5 A Charming Magic (8 page)

“You aren’t going to put me in jail are you?” Raven referred to Rule Number One—spiritualists cannot read other spiritualists.

“Are you kidding?” I drew back with my hands planted on my chest. “My life, Oscar, my future is relying on your message.”

“I don’t know about all of that, but I do know that it doesn’t involve Oscar,” her voice trailed off.

“What do you mean?” There wasn’t any other guy I was interested in…ever.

“Clearly it was about you and your shop, but someone who is heavily involved with Petunia.” Raven peered over my shoulder. Faith was behind the counter waving her over. The line had grown twice the size since I had gotten there. “I’ve gotta go.”

Raven jumped up.

“Oh! I can do the bridal shower treats,” she said over the crowd. “It was in the dough.” She lifted her hands in the air.

Chapter Eight

In the dough.

That didn’t make me feel any better. Granted I didn’t know a ton about Petunia, but I did know a few things. And one of those things was Arabella Paxton. She was new and she already proved to dislike me, not to mention she was trying to get her hooks in Petunia and Gerald’s wedding.

“June,” Gerald tipped his hat when I walked past The Gathering Grove on my way back to A Charming Cure. He was outside serving tea to the customers sitting at the wrought iron tables underneath the store’s awning. “Petunia said to tell you that she was going to have to meet you after work. There was a line of customers outside of Glorybee and she was sure someone was going to adopt Clyde.”

“Oh darn,” I quipped. “I was really hoping to get some items crossed off your wedding list.”

“About that.” Gerald rubbed his hands over his mustache and twirled the end on one side. “You have been an awful good sport about all of this.”

“Oh,” I brushed it off even though my heart was breaking like the little heart on the cupcakes I had just gulped down in my time of sorrow. Suddenly my stomach felt sick. “I’m super happy for you and the village. A strong power couple.”

“I know you told Oscar about all of this.” He waved his hand in the air referring to the magic that lies in Whispering Falls. “I understand he is taking it very well.”

I nodded. “He is. Eloise is doing a great job showing him pictures of his past with his family.” I crossed my fingers and held them up in the air. “I’m truly grateful to have been able to keep the best friend I have known all my life. That’s enough for me.”

Disconcerted, Gerald crossed his arms and pointedly looked away.

“What?” I asked. There was definitely something he was keeping from me.

Suddenly he straightened up.
Ahem
, he cleared his throat
, “
Nothing.”

I followed his gaze. Arabella stood on the steps of her shop pretending to adjust the flowers on the mannequin skirt.

“Have you met our newest shop owner?” It was a perfect time to question him about me seeing them standing in the street earlier—much earlier than when he had proposed to Petunia.

“Petunia informs me she is a nice woman.” Gerald tipped his top hat, hiding his eyes from the sudden burst of sun shooting from the sky.

“I saw the two of you talking earlier. Do you know her from somewhere?”

“No.” He gave me a narrowed glinting glance.

I chewed on my lower lip and stole a look at him. Once again, he was looking at Arabella and she was looking back at him.

“Really?” My gut tugged, my intuition waved a red flag. “You don’t know her?” I looked back at Arabella. When our eyes met, she darted into her shop.

“I’ve got to get back to work.” Gerald patted the top of his top hat before he tilted his head and dismissed himself and my question.

“
Great.”
Unfamiliar sounds seeped into my soul. There was something to Gerald and Arabella’s little morning chat and my gut told me I was going to have to get to the bottom of it, regardless of her interest in Oscar.

I glared at Magical Moments with burning, reproachful eyes as I made my way down to A Charming Cure. The chatter outside of Glorybee caught my attention. The line was ten people deep.

They were all oohing and awing over Clyde who was on his perch in the window of the shop. Petunia was happily grooming him. He knew he was on display. His chest was puffed out and one of his legs stretched to the side as his tail feathers spread apart. Petunia’s face was bright with pride.

Clyde was a big macaw bird that gave his opinion whether you wanted to hear it or not. Petunia was able to talk to animals which made her the perfect owner of Glorybee Pet Shop. She was a natural with animals and when Mr. Prince Charming wasn’t around, I knew he was hanging out with Petunia.

