A Charming Secret (Magical Cures Mystery Series Book 6)

by Tonya Kappes

  “I did it for the good of my family.” Peony twisted left and right before Colton put a tighter grip on her.

  Raven ran up the hill. “It’s her!” She pointed to Peony. She had a lump of dough in her hands. “Oh.” Relief settled on her face. “You have her.” She held the dough up. By the light of the moon, there was a red heel in the dough. “She wanted everyone to think it was June. On her way to Gwendolyn’s cremation, she stopped in and got a box of Gems saying Petunia wanted them for the midnight ceremony. I didn’t think twice about it until June thanked me for the box she found on the steps of Mystic Light’s cellar.”

  “It was perfect to get June to Wicked Good and fight with you so I could set your shop on fire and making it look like she did it.” Peony sang like a bird. The truth serum had completely kicked in.

  “Aren’t you so forth-coming.” Colton dragged her down the hill.

  “The truth serum?” Oscar grinned. His beautiful teeth gleamed in the moonlight.

  “Yes. I thought it was going to be for Amethyst. I had no idea it was Peony until I saw her shoes. Over and over in my nightmare I saw something red come down as the weapon.” I pointed to the shoes lying by the rock. “She was going to stick them on my feet to try to frame me one last time.”

  “I’m so sorry, June.” Petunia walked over, the fireflies darted in and out of her hair. “I really didn’t know what to think until Gwenie came to me.” She put her arms out and let Gwenie coil around them, resting her head on Petunia’s shoulder. “She told me everything. I had to wait until I became Village President to stop her. Gwenie told me your plans of coming to Mystic Lights. At midnight last night, I knew I was the president and told Amethyst everything. We pulled Constance Karima aside and explained to her how Gwenie couldn’t be cremated because she had come back as the snake. I couldn’t let my sister get away with it.”

  “Please don’t apologize.” I put my arms around her and they hugged me back. “You have to know I would never have hurt you.”

  She waved me off.

  “There is no need to apologize.” She ran her hand down my arm. “You have made Whispering Falls a thriving community. You add to the village.”

  Oscar walked over and put his arms around me. Silently we watched Colton take Peony down the hill, across the street and into the station where she would be held until the Order of Elders came for her, taking her wherever they took the criminals.

  Since Peony was not a spiritualist, I wasn’t sure where she would go and I didn’t care. As long as she was far away from me and my family.

  “Are you okay?” Oscar asked.

  “I’m fine,” I assured him.

  I walked over and picked up Madame Torres where Petunia had left her.

  I rubbed her ball and held her close to me. Mr. Prince Charming darted out from the woods and did figure eights around my ankles.

  “I’m great. Perfect.” A wave of satisfaction swept over me.

  I might not have a biological family and it was okay. The family I had was right here in Whispering Falls. My community had become my family.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Ding, ding. The bell over the door of A Charming Cure jiggled back and forth letting me know someone was here.

  “I’ll be right with you,” I called out from behind the partition. I had spent all night at the cauldron trying to play catch up from the last week.

  After the whole thing with Peony, Amethyst hosted a congratulations party for Petunia and it was a big blow out. She had food from The Gathering Grove along with desserts from Wicked Good. There was even a band she had come up from her old village in Florida. They played all night and it was the first time Oscar and I had danced, and we did all night long.

  The days after the party, Petunia took her rightful spot as the Village President, holding an emergency meeting to cleanse the village from the evil that had lurked there. She even made peace with her sister, Peony, though Peony was going to be locked up for the rest of her life for the death of their cousin. Petunia was so kind-hearted.

  The Order of Elders had our spiritual construction crew fix the doors of Wicked Good and Mystic Lights. That didn’t take them any time, but the roof of my shop took a day. It was perfect and brand new like nothing had ever happened.

  I had a lot of potions to get on the shelf and I had spent all night getting them done.

  “Petunia.” I was happy to see my friend standing near the door. I rubbed my hands down my apron to clean off any residue from the cauldron and walked from behind the counter. “I’m so glad to see you.”

