“Nope. I came to collect you to come back with me. I’ve been working on the list, and I’ve made an appointment with a printer in Oak Hill for this afternoon.” She glanced at her watch. “We’ll just make it if we leave now.”
I glanced back at Nancy. “Do you want to come? Or do you want us to drop you off at the farmhouse first?”
She chewed her lip for a second. “If you’ll be back before five, could I maybe hang out at the library? I need some more books, and there are a couple of things I’d like to do some research on.”
Nancy was acting a little odd, but no matter. I trusted her. And besides, what harm could come to her at the library? Especially as it was Mabel Morgan behind the desk today.
We dropped Nancy off with Mabel. Sapphire assured me we would be back well before five to pick her up. If not, that wasn’t anything a call to Orville or Kimberly wouldn’t take care of.
It didn’t take me long to see that Sapphire had more planned for the day than just dealing with a printer order for wedding invitations. “So spill, already. What’s the game plan for today?”
She gave me a grin. “You always could read me, Opal. But I think you’re gonna like this one. Once we’re done at the printer, you and I are going to make a wedding cake. A small sample one, but we have to start somewhere, right?”
I chewed my cheek. Didn’t sound all that appealing to me. Kitchen duties were a Sapphire kind of thing. “You really want my help with that?” I mean, she knew me.
She laughed. “As a matter of fact, no. But I would like the company and cheerleading squad if you don’t have other pressing plans.”
And her tone asked the question, even if her words didn’t. What could possibly be more pressing than getting the upcoming wedding in order?
“Did you have time to dig out Mom’s dress?” I’d agree with the whole cake thing, not that I had a choice, but having something else to preoccupy my mind during the ordeal wouldn’t be a bad thing.
“It’s in the trunk.”
She looked at me for longer than I was comfortable with, seeing as how she was the one behind the wheel. I pointed to the road, and her gaze returned to where it should be, making more than a minor correction in the car’s direction when she did so. That had been a close one. Sapphire wasn’t known for her safe driving skills.
I was just getting ready to suggest that she pull over and let me drive when she continued on. “I think Mom’s right about the dividing thing. I really think it will work out well. Right now, the dress is kind of overpowering with all the beadwork and embroidery. But if one of us takes the top part, and one takes the bottom part, I think we can make it work.”
It had been years since I’d seen the dress. Decades really. But Sapphire’s words conjured up an image in my mind. “Yes. I think that will work nicely. I’ll need to make a trip to the fabric store in Oak Hill, though.” Then as she opened her mouth, “Not today! I think crossing two items off the list is enough for any day.”
She deflated a bit but nodded. “I just can’t believe that I’m actually going to get to walk down an actual aisle.” Another, much quicker, glance over at me. “I owe you for this, Opal.”
“No, you don’t. Even stevens. That’s us.”
When she reached Set in Paper, which I assumed was our destination, she turned to me. “I should probably also tell you that Archie has insisted upon paying for the wedding. All of it. So this is on me. Don’t go cheap, Opal. We only get to do this once, so let’s do it up right.”
“I’m not exactly broke, you know.” Neither was she, for that matter. Mom had taken care of that with the estate and life insurance benefits she had left behind.
“I wasn’t implying that you were. I’m just saying that you can be a bit... frugal, I guess is the word I’m searching for. Yes, frugal is definitely the word. This isn’t the time for that. And I thought it might help if you knew that the money would be coming out of an Earth witch’s bank account. Ease the pain of overspending a bit.”
Ah. She had a point. The thought of spending Archie’s money wasn’t a bad one at that.
And the printer definitely tried to help us along with that aim. They wanted two separate orders, but I put my foot down. Why on earth would we pay for separate invitations to the same bloody wedding? It wasn’t a money thing, but a waste thing. Besides, most of our invitations would be going to the same people, anyway.
If I’d thought Sapphire would argue the point, I’d have been wrong. She was with me on that one. We spent a good hour looking through catalogs and comparing designs before we finally hit on the one for us.
Simple white cards with an embossed moon shining over trees. Absolutely perfect. And the calligraphy style of the lettering was simple to read, but gorgeous all the same. We had our cards. Several hundred dollars later, an outrageous amount of money for paper and ink in my opinion, and we were on our way again.
“Do we need to go somewhere to pick up the stuff for the cake?”
“Nope. It’s all in the back in a cooler. I already made the cake. We’re just going to be trying our hand at fondant.” Some of her enthusiasm faded just a touch. “I’ve never worked with it before, I’m afraid. The instructions are rather, well, intimidating.”
“If anyone can handle it, you can, sis.” I meant it too. “But if all else fails, I was kind of thinking we could do one of those tiered cupcake tree things. The kids would love that, and it would make the whole cutting the cake thing easier too.”
She just looked at me. “You do know that particular moment is a key photo opportunity for a wedding, don’t you? I want a cake. Not lots of little uncuttable cakes.”
If that was the case, then I really, really hoped the whole working with fondant wasn’t as complicated as everyone seemed to think it was.
SPOILER ALERT. EVERYONE was right. Fondant is a nightmare. Sapphire was close to tears, and the cake we’d spent a couple of hours on was in the trash can.
