by Lynn Cahoon
“I don’t know. Chili is a little common for our clientele.” Pricilla studied the flyer. “I’m surprised you’re going on with this fundraiser, especially with what happened at the warehouse.”
“People still need to eat. And if we don’t do it now, the food bank won’t have the money to buy the incidentals and fresh food needed for the food boxes. Not to mention pay the utilities for the warehouse.”
Pricilla sniffed and pressed a tissue to her eyes. “You sound so insensitive. I’m sure you know your grandmother stole Dorian away from me. I’m sure you’re really here to rub it in that now he’ll never return to my loving arms. Tell me, why are you really here?”
A male voice from behind them coughed. Then Officer Baldwin spoke. “I was about to ask you two the same question.”
Mia turned and held up a chili flyer. She met his gaze. “Getting out the word about the upcoming fundraiser. What are you doing here?”
“Police business.” He nodded to Pricilla. “Do you mind if we talk? Alone?”
“Sounds like our invitation to leave.” Mia nodded to the flyers on Pricilla’s desk. “You know the upper crust loves to support good causes. And the food bank needs the influx of money. You’d be doing the town a big favor.”
Christina followed her out of the office and the winery. She glanced back at the big wooden door as it shut behind her. “I know I’ve only met her once, but that woman gives me the creeps. Who doesn’t want to support a food bank?”
“Someone with a black heart.” Mia thought she knew why Dorian had called it off, but it had nothing to do with her grandmother. “Let’s get this finished so we can pick up dinner. I’m starving.”
Chapter 5
When they got back into the house, Grans was in the dining room and the trappings of a spell was all around her. Including candles burning on the table around a clearly upset Mr. Darcy. Mia shoved the food bags into Christina’s arms and pointed her toward the kitchen.
Wide eyed, Christina hesitated, took one look at Mia, then darted toward safety.
“Grans, what are you doing?” Mia picked up the meowing cat and cradled him in her arms. “You know you can’t use someone else’s familiar to ramp up your spells. Besides, I thought you were working on the food bank fundraiser, not casting.”
“Dear, I’m not stupid. I’ve been spelling long before you were even on this earth. I didn’t mean to include Mr. Darcy, he just jumped up on the table at the wrong time. Now, I’m afraid, he’s got an unexpected visitor.” Grans walked around the table and removed the spell work items, leaving the candles. “Let’s eat in here tonight. I already have the candles lit.”
Mia rubbed Mr. Darcy’s head, trying to get him to calm down. The poor cat was shaking. Then what her grandmother had said hit her. “Wait, what do you mean Mr. Darcy has a visitor?”
“It should be obvious, dear. Dorian’s spirit is trapped in the cat.”
Mia stared at her grandmother, in shock. “What?”
“All I wanted was to have a quick chat to see if he had seen who killed him, but as I was bringing him forth, using the candle as a focal point, well, you know the rest.” Grans put all the herbs into a box and put it in the hutch. Then she put her worn grimoire on the same shelf. Of course, Grans’s grimoire also doubled as her cookbook. “Be a dear and bring me a dish cloth. I’ll wash down the table before we start dinner.”
Mia stared into Mr. Darcy’s eyes. She saw terror from her cat who was now sharing his body with another soul, and a bit of humor from Dorian. Her grandmother was right. Dorian was in Mr. Darcy. She held the cat out toward Grans. “You need to fix this. Get him out. Mr. Darcy is scared to death.”
“Oh, dear, I hope not. He needs to stay alive or both he and Dorian will be lost.” Grans reached over and rubbed the cat’s ears. “Settle down dear. I’ll figure out a way to get you out. I just need to do a little research.”
Mia’s eyes widened. “You’re saying you don’t know how to fix him!”
A worried look crossed her grandmother’s face but it quickly disappeared. “I have to say I haven’t run into this much in my practice. I don’t typically like talking to the dead, but I thought this would kill two birds with one stone. I could say goodbye and solve his murder in one fell swoop.”