  Mr. Prince Charming jumped off the counter, following me across the room. He did his signature figure-eight move around her ankles until she finally picked him up, a few dried leaves falling from her hair onto my floor.

  There was a box sitting next to her feet.

  “I wanted to stop by before the morning rush.” She rubbed down Mr. Prince Charming’s fur. He purred with delight. “I have a little grand opening surprise for you.”

  “Grand opening?” My head tilted.

  The sound of hammers came from outside my shop. I moved over to the window. Gerald was waving his hand to the right giving instructions to Oscar and Colton, who were on ladders on each side of my wisteria vine.

  “To the right!” Gerald waved his hand. “More, more,” he instructed them. He threw his hands in the stop position. “Right there!”

  The hammering started again.

  “The village wanted to do something nice for you since we were all a little yucky with the whole fire and death of my cousin.” Her words were sincere and quiet. “You really never had a Grand Opening of the shop and now with a new roof it’s kind of like a new opening. Plus I thought you could use a new cauldron with how great the shop has been doing.” She used the toe of her black lace-up boots and tapped the box on the floor. “We used a little bit of the village fund to get you a new cauldron. It’s supposed to be the latest and greatest.”

  “Oh!” My heart filled with joy. I flung my arms around her, Mr. Prince Charming jumped down, growling the entire time he dashed under the red tablecloth of one of the display tables. “You didn’t have to do that, but thank you so much.”

  “No.” She hugged me back. I had to tilt my head to the left so the bird’s tail feather sticking out from her messy updo didn’t poke me in the eye. “I owe you a big apology.” She pulled away. Her eyes stared at me. Her face stilled. “I should have never led the lynching mob up the hill. I was upset and angry. I knew in my gut you didn’t or couldn’t hurt a flea and you are my friend. But I needed to blame someone for the pain I was feeling. I’m sorry, June. I really am.”

  “Oh stop,” I used my hand to shoo her. “You don’t need to apologize. I know your heart. Thank you.” I bent down to look at the box. “You really didn’t need to do this.”

  “From what your Aunt Helena tells me, it’s the best.” She stood with pride on her face.

  “You went to Wands, Potions and Beyond?” I was shocked Petunia left Whispering Falls for Hidden Halls, A Spiritualist University where the magic shop was located.

  “I did. And you know,” she leaned in. “Don’t tell Gerald, but I couldn’t help but look at the baby section.” She pulled back grinning from ear-to-ear.

  “Are you telling me you are?” I questioned hesitantly and pointed at her mid-section.

  “Maybe.” She winked and headed out the door. I followed.

  Oscar, Colton, and Gerald stood on the sidewalk looking at the big Re-Grand Opening banner they had hammered over the shop door.

  Cough, cough, “What!?” Gerald picked up Petunia and twirled her around and around. Her long black dress flared out with each spin. He stopped, pulling her into a cradle in his arms, taking off in the direction of Glorybee.

  “What was that about? Is everything okay?” Oscar asked.

  “Everything is great. All is good with the village.” I smiled. “Thank you.”

  “You are welcome,” Colton and Oscar sa
id in sync.

  Colton headed across the street.

  Oscar’s hand slid in the space between us and I grabbed it. We stood there for a while looking at the outside of the shop and the banner.

  Life was good. Whispering Falls was great. And we were going to be able to add a plus one to the population in nine months.

  Enjoy the first chapter in Tonya’s bestselling Laurel London Mystery Series from the first book Checkered Crime.

  Chapter One

  “Thank God you’re here,” I hollered to Derek Smitherman who had his head stuck under the hood of a car, his usual position. I slammed the door of the old VW van. “Thanks for lunch.” I waved off the guy I had hitched a ride with after our lunch date.

  I adjusted my black wrap dress so it was wrapped in all the right places.