According to Sapphire, it was too ugly to eat.
“What are we going to do, Opal? I really do want a cake.” She sank down onto my sofa. “Maybe the elopement wasn’t such a bad idea after all.”
I sat beside her and patted her hand. “This is kind of all my fault, actually. I was holding out for a wedding under the full moon, and Orville wasn’t willing to wait until All Hallows Eve.”
She frowned at me, but at least she went from looking sad and worried to confused. To me, that was an improvement.
“There are full moons between June and October, you know.”
I nodded. “There are. But none that happens to fall on the weekend. With the late-night wedding, Orville thought a weekend wedding was the only way to be considerate to our guests. A lot of them have day jobs.”
“Not that it matters,” she said, going back to sad and worried. “The date is set in paper now that we’ve ordered the invitations.” She threw an angry glance toward the kitchen. “Darn fondant anyway.”
No argument here. Darn it, indeed.
“You know,” I said slowly, trying to think out how Sapphire would handle my words before I actually said them. I could tell she was on the edge of a lot of emotions right now as her dream wedding appeared to be going down in flames. “There are lots of beautiful cakes that don’t have an ounce of fondant on them. I bet we could search on the internet and come up with an alternative that’s every bit as beautiful.”
She looked at me doubtfully. “You really think so?”
“Only one way to find out.” I retrieved my laptop, and we spent the rest of the afternoon surfing the wild, wild web for non-fondant wedding cakes. There were more than a few. Looked like we weren’t the only ones that had an issue with fondant.
Sapphire pointed at one of the sites we’d bookmarked. “You know, I think that could work.”
I breathed a silent sigh of relief. Thank the Goddess. One problem looked to be solved.
“Now the only question is, do we go with one cake or two?”
Hm. I
hadn’t thought about that. I did kind of want the little bride and groom topper as a keepsake. I was betting that Sapphire would too.
“One cake would do.” I hesitated. “But it would be great if we could find a way to have two toppers on it.”
She chewed on her lip for a few seconds, then nodded. “I think I can do that. Let me experiment a bit with it.” Sapphire brightened. “If this goes well, I could add wedding cakes to my Good Morning Muffins. That could be fun!”
I smiled at her. “Careful, sis, you might be up for more traffic than you could handle as a sole operator if you expand too much.”
“Then I’d just have to hire someone, wouldn’t I?”
We were still pouring over cake photos when I heard the car in the drive. About time Kimberly and Mason made it home.
Of course, that thought only lasted until I heard the knock on the front door. Kimberly wouldn’t be knocking. She’d just be walking in.
I opened the door to find Orville standing there, a bouquet of daisies in his hand, and trying unsuccessfully to hide a somewhat worried expression on his face.
“What’s happened?”
He bent down and gave me a quick kiss. “That depends on the answers to a few questions I have for you.”
Orville looked over my shoulder at Sapphire and nodded to her. “Afternoon, Sapphire.”
She nodded back. “Orville.”
“Mind telling me how me answering questions is going to change something that’s already happened?”
His face twisted. “Okay, so it won’t exactly change anything, but I’d still like to hear them before I tell you. The whole thing might be nothing.”
I stepped back to let him in, then folded my arms across my chest and waited.
“I was wondering if you’d had a chance to order the wedding invitations? And if the answer to that is yes, where you ordered them from?”
My brows furrowed as I glanced back at Sapphire. This didn’t sound promising. “Tell me you didn’t order them yourself.”
“I did not.” He opened his mouth and then shut it. He was apparently holding out until I actually answered his questions. Fair enough.
“Yes. The invitations are on order. Sapphire and I took care of it today. Why? Are you rethinking a Halloween wedding? If so, we can always order more.”
He shook his head. “No, it isn’t that.” He glanced at Sapphire, then back at me. “Where did you order them from?”
Orville’s composure was slipping a bit, and that had me more than a little worried. Usually, my man was a rock.
“Set in Paper in Oak Hill. Now, do you mind telling me what this is all about?”
He closed his eyes and swallowed. When he opened them again, he took my elbow and led me over to the sofa, collecting Sapphire along the way.
“I think the two of you need to be sitting for this.”
Chapter 8
“First of all, I want you to promise not to freak out.”
Orville was looking straight into my eyes when he said it too. Of the two of us sisters, I was by far the less emotional. That kind of had me worried. Rightly so.
I arched an eyebrow at him but said nothing. What was there to say?
He took a deep breath. “Set in Paper no longer exists.”
I looked over at Sapphire. “Of course, it exists. We were there just a few hours ago.”
“Then it did.” He paused, his eyes still on me. “There was a gas leak in the back of their store and the whole thing went up like a bonfire on speed.” Another deep breath. “The building is pretty much gone. As far as I know, they’re still working on containing the damage now.”
And his first instinct upon hearing the news had been to rush over here and tell me. That made me think only one thing. He had considered the fact that the fire might have to do with our wedding.
I wanted more information on the gas leak, but first things first. Sapphire beat me to the next obvious question.
“Was anyone hurt?”