“But instead, you locked your boyfriend into my cat’s body.” Mia sighed as she kissed Mr. Darcy’s head. The cat’s heartbeat had slowed at least a little and she let him down on the floor. “Just get him fixed before I leave for Boise. I hate to have to leave him here with you until you can exorcise Dorian.”
Mr. Darcy hissed and ran out of the dining room.
Grans was shaking her head. “Please, don’t use that word around Dorian. He’s a little sensitive about being dead. Especially since he’s not sure which destination he’ll finally end up at.”
“And what were you thinking doing this where Christina could see?” There was no way she could hide this part of her from Isaac’s family, not now. She should have got a room for them at the hotel. At least Mr. Darcy would have been safe then.
Grans paused in her cleanup to focus on Mia. “Christina is an adult. She knows that you’re not normal. And she likes you because of it. You should be using that connection to help her rather than trying to pretend you’re just a regular person. Christina is different from her family. She needs to know that’s okay.”
Knowing her grandmother was right, Mia made a mental note to talk to Christina about this weekend and Mia’s powers. Maybe on the drive home. Where she’d be locked in the car at high speeds, just in case she took the news badly. Mia pushed through the swinging door to the kitchen and heard a thump. Looking around the door, she saw Christina rubbing her temples. Okay, so maybe the conversation wouldn’t wait until the drive home. “Sorry, not sorry. You need to stop eavesdropping. You might find out things about people that can’t be erased from your memory.”
“Like your grandmother putting a spell on Mr. Darcy? What’s up with that? Didn’t she like the cat?” Christina followed her to the sink where Mia rinsed out a clean rag she’d found in the drawer near the sink.
“Look, I know we need to talk about this. But can we wait for a bit? Just know that Grans loves Mr. Darcy. Unfortunately, he just got in the way. Anyway, it will soon be water under the bridge. Let me wash off the table and you can bring in the food and some paper plates.” She pointed to a cabinet near the kitchen door. “You’ll find plates and napkins in here. Hurry though, I’m hungry.”
Mia went back into the dining room, but now both Mr. Darcy and Grans were nowhere to be seen. She washed off the table, moving the candles and trying to feel the magic that had been conjured. Sometimes if you could feel the story, you could reverse it. Her mind kept going back to the conversation with Pricilla. The woman definitely blamed Grans for Dorian’s death. And she’d probably said as much to Officer Baldwin after she and Christina had left. She took the cloth back to the kitchen and folded it over the sink.
Christina was trying to balance the plates and silverware with all the bags from the Lodge. Mia leaned over and took the bags from her hands. “You’re going to spill something holding them like that. Set that load down and come back for some sodas. Grans and I will take the root beer. You can have whatever you want.”
“I don’t really like root beer. Or iced tea. I’m going into town tomorrow to grab me some snacks.”
Mia nodded to the refrigerator. “Look on the door, I think there’s some Coke there from the last time I came to visit.”
She held up a can. “Score. There’s a few in here. Do you want one?”
“I’ll stay with the root beer, thanks.” She studied the girl as she pulled out the sodas. “Look, about what happened in the dining room. Grans…”
“Is a practicing wiccan. It’s okay Mia, I know about your family and their hobbies. My mom hired a PI when you started dating Isaac. I can�
�t believe he actually stood up to her and told her to keep her nose out of your relationship.” Christina closed the fridge door with her hip. “Don’t worry about me, I’m nonjudgmental. Let’s go eat. I’m starving.”
Mia followed her into the dining room, thoughts crowding around her head. Isaac hadn’t ever mentioned his mother hiring the PI. Or how he felt about the practice, well, except telling her that it was cute and a total waste of time. Yes, this heart-to-heart was a long time coming. She was looking forward to getting home so they could clear the air. With her own relationship back on track, or scheduled to be back on track by Monday, at least in her own mind, she went into the dining room to talk to her grandmother about Dorian.