Clyde. He was a different story. No matter how much Petunia complained about the old bird, she loved him to the core. I highly doubted she was going to let someone adopt him. She was all talk. Just like she was all talk when she refused to admit she and Gerald were a couple.

“Hi everyone.” I walked to the front of Glorybee and tapped on the window before I headed over to A Charming Cure.

Petunia waved and Clyde nodded his head up and down.

“Thank you,” Petunia mouthed and pointed to a beautiful bouquet of yellow orchids. She put her hands to her chest. “I love them.”

I smiled not knowing what she was talking about. I bet her new best friend, Arabella, had given them to her.

I might be a little biased, but A Charming Cure was the prettiest shop in Whispering Falls. I reached over and plucked a couple of stray vines away from the two front windows; the rest of the outside was covered in the most beautiful wisteria vine. The purple and white flowers grew up and around the front door. “Give me a minute to open back up,” I told a customer who was waiting for the shop to open.

This morning after my fainting spell, Izzy was good enough to close A Charming Cure so I could get back on my feet. And since Petunia wasn’t able to meet up, there was no reason I couldn’t open for the rest of the day. It was still early and there were a lot of customers.

Quickly I rushed through the shop, turning on all the little table lights, illuminating the inside. I flipped on my cauldron before I walked back to the door and turned the sign to open.

“Come on in.” I held the door open for the woman. She stepped inside. “Can I help you with anything?”

“Just looking around.” She smiled and went around the tables picking up the bottles.

“Let me know if you need anything.” I inhaled when she walked by. There wasn’t anything setting off my intuition of a cure she needed.

More than half of the time, the customers who walked through the door really didn’t need a real cure. They were there for curiosity of what a cure shop was all about.

This was a perfect time to work on my Oscar potion.

I walked back to the shelf where I kept all the ingredients I use for my special cures. Tapping each one, I read their names out loud, trying to tap into my intuition. “Belladonna, Ferrum Phos, Sepia, Natrum Mur, Valerian Root.”

My finger warmed when I touched the Eye of Saber Cat, which was my intuition telling me to pick that ingredient.

“You’ve never failed me yet,” I said, referring to my spiritual gift of intuition. Gingerly, I picked up the container with the eyes and carefully unscrewed the lid. Rarely did my intuition tell me to use the Eye of Saber Cat and it freaked me out every time I opened the jar because all the eyes looked at me.

“Okay,” I sighed and opened the jar. All the eyes shifted right and left when the light entered. “Which one of you is going to bring Oscar back to me?”

I took the tongs and haphazardly grabbed one not looking into the eye. I dropped it into the cauldron.

After that I grabbed a few extra ingredients—for good measure. The customers that were standing in line at Glorybee filed in one by one.

“Welcome,” I said, poking my head out from behind the partition. “I’ll be with you in a minute.” The bell over the door dinged a few more times.

Quickly I stirred the potion. I grabbed the purple heart bottle with the potion I had started earlier. I unscrewed the top and put a few sprinkles of it into the cauldron.

The Eye of Saber Cat seemed to be doing the trick with the swirling chunky liquid rising to the top with a cerulean glow. A dash of Kali phos would make the liquid stop rising and take a little edge off of Oscar’s nervous system with the positive benefits of opening up to love—my love.

“There is my favorite little witch.” The voice rounded the corner of the partition.

Oscar appeared with Mr. Prince Charming in his arms. They had a newfound friendship. Mr. Prince Charming had always been a tad-bit, a whole hell of a lot, jealous of my feelings for Oscar, but since Oscar lost his spiritual memory, Mr. Prince Charming thought he was the cat’s meow.

“Look who I found sitting on the steps.” He put Mr. Prince Charming on the counter.

“My two favorite men,” I joked and dusted my hands off on my apron. I took Oscar by the arm to lead him away from the cauldron, which he didn’t need to see or ask about. He rubbernecked trying to get a glimpse of what I was doing. I rubbernecked to get a glimpse of his hot bottom in the Locust Grove police uniform. “I’m not a witch,” I whispered dragging him around the counter. “And you don’t work here so you have to stay on that side of the line.” My foot dragged on the floor to make an invisible line.

“Oh, I think you are a witch.” He winked. “Maybe we should call you Samantha from Bewitched. Did she have a cat?”