Orville hesitated. “Hurt, yes, but for what it was, it wasn’t all that bad. The shop closed at three and everyone left. Then the owner remembered that he hadn’t checked the gas stove in the break room before he left. Something he always did. It worried him enough to go back. When he flipped on the overhead lights, the whole place went up. Blew him back about ten feet, but he’ll live.”
“So, the leak was from a gas stove? Surely he would have smelled that before he left.” Or at least before he flipped that light switch.
He nodded slowly. “One would think so, yes. But he swears he never smelled a thing. He said he has a cold. Least of his worries right now.”
Thinking back, the man had sounded a little nasally. That could mess with one’s sense of smell. But still...
“And they’re sure it was a gas leak?” Sapphire asked.
Good question. We both stared at Orville.
He swallowed again. “Right now, that’s the going theory, yes. But it might be a day or two before that can be confirmed. The fire marshal will have to have time to do his investigation.”
“So, it could have been a careless mistake, or it could have been arson. Right?”
Orville looked at me. “I know what you’re thinking. First Reverend Castle, and now this. Well, stop thinking that! This isn’t about our wedding. Who in their right mind would go to this much trouble just to stop two people from getting married? And we don’t even know that this was anything more than a very coincidental and careless mistake.”
True. But it sure didn’t feel that way to me. Not to mention the fact that Orville had come straight here to tell me. That said something too.
I thought it was time to have another heart to heart discussion with Orville. But I didn’t really want a witness for it.
Sapphire must have read my mind because she stood and looked down at me. “I need to be getting home to Archie. Don’t let this stress you out. Invitations aren’t a deal-breaker, you know. If all else fails, we’ll print the darn things out ourselves. Amie is pretty creative with that sort of thing. I’m sure she can pull something spectacular together for us. Let me handle that part of things, okay?”
I nodded. Like I was going to complain about handing off another item on the list. That reminded me about the dress in her trunk, though. Orville and I saw her into her car, and I retrieved the wedding dress before she left.
“Please tell me it isn’t bad luck for me to see the wedding dress before the wedding. I don’t think we could take any more bad karma right now.”
“I agree one hundred percent.” I paused. “I think that only applies if the dress is actually on me. But even if that isn’t the case, I still think we’re safe here. This dress isn’t going to look like this by our wedding.”
He arched an eyebrow at me but didn’t say anything.
“Have you arranged your tuxedo yet? Or are you going with just a suit? I’d be fine with that, you know.”
Orville chuckled. “You might. But Sapphire wouldn’t. Archie called me today from the airport. He’s arranged a time for the two of us to go in and get fitted for tuxes. He insists the expense is on him.” He fidgeted. “I’m not sure how I feel about that. I’m hoping I can change his mind. Especially as I don’t think he’s talking rented tuxedos here.”
Neither did I. Renting wouldn’t be the Mineheart way.
We went back inside, and I picked up the bouquet. I needed to get those daisies into water before they started to wilt. Orville followed me into the kitchen.
While I reached into the cupboard for a vase and filled it with water, Orville took the plastic wrapping off the flowers.
“Why is there a cake in the trashcan?”
“The Frankencake was too ugly to eat. That’s what Sapphire said, anyway.”
“I see. I’m guessing that was a failed experiment on a wedding cake?”
“It was.” I plopped the flowers into the water and turned to face him, my arms crossed defensively. “I’m starting to feel like maybe this w
edding wasn’t meant to be, Orville.”
He crossed the few steps between us and put his big, strong arms around me. Then he bent down and kissed the top of my head. Normally, I didn’t like it when he did that. Today? Today, it felt comforting.
“I had a bad feeling you’d be feeling that way. That’s why I came over as soon as I heard about that print shop. All I could think of was... what if?”
“You know omens are real, don’t you?”
He squeezed me a little tighter to his chest. “I don’t think of these as omens, Opal. Omens are things nature gives us, aren’t they? What we have now is a man who was murdered by an actual human being and a building that was destroyed by what might turn out to be carelessness. Even if it turns out to be arson, we’re still talking about a human being. Not nature. And not the Goddess. Do you really think She is against the two of us? After all she went through to get us together?”
Well, when he put it that way. He must have felt me relax a bit because he finally let me go and stepped back to give me a proper kiss.
“And just for the record, Opal Ravenswind, I intend to marry you on June fifth under the light of the full moon. Omens be danged. Understand?”
I nodded. I believed him.
I also believed he would do everything in his power to make sure that all this mystery was cleared away and dealt with long before our I dos.
Of course, he had his way of doing that, and I had mine.
THE NEXT MORNING WAS Sunday. My one and only true sleep in day of the week. Well, not this week.
Orville’s wishes or no, I was determined to get involved at this point. It was just too important not to.
Now, don’t take that as I sign that I don’t trust my man had the smarts and ability to do this on his own. I do. Totally. But we were working on a mighty close deadline, and a little help from me might just make the difference.
As long as I stayed away from the station and his official investigation, I should be fine. After all, a woman has a right to visit some of her neighbors, doesn’t she? As far as I knew a little neighborly conversation wasn’t against the law.
Witch Reborn Box Set: Books 1-3: Includes Gemstone Coven Holiday Shorts 1 & 2 Page 37