5 A Charming Magic (7 page)

“See. Give it time.” She rubbed her jeweled fingers up and down the side of my arm in a comforting way. Only it wasn’t all that comforting. It really kind of hurt when the rings would catch my skin, pinching it. “Let your relationship grow into something special. You two will be like your parents.”

“Oh. Lovely just lovely.” Arabella stood at the open shop door. She ran her hands down the ornamental door that made Bella’s Baubles fun to step into. Bella had the door specially made with sparkly gemstones inset in the wood grain. It was amazing, but even more fascinating when the sun directly hit it. “The first time I visited Whispering Falls, your shop door caught my eye.”

Arabella stepped into the shop. She slid her long finger along the glass counters, eyeing the jewelry. She stopped where I was standing, near the engagement rings.

“You must be Arabella Paxton.” Bella put her hand out. “I’m Bella Van Lou. It’s my pleasure to finally meet you since I’ve heard so many great things about your fancy floral designs. I must stop in and take a look for myself.”

“Oh June, have you been telling stories about me?” Arabella’s ice-blue eyes twinkled like the aquamarine stone glistening right underneath her hand in the glass counter.

“I’d never do such a thing.” I laughed trying to give my best “I don’t give a shit about you” impression.

“Oh no.” Bella pulled back and crossed her arms. “June is the finest citizen around here. Did you know she’s the Village President?”

“I did.” Arabella smiled. “And that keeps her from idle gossip? Isn’t everyone in town always curious when a new resident moves in? Especially with a new shop?”

“You two talk as if I’m not here.” Curious or not, I didn’t like her and I wish my gut or intuition would give me some insight on her but it was silent. “Arabella, we are delighted to have you here.” Another lie.

“What are you two ladies looking at?” Her eyes drew down. “Engagement rings?”

“I was just saying how much I loved that one.” I pointed to the simple vintage engagement ring. The platinum ring was one of my favorites and Bella knew it was the one I wanted when Oscar and I were dating. Once Bella had told me it was from the 1910’s, I was sold. “I love how simple the stone is. Just one stone.”

“Don’t you think it’s a little plain?” Arabella quipped.

“Plain?” I shook my head. “Perfect. Listen,” I turned toward her, “I would take a bread tie if Osc—” I stopped myself when I realized who I was talking to.

She was definitely charming, manipulating the situation, making me forget about her little rendezvous with my man.

“What can I do for you?” Bella interrupted when she could see I was struggling.

“Nothing.” Arabella looked back at
my
ring as she drummed her fingertips together. “Just wanted to introduce myself. I must go before my grandmother gives the shop away.”

Before we knew it, Arabella was gone.

“She brought her grandmother too?” Bella grabbed the Windex from behind the counter and removed the evidence of Arabella’s fingerprints.

“Her grandmother is Mary Lynn.” My eyes rose.

“No way!” Bella eyes and mouth shot open. This was probably the first time any of the Elders had shared anything personal with anyone. “I wonder if your mom and dad knew her family? You know, your mother would have loved that ring too.” She winked and took the ring from the case. She used her gem cleaning cloth to give it a once-over before she handed it to me.

I couldn’t help myself. I stuck it right on my left ring finger. Just to see how it felt. I wasn’t going to lie. It felt and looked good.

It was true; Darla would have loved this ring. My parents were in love. Darla was not a spiritualist and Dad was. I had no idea how they met. Eloise Sandlewood, Oscar’s aunt, was Darla’s best friend. I really did need to find out. They were proof that a spiritualist and a non-spiritualist could get married and live happily.

“One day.” I slid the ring off my finger and gently placed it back on the counter. “Thanks. I’ve got to run.” I pointed toward the door. “I’m meeting Petunia at Ever After so we can look at bridal shower things. First I have to go over to talk to Faith about her headlines.”

“Karimas?” Bella was not blind to the sisters’ rants and raves. Which were about pretty much everything.

“And…” I let out a deep sigh. “I have an apology to make to Gerald after that.”

“Aww. Yes I suppose you do. I’ll let you know when your charm bracelet is ready.” She reached over and picked up my bracelet, dangling it from her fingertips. “And June,” she stopped right before I opened the door to leave, “don’t worry about Arabella Paxton.”

