The Moreau Witches Trilogy
Part Three
Wormwood
by Julien Gregg
Copyright © 2025 by Julien Gregg
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact the author by email. The link is below.
The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.
Fifteen
They were now gearing up for the fourth of July. Independence Day was one of the holidays the Moreaus actually celebrated. They put on their red, white, and blue clothes and headed downtown for the parade. Bart made sure that there were people between him and Maria the whole time but he had nothing to worry about Walter was there, too.
He did catch her giving Lisette a dirty look and used his own power to swat her on the ass with a stick. She looked directly at him in open-mouthed shock. He shook his head at her and she looked way. Lisette smiled really big at him. He nodded to her. He was disgusted with himself. What he’d told Philippe not to do was what he’d just done.
The parade was fun for John but Bart didn’t want to be there. He didn’t want to be anywhere near Maria. The way she looked at him sometimes turned his stomach. Yet he found himself admiring Lisette’s frame a time or two. He shook his head at those thoughts. She was his niece after all.
After the parade they shook out blankets and sat on them with picnic baskets to watch the fireworks that wouldn’t start until the sun went down. He noticed that Maria was on a blanket with Walter and a few of her friends from school. He saw that Lisette was also on a blanket with her group of friends but she had included Philippe.
Henri was there with Angelique which shocked Bart but he was happy about this change and said nothing. He also noticed that Henri had a cola in his hand instead of a scotch. He smiled at Henri and he smiled back. Things were really looking up.
There were food stands, games, and live music on the beach that day. John trotted off to get himself and Bart a pretzel with cheese. While he was gone Lorette sat on the blanket for a moment. She looked at him for a long moment before she said anything.
“I’ve seen the way that Maria is treating Lisette and Philippe,” she said. “I know she’s using her power on them. I’ve told Mother and Daddy about it. Maria is in a lot of trouble. I just wanted to let you know what’s going on. I know they’ve come to you about it. You just hadn’t got around to talking to Mother about it.”
“Thank you, Lorette,” he said. “I was trying to figure out how to tell your mother what your sister is up to without letting her know that Lisette or Philippe had come to me with what she’s doing to them.”
“Well I had no choice,” she said. “She had Lisette sitting on the floor crying for an hour because she made her see everyone dead.”
“Goddess,” he sighed.
“She’d done something similar to Philippe just the day before,” she said. “When I found him she was laughing about what she was doing. I slapped her across her face and told her she didn’t want to see the back end of Philippe’s power.”
“No she doesn’t,” Bart said. “I admit earlier today I caught her giving Lisette a dirty look and I used my power to slap her on the ass with a stick to stop her. I feel absolutely horrid about it but I did it.”
“Well that’s better than what Philippe would do to her,” she said. “I won’t tell anyone that you used your power on her.”
“Thank you,” he said. “The temptation is evil.”
“Yes, I know,” she said with a smile.
She got up and walked away as John came back with the pretzels. He sat down and handed one to Bart. He watched as Lorette made her way over to where Maria was sitting with Walter and the others and then sit on the blanket with here mother and father.
“Was she just over here?” John asked.
“Yes,” Bart said. “She came to tell me that Maria is using her power against Lisette and Philippe now.”
“That girl,” John said. “Did I misunderstand this morning at the parade? Did you use your power on Maria?”
“I did, and I feel terrible about it,” he said. “That’s just what I’ve been preaching against in having children.”
“Well at least you know it’s human,” John said.
“Yeah, human,” he said, thinking of the damnable dream he had the night before about Lisette. His attraction to her was not acceptable.
“What’s got that look on your face?” John asked, looking at him with his head tilted slightly to the right.
“Just thinking about what Maria’s doing to Philippe and Lisette,” he lied.
“Yeah that’s horrible,” John said. “Philippe said she can make them see whatever she wants?”
“Yes, and she made Lisette see everyone dead for two hours,” Bart said.
“Man,” he said. “Someone should tell on her.”
“Lorette did,” Bart said. “That’s what she came to talk to me about.”
“Well good,” John said.
“Yes it’s good but if she retaliates against them for telling Lorette,” he said and let it trail off.
“Yeah that could get ugly,” John said.
Bart realized he was staring at Lisette and that Maria had caught him. He blushed and looked away. Maria watched him for a full minute after that. There was a calculating look in her eyes as she looked at him.
Finally the sun started to set and the boats were out on the water. The fireworks would start soon. He wanted off the beach and back to Bleaker Street in the worst way. He couldn’t get up and leave though. His sister would demand an explanation. He was stuck.
