Morning Magic

by Meriam Wilhelm

  As The Monster Mash plays in the background, each entrant takes a turn on our lavender stage, says their name and their age and then returns to their seat. Cameras flashing and movie cameras rolling, every child gets the chance to show off their costume. Anticipation fills the air as both parents and kids wait for the awarding of prizes.

  As I called out the winner of the third place prize I was surprised to see Jonathan’s father standing in the back of my shop with a blank look on his face. I scoured the room, hoping to see that Jonathan had joined his dad; but he was nowhere to be seen.

  “Gail can you take over for me?” I asked as I moved towards Mr. Maxwell.

  “Olivia, wait this is your gig, don’t you want to give the prizes away?’ she called out.

  “You can handle it Gail,” I said with a smile.

  I was still wearing that smile when I got to Mr. Maxwell’s side and extended my hand in greeting. “Welcome to Mystique Creations. I guess this must be your first time here? I think we met once before, I’m Olivia Merriman.”

  Without returning my smile he nodded his head. “I’m sorry to interrupt your little party here, but I wanted a minute of your time, if I could,” he said.

  Taking my arm Mr. Maxwell roughly ushered me out to the sidewalk in front of my store. My arm throbbed from his grip and my senses were all suddenly on high alert. I could feel my powers surging around me and was afraid for a minute what I might do to him if he didn’t let go soon.

  “My, my, my, you really are something my little witch,” he said looking at my costume. And you certainly have bewitched my son, Olivia. What did you hope to get out of it? His love? Our money? Something else?”

  Stunned, I replied, “I’m not sure what you are talking about Mr. Maxwell.”

  “Oh really? Come now Miss Merriman, are you telling me that you didn’t sell my son Jonathan on some quaint parcel in the hills for our next hotel?” he said with a look of disdain on his face.

  Out of nowhere I heard Jonathan say, “Dad, what are you doing here? Stop! You need to let me handle this!”

  “Son, I think that it’s time you went back to San Francisco. You are useless to me here,” Mr. Maxwell said facing his son.

  “I don’t understand what’s happening?” I said once again looking anxiously between Jonathan and his father. Just then the shop erupted as the first prize costume contest winner was announced and kids streamed out of my shop, each with a bright orange pumpkin cookie in their hand. More than one patron stopped to share their gratitude for a great event. Swallowed up in people I soon realized that both Jonathan and his father had disappeared.

  The following morning I found a note from Jonathan tacked to my shop front door. All that it said was:

  Livy,

  Sorry about everything.

  Returning to San Francisco for a few days.

  Jonathan.

  I had no idea what in the world had happened. But I was not going to sit around and wait to find out.

  “Gail, could you please call Mrs. Schwartz and ask her to come in to work today? I have an errand that I have to run.” Without waiting for her response I headed out to find Mr. Maxwell and to get an answer to what was going on.

  I hunted all over town searching for him until I ran into Officer Parker, who told me that Mr. Maxwell was staying at the Beach Shore Marriott. Good thing Officer Parker pays such close attention to the comings and goings of visitors to New Moon Beach. Thanking him I set off.

  It was one o’clock by the time I made it to the hotel and found Mr. Maxwell dining poolside. I could see that he was almost finished with his lunch, but decided I didn’t really care if he was still hungry or not.

  “Mr. Maxwell,” I said as I moved towards his table.

  “Miss Merriman, I’m afraid that you are out of luck, I have sent Jonathan home and I am in the midst of closing everything up here at New Moon Beach. So I guess that we have nothing further to discuss,” he said, dropping his napkin on the table and attempting to rise.

  “Please sit down Mr. Maxwell,” I said willing him to remain in his chair. Unwilling or unable to stand he simply looked at me.

  “Please give me the courtesy of telling me why you are so angry with me. What is it that you think I’ve done?” I asked, pulling out a chair and sitting down directly across from Mr. Maxwell.