Hhmph.
Without answering I stepped out of the shop and stood on the steps of Bella’s Baubles. Whispering Falls was beautiful and not even Arabella Paxton was going to ruin that.

It was as though someone came in and carved the town into the side of a mountain. The moss-covered cottage shops were nestled deep in the woods, and had the most beautiful entrances I’d ever seen.

Each shop had a colorful awning, displaying its name over the top of the ornamental gated doors. It had a magical feel. Seeing A Charming Cure’s awning flapping in the wind filled me with a warm fuzzy. If only Oscar were here, my life would be complete.

I turned around and admired Bella’s Baubles. A quaint cream cottage with a pink wood door that was adorned with different colored jewels. A perfect match to Bella.

Izzy caught my attention as she slipped into Mystic Lights, the shop she owned. She must have left the group of gaggling women who had stood over me when I was out cold. I couldn’t help but wonder what they had said about me when I had left. None of them seemed to be too happy with me.

The outside of Mystic Lights was amazing and mystic. The hunter-green wood door was encased in the most beautiful stone archway. The heavy black metal door handles added to the old world charm. It definitely fit Izzy’s personality.

Across the street from Bella’s Baubles was Wicked Good Bakery. The striped blue and pink awning hanging just above the hot pink ornamental wooden door was a perfect choice and fit the Mortimer sisters to a tee.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the timeless smells of the baked goods inside that wrapped around me like a warm blanket letting me momentarily forget why I had to make a stop to see Faith.

Petunia would be fine for a few more minutes in Ever After waiting on me. She was probably drowning in disgusting blissful happiness, surrounded by piles of books about weddings and all things frilly, white, and related to her big day. I’d even bet Arabella was all over Petunia and had even run to her store to get samples. That girl was on a mission to one-up me on anything I was going to do…
ever.

Inwardly I groaned secretly wishing it was me flipping through wedding planners, thinking about making decisions like: shoes, cream or white dress, tiered cakes, tiara versus veil. Decisions, decisions, happy decisions.
Sigh.

I hurried across the street and opened the door to Wicked Good. I pushed my way past the customers and headed to the front of the line. Raven was behind the counter putting fresh scones in the glass case. Faith was sweeping up the floor around the café tables.

The inside of Wicked Good made me feel like a little girl again.

The lime green walls looked amazing against the jars of candy that lined them. The cake stands on each table had the most amazing assortment of cupcakes I’d ever seen.

The black-and-white checkered floor led the way to a room filled with Victorian-style dining furniture.

“Hey, June.” Faith was very exotic looking with her long blond hair and onyx eyes. Her nails were always perfectly manicured in the deepest of pinks. Her clothes were the latest trends and she dressed to impress. I swear her long lashes made a swoosh sound when she batted them they were so long. “Let me get you a cupcake. Special today.” She rubbed her tummy and lifted her brows along with a big smile but not before rearranging a few pale-pink flowers in an etched-glass vase. “Have you ever seen cherry blossoms arranged in a bouquet?” Faith shook her head with a happy smile across her face. “That Arabella is awesome at her job.”

“
Awesome.”
I rolled my eyes and looked at the cupcakes. “Sure, I could use a cupcake.” How could I resist? When the world had taken my all-time favorite snack, Ding Dongs, out of circulation, Raven did her best to imitate them with her own creation she called June’s Gems, affectionately named after me.  Even now that Ding Dongs were back on the market, I stuck with June’s Gems. “I could eat all the cupcakes in the place right now.”

“Oh,” Faith’s lips pursed. Her brows wrinkled in worry. “You want to sit while I grab you one?”

I nodded and took a seat at one of the open tables. The crowd seemed to be piling in more and more. Once the Piggly Wiggly in Locust Grove started to carry some of Wicked Good’s items in their pastry section of the grocery store, the residents started to venture through the curvy back roads and deep into the woods to find Whispering Falls so they could stockpile on their favorite desserts. Who could resist a hot muffin, scone, or dessert of choice—hot and right out of the oven? Plus it helped business with the other shops. Since Ever After Books was our newest shop in town, I was hoping it would also draw new customers.

