by Bella Falls
“That’s debatable,” Deputy Sheriff Caine retorted when he caught up. “Good afternoon, Ms. Jewell. I see you’ve been playing games.” His mustache twitched, and I suspected his words had a double meaning.
I held up the shark. “I have, and this guy just reached out and bit my arm, demanding that I take him with me.” I sang the tune and lyrics to an annoying song about a baby shark.
Mikey’s giggles bubbled out of him and he joined in, looking up at his father with a goofy grin.
“Thanks for that. Now, he’ll be singing it all day.” The sheriff placed a hand on his son’s shoulder to lead him away.
I brought the stuffed shark’s mouth up to my ear. “What’s that, Baby Shark?” I said, loud enough for Caine to hear me. “You want to go home with Mikey? Well, okay.” Holding the toy out, I waited for the deputy sheriff’s permission.
Caught between his personal feelings for me and the kind gesture, the man offered a curt nod. “What do you say, Michael?”
The little boy clutched the stuffed shark to his chest as if it were worth a treasure chest of gold. “Thank you.”
I ruffled his hair. “You’re more than welcome. I guess I’ll see you around again soon.”
While his son sang the song and played with his toy, Caine glared at me. “I’m sure I will.” He stomped off to enjoy the rest of the festival with his boy.
“There you are!” shouted a familiar voice.
I turned around to find Charli and Mason almost plow into a group of teenage girls ignoring their surroundings and being distracted by their phones. “Hey, you two. I’m so glad you could make it.”
Mason shook hands with the guys while my girlfriend from Honeysuckle Hollow hugged all of us girls. “She insisted we had to return for the Pirate Festival and be there when Rissa makes her big reveal.”
“Plus, you sort of have an interview,” Charli said, wrapping her arm around her man. “That Olivia Alwin said since you would both be here at the same time that it would be worthwhile for the two of you to talk.”
I gawked at him. “Are you planning on joining WOW and leaving Honeysuckle?”
He pushed his sunglasses up his nose. “It’s not an actual interview. I’ve got no plans to change my life since I like how it is right now.” Mason hugged Charli close and kissed her forehead. “But it never hurts to have the conversation since we don’t know where life will take us.”
“You never told me the outcome with Dr. Waters,” Charli said. “Did your coven leader erase her memory?”
Ebonee’s final decision had shocked me to my core, but I appreciated the amount of thoughtfulness and care that she had taken.
“Surprisingly, no. She offered her a position as coven librarian instead,” I revealed.
Charli’s mouth dropped open. “But she’s not…one of us.”
I shrugged. “According to Ebonee, neither is the current librarian, who has decided she’d like to move on now that her ancestor’s obligations to the coven are complete.”
After much consideration, Marcia Gandry had tendered a formal resignation. But she promised to stick around long enough to help Auggie get settled into her new job.
“My father says that Ebonee thought it would be foolish to let someone with such a wealth of knowledge and a hunger for research wither away in retirement,” I continued.
“And I assume Auggie is up for it?” Mason asked.
All of us chuckled. “She gets to keep a large percentage of the value of those coins she dug up, which she’s donating most of to the Maritime Museum. Her knowledge that there’s magic in the world will not be stripped away from her. And she’ll have access to one of the largest coven libraries in this country. Yeah, she’s good,” I stated.
Once we got hungry, we headed over to the food vendors and found our friend Gloria helping Wesley get through the horde of hungry customers waiting for their pirate-themed Ellie burgers. Odie, Luke, and Mason left us to pick up the food while they went and fetched beers from Harrison’s Tiki Bar booth. We found a free patch on the grass to sit and eat our feast, enjoying the sun and each other’s company.
When we got to the main stage, Rissa stood in the middle at the microphone. She introduced the band up next and held up her finger to have us stay where we were. A group dressed in full costume grabbed their modern instruments and played sea-themed songs for the kids and families in the audience.
Taking the stairs stage left, Rissa rushed over to us. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’m getting a bit nervous.”
“You’ll be great,” I reassured her, touching her arm for emphasis.
She received a round of encouragement from everybody. “When it’s time, there’s a section up in front I’ve reserved for all of you. You were just as much a part of what I’m going to reveal.”
“Ooh, does that make us VIP’s?” Dani asked. “I’ve never been one before.”
“Sure you have. You’ve always been a VIP to me?” I said, batting my eyes at her. “If VIP meant Very Important Pain in my behind.”
“Wouldn’t that be VIPIMB?” Luke corrected.
Mildly annoyed at him ruining my joke, I pushed him with my elbow. “Get away from me, old man.”
The audience that came to listen to Rissa outnumbered the available seats, and people stood in every free space to hear about the discovery of Ann’s records and how that changed everything known about her. While she revealed all the new information, I watched her touch the aquamarine amulet I knew she wore on a leather cord underneath her shirt.