Then suddenly he saw Lisette stand up and take her swim suit off there in front of everyone. He shook his head and Lisette was sitting on the blanket with her friends and her swim suit on. He heard Maria laugh and looked right at her. She gave him a smug look and before he could stop himself he caused sand to rise up and slap her in the face. She looked pissed off at this one. He glared at her. He was just as pissed off about what she had made him see.
“What was that?” John asked. “Did you do that?”
“Yes,” he said hatefully. “She just used her damned power on me.”
“Woe,” John said, looking at Maria who was trying to get the sand off of herself. “That’s not good.”
“No it’s not,” Bart agreed. “What I did in return wasn’t nice either.”
“No but it was a reaction this time,” he said. “You can’t control what you do in anger some times.”
“Witches should try harder,” he said under his breath. Damn Maria for showing him that and damn her for making him use his power against her again.
They watched the fireworks and then they got the hell out of there. Bart was aware that Maria was watching him the whole time that he walked back to his car. He turned at the car and looked right at her. She quickly looked away from him when he looked at her.
“You’re in a hurry,” John said.
“I want away from Maria,” he said and got in the car.
“Did she do something else?” John asked.
“No,” he said. “I don’t want to give her the chance.”
But that night the dream about Lisette was explicit. He felt himself ejaculate but when he woke up he was dry. He didn’t understand it. He got up and showered anyway. He couldn’t stop smelling her perfume. When he got downstairs John was waiting for him.
“What was Maria doing here last night?” he asked.
“What are you talking about?” Bart asked.
“I came down for a drink and saw her walk out the front door,” he said. “I would have stopped her but she went too fast.”
“Damn,” he said. It wasn’t a dream. Had he just been raped by Maria? “How the hell did she get in the house?”
“I would guess magic,” John said.
“Well to stop it from happening I’m going to spell the doors and windows,” Bart said. “I can’t wait to be at school now.”
“I hear you,” John said.
“I have to talk to Lilly and Kim,” Bart said and left the room.
He told them that he was going to be magically locking the house at night. They surprised him by telling him it was a good idea. Lilly told him that she had seen Maria leave the house twice before last night. He was livid.
He left the house and drove straight to his sister’s house. She welcomed him but got very upset when he told her why he was there. He told her all of it. Maria using her power on Philippe and Lisette, using her power on him last night at the fireworks and his reaction to it, John telling him that he caught her leaving the house on Bleaker Street last night, and Lilly telling him that she’d seen her leave the house on two other nights before last night.
“Maria Rosalie Moreau get your ass in here this moment,” Angelique screamed.
“What is it Mother?” Maria asked as she came in. She saw Bart and stopped where she stood.
“You have been using your power against your brother and sister and last night you not only used your power against Bart you went to the house,” she said. “You were seen so don’t lie to me. Lilly saw you two other times leaving the house in the night. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Mother, I just wanted to spend time over there,” she said.
“Bullshit,” Angelique said. Maria was thrown to the floor. Angelique had used her power on her. She could manipulate air.
“Mother please,” Maria begged. She was pinned to the floor. Henri came in to see why she was crying.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“She’s been using her power against others in the family,” Angelique said. “I’m teaching her a lesson. She used her power against Lisette, Philippe, and Bart. Now Bart used his against her in retaliation but she has been sneaking into the Bleaker Street house in the night doing Goddess knows what. I will have the truth of it or I will leave her pinned to the floor for the rest of the day.”
“Here here, Wife,” he said as he came in to sit next to her. “Well out with it Maria. What were you doing on Bleaker Street in the middle of the night.”
“Spying on Bart,” she gasped.
“Spying on him why?” demanded Angelique.
“To see if he was talking to you on the phone,” she said. “I knew that Philippe and Lisette went to him about what I was doing so I went to make sure he wasn’t talking to you.”
“I’d not believe it but I think you’re stupid enough to have this as a real reason,” she said. She didn’t let her up. “You used your power against your siblings and your uncle. Why?”
“I’m tried of watching them get everything while I get nothing,” Maria snapped. “Henri treats me like a second class citizen. I’m surprised he lets me eat at the table instead of from a bowl on the floor.”
“Well that will change too,” said Angelique. “Or I’ll have someone else pinned to the floor.”
“Yes, my Lady Wife,” he said. “Maria you have my apology.”
