The next two weeks flew by, and by the time the weekend came around, I was exhausted. I had worked late every night and fallen into bed next to Maddock, either at his or mine, and promptly fallen asleep. I hadn’t seen Regan or the children for days, and I was suffering from withdrawals, but he was just as busy as I was.
But that would change today. Regan was bringing the children into town to see the new store, and we were going to grab some ice cream. I was hoping Maddock would join us. Regan knew the spell had worked, but we wanted to get used to the idea of an ‘us’ before we shared it around. This would be our first venture out in public together. I was as giddy as a schoolgirl.
Monday, my store would be ready to go. I had supes distributing flyers in the realms, advertising the special spelled candy I was making, and that was all set up at home. I had also been posting on social media and sending out flyers to everyone I could think of telling them about the special spelled candy for humans. Our grand opening was going to be on Monday. So I was going to take the next day and a half easy, because who knows when I will get some downtime next. The special orders have started to roll in again, and Jenna and I will be kept busy.
Regan, Kady, and Kadir arrive first; the kids giggling in excitement reaches my ears before even the doorbell does. Leaving the storeroom, where I was doing inventory, I head out the front. Before I can get very far my body is attacked by two very exuberant children
“Aunt Wuby, we missed you,” Kadir says, burying his face against my leg and squeezing hard. Not to be outdone, Kady grabs the other leg. “Aunt Ruby, can you please take Jenna. She’s not very nice.”
Regan smothers a laugh, “No, Kady, that's not very nice.” The kids pull away, not apologetic at all.
The look of awe covering their faces as they take in the shop renovations is enough to bring a proud smile to my face.
“Holy cannoli, this is AWESOME!” Kadir yells, jumping up and down. Kady tugs on my hand and asks with a pleading look.
“Can we have some? Please.” Her wide-eyed look of innocence is not fooling me.
Crossing my arms, I say to them, “what did Dad say?” A frown crosses both their faces,
“He said we were having ice cream and couldn’t have any.” Looking at Regan, he winks at me.
“Well, I can't really go against your dad,” I say to them, going over to the taffy tubs and grabbing two of the small serving bags. “But if you fill these with taffy, I’m sure you can take them home and eat them later.” The pure joy and happiness on their faces remind me exactly why I love making candy. They go to grab the bags, but I hold them out of reach. “What do we need to do?”
“Always clean our teeth after eating candy.” They chorus together. Handing them their bags, they run to fill them as the doorbell rings, and Maddock walks in. Regan looks on a little wary as Maddock walks straight past him, pulls me into his body, and lays a sweet, but sexy, kiss on my lips.
“Hi, beautiful. I missed you.” Cheering behind me breaks into our bubble, and we turn to see the kids and Regan all clapping their hands.
“About time,” Regan says as he wraps his arms around the both of us. “I'm so happy for you both. About time something went right around here. Hopefully, this is just the start.”
Epilogue
Ruby
Pulling the hire car to a stop, I pull the parking brake and blow out a massive breath of air. The grand opening of the shop was a huge success, and we sold out of the human spelled candy within hours, but it wasn’t enough to keep the tourists hanging around. We really need to revitalize the rest of the businesses in the hope they will come to town and stay a few days to explore all it has to offer. Regan has his realm tours in hand, but it’s time to start nudging the rest of the Tempting Ten in the right direction.
Staring at the little gelato shop in front of me, the warm sea breeze off the Amalfi coast drifts through the open window, I think about how hard this may be. Stepping out of the car, I tuck my sunglasses on top of my head and lean over to grab the potion out of the drink holder. Mom and I decided a dose of the same potion we gave Maddock would do the trick. But this time I didn't use my blood to anchor it, I used Regan’s. I don’t think he caught on to what I was doing when I accidentally stabbed him at dinner at Mom and Dad's. The portal fluctuations were running him ragged, and he was dealing with some irate supes not being able to get in and out as needed. These fluctuations were what made me decide to come. It has never happened before.