  Contorting his body, Derek stood up and turned around. He took the dirty oily rag from the back pocket of his blue mechanic overalls and wiped his hands, leaving some smudging on them. He pushed the large-frame black glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

  It was a shame he covered up that body; I bet every single woman in Walnut Grove, Kentucky would take their car to him for all of their repairs if he wore a white v-neck t-shirt and a pair of snug Wranglers. Most of the time women got lost in his steel-blue eyes, so bright against his black hair. But if they only knew what was underneath all the clothes…

  For years Derek and I used to go skinny dipping in the river until one day our stares lingered a little too long, and we realized our bodies where no longer those of little kids. Derek had grown into a hot dude right before my eyes and I never saw it coming. Too bad I could only think of him like a brother.

  “I need your help.” I stuck my hands out to the side like I was on a balance beam, trying to keep my five-foot-eight frame upright on my high-heels because the loose pieces of the beat-up concrete walkway made me a little wobbly. I grabbed the lanyard from around my neck with my Porty Morty’s ID stuck in the clear pouch and threw it in my bag. “I’m not going to need that any time soon. What about that help?”

  I hopped onto a piece of concrete slab that was mostly intact, once again having to readjust the wrap dress.

  “I learned my lesson a long time ago that before I agree to help you with anything that I better have all the details of what it is you want.” His brows frowned, his eyes narrowed. “Every single detail.”

  “Simple. I need a car.” I took the toe of my heel and batted around a piece of loose concrete to avoid all of the questions that were going to follow.

  “No way, no how am I going to help you out.” Derek looked over my shoulder at the beat-up van. His five o’clock shadow was a little thicker than normal.

  The gears grinded before the driver of the VW gave us the peace sign and took off.

  I took a couple steps forward and rubbed the back of my hand down his chin.

  “No wonder you can’t get any ladies. Clean yourself up.” I messed up his hair.

  He jerked his head back. He quirked his eyebrow questioningly.

  “Who was that?” He asked in a “good ole boy” voice and jerked his head to the right, getting a better view of the VW.

  “Gary. . .um. . .Barry I think.” I shrugged off his interrogation. “Lunch Date Dot Com.”

  “Good grief.” Derek shook his head. “I’d rather stay single.”

  Lunch Date Dot Com was a dating website where you met for lunch on your lunch breaks. I didn’t even bother to read the guy’s profile before I accepted his lunch offer because I was starving and I needed a ride to come out here and see Derek.

  “So what about that car?” I wiggled my brows that were in desperate need of a wax.

  Given my current money status, I was going to have to settle for Trixie’s hot pink jeweled tweezers she picked up on her weekly run to the Dollar Store.

  “I don’t think so.” Derek resumed his position under the hood of the elevated car. “Besides, where is your company car from Porty Morty’s?”

  “I got fired,” I murmured. I adjusted the tight black Diane Von Furstenberg dress I had picked up from the local Salvation Army. Wrapping a piece of my shoulder-length honey-colored hair behind my ear, I batted my grey eyes and used fifteen hundred dollars cash to fan my face. “I’ve got fifteen hundred dollars. You can use it to fix that little concrete problem you have.” I pointed to the chipped-up material.

  “Laurel London, did you say fired?” Derek swiftly turned back around and waved a wrench in the air until he saw the cash. There was a little twinkle in his eye. I knew Derek like the back of my hand. He loved cash just as much as I did.

  I waved the dough under his nose. “That is why I need a new car.”

  When I heard a faint sniff as the cash passed his left nostril, I knew he was on the line. It was time for me to hook him and reel him in.

  “Trixie will skin my hide if I take that stolen cash.”

  “Stolen?” Okay. I was officially offended. “You think I stole this money? I want you to know,” I jerked my shoulders back and cocked my chin in the air. His eyes were on the cash. “This is guilt money from Morty. That no good sonofa…,” I muttered a few curse words under my breath.

  “See, why do you have to go around talking like that?” Derek asked. His face contorted. “That along with your…um…sticky fingers don’t make me want to do any sort of favors for you anymore.”