When she brought up the issue, Grans shook her head. “Not now. All I want to do is eat then go take a long bath. Thank the Goddess I finished that potion earlier. The day has been a little overwhelming for me.”
Mr. Darcy meowed and Grans laughed. “Yes, Dorian, I suppose it’s been far worse for you. But self-care and all that.” She pointed a finger at the cat who was sitting at her chair watching her. “And don’t be getting thoughts about sneaking into the bathroom. I told you that there would be no hanky-panky before marriage and that doesn’t change just because you’re on a different plane.”
Christina snorted. Mia just shook her head. Her grandmother really needed to get Dorian out of her cat, and soon. She didn’t know how she could deal with knowing there was a man sitting on her lap, purring. On the other hand, she didn’t want to shortchange Mr. Darcy of her attention. Life was never easy around Grans. But on the other hand, it wasn’t ever boring.
* * * *
The next morning Mia had a text from Officer Baldwin. She read it aloud to Christina who was sitting at the kitchen counter, sleep still showing in her eyes. “Hopefully, you’re still in town. The warehouse is cleared for your use if you’re still planning on having this chili cook-off.”
“What, did he think we’d go on the run? Why would either of us kill that man?” Christina sipped her coffee, her tongue bar clicking on the ceramic cup.
“He’s just being careful.” Mia said, not believing her own words. Baldwin wasn’t the nicest man, and he thought that Grans and the coven set were trouble in Magic Springs. The problem was, he didn’t know how many of the good townsfolk really were in the group he had classified as public enemy number one. Including his boss, the mayor. “If you’re going to eat, hurry up. We need to get to the warehouse and make up for yesterday. This food bank is going to be running when we leave on Monday if I have to sleep there the rest of the week to get everything done.”
“I just hope that there’s no dead body there today.” Christina drained her cup.
Mr. Darcy swatted at her leg.
“Sorry, Dorian. I’m just saying that the work will go faster if we don’t have to have the police there this morning.” Christina held up her cup. “Do you think your grandmother has any travel mugs?”
“The cabinet under the coffee pot. She stores them there.” Mia checked the fridge and grabbed a couple of packages of string cheese. Then she found her own travel mug and filled it with coffee. “I think we’ll leave the pot on. Grans should be up soon.”
As if she’d called her, Mary Alice walked into the kitchen. She was dressed in jeans and a sweater set with pearls at her neck. Mia smiled. Grans’s work outfit. “Are you coming with us?”
“Actually, I’m coming in later. I’m stopping by Dorian’s to talk to his children. The services are being planned and they want my opinion. I’ll drop by with some lunch when I get done there.” She kissed Mia’s cheek. “Do be careful. There’s a murderer out there.”
“One that Dorian couldn’t identify, I take it?” She leaned down and petted her cat. At least she hoped Mr. Darcy was still in there. She didn’t want to think about the physics of two souls in one body. Especially not at seven in the morning.
“No, he never really got the chance to tell me before Mr. Darcy jumped on the table. You really need to teach your cat to stay away from in-process spells.” Grans went over and poured herself a cup of coffee. Then she pulled out a box of muffins from the top cupboard.
“I didn’t see those.” Christina reached for one but Grans moved the box away.
“Sorry child. These are for the Alexander children. I’m sure they haven’t eaten much since they arrived from LA.”
“His kids live in LA?” Mia dug in her purse.
“Of course they do. Bobby’s a film director and Cindy’s an actress. But she goes by another name. I just can’t remember it right now.” Grans pursed her lips together in thought. “Anyway, I’ll work on the spell as soon as we get done with lunch. If you don’t need me at the warehouse that is.”
As she and Christina walked out of the house and got into Mia’s car, Christina paused and glanced back at the house. “I hate to say it, but I think your cat is in big trouble. Your grandmother seems a little scattered.”
As they drove to the warehouse, Mia thought about Christina’s statement. There was no way she was taking Mr. Darcy home to Boise with someone’s soul stuck inside him. No way. If Grans couldn’t fix this, she’d find someone who could. Mia’s own casting skills were a little rusty since she’d been on a magic diet since she’d been living with Isaac. She didn’t want to risk hurting her cat.
