I didn’t hear your thought, Raven. Take my advice for once, hop on a different thought train so that it leads us back to bed. We clearly got up on the wrong side this morning.
“You and I both know that we have a mystery to solve,” I reminded him softly as I readjusted my scarf to cover my lips.
By this time, we’d reached the cobblestone intersection on the other side of town square. The inn was basically cattycorner, sitting regally atop a small rise down a couple of blocks on the opposite side of the street.
“I’m trusting my abilities this time around,” I stated firmly. “Mom is somehow involved in the attack on Otis, and we need to figure how and why before the wedding. It looks like we’ve got ourselves another mystery, Leo.”
Oh, there goes my heartburn. Have I mentioned lately that I really loathe when you say the M word, Raven?
Chapter Three
One of my favorite places in Paramour Bay was the inn that had been established by Gertie’s family. The original post-medieval, English-style home had been rebuilt as a Georgian-style home with a Mansard-style roof festooned with gabled windows. It had been converted to a place for guests to feel as if they were staying in someone’s comfortable home and not a sterile collection of hotel rooms.
The grand place sat on a double lot to accommodate the palatial bed and breakfast with an extended attached kitchen and even a carriage house around the back. The once sprawling property now backed up against the town’s park, giving the children in the area a safe and beautiful place to play and frolic.
Granted, the town’s cemetery was down the road on the opposite side of the park, but the thick stretch of old-growth live oaks between them offered a beautiful view in the spring, summer, and fall. Considering it was rare that Gertie hosted more than a few guests this time of year, no one minded when the oaks lost their leaves and resembled an eerie mini forest with a graveyard behind it that looked as if it could swallow one’s soul.
We could always offer up your mother to whatever dwells in there, not that I advocate human sacrifices. Only in the direst of circumstances, of course. Oh, look up ahead! It doesn’t seem that we need to get our hands dirty, after all! The Mistress of the Dark is taking care of our problems. Isn’t that nice of her? It appears as if I can at least keep my afternoon nap schedule.
Sure enough, my mother had just turned the corner and was walking toward the inn. At least, I assumed that was her ultimate destination.
My day is getting brighter by the second!
As Leo and I both fell in behind her, I glanced down the street from where she’d materialized to see if there was anyone else visible who she might have been meeting or even a smoking ruin of some sort. Other than Heidi’s office being down that way, I could see of no reason that my mother would have taken an interest in anything that direction. Heidi wasn’t even at work, which I confirmed when searching for her car.
Does it matter who the Mistress of the Dark was consorting with? I mean, your mother has evidently taken matters out of our hands if she decides to sacrifice herself to whatever demons that she worships. My VVBFF will inevitably remember that he’s my supplier, and I get out of wearing that hideous bow tie that is still at the cleaners. I’d say it’s a win-win all the way around.
“Mom!”
Sweet angel of mercy! What are you doing? We’re in public here, for crying out loud! The day was just starting to look up, and you go and yank on the emergency brake. There’s a reason that they put the word emergency beforehand, you know.
“Raven, aren’t you supposed to be meeting with the DJ that Beetle and I reserved for the reception?” my mother asked once Leo and I had crossed the cobblestone intersection. I’d seen the surprise cross her features before she began to pat the back of her upswept hair. It was one of her tells when she’d been caught with her proverbial hand in the cookie jar. “Please tell me that they didn’t cancel, too.”
Did I just hear that the ceremony is canceled? Say it is so! Say it is so! Such are the fortunes of love and war!
“What do you mean?” I asked with concern, shifting so that the gusts of winds didn’t hit me directly in the eyes.
Was Mom saying that some other vendor that we’d booked for the wedding or the subsequent reception had backed out? Heidi had fibbed for me about the DJ, only because Mom would have caught on that I was trying to pull one over on her.
Had Mom called the DJ to confirm and discovered the truth that I hadn’t hired them?
“I’m on my way to pay the caterer now that we have the final headcount. It was really nice of Gertie to allow them to use the inn’s industrial-sized kitchen that had been built to service the inn when it was at full capacity, by the way. But are you saying that they backed out?”
“Goodness, no! The chef is a friend of mine, and he would never do that!” My mother cleared her throat as she tightened the belt on her dress coat. A complete stranger would have been able to sense her apprehension. “I was talking about Bree. She was supposed to make individual cupcakes to surround the wedding cake, but she said that the circuit breaker for the ovens went out last night. She can’t bake anything at the moment. Anyway, I won’t keep you. I have an appointment for a pedicure and a manicure at the salon.”
“The salon is that way.”
I pointed in the other direction, observing my mother’s reaction closely when she realized that I’d finally caught her in a mistake.
Again, what supernatural realm do we live in that you can’t take a hint? I’m going to get my afternoon nap, no matter how hard you try to delete the entries on my nap app. Can’t you just direct her to the creepy trees that might be home to some dark entity that will put her out of our misery? I mean, it would fix all of our problems in one fell swoop.