  “You’ve got a lot of nerve girl, I’ll give you that. And you are certainly a beauty; I can see why Jonathan got caught up in you.”

  Not finding any pleasure in his words I continued, “Mr. Maxwell what is it you think I’ve done?”

  “Okay, I’ll play your game. Did you take my son to a location in the hills and show him a beautiful spot with apple orchards and sea bluffs and walking trails?”

  “Yes.”

  “And did you get him tipsy on wine trying to convince him to buy the land?”

  “I did not get him tipsy and I did not try to convince him to buy the land. However, I did want him to see a spot that really would be a great location for your hotel. I felt badly about what the storm did to your first site. I thought that this site was far more beautiful,” I said, stopping to catch my breath.

  “I bet you did,” he said.

  “I don’t understand you Mr. Maxwell. Why is it so wrong for me to have pointed out a beautiful spot to relocate your hotel? Have you seen it? Have you walked it? It would be perfect.”

  “I bet your little city council wasn’t so happy with you either,” he said with enough venom to have killed me.

  “The city council? Why wouldn’t the city council be happy? The Land is part of New Moon Beach after all. Building a hotel there would be a win win for both you and the city,” I said.

  Mr. Maxwell started laughing at my last words and I could feel the sting of anger coming my way.

  “You are either very naive or just plain stupid my dear child,” he said. “That land is not just a parcel of New Moon Beach,” he spat at me. “After my son got himself all excited about the land and building a gorgeous hotel there, wasn’t he surprised to learn that the land is actually owned by his girlfriend’s father?”

  “What?”

  “Yes, yes, that’s right Alistair Merriman is the owner of that beautiful potential hotel site. But you already knew that. It is you and your family who you were trying to make rich. Now please leave me, Olivia. And don’t try to contact my son. We are both done with New Moon Beach, you and your family,” he said, throwing down his napkin and walking away.

  More confused than ever I stumbled back to my home. Alistair Merriman, my father, owned the land? If this was true, why hadn’t he told me that when the spell had selected that site? Was this a mistake or just some mean spirited trick of my father’s? And what about Jonathan? Had he just given up; believing that I had tried to deceive him? Why hadn’t he just come to talk with me? Trust was a two way street that neither of us seemed to be traveling lately.

  I sat on my couch, looking out at the ocean waves well past dark.

  Chapter 20

  I awoke the following morning on my couch entangled in a blanket that had magically appeared sometime during the night and was currently doing a good job keeping me warm. Uncertain as to whom I should say thank you, I stumbled into the kitchen and set up my morning coffee.

  “Are you okay Olivia?”

  I jumped when I realized that I was hearing for the first time the concerned voice of Meghan. “Yes, I’m okay. Is it you I have to thank for the blanket?” I asked.

  “Actually, it was me, I was afraid you’d catch a cold,” I heard Marv respond. “By the way, we’re so excited that you can finally hear us. We have so many questions for you, and it was getting pretty frustrating waiting for you to finally hear us.”

  “Slow down, Marv, the girl just woke up,” cautioned Meghan.

  “Gone are our blissfully quiet days,” said Miss Cassandra apparently put out with our new residents.

  “Hush kitty cat,” said Marv. “Your stupid cat has been useless Olivia. Once we
figured out that she could communicate with you, we asked her a hundred times to get a message to you and she refused. She is such a brat.”

  “What do I look like, a telephone? You have to wait your turn to talk to the great and powerful Olivia Merriman,” Miss Cassandra offered sarcastically as she moved to her food bowl.

  “Stop it, all of you. I need to think,” I shouted. And with that, all three left me to my reflection.

  What to do? What to do? A million questions raced through my head.

  Number one: Why hadn’t my dad told me he owned the land?

  Number two: If he did own it, would he, should he give it up for the hotel?

  Number three: Did I even want Jonathan’s dad to put his darn hotel on it?

  Number four: What would happen between Jonathan and me?

