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

by Garrett,Danielle

  I swallowed the lump in my throat and offered him a soft smile. “Thank you for saying that. I don’t want to argue with you either.”

  “We’ll figure it out tomorrow,” Adam said. He wrapped his arms around me and I melted against his chest, wishing that it could really be that simple. “I’ll stay out of your way while you make potions and then, once you’re done, we’ll go take a long walk in the woods, away from everyone, and you can tell me the whole story. Okay?”

  I nodded against his solid chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart, meanwhile, feeling my own racing with panicked thumps.

  What Adam didn’t know, was that the truth could change everything between us.

  The looming conversation with Adam was heavy on my mind at work the next afternoon. I kept making silly mistakes and stumbling through each drink like I’d never poured a shot of espresso or steamed milk before. Paisley and Cassie were working with me, and while neither of them said anything, I’d caught a few exchanged glances between them, enough to know that they’d noticed my clumsiness.

  Eventually, Cassie put me out of my misery and sent me to lunch early. I grabbed a sandwich from the back fridge, a huge glass of iced tea, and made my way to the patio overlooking the Pacific. The bluff where the Old Town Harbor Shoppes were perched was the perfect vantage point to take in the full majesty of the ocean. Tourists were out in full force, and I ended up sitting in the grass a few feet away from the patio instead of waiting for a table to clear. The sun was shining through a few white, puffy clouds and the sea breeze was a perfect relief from its warm rays. It was only June, so the coast was just starting to get into a summer frame of mind, but looking at the tourists around me, it was like they were expecting Huntington Beach perfection. Everyone was wearing shorts, flip flops, and tank tops. A few girls were even wearing bikini tops with their cut off shorts. Personally, I’d dressed a little more weather appropriate in a pair of denim capri pants, a lightweight long sleeved shirt with the Siren’s Song logo on it, and a pair of ballet flats. My dark auburn hair was pulled away from my face in a long ponytail that made it halfway down my back. While the sun was out, the temperature was still only hovering in the upper sixties. A little too chilly for me to bust out my bathing suit and floppy sun hat, but I smiled to myself as I observed the crowd and my foul mood started to melt away.

  I knew what was driving me crazy; it was the impending date with Adam. My distracted mind had been busy rehearsing the best way to open the conversation. So far, nothing had passed my mental test. My past wasn’t something that I liked to talk about, especially not when it came to what had happened with my last—technically only—boyfriend, Gabriel. But Adam needed to know. It would help him understand where I was coming from and explain why I was so guarded. What if he decided that I was too high risk? If my life was a little…too much…for him?

  I was still turning it all over in my mind as I nibbled at my sandwich, when the side door of the cafe burst open and Paisley darted out. She made a beeline for the alley between Siren’s Song and the abandoned shop next door. I hated going into the alley, as it was the place the previous owner had been murdered. But, there was something about Paisley’s exit that made my nerves pull tight. I couldn’t go on eating my lunch as though nothing had happened.

  I pushed up from the ground, dropped the last of my sandwich into the trash bin at the corner of the patio, and took my iced tea with me toward the alley. As I got closer, Paisley’s voice carried to me. I peered around the corner and saw that she had her back to me. “I don’t understand what you expect me to do about it, Auntie. I haven’t spoken to Katerina in weeks. We—well…we had an argument the last time we talked.” Her voice was strained and frantic. “I’ll try to call her, okay? But you know how she is, Auntie. If she doesn’t want to be found—”

  Paisley threw her hand up in the air and pivoted on her heel, obviously not happy with the response on the other end of the line. I tried to duck out of the way before she completed her turn, but was a moment too late and her bright eyes locked onto me. “Auntie, I’ll call you later. Okay?”

  She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment and nodded, apparently her aunt wasn’t ready to say goodbye. After another minute, she dragged the phone away from her ear, jabbed a finger at the touch screen, and stuffed the sleek device into the pocket of her olive green cotton shorts. “Did you need something, Holly?” she asked, glancing back at me. She raked a hand through her honey blonde pixie cut, teasing the spiked ends.