  “Sticky fingers? Geesh.” I threw my hands in the air. “When is this town ever going to get over that?”

  “Over it?” He laughed. “Over it?”

  “Yeah, heard you the first time.” I spoke softly and narrowed my eyes.

  “You have pick-pocketed every single person in the town, not to mention how you hacked into the Wilsons’ accounts after they took you in.”

  “Oh that. Phish!” I gestured. “That was seven years ago. I was fifteen years old. Besides, it wasn’t like you weren’t right there with me.” I tapped my temple and then brushed a strand of my hair behind my ear and again fanned myself with the money. Clearly the sticky, humid weather wasn’t doing me any favors. “I clearly remember you threading the fishing line on the Quantum Rod and Reel you had on your Christmas list. I played Santa, that’s all.” I shrugged, recalling all the crappy Christmas presents the orphanage gave all of us year after year and when I had decided to use the Wilsons’ credit card to buy all the orphans real Christmas presents.

  “It was your chance to get out of the big house and you blew it.” Derek shook his head. He put the wrench in his back pocket and crossed his arms in front of him. “Anyone would have given their arm to get out of there and have a real Christmas for once.”

  True, true. I didn’t have a leg to stand on with his argument.

  I admired Derek. He got out of the orphanage with a great job and was working on his dream to become a police officer. He was almost finished with night classes at the University of Louisville.

  “You didn’t tell me the truth about those Christmas presents or I would’ve never shown up to meet you.” Derek’s lip turned up in an Elvis kind of way exposing a small portion of his pearly white teeth and deepening the dimple on his cheek. A distant twinkle flickered in his blue eyes. “You sure were believable when you told me they bought all the presents for the orphanage. Genius in fact.” He pointed his finger at me. “I credit you for me wanting to be a cop. Since I know how you work, I’m going to be able to figure out how criminal minds work.”

  “Ha, ha.” I slowly clapped my hands. “Very funny,” I sneered.

  “That was then.” I waved the money again. “Before I made myself an honest girl and got a big girl job.”

  “Getting fired from Porty Morty’s is a big girl job?” Derek chuckled. “How did you get fired from selling port-a-lets?”

  I wasn’t sure, but I detected a little hint of sarcasm in his tone.

  “Morty let me go. Something about overhead and people aren’t using port-a-potties anymore.” My mouth dipped down.

  “Where are t
he people pooping?” Derek’s nose curled up.

  “Got me.” I shrugged. “Anyway, I need a set of wheels. That old 1977 beat-up Caddy was Morty’s. He let me borrow it because my job was to get all of those outdoor venues to use Porty Morty’s at their events. He made me give it back. I need a new set of wheels to find a job before Trixie finds out. She is going to kill me when I tell her Morty let me go.”

  Kill might be a strong word to use, but she wasn’t going to be happy. Trixie had been in charge of the orphanage for years. It just so happened that when I turned eighteen, the state shut down the orphanage forcing Trixie to retire.

  She said I needed guidance and in no formal sort of way she became my guardian. The only mother figure I’d known. In truth, I think she was really worried about me and wanted to make sure I did well. She was the first person to ever see potential in me. Then and there I’d decided I was going to make something of myself. She got me the job with Morty and I’d been working there ever since, bringing home a steady paycheck. Not much. But it was reliable. I was able to get a studio apartment, though my rent was always a tad bit late.

  “I love you like a sis’ and all, but how am I going to do that?”

  “You got all those cars out there.” I pointed to the field filled with abandoned cars that Derek used for parts. The grass had grown up around the tires which were probably dry-rotted, and they all had a little rust. Nothing a set of new tires and paint job couldn’t fix.

  “Those old clunkers? Nah, I don’t have anything that’s reliable and good enough to drive.” He bit the side of his lip.

  I waved the money again. “Morty called it compensation.” Compensation my ass. It was guilt money. “It’s all I have to get me a car. Come on. I’ve been on the straight and narrow for five years. You know it, and I know it. All I need is a car to get around so I can get another job.”