  Number five: Who was the biggest skunk - Mr. Maxwell or my dad?

  Looking at the clock I realized that I had spent more than enough time in contemplation. Not a moment left for a morning run, I had just enough prep time to get dressed for work. Throwing on my jeans, a peasant blouse and my Mystique Creations apron I headed out. But not before scooping up Miss Cassandra and tucking her into her carrier.

  “Not a sound from you my friend,” I said, looking straight into the copper eyes of Miss Cassandra. A quiet “meow” was all that slipped out of the carrier window as I buckled her into my front seat and headed off to work.

  As I pulled into my parking spot I sent a silent communication to my dad. Please come to my shop today. I need to talk to you. Never having done this before I figured that I would either have to have faith that my message would reach him or just call him on the phone. I decided to put a little faith in my mystique messaging powers.

  Looking into my shop windows I realized that Gail had beaten me to work. The lights were on and the shop was filled with the wonderful aroma of Hazelnut coffee. On a plate, next to the coffee pot, I found two pumpkin Danishes just waiting for me. My stomach grumbled in anticipation as I remembered that I never ate dinner last night.

  “We have a really packed day today, Olivia,” Gail said. “Every one of our classes is full. Good thing Mrs. Schwartz came in early, we are going to need her help today.

  Our Turkey Table Runner and Thanksgiving Tea Towel classes took up the first couple hours of the day. Turkey Girl Aprons and Fall Wreath Making filled the middle of our day and the last fifteen students of the day were enrolled in a Knit Your Own Pumpkin class; expertly taught by Gail.

  When we weren’t teaching a class we were busy selling craft and sewing materials. Business was good. And we both knew that we couldn’t have done it all without the help of Mrs. Schwartz, who, by the way, had really ramped up her wardrobe with the help of Gail. House coats had been replaced by well fitting jeans that showed off her petite figure. Who knew that such a rocking body was hiding underneath such hideous housecoats?

  Finishing off my workday with my second and final pumpkin Danish, I turned as my dad walked through the shop front door. OOOH, this must mean that my mental messaging had been successful. I was really becoming one accomplished witch. Thoroughly impressed with myself, I said, “So you got my message.” To which he responded, “Huh?”

  Drat, maybe I wasn’t that good a telecommunicating witch after all.

  “I sent you a mental message this morning. I thought that you had received it and that was why you’re here,” I said with a questioning look on my face.

  “Although that’s not why I’m here, what was it you wanted?” he asked.

  Taking a quick trip back into my moments of contemplation, I revisited each of the questions that I had wanted to ask my father. In doing so, I quickly realized that I would have to give him some background info before I could begin asking any questions. And it was clear to me that there were far too many people in the store to begin questioning my dad right now.

  “I have to close the shop in half an hour, dad. Can you either wait for me or meet me someplace later? I have a lot that I need to talk with you about,” I said.

  “Will this involve your sisters?” he asked.

  “I don’t think so. Not right away anyway.”

  “Why don’t I just grab myself a cup of coffee and I’ll try out one of those comfy looking couches in the back of the store.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I said as I returned to the cash register to ring up a couple of sales.

  By the time closing time came around I noticed that my dad was sound asleep with his feet up on the coffee table between the couches. He looked so tired that I hated to wake him. But I had answers to secure and he was the only one who could resolve my burning questions.

  I shooed out Gail and Mrs. Schwartz, along with our last customers and returned to the couch area where my dad was stretching out his six foot two inch frame in an effort to fully wake himself up. “Guess I needed that,” he said with a sheepish smile.

  “Guess you did,” I responded.

  “So what did you want to talk to me about?” he asked.

  Before asking any of my questions I filled my father in on the awful conversation that I had with Jonathan’s father at his hotel. “He accused me of trying to make my family rich by convincing Jonathan to buy land for his hotel that actually belonged to you” I said with questioning eyes. “I didn’t know what he was talking about. Why didn’t you tell me that you owned the land dad?” I asked with a shaky voice.