“She’s still not off the hook for using her power against her siblings and her uncle,” Angelique said. “I think she needs to be taught a lesson. Get me a picture of her, some black paper, and the electrical tape.”
“Mother please!” Maria screamed.
“If you’re going to use it for evil reasons then you’re going to lose it until I think you’ve learned your lesson,” she said. “Spells will still work so you can continue your classes but your power will be useless until I undo the spell.”
“Here you are, Sister,” Bart said, handing her the supplies for the spell.
She placed the picture of Maria face down on the black paper and then wound them both in black tape until they were nothing but tape. She said as she was doing so, “I bind you from doing harm, Maria, harm against other people and harm against yourself.”
She let her up from the floor. Maria looked at them with a tear stained face. She hugged her knees and rocked back and forth. Then she glared at them. “You’ll all be sorry for the way you’re treating me,” she said.
“Shall I pin you to the floor again?” Angelique asked. “Maybe take you to your room and pin you to your bed? Make it easier for that boy to defile you? That’s right, I know about Walter spending the night in your room almost every night. What have you to say about that?”
“I can’t have a Moreau so I have Walter,” she said. “He likes me.”
“Oh, Maria,” Angelique moaned. “They all like you but you don’t have to give them what they want to keep them liking you.”
“We don’t always have sex,” she said. “Sometimes he just holds me.”
“How sweet,” Angelique said. “I won’t stop this from happening but if you get with child you’ll marry that boy and stay married to him until death pulls you apart.”
“Yes, Mother,” she said.
“Get out of my sight and for the sake of all that’s right and pure leave your siblings alone,” Angelique said through clenched teeth.
Maria got up and ran from the room. Bart was shocked but happy with what had happened. He didn’t tell Angelique that he suspected that Maria had raped him. He let that one slide. She was in enough trouble as it was.
“Bart I’m starting to see why you want away from the family,” Angelique said to him.
“Oh come now,” said Henri. “This was just a little excitement. I have been horrible to the girl and what happened is not her fault. She lashed out. I can respect that. It just can’t be allowed to happen again.”
“That’s why I bound her,” Angelique said.
“I know, Wife,” said Henri. “I was sitting here.”
“Bart you have my apologies,” Angelique said to him. “I don’t know that she was only spying but if you spell the locks she won’t get in again.”
“I’ve already decided to spell the doors and windows,” he said. “I told Lilly and Kim that I was doing it. John too.”
“Good,” she said. “We’ll call before we come over. I suspect Lilly will wake you up in the morning so she can get out of the house to shop.”
“Probably,” he laughed.
“It’s good that you can laugh,” she said. “What Maria has been doing in unacceptable. Imagine running around using your power on everyone willy-nilly.”
“Bart you really used your power against her?” Henri asked.
“Twice,” he said. “Once I caused a stick to smack her on the ass for giving Lisette a concentrated look. Then when she used her power on me I caused sand to come up and slap her in the face.”
“Good Goddess,” Henri said with a smile. “What I would do with your power.”
“Yours is bad enough,” Bart laughed.
“Yeah, I can make things out of anything and cause them to attack but you can just attack,” Henri said.
“Much like Angelique can,” Bart pointed out.
“Yes, my Lady Wife is deadly,” Henri said.
“Oh stop,” she said. “I’ve never used my power against you without your permission.”
“That’s true,” Henri agreed, but his face turned beat red. Bart thought he knew what they were talking about now.
“I don’t use my power against people,” Bart said. “I hate that she drove me to it not once but twice.”
“Calm yourself,” Angelique said. “You didn’t kill her.”
“No but I could have if I was angry enough,” Bart replied.
“Go home and spell your house,” Angelique said. “I’ll keep a leash on my brazen daughter.”
Bart went back to Bleaker Street. He asked Lilly if all of today’s shopping had been done. She told him she was working on dinner and had no more shopping for today. He told her he was going to spell the doors and windows. She nodded. Kim was already inside.
He walked around the house spelling the doors and windows to keep them shut. John followed him around the house trying to open each one once they were spelled. He laughed that he was trapped in the house with witches. Bart smiled at him.
“So you told on Maria,” John said at dinner.
“I told them almost everything,” Bart replied. “Lorette had already told them some. But once I said she used her power on me Angelique used her power on Maria.”
“What’s Angelique’s power?” he asked.
“She can manipulate air,” Bart said. “She can use it as a weapon and do just about anything with it.”
“Scary,” John replied.
“It’s no more scary than what I can do,” Bart said.