“Okay,” Faith saddled up to the table carrying a tray with two coffees and two cupcakes. She sat a cup in front of me and placed a chocolate cupcake covered with fudge ganache frosting with a small fondant red heart adorned by white sprinkles that had fallen in just the right place.

“How fitting.” I took the heart off the top. There was a small crack that ran down the middle. No wonder Faith brought it to me. Raven would never have a crack in her creations. She generally donated the rejects, but today I must be the charity case so I plopped it in my mouth. Crack or not, it was yummy.

Faith sat in the chair across from me, her hands flailing in the air like she was fanning the air and said, “I heard you were having some heart issues.” She gave a martyred sigh. “You know. The voices,” referring to her spiritual gift.

“They are right.” I bit into the delish deep chocolate goodness and let my mind get lost for a moment before Faith broke the silence. “And Arabella isn’t helping either.”

“Really?” Faith shrugged. “I found her charming.”

“She’s very charming to Oscar.” I brushed off the notion of Arabella and Oscar. Faith didn’t need to know my problems and I wasn’t here to solve them. I was here to solve how she reported the news. “Though it’s probably just her personality,” I lied.

“I guess you are bummed about the headlines?” Faith and Raven knew all about me and Oscar. Since they moved to Whispering Falls, they had been my closest allies. We are all the same age and had met at Hidden Halls, A Spiritualist University. Faith and I were in the same Intuition Class that Eloise taught. Our relationship was a little rocky, but once we got to know each other, we had become fast friends.

“Bummed isn’t the word for it.” An instant lump in my throat told me I was about to cry.

Faith reached over the table. “Please don’t be upset. From what I understand Oscar is coming around to the whole ‘witch’ thing.” We laughed.

It was true. Oscar didn’t get the world spiritual. He said from what I had described, it was all witchy like. To us, witchy was a negative term and implied evil. Whispering Falls and its residents were none of those things. We only brought good and happiness to everyone, not evil or bad.

“He is and we are moving forward. Slowly.” I eyed Faith’s cupcake that she hadn’t even touched. She pushed it toward me. I took it without even thinking about the calorie intake I would later regret. “Thanks.”

“I knew you were going to need another one.” She winked. “But your time is coming. How do we not know that the headlines didn’t mean two celebrations?”

“Does it?” My spirit felt a little tug of possibilities.

“I don’t know.” Faith shrugged. “I just read it as I get it. The chance of it is there. What can I do to help you?”

“Do you know what you meant by breaking a few eggs to make an omelet?” I was trying to come up with a way to talk to her about the way she reports what she heard, but the one line still bugged me.

“I don’t know what that meant. Like I said, I say it as it comes to me. Part of the job. In fact,” she planted her elbows on the table and leaned forward, “I almost didn’t report that because I knew it would send the Karima sisters into flames. But I did what I’m supposed to do.” She got up. “I’ve got to get back to work before Raven fires me.”

“Hey,” I grabbed her hand stopping her before she got away. “I’m going to have a bridal shower for Petunia. Do you think y’all could do the treats for the party?”

“Good for you. That’s nice to do.” She squeezed my hand. “Here comes Raven, I’m sure she’d love to.”

“What’s up?” Raven rubbed her hands off on her apron with the big Wicked Good logo printed on the front of it. Her coal-black hair was pulled into a low side ponytail and dangling over her right shoulder.

“I was here to get the scoop on the headlines.” I finished off my second cupcake. “Delish.” I rubbed the chocolate from the corners of my mouth. I rubbed my empty wrist. It was rare that I didn’t wear my bracelet. And without it not only did I feel naked, but unprotected.

“Yeah, about those.” She pointed to the cupcakes. “I knew you’d be here.”

I pounded my forehead with the palm of my hand. This was not good. Raven was an Aleuromancy spiritualist. She found answers and messages baked in dough.

“I’m sorry.” She reached over like Faith had done and grabbed my hands. She rubbed them. Not one bit comforting me. It made me feel worse.

“Go on,” I encouraged her. “I know there is a message. Good or bad, throw it on me.”

There wasn’t much more I was going to be able to take.

“I’m not sure what the real message is, but every time I made one of those damn hearts, it would crack right down the middle.”

“I saw the crack but thought it was a reject cupcake.” I groaned and tried to rub out the ache pulsating through my chest. “How do you know it was about me?”