Twice the Witch: A Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery (Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries Book 2)

by Garrett,Danielle

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Author's Note

  About Danielle Garrett

  Twice the Witch

  A Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery

  BOOK TWO

  Danielle Garrett

  Copyright © 2016 by Danielle Garrett

  Edited by Tina Rucci

  Cover Design by Book Cover Artistry

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  CHAPTER ONE

  BY THE TIME JUNE rolled around, I’d reached an important conclusion: Beechwood Harbor was only meant to be a one-witch town. Evangeline Loren, the famous star of The Wednesday Witch, a paranormal soap opera, was not only a megastar among the local supernaturals, but her arrival in town was causing quite the stir with non-magical residents, too. And her chosen daily hangout? Siren’s Song.

  Naturally.

  Evangeline held court in the coffee shop most days. She always came in with a pair of books tucked under her arm—which I knew were actually magical instruction handbooks—but never seemed to get around to reading any of them. Instead, Siren’s Song was like an all-day happy hour for her and her new pack of friends. Most of them male.

  Some might accuse me of being jealous of the attention when, in reality, the reason I didn’t appreciate all of the fawning was because the new arrivals weren’t exactly the paying kind—yet they took up space in the coffee shop from opening to closing. One of them had gone so far as to ask for discounts on pastries, arguing that he and his posse were “regulars” now.

  I’d never been so tempted to hex a human in my entire life.

  Cassie was the newly minted manager of Siren’s Song and doing a fantastic job, all things considered, but the stress of stepping into her new role was more than enough for her to handle without a bunch of loiterers clogging up most of the available table space. But, Cassie being Cassie, was far too nice to drop hints or flat out ask them to leave.

  So, they came back, day after day, to stare at, and flirt with, Evangeline. The supernaturals, who knew of her fame, asked endless questions about her TV show and what life was like inside the glittering Los Angeles Haven. The non-magic locals gathered that she was a celebrity, although none of them could quite place her. Paranormal shows never appeared on human TV, even though the magic could easily be written off as killer special effects. It was just another area where the two worlds didn’t meet.

  Evangeline was an expert at playing coy and kept the game going. I imagined that in LA, she was a big fish, in a big pond. Whereas in Beechwood Harbor, she was a big fish in a mud puddle. She basked in the attention the same way Boots, my orange tabby familiar, would delight in a pool of sunshine on the kitchen floor.

  To Evangeline’s credit, she at least had the decency to purchase something with each visit to the coffee shop and was a generous tipper.

  Now, if she could just get the rest of her friends in line, that’d be great.

  “She sure is popular, isn’t she?” Cassie said with a deep sigh, looking over at Evangeline’s favorite table. Currently, three suitors surrounded her: a werewolf and two wizards. Not that anyone else would know their true identities. They looked, dressed, and talked just like any other twenty-somethings would.

  I refilled my favorite tumbler with black coffee from one of the large carafes behind the counter and joined Cassie near the register, blowing away the steam before sliding the lid in place. “Just be glad you don’t live with her. I swear, at least three times a week, we get floral arrangements dropped off on the front porch from her many secret—or, not-so-secret—admirers.”

  It was telling that even Cassie was becoming disenchanted by Evangeline’s constant presence. The stars bless her, she’d tried. When Evangeline had first come in, I’d made the introductions and Cassie rolled out the welcome wagon just like she would for any new resident in town. However, over the last few days, several patrons had brought their complaints to Cassie, grumbling about the overcrowded shop. This time of year, Beechwood Harbor transformed from small, coastal town, into Touristville, USA, which meant it was busier than usual anyways, without Evangeline’s unofficial fan club.

  Cassie sighed and sagged against the counter. “Must be nice. I don’t even remember the last time I had a date, let alone got flowers from a guy. My problem used to be that there were no available men in town. Now, we have some, but they’re all a little…distracted. Besides that, I feel like I live here now,” she said, gesturing around the shop.

  I fidgeted with the stack of business cards beside the register, unable to commiserate. My roommate, Adam St. James, and I had been dating for a little over a month, so I wasn’t in a position to complain about the sparse dating scene in the small town. After shuffling the cards back into a neat pile, I glanced over at Cassie. Her topknot was frazzled and off center, her cheeks were flushed from running around all day, and I figured she hadn’t taken a break since she’d started her shift at four a.m. “Hey, tell you what—I’ll cover you for a break. You’ve been at it all day. Did you even take a lunch?”

  Cassie dropped a guilty look down at her ballet flats. She knew she’d been caught.

  “Cassie,” I scolded, before grabbing her by the shoulders, spinning her around, and marching her to her office. “Break time. I don’t want to see you for half an hour.”

  Cassie started to protest but I shot her a death glare and she backed down, her words dissolving into giggles. “All right, all right! Half an hour. Got it.” She gave me a mock salute before retreating into her small office.