“Yes, I can see how what you can do would be scary,” John said slowly. “But I have nothing to fear I don’t fuck around with you.”
“That’s true,” Bart said. “You have nothing to fear because I don’t usually use my power against other people.”
“No you don’t at least not until today,” John said.
“Eat your dinner,” Bart said, blushing.
“Never lose that boyish charm you’ve got, Bart,” John said.
“I won’t if people stop using powers on me,” Bart said honestly.
“I hear you,” he said. “So she bound Maria?”
“She did,” Bart said. “Spells will still work so she can continue her classes but her power won’t work until Angelique breaks the spell.”
“Wow,” John said. “I didn’t know you could bind each other.”
“A more powerful witch can bind another,” Bart explained. “Maria is half a witch so Angelique is more powerful than her.”
“Yeah I can see that,” John said. “I wouldn’t want Angelique to use her power on me.”
“No you wouldn’t,” Bart agreed.
On the better side of things Henri seemed to be over his downward spiral that Marcel’s death had driven him to. He was over the moon that Lisette was the heiress in waiting, and he was still so very proud of Lorette. He spent more time with Angelique and they were doing fine.
He’d even taken Philippe and Lisette out on the boat. They’d had a good time together as Philippe told Bart when he came to visit. Henri was really going hands on with his children. He took Josette to get new dresses when she’d outgrown the ones she currently had. He even bought her shoes to match them. Yes he was spoiling his children but he was also treating Maria better in that he completely ignored her.
Things were going much more smoothly in the bay. Bart and John continued to have dinner on Sundays with Angelique and the family. Maria was reduced to looking at her plate most of the time.
Then it happened that Bart was there when Henri and Philippe went off to take the boat out. He saw Maria smile smugly and worried about that for a while. Angelique went back to talking to him about the party she wanted to throw for Josette. Henri and Philippe left and things got a bit quieter in the house. John was in the living room with them but he didn’t notice that anything was wrong.
They were gone an hour when they heard the explosion. Bart looked at Maria and saw that smug smile on her face again. He remembered that his sister had said spells would work but her power was useless. Had she cast a spell on the boat?
They drove to the marina and saw the fire on the water. The only boat missing from the marina that day was Henri’s. Angelique was beside herself. The Coast Guard investigated and found that Henri and Philippe had not survived the explosion. Both were thrown off the boat by the force of the explosion which seemed to come from the engine. That they were both dead was more than a shock. Angelique screamed when she heard. Bart was astounded. He looked at Maria again. This time Maria wasn’t looking at him. It was as if she was looking anywhere but at him.
He was terrified of what that young lady would do now. He got back to Bleaker Street in a daze. He thought of Philippe and his quiet manner. He thought of Henri and his loud manner. Both gone and he suspected that it was the work of Maria and her spell work. He’d never tell his sister what he suspected. She’d never get over it if Maria had actually killed her husband and son.
The funerals were somber and bleak. Angelique was not quite the same after losing both of her sons and her husband. She took to her room most days and Bart didn’t know what to do to snap her out of it. She still had four kids to take care of. That she’d unbound Maria was unthinkable but this grief was not good for her.
There were no more parties as July became August. His time in the bay was drawing to a close and he was so worried about his sister. Lisette was just as distraught. He tried to comfort her but he was at a loss. He didn’t want to tell any of them what he suspected. Maria had killed Henri and Philippe. It was unthinkable. It was so unthinkable that he couldn’t say it out loud.
Bart and John continued to have dinner with Angelique on Sundays but she would forget sometimes and not show up at the table until dinner was over. She was a shell of her former self and Bart felt sorry for her. She had to snap out of it but he wasn’t going to be the one to tell her to. In the end it was Lorette who would be going back to school in September. She told her mother that she wouldn’t be there to look after her sisters. She had to snap out of it.
And she did to a point. She paid attention to her children and noticed that Maria was still inviting Walter into her bed. Maria had taken to throwing up a lot in the morning and the smell of eggs would set her off.
Before Bart knew what was going on Angelique had married her off to Walter Breckenridge. Of course Maria remained a Moreau. The Moreau women never changed their name no matter who they married. He moved into Grand House with them. That was strange to Bart but he said nothing. That Maria was pregnant was evident from her morning sickness. A trip to Moreau Medical in Santa Barbara confirmed it.
But who was the father? It had been a little more than a month since she’d come into his room and who was to say that’s not what she was doing the other times she’d come into his room? Was he the father of her baby? Or was it Walter? He wouldn’t know until the baby came and he’d be in Boston when that happened.
