The Halloween Truth Spell
Page 14
“Everybody else is wearing matching onesies. I’m wearing this Cersei Lannister onesie—and Ruprecht is wearing a Cersei’s Wine Glass onesie.”
“Ruprecht, please tell Camino that Alder and I are not going to wear a twinsie.”
Ruprecht, who had his nose shoved into a jar of strawberry jam, looked up and said, “William of Ockham said that entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.”
“It’s only one entity,” Camino said, clearly growing impatient. “When Alder gets here, I am going to ask him.”
“Ask him what?” Alder swept through the front door. He was carrying miniature pumpkins to set around the house as Halloween decorations. Not that we needed any more. Pumpkin essential oil was drifting from the several diffusers placed around the room. Heavy black lace curtains, courtesy Camino, were hung to represent cobwebs, and Camino had stuck black plastic spiders all over them. She had painted red stripes on their backs to give them that Aussie feel. Nothing says Australian quite like venomous critters.
Alder looked around the room. “Where are the others?”
“Marina has already flown back to Melbourne,” I told him. “She didn’t want to outstay her welcome.”
“A bit late for that,” Alder said, his tone clipped.
Thyme piped up. “And Dawson and Chris had too much paperwork to do, you know, after the fake FBI agents, which they thought were real. They’re completely mystified, but they said the FBI agents fed them copious amounts of food.”
Camino nodded. “I had programmed those FBI agent onesies to eat lots of donuts.” She approached Alder, holding a bunch of fabric in front of herself. “I want you and Amelia to wear this twinsie tonight.”
“Absolutely not,” Alder replied at once.
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t want a divorce.”
“Oh come on, you guys, don’t be so boring,” Thyme said. “Mint and I are wearing a twinsie.” She opened a box of cupcakes, all of which were Halloween themed—ghosts and skulls and witches’ hats.
I scooped one into my hand and dipped a finger into the icing, which was purple buttercream. Perhaps I was being too harsh on Camino. After all, it was my spell that had caused the onesies to come alive, terrorising the town. And wasn’t everyone else at my Halloween party wearing matching onesies?
Yes, Camino was indeed wearing a Cersei onesie while Ruprecht was dressed in a Cersei’s Glass of Wine onesie. Meanwhile, Thyme was dressed as a witch and Mint was dressed as her broom. Together, Thyme and Mint were wearing a twinsie.
“All right,” I said after a minute. “You win. I’ll wear the twinsie.”
Alder exhaled sharply. “If my wife wants to wear the twinsie, then who am I to say no?”
Camino cheered. She helped me into the twinsie, and then helped Alder. It took a fair amount of struggle, as the twinsie was too small for Alder and too big for me.
“There,” Camino said, satisfied. “Now, it’s Willow and Hawthorn’s turn to get dressed up.”
I groaned. “Please don’t tell me you brought Willow and Hawthorn a twinsie.” I thought of the five ragdoll cats from the Vanderbilt estate, and was relieved they were going to Celia Hunt, Henry’s lawyer.
“No, of course not! I brought them a onesie each. Willow’s says ‘Treat’ while Hawthorn’s says ‘Trick.’”
I watched as Camino lured my cats with cat food and tried to dress them in their onesies. They didn’t seem to mind, given that they would do anything for cat food. I would have offered to help, only I did not have the hang of the twinsie yet. Besides, I had better things to do, like cut the feet off two of the twinsie’s legs so I could slip on my Christian Louboutins.
“If you think I’m going to wear a pair of your heels, Amelia, you are absolutely dreaming,” Alder said.
“Don’t be silly,” I replied. “You’d stretch my shoes, and these little babies are expensive. Although, your legs would look fabulous in a pair, Alder.”
He winked at me. “My legs already look fabulous.”
I grinned. “That’s true.”
“Done!” Camino said happily as she finished getting Hawthorn into his onesie.
Ruprecht cleared his throat. “Everyone! Please gather around. I have something very important I wish to share with you.”
Everyone gathered around. It took a moment for me to work out how to sit, but when I did, Ruprecht cleared his throat and said, “If ever there is a tomorrow when we’re not together, there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart, I’ll always be with you.”
No one spoke.
“That’s from Winnie the Pooh,” Ruprecht added.
Camino lowered her cupcake. “I didn’t know you were going somewhere, Ruprecht.”
“I’m not,” he replied.
“But you said if we’re apart that you will always be with us,” Camino said. She looked just as confused as I felt.
“True,” Ruprecht said.
“Okay.”
“Don’t you usually quote European or ancient philosophers?” I asked him.
Alder elbowed me softly in my ribs, perhaps trying to stop himself from laughing.
Ruprecht frowned deeply. “Wasn’t Winnie the Pooh a European philosopher?”
I shook my head. “No, he’s a bear.”
“What—he has a big, bushy beard?”
“No, he’s a tiny little bear who doesn’t wear any pants.”
