“I don’t know about you, but I could really go for a donut right now,” Meg said.
A big smile came to Connor’s face. “That is like music to a detective’s ears.”
“Shall we then?”
Connor sighed. “Unfortunately, the only donut I’ll be eating right now is one of the stale ones they have back at the station.”
Meg was deflated. “Oh.”
“You wouldn’t believe how much paperwork is involved in a murder case.”
“Sounds like you have hours of fun in store.”
“Don’t rub it in. I’ll take a rain check on that donut, though,” he deadpanned.
“All right. Well, you know where to find me.”
He smiled. “I sure do.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Meg decided to skip picking up a donut for herself, and paid her friend a visit next instead. Lisa McGraw was relieved beyond belief when she heard the killer was behind bars. She gave Meg a big hug and didn’t seem to want to let go. Meg couldn’t blame her. Lisa’s freedom had never tasted so sweet.
When Lisa finally did pull back from the hug, she smiled wide.
“I just can’t thank you enough,” Lisa said.
Meg’s heart couldn’t help but be warmed as she saw the unabashed appreciation on her friend’s face. She couldn’t imagine how happy her friend felt at that moment, especially when she’d been on pins and needles about possibility being arrested for the last day.
Meg didn’t want the conversation to linger on her sleuthing activities. In her personal life, she wanted to stay out of the spotlight as much as possible. She decided to take the discussion in a different direction.
“How does it feel to be a free woman?” Meg wondered.
“Amazing. All of a sudden, I have a new lease on life. This experience has really made me want to live my life to the fullest.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“And it’s all because of you.”
Meg remained humble. “Like I said, it’s what friends are for.”
“Meg, I owe you everything. I have to find a way to repay you,” Lisa insisted.
“Really, that’s not necessary.”
“How about a spa day followed by a trip to the outlet mall? My treat.”
Meg’s eyes lit up. She reconsidered. “Then again, I’m not a fool. I wouldn’t dare turn down an offer that good.”
“It’s settled then. How about you, what are you going to do now that this murder case is behind you?”
“It’s a toss-up.”
“Between?”
“Getting a mani/pedi and taking a nice, long nap.”
“Those are two really good choices.”
“At the same time, grabbing a glazed donut has never sounded so tasty,” Meg said.
“Yeah, but then again, is there ever a bad time for chocolate?”
Meg smiled. “Good point.”
Epilogue
Now that Meg had worked her taste buds into a frenzy, she owed her stomach the tasty treat that she’d been promising it. She swung by the donut shop, grabbed a glazed donut, and then headed home. When she arrived back at her townhome, a surprise was waiting for her. Luckily, it was a pleasant one.
Detective Connor Smith stood in her driveway with a half-smile on his face. He looked nervous. She wondered what that was about.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Meg asked.
“I came to take you up on that rain check,” Connor replied.
Meg shook her head. “Wow. It turns out some things haven’t changed after all these years.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Do you know how we used to joke that timing hated us?”
“How could I forget?”
“Well, timing really hates you today,” Meg said.
Connor looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“You just got done with paperwork and have a taste for a donut. Meanwhile, I just gone done eating a donut and have a taste for a nap.”
Connor laughed. “You’re right. Timing really does hate me.”
“And unfortunately, timing is everything.”
“The irony is that I’ve spent the last half hour standing here waiting for you to come home.”
“That is a tough irony to swallow.”
Connor sighed. “It’s certainly not as delicious as a donut.”
“I feel for you. I used to stand here wondering if you’d ever come back to town.”
“I’m finally here…with no donut to show for it,” he joked.
“Yeah, because that’s the important part,” she cracked.
“Sorry, I’m just nervous.”
Before she had a chance to ask why, he continued his thought.
“The fact is, there’s always more donuts, but there’s only one you.”
Meg stood still and gazed at him.
“As a matter of fact, from the moment I ran into you in the donut shop a few days ago, I’ve been having a hard time thinking about anything but you,” he continued.
No wonder he was nervous. He’d been carrying around ten years of unresolved feelings with him, knowing they were desperate to get out. It was funny because they’d both been thinking about the exact same thing; they just expressed it in different ways.
Surely, a decade was long enough to wait to solve the biggest mystery of her life. At least she hoped. They both knew the question. The key would be Connor’s answer.
“What have you been thinking?” Meg replied.
“That timing truly is everything.”
“It’s definitely a snake that has bitten us both hard.”
“Only, I think it’s done biting us. It has taken almost ten years, but I think timing has finally stopped hating us.”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“Meg, do you really think it’s a coincidence that at the exact time I got burnt out from the city beat and decided to move back, you’d happen to still be single?”
“Most people would not look at my single status as a good thing. My mother, for example,” Meg joked.
“I didn’t say it was a good thing. I said I don’t think it’s by accident.”