  “No. I just wanted to make sure you were all right. I saw you fly out of the shop and thought maybe you were sick or something.” My cheeks flushed as I stumbled through my explanation. I should have just stayed put. Now she probably thought I’d been eavesdropping on her.

  Paisley and I worked together two days a week and had always gotten along, though we weren’t terribly close. I didn’t really know that much about her, besides the fact that she worked at Thistle, the natural foods store, during the week and supplemented her income with a few weekly shifts at Siren’s Song. She was a sweet, soft spoken girl, who kept to herself.

  “Paisley, I wasn’t trying to spy on you or anything. I hope you don’t think—”

  She held up a hand. “No, Holly, I don’t. It’s fine. It’s just, my Aunt Pearl has been calling me endlessly all day and I figured it was some kind of emergency and ran out to answer it. I don’t know why she didn’t just leave a message…” Paisley shook her head, like she was still puzzling out the strained conversation.

  “Is everything okay? I can cover for you tonight if you need to go.”

  Oh yeah, Adam would love that.

  She shook her head again. “No, I’m good. Thanks though. It’s just my cousin Katerina. She’s missing. Or, at least, my aunt thinks she’s missing.”

  “You don’t think so?”

  She was surprisingly calm about it.

  Paisley dragged her hand back through her cropped locks and sighed. “No, I don’t think so. Katerina is a year younger than me and has always been a bit of a wild card. She’s my Aunt Pearl’s only child though, so she worries. Endlessly.”

  I smiled. “Sounds like it. Does Katerina live with her?”

  “No. That’s the problem. She moved out about six months ago to live with her boyfriend. Bobby. He’s a real piece of work.” Paisley’s nose turned up as though she’d caught a whiff from the dumpsters behind her. “They go on-again, off-again every few weeks. It’s hard to keep up. At the moment, I think they’re off. In any case, Katerina knows that I don’t like Bobby and I think that’s why she’s been avoiding me. She knows I don’t want to hear her complaining about how much she misses him when I know—and constantly tell her—that she’s way out of his league anyways.”

  “Hmm. That must be rough.”

  Paisley nodded. “She’s like a sister to me. But just like sisters, we don’t always see eye to eye. Eventually, I stopped trying to contact her. But, for whatever reason, my Aunt Pearl still thinks we text every day. That’s how it normally is.” She paused for a long moment, her eyes staring, unfixed at the stone wall to her right. “Anyways, I’m sure she’s fine.”

  I nodded but there was something about her story that tickled my senses. “Well, if you want, you can give your aunt Nick River’s contact information.”

  Paisley’s eyes brightened as they rounded back to mine. She snapped her fingers. “That’s a great idea! Get her off my plate and onto his.”

  I laughed. “I have some of his cards in my wallet.”

  “Thanks, Holly. I’ll take the card and pass the info to Aunt Pearl.”

  “I’m sure he can track her down.”

  We both went back into the coffee shop, and I smiled to myself, wondering what I should ask Nick for in exchange for the referral. Maybe a driving lesson. I still hadn’t gotten around to learning how to drive and Nick had a brand new, and very shiny, sedan.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  BEECHWOOD HARBOR was at its most magical in the twiligh
t hours. Whenever possible, I liked to wander around, taking a few minutes to unwind from the day. Walking was always a good way for me to clear my mind and settle my nerves. So, when my shift ended, I headed out, just as the sun started to set. As it dipped lower over the ocean it splattered the sky with orange and pink flares of light. It was breathtaking and made me even more reluctant to turn and go up the hill toward the manor. Most of the town shops stayed open later during tourist season and the streets buzzed with energy and chatter. It was happy-hour and the outdoor seating for the local restaurants and taverns were filled with people crowded around the tables. The laughter of the patrons spilled into the street and mingled with the squeals of a herd of happy children, running along the sidewalk ahead of their exhausted looking parents. They’d likely spent the entire day on the beach and the kids were ready for their next adventure. Whereas their parents looked more like they were ready for bed.