  “The truth is that I don’t really own the land,” he began.

  “Well, why does Jonathan’s dad think that you do?” I asked.

  “It’s a long story, but the short version is that I do not own that land. You girls do.”

  “What? How can that be?” I asked.

  Encouraging me to join him on the couch my dad let out a sigh and said, “A long time ago your mother inherited the land from her maternal great grandfather. In those days the land was lush and beautiful, full of orchards that were mostly apple and orange. There were fields of flowers and horses roamed freely on ranch lands,” he continued.

  “Why didn’t we know anything about this?” I asked.

  “You did, sort of,” he said. “I think that your mom was a little embarrassed by her family background.”

  “Embarrassed?”

  “Yes, well your great great grandfather was an incredibly strong and equally vane wizard who lost most of his powers to alcohol and gambling. He loved good old Irish whiskey and the cards more than he should have. And in the end, he let his lands go fallow and his horses were all sold off to pay his debts. But he never gave up ownership of the land. He allowed the city to include the land within the city borders as long as they left it alone.”

  Uncertain where this was going I remained silent and listened to my father and his story.

  “It was your mother’s wish that someday the land be returned to its original state. She wanted the orchards and flower fields to flourish and the land once again to sustain the growth and development of horses. And she wanted you three girls to be a big part of all of this,” he said.

  “When she died I lost interest in supporting her dreams. It hurt too much for me to admit that I had not followed through with her desires. I had far too many painful memories of us walking the hills, talking about how we would use the land to farm fruits, vegetables and animals. Without her, it just didn’t seem important,” he said.

  I looked at my father and saw a man who momentarily looked far older than his actual years. I saw a man who was hurting and the questions that had burned in my brain seemed somewhat less important.

  “The one good thing that I did do was to invest the small amount of money your great grandfather had also left. And I have been able to grow it into a pretty sizable amount for you and your sisters,” he admitted.

  “Olivia, I know that you have a lot more questions, but I have something to ask you,” he said. “Can you hold your questions until Sunday and then will you and the girls meet me up at the property? I have a proposition to share with you. Can y
ou do that?” he asked.

  Nodding my head, I agreed to meet him on Sunday. And I also promised to bring Harmony and Constance with me.

  “You can bring Gail too. She’s become a big part of our family Olivia,” he offered.

  And so I anxiously waited for Sunday and the rest of his story to unfold.

  Chapter 21

  The night before my sisters and I were all to meet with my father, I called Jonathan. I hadn’t heard from him for a while and I guess I just wanted to hear his voice. Unfortunately, the last time I had actually seen him had been when he was trying to stop his father from talking to me at my shop. What a mess that had been and I was disappointed that he hadn’t made any effort to even seek me out since then.

  Anyway, as I was saying, I called his cell phone and let it ring. Sadly, all I got was his voice mail. I guess that I was going to have to give up on any life that might include Jonathan Maxwell.; at least for now.

  At ten o’clock on Sunday morning I swung by and picked up Constance, Gail and Harmony. Once again, I was reminded of just how small my car really was. But this time, Gail had moved to the back seat to allow Harmony to sit in the front. Poor Constance, she always gets stuck in the back seat.

  Constance started off with, “What’s this all about Olivia? Have you gotten us into something again? And why is dad involved?” she asked, pounding each word out at me.

  “Just wait and he’ll tell you the whole story,” I answered.

  As we pulled onto the hill, in the same location where Jonathan and I had shared our picnic lunch, my heart ached a little. It really was a beautiful sight and yes, it would have been a great place to build a hotel. Today as I looked out at the ocean it appeared as if someone had laid out a blue blanket and sprinkled diamonds all over it. Their sparkle was breath taking; pure glamour.

  “Girls, over here,” I heard as my dad waved us over to a small picnic table that had been set up. Coffee, fruit and Danish were laid out on the small table.