“Really? Tell that to some of the train wrecks I’ve gone out with. There were some serious accidents in there.”
“Meg, can we be serious for a moment?” he asked.
“Sorry. I joke when I’m nervous,” she replied.
“I’m glad I’m not the only nervous one.”
“As long as neither of us has an anxiety attack,” Meg cracked.
He raised his eyebrow at her.
“Like I said, I joke when I’m nervous. After all, I’ve been waiting to have this conversation for ten years.”
“That’s exactly my point. It took longer than both of us ever expected, but I think the timing is finally right for us.”
“Do you really believe that?”
He nodded. “From the bottom of my heart. We had so much potential once. Being with you right now, I think we could finally realize that potential. We just have to give it a chance. So, what do you say, do you want to see how far we can take this?”
Meg didn’t have to think about her answer for long.
She nodded. “Absolutely.”
Connor smiled wide. “Fantastic.”
“So, what do we do now?”
One thing immediately came to Connor’s mind. He gazed deep into her eyes, then leaned in, and gave her a kiss.
Wow. Talk about a kiss that was ten years in the making. It was worth the wait. Meg’s heart skipped a beat as their lips pressed. He tasted so good. When Connor finally pulled back, Meg had to catch her breath.
Connor looked as happy as could be. “That was--”
She finished his sentence. “Delicious.”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself. Speaking of delicious, what would you say to a little dinner and a movie?”
Meg smiled. “Sounds great.”
&nbs
p; “Just one more thing first.”
“What’s that?”
Connor leaned in and gave her another kiss. It was just as good as the last one. Suddenly, Meg’s mind began to race. She didn’t know what the future had in store, but with Connor by her side, she had a feeling it would be fantastic.
The End.
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Books In The Witches Of Enchanted Bay series:
Book 1 – The Witches Of Enchanted Bay
Book 2 – Ax To Grind
Bonus: Sample Chapters Of Ax To Grind
Prologue
Meg Walton couldn’t believe this was happening again. For the second time in as many months, murder had struck in her once-sleepy hometown of Enchanted Bay. As a proud local, she couldn’t help but feel shaken over the sudden spike in violent crime in her town. Part of her was still in shock that something so awful could happen here. The other part of her had much deeper concerns. Even more, no matter what she did, she couldn’t seem to shelve them.
She wasn’t the only one. The news made the locals feverish with anxiety. Everyone seemed to be on edge. It didn’t help that the killer was still on the loose. One person had already lost their life. Who was to say the murderer wouldn’t strike again?
While most of the residents just had a general sense of unease, the trauma struck particular close to home for Meg. She’d have to mull over the sudden crumbling of her hometown’s idyllic image later. Right now, she had a murder to tackle.
This one was personal. As horrifying as it was to think of, one of her good friends had the finger of suspicion pointed at her. Meg couldn’t believe that one of her dearest friends, someone she’d known for over twenty years, could be capable of something as heinous as committing murder. In Meg’s mind, this all must just be one big mistake. Unfortunately, no matter what she said, she couldn’t convince the police of that.
Suddenly, Meg found herself completely torn. She had done an amazing job of cracking the last murder case herself, but had planned on sitting this one out. After all, that’s what the police were for. With the boys in blue wrongfully suspecting Meg’s friend of the crime, Meg didn’t see any other choice but to become embroiled in this investigation. She couldn’t take the chance of her friend ending up in jail.
Unfortunately, there was only one way to prove her friend’s innocence, and that was to find the real killer herself. At the same time, she’d have to approach this case with extreme caution. Things could get hairy in a hurry. It was times like this when being a witch really came in handy.
Chapter One
One Day Earlier
“That has to feel good,” Connor Smith said.
Things couldn’t have been going better for Meg and her boyfriend. What a relief it was for her to be able to say that, especially since it wasn’t always the case. Up until a few months ago, the opposite was actually true. She had a hard luck history with men, but hopefully, those days were finally behind her.
Recently, it seemed like a smile was never far from her face. After spending so many years toiling in romantic obscurity with lackluster boyfriends, she appreciated having Connor in her life more than ever. She’d waited ten years for him to return to town, but now that he was back, they appeared to be making up for lost time.
In the two months since Connor had come home, they had spent as much time as they could together. They went out three or four times a week and had grown quite close. With each subsequent date, Meg felt like he was the man she’d waited her whole life to find.
That night was no different. Connor drove Meg back to her place after dinner and a show. They had such a good time that as they stood on Meg’s doorstep, neither was eager to say goodnight.
Meg nodded. “So true. Being with you feels amazing.”
“I was actually talking about your friend getting the lead in the show, but yeah, being with you is just fantastic,” Connor explained.
