by Morgana Best
When dinner was finished and Aunt Agnes was assured that Lucas wasn’t going to leave me, the inebriated aunts cleared the table, and Breena ran out with a cooking apron trailing from her mouth. I recognized the apron at once. It belonged to Euphemia Jones. The poor woman had tried to dress the cottage she was renting with Irish moss and cushions, which my aunt had stolen, and she had tried to make herself feel more at home by buying an apron, which Breena had just stolen.
Lucas and I slipped into the hammock and cuddled up together as we discussed Euphemia’s very bad time in Lighthouse Bay. I had newly discovered that being kidnapped is an excellent excuse to get away with not doing the dishes. It was hard to focus on Euphemia and stolen Irish moss when Lucas smelt so good, like tobacco and whiskey and soap.
Privately I wondered how Lucas smelt like tobacco when he didn’t smoke, but as he smelt so wonderful, I didn’t ever plan on asking him. Instead I sighed, and snuggled back into him as he wrapped his arms around me. Together we watched as Breena buried the apron beneath the lavenders.
“I really should talk Aunt Dorothy into wearing glasses,” I muttered after the sun had set and the warm summer evening came alive with the sound of delirious crickets.
“But it’s so much fun watching her yell at the watering can because she thinks the watering can is Breena and has been leaving snakeskins at the back door to scare her,” Lucas protested.
“Maybe it was the watering can?” I asked. “It does look rather naughty.”
“That’s because you stuck googly eyes on it and then drew in some very angry eyebrows.”
“True.”
The aunts were singing in the kitchen now. Aunt Maude had put on an old Cary Grant film, My Favourite Wife, and now they were taking swigs out of a tequila bottle as they drooled over Mr Grant. I thought about taking the tequila away from them. The last time the aunts drank tequila instead of Witches’ Brew, they ended up nude and dancing along Mr Carpenter’s stone fence. The neighbour didn’t seem to mind, although his wife did very much, and I barely had enough money to spring one aunt from jail, let alone three.
I don’t know what Aunt Agnes was so worried about; if they were not going to scare away Lucas, then I hardly was.
My teeth chattered. Lucas took off his jacket and tucked it around me like a blanket. “We can go inside,” he said then.
I thought of Cary Grant being effortlessly debonair, and remembered the wild crush I’d had on him as a child. But Cary Grant was a dream, while Lucas was real, sitting beside me with all that warmth peeling off his golden skin. I shook my head but said nothing.
“You want me to get you anything?” Lucas slipped off my sandals and began to rub my feet. He was being so sweet and gentle, I didn’t have the heart to tell him I was desperately ticklish.
“No,” I squeaked.
I bit the inside of my mouth to stop from bursting out with hysterical laughter. I closed my eyes. The last time anyone tickled me they ended up in hospital with a concussion.
Now Lucas had taken my whole entire left foot in his hands and was rubbing even harder. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Completely fine,” I lied. Men like taking care of the people they love, and I couldn’t bear to see his sweet, handsome face crumple with embarrassment if I told him to stop.
“I don’t mean to annoy you, but are you sure?” His tone was friendly, but his eyes narrowed with suspicion. He dug his thumb into the arch of my foot and for a moment the ticklishness stopped. The stronger pressure made the ticklish jolts shooting up my leg disappear.
“I didn’t mean to scare you today,” I said, letting out a sharp exhale. He’d gone back to the light touch again.
He shrugged and flashed a cheeky grin at me. “You didn’t ask to get kidnapped.”
“True.”
I tried to pull my foot back, but he held on tightly. “This spot is so tense. Is this a spot that’s been bugging you?”
“Not that spot,” I giggled, but it was too late.
All of a sudden my leg took on a mind of its own and kicked forward. My foot smacked Lucas in the nose and he toppled backwards off the seat. He howled with shock as the aunts came running, wobbly, from the house. Aunt Dorothy ended up running straight into the fishpond, but Aunt Agnes and Aunt Maude managed to make it across the garden without crashing into anything.
“Are you hurt?” Aunt Agnes asked, clutching at Lucas.
“Never mind Lucas,” Aunt Maude cried. “Fish Dorothy out of the fishpond, would you?”
Agnes wobbled away muttering as Lucas looked at me through narrowed eyes. “Never mind Lucas? Oh, yeah—never mind the guy you just roundhouse kicked in the face!” He pinched the bridge of his nose.
I stammered. “Is it broken?”
“Don’t know.”
“I’ll get the tequila,” Aunt Maude said.
“Tequila won’t help me,” Lucas replied.
Aunt Maude shook her head. “It’s not for you, boy. It’s for me.”
I crouched next to Lucas who was still sprawled on the ground clutching his nose. Everyone was terribly concerned. Except for Breena, naturally, who sat purring on the garden fence as she licked her paws.
I brushed my hand through his soft, thick hair. “I’m so sorry. I’m really ticklish.”
“I just worked that one out for myself. Thanks.” He frowned, but I could tell he wasn’t angry. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you were so sweet giving me a foot rub. Promise you’re okay, and that you’re not mad at me. Promise you’re not going to dump me for a non-ticklish girl with a proper bosom and three normal aunts and a cat who is really a person?”
Lucas smiled. “I promise.”
I settled next to him on the ground. “You’re very sure?”
“What can I say?” He took away his hand and smiled at me. “I’m used to you knocking me off my feet.”
Next Book In This Series
Witches’ Cat
Witches’ Cat
The mystery of Shifter cat Breena’s past is revealed.