  I sauntered back to the front of the shop and started reorganizing the display case, condensing the assorted pastries from five trays down to two, in order to make things easier for closing time, which was only about an hour away. Thank goodness. I was more than ready to go home and relax with Boots, a Lemon Cloud, and some mindless TV. Anything but The Wednesday Witch.

  When the front case was sorted, the empty trays re-papered for the morning, and the floor swept free of crumbs, I rounded the counter and made my way through the main dining room to straighten chairs and wipe down empty tables.

  I shot a few dirty looks at Evangeline’s wer
ewolf and wizard visitors as I went.

  Cassie would be scandalized, but I wanted them well on their way by the time I turned off the Open sign. It was best to get a jump start on the evacuation process, as I’d noticed they moved about as quickly as a herd of undead turtles.

  As I neared Evangeline’s table, she looked up from her three paranormal amigos and smiled at me. Finally noticing my scowl, they mumbled their goodbyes and took off for the front door. Evangeline didn’t appear to notice. “Holly, what can you tell me about starfire spells?”

  I whipped around, reflexively checking the rest of the room for potential eavesdroppers. That was the other problem with Evangeline hanging out in the coffee shop all day—she was accustomed to living inside the Los Angeles Haven and constantly being surrounded by supernaturals. She didn’t think twice before blurting out spell names or potion questions, like she was asking for directions to the local laundromat. Two weeks ago, I’d caught her practicing shrinking spells right there at her table, reducing a coffee mug to a dollhouse-sized replica, while other patrons—human ones—were only steps away. Luckily, no one else had seen her with her wand out, but if they had—

  I shook my head, refusing to even let myself consider the consequences. It would be disaster for us all.

  “Evangeline, you can’t ask about spells here,” I hissed, leaning in close so that she was the only one who could hear my admonishment.

  “Oh, stars!” Evangeline cringed. “I’m so sorry, Holly. I keep forgetting where I am.”

  I flexed my jaw while I forced my hands to uncurl. At least she didn’t have her wand out on display this time. “It’s all right. But please, Evangeline, try to be more careful.”

  “Of course.” She nodded fervently and then turned her attention back to her spell book. It was charmed to look like a chemistry textbook to anyone without magic. To the other patrons, Evangeline looked like a normal college student. Granted, she was nearer to her thirties than the age of a recent high school graduate, but that wasn’t that uncommon; lots of people went back to school later in life these days. I started to walk away, but then stopped for a moment to peer over her shoulder, waiting for the true text to be revealed. Sure enough, after a moment, the letters and images changed, showing the concealed words and images. Starfire spells were intensely complicated and required harnessing energy from the stars to produce powerful—and often dark—magic.

  What was she up to? I leaned in a little closer to study the particulars of the spell she was reading about.

  “Hey, gorgeous.”

  A hand flew to clutch my chest as I jumped a foot off the ground. A chuckle followed the greeting and I whipped around to see Adam sauntering into the coffee shop.

  “I didn’t mean to scare you,” he added, still laughing under his breath.

  I smiled at him and my heart raced even faster. “You didn’t.”

  “Uh-huh.” He folded his arms over his broad chest and I took a quick tour of the muscles in his flexed arms. “What was that move, then? You trying out for a cheerleading team?”

  I laughed and shook my head, giving him an eye roll. “No.”

  “Pity.”

  My cheeks flushed and he laughed again. He loved watching me squirm.

  Evangeline turned in her seat and offered a sultry smile to my boyfriend. “Hello, Adam.”

  The smile slid off my lips and I directed a harsh glare at her. Not that she noticed. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but sometimes it felt like Evangeline was a little too interested in Adam. We all lived together at the Beechwood Manor, a halfway house for supernaturals. As roommates, it was easier if we were also friends, but her interest pushed right up against the boundary between friendly and friendly.

  At first, I’d tried to ignore it, reminding myself that I was more than a little rusty in the dating department and was potentially being extra possessive because I was scared of something going wrong. But as time went on, it got harder to rationalize her attention away.

  “Hey, Evie.” That was what he called her. Evie. Adam had a thing for nicknames.

  Evangeline looked away when Adam planted a kiss on my cheek. “You ready to get outta here?” he asked me.

  I worked my lower lip between my teeth as I glanced over my shoulder at the large, copper-plated clock on the wall.

  Adam groaned. “I know what that look means….”

  “I’m sorry, Adam.” I cut a glance back to Evangeline and then grabbed for Adam’s arm and dragged him away from her table. I didn’t need to give her any ammunition.

  “Did you forget?” he asked.

  I cringed, not wanting to cop to it. What kind of girlfriend forgets a date? “Things have been hectic all day, mostly thanks to Evangeline and her posse of wannabe boyfriends. Cassie hasn’t taken a break, so I just told her to take half an hour. Then we’ll need to close and get some cleaning done.”

