Easy Bake Coven: Book One of the Vivienne Finch Magical Mysteries

by J. D. Shaw

  She did have a computer at home, but it was only used for email and for browsing the internet while shopping at Christmas. How it worked was a mystery. One she was very happy to leave as such. As long as it turned on and did what she asked, she was happy.

  She pulled out the rather skimpy manual that was barely four pages, two of them in Spanish. As she pressed the power button, the machine hummed and emitted a shrill beep to announce that it required a roll of receipt paper.

  Nora stepped through the front entrance with her usual greeting yodel of “Yoo hoo.” As she closed the door, she stopped in her tracks. “You colored your hair!” She gushed.

  “Thanks for noticing and hello to you too, Mother.” She tore open the plastic wrap around the receipt spool and dropped the paper into the proper slot.

  Nora joined her at the counter. “It’s such a rich color, really goes well with your pale complexion.” She turned her attention to the new cash register. “I didn’t think they still made these things.”

  “Yes, they do.” Vivienne answered as she closed the receipt bin and turned her attention back to the manual and the tiny section of how to assign different departments to specific keys.

  “Most of the stores I shop at have these wonderful computer terminals.” Nora continued. “Just amazing what they can do with those.”

  “That’s all well and nice.” Vivienne’s brow furrowed as the instructions did not yield the information she hoped for. “But I’m not coordinating a NASA launch, just selling cakes and cookies.”

  “There’s no need to get snippy.” Nora chided as she set down a large shopping bag from Trade Winds Clothier.

  Vivienne looked up from the manual. “Kathy said she was having a good sale. Looks like you found some things.”

  “It’s never too early to start Christmas shopping.” Nora sat down in one of the bistro chairs and sighed. “I hope to have all of it done before Thanksgiving.”

  “What about Black Friday?” Vivienne thought of the many cold nights spent with her mother outside waiting for stores to open with door buster sales. Each year the openings seemed to come earlier and earlier and the behavior of the eager crowds grew worse and worse.

  “It’s getting a little too crazy, even for me.” Nora answered as she looked around at the stocked shelves. “Is that really the best place to display the aprons?”

  “It makes sense.” Vivienne answered.

  “About no longer shopping on Black Friday or the aprons?” Nora asked.

  “Both.”

  Nora chuckled. “You sound so much like your father used to.”

  Vivienne missed her father, even after five years of not having him around anymore. She thought of him often, usually whenever something good happened. “I wish he could be here to see this.”

  “He sees it.” Nora was quick to answer. “He sees more now than he ever did.”

  “I know.” Vivienne’s voice grew soft. “I just miss him.”

  “I do like where you have the cookbooks.” Nora changed the subject. “Do you have any Rachael Ray ones?”

  “She’s not a baker.” Vivienne reminded her.

  “She had some actress on her show the other day, that one from that show we watch on Sunday nights.” Nora snapped her fingers. “You know who I’m talking about.”

  “Are you talking about the blond that plays Sandy Briar on ‘Retribution’?”

  “Yes!” Nora smiled. “She was a real class act, I must say. They made some kind of vegetarian club sandwich together.”

  “I’ve been so busy here I haven’t paid much attention to daytime television.” Vivienne set the manual down and pushed ‘program cash register’ to the bottom of the list.

  “Speaking of our nights, how was yours?” Nora coyly asked.

  “It was fine.”

  “You didn’t chicken out, did you?”

  “Why does everyone jump to that conclusion first?” Vivienne asked.

  “Who else thought that?” Nora asked.

  “Kathy.”

  Nora’s eyes narrowed. “She was nicer than usual to me at the store. Must be she was fishing for information too.”

  Vivienne threw her hands up in frustration. “You all don’t have to tip toe around to find out what I’m doing in my private life. Why don’t you just ask me what you want to hear?”

  “This isn’t the Spanish Inquisition.” Nora interrupted. “I was just wondering how you two sparked.”