Also by Morgana Best
Miss Spelled (The Kitchen Witch Book 1)
Amelia Spelled has had a bad week. Her boyfriend dumps her when she inadvertently gives him food poisoning. Her workplace, a telecommunications centre, fires all their staff as they are outsourcing offshore, and she is evicted due to smoke damage resulting from her failed attempts at baking. Amelia thinks her luck has changed when she inherits her estranged aunt’s store, two mysterious cats, and beautiful Victorian house.
Yet has Amelia jumped out of the frying pan into the fire? To Amelia's dismay, the store is a cake store, and she discovers that her aunt was a witch. To add to the mix, the house has secrets of its own.
When a man is murdered in the cake store, will Amelia be able to cook up a way to solve the crime? Or will her spells prove as bad as her baking?
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Broom Mates (Sea Witch Cozy Mysteries Book 1)
Goldie Bloom has four problems: her boss, her boyfriend, the fact they are the same person, and the fact that person is cheating on her.
After discovering she has inherited an old home on the Gold Coast waterfront, this murder solving Aussie sea witch packs up her collection of 5 inch stilettos and moves. She's not expecting to move in with a room mate named Persnickle, just as she was not expecting to trip over a dead body on her first day. Is she the intended victim, and can she really be arrested for drinking coffee?
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A Ghost of a Chance (Witch Woods Funeral Home Book 1)
Nobody knows that Laurel Bay can see and talk to ghosts. When she inherits a funeral home, she is forced to return from the city to the small town of Witch Woods to breathe life into the business. It is a grave responsibility, but Laurel is determined that this will be no dead-end job.
There she has to contend with her manipulative and overly religious mother, more than one ghost, and a secretive but handsome accountant.
When the murder o
f a local woman in the funeral home strangles the finances, can Laurel solve the murder?
Or will this be the death of her business?
Christmas Spirit (The Middle-aged Ghost Whisper Book 1)
Prudence Wallflower tours the country, making live appearances. She connects people with loved ones who have passed on. However, her reputation as a clairvoyant medium is failing, and even Prudence has begun to doubt herself. She has never seen a ghost, but receives impressions from the dead. This all changes when the ghost of a detective appears to her and demands her help to solve a murder. Prudence finds herself out of her depth, and to make matters worse, she is more attracted to this ghost than any man she has ever met.
Live and Let Diet (The Australian Amateur Sleuth Book 1)
NON paranormal cozy mystery
Sybil Potts moves to Little Tatterford, a small town in the middle of nowhere in Australia, seeking to find peace and quiet after the upheaval of her divorce.
Although the town is sleepy and nothing has ever happened, her arrival coincides with a murder in the property adjacent to her cottage. Sybil soon finds she is at odds with the attractive Blake Wessley, the exasperated police officer who is trying to solve the murder.
After Sibyl narrowly misses becoming the next victim, she turns her attention to the suspects. Is it the English gentleman, Mr Buttons, who serves everyone tea and cucumber sandwiches, or her landlord, Cressida Upthorpe, who is convinced that her fat cat, Lord Farringdon, speaks to her? Or is it someone else entirely?
Sweet Revenge (Cocoa Narel Chocolate Shop Mysteries, Book 1)
NON paranormal cozy mystery
Narel Myers was given the ironic name Cocoa Narel by the cruel popular kids in high school, as she was far from elegant and was obsessed with chocolate. The truth of the matter was that her love of eating chocolate had caused her to become excessively overweight. Some years later, a car wreck leads to her undergoing extensive plastic surgery on her face and body. Now that she is medically unable to gain weight, she decides to indulge her love for chocolate by opening a designer chocolate shop.
When people who bullied her at high school are murdered one by one, she becomes the prime suspect. Will she be able to prove her innocence when the police think she’s out for revenge?
Will Carl, her best friend, stop flirting with the police long enough to help her find the real killer?
SERIES BY MORGANA BEST
Witches and Wine (A fun, quirky cozy mystery series!)
1) Witches’ Brew
2) Witches’ Secrets
3) Witches’ Charms
4) Witches Magic
5) Witches’ Spells
6) Witches’ Craft
7) Witches’ Cat
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The Kitchen Witch
1) Miss Spelled
2) Dizzy Spells
3) Sit for a Spell
4) Spelling Mistake
5) Ex-Spelled
6) The Halloween Spell
7) Spellcheck
8) The Halloween Love Spell
9) Spell It Out
10) Wedding Spells
11) The Halloween Pumpkin Spell
12) Sweet Spell of Success
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Sea Witch Cozy Mysteries
1) Broom Mates (10,000 word Short)
2) Broom With A View
3) Broom For One More
4) Broomed for Success
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The Middle-aged Ghost Whisperer
1) Christmas Spirit
2) Ghost Hunter
3) There Must be a Happy Medium
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Witch Woods Funeral Home
1) A Ghost of a Chance
2) Nothing to Ghost About
3) Make the Ghost of It
4) Ghost Stories
5) Ghost Blusters
6) Give up the Ghost
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And Morgana’s non-Witch Cosy mysteries:
Cocoa Narel Chocolate Shop Mysteries
1) Sweet Revenge
2) The Sugar Hit
3) Murder Sweetly Served
4) Chocolate to Die For
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The Australian Amateur Sleuth
1) Live and Let Diet
2) Natural-Born Grillers
3) Dye Hard
4) The Prawn Identity
5) Any Given Sundae
6) The Last Mango in Paris
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AUDIO. Most of Morgana’s books are currently on Audio.
PAPERBACK. All Morgana’s books are available in Paperback.
About Morgana Best
After surviving a childhood of deadly spiders and venomous snakes in the Australian outback, bestselling author Morgana Best writes cozy mysteries and enjoys thinking of delightful new ways to murder her victims.
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www.morganabest.com
