“Oh, Louise.” I stifled a grin as I knelt by the side of the tub. Dale sat in a bubble bath with so many bubbles he was only visible from the neck up. He had his eyes closed and a bottle of champagne in his hand, humming a tune only audible to himself.
“I’ve never seen him like this,” she said, clasping her hands in front of her body. “He looks...so happy.”
“There she is!” Dale’s eyes flashed open at the sound of Louise’s voice. “Come in, honeypot. I’ve got the water waiting for you.”
“When I said I wanted things to go back to the way they were,” Louise whispered to me, “I meant the real Dale. This is—um, excessive.”
“Well, it looks like you somehow finagled the spell to work,” I said, peering into Dale’s eyes and seeing pupils so dilated his irises barely showed. “But don’t worry, it’s harmless. Ranger X can take care of him in two seconds when he gets here.”
“Take care of what?” A voice rolled through the doorway, deep and dark and intimidating.
“Hey there, X.” I popped to my feet and extended my hand for a shake. The man was handsome and smart, and a perfect fit for Lily. “We need an antidote for this guy. Think you can help us out?”
“What’s wrong with him?” X asked. “And why is he naked?”
“Love spell.”
“I’m out of here,” he growled, giving me a look of sheer disappointment. “I thought this was an emergency. Lily said something about a theft?”
“Long story,” I said. “Can you get a Healer over here to fix him up?”
Ranger X grimaced and backed out of the room. “I don’t know how you girls find this much trouble wherever you go.”
“We’re experts,” I said with a wink.
By this time, the rest of the group had appeared. I ushered everyone out of the bathroom to give Dale his lovesick privacy until the Healer arrived, and quickly explained the story to Lily and Midge. The rests of the guests must have heard the commotion, sidling out of their rooms and eavesdropping on the three of us.
“Please don’t press charges,” Louise pleaded. “Or whatever it is you people do. I swear, I just wanted to impress my husband. I didn’t know the book was valuable. I’ll pay you for it—I’ll…I’ll wash dishes. Name it.”
“Or, I can take the book off your hands,” Dr. Ramshakin offered to Midge. “Name your price.”
“It’s not for sale,” Midge said shortly. “The rest of you may return to your business. This has been sorted out, and I thank you for your cooperation. Meals are on me for the remainder of your stays.”
Mr. Bill stood, giving Hettie a wink and blowing a kiss.
“What’s your story, anyway?” Lily demanded. “We know you don’t need a cane, and you can hear just fine.”
“Sometimes if I pretend to be older than my years,” Mr. Bill said, leaning seductively close to Lily’s grandmother, “the young’uns like Hettie here show more interest. They think I’m closer to leaving them all my money when I croak.”
“That’s horrible,” Hettie tittered, fanning herself. “But do you really think I’m a young’un?”
“If you ever want to have dinner again, you let me know.”
With that, Mr. Bill disappeared, and Lily fixed her grandmother with a stare.
“Don’t you even think about it, Hettie,” Lily said. “There’s something wrong with that man. Also, you’re not young.”
Hettie scowled.
“Maybe stubborn,” Lily conceded. “But you passed young a few years back.”
“Why shouldn’t I press charges?” Midge asked Louise, returning us to the trouble of the afternoon. “You stole my book, ruined a day at the inn, and put your husband in a silly trance.”
“I...” Louise had tears streaming down her face. “I love him. I saw the beautiful flowers you created, and I thought just maybe, if I could create beauty the way you did, and show my husband, then maybe he’d be impressed. I don’t know, I just wanted him to fall in love with me all over again.”
“What were you fighting about?” Lily asked.
“I had snuck away to watch Midge practice,” she said. “And I didn’t want to tell him where I’d gone. He was annoyed and thought I was keeping secrets. I mean, I guess I was, but it was for him.”
“I’m not going to press charges,” Midge said. “Under one condition.”
“Anything,” Louise said. “Whatever you ask.”
“Just be yourself,” Midge said with a bigger smile. “Your husband married you for who you are. Who you were—magic or no magic. Don’t try and become something you’re not.”
“Thank you, Midge,” Louise said, her eyes widening. “I promise—I’ll try.”
“Good. Then, come back here for a real honeymoon once you’ve straightened things out.”
“Oh, thank you,” Louise said, bending down to hug the tiny innkeeper. “Thank you, thank you, Midge.”
By the time the Healer arrived to reverse the spell on Dale, the rest of us had migrated down to the dining room to give Louise and her husband some privacy. Judging by the smiles on their faces when they joined us for a nightcap later in the evening, they’d sorted a few issues out and were on their way to a happier ever after.
I glanced around at the room, finding Hettie and Lily whispering to one another, recently joined by Lily’s cousin’s Zin—the first female Ranger in training—and Poppy, the blood intolerant vampire.
V basked in their attention, satisfied that he’d successfully thwarted our girls’ weekend and weaseled his way into our plans. Then again, it was hard to be terribly mad, seeing as the cat’s shenanigans had led us to retrieving the manuscript successfully.
“To a girls’ weekend,” Hettie said, raising her glass of wine. “And to successfully getting arrested for the first time.”
“You didn’t get arrested,” I pointed out to Hettie. “We barely questioned you.”
“Also, you’ve been arrested before,” Poppy said. “I found your file in Ranger HQ. You have a naughty past, Hettie.”
“Ooops,” Hettie said, a surprising blush on her cheeks. “Rewind. Let’s save those stories until you’re older and try this again. Here’s to a weekend with the girls and no arrests!”
The rest of us raised our glasses and clinked, and when nobody else was looking, I poured a little milk into a martini glass for V. The cat and I had a rivalry going on, but I guess somewhere underneath, he had my back, and I had his.
“But, if you even think about eating my fish,” I warned him while scratching the cat’s ears, “I’m turning you into a worm.”
About the Authors
Thank you for reading Seven Pets for Seven Witches. We hope that you enjoyed the stories contained in this anthology. If you would like to read more from the contributing authors, please visit them below.
Annabel Chase
Amy Boyles
H.Y. Hanna
Morgana Best
M.Z. Andrews
Molly Milligan
Gina LaManna
Seven Pets for Seven Witches: A Collection of Paranormal Cozy Shorts Page 24
