by Jinty James
“Mrrow!” Trixie looked at her in approval, watching Maddie write down the words of the spell.
“Are you going to test it out now?” Suzanne looked like she wanted to be the one to try it, despite professing not to have any supernatural powers at all.
“I don’t know,” Maddie said slowly. “Should I?”
“Of course you should!” Suzanne’s ponytail bounced.
“Mrrow!” Trixie encouraged her.
“But what do I want to know that I’m right about?”
“Luke having the hots for you!” Suzanne giggled.
“Maybe I shouldn’t use it for personal gain.” Maddie furrowed her brow.
“Hmm.” Suzanne tapped her finger against her lips. “I know how you feel about that. Okay, what about something witchy? We both know Trixie is your familiar, right?”
“Mrrow!” Trixie said indignantly.
“Sorry, Trix, I should have said all three of us know you’re Maddie’s familiar,” Suzanne apologized. “So what about stating your belief that Trix is your familiar?”
“Good idea.” Maddie nodded slowly, liking the sound of that. When Trixie had first come into her life, she’d wondered if the Persian was indeed her familiar, but ever since she’d turned twenty-seven, she’d become more and more certain of that fact.
“Okay.” Maddie blew out a breath, then recited the words of the spell plus her belief.
“Tell me in a thrice if I’m right:
Trixie is my familiar.”
There was a purple flash.
Suzanne squeaked in surprise.
A deep knowing filled Maddie
“Mrrow.” Her familiar patted Maddie’s knee in approval. “Mrrow.”
“It worked!” Suzanne’s face was alive with excitement. “It worked! Right?”
“Right.” Maddie grinned and stroked the Persian. “Trixie is my familiar. It’s a similar feeling to the Tell the Truth spell. I just knew deep down that my belief was correct.”
“Yay!” Suzanne looked like she wanted to bounce on the sofa seat.
“Uh-oh.” A thought struck Maddie. “I haven’t wasted this spell, have I? Remember the Tell the Truth spell and how we discovered too late that you can only use it once per month?”
“You’re right.” Suzanne bit her lip, her excitement vanishing. “Quick, we better check the page for invisible writing, just like the page had for the Tell the Truth spell.”
Maddie and Suzanne headed toward the bedroom, where Maddie’s lavender bedside lamp still had an incandescent bulb.
Maddie held the heavy book up to the lightbulb. No secret writing appeared.
“Thank goodness,” Suzanne whispered. She touched Maddie’s arm. “I’m sorry, Mads, sometimes I get carried away. I should have remembered what happened a couple of months ago.”
“No, I’m sorry,” Maddie replied. “I should have remembered.”
“Trixie didn’t say anything,” Suzanne said thoughtfully. “I wonder if somehow she knew this spell doesn’t have a usage limit on it.”
“Maybe,” Maddie said. But Trixie hadn’t seemed to know about the restrictions placed on the Tell the Truth spell. Or had she? Perhaps it had been part of Maddie’s journey to discover that for herself.
“Mrrow?” Trixie asked, lying across the sofa cushions as if she were sunbathing, even though it was nighttime. She didn’t look concerned at all.
“I know why you didn’t come with us, Trix.” Suzanne smiled. “You knew there wouldn’t be a problem using the spell, didn’t you?”
Trixie looked up at them, totally innocent, as if she didn’t know what they were talking about. But Maddie noticed her whiskers twitching, as if she were trying not to giggle.
Did cats laugh? Had Maddie imagined the movement of Trixie’s whiskers? She filed that thought away.
Suzanne checked her watch. “I guess I better go home.”
“Do you want to stay over?” Maddie offered.
Suzanne looked tempted, then shook her head. “No, I should go home. I’ll see you two tomorrow.”
“Who should we visit after the morning rush?” Maddie asked as she and Trixie walked Suzanne to the front door.
“Let’s see.” Suzanne counted on her fingers. “We still have Grandma Pat and Kevin to talk to.”
“Why don’t we visit Kevin?” Maddie suggested.
