“Kiss me,” I instruct and Jasper’s lips curl as he does just that. “How’s the case?” I ask as we part ways.
Jasper’s chest expands as he glowers at the wall behind me. Jasper stands well over six feet, and both his thick, glossy, black hair and his gray, lucent eyes are well worth mentioning again. He also happens to be the lead homicide detective down in Seaview County, and at the moment he’s working on the case of a missing woman from Edison, a seedy town not too far from Cider Cove. That poor woman’s face is plastered all over Coastal Maine in hopes that someone will have a clue as to what happened to her.
He shakes his head. “It’s not going well. There’s not a trace of the woman. But according to forensics, there were traces of blood in the motel room she was last seen heading into.”
“I’m sorry. That’s terrible. Hopefully, tonight’s festivities can take your mind off of things for a while.” Jasper has been working around-the-clock with the rest of the division trying to figure out what may have gone wrong.
The missing woman, Anita Dolman, is in her late twenties, just like me, and for that reason alone I find this case haunting. It could have been anyone who went missing that day. It could have been me. It certainly doesn’t help that the picture of her that’s been circulating through town looks as if she could be my sister’s twin.
I shudder just as a couple of happy-go-lucky women head our way.
“Get a room, would you?” Georgie Conner, a sweet and wild hippy that refuses to grow up, skips this way in a colorful pink and purple kaftan. That flowing dress just so happens to be her signature staple. I should know. Georgie has been in my life for as long as I can remember. And the woman by her side with the brassy blonde hair and same devilish gleam in her eyes is her daughter, Juniper Moonbeam, otherwise known as Juni.
Juni was one of my father’s wives way back when. I like to tease that I got Georgie in the divorce. In fact, Georgie rents a cottage from me behind the inn. She’s an eighty-something-year-old artist who specializes in mosaics. She’s wrapping up a block-long mosaic project right on Main Street as a part of the Cider Cove Beautification Project.
“Great news, kids.” Georgie points a crooked finger at us. Her hair is a scraggly gray mane with curls and twirls that ride down past her shoulders, and her lips are coated with a shock of pink lipstick that matches her flirty accouterment. “Mayor Woods just announced the official celebration of the Cider Cove Beautification Project reveal, and she wants the inn to cater cookies for the event.”
“That’s great,” I say. “I’ll take any business we can get.”
Juni waves it off. Juni is essentially a younger version of her mother, but instead of flowing dresses, her wardrobe seems to involve a lot more leather and lace.
“Forget about all that noise.” Juni leans in. “We’ve got a bachelorette party to throw a certain someone, if you know what I mean.”
“No.” I shake my head as I glance to Jasper. “We’ve actually both decided we’re going to forgo any raunchy parties. We’re thinking about doing something together, like hosting a bonfire at the cove. Just something simple with our fully clothed friends.” I glide my arm around his waist and give his rock-hard body a squeeze.
Juni belts out a husky laugh. “You just try to stop us, Bizzy Baker.” She links her arm with her mother’s. “Come on, hot mama. Rumor has it, this place is crawling with men who wield a magic wand. I say we find a couple and see if we can’t get them to perform a disappearing act with us.”
Georgie hoots as they take off. “Ten bucks says one of them will end up in my cottage.”
“Wait,” I call out. “You forgot to tell me the date of the Cider Cove Beautification Project celebration!”
Georgie turns her head my way. “Last Saturday of the month!”
“Last Saturday of the month?” I scoff as I look to Jasper.
“That’s our wedding day.” His brows bounce with amusement.
I nod. “And something tells me that’s exactly why Mayor Woods chose it.”
I take a deep breath and sigh as a steady stream of people head into the ballroom to help set up tonight’s big show.
That dark, unsettled feeling takes over once again.
Let’s hope this entire month goes off without a hitch.
Something tells me it won’t.
Chapter 2
The ballroom at the Country Cottage Inn is a mammoth dance hall with heavy paisley carpeting and rows and rows of chandeliers that skip across the ceiling. And tonight, it just so happens to be almost filled to capacity. The air holds the scent of freshly brewed coffee and vanilla rich blondie bars, an illegal combination if ever there was one. A blondie is essentially a brownie minus the cocoa powder. It’s every bit as soft and chewy—not to mention it has white chocolate chips sprinkled throughout to take it to the next delicious level.
