Witchy Weddings: A Magic Witch Mystery Series: The complete Touch of Magic series

by Danielle Garrett

  I lifted my hands and mocked a celebratory dance. “Woohoo! Touchdown! Another job well done.”

  Hyacinth’s lips went so thin they disappeared, blending seamlessly into her beet-red complexion. “This is a joke to you?” she asked, each word sounding like it was being torn from her lips.

  “No.” I shook my head and lowered my voice. “The only joke here is on me, and that’s the one where I thought I could ever make you happy. I stupidly thought that if I worked hard enough, brought in enough new clients, or hit some magical number of success stories, that someday you’d stop gunning for me and would realize that I am damn good at my job and that I deserve the success and recognition of being a top-rate wedding planner.”

  I breathed a hollow laugh. “Silly me.”

  Hyacinth thrust her shoulders back, her chin jutting out in defiance. “You will go out there and you will tell the guests what happened and you will stay until everyone has gone. We will discuss this come Monday.”

  My jaw flexed. “No.”

  “Excuse me?” Hyacinth snapped.

  “I’m done.” I shrugged. “I’m done with all of this. You win, Hyacinth. You want me gone? Well, now I’m gone.”

  “What are you saying?” she asked, her eyes daring me to take the next step out onto the razor-thin ice.

  I drew in a shallow breath, panic alarms starting to blare in the depths of my mind. “I quit.”

  I didn’t wait to watch her full reaction to my declaration. Instead, I turned away and marched back up the aisle, keeping my shoulders squared and my chin high.

  Only once I rounded the corner and stepped back into the alcove Caleb and I had occupied minutes before did I break. My own words echoed through my head as if I were stuck in a vast canyon.

  I quit…quit…quit.

  Quit?!

  Shivers trailed down my arms, radiating from my spine, which suddenly felt as strong as an overcooked linguine noodle. On wobbling legs, I barreled down the hall toward the kitchen. Francois would be there and I needed an ally.

  Or an industrial-sized garbage can to throw up in.

  Maybe both.

  Yes. Both would be good.

  Inside the kitchen, I found Francois, the massive trash can, and Caleb.

  The two men turned at my entrance, and as I barreled toward the can, they said in unison, “Ana?”

  “Is everything all right?” Caleb asked.

  My stomach roiled sideways as I grabbed the sides of the can.

  “I think … I think I just quit my job.”

  Chapter Four

  “Personally, I think it sounds badass. I’ve always wanted to go down in a blaze of glory like that! Unfortunately, I’ve never been given the chance, as it’s usually me on the receiving end of the employment termination.”

  “It wasn’t a blaze of glory,” I corrected Harmony, giving her a dark look across the table. She was entirely too happy about my departure from the firm. “It was an impulsive rant and the biggest mistake of my entire life.”

  Harmony’s lips twisted into a pout. “I think that’s a little dramatic. Taking Charlie Lawley as your prom date was much worse. I assure you.”

  “Gee, thanks,” I growled into my plate of mostly untouched pasta. “I feel so much better now.”

  “Oh, come on, Stace. I mean, he was what, four inches shorter than you? His breath smelled like he lived off sardines or anchovies, some kind of saltwater fish, and on top of that he—”

  “Harmony, enough!” I snapped.

  Rising from my place at the table, I carried my plate to the kitchen and shoved it into the fridge. Grabbing a bottle of wine in one hand and snagging a long-stemmed glass with the other, I marched back to the living room. “Don’t you have to get ready for work soon?” I asked, plopping down on the sofa.

  “I swapped shifts with Valeria,” Harmony said, still at the table.

  I eyed her. “So you could stay home and babysit me?”

  She frowned at me. “Actually, so she could stay home. Her kids were sick.”

  “Oh.”

  I poured a full glass for myself, ignoring the burning sensation in my cheeks.

  “But, since I am here, I think we should do something,” she continued. “We need to get your mind off this whole thing.”

  I snorted. “Not likely.”