“Good idea.” Suzanne snapped her fingers. “I know! We could say we’re thinking of hiring an accountant to do our taxes.”
“Genius!” Maddie smiled.
“Mrrow!” Trixie looked like she approved.
Suzanne handled the book keeping and their taxes, but Maddie had been meaning to check that it wasn’t becoming too much of a burden, now that Suzanne was also in charge of creating health balls and they’d decided to get serious about expanding the business.
Maddie and Trixie said goodnight to Suzanne, then watched her drive off down the road.
“I guess it’s bedtime, Trix.”
Trixie padded beside Maddie as she brushed her teeth and got ready for bed. As the Persian curled up beside her, Maddie wondered if tomorrow they would come closer to discovering who the murderer was.
CHAPTER 9
“The health balls are ready to go!” Suzanne put a large plate of apricot balls on the counter, then opened up the serving hatch.
Yesterday, after Ramon had visited them, Maddie had helped her shop for the ingredients, and acted as her assistant as Suzanne made them.
They’d already discussed leaving the truck parked at the town square when they went to visit Kevin in Redbud Glen. Instead of walking to work, Suzanne had driven her little sporty red car, announcing there was plenty of room for Maddie and Trixie.
“Mrrow!” Trixie looked at Suzanne with approval.
“These should help our bottom line,” Suzanne said, as she greeted their first customer and urged him to try a health ball.
One hour later, they had time to catch their breath. The plate of treats had been depleted – to Suzanne’s satisfaction.
“I must get more organized,” Suzanne murmured as she arranged the last of the health balls in a tempting fashion. “Imagine if we could sell this many every morning – we’d make at least an extra one hundred and fifty dollars per week!”
“You’re right,” Maddie said, nursing a mocha. “Especially with closing the truck yesterday – I know it was necessary,” she added hastily. “The most important thing is clearing your name.”
“Our name.” Suzanne touched Maddie’s arm.
“Mrrow!”
“And then we can seriously think about expanding our business,” Suzanne continued.
“Definitely.” Maddie grinned at Suzanne.
“Hi, Maddie.” An attractive male voice greeted her.
Luke!
Suzanne’s brother stood at the counter. Tall, with auburn hair and green eyes, he’d been taking Maddie’s breath away for years.
“Hi,” she said a little shyly, which she thought was ridiculous.
“Mrrow,” Trixie said playfully, sitting up straight on her stool.
“Hi, Trixie.” He smiled at the cat. “Hi, sis.”
“Want your usual?” Suzanne said, her fingers poised on the register. “Two health balls and a regular latte?”
“Sure. But that’s not why I stopped by. I came to check you and Maddie were okay.”
“We are,” Maddie and Suzanne said in unison.
Maddie couldn’t keep her eyes off him. Luke wore an indigo t-shirt and jeans, his tall, muscular frame filling out his clothes nicely.
“Why don’t I make your coffee, and you and Maddie can chat,” Suzanne offered with a giggle, shooing Maddie away from the espresso machine.
“Thanks.” Maddie gave her friend a grateful smile.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to come over here yesterday,” Luke said. “I’ve been slammed at work lately.”
“I know,” Maddie said softly. Luke ran a classic vehicle restoration business and had he
lped them turn the old truck Maddie and Suzanne had purchased into Brewed from the Bean.
“I could come over tonight.” He studied Maddie’s expression as he waited for her answer.
“Okay.” Maddie knew her cheeks had turned pink – she just hoped they weren’t flaming red.
“Mrrow!” Trixie looked pleased at the idea.
“Then it’s a date.” He smiled at Maddie and her heart turned over. “Eight o’clock okay?”
“Perfect.”
“Here you go.” Suzanne placed his order on the counter. “One latte and two apricot balls.”
“Thanks.” He picked up the coffee and treats. “You two be careful.”
“We will,” Suzanne replied.
“I’ll see you tonight, Maddie.” Luke smiled at her and she stopped breathing for a second.
Maddie watched him walk across the square, belatedly realizing Suzanne had asked her a question.
