husband’s body. “They’re reading the will on Monday, and the Simmonses’ lawyers requested that my mom and I be present. So I guess, yeah… Violet’s mom must know something.”

I didn’t want to press him for more details about the will. Whether Michael Simmons had bequeathed anything to Trey, and Trey’s acceptance required him to do anything in exchange for his inheritance, I already knew that Trey would refuse. Listening to the reading of the will was simply a formality.

Trey went on to tell me that his mother had been so angry after her trip to Chicago that she’d driven straight back to Willow and immediately set about researching ways to punish Michael Simmons and his wife using witchcraft. “Actually, she said she’d thought about just murdering them outright. But she had me to worry about, so at least she wasn’t completely out of her mind.”

“How much did you tell her about what’s been happening?” I asked. I’d still not told my mom much, although I’d promised her up and down when I checked out of the hospital that this time, all of the sneaking around and lies were really over.

“Not everything. But enough that she feels horrible that her actions hurt so many people,” Trey said. “Although I don’t know if she really believes that there was a curse, or evil. I mean… it’s probably hard for anyone who hasn’t seen what we have to believe any of it.”