  “Stace,” she whined, using the nickname she’d used for me since we were young. “You can’t sit around moping all night.”

  “Why not?”

  She rolled her eyes and rose from her place at the table. She ducked into the kitchen and I could hear her scraping her leftovers back into the takeout container they’d come in. Neither of us were cooks and we relied on a heavy rotation of neighboring eateries for most meals. Tonight’s dinner had come from the eight-table Italian cafe of the corner. Pasta and rich sauce. Pure comfort food. It had all sounded appealing when we ordered, but in the end, I’d barely touched my meal.

  “This isn’t the end of the world,” she insisted, reappearing at the entry to the kitchen. “You’ll find another job. A better job.”

  I sighed and then drank deeply from the glass of dry Riesling. “It wasn’t a job, Harmony. It was my career. My entire life. My dream.”

  I didn’t expect her to understand. She’d never worked somewhere more than a year. Always bouncing from one fleeting interest to the next—usually on the heels of being fired or dismissed. Her current position as a hostess had been her longest running job to date, as far as I knew, and she was only coming up on her one-year anniversary.

  Stars, if I didn’t figure something out quick, I’d be forced to go begging Marco Dupree for a job at the upscale restaurant. Wouldn’t that be nice, Harmony and I both working in the same place.

  Ugh.

  “You don’t have to stop being a wedding planner just because you don’t work for A Touch of Magic anymore,” Harmony countered, coming to sit on one of the upholstered chairs opposite the sofa. She placed an empty glass on the coffee table between us and I leaned forward and filled it from the bottle of wine. “Aren’t there any other event planning firms in the haven?”

  The Seattle Haven was much smaller than the human city that encapsulated it. There were dozens of thriving businesses and thousands of residents, but not so many that it could support two dueling event-planning firms. There simply weren’t enough clients. Even with their reputation and high-profile brand, A Touch of Magic wasn’t solely sustained by weddings. Nor did they only cater to supernatural clientele. They had an office in the human side of Seattle, too. I used to work there before getting promoted to the magic side of the firm and finally securing my dream job and the plush office that went along with it.

  A flash of regret surged through me. My office. I’d need to go and pack up my personal belongings. How humiliating. I could already imagine Kait’s smug face. Stars. Had she moved in already? It was hardly a question. Of course she had. I could just picture her flying out of the chapel, racing across town, and throwing the contents of her own desk into a box with lightning speed, all ready to move in as soon as Hyacinth returned and handed over the key.

  We’d started at the firm around the same time and had spent eight years bumping into one another—sometimes full-on colliding—in our race to the top of the ladder. I still wasn’t sure what had made Hyacinth choose me for the promotion from associate to full-fledged wedding planner, but for whatever reason, she’d selected me and I’d made the final move past Kait, securing my place at the top. Kait had been furious and ratcheted her opposition tactics up to eleven.

  And in the end, I’d taken myself out of the game.

  My stomach rolled as I recalled the look of glee on Kait’s face during my confrontation with Hyacinth.

  “Whatever. We’ll see how she likes it once Hyacinth’s breathing down her neck, instead of mind,” I muttered, sagging back against the sofa.

  “What?”

  I glanced up, having momentarily forgotten Harmony was there. “Nothing.”

/>   She eyed me skeptically but didn’t press me.

  “There aren’t any other firms in the Seattle Haven,” I told her, recalling her question. “I’d have to move to another haven, maybe Portland or San Francisco, if I want to stay in a magic event-planning firm. Otherwise, I can go back to working in the human world.”

  Harmony wrinkled her nose, her expression mirroring the way the suggestion felt under my own skin. Working in the human world was the last thing I wanted to do, but then, moving didn’t sound great either. What would Caleb and I do if I were to move to another haven? I’d never attempted a long-distance relationship before but had plenty of friends who’d done it. None of them recommended it. I couldn’t lose my career and my relationship. One was bad, but to have both gone…? It was out of the question.

  “What about starting your own business?” Harmony suggested. She took a sip of wine, pulled a face, and set her glass back on the coffee table. “You have connections all over the haven, a killer portfolio, and tons of reviews.”