  Vivienne took a moment to compose her emotions. She knew that the stress of opening the store was growing as the grand opening crept closer to reality. She didn’t wish to take it out on everyone around her like so many others seemed to do these days. “He was a gentleman in every sense of the word.” She revealed and pulled up a chair to sit down across from her mother.

  “I’m so glad.” Nora gushed with pride. “Hard to believe he’s still single.”

  “We had dinner at Shanghai Sunset.”

  “So what did you learn about him?”

  Vivienne paused for a moment and then realized how little he had talked about himself. She actually couldn’t think of anything new or personal that he had shared during their date. “Not much.”

  “Where’s he from?”

  “He mentioned a city, I think.” She thought back to their conversation over dinner. “But I don’t recall if he gave a specific name.”

  Nora shifted in her chair. “That’s a bit odd.”

  “Is it really?”

  “That’s the topic of conversation when you’re new in a small town.” Nora replied. “I’m surprised that he never brought it up.”

  “Well we had a great time, despite the lack of personal information.” Vivienne took her mother’s hand in hers and gave it a little squeeze. “Thank you for setting us up.”

  Nora smiled at her daughter. “So you’re going to go out with him again?”

  “Yes.” Vivienne thought carefully of her answer and amended it to curtail any gossip. “If he asks me again, that is.”

  “He’d be a fool to let a successful small business woman opening her own shop in this terrible economy slip away.” Nora gestured to the bakery with pride. “Not to mention such a beautiful daughter.”

  “Thanks, Mother.”

  Chapter 4

  It was right at the peak of dinner hour that Vivienne stepped into the Monarch Grocery store and snagged one of the smaller grocery carts, stashing her green fabric grocery bags on the lower rack near the wheels. As she pushed her cart along through the produce aisle, she stopped to admire the display of apples from some of the local orchards. There were so many varieties to choose from, but she had her favorites when it came to baking.

  The Northern Spy apple, with its partly green and red coloring was the one her grandmother always picked on their fall orchard visits. It was a hearty apple, with a tough exterior that allowed it to keep much longer than the other varieties. It was the perfect choice for her grandmother, who had grown up during the depression and always looked for the best value for her money.

  She found a half-bushel and placed it into her cart with the intention of turning out some rustic apple blossoms for the grand opening. As she wound through the displays of vegetables, she picked up a small bag of salad mix that would serve as a quick dinner at the bakery when she finished programming the register.

  She had just turned the corner toward the deli counter when she nearly bumped carts with Kathy who appeared to also be on a dinner scouting mission. “They just let anyone shop here now, I tell you.” She joked.

  Kathy blinked for a moment before recognizing her best friend. “You colored your hair. It looks wonderful.”

  “Did you finally go see Marie at Nouveau You?”

  “I did it on my own.” Vivienne smiled and moved her cart to the side so a harried Mother with four hyper children could get past her. “But thanks for the compliment regardless.”

  “I was just thinking about you, actually.” Kathy smiled.

  “We must
have some weird psychic connection, like identical twins?” Vivienne admired the Caprese salad on the Mediterranean olive bar. The succulent red tomatoes and creamy pieces of fresh buffalo mozzarella tossed together in olive oil with fresh basil certainly looked tempting, but the ten dollar a pound sign next to it curbed her appetite quickly.

  “How did the date with Deputy Dashing go?” Kathy guided her cart over to the international cheese case and added a small wheel of brie to her collection of groceries.

  “His name is Joshua Arkins.” Vivienne corrected. “It was actually better than I could have hoped.”

  “That’s so good to hear.” Kathy motioned for them to move down to the bakery section where one of the workers was putting out some freshly baked bread.

  Vivienne followed her, careful to not run over one of the hyper children who was now sprawled on his back and spinning in a circle on the polished floor as his clueless Mother picked out luncheon meat to be sliced for sandwiches. “He was thoughtful and had none of that macho male attitude that you’d think would come with a cop.”