Ruprecht gasped. “Surely not! I am certain he wore pants. I don’t see why any philosopher wouldn’t? Even Socrates wore pants, and if ever there was a philosopher not likely to wear pants, it was Socrates.”
I chuckled. “He’s a tiny little bear who doesn’t wear any pants and who is addicted to honey. His best friend is a pig.”
“That,” Ruprecht replied, “is a very unkind thing to say. I’m sure his best friend was rather wonderful.”
“Ruprecht, his best friend is literally a pig called Piglet.”
“I won’t hear any more of this slander against Winnie the Pooh. He was a fine man who, I am sure, wore pants and only ate the appropriate amount of honey, which was a polite smattering on his morning toast and perhaps another polite smattering on his afternoon toast.”
“Well, it was a beautiful sentiment, anyway.”
Alder stood then, which meant I was also dragged to my feet.
“Amelia’s shoes are hurting,” he announced to everyone.
“Are they?” I replied, dazed.
“Obviously,” he said. “Look at those heels.”
“I have been. I can’t stop.”
“We’re going to get her some ice for her feet,” he added.
Alder and I walked as though we were in a three legged race—a very slow three legged race—to the kitchen, where Alder unzipped the twinsie, freeing us both. “I love you, but this twinsie is too much,” he said.
“Imagine if we had worn this twinsie before I did my spell. We would have been joined at the hip!”
“I thought we already were?” Alder replied. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me.
He smelt so good—he always smelt so good. His hands were firm and warm and solid. I positively melted into his kiss, just as Alder positively melted into me.
“You taste like cupcakes,” he said, his breath soft against my ear. “Ones you didn’t bake, thankfully,” he added in little more than a whisper.
“Yes. Thyme brought them. Where is my ice?”
“Your ice?”
“You said my feet hurt.”
“Oh, that was a lie to get you in here so I could kiss you. Do you think everyone bought it?”
“No!” Camino, Ruprecht, Thyme, and Mint called out from the living room.
Connect with Morgana
Connect with Morgana
Would you like to be a VIP Reader and receive an email when Morgana Best releases a new book or has a givea
way? Click here to enter your email!
Next Book In This Series
The Kitchen Witch Book 14
Christmas Spells
* * *
Amelia is feeling extra Santa-mental and wants the Christmas spirit, just not the Christmas spirit who arrives to demand her help.
The Ghost of Christmas Past was an elf-made man who was murdered the previous Christmas while in a Santa suit.
Can Amelia solve the murder, or is it a lost Claus?
Yule never guess who the murderer is!
Also by Morgana Best
ALL MORGANA BEST BOOKS ARE COZY MYSTERIES
Live and Let Diet (The Australian Amateur Sleuth, Book 1)
Funny cozy mystery
NON MAGICAL
USA TODAY Bestselling series
What will Sibyl find when she moves to a small Aussie town? Deadly snakes and redback spiders? Sure, but she also finds something unexpected . . .
Sybil Potts moves to Little Tatterford, a small town in the middle of nowhere in Australia, seeking to find peace and quiet after the upheaval of her divorce.
Although the town is sleepy and nothing has ever happened, her arrival coincides with a murder in the boarding house adjacent to her cottage.
Sybil soon finds she is at odds with the attractive Blake Wessley, the exasperated police officer trying to solve the murder.
After Sibyl narrowly misses becoming the next victim, she turns her attention to the suspects. Is it the posh English gentleman, Mr. Buttons, who serves everyone tea and cucumber sandwiches -- crusts off, of course -- or her quirky landlady, Cressida Upthorpe, who is convinced she knows what her spoiled cat, Lord Farringdon, is thinking?
Or is it somebody else entirely?
Sweet Revenge (Cocoa Narel Chocolate Shop Mysteries, Book 1)
Funny cozy mystery
NON MAGICAL
What would you do if you were medically unable to gain weight? Eat chocolate and solve murders, of course . . .
When a car accident leads to extensive plastic surgery and an inability to gain weight, Cocoa Narel finds herself transformed from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan.
No longer forced to temper her love for chocolate, Cocoa opens a candy store and begins to enjoy the sweet life along with her quirky rescue cat. But when her high school bullies start being murdered one by one, Cocoa becomes the prime suspect.
Can she clear her name, or does the true culprit have a few Twix up their sleeve?
Morgana’s fun, magical cozy mysteries
Bewitched meets Murder She Wrote
Witches’ Brew (Witches and Wine, Book 1)
A B&B that doesn’t serve breakfast, a dead body, and something strange in the dark room at the end of the corridor . . . Pepper knew moving back home wasn’t going to be easy.
Pepper Jasper moves from Sydney to the cozy town of Lighthouse Bay, answering a desperate plea from her aunts to help with their failing Bed and Breakfast business.
She discovers her aunts are more eccentric than she remembered, the Bed and Breakfast does not serve breakfast, and the cottages for lease have strange themes. And what’s more, within minutes of her arrival, she stumbles across a dead body.
