Magic & Mischief

by Annabel Chase

  He seemed to sense my ambivalence. “Take it easy, Rose. It’s just dinner. I’m not asking you to negotiate world peace.”

  My aunt’s words came drifting back to me—You’ve resigned yourself to a lifetime of devotion to your daughter. Don’t you realize you’re putting the same pressure on her that you believe your father put on you?

  I pulled myself together and looked him square in the eye. “Okay, Sheriff. When did you have in mind?” My poor aunt probably didn’t expect her words to nudge me into a date with a werewolf. Sheriff Nash was definitely on her Do Not Do Him list.

  “Any night that works for you,” he said. “And if there’s a place you haven’t been yet that you’d like to try, let me know.”

  “I’ve only been to a handful of places so far,” I admitted. “I’ll leave the choice to you.”

  He whistled. “Already leaving me to play the alpha. I’m liking you more every day, Rose.”

  “Don’t get used to it,” I said. “I don’t abdicate all my decisions. Just the ones I’m less bothered about.”

  He flashed his lopsided grin. “Noted.”

  “Thanks for driving me home, Sheriff,” I said.

  “Your aunt’s gonna lose her wand over this,” he said. “You know that, right?”

  “I made it clear to my aunt that she has no role in my dating life,” I said. “She told me I was stubborn like my father.”

  He chuckled. “I’ll text you with the details. That okay?”

  I gave him a thumbs up. “I’ll be waiting with bated breath.”

  “If you’re gonna do that, you might try a little mouthwash,” he said. “I prefer mint flavor myself.”

  Before I could say another word, he turned and ambled down the walkway back to his patrol car.

  I stared after him, wondering what on earth I was getting myself into. A date with Sheriff Nash. Maybe the parasite had infected me differently. Instead of inducing living nightmares, it caused me to make unwise decisions.

  The door behind me flew open and Marley stood there, holding a struggling PP3.

  “He’s less than thrilled,” she said, “but I think it’s great.”

  “It’s only dinner,” I said. “It’s not like he’s your new father.”

  “I know,” Marley said. “I’m still holding out hope for Alec on that front.”

  I balked. “You’re what? You’re angling for your new dad to be a vampire?”

  “I like the sheriff, but I really like Alec.” She paused. “And I think he really likes you.”

  I wasn’t about to reveal my candid conversations with Alec. Although I tended to overshare, even I had boundaries when it came to my daughter.

  “I’m sorry, but Alec isn’t an option,” I said simply.

  “Not now, but he will be.”

  I glanced at her sharply. “You sound awfully sure for someone with zero clairvoyant ability.”

  Marley shrugged. “Maybe that’ll be the psychic skill I have that you don’t.”

  “Well, you don’t have it now,” I said. “You’re only ten. Another year to go.”

  “Less than a year,” she said proudly. “How will you break the news to Alec?”

  “What news? Dinner with the sheriff isn’t news.”

  “If you say so.” She carried PP3 back into the house and I trailed behind them, doing my best to ignore the butterflies zooming around in my stomach.

  Chapter 19

  The next afternoon Marley and I stood on a dock at Balefire Beach, admiring The Laughing Princess.

  “I can’t believe you got the boat,” I said. For all my aunt’s intimidation tactics, she truly was a pushover.

  “Mother has a hard time denying me things,” Florian said, flashing a winning smile.

  “And she’s not doing you any favors,” I said. “No wonder you’re stuck in a Peter Pan state. If you don’t have to grow up, why would you?” As someone who was forced to grow up fast, I knew I wouldn’t. I’d cling to a childlike state like plastic wrap.

  “To be fair, you did follow through with your end of the deal,” Marley said. “You volunteered like she wanted.”

  “And I’m enjoying it,” Florian said. “I’m going to keep working at the tourism board office. Aster seems to have come around to the idea of me being underfoot.”

  “Don’t misjudge her,” I said. “She’s happy to see you take an interest in something besides glitter. And the boat’s a real beauty.” Although I knew nothing about boats, this one looked pretty good from the dock.

  “Would you like to go for a ride?” he asked.

  “Yes, please,” Marley exclaimed, bouncing up and down.

  “I think that’s a yes,” I said wryly.

  “Come aboard,” he said.

  “Are you sure?” I asked. “It’s going to be dark soon.”

  “All the better,” Florian said. “You can’t beat the sunset from a boat.”

  We climbed aboard and I enthused over the luxurious interior. “I think I could get used to this.” I leaned on the edge and gazed at the horizon.

  “The ocean is in our blood,” he said.

  “Is it?” I queried. The wind whipped through my hair and I immediately regretted the absence of a baseball hat. One of these days, I was going to master a spell that kept my wayward hair in place.

  “Water, wind, sun,” he said. “And, soon enough, the moon. All places we draw our magical energy from.”

  “I hadn’t thought about it that way,” I said.

  I joined Marley on the starboard side of the boat, as Florian called it.