Meg smiled. She could easily get caught up in his gaze, but that would bring the conversation to a standstill. She decided to follow up on his original point. “Liz has been waiting for this break for years, and now it’s finally here.”
Meg and Connor had gone to a musical called “Enchanted Nights.” Not only was it the longest-running show in Enchanted Bay, but it celebrated the town’s origins. There was more. Meg’s good friend, Liz Donnelly, had finally gotten the bump up to the lead role after being an understudy to Jocelyn Adams for five years. This was the big break Liz had been waiting her whole life for. She ended up doing a stellar job with the role.
Liz’s long wait for her dream to come true was something very familiar to Meg, considering it took a decade for Meg and Connor to reconnect.
“That reminds me of someone else I know,” Connor hinted.
Meg corrected him. “We weren’t waiting a couple of years. It was ten.”
“All that matters is that it was worth the wait in the end,” Connor said.
Meg teased him. “Yeah, things aren’t half bad between us.”
Connor shook his head. “There she is, Meg Walton, master of the understatement.”
She revised her statement. “All right, so it turned out pretty well for us.”
“Don’t be too generous with your praise.”
“How’s this for being generous? I’m crazy about you.”
He smiled. “That’s more like it.”
Meg found herself getting caught up gazing at him once again. Her mind began to race as her heart started nearly beating out of her chest. She decided to switch gears before her knees went too weak.
“The funny thing about Liz’s situation is that she had just started worrying that maybe her big break would never come. Then, just like that, things turned on a dime for her.”
“Isn’t that the way it always is? Life seems to enjoy stretching us to the breaking point before finally giving us a break.”
“Tell me about it. Thankfully, we have all gotten the breaks we’ve been waiting for.”
“It’s no surprise Liz got the lead in the show. She put in a very good performance.”
“It’s nice to hear you say that. I was worried you were going to fall asleep halfway through the show,” she joked.
“Nah. That’s what the ballet was invented for,” he cracked.
She laughed. “Still, I’m surprised I was able to drag you to this. I know going to a musical probably wasn’t your first choice.”
On date night, they generally tried to do something they both enjoyed. Tonight was the exception. Meg didn’t want to miss Liz’s first performance as the lead in the show. Surprisingly, Connor was a good sport about being dragged to the musical.
“Going to a musical isn’t my second choice either, but I had a great time tonight,” he revealed.
“Does that mean there will be more musicals in our dating future?”
He squinted. “Not likely.”
She chuckled. “Just checking.”
“I didn’t have a good time because of the show itself, but rather because I spent the night with you. We could have done almost anything and had a good time,” he explained.
“Does that mean I should schedule a pair of manicures for our next date?”
“Don’t push it. I said almost anything.”
“Fair enough. I just wanted to know where the boundaries were.”
“Now you know,” he insisted.
“Well, thanks again for coming tonight,” Meg said.
“Of course. I love going out with you.”
He continued. “That being said, how about tomorrow we stick to dinner and a movie?”
“Deal.”
Unfortunately, they had reached her doorstep. They both knew what that meant. Goodnight probably should have been the next word out of their mouths. By the looks of it, neither was interested in saying that.
The chemistry between them was off the charts. Even on a cold, fall day, they generated plenty of heat just being together. Connor gazed deep into Meg’s eyes.
“Before I go, there’s something more I wanted to do,” he said.
“What’s that?”
He leaned in and kissed her. Not just some peck on the lips, but a full-blown, tongue kiss that took her breath away. He tasted so good that Meg didn’t want the kiss to ever end. Unfortunately, it did.
As he pulled back, Meg couldn’t keep the smile from her face.
“Sorry. I just couldn’t help myself,” he said.
“Trust me, you never have to apologize for a kiss that delicious,” she replied.
He smiled. “The fact is, I could kiss you all night.”
“You’ll have to save the rest of your kisses for tomorrow.”
“I can’t wait,” he said.
She smiled. “Neither can I.”
Chapter Two
Meg went from saying goodbye to an enamored boyfriend, to getting the stare down from a grumpy cat.
“You have some explaining to do,” Penelope the talking cat said.
To most people, the idea of a talking cat would seem pretty loony, but not to a witch like Meg. Besides, Penelope wasn’t just any talking cat. Before Meg’s grandmother passed away, Meg and her mom cast a spell that transferred Penelope’s soul into the body of a kitten. Now Meg owned the world’s only wise-cracking cat. It turned out Penelope had nine lives and plenty of sass to spare. One thing she didn’t have was the ability to hold her tongue.
Meg looked around her place and thought she knew what Penelope was bent out of shape about. The place was a little bit on the messy side. For a cat that obsessively groomed herself, the idea of living in slob central held no interest for her.
The Witches Of Enchanted Bay (Witches Of Enchanted Bay Cozy Mystery Book 1) Page 9