When McKenna mentioned she was going to have a big wedding, I had no idea it would be a blowout. I didn’t think to ask her how many people would be in attendance since the wedding itself is out on the cliffside gazebo and the reception will be out on the sand. She’s taking care of the tables and the chairs with the rental company I recommended, so that wasn’t a worry either. But I’ll have to make sure the Cottage Café gets a hard number if we plan on feeding all of these people.
The mood in the ballroom is lively. And across the front of the room hangs a large banner that reads a night of magic and mayhem, and I can’t help but frown at the mayhem part.
I’m holding Fish in my arms, and Sherlock is milling around by my side. But now that I see how congested this magic show is going to be, I’m thinking I probably should have left them back at my cottage for their own safety.
The front of the ballroom has been transformed into a stage with large black curtains set up that run about twenty feet across and just that high. A few tables are set out with cones and rings on them. There’s a coffin to the left, and just looking at it gives me the chills.
I can’t help it. Cider Cove has had its fair share of homicides over the last year. But that coffin is not what’s giving me the biggest chill. It’s that oversized acrylic box of water—a glorified dunk tank—that stands about ten feet tall and six feet wide.
It’s nothing that should frighten me, seeing that I’ll be climbing into it over my dead body. But I just so happen to have a very strong aversion to a body of water of any size. I’ve got a handful of quirks, and that’s one of them.
“Bizzy Baker.” A girl who just so happens to share my long dark hair and pale blue eyes twirls in front of me with another platter of fresh baked blondie bars. She just so happens to be my very best friend, too.
“Emmie Crosby.” I follow her to the refreshment table already brimming with enough platters of blondie bars to feed a small island nation. “These blondies, coupled with the scent of coffee, is a combination to die for.”
Emmie grimaces in my direction. “Careful what you say. We don’t exactly have the best track record as far as keeping our guests alive.”
“Good point.” I lift a blondie bar her way as if I was toasting her.
Emmie and I have been best friends since birth. We not only look like sisters, but we just so happen to share the same first name, Elizabeth. So in an effort to stave off a lifetime of confusion, we opted to go by the nicknames our families gifted us—Bizzy and Emmie.
“So are you going to do it?” She butts her shoulder to mine. “Are you ditching the Baker surname? Am I going to have to get used to calling you Bizzy Wilder?”
A dark-haired man with a wily gleam in his eye pops up beside her.
“Inquiring minds want to know.” He grins my way.
“Hello, Leo,” I say, shooting him a wry smile.
Leo Granger is a deputy down at the Seaview Sheriff’s Department. He and Jasper were pretty good friends once themselves, until Leo snatched Jasper’s fiancée away. But they’ve since patched things up again.
And Leo just so happens to be telesensual like m
e. A rarity, but that’s actually how and why we met. That was ages ago, and we’ve come to terms with our shared mind-reading conundrum. The one person who hasn’t come to terms with it—because she doesn’t know about it—is my sweet bestie. I just don’t know why I haven’t told her after all these years. And to be honest, I’m terrified of what her response will be.
Leo has already told me that he plans on sharing his odd-ball talent with her one day. And judging by the way their relationship seems to be intensifying, that day will be here sooner than I’ll know how to deal with it. I’ve already resolved to tell her about my supernatural quirk right along with Leo. But don’t think for a minute I’m not dreading it.
“Well?” Emmie’s eyes bulge a moment. “Will you be a Wilder or not?”
“I really haven’t decided.” I cringe as Fish purrs in the crook of my arm.
Sherlock gives a little bark. Can I have a cookie, Bizzy? I won’t tell Jasper. You have my word.
Leo laughs as he gives Sherlock a scratch over the head.
“Someone is hungry.” He gives an amused smile my way. Leo can read the minds of animals just as easily as I can.
Emmie breaks off a piece of her blondie. “There’s no chocolate in it. And it’s just a bite.” She winces. “Don’t rat me out to Jasper, Mrs. Wilder.”
Emmie and Leo belt out a laugh as if it were comical.
“Mrs. Wilder.” A sly grin takes over my face as well. “I love it. But I do love Baker, too.” I scowl down at the blondie bar in my hand. “The fact I’m a natural disaster in the kitchen should make me want to ditch my old surname. Maybe I should ditch Baker. Who knows? My baking might actually improve.”