“What’s on tonight?” Suzanne repeated, a questioning smile on her face.
“Luke’s coming over,” Maddie replied.
“Good. So we better visit Kevin as soon as possible so you’ll have plenty of time to get ready.”
“Suzanne! He’s only coming over to my place. We’re not having dinner – or going out.” But she’d already started thinking of possible outfits to wear. And Luke wasn’t coming over for dinner – was he? No. He would have said something if that had been on his mind.
“I think you’ll have to give him a super strong signal that you’re ready for … you know.” Suzanne waggled her eyebrows.
“Mrrow?” Trixie stared at Suzanne’s moving eyebrows.
“Kissing, Trixie. Maddie wants Luke to kiss her.”
“Suzanne!”
“Mrrow.” Trixie seemed to nod her head in agreement.
Maddie peered out of the serving hatch but thankfully there weren’t any customers in sight. Then she frowned.
“Is it me or do we usually have more customers around this time?”
“It’s not you.” Suzanne sighed. “Maybe we’ve lost some temporarily to Claudine.”
“I can’t believe you just said that.”
“I know.” Suzanne made a face. “Unless people are home sick or—” she snapped her fingers. “Yep. That’s what it is. People who went to Claudine’s at lunch time yesterday got sick from whatever they ate or drank there.”
“You can’t say things like that!” Maddie frowned at her friend.
“Even if there’s a possibility it might be true?”
“I think it might be wishful thinking on your part,” Maddie said, although she wondered if Suzanne’s statement had a ring of truth to it.
“Well, they’ll be wishing they hadn’t visited Claudine’s!” Suzanne’s ponytail swished. She closed up the serving hatch. “Since we don’t have any customers at the moment, we might as well get going to Redbud Glen and visit Kevin.”
“Okay.” Maddie acquiesced. “But maybe I should do a Coffee Vision spell first.”
“Good idea!”
Maddie made a latte. She stared at the surface. Clearing her mind, she whispered, “Show me.”
The foam swirled, then cleared. She, Trixie, and Suzanne stood outside an accountant’s office.
“Well?” Suzanne asked impatiently.
“It looks like we’ll be visiting Kevin’s office.”
“I knew it!”
It was good to see Suzanne so lively this morning and back to her old self.
They locked the truck and hopped into Suzanne’s car, Trixie sitting in the back.
“Let’s go!” Suzanne started the engine and they drove through Estherville until they reached the highway.
Forty-five minutes later, they arrived in Redbud Glen.
“How are we going to find Kevin?” Maddie asked. “We should have looked him up in the phone book or online before we left the town square.”
“I’ve got an idea.” Suzanne grinned. “We can visit Bob, see how he’s doing, and then ask him for Kevin’s address. He won’t be able to refuse, since we’re considering hiring Kevin.”
“Good thinking.” Maddie shook her head in admiration. “It’s just a shame we didn’t think to visit Kevin yesterday when we visited Bob and Genevieve.”
“I know,” Suzanne agreed. “But we mightn’t have gotten back to Estherville until four, and would have missed out on those after lunch customers.”
“True.” Maddie nodded.
Suzanne pulled up outside Bob’s café.
“It looks busier today,” Suzanne observed.
A stout matron opened the door and walked in, and through the large glass windows, Maddie could see a few customers sitting at tables.
“I’m glad,” Maddie replied, getting out of the car and reaching in for Trixie.
She clipped on the Persian’s harness and they walked into the shop.
As they entered, Maddie detected the aroma of dark roasted coffee, which made her mouth water.
A few tables were occupied with people eating pastries and drinking what Maddie assumed to be coffee, even though it was only nine-thirty a.m.
“Now I’m getting hungry,” Suzanne whispered to Maddie. “And I had a big breakfast!”
“I know what you mean,” Maddie said ruefully.
“Hi, girls.” Bob looked up from the espresso machine, a surprised expression on his face. “Two visits in two days?”
“You can’t keep us away,” Suzanne said cheerfully.