Pepper soon has her hands full, contending with a murder mystery, irritating guests including the enigmatic Lucas O’Callaghan who is convinced every woman wants to fall into his arms, and her aunts, who are hiding more than one dark secret.
Who - or what! - lurks in the forbidden room at the end of the dark corridor?
And why do the aunts insist she drink copious quantities of special label wine?
Find out what awaits Pepper Jasper at Mugwort Manor.
Miss Spelled (The Kitchen Witch Book 1)
Amelia Spelled believes in baking it til you make it . . .
But when her boyfriend dumps her, her boss fires her, and she's evicted from her rental thanks to a cooking mishap, Amelia finds herself all dressed up with nowhere to dough. Amelia is just about ready to pie for help when a handwritten letter is slipped under her door.
Now she is off to country Australia, where a mysterious house is not the only thing that awaits -- there is also the revelation that her ancestors were witches. But if Amelia thinks she'll have time to process these new developments, she's dead wrong. There is a murder, and she's the number one suspect.
Will Amelia cook up a way to solve the crime, or are her spells as bad as her baking? And just what -- or who -- does the dashing man lurking in the shadows want?
A Ghost of a Chance (Witch Woods Funeral Home Book 1)
USA Today Best-selling series
Nobody knows that Laurel Bay can see and talk to ghosts. When she inherits a funeral home, she is forced to return from the city to the small town of Witch Woods to breathe life into the business. It is a grave responsibility, but Laurel is determined that this will be no dead-end job.
There she has to contend with her manipulative and overly religious mother, more than one ghost, and a secretive but handsome accountant.
When the murder of a local woman in the funeral home strangles the finances, can Laurel solve the murder?
Or will this be the death of her business?
Sea Witch Cozy Mysteries: Four Book Box Set
USA Today Best-selling series
Goldie Bloom has four problems: her boss, her boyfriend, the fact they are the same person, and the fact that person is cheating on her.
After discovering she has inherited an old home on the Gold Coast waterfront, this murder solving Aussie sea witch packs up her collection of 5 inch stilettos and moves.
She's not expecting to move in with a room mate named Persnickle, just as she was not expecting to trip over a dead body on her first day.
Is she the intended victim, and can she really be arrested for drinking coffee?
This Box Set has 4 books:
1) Broom Mates (novella)
2) Broom With A View (full length novel)
3) Broom For One More (full length novel)
4) Broomed for Success (full length novel)
Available individually: Book 5) Broom Service.
Christmas Spirit (The Middle-aged Ghost Whisperer, Book 1)
What would do if you saw a ghost?
Prudence Wallflower tours the country, making live appearances. She connects people with loved ones who have passed on.
However, her reputation as a clairvoyant medium is failing, and even Prudence has begun to doubt herself. She has never seen a ghost, but receives impressions from the dead.
This all changes when the ghost of a detective appears to her and demands her help to solve a murder. Prudence finds herself out of her depth, and to make matters worse, she is more attracted to this ghost than any man she has ever met.
A Tale of Mer-der (His Ghoul Friday, Book 1)
Aussie journalist Misty Friday has several problems, not the least of which is her name.
Misty's mean boss sends her to an island resort in the Great Barrier Reef to investigate a paranormal event, but mermaids and murder throw her off the track.
When Misty makes waves, she attracts the attention of the murderer and one mysterious stranger. Will Misty get to the bottom of this, or are there too many red herrings?
SERIES BY MORGANA BEST
Cocoa Narel Chocolate Shop Mysteries
1) Sweet Revenge
2) The Sugar Hit
3) Murder Sweetly Served
4) Chocolate to Die For
First 3 Books available in Box Set:
Cocoa Narel Chocolate Shop Mysteries: Box Set: Books 1-3
The Australian Amateur Sleuth
USA Today Best-selling series
1) Live and Let Diet
2) Natural-Born Grillers
3) Dye Hard
4) The Prawn Identity
5) Any Given Sundae
6) The Last Mango in Paris
7) Tequila Mockingbird - coming soon
First 3 Books available in Box Set:
&nb
sp; Australian Amateur Sleuth: Box Set: Books 1-3
USA Today Best-seller 2020
Top 20 (paid) Book Amazon US April 2020
#1 Book Barnes & Noble April 2020
The Middle-aged Ghost Whisperer
1) Christmas Spirit
2) Ghost Hunter
3) There Must be a Happy Medium
All 3 Books available in Box Set:
The Middle-aged Ghost Whisperer: Box Set: Books 1-3
Witch Woods Funeral Home
USA Today Best-selling series
1) A Ghost of a Chance
2) Nothing to Ghost About
3) Make the Ghost of It
4) Ghost Stories
5) Ghost Blusters
6) Repossessed
First 4 Books available in Box Set:
Witch Woods Funeral Home: Box Set: Books 1 - 4
USA Today Best-seller April 2020
Top 17 (paid) Book Amazon US Store April 2020
His Ghoul Friday
1) A Tale of Mer-der
2) The Witching Hour