Maria took to bed and Walter walked around with his chest puffed out, proud to be the father of her baby. Bart wasn’t so sure but he couldn’t tell anyone his suspicion that the baby she was carrying was his. They’d not take that well. He’d have to come clean about what she was doing in his house those nights that she’d sneaked in. He was still spelling the doors and windows every night.
Instead he and John began to pack their bags for the trip to Boston. They were driving to Boston in Bart’s BMW. They’d stop at hotels when they needed to but he was not going to Boston without his car. They had one last dinner with Angelique before they left.
“I wish you weren’t going,” Angelique said to Bart that night. “I’ll be alone.”
“You won’t be,” Bart said. “You’ll have Sarah Beth and Angelica. Saraphine will be living on Bleaker Street soon. You’ll have her as well.”
“None of them are my baby brother,” Angelique whined.
“Angelique you are the heiress,” Bart said. “You’re going to be fine. I’ll visit from time to time.”
“Promise?” she asked.
“Swear,” he said.
In the end they did leave for Boston. They loaded their bags in the trunk and drove off with Angelique and the kids waving them off. Bart was never so happy to get away from the bay as he was that day.
Lisette I
Bart had left and she was afraid. Maria was pregnant so she wasn’t using her power but she gave her evil looks all of the time. She also had a secret. She was in love with Bart and there was no other way about it. He was her uncle, yes. That didn’t stop her heart from loving him.
They went back to the house and Lisette sat in her room. She’d lost her confidant when Philippe died. Her daddy was dead too. She believed that Maria had been behind the boat explosions. She’d seen the smug smile on her face when the boat exploded. She hated Maria for what she’d done.
Her mother was sliding in and out on them all of the time. Half the time she didn’t come down for meals. Her spirit was broken by the deaths of both of her sons and her husband. Lisette didn’t know what to do to make her come back to them. She just sat in her room, hung out with friends, and now went to school.
Maria wasn’t in school anymore because she was pregnant. They didn’t let her go to school that way. Lisette was free from her at school. She loved school. There she had friends and safety.
The boys all liked her but she only had eyes for her uncle. That was a bad thing sure, but members of he family married other members of the family all of the time. She wasn’t stupid. She knew that Bart would never marry her. Her mother would never allow it. It might get her mother to snap out of the funk she was in over all of the deaths but it would be the wrong way to do it.
Then her mother had a project. They accepted her offer for Fort Keller and she began to work on turning it into Keller Village. She hired contractors and designers to turn the military housing into houses for the family and apartments for singles in the family. They worked on two of the bigger structures. A new school went into one and a convention center went into the other. In truth the family would just use that building as their family meeting center.
Still it got Mother to come out of her room and spend the day in the office talking to this contractor or that designer. She was at meals again and she was constantly on Maria for this or that. She wasn’t eating enough for the baby or she wasn’t dressing for dinner. Maria countered with the fact that none of her clothes fit her. Mother took her shopping for maternity clothing. Lisette had declined to go along.
She spent her time at home with Josette. Josette was barely fourteen but she was better company than Maria would have been. Lorette was in classes at Ashdon but she would move to a law school soon enough.
Days blended together for Lisette for a while. Then she started to get letters from Bart. He was doing fine in Boston and Lilly and Kim were happy there. She was happy for him. She wrote him long letters and sent them back on her own. She had come close to telling him how she felt twice. One day she would tell him.
“Did you get another letter from Uncle Bart?” Josette asked her when she’d come back from mailing her latest back to him.
“Yes,” she said. “He told me about his classes and people that he’s met there in Boston and how cold it is there now already and winter isn’t even upon us. I wrote him and told him all about Keller Village and how Mother is really doing. Her letters to him are all flowery and great but we both know that she can still check out on us from time to time.”
“Yes, we know that but does Uncle Bart need to know that?” Josette asked. “He can’t come back here. He’s in school.”
“I’m not asking him to come back here,” she said. “He said he’d be back for the summer and he’ll stay with us.”
“That will be nice,” Josette said. “I like Uncle Bart.”
“So do I,” Lisette said with a smile.
“Want to play cards?” Josette asked.
“Is your homework done?” Lisette countered.
“Mostly,” Josette revealed.
“Finish your homework and I’ll come in here and play a game or two with you before dinner,” Lisette said.
“Thank you,” Josette said. “I’ve just got math to do.”
“All right,” Lisette said. “Come get me when you’re done with it and we’ll play.”