Maddock stayed behind. His mom was busy now that Sheree was no longer working for her, and Melody was only able to work weekends. Lucky the weather was cooling, so the ice cream store wasn't so busy, but he stayed to support her anyway. He was also helping Regan with his plans, and there was a critical commission he was working on. I couldn't really spare the time either, but with Dad's retirement on hold for a little longer and Jenna's help, they will manage for a couple of days.
Through the window, I can see the familiar dark head of my best friend. Tatiana has been dodging my calls. Or maybe all the way over here in Italy, she was unaffected by the spell cast by the coven. But whatever the reason I decided enough was enough. Pushing through the door, I wait patiently for her to finish serving the waiting customers. When she finally slows down, I approach the counter.
“Bitch, you better not have been ghosting me.” A look of shock crosses her face as her head swings around in my direction. A beautiful smile crosses her face as she races around the counter, throwing her arms around me.
“Ruby!” she exclaims, hugging me hard. “What are you doing here?” Her blue eyes shining with tears as she holds me at arm's length.
“Did you think after all the times I called and messaged and you didn’t respond, that I wouldn't be hunting you down?” A frown crosses her face as her fingers tighten briefly on my arm before she pulls them back, crossing her arms defensively.
“I did no such thing; I wouldn’t ever ignore you. I haven’t heard from you in months.” Looking at her face, I decide the spell, or some unseen force must be at work because her aura says she's telling the truth.
“Well there are some things I need to tell you; can we grab a coffee?” Nodding her head, she says, “Just let me tell the owner I’m grabbing some lunch.” I watch her head behind the counter and out to what I assume is the kitchen. Before long, she returns, and we head to a coffee shop and a long story which I hope won't upset her too much.
An hour or so later, we are sitting in my car driving to her apartment. Tears stain her face from where they trailed down it while I told my story. “I still can't believe it,” she says, shaking her head. “I would never leave Mom like that. I need to tell Marco that I need to head home for a couple of weeks. I’m not sure if he will be able to get away. He works such long hours for his father's law firm, always late meetings and early meetings. I don’t see him very often at the moment. Hopefully, he won't be too mad.” Parking in the available space, we get out and head to the block of fancy apartments.
“Wow,” I say, looking around, “these are really lovely.” I smile at the doorman as we walk to the lifts. She smiles. “Marco's parents own it and let us stay here.” We enter the elevator, and she pushes the button for the top floor. “So what kind of backlash did your Mom say may happen from the spell she and the older ladies cast?”
“All sorts of doom and gloom, apparently. Mom thinks that Mr. Whitmore's heart attack was due to the spell.” I pull the potion out of my handbag. I didn’t want anyone to give us strange looks at the coffee shop. “Here, you need to drink this in case the spell didn’t reach here just to be sure.” She takes and downs it by the time the lift opens to the penthouse. I watch as a wave of my magic flows over her body. She instantly stands taller and looks less burdened. “Wow, I feel so much lighter, and everything is clearer.” I nod my head as we both step out, but stop dead at the sound we can hear
“Um, Tats, either you left the porn channel on, or I think we may be seeing one of those backlash issues n
ow.”
A look of fury crosses her face, and she storms towards the back of the penthouse where I can now hear yelling and screaming. I wince at the flurry of Italian that flows out of Tatiana’s mouth. I don’t know much, but I’m pretty sure her words are not for polite company. A naked blonde comes running from that direction, clothes clutched in hand. She goes around me and presses the button for the lift. Tatiana follows her out.
“I’m not sure about backlash, this may just be a case of an asshole.” She says, flinging a high heel shoe in the woman's direction. A determined look crosses her face.
“Book the tickets, Ruby. Nothing is keeping me here now. Morbank Island, watch out, I'm coming home.”
Thank you for reading!
I hope you enjoyed the book. It would be super awesome if you could leave a review, because I love to hear what you thought of the story.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This is my second attempt at writing and was just as scary as the first and just as much of learning curve. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my family. It means everything to me that you supported me in this endeavor. Thank you.