Her musing was interrupted when they arrived at the warehouse. Cars filled the parking lot and people crowded around the entry. “Crap, did the chili cook-off flyers have the wrong day?”
“I didn’t check, did you?” Christina stared at the people surrounding the doorway. She seemed frozen to her seat.
Mia glanced around the car’s interiors, finally coming up on what she’d been looking for. The last flyer that had been ripped so she’d left it in the car, meaning to throw it away when they went back to Grans’s. “Saturday. It says Saturday. It’s only Thursday, right?”
Christina checked her phone. “Yep. It’s Thursday. So if they aren’t here for the cook-off, why are they here?”
“I guess we’re going to have to get out and find out.” Mia grabbed her purse and got out of the car. Staring at Christina who still hadn’t moved she knocked at her window. “Get out so I can lock the car.”
“Maybe staying here’s a better idea. I can drive the getaway car if they’re an angry crowd.” She stared past Mia to the people milling around.
“Angry mobs usually only happen in movies.” Mia opened the door and waved Christina out. “Although, I’d keep a clear path back to the car, just in case.”
Chapter 6
They made their way to the door and glanced around. Mia spotted Kev standing near an attractive blonde and chatting her up. Mia stepped up next to him, trying to figure out what was going on. The young woman glared at her. Mia turned away but still could feel the imaginary daggers in her back.
“Kev, what is everyone doing here?” If anything, there were more people here than yesterday.
“Hey Mia, thanks for showing up. We’ve been waiting for someone to come unlock the door. We were just ready to send someone over to Tasha’s place down river to get a key.” He waved to the crowd. “Draw closer. We’ll go in as soon as Mia unlocks the door. Everyone, this is Mia. Mia, this is the Magic Springs coven. Or at least the ones who were in town. We’re here to get this place ready for the cook-off on Saturday. After what happened to Dorian, well, we felt a need to do something positive to counteract the negative vibes. Say hi to Mia.”
“Hi, Mia,” the crowd responded.
Relief filled her as she turned to wave, then pulled out the yellow string and the key. “Has anyone called you a miracle worker before?”
He actually blushed. “No big thing. I just didn’t want the food bank fundraiser to fail.”
As they filed into the warehouse, Mia tore the long to do list she’d written last night in three parts. She gave one piece
to Christina, one to Kev, and kept the third one. Then she counted off twenty people, including the girl at the front door with Kev and moved them to the left. “You all go with Christina. She has your task lists.”
Christina stared at Mia like she’d been asked to skin a deer or a rabbit. “But…”
“You can do this. Just go set them up in teams and give them an assignment.” She turned away before Christina could say any more. She divided the rest of the group in half. She pointed to the ones on her left. “You all go with Kev. The rest of you are with me.”
She wondered just what Grans had been planning on buying for lunch. She’d call as soon as she had a minute and let her know to increase her order to cover the other volunteers.
Around eleven, tired and hungry, Mia looked up at the clock and realized she hadn’t called Grans. She stepped away from the final pile of boxes that had been stacked into a corner this summer and dialed her grandmother’s number.
She listened to the cheery hold music and sighed when her grandmother picked up. “You’re going to kill me.”
“Probably not. I enjoy having you around. What’s going on?” Grans asked as the background music from her car stereo went down in volume.
“I’ve got a ton of volunteers here and I was going to have you bring everyone lunch when you arrive.” Mia glanced around the open warehouse space. If they could just hold on for a couple of more hours, they might actually be done with the organization. Then all they’d have to do was a good cleaning of the area and it would be ready for Saturday’s cook-off and Monday’s grand reopening. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll call in a few pizzas. That should do it.”
“Did Tasha come in yet?”
The change of subject threw Mia for a minute. She turned to the wall where the small office had been built. The window was dark. “Actually, she’s not here. I was so busy, I didn’t realize it. Do we need to check on her?”