  “Nora actually snagged someone good this time?” Kathy picked up a small loaf of multi-grain bread and examined it for flaws. Satisfied with her choice, she tossed it into her cart and moved on to the meat department with efficient speed.

  “I’m as surprised as you.” Vivienne hurried to keep up behind her. She paused to pick up a package of boneless chicken breasts.

  “You’re better off getting the club pack of a dozen breasts rather than a four pack.” Kathy pointed to the price per pound information.

  “But I don’t need that much. It’s just me for dinner most nights.” Vivienne reasoned.

  “Divide them into bags and store them in your deep freeze for later.” Kathy picked up a rib eye steak and placed it in her cart. “I’m sure you’ll find all sorts of recipes to use with your slow cooker when you’re at work. That’s what I do.”

  “You’re amazing.” Vivienne shook her head. “You squeeze a nickel until the buffalo poops at the grocery, but don’t bat an eyelash at dropping a hundred dollars on a makeup consultation.”

  “You can’t put a price on beauty.” Kathy grinned. “Well, actually, I guess you can.”

  Vivienne mentally did the math and decided to go with the club pack. She could very well be cooking dinner for two if more dates with Joshua followed and she sincerely hoped they would. “I need to visit the toothpaste aisle.”

  Kathy led them to the health and beauty section where a plethora of personal care products beckoned with flashy packaging promising more quantity or better performance for the same low, low price. She stopped at the shower gels and flipped the tops to sniff some of the scents. “So when is the next date?”

  Tossing her usual brand of whitening toothpaste into the cart, she pulled out a crumpled sheet of notebook paper from her pants pocket and went over her grocery list. “Probably not until after the store opens.”

  Kathy pulled out her smart phone and pulled up her grocery list from one of the many apps installed. She shook her head at her friend’s lack of interest in technology as she updated her items and glanced at the latest status messages on her social network site. “Maybe we should check his Social Butterfly page?”

  Vivienne scooted over to Kathy and tried to peek at what was on the screen. “Can you do that?”

  “Sure.” She tapped her slender fingers across the digital keyboard on her phone. “Hardly anyone uses smart phones as phones anymore.”

  Vivienne marveled at how adept her friend was with electronics. “I don’t get how people are so into reading other people’s everyday thoughts. What’s so exciting about what they’re cooking for dinner tonight?”

  “I think I found his profile.” Kathy smiled and then frowned. “Damn.”

  “What is it?” Vivienne suddenly became very interested in whatever everyday thoughts Joshua was having. Had he blabbed she was a bad date who spit green tea all over the table?

  “He’s cocooned.”

  Vivienne just stared at her friend. “What does that mean?”

  “He doesn’t post anything public. You have to friend him to see anything other than his profile picture.” She held the phone closer and nodded. “But he takes a great picture.”

  “Let me see.” Vivienne reached for the phone.

  Kathy handed it to her. “If you were more connected with the technological world, you’d have been on his friends list by now.”

  Vivienne had to admit that her friend was indeed right about the photo on Joshua’s profile. He was handsome and masculine, showing off his smile that she so enjoyed on their date the previous evening. “Do you think you could setup Social Butterfly on my computer at home?”

  “I’ve only been offering to do that for like two years now.” Kathy took her phone back. “When’s good for you?”

  She thought of the remaining tasks to get accomplished and felt guilty pushing it all aside for her fascination with the new deputy. “I probably should wait until after the store opens.”

  “Oh my God, live a little.” Kathy scolded her. “Let’s do a quick dinner at your place and I’ll set it up while you toss together a chef salad.”

  “What do you think he has on there?” Vivienne wondered aloud. “Do you think he said anything about our date?”

  “If he did, I’d dump him.” Kathy’s voice dropped a bit. “You don’t want a boyfriend blabbing every intimate detail.”

  “A lesson learned from past experience?”