  The people I passed offered friendly smiles and some waved hello even though we were strangers. The scent of popcorn, salt water taffy, and the sea filled the air, and I breathed it all in deeply. I loved living by the ocean. There was just something about it that filled me with a calm, contented peace.

  Something that I desperately needed tonight.

  Eventually, I turned around and started home. As I walked, I tried to keep my mind occupied by making a mental list of potions that I needed to whip up in order to get restocked for the weekend. But it was a little like trying to steer a car that was stuck in reverse. I couldn’t keep my thoughts on track. Instead, they zig-zagged all over the place, and I ended up right back to thinking about how I was supposed to explain everything to Adam.

  My mind played back memories from the past as though they were pictures in a flip book, moving too fast to pick out the details, but the emotions came through all the same.

  “Holly!”

  I was jolted from my dark thoughts at the sound of my name. I turned around, nearly bumping into a woman with a chubby baby on her hip, and spotted Nick flagging me down from the other side of the street, just outside the office he rented for his private investigation business.

  “Hey!” I waved at him then shifted back and forth, debating whether or not to keep walking.

  Nick looked both ways and waited for a car to pass before he jogged over to join me. “Just getting off work?”

  “Yeah. You heading over?” I smiled, knowing that Cassie would love it if he did. The Fated Flirt was on my mental to-do list for that night’s potion making session. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure that I’d use it, but figured it couldn’t hurt to keep a vial on hand if the opportunity to use it cropped up. It was a fairly harmless potion. It wouldn’t make Cassie and Nick fall head over heels in love, or rush into anything stupid, it was more of a relaxant that would enable them to connect with a fresh perspective. It wasn’t far-fetched to think that Nick might have a little crush on Cassie too, and if so, the Fated Flirt would give him the courage to act.

  Nick pocketed his hands and at the gesture, I noticed for the first time during my walk, that there was a slight chill in the air. “Sure am.” He grinned. “It looks like I might have another long night ahead of me.”

  “More stalking—oh, I mean staking?” I asked, flashing him a playful smile.

  He chuckled. “No. That case is a wrap. Got the pics I needed to satisfy the client. Turned out the husband was seeing a therapist, not a lover.”

  “Plot twist!”

  Nick laughed and ran a hand through the air, dismissing the topic. “Actually, there was something I wanted to thank you for.”

  “Oh?”

  “Your friend Paisley called me. She said you gave her one of my cards. Told you they’d come in handy.” He waggled his dark brows and I groaned. He was having way too much fun with this.

  “Yeah, yeah. Next you’ll want me to wear a company t-shirt or something.”

  Nick chuckled, his blue eyes sparkling. “I was thinking something more like a sandwich board. You could wear it around town.”

  “How flattering.”

  He dropped a quick glance down at his shiny loafers. “Seriously though, Holly, I appreciate it.”

  I gave a casual shrug. “Sure. Not a big deal.”

  Nick held my gaze for another beat before he dropped it and started to walk back the way I’d just come, toward Siren’s Song. “Well, thanks, Holly. I’ll make sure she’s my top priority.”

  We waved goodbye and I whipped around, suddenly in a hurry to get back to the manor. Back to Adam.

  As soon as I stepped through the front door, Boots came shooting down the hallway, his presence loud and clear this time. How could one cat manage to sound like a herd of thundering elephants? I stooped over and grabbed him around the middle, carting him to my bedroom while asking him about his day. He craned his neck around, looking longingly at the path to the kitchen. “Bootsie, you’ll get your dinner in a minute. You’re more single-minded than a leprechaun on St. Patty’s Day.”

  Once inside my room, I changed into a pair of soft, cotton pajama pants, a knit sweatshirt, and pulled my hair up into a knot on the top of my head. After the quick change, I summoned my potion kit from under my bed, retrieved the supplies that I would need, and my dog-eared potion handbook. With everything I needed, I snapped my fingers at Boots and he followed me from the room, racing ahead when he realized I was headed to the kitchen.