  “How’s this?” I asked, and Marley’s huge smile answered my question.

  “We’re so lucky, Mom,” she said.

  “I guess we are.”

  She glanced up at me. “You guess?”

  I didn’t want to tell her what I’d been thinking. That life was complicated. That even though I was grateful for so much, I still had regrets about all that I’d lost. That we’d lost.

  “You’re right,” I said finally. “We are very lucky.“

  The boat began to move and I enjoyed the subtle undulations. I felt like we were gliding on air.

  Florian appeared beside us. “Mother asked me to deliver this to you.” He handed me a thick book. The rich brown leather of the book was well worn. I brought it to my nose and inhaled the scent.

  “Pictures?” I inquired.

  He gave a crisp nod.

  Marley peered around me, eager to see. I flipped open to the first page and my breath caught in my throat. The first image was of my mother in her silver wedding dress. She held a bouquet of roses.

  “She was so pretty,” Marley said.

  The tip of a wand appeared and Florian gently tapped the photograph. My mother’s image sprang to life. She spoke to someone I couldn’t see and then laughed at the response.

  Marley gasped. “Her laugh sounds like yours.”

  It did. An odd sound stuck between a cackle and a guffaw. No wonder my father loved to hear my strange laugh. It must have reminded him of his beloved wife.

  “Can you animate all the photos?” I asked.

  “I can show you and then you can do it yourself,” Florian said. “That way you can look through them in your own time.”

  I nodded, too overcome with emotion to speak.

  “Aunt Hyacinth kept these in an album all these years?” Marley asked.

  Florian shrugged. “That seems to be the case. She’s never shown them to me, so I don’t know where she’s been hiding them.”

  “In a place as massive as Thornhold?” I said. “She has about a thousand options for hiding spots. Not to mention a concealment spell.”

  “Now you’re thinking like a witch,” Florian said, tapping his temple.

  “Maybe we’ll see Captain Blackfang while we’re sailing the high seas,” Marley said excitedly.

  “I wouldn’t hope for that,” Florian said. “Not many survive a run-in with him.”

  Marley looked downright g
iddy. The vampire pirate was nothing but a story to her, but I shivered because I knew better.

  “Can we sail past the Whitethorn?” she asked. “I want to see if it looks spooky from the water.”

  “Technically, we don’t sail because it’s not a sailboat,” he said. “But I guarantee you that everything looks amazing from the water.”

  I didn’t disagree. We rode parallel to the coastline, where I observed the twinkling lights of Starry Hollow. The Lighthouse was easy to spot, as it should be. Fairy Cove. Balefire Beach.

  “Do you think we’ll see the mermaid?” Marley asked. Ever since I’d told her about my kayaking experience, she’d been determined to catch a glimpse of a real-life Ariel.

  “There’s more than one mermaid,” Florian said. “And this time of day is pretty good for spotting one in the water. They’re drawn to sunsets same as we are.”

  Marley squealed with delight and cast her eagle eyes over the ocean. The slightest movement in the water had her gasping for breath.

  “Dolphins,” I cried. Okay, not as cool as mermaids, but still. I pointed to the six torpedo-shaped bodies swimming in the distance.

  Marley’s expression was priceless. She’d never seen a dolphin before, let alone six of them.

  Suddenly she gripped my hand and squeezed. “I see one.”

  She didn’t need to define one. I knew exactly what she meant. I followed her gaze to a spot behind the dolphins. A green tail splashed in the waves before disappearing. A moment later, a brown head emerged.

  “A merman,” Marley yelled.

  “So it is,” I said.

  He waved to us and we waved back.

  “Looks like Lewis,” Florian said. “Nice guy. He shot pool at my house a few times.”

  I inhaled the salty air. I now lived in a place where mermen played pool with my cousin in his mansion. What a world.

  We waited until the deep orange and yellow of the sunset faded from the sky before returning to the dock. As much as I enjoyed being on the open water, I couldn’t wait to get back to Rose Cottage with Marley to crack open the photo album. A glass of wine, a crackling fire, and a trip down a lane I had no memory of.

  I stared into the darkness, perfectly content. The moon glowed like a large silver coin on the blacktop.

  It promised to be a perfect evening.

  Thank you for reading Magic & Mischief! If you enjoyed it, please help other readers find this book so they can enjoy the world of Starry Hollow, too ~

  1. Write a review and post it on Amazon.

  2. Sign up for my new releases via e-mail here http://eepurl.com/ctYNzf or like me on Facebook so you can find out about the next book before it's even available.

  3. Look out for Magic & Mayhem, the next book in the series!

  4. Other books by Annabel Chase include the Spellbound paranormal cozy mystery series.

  Curse the Day, Book 1

  Doom and Broom, Book 2

  Spell’s Bells, Book 3

  Lucky Charm, Book 4

  Better Than Hex, Book 5

  Cast Away, Book 6

  A Touch of Magic, Book 7

  A Drop in the Potion, Book 8

  Hemlocked and Loaded, Book 9