by Shaw, J. D.
Vivienne unrolled it as a flash of sparkling gold lights leapt off the paper. The words ‘believe in yourself’ flashed before her eyes and then disappeared.
“The Elder Council could never take the chance of sending a powerful spell so close to a sorcerer.” Octavia explained. “It was my job to see that you were prepared to face this crisis on your own and you did.”
“But what if I had failed?”
Octavia rolled her eyes. “Then none of us would be sitting here right now, child.”
Tommy and Sammy both meowed in protest.
Vivienne reached out and petted them both on the heads. “Then I’m glad I was up to the task.”
“I heard some howls not too far away while you were out saving the town. Sounds like Joshua and Hunter were having a good time in the snow.”
“Well at least someone was.” Vivienne smiled.
Octavia glanced out the window where the snow was now just some flurries blowing in the night wind. “I think the worst of it is over.”
“Are you talking about the storms or the danger to Cayuga Cove?”
“Both, I hope.” Octavia answered. “But only time will tell.”
Vivienne sighed. “I can’t spend my life worrying about what might happen. I need to just embrace the present and be thankful that I’m part of it every day.”
“Sounds like sage advice to me.” Octavia agreed. “Now how about some shamrock cookies from the Sweet Dreams Bakery?”
Vivienne smiled. “You bought some at the carnival?”
“Of course.” Octavia pulled herself up from the sofa and walked toward the kitchen. “I only buy the best.”
“Sounds perfect.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Two days after what the media christened the ‘Super Storm Saint Patrick’, the bodies of Seamus Kilpatrick and an unidentified John Doe were found in the waters of Cayuga Lake. The story of how they got there was the work of a suggestion spell that Octavia and Vivienne had brewed together to ensure that Seamus did not die in vain. Only this time, it was only targeted at one individual.
When Alexis Warner had awoken from her coma shortly after the two had been found drowned in the lake, she recalled a sordid tale about Johnny Guido and his jewel theft operation. When pressed for details, she only could recall him as a troubled soul who longed to make a name for himself, often at the price of others. Thanks to the spell, her memory of Seamus’ role had been altered slightly. He was now remembered as a hero who happened upon the vicious attack by the henchman Johnny had hired to do his dirty work in town. The resulting battle had ended with both men meeting their doom, but one regaining his soul in the process. Eunice would embellish and trump up Seamus’ role in saving the town to anyone who would listen, but this time everyone let her do it. It seemed the right thing to do.
* * *
Nearly four months later, as the first summer heat descended upon the town, the long and cold winter was but a distant memory. The wine trail tour buses now discharged their hordes of tourists, eager to eat a hearty lunch and buy some charming mementos of their Finger Lakes vacation as they wandered about.
Kathy and Hunter had advanced from casual dating to something more settled thanks to Joshua relinquishing his bachelor pad to his brother. Hunter became a permanent resident of Cayuga Cove after Easter, much to Kathy’s delight, which resulted in many double dates with the two couples. Of course, Friday night trivia at Slate’s Pub and Grill proved to be the most popular as their team held the current record for their amazing five week winning streak during the month of May.
As schools released their students for the summer in June, the two dating couples had now added miniature golf to their leisure activities. Both Joshua and Hunter competed fiercely to see who could come in the most under par while navigating obstacles like miniature windmill blades, rotating clown heads, and the infamous double loop. Neither Vivienne nor Kathy really cared for the score. It was all about the hot 18th hole fudge ice cream sundaes afterwards.
“When are the fireworks supposed to start?” Nora asked as she sat in the folding camp chair with a glass of iced tea in her hand.
“The newspaper said around nine.” Nana Mary replied from her chair next to Nora. “Do you have a hot date or something?” She teased.
“Mother.” Nora waved her hands at her. “I was just asking an innocent question.” She looked around at the other families and couples gathered at the community park that lined the shore of the lake. “Everyone is probably asking the same thing.”
“Is there any more of my potato salad left?” Nana Mary asked Vivienne.
Vivienne leaned over from her comfy spot on the blanket they had spread out for the Fourth of July picnic and opened the cooler near her. “I think so.”
“I don’t want any right now.” Nana Mary smiled. “I just wanted to make sure that there was some for me to take back to Carmen.”
“When is she leaving?” Vivienne asked. She had been glad to find out that her husband had finally landed a stable job in the home office of the gas company he worked for. With the salary increase and stability of having her family home every night for dinner, Carmen would be able to quit her aide position at Whispering Oaks and start nursing school at the community college in the fall.
“Her last day is Sunday.” Nana Mary smiled. “I promised her I’d give her a taste of my famous loaded potato salad before she left.”
“She deserves a happy ending.” Vivienne agreed. “Especially after having to work with that horrible Mr. Albertson as her boss.”
“Oh, he doesn’t work there anymore. Did I forget to mention that?” Nana Mara smiled broadly.
“What happened?” Vivienne asked in surprise.
“Well, it turns out one of the pretty girls he got too familiar with during working hours happened to be planted by a very shrewd private investigator hired by a certain someone who lives in the building. Faced with some rather unflattering audio and video recordings, he thought it best to resign and move out of town.” Nana Mary smiled proudly.
“Mother?” Nora was shocked. “You paid for that?”
“It was the best two hundred dollars I ever spent.” Nana Mary laughed and turned toward Joshua. “Be sure to thank your brother again for me.”
“I will.” Joshua laughed. “I told him that he should open a private investigator business here in town, but he said he didn’t want to compete with the best one.” He pointed at Vivienne.