“Actually, we came to ask you where Kevin works,” Maddie put in. “We’re thinking of hiring an accountant and—”
“Since we met him at the party, we thought we’d check him out,” Suzanne finished.
“Sure.” Bob looked pleased. “He works down the street – it’s not far from here. It’s a small office with his name on the door – Kevin Alton. He’s been doing my taxes for years.”
“Thanks,” Suzanne said. She looked around the café. “How’s business? It looks okay right now.”
“You’re right.” Bob nodded. “I’ve already had more people in today than I did for the whole of yesterday. So either yesterday was just an extra slow day or people have decided to come back.”
“That must be a relief,” Maddie said.
“You bet.” Bob grinned.
Two more customers walked in, the creak of the door alerting Maddie.
“We don’t want to keep you,” Maddie said.
“No problem,” Bob said.
They waved goodbye, Trixie leading the way back to the car.
“Oh, look, it’s a cat,” Maddie heard a customer say to her companion as the trio exited the café.
“We might as well drive down the road until we find Kevin’s office,” Suzanne said, hopping into the driver’s seat.
“Mrrow,” Trixie said, as if agreeing with her.
“I’m sure it wouldn’t be too far for Trixie to walk,” Maddie said, wondering if she and Trixie were becoming a little lazy. Was Suzanne as well?
“No, but it’s too far for me!” Suzanne turned the key in the ignition.
Maddie shook her head as Suzanne drove down the street.
“This is it!” Suzanne slowed down. A white storefront with navy lettering proclaiming Kevin Alton CPA greeted Maddie’s eyes.
“It looks just like it did in my vision, and there’s a parking spot.” Maddie pointed in front of her.
“Perfect.” Suzanne parked the car, and turned off the engine.
“What are we going to say to him?” Maddie asked. “Apart from sounding him out about doing our taxes.”
“We’ll think of something.” Suzanne waved a hand in the air. Then her eyes narrowed. “But if he accuses me of being the murderer again he’ll be sorry.”
“Don’t let him upset you.”
“I’ll try not to.” Suzanne shook her head as if to clear it.
“Do you want to stay in the car while Trixie and I go in?” Maddie offered. “Or Trixie could stay here with you, if you like.”
“Mrrow.” Trixie looked at Suzanne in concern.
“Thanks, you two, but I’m fine – or I will be.” Suzanne summoned a smile. “I’m not going to let that man get to me. I think facing him is the best thing I can do – especially with you and Trixie by my side.”
“Mrrow!” Trixie nodded her head.
“Okay.” Maddie got out of the car and helped Trixie out.
They walked into the office, a small bell over the door tinkling as they entered.
A tiny reception desk, two visitor chairs, and a few magazines on a coffee table greeted them. The décor was beige and cream.
“Boring,” Suzanne muttered to Maddie.
Maddie sent her a warning look, but didn’t think her friend took any notice.
“Thank you, Kevin,” an older female’s voice floated out of the inner office.
Maddie and Suzanne stared at each other – was that Grandma Pat?
It was. She walked out of the inner office, looking surprised as she caught sight of them.
“Well now, what are you two – three,” she amended as she noticed Trixie, “doing here?” The senior wore a pink pants suit with a matching pink cane.
“We’re looking for an accountant.” Suzanne beamed at the elderly woman, as if she didn’t have a worry in the world. “What are you doing here, Grandma Pat?”
“Talking to Kevin about my finances,” Grandma Pat answered. “Since he’s good friends with my Bob, I assume he won’t rip me off.”
Maddie’s eyes widened as she heard the eighty-something lady use such a modern phrase.
“Good thinking,” Suzanne said.
“I’m sure you didn’t kill that unpleasant girl, Suzanne.” Grandma Pat sounded sincere.
“Thanks.” Suzanne’s guard dropped for a second and she looked grateful for the show of support.
“Bob assured me he’s still going ahead with his business plans with Jill,” Grandma Pat continued. “Jill seems like a very nice girl. We had a chance to talk more after – what happened. I think she’s good for Bob.”
Maddie tried to hid her amusement at the senior calling a forty-year-old woman a “girl”.