“I don’t know?” I rubbed Mr. Prince Charming’s ears. “Stop calling me a witch. What are you doing here?” Not that I minded. Two times in one day and I was not complaining. Plus it wasn’t even lunch time either.

My toes curled. There was no way he was passing through Whispering Falls for work. He had to have come here to see me.

“I came to see Arabella.” There was a smile in his voice, something that wasn’t sitting well with my heart. He stood with his hands clasped in front of him. That damn uniform made him look mighty fine. For a second I thought I would shove the unfinished potion down his throat and scream,
fall in love with me!

“You did?” I played stupid.

He leaned in and bumped me in a playful way. He looked at me for a long moment, as though he was trying to find the right words or assess what I was thinking. He’d blush if he knew what I was thinking.

“You aren’t a tad bit jealous are you, June Heal?” His lips were so close, I had to force myself not to cling to them like a magnet. I didn’t move. It was like I was hypnotized. He lifted a hand and rubbed it down my check. “Oh June.” He threw his head back. His blue eyes danced with amusement.

Meow, meow.
Mr. Prince Charming jumped off the counter and darted around my ankles, causing me to step back. He wasn’t happy with the closeness but I was. I pushed him aside with my foot. He wasn’t pleased. He jumped back up on the counter, threw his leg in the air and started to clean himself.

“Stop it!” I shooed him off and glared at him. That whole cat grooming thing was nasty and I didn’t want it on the counter of the store and he knew it.

Rowl!
Mr. Prince Charming showed his teeth and ran out the cat door.

“That was interesting.” Oscar had moved away, taking his smell with him. I sniffed a little harder to try to soak in all that I could before he left.

“You drove all this way to see someone you don’t know?” I had to get back on topic.

“Arabella wanted some information about security. I told her I could install a system for her. She said that sounded great and we could talk about it over lunch at The Gathering Grove.” He looked at his wrist watch. “I’ll get to see you for dinner.” His brows rose.

I snapped my fingers. “Oh, I forgot I have a meeting tonight so I won’t be able to make it for dinner.”

“Oh.” He gave me a smile that didn’t quite make it to his eyes. “That’s fine. I guess a witch has got to do what a witch has got to do,” he joked.

“Not funny.” I held up a finger for him to hold on while I went behind the counter and grabbed a mojo bag filled with dream sprinkles. I slipped it into the pocket of my jeans so he didn’t see. “I’m actually hungry, so I can go to lunch with you.”

“You have a shop full of customers.” He made a good point. “Pretty. Arabella’s work?” He poked at the flowers.

“Oh, I forgot to thank you for them.” I hooked my arm into Oscar’s. My whole being seemed to be filled with joy when I was with him.

“You are welcome.” His gaze sent chills all over my body. “But I didn’t send any flowers.”

“Really?” My entire romantic idea of him dropping to one knee had just flown out the window.

“June has a secret admirer,” Oscar teased.

I bit my lip. There were no secrets around Whispering Falls. Now I had to find out who sent me wildflowers. Pretty ones too.

“Come join us if you can. And I’m taking a rain check for dinner.” Oscar walked out. The bell of the door dinged. My breath caught. My stomach dropped.

“Can I get this in a bigger size?” A customer pushed a bottle in my face.

“Hold on one sec,” I pushed it out of my way and walked over to the window. I parted the curtains to get a better view of the street.

Arabella had already hooked her arm on Oscar’s elbow. The image of her tall, thin body and swinging long hair next to my hunky dark-haired Oscar in his uniform brought tears to my eyes.

“I’m sorry. I’m in a hurry.” The customer stood next to me holding the bottle in the air. “Are you going to help me or not?”

Chapter Nine

With a hop and a skip, I mixed up a few remaining potions for the other customers in the store. Nothing that required a lot of time which was exactly what I needed. I had to get over to The Gathering Grove Tea Shoppe to see what Arabella had up her magical little sleeve. Plus I wanted to ask her about the flowers. If Oscar hadn’t sent them, who had? I grabbed a protection mojo bag to give Oscar. He was in definite need for protection against Arabella and her good-smelling flowers.

“Off and running again?” Chandra stood outside of A Cleansing Spirit Spa with Petunia, Clyde perched on her shoulder. She had Petunia’s hand firmly grasped in hers; getting a good look at the ring Gerald had given Petunia.