“I can hear you, you little—”
“Both of you just stop,” I ordered irately, grateful that I’d taken time to put the glove back on my right hand. I’m pretty sure that the wind chill was somewhere in the twenties, if not lower. I had no idea how my mother could stand there without a scarf around her neck. The silver and grey scarf that she had chosen to wear was tucked neatly under her lapel, giving her no actual coverage. “Mom, what is going on with you? I chalked up your irritability to having prewedding jitters, but something is telling me that I’m way off base.”
I held up my right hand so that she would understand what I truly meant that I wasn’t just taking a random guess.
There are days that I think you wish me ill, Raven.
“I want the truth, too,” I stressed to Mom before looking down at Leo. He was sitting back on his haunches with his upper lip curled in disgust. “Leo, you saw what happened to Otis. Whenever I think about it, I get the sense that it’s connected to her.”
Yeah, well…your sixth sense has been known to be defective a time or two.
“Otis was attacked?” There was no denying that true shock came over my mother’s classic features. Her emerald green eyes widened to the point that I could actually tell that she was sporting fake eyelashes. “Where? When?”
Are you buying any of this Academy Awards bit, Raven?
“It was before we saw you in town square a couple of hours ago, but Leo and I found him right after you walked away.” I let those words sink in, still holding up my right arm so that she knew that my palm was gathering energy once again. “Mom, there is a connection. Spill it. Do you know who might want to hurt Otis?”
We haven’t considered the obvious, Raven. It’s becoming clear to me that your mother was the one who said that she couldn’t allow Otis to go through with it, meaning his role as officiator. The Mistress of the Dark has decided that she doesn’t want to marry my VVBFF, and she’s looking for alternative ways out. She’s heartless, Raven. It’s clear that I’m going to be spending a lot of my time consoling my undead supplier of all things catnip, but as his number one consumer…it’s my duty to be there in his time of need.
My mother took one step forward in agitation, and it was en
ough to make Leo blip out of sight. I sighed in resignation as I quickly looked around us to make sure that no one had witnessed his little disappearing act. The last thing I needed was the residents thinking they were hallucinating.
“Leo, stay invisible until we get to the inn,” I cautioned, not wanting to take another risk of someone seeing his magical abilities. “Mom, I know that you would never intentionally hurt anyone.”
I stopped and pondered over my proclamation before correcting it to a more accurate statement.
As well you should, Raven. We both know what this woman is capable of, and it ain’t pretty.
“I know that you would never knowingly hurt anyone unless it was in self-defense.”
Eh. I don’t know if that’s the case, but we’ll go with it for now.
“I know that you wouldn’t hurt anyone unless it was warranted.” There. That was much better, and saying it aloud afforded me the ability to continue with a clear conscience. “Just tell us what has had you so upset this past week, and what it could possibly have to do with Otis.”
My mother pursed her lips in irritation and…was that fear?
Sweet angel of mercy, the coven is about to descend upon us! They have finally decided to intervene, haven’t they? This is it. We’re doomed. We’re all going to be turned into toads, and the neighborhood squirrels will go unchecked to destroy the world!
Thankfully, Leo hadn’t panicked to the point that he materialized out of thin air again.
Now probably isn’t the time to tell you that I forgot how, after terror flooded my body. This is why I really need to have those mental antioxidants from those blueberry-filled edibles, Raven!
“Someone left me a suspicious note at the beginning of the week,” my mother finally admitted before biting her lip. She must use the same brand of lipstick as Heidi, because it never smeared onto her front teeth. “Regardless, whoever it is…well, they want me to call off the wedding.”
Did you hear that, Raven? I might have a new friend in town!
“Leo, this is serious,” I reprimanded with a frown. I had to blink several times when the cold wind shifted a bit, causing my eyes to water. “You have no idea who might have left you the note? Where did you find it?”
“It was left on the driver’s seat of my car,” my mother explained, glancing around our immediate area with suspicion. “You know that I don’t lock it. No one around here really locks their doors.”
How in the world is this woman your mother? Even you have leftover habits from living in the Big Apple. I’m not complaining, mind you. My premium organic catnip supply is safer than Skippy’s hibernation stash. I remind myself of that daily, which gives me hope that I’ll be the one to locate and destroy it one of these days. Small victories, Raven. Small victories.
“Did you at least cast a spell on the paper to see if you could find out where it came from?”
“Of course, I did,” my mother replied in frustration. “I’m not some witless hedge witch, for crying out loud. The paper must have come from a tablet that was newly purchased, because all I could see was a pad of paper sitting next to the cash register at the local office supply store.”
“What exactly did the note say?” I asked for clarification.
“Six words,” my mother declared with disdain. “You should call off the wedding.”
“What else?”
I thought the note sounded well thought out and pretty straight forward. With all the excitement, I don’t think that you’ve had enough coffee this morning.
“I wasn’t talking about the message, Leo.” I looked at Mom expectantly. “One note wouldn’t have you so rattled. What else happened this week?”
“Well, I found the note on Monday. On Tuesday, the seamstress called and said that she’d misplaced Beetle’s bowtie that he’d dropped off to be mended. Which is fine, especially since I bought him a special one for our wedding. Anyway, every consecutive day afterward has been something innocuous, but still enough to grab my attention. Yesterday was the circuit breaker on the bakery, and today…”
For the love of all catnip, spill it!