“Okay,” Josette said.
Lisette went to her room. She could hear through the wall that Maria and Walter were arguing about fudge pops. Maria craved them but Walter said she was getting too fat. Lisette covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud. It wouldn’t be good to get caught laughing at Maria.
Then her mother came back from meetings with the board. They held those meetings in Keller Village now. She poked her head in to say hello and then she was gone again. This time to her room to dress for dinner. Lisette didn’t know why it took her mother so long to dress for dinner. You just put on a dress, checked your makeup, and went to dinner.
Josette came for her a few minutes later and they plaid Old Maid. Lisette was getting a bit old for that game but Josette still loved it. So they plaid two games before they had to dress for dinner. Lisette went to her room and put on her purple dress, put her hair in a pony tail and checked her makeup. All was good so she put on her shoes and went down to dinner.
Maria and Walter were already there. Walter looked good in his suit. He was a dark haired young man with blue eyes. His eyes weren’t the icy blue of a Moreau but they were a nice shade of blue. Maria was in her new maternity dress which looked like a tent. Lisette spent little time looking at her sister. Instead she looked at her mother who smiled at her.
She sat in her place and waited for Josette to come in. She came in a few minutes later and then Alice began putting the plates on the table. While she did this Lisette folded her napkin and placed it in her lap.
“Lisette how is your schooling going?” Mother asked.
“Just fine thank you,” Lisette replied. “I’ve been getting good grades.”
“You’ll need to start coming with me to board meetings and the like,” said Mother. “You’re the heiress in waiting after all. You need to see how it’s all done. We’ll go over the books as well.”
“All right,” Lisette said. “When do we start?”
“Tomorrow when you get out of school,” said her mother.
“Yes, ma’am,” she said.
They went back to eating after that. Nothing more was said about the Legacy, meetings, or school. Instead Mother started to talk to Maria about her appointment with the doctor at Moreau Medical.
“Mother do we have to drive to Santa Barbara?” Maria asked. “I get so carsick and there are doctors in Moonlight Bay.”
“None of them are as good as the doctors at Moreau Medical,” Mother snapped. “You are a Moreau and you will go to Moreau Medical. I don’t want to hear any more about it.”
“Yes, Mother,” she said, looking at her plate.
“Why do you let her do that?” Walter asked. “You’re a married woman, Maria.”
“Yes, but I’m the heiress to the Legacy,” Mother said sweetly. “You live in my house. You have no job and Maria can’t work. She has no money so she can’t move out. She’ll live under my roof and follow my rules. So will you, because your father doesn’t want you at home. If I have to remind you of this I will take steps to make your life hell, young man.”
“Yes, Angelique,” he said, looking contrite.
Then it was quiet while they ate. Lisette loved it when Mother put Maria in her place. She wasn’t so sure she liked it when she did the same to Walter but that was not her business. She would be the heiress one day and she’d have to run the family her way. She hoped she was ready for it when it happened.
After dinner Maria and Walter went back to their room. Maria got her fudge pop though. Lisette sat with Mother and went over loan paperwork. Mother taught her how to calculate the wealth of the person asking for the loan and showed her the criteria. Then she told her that if they didn’t meet everything in the criteria they were denied the loan from the Legacy. They could still go to the Moonlight Bay Bank and Trust. They just couldn’t get the loan from the Legacy until they could meet every part of the criteria.
Mother said that was important. That and to make sure that they made their loan payments on time. If they missed more than two foreclose. Unless they had a good reason and that would be hospitalization, natural disaster, and a very small list. Lisette listened to everything she said and gave the proper feedback.
Then they talked about all of the money and what she could and couldn’t do with it. She could donate to her favorite charities, build businesses all over the country, pay the tuition for a family member to go to Ashdon and many other things. She couldn’t buy a new car every year or move from house to house. She couldn’t spend frivolously. Lisette understood.
They talked about Moreau Medical and Moreau Legal. The newest of these were now in Rochester, New York. Those were Bart’s projects. He would be the Moreau on staff at Moreau Medical and she would find a Moreau to go be one of the partners at Moreau Legal in Rochester.
They talked about Moreau Shipping and Receiving which was in several places. Moreau Enterprise was in Los Angeles, California and it made medical equipment. She was told that she would sit on the board for all of these companies. She would be the deciding voice in everything they wanted to do. She told her that if the hospital wanted to expand say yes. If Legal wanted more offices get the reason for it. If it’s a good reason like new associates then say yes. If the partners want bigger offices say no.