Claire what can I say. Thank you for your help with all my nightmare formatting issues. I would have been left with no hair without you. Or at the bottom of a bottle of vodka.
To my tribe (my bitches) You kept me sane and laughing every day. Thank you for your encouragement, advice, and knowledge that you shared with me.
To Kelly, Nikkole and Serena. I wouldn't know what I would have done without you.
Kelly, you talked me off a ledge regularly and kept me on track. Bless your bossy, sassy, southern heart.
Nik, you kept me company while everyone was sleeping. Regularly dealing with my random crazies. Bless your sleep-deprived heart.
Serena, you helped reassure a very nervous and unsure writer, that her work wasn’t completely horrible.
You girls are the best
To Dazed Design. Tash and Phil, you rock and I’d be lost without you
To anyone who has a story to tell. Just do it! Don’t let fear stop you from achieving your dreams. Trust me the first step is a big one, but with the right support and love, you can do anything.
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Coming Soon
Dreamy Delights
Arbor Vitae Coven 2
Prologue
“This meeting of the Matrons of Morbank Island may come to order.” Prudence Miller announces as she bangs her gravel on the lectern in front of her. The excited chatter of the ladies around her dulls quickly. More quickly than usual but they have so many things to discuss and not much time
“As I’m sure you all know by now the spell worked.” she announces, but shakes her head somewhat ruefully, “Sort of! My Ruby has returned.” The ladies surrounding her burst into applause, some a little less enthusiastically than others but that’s to be expected. Prue shares a sympathetic look around the room.
“I know it’s not the outcome we expected, but it’s a start. There are some very dark forces working against us, but never fear ladies, we will overcome these obstacles and I have no doubt that we will prevail.” This time the round of applause is more enthusiastic.
“As me meet, Ruby is on a plane on her way to Italy to drag Tatiana home. We think that it is possible some of them are just too far away to be affected by the spell. So, she is armed with the same anti negativity potion that we used on Maddock.”
Looking around the room, she casts a spell to ensure privacy. “We have anchored Tatiana’s potion to Regan. I know,” she says holding her hands up. “I can see your skeptical looks. Ruby and I decided if we anchored the potion to someone in the town who is unaffected that we would have a better chance of overcoming it. It’s just a light anchor, no one’s forcing anyone together or anything. Though I know that I for one wouldn’t mind more grandbabies and I know that Lucille and Phillip are the same way.” she says, her lips stretching into a cheeky smile.
Lucille nods her head, enthusiastically in agreement. “I am praying to the goddess that Ruby is successful. I’m grateful that Maddock is sorted out and we got rid of Sheree. I love having Melly work for me, but I’m ready to retire. I want to start enjoying life a little more. I’d rather ask for forgiveness than permission,” she states stubbornly crossing her arms.
“One by one we will drag those girls’ home, kicking and screaming if need be. But I’m sure it won’t come to that. I’m also thinking we perform that same spell we did before, on the full moon adding in each returned girls’ power. So by the next full moon, hopefully both Ruby and Tatiana will be able to add their power to it.” Everyone shows their agreement with head nods and murmured yes’.
“So that is the daughter situation updated, now to another pressing problem; the portal. Over the last few weeks we have had a few dramas. Three times the portal has faded briefly. Luckily no one was attempting to realm travel when this happened, but we’ve had to limit travel to twice a week until we can get it fixed. Tuesdays and Fridays will be travel times.
In short, we need an influx of tourists. Regan has scheduled more meetings with the heads of the Fae, Vampire, and Shifter realms to finalize his realm tour programs. They have been approved; it is just a matter of working out the nitty gritty's”
“I don’t understand this at all.” Fiona Blackwood says shaking her head. “We have had periods of low tourism before. Let’s face it a hundred years ago we didn’t have any tourists at all, and the portal still functioned perfectly. There must be something else that is interfering with the portal power.”