  “Holly,” he groaned, raking a hand through his thick, dark hair.

  I forced myself to meet his equally dark eyes and saw embers of frustration glowing behind them. It wasn’t the first time I’d had to bail on a date to stay at the shop and help Cassie. We were down an employee, since Frankie had decided to take a job at the lumber mill in the next town over. Paisley and Kirra were only able to work part-time hours, which left Cassie and me with the bulk of the work, and we had officially cruised into tourist season, which was just as crazy as everyone had warned me it would be.

  “I’m really sorry, Adam. But I can’t leave her. She’s working herself to death as it is.”

  “It’s fine. I get it.” Adam flexed his jaw but his frustration passed quickly and he relaxed again. He fixed his wide smile back in place as he reached for me and ran his hands down my arms. “You’re a good friend. We can see the movie tomorrow night instead.”

  “Well…”

  He cringed. “No?”

  I sighed. “I have to work on some”— I paused and glanced around — “potions. I’m running low on everything and I have people coming in this weekend to pick up orders.”

  Adam scrubbed a hand along his scruff-coated jaw. I hated making him so anxious and agitated. Adam was normally the epitome of cool. But, now that we were dating, my unavailability was a sore spot between us.

  “Adam, it’s not that I don’t want to—”

  Adam’s eyes drifted past my shoulder. I followed his glance and rolled my eyes before pivoting on my toe to spin around just as Evangeline wandered across the cafe to join us. She had her forest green purse slung over her shoulder and her textbooks back under her opposite arm, like she was on her way out. “What are you two doing tonight? I was just thinking about getting some dinner.” She smiled at Adam.

  Sure, now she was leaving.

  “I was going to go get something for dinner over at McNally’s,” Adam replied, his tone still terse.

  Evangeline lit up like a Christmas tree. “That sounds great! Would you mind if I tagged along?”

  “Not at all.” Adam glanced over at me. “Holly?”

  My heart sank to my toes but I forced a smile. “I can’t. But you guys go ahead.”

  Evangeline’s eyes sparkled as she looked up at Adam and the room seemed to spin around them. Adam looked back at me one last time before leading the way to the front door. “See you at home, Holly.”

  I nodded, unable to speak, and watched as Adam held the door open for Evangeline. The smile slipped from my lips as I watched them set off towards the center of town. I forced my hands into action, straightening and restocking the long table at the front of the shop. But my eyes weren’t focused on the task and I fumbled around as Adam and Evangeline walked across the parking lot together, smiling and laughing about something. A twinge of jealousy welled up inside of me but I quickly stuffed it down and got back to work.

  “You’re just being paranoid,” I whispered to myself. “Evangeline isn’t into dark magic and Adam isn’t into Evangeline. There. End of story.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  “WH
EW.” CASSIE COLLAPSED against the counter once the out-the-door line was finally cleared. A few patrons were seated inside, but most of them had moved on or were outside on the back patio, watching the sun finish setting over the Pacific. She heaved a deep sigh and then went to work on adjusting her topknot, re-centering it on her head. “All I can say is thank goodness I have two interviews next week to replace Frankie.”

  I gave a dry laugh. “No kidding. When you guys told me that the summer gets busy around here, I have to say, I did not expect this. It’s pure chaos!”

  Cassie giggled. “Preaching to the choir, girl. I’ll get someone hired soon. Although we’ll still have to train them. But Kirra has her last final early next week and then she’ll be here full time, too.”

  I nodded. “Thank the stars.”

  Cassie flashed me a smile, not even questioning my catch phrase. She’d grown used to my strange expressions. “Thanks for hanging in there with me, Holly. I seriously don’t know what I would do without you here!”

  I returned her warm smile. “Of course, Cass. You’re doing an amazing job as the manager. I’m sure it’s overwhelming.”

  She nodded. “Yeah. Phillip calls every week to ask about things, and I do my best to put on a brave face, but man, it’s not easy. That’s for sure.”

  Phillip Tanner was the new owner of Siren’s Song after the previous owner, Peg Holloway, had been brutally murdered a little over a month ago. By some odd set of circumstances, I’d ended up getting tangled in the investigation and had wheedled the confession out of her killer. After the case was resolved, Phillip had gone back to Idaho and left Cassie in charge of the coffee shop.

  “I’m sure he’s just happy to not have to come back into town and babysit us all. He trusts you, Cass.”

  Cassie moved to the cash register and started a preliminary count of the till as the shop would only be open for another twenty minutes. “He’s not a bad guy, but I’d be lying if I said he didn’t intimidate me!”

  I laughed and pat her shoulder as I passed by on my way to the pastry case. “Right there with ya. I still remember the first time he came to the shop!”