  Evangeline, Lacey, and Adam were already inside and I cringed as soon as the door swung open. I couldn’t make potions with all of them in attendance. It was more of a solitary art. Lacey was sitting on the counter nearest the fridge, her crystal goblet in hand, looking like she’d only made it halfway through her nightly cocktail of synthetic blood. Evangeline was sitting beside Adam, dunking a biscotti into a large mug of coffee. I remembered her purchasing the long cookie at Siren’s Song when she’d stopped in for a few hours after the lunch rush.

  Adam caught my flicker of a frown and hurried to hop up from his seat at the head of the large, farm-style table. “All right, ladies. A deal is a deal.”

  I arched an eyebrow at him.

  Lacey grumbled and lowered herself from the counter. She threw back the rest of her ruby red beverage and stalked from the kitchen. “Fine, but you better hold up your end of the bargain, fleabag.”

  Evangeline stifled a giggle. “Wow. She really doesn’t like you, does she?”

  Adam shrugged, a half-cocked smile on his lips. “She’s one of the rare ones, completely immune to my charms.”

  I rolled my eyes and made a gagging sound.

  Evangeline’s eyes darted to me. “You okay, Holly?”

  I pretended to clear my throat. “I’m fine.”

  Adam smirked at me. “We’re gonna go grab a bite while you work. You want me to pick anything up for you?”

  “No thanks. I usually can’t eat while I work. Somewhere between mincing nightcrawlers and boiling sulfer, I lose my appetite.”

  Adam pulled and face and gave an exaggerated shiver. “You better hope Posy doesn’t hear you talking like that. If she knew you were mincing overgrown worms in her kitchen, she might go full-on ghost postal.”

  “You’re making potions tonight?” Evangeline had the look of a toddler about to be let loose in the toy store.

  Oh no…I knew where this was going.

  “Would you mind if I stayed to watch? I promise that I won’t get in your way.” She pressed the palms of her hands together, imploring me.

  On the one hand, if I agreed, she wouldn’t be out to dinner with Adam for the second night in a row. But I also had no interest in babysitting an over enthusiastic witch around a lot of pricey potion ingredients. Since Evangeline’s arrival at the manor, I’d gathered that she wasn’t even fractionally as talented as Cora, the character she played on her soap opera, The Wednesday Witch. Cora was always using her extreme magical powers to get out of sticky situations. However, in life, Evangeline was more of a show woman than anything else. She could perform simp
le spells with her wand, but that was about it. Some of the questions she’d asked me were likely on par with first or second year academy students. It was enough to make me wonder if she’d even attended academy or if she’d gone straight into show business.

  Either way, her story about being at the manor to study spellcrafting—a very advanced form of magic—was starting to feel thinner and thinner.

  Adam glanced at Evangeline as she waited for my answer. “Wait, let me get this straight. You’re telling me that watching nightcrawlers get decapitated sounds more fun than dinner with me? I’m wounded!”

  I smiled at his attempt to distract her. He knew I didn’t like to be disturbed while I worked.

  Evangeline laughed at his jest and stood up from her place at the table. “Holly, if you prefer to work alone, I completely understand.”

  My eyes darted between the two of them, trying to discern which outcome frustrated me less. Adam and Evangeline together? Or Evangeline hovering over my shoulder? I forced a smile onto my face and shrugged. “No, it’s okay. I don’t mind.”

  Adam’s eyebrows shot halfway up his forehead.

  “You can stay if you want. But, I work better when I can focus, so it would be best if you didn’t talk.”

  Evangeline nodded, her expression solemn, like she was taking a deathly serious oath. “Of course.”

  Adam heaved his shoulders. “All right, ladies. Well, I’m more in the mood for a basket of fish and chips than headless worm and sulfer soup, so you’ll have to excuse me.”

  I set my potions handbook on the counter and smiled as Evangeline’s eyes went wide as saucers at the sight of the impressive tome. I could tell she was itching to get her fingers on it. “Bye, Adam,” I called as he exited the kitchen.

  Evangeline hardly noticed that he was gone. “Holly, that book is amazing. Has it been in your family forever?”

  I nodded. “Close enough to forever. It’s been passed down for countless generations.”