Auggie had sifted through the Jewell and Bonnet papers until she found mention of the stone. When she discovered that Jack and Ann referred to it as the Rose of Neptune due to the compass rose that appeared, it became even more precious to Rissa, who wore it next to her heart, accepting who she was and whose legacy she claimed with pride.
After the presentation, Luke wanted just the two of us to take a stroll down the waterfront. He and I had been making great strides in connecting with each other after our talk in his secret basement. I’d learned a little more about him through his stories about his sister Isabella, and yet I knew it would take a lifetime with him to hear all of his tales.
A cool breeze blew across the water as we watched boats float by with handmade pirate flags waving in the air. I gazed at the strip of sea island across the channel where we’d found the shell with the stone inside. Stopping to lean on the rail and think about that adventure, I listened to the cry of seagulls and the crash of waves.
“You’re being pretty quiet,” Luke stated, leaning on the rail with me.
I snorted. “You’re one to talk. I feel like the wheels are grinding hard in your head, and you’re being way too accommodating of me today. You bought me an elephant ear, those crazy tater tots, fried pickles, a funnel cake, and not once did you tease me about it.” I shifted to look up at him, teasing. “Who are you, and what have you done with my Luke?”
His gaze hardened. “That’s just it. I want to be your Luke. Forever.” He gripped my left hand in his and knelt down on one knee. “Ruby Mae Jewell, everything I have. Everything I am. I offer it to you freely. Will you have me as your husband?”
My heart raced in my chest and threatened to pound itself right out of my body. I clapped a hand over my mouth, the tears welling in my eyes blurring my vision of the man who’d just proposed to me.
Luke continued while he waited for my answer, “I know that you don’t need me at all, but I’m hoping that you’ll choose me despite my flaws. And I know you don’t need riches, but I hope you will accept this ring as my token of fidelity to you for all eternity.”
It took me an extra breath to notice the plain gold band with a small ruby flanked by two modest diamonds set inside. If I had gone to every jewelry store in the world, this is what I would have picked.
“Yes,” I whispered, then cleared my throat. “Yes!” I shouted with more enthusiasm as reality hit me.
“Woohoo!” Dani hollered, standing with the rest of
my friends in front of a crowd of onlookers. Everyone clapped and shouted for us.
Luke stood up and wrapped me in a tight embrace. “I love you,” he said, hugging me close.
“Kiss her! Kiss her!” the crowd watching us chanted.
My fiancé gazed at me with longing and love. “Let’s give them what they want.” He cradled my face in his hands and planted his lips on mine, making me forget we were being watched with his very public display of affection.
Before our friends descended upon us, Luke leaned in to whisper in my ear. “I meant what I said. You are mine to treasure for all of eternity.”
I threw my arms around his neck. “Just like you are mine to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, and all that other stuff. On one condition.”
He pushed me away, a look of concern ghosting his face. “What’s that?”
I lifted my left eyebrow and smirked. “That you accept that you’ll be changing your last name to Jewell.”
“Done,” Luke replied with no hesitation. “That’s the easiest deal I’ve ever made.”
We accepted our friends and family’s congratulations under the Southern sun. Glancing down at the gem on my finger sparkling in the sunlight, I basked in the acknowledgement of how far we’d come from our past and readied myself to enjoy the journey to whatever the future held for us. And now, we’d made a promise to face it all together.
Dear Reader -
Thanks so much for reading Pickups and Pirates, the third book in the Southern Relics Cozy Mysteries series! If you enjoyed the book (as much as I did writing it), I hope you’ll consider leaving a review!
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Series Order
Southern Relics Cozy Mysteries
A little sweet tea and a whole lot of spells won’t always put out the fire…
Flea Market Magic
Rags To Witches
Pickup and Pirates
Vintage Vampire
Series Order
Southern Charms Cozy Mystery Series
Magic and mystery are only part of the Southern Charms of Honeysuckle Hollow…
Suggested reading order:
Chess Pie & Choices: Prequel
Moonshine & Magic: Book 1
Lemonade & Love Potions: A Cozy Short
Fried Chicken & Fangs: Book 2
Sweet Tea & Spells: Book 3
Barbecue & Brooms: Book 4
Collards & Cauldrons: Book 5
Red Velvet & Reindeer: A Cozy Short
Cornbread & Crossroads: Book 6
About the Author
Bella Falls grew up on the magic of sweet tea, barbecue, and hot and humid Southern days. She met her husband at college over an argument of how to properly pronounce the word pecan (for the record, it should be pea-cawn, and they taste amazing in a pie). Although she’s had the privilege of living all over the States and the world, her heart still beats to the rhythm of the cicadas on a hot summer’s evening.
Now, she’s taken her love of the South and woven it into a world where magic and mystery aren’t the only Charms.
bellafallsbooks.com
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