There was so much. Lisette began to take notes and kept them like her school notes. Mother liked that. It showed that she really was paying attention. They went out to dinner to talk about this or that about the Legacy and what her responsibilities would be.
She’d be expected to throw parties and be visible to the family. They liked to see the heiress and to have dinner with the heiress. Her children would have to be held to a higher standard than the children of regular family members. Her husband would be looked at closer than the husbands of her sisters and cousins.
Lisette’s head spun. Children? Husband? She didn’t think she’d have a husband but she wasn’t against having children. They’d be the children of the heiress and safe from people like Maria she was sure. She liked that idea.
At school she was learning complex equations and facts about the world that she would probably use when dealing with the Legacy. She wasn’t sure but she did her best in school anyway. She liked her schooling. She loved math and science and she loved art class.
She had many friends, too. Sometimes she met them at Family Fun Center to bowl or play pool. They went to movies and ate pizza. She had a grand time with all of them. Boys tried to date her but her mother said no. She’d have to find a nice Moreau boy to date.
That wasn’t going to happen because the nice Moreau boy she’d already met was her uncle. She continued to write to him telling him all about heiress training. She wrote to him about dance classes and etiquette training. She wrote about friends and boys wanting to date her. She wrote that her mother wanted her to find a nice Moreau boy to date. She admitted that she wasn’t interested in any of her cousins. She only had eyes for Bart. She told him so in this letter. She poured her heart out to him and told him how much she loved him.
She also told him about her suspicions that Maria had killed her brother and father. She poured it all out to him. It was a long letter. She was afraid to send it so she sealed it and stamped it and then took it to the post office before she could lose her nerve.
She was on pins and needles until he responded. He admitted to her that he had similar feelings for her and that he’d been trying not to act on them. He loved her yes but it wasn’t to be. Her mother would never allow it to happen. If they had anything together it would have to be in secret and he didn’t really want to put her through that. He said he would see her this summer and they would talk about what they wanted from each other.
That was a better response than she was expecting. She’d feared that her relationship with Bart would be over once she bared her soul to him. Instead he’d written that he felt the same way that she did. That was half the mountain climbed. She didn’t know how they could be together other than in secret but what if someone saw them or saw too much? She didn’t know.
But now she had a secret. She kept that letter in her private box of letters from Bart. She’d spelled it so that she was the only one who could open the box. She’d spelled her closet the same way. Maria had stolen her dresses once and that had taught her a very valuable lesson. Spell everything. She was strong enough in the power to spell all of her keepsakes and keep people out of them.
She went with her mother to a board meeting but it wasn’t as soon as she had thought it would be. The board meeting was about all of the money being spent on the Keller Village project. Mother told the partners that all of the money spent would benefit the Moreau family as the Legacy was meant to do. They’d sell the homes in Keller Village to Moreau family members only. And they’d send their children to the school that was almost finished starting next year. The partners must have liked that answer because they didn’t admonish her for spending so much money.
That meeting was intense or so Lisette thought it was. She was happy to be home when it was over. She played card games with Josette and thanked her lucky stars that she was the heiress in waiting and not the heiress.
She counted the days until summer and when she’d see Bart again. Of course Maria’s baby was due in March. She looked forward to that as well. Perhaps Maria would be too wrapped up in her baby and husband to pay any attention to her. She could hope. She had a calendar in her room and she was marking off the days on it one at a time. She couldn’t wait until he came back.
Of course she had dance lessons and etiquette lessons to get through. The endless heiress classes with her mother as well. She loved that she was spending so much time with her mother but she was getting tired of budget reports and marketing reports. There were loan books, payment schedules, foreclosures, and hardships. There were more reports coming in from Keller Village and her mother took her to see the first finished homes in Keller Village. One was a house almost as big as Grand House that was finished. It had three floors and seven bedrooms. The house was beautiful inside and out.
They saw the apartments and she liked that they were all white on the inside to let the owner or renter paint whatever color they wanted their walls to be. She loved that there were community places and a playground for the kids. She liked that the school was finished and teachers were being hired for next year. The convention center was finished and they had their first big party in there.
It was the party to introduce Lisette as the heiress in waiting. Mother bought her a brand new dress made by the most sought after designer, new shoes to match, and new hand bag, and a ruby tiara to wear to the party. Lisette felt like a princess when she put it all on. The dress was black with red lace up the sides. It was the sexiest dress that Lisette had ever worn. Her shoes were black and the tiara really popped. Mother had bought her a ruby necklace that looked a lot like the one worn by the heiress. She had ruby rings to wear with it.