“Today? What happened today?”
My mother compressed her red lips together as if she didn’t want to reveal what had happened this morning, but it had been enough to draw her to town square and miss her morning massage.
“I received another note that said if I didn’t call off the wedding, the person would…”
Once again, my mother’s words trailed off. The palm of my hand began to garner heat at a rapid pace, and I braced myself for what she was about to say.
This conversation is beginning to remind me of the ones you have with Ted. Now that I think about it, I wonder if he’d mind me crashing inside his Ted-Shed for the afternoon. I could really go for an uninterrupted nap. I think I mentioned this before, but you suck as a cat owner.
As I waited for Mom to finally reveal what had happened this morning that had her so flustered, I thought over Leo’s suggestion about Ted. Not the napping part, but actually bringing him in on this mystery. Our wax golem companion was a part of our supernatural family, and he could definitely help in some instances that were a bit more difficult for us, such as gathering key components for spells.
There just had to be an incantation to find out who had been harassing my mother.
“I’m being blackmailed.”
Mom’s declaration had Leo remembering how to materialize, because he suddenly appeared in between us. At least he’d been conscious of using our legs as camouflage.
Are you kidding me? Someone is blackmailing your mother. That requires front row seating, Raven. Carry on, Mistress of the Dark.
“What did the person say would happen if you didn’t call off the wedding, Mom?”
“The person has threatened Beetle’s life, Raven. My precious Beetle!”
Leo’s gasp of horror wasn’t helping calm my mother down in the least. Tears had welled up in her eyes, and I could clearly see that she believed every word of what this horrible individual had threatened to carry out.
Raven, this is a serious situation. Can’t you see that? My supplier is about to be assassinated by a vicious blackmailer! There is only one solution—we cancel the wedding, make sure that my VVBFF has a level one-armed security detail, and we send your mother packing!
Chapter Four
I monitored my mother’s progress to the salon. A few flurries were still floating down from the overcast clouds, and once again I was astounded that the town could give such a peaceful impression when there was something afoot. Someone out there was wanting to cause strife for the people who I loved more than anything.
I don’t recall me being prone to panicking, but I think I’m about to have an asthma attack. Do feline familiars use inhalers? I wonder if albuterol is contraindicated for felines. Maybe a blueberry-filled catnip inhaler that we can get prescribed by that quack vet who still can’t tell I’m anything but an average domestic pet. Wait. Can real blueberry mental antioxidants be concentrated in liquid form? I might be on the brink of a great discovery here, Raven!
I’m pretty sure that the blueberry-filled edibles had given Leo a placebo effect when it came to his troubles with short-term, medium-term, and long-term memory problems. I would never admit it aloud, but he did somehow manage to have more bouts of amnesia when he didn’t get his most recent favorite catnip edibles.
Wait a second. Does this mean if I temporarily fake remembering who I am that you’ll call and see if the producer of such a magical substance can ship it overnight? You are an Amazon Prime Member now. Didn’t I tell you? I can’t believe you forgot to change the shipping method when you placed that last order. Three to ten days tells me the employees are just laying around and being lazy. Life will be so much simpler with free two-day shipping.
“Leo, your blueberry edibles should be here on Monday,” I replied distractedly, having already texted Liam about what I’d discovered, and how I thought it was related to Otis’ at
tack. “We have more important matters at hand, and the premium organic catnip treats that we have from Honduras and Japan will have to do. That’s not to even mention the regular shipments that we receive due to your partial ownership of that Alaskan catnip farm that I bought you last Christmas. Your secret stash must be overflowing by now.”
Raven, when it comes to premium organic catnip, there is never enough. Anyway, we need to do whatever is necessary to keep my supplier safe, though how you could disregard my primary suggestion on how to fix this mess is beyond me.
“We are not cancelling the wedding, Leo.”
We’d made plans to all get together at the cottage for dinner. In the meantime, Mom had repeatedly said that she had no idea who would want to stop her wedding with Beetle. Liam had replied back to my texts that Mom should keep her appointment at the salon while he went to her house to collect the notes before speaking to the seamstress and Bree regarding the bowtie and the ovens at the bakery.
At least Mom had been forthcoming to Beetle about what had been taking place, though he had no idea who would want to interfere with their wedding, either. Being a vampire, Beetle had done a phenomenal job of blending in with the community without getting too close to anyone in particular…that was, until he’d fallen in love with my mother.
That was a story for another time.
Right now, I was going to complete my errands to make sure that the ceremony took place tomorrow as scheduled. Liam would handle the investigation, and then we would all brainstorm when we met up for a fresh homemade frozen pizza at home.
“Cora Barnes is the only one I can think of who dislikes Mom with such a passion,” I murmured as we began to make our way up the porch steps of the inn. There was lighted garland strung from one side of the porch to the other, with oversized matching wreaths and red bows hanging perfectly on the twin heavy oak doors. “I mean, who else would want to stop the wedding?”
Frosty Blend (A Paramour Bay Cozy Paranormal Mystery Book 15) Page 3