  I smiled. It was flattering, but completely out of the realm of possibility. “I don’t think so,” I told her.

  She frowned. “Why not?”

  “Well, for one, starting a business takes money. A lot of it. I’ve got some in savings, but not enough to lease a workspace, hire staff, advertise. Let alone pay all my bills without having a steady income. Weddings take time, Harmony. Even if I somehow managed to whip up a few clients, it would be months before I’d get my first commission check.”

  Harmony looked prepared to argue the point, but I cut her off at the pass. “I’ll think about it, but for now, I need to focus on getting a job so I don’t burn through my savings. I’d say the Stimpton commission is out of my reach now. That alone would have been enough to cover things for six months.”

  I drained the last of my wine and placed the empty glass on the table, debating a second glass. “I’m going to take a bath,” I announced, rising from the couch.

  “You want me to get you anything? I could go out and pick up a movie or something.”

  “Thanks, but I think I’m all right. Caleb is planning on coming over whenever he gets done for the night. He feels bad that I canceled the reservations at Luna.”

  “I’ll let him in when he gets here,” Harmony offered.

  “Thanks.”

  The bath helped some, but it wasn’t long before my mind started racing, replaying the day over and over again in my head. “Should have asked Holly for a refill of sleeping potion,” I muttered to myself as I climbed out of the tub. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed, fling the covers over my head, and pretend none of it had ever happened.

  Peaches, my long-haired cat, sauntered into the bathroom, chirping at me. “It might be time for you to get a part-time job,” I told her, leaning down to scratch under her chin. “Maybe you could model for a cat food company or something, pull your weight around here.”

  She looked less than impressed by my suggestion.

  The doorbell rang and I quickly wrapped myself in a towel and shuffled into my adjoining walk-in closet, leaving puddles of water with every step. Peaches wound around my wet legs, leaving behind kitty fur and I groaned, nudging her away with one foot before getting dressed. I used a quick spell to dry my hair, and stuffed my feet into my fuzzy dragon slippers. Because, why the hex not?

  Peaches recoiled from the slippers and trotted back to the bed where she jumped up and made herself comfortable on my pillow. “So, that’s a no on the modeling gig, huh?” I asked, passing through the bedroom.

  My slipper-clad feet didn’t make noise on the hardwood floor as I left my bedroom, and I stopped short of the living room when I heard hushed voices.

  “…think she’s in denial,” Harmony said.

  “It’s a big change,” Caleb replied. “Give her some time to process.”

  “I’m worried about her,” Harmony added, a wavering edge in her voice. “It’s not like her to be so impulsive. That’s more my territory,” she joked.

  Caleb chuckled. “So I’ve heard.”

  I slipped out of the hallway and their conversation stopped. Caleb gathered me into an embrace and gave me a quick kiss. “How are you feeling?” he asked, still holding me close.

  “Like I got run over by a Shimmer Bus.”

  He cringed.

  “How about you? What happened after I left?”

  “Not much.” He sighed. “We interviewed the wedding party, the families, and the staff. There’s a lot of information to comb through, but so far, no one can recall Evan complaining of feeling sick. It’ll take some more time to get the report back from the healers.”

  “How’s Charlene holding up?” I asked. It was strange to feel so detached from the wedding already. Normally, I would have stayed at the chapel until the last guest left or until the SPA cleared it out, whichever came first. I would have remained at Charlene’s side as long as necessary. All I could do now was hope her family and friends were able to provide some small comfort in the wake of the traumatic day.

  “Her mother gave her some kind of sleeping potion,” Caleb replied. From the look on his face, he didn’t approve. “We’ll follow up with her tomorrow, if needed.”

  Exhaustion swept over me, and I let my head fall against Caleb’s chest.

  “I told Stace that she should open her own business,” Harmony interjected.

  Caleb tilted his head to look down at me. “That’s a good idea. I’m sure there’s a whole bunch of people who don’t want to deal with that harpy, Hyacinth.”

