by Cat Larson
“It is if she was doing something illegal in the process. And stealing’s a crime, is it not?”
“Once again, do you have any proof that she actually stole herbs from Violet?”
I crossed my arms. “No.” I wanted to play her at her own game but didn’t want to sink to her level of scumminess. I had no clue if the feverfew jar had been empty before she’d arrived. “I don’t trust her, Damon. Just because I don’t have evidence, doesn’t mean she isn’t doing something wrong.”
“Most of the town doesn’t trust her. Get used to it. She’s an outsider who married an obscenely rich elderly man who’d give up his right kidney to the first person who asked. Some may question her morals, but she’s not a criminal.”
Hmph.
Damon left shortly afterward, and I felt a flush of satisfaction seeing Violet’s coat still in the shop. He’d never made me hand it over. That was cool of him.
Even if he hadn’t taken me seriously about Conniving Clarisse.
“Things have been pretty surreal for you since you’ve been back, huh?”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
I barely knew, and I was living it. Misty’s murder had been solved, and I still wasn’t one step closer to finding Violet. After what she did to Fernando, I should’ve been building the spit I planned to roast her on, but tinges of worry kept slipping in and ruining my plans. Amy claimed that Misty had devised a spell against my sister, and I was going bonkers wondering if it was true.
A spell. But how was that possible? Misty wasn’t a witch.
“Just promise me one thing, Sammi.”
“What’s that?” I glanced up from the blanket I was twisting into knots. His expression was solemn.
“You won’t leave this time without saying goodbye.”
Oh, Griff. I wanted so badly to grant him that promise, but I just couldn’t. What if something happened outside my control and I had to break it? That would be worse. I already felt two inches tall, and I knew that hadn’t been his intention. Griffin was too good of a person to do that to me.
He leaned toward me, and my heart went nuts. He reached his hand over, and I scooted back a bit, thinking he was going to brush the hair from my face. That would’ve been more intimate than I was comfortable with.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
“You have a little something behind your ear.”
“Seriously, Griffin. What are you—twelve?” Had I misread the moment or what? “You’re doing the quarter thing again?”
He swiped his hand over the side of my head, barely touching me. “Nope, not a quarter. It’s… it’s… what the heck is this thing anyway?” He held up something red, flopping it back and forth.
I flattened my lips, peering closer. Then I busted out laughing.
“Nothing like a gummy lobster to lighten the mood,” he said, biting off the head.
I couldn’t even begin to fathom where he’d been hiding that thing, but I was grateful for the diversion. He was giving me an out instead of pressing me to make a promise I couldn’t keep.
He tossed the gummy at me. “The tail’s yours if you want it.”
In between fits of residual laughter, I said, “You’re not worried about me getting sick?”
Way back when we were only in the single digits, we used to wolf down bags of those things. One day on the playground, Callie Nelson bet me her unicorn hat that I couldn’t eat a monster bag of jumbo gummy lobsters in under a minute. Since Violet had just turned mine into a praying mantis the night before, I couldn’t resist the challenge. Griffin and Sage cheered me on the entire time until there was just one left. I turned around and he could see it in my face—one more and I’d be toast. He told me not to do it, but I didn’t listen. I swallowed that last one, then proceeded to spew out large quantities of corn syrup and Red No. 40 all over my shoes. Ah, good times.
“Well, sure, if I had a whole nest of them and—” A loud clang reverberated from Violet’s room. “What was that?”
I groaned. What now? “I’ll go check. Hold on.”
He put his arm out. “You stay here. I’ll look.”
“No, I got it. Really.” He ignored me, bolting toward the bedroom. Argh. “There’s nothing to worry about anymore, remember? No melting ice sculptures in there.”
No comment. I was right on his heels when he opened the door. While he scanned the room, I darted past and inched open the bathroom door, searching for Fernando. No sign of him but the culprit lay on the tile floor—a chrome towel rack. Now, how in the world had he knocked that off the wall? In my peripheral, I saw his chameleon frog skin blending in with the woodwork. In another blink, he was gone, just when Griffin came up behind me.
“Samm! I told you to stay back.” He bent down and picked up the rack. “At least we know what the noise was.”
“Yeah.” My eyes swept over every available surface, hoping he’d gone underneath the bed because I couldn’t see him anywhere. I did not want Griffin to see my fiancé in this form, especially because he’d assume he was nothing more than a pet. I was trying to preserve what little pride Fernando had left.
“Let me see if I can reattach it for you. If not, I’ll come back with my tools.”
“Thanks.”
Through the open bedroom door, I caught a glimpse of Griffin’s to-go cup just before it toppled over, lid popping off and coffee spilling all over the floor. I dropped my head in my hands.
When I looked back up, I swore I saw Fernando grin before leaping away.
“Hey, is this a blueberry in the sink?”
The absurdity of the situation hit me dead-on, and laughing was a much better option than crying.
Welcome back to Bigfoot Bay, Samm.
Because you’re sure not in Chicago anymore.
Trouble’s a-brewing in Bigfoot Bay.
When the tavern fool is found floating in a vat of green beer at the local Irish pub, Samm can’t help but get charmed into the case…
Don’t miss the next misadventure in the Bigfoot Bay Witches cozy mystery series!
Read Bewitched Brew
Thanks for reading!
I hope you enjoyed the first book in the series as much I loved writing it. I have so much more planned for Samm and the rest of the motley crew, so if you like magic, mystery, and merry mayhem, make sure to check out the rest of the Bigfoot Bay Witches series!
Also, feel free to sign up for my list if you want to stay updated on new releases and sales. I’m working on an exclusive short story featuring Violet and her life in Bigfoot Bay before Samm arrives. As soon as it’s finished, everyone in the group will receive a copy!
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Bewitchingly yours,
Cat