“What about on the realm side of the portal?” Asks Minerva Crowe, “maybe we need to send in someone to investigate that side?”
Pru purses her lips nodding her head. “Yes, but we need to be diplomatic about it. We can’t accuse anyone or point fingers, they may get upset”
“What about asking Regan to keep an eye out for things when he goes for his final meetings.” Beatrix adds in.
“What about the mayor. He’s a vampire maybe he can put some feelers out?” suggests Denise Shelly. “He’s so kind, I’m sure he would like to help if we explain the situation.”
Prudence’s heart sinks, she was hoping to keep it a secret, for now but the coven does have a responsibility to the town and the other supernaturals living in it.
“You’re all right. It’s time to share this around and get some more heads and hearts working on the problem. I wouldn’t want the paranormal council to accuse us of not doing everything we can.”
“So we decided to come to you for some help. It’s become a whole town issue now, not just the coven. Someone is out to destroy us. The Millers had their candy store vandalized as well as Ruby’s car a few weeks ago. Things are starting to escalate.” Pu finishes telling Mayor Lucas Sharpe about the issues surrounding the Island, the coven and the portal.
Sitting in his chair behind a wide wooden desk Mayor Sharpe is dressed in a stylish grey suit that makes his eyes look even grayer than normal. The frown on his face has gotten deeper as the story progressed. Blowing out a deep breath as she finishes, he sits back in his chair, his hands clasped, a look of exasperation crossing his face as he processes the information. “You should have come to me sooner Pru. I know I haven't been mayor of this town for very long, or that I’m still relatively a stranger compared to the founding families of the island, but I care, and I want to be able to help the community anyway I can.” She wiggles in her chair under his stern gaze, but straightens her back and replies, “Yes I know but we all make mistakes. Trust is a little thin on the ground at the moment, but I will endeavor to do better,” she says promise, looking a little embarrassed.
“Well placing the finger of blame is not going to help the situation now, Mayor Sharp, at least Mom’s realized her error and has now fixed it. Let's move on, shall we?” Regan suggests breaking the tension in the room.
The mayor nods. “Yes of course and call me Lucas. It sounds like you
already have some plans in the works. Of course, I’ll put some feelers out of my own but let's work on a few more things to bring the tourists back.” Both Pru and Regan nod their heads.
Regan speaks up. “Well I have my realm tourism plans in the works, just waiting on a few more approvals. I was thinking while we were waiting for that, maybe The Manor would run a haunted house for Halloween this year and sell tickets. Also, with coven help, turn the grassed open space into a corn field and run a maze as well. We could have hayrides through the orchids and apple picking. Maybe an apple cider stand and pumpkin carving. Maybe even get a band in to play make it a real town event.” The look on Pru’s face changes from worried to enthusiastic, “Regan, that's a fantastic idea. What do you think Mayor?”
He has a thoughtful look on his face. “That's a great start, how about the coven start working on that Pru. Regan you concentrate on the tours, because I think that will be very popular. I have an idea about the band, so leave that to me.” Pru and Regan nod their heads. “Also let’s keep the momentum going, I was thinking we can have a whole town Thanksgiving celebration in the town square. Maybe a feast?”
Pru is practically bouncing on her chair now in excitement. “Oh, and some fireworks we can call it Feast and Fireworks. Sell Turkey legs and pie and maybe have some old-fashioned games and dressing up in period pieces? What a great idea.”
Regan stands up and Lucas and Pru follow suit, “Okay so we have some ideas, let’s keep in contact maybe schedule a few meetings and get this town revitalize. Once we get the portal issue sorted, we can deal with whoever is behind the spells.”
A grave look crosses the mayors face, “When I find out who has messed with my town, they will be sorry.” Pru shudders at the violence behind the tone. Up until now you could forget that the mayor was a vampire, but the cold and callous way he just said that she wouldn't want to be in the shoes of the person responsible.
Candy Conniptions (Arbor Vitae Coven Book 1) Page 13