  A tiny smile pulled at my lips. “She tends to save her vitriol for employees, not the firm’s clients, but thanks. I’ll think it over.”

  “It’s a better idea than moving!” Harmony added.

  “Moving?” Caleb repeated, a tinge of alarm in his voice. “Where to?”

  I shot a look at Harmony and she shrugged. “You’re the one who said it.”

  “I’m not seriously considering it,” I sighed.

  At least, not yet.

  “Can we drop this?” I asked, giving them each a pleading look. “It’s been a long day and all I want to do is go to sleep.”

  Caleb dropped a kiss to the top of my head. “Fair enough. Things will look better in the morning.”

  I sincerely hoped he was right.

  Chapter Five

  Unfortunately, dawn did not usher in an abundance of hope along with the sun and chirping birds. I opened my eyes and realized I was alone in my bed. The bathroom door was closed and I could hear the sound of the shower. Figuring it was Caleb getting ready for work, I rolled back over and covered my head with the sheets. So much for sleeping in and having a late breakfast together. I knew it had been too much to hope for.

  When Caleb was on a case—which, was almost always—he didn’t have time for long, meandering mornings together. Even when he stayed over at my condo, he rose before the sun, dressed, and slipped out to get back to headquarters before most people were even conscious enough to make a proper cup of coffee for themselves. It was a quality I both admired and resented. As a fellow workaholic, I understood his deep-rooted drive but when I woke to cold sheets and a goodbye note instead of a good morning kiss, it was hard not to feel a little slighted.

  Especially now that I didn’t have the same sense of purpose and direction. Normally, I’d wake up at six, dress, grab coffee and some variety of portable breakfast food, and be on the Shimmer Bus to the office by seven-thirty. Now, my first full day as an out-of-work wedding planner had begun, and I had no idea what to do. Staying in bed, safe under the covers, seemed to make the most sense.

  The shower turned off, and minutes later, Caleb stepped into the bedroom, fully dressed in his usual slacks and polo shirt. He walked the line between business casual and ready-for-anything government agent. His hair was dark, slicked back with water, but it would dry quickly and return to its normal sandy brown.

  “Did I wake you?” he asked, coming to sit on the side of the bed.


  “No.” I snaked a hand out from the covers and placed it on his leg. “Do you have to go to work today? Can’t you play hooky and let someone else catch the bad guys for once?”

  “Afraid not. I got a call this morning,” he said, smoothing one hand over my messy hair. “Evan wasn’t sick, Ana. He was poisoned.”

  “What?”

  “We’re still working on nailing down what kind and how it was administered. We also need to figure out a timeline. Some poisons act faster than others.”

  I nodded slowly, adding the new piece of information to my memories of the day. I couldn’t see when someone would have been able to poison him. He’d been surrounded by his groomsmen all day. Anything that could have poisoned Evan would have also affected his groomsmen.

  “I’ll come over tonight as soon as I can get free, but it might be a busy day. I’ll pick up dinner on the way. Whatever you want.”

  I smiled, though it felt shaky. “Okay.”

  “You’ll be all right.” He leaned down and kissed me goodbye. “Try to relax. You don’t have to jump into something right away. Maybe take the week, no expectations, and see what happens.”

  It was sound advice, but I wasn’t optimistic I’d be able to follow it. Besides the occasional sick day, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a full day off. Even weekends weren’t a luxury that most wedding planners got to indulge in. After all, most weddings took place on the weekend, and even if I didn’t have a wedding, there were all the events leading up to it that took place in the time slots available to those who worked a more typical schedule. Weeknights, weekends, vacation days. My personal life got squeezed into the crevices between wedding showers, phone calls, bridal gown fittings, and consultations with caterers, bakers, musicians, DJs, and florists.

  “I don’t really know what to do with myself,” I confessed in a small voice.

  Caleb chuckled. “That’s the best part. Whatever you want! Go to a coffee shop, visit the bookstore, see a matinee showing of that rom-com you point out every time the trailer plays on TV.”