  “I need some cooking spray.” Kathy changed the subject and pushed her cart toward the end of the aisle. “I also forgot my shopper’s club card and I need to borrow yours, so don’t sneak off to the checkout without me.”

  Vivienne shook her head and followed. “I’m right behind you.”

  Back at her home, Vivienne couldn’t help but feel like a school girl playing hooky as she tossed together a simple chef salad to share with Kathy. There were so many little things to finish. She really should have been eating dinner at her bakery.

  Kathy was hard at work on the desktop computer that was tucked into a corner in the living room and almost forgotten under piles of junk mail that threatened to bury it. “This thing is a dinosaur.” Kathy complained in front of the boxy monitor that flickered every now and then from age.

  “I’ve got better things to spend money on.” Vivienne brought the salad bowl over to the dining room table and placed it in the center. She had chopped up some left over deli meat from the fridge, thrown in some cherry tomatoes and cucumber slices, and even mixed up one of those Italian dressing packets in one of those cheap glass cruets from the grocery store.

  “If you had a modern computer this would have been done an hour ago.” She leaned back in the chair. “I didn’t know dial up was still around anymore.”

  Vivienne rolled her eyes and placed the salad tongs in the bowl. “Dinner’s ready.”

  “I’m starved.” Kathy rushed over from the computer and took a seat. “Hey, this looks pretty good for one of those pre-packaged salad kits.” She eagerly placed some salad in her bowl.

  “I always jazz them up a bit.” Vivienne said as she sat down to enjoy her dinner. “So how’s it going over there?”

  “It’s going.” Kathy drizzled her greens with some dressing and passed the cruet to Vivienne. “Give it another five or ten minutes.”

  As she speared some salad with her fork, she thought about what she had seen this morning in front of her store. “Did I tell you I saw Joshua giving Mona a ticket this morning?”

  “No.” Kathy was intrigued. “Do tell.”

  “I couldn’t hear everything from inside the store, but she had parked in front of a fire hydrant and kept insisting she was on some sort of official city business.” Vivienne explained as she drizzled a little more dressing on her salad.

  “That woman has no shame.” Kathy agreed. “So did she put up a fight?”

  “She was loud and even made kind of a threat about him living in
a small town and rubbing people the wrong way.” Vivienne thought back to the ugly incident and hoped Joshua wouldn’t judge everyone on the bad temper of a spoiled woman like Mona Clarke.

  “Get out.” Kathy nearly spit out her salad in shock. “She threatened him?”

  Suddenly aware that this dinner conversation could spiral into town gossip emanating directly from the Trade Winds Clothier store, she worked quickly to downplay it. The last thing she needed when opening a new business was to get on Mona Clarke’s bad side. “It wasn’t really a threat. It was something stupid she said in the heat of anger.”

  Kathy shook her head in amazement. “Still, that’s quite an aggressive move on her part. I swear, starting this Historic Commission has gone right to her head.”

  “It certainly has lit a fire under her.” Vivienne agreed.

  “I’ll bet there are plenty of people who’d love to see her get burned.” Kathy laughed.

  After finishing their salads, they moved back to the computer where Kathy sat Vivienne down in the basic office chair she had found at a yard sale and forced her to learn the fine art of social networking.

  Kathy used her smart phone to capture a good picture of Vivienne in just the right pose with the most flattering lighting they could provide. Using some basic photo editing software, she softened the image and it was soon uploaded to the new Social Butterfly account. “We’ve got a great picture and all your basic information on there.”

  “What’s the next step?” Vivienne glanced at the computer screen.

  “You need to start sending friend requests. After they approve it, you’ll be able to follow their status messages and look at any photos they have added.

  “Wow.” Vivienne couldn’t help but be impressed.

  “You can even make ad for your business and use it for all sorts of free marketing.” Kathy explained. “I often put little one day specials on the Trade Winds page and it can drum up business on a slow day.”