“I’m sticking to baking cakes, cookies, and pies.” Vivienne protested. “He has my blessing to open his own office.”
“I’m sure there’d be a line out the door with some of the secrets the folks in this town are keeping.” Nana Mary winked.
Joshua sat up from the blanket. “Is there any of that pistachio fruit salad in the cooler? You mentioning all those sweet things just made me hungry again.”
Vivienne raised an eyebrow at him. “I thought you ate it all?”
“No. I put what was left back in the cooler.” He smiled back at her. “It’s in one of those little red containers.”
Vivienne pushed aside some of the blue ice packs that were keeping everything nice and cold in the July heat. “It’s getting hard to see without a light.” She pulled out a small red container. “Is this it?”
“Can you open it and check for sure?” He asked.
“By all means, dearest.” Vivienne teased and pulled the top open. “Here you…” She stopped in mid-sentence as she popped the lid and looked inside.
“What’s wrong?” Nora asked. “Did it go bad?”
Vivienne pulled out a small box with the Meeker Jewelers logo clearly visible. She held it out for everyone to see.
“It’s perfect.” Joshua crawled up onto one knee and took the box gently from her. He opened it slowly to reveal a stunning diamond ring. “Vivienne Finch, you know that I love you more than words can ever say.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “I love you too.” She stammered.
�
�I don’t believe it.” Nora squealed with delight.
“Hush up and let him finish.” Nana Mary swatted at her.
He took the ring out of the box and held it before her. “I’m asking for you to do me the honor of creating a life together. To sit on that big old porch and watch the sunsets across the lake.” He locked his steel-blue eyes onto hers. “Will you marry me?”
Before she could speak, several fireworks launched upwards into the air and exploded with bright colors to signal the start of the celebration. “Oh, Joshua.” She could barely get the words to leave her mouth.
He smiled at her. “What do you say?”
She looked at him and paused for a moment as several more fireworks exploded and the crowd cheered with delight.
“Say yes!” Nora exclaimed.
Vivienne stared down at the diamond solitaire ring, the pyrotechnic display in the sky above them reflected in the facets of the gem. The future was waiting for her. The house on the lake. The rocking chairs. The fireflies. But was she ready? She took a deep breath and prepared to give the most honest answer of her life.
[Fluffer Nutter]
COMING SOON!
TRUSSED TO KILL:
Book Four of the Vivienne Finch Magical Mysteries
With a very busy summer behind her, Vivienne Finch is looking forward to her first year hosting a small, yet tastefully elegant, Thanksgiving dinner. With the guest list topping out at four, she is confident she can pull off a beautiful occasion that would look worthy in any home entertaining magazine article.
Before she has even purchased her first bag of stuffing, her plans are turned upside down with the news that the Arkins family, a dozen strong, will be visiting Cayuga Cove for an unexpected family reunion. To make matters worse, the Brass Cricket Inn has no rooms to spare for the holiday, leaving Vivienne with a house full of guests to entertain for the long weekend. As pots simmer on the stovetops, tempers flare when dueling mothers each try to ensure that their familiar family traditions are carried out.
Yet, that is only the start to Vivienne’s troubles when the owner of Slate’s Pub & Grill is found dead in the establishment’s kitchen. Ghoulishly bound with cooking twine and stuffed head first into the gas oven, news of the murder spreads faster than butter on a hot dinner roll. An investigation soon reveals a cornucopia of illegal football gambling pools, personal grudges, and the inclusion of several of Joshua’s family members as possible suspects in the gruesome crime.
With the timer counting down to disaster, it will take all of Vivienne’s magical and sleuthing skills to stop a cunning killer who has placed murder on her exquisitely prepared holiday menu!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J.D. Shaw is a 2008 graduate of the prestigious Odyssey Writing Workshop run by Jeanne Cavelos, former senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell. During his six weeks in the program, he worked alongside such award winning authors as Barry B. Longyear and Nancy Kress.
He resides in Elmira, NY with Sam, an indoor orange tiger cat who seems to think that sleep is just wasted time between feedings and spending quality outdoor time with his pal, the neighborhood stray, Mister Tommy Cat.
This is the third novel in his ongoing supernatural cozy series, ‘The Vivienne Finch Magical Mysteries’. He is hard at work on the next book in the series.
‘Like’ The Vivienne Finch Magical Mysteries page on Facebook and stay informed on all the latest news, contests, and book signing events.
Be sure to visit his web site, JDSHAWBOOKS.COM, to discover more about the author and the series.
He loves to hear from his readers. Email him at [email protected]
THE IMPORTANCE OF REVIEWS
As an independently published author, I do not have the vast resources of the corporate publishing machine to spread the word about this book. Despite this lack of corporate support that can increase awareness of the book series, I am extremely pleased that remaining independent allows me to keep complete artistic control. However, by doing so, I rely exclusively on all of you wonderful readers to spread the good word about this book and the ongoing series.
If you have enjoyed this book, would you please take a moment to log onto Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, or wherever you purchased or loaned this book from and leave your review? Not only does this help future readers to decide if they wish to give the series a try, it really does make a difference when it comes to promotional emails that places like Amazon and Barnes & Noble will send to readers that like this genre. The more reviews a title receives, the more notice from sites such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, the more suggested book emails these companies will generate to generate sales. It is simple math, but it can make a world of difference to an independent author. Your single review can really increase sales! What better way to support a book series?
So, dear reader, your voice is very important to me. I would love to hear about what you liked and why others might like the same. Thank you for taking the time to read this little section and hopefully post a review soon after.
See you all in Cayuga Cove for the next adventure!
J.D. Shaw