The night of the party there were so many Moreaus there that the parking lot was full of cars. She arrived in a limo with her mother and sister Josette. Maria refused to come to the party. That was fine with Lisette.
They got out and made their way inside and people began to take her picture. She stopped to pose for this picture and that one. She felt like royalty. Her mother was at her side all night long but allowed her to dance with her cousins letting her dance lessons pay off. She had a grand time.
The food was exquisite, the music was lovely, the place was decorated in red and black and looked amazing, and there were so many male cousins to dance with. None caught her eye but she had a great time dancing with them all.
They sat and ate and then she was back on the dance floor with yet more cousins. They played an upbeat song and they danced in a group. Then it was another slow one and she danced with another male cousin that she couldn’t remember the name of.
They left the party at midnight but it was still going on. She was cheered as she left and she felt so special. Maria couldn’t take that night away from her. She was so sure that Maria would do something sooner or later to make her miserable but tonight she was on cloud nine.
That night she stored her dress in the garment bag in her closet and shoes in the rack at the bottom. The closet was spelled so Maria couldn’t get her hands on any of it. She washed her face and took off her makeup. The ruby necklace and tiara went in the top of the closet in her jewel box. Then she took a shower and dressed for bed. She climbed in and thanked the Goddess for all that she had that night and then went to sleep. She thought she could hear Maria crying in her room.
The next day she was back to classes with her mother. The Legacy didn’t take weekends off she was told. They went to Keller Village and got status reports, expenditure reports, and labor reports. Checks were cut that day and she watched as her mother signed each one.
Then they went and had lunch at the diner. Her mother told her she was so proud of her. She said she was learning at a rapid rate and even she hadn’t learned so fast. She’d hated heiress classes and her mother had been hard pressed to teach her in time. Lisette asked about her grandmother.
“Claudine was a great woman,” Mother said. “She was the heiress that made the biggest mark. She moved heaven and earth to get the Moreaus in one place and to strengthen the coven. She started to give home loans out of the Legacy to entice members of the family to settle here.”
“I thought the family lived here for generations,” Lisette said.
“It has, Lisette,” her mother said. “But she wanted more of the family in Moonlight Bay. She loaned them money to buy houses and to move to the bay on. I’m doing the same thing with Keller Village. I’m making Moonlight Bay bigger so more of the Moreau family can move here.”
“That’s good,” Lisette said. “But Bart can’t live here?”
“He could if he wanted to,” she said. “But he’s going to live in Rochester, New York and be a doctor at Moreau Medical there. He’ll be Chief of Staff in no time.”
“You asked him to do this, right?” Lisette asked.
“Yes, I did,” she said. “Bart wanted away from the bay and the family. He said we’ve grown too power hungry and back stabbing. Then Maria went and proved him right. He was never more ready to leave than he was when he went off to medical school. I was hard pressed to talk him into spending the summer here. He’s already promised to be here for our Samhain celebration. He’s sorry he couldn’t be here for your party.”
“That’s all right,” Lisette said. “I look forward to seeing him at Samhain and again during the summer.”
“Yes, so do I,” said her mother. “Bart’s special. He isn’t tainted by family politics and tells me exactly what he thinks. I used to think that was to his detriment but I’ve since learned that it’s valuable counsel.”
“I love Bart, Mother,” she said.
“I know you love your uncle, Sweetie,” she said.
“No, Mother,” said Lisette. “I’m in love with Bart.”
“Oh honey no you’re not,” laughed Mother. “You may think you are. He is rather attractive but he’s your uncle and you need a man your age, Sweetie. Your uncle is too old for you.”
“Well I can’t help the way I feel,” Lisette said.
“I know honey,” she said. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell him that you’re in love with him.”
“Thank you, Mother,” Lisette said and started to cry.
“Oh come now, don’t cry,” Mother said. “It isn’t wrong to love your uncle in this way, Lisette. If no one would talk and he felt the same I’d have you married before you knew what hit you. But people would talk about this union much more than they talk about cousins marrying. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Mother,” Lisette said, wiping her eyes. “I didn’t mean to disappoint you.”
“Oh Sweetie you didn’t disappoint me,” Mother said. “You can control who your heart desires.”
“No you can’t,” Lisette agreed. “It can be cruel.”
“Yes, it can be,” Mother agreed.
“Thank you for understanding, Mother,” Lisette said and hugged her mother tight.
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