They share another laugh on my behalf as Leo takes Emmie by the hand.
“Come on,” he says, nodding for Sherlock to follow him as well. “Let’s go check out this paraphernalia they’ve got laid out. It looks pretty wicked.”
Emmie waggles her brows his way. It looks pretty kinky. Hey? Who knows? Tonight’s show might just give us a few naughty ideas.
An ear-to-ear grin spreads over Leo’s face as they head in that direction, and I can’t help but frown as I bend my lips to Fish’s ear.
“It’s not fair that he knows what she’s thinking,” I whisper.
Fish meows just as soft. It’s not fair Sherlock traded us for Emmie and her blondie bar.
“But not surprising,” I say.
I hike up on the balls of my feet and crane my neck into the crowd. I spot Georgie and Juni up front getting tangled in the hoops and ropes set out. I’m pretty sure they shouldn’t be touching those, but I learned a long time ago there’s no point in telling them what to do.
A couple catches my eye. A tall man with dark hair and a blonde in a pale blue dress.
It’s Julian, the magician—or mystic as he referred to himself when McKenna introduced us this afternoon. He’s standing just to the left of the curtain, and whoever that waif of a blonde he’s trying to coerce, well, she doesn’t look as if she’s buying whatever it is he’s selling. In fact, she looks red-faced and angry. And if I’m not mistaken, she seems to be shouting at him. The woman gives him a hard shove to the chest before stalking off in this direction, and he glares at her as if he were equally angry.
“Bizzy!” a friendly voice calls from the right, and it’s McKenna holding the world’s most adorable fluffy gray kitten. Well, the world’s next most adorable kitten, considering I’ve got Fish, but the closer they get, it’s obvious Fish and this sweet kitty tie for first.
“Hey, McKenna! Hello, Misty,” I say just as the irate blonde whizzes by, and McKenna catches her by the wrist, almost sending the kitten flying out of her arms.
“Whoa,” McKenna pulls the girl in, and I can see the strong family resemblance right away. “Bizzy, this is my baby sister, Michaela.”
“Nice to meet you, Michaela,” I say, and I can’t help but note the frustration still lingering on her features. “Is everything okay?” I glance back to where Julian was standing, but he’s nowhere to be found.
Michaela swallows hard. “It’s just great. My big sister is getting married.” She takes a breath as if forcing herself to cool off. “If you don’t mind, I need to catch a breath of fresh air before the lights go out in here.” She stalks off before McKenna can stop her.
“Sorry.” McKenna shrugs. “She’s been a bit moody all week. My aunt thinks she’s jealous of all the attention I’m getting.” She laughs as if it were silly. “How’s your sister, Macy, doing? I can’t wait to see her again.”
“She’s here somewhere. Or at least she should be. And she’s as cheeky as ever. She’s thrilled I’m getting married because that means more men for her. And that’s a direct quote.” True as gospel. “She’s still a bona fide man-eater, even though she’s got a quasi-boyfriend out in Vermont—a place called Honey Hollow. Considering they both like to play the field, that whole distance thing is working out for them.”
McKenna laughs at the thought. “You know what they say, every pot has a lid.” Something catches her attention. “Ooh, speaking of which.” She plucks someone over by the sleeve, and soon a tall, barrel-chested man with dark red hair and smiling eyes joins us. And by his side is a drop-dead gorgeous Siberian husky. “Bizzy, this is my fiancé, Caleb Reed, and his boy, Lucky.”
“Aw! Hello, Caleb. So nice to finally meet you. And nice to meet you, too,” I say, giving the happy looking pup a quick pat and he vocalizes a contented groan. He’s a bit taller than Sherlock, stockier and fluffier, too, and his blue eyes look as if someone colored them in with a crayon—they’re just that bright.
Pretty people. I love pretty people. He gives Fish a quick sniff. Pretty kitty. Let’s play. I bet I can fit you right inside my mouth. He barks right at her and she gives a tiny hiss.
Back off, Jacko. She swipes his way. I’ve got a Sherlock Bones around here somewhere—and he’s willing to protect me. I think.
Jacko?
I shake my head as I look to my old friend. “Well, I think you’re the lucky one, McKenna. You scored not one handsome man but two. You’ve got quite a turnout here.”
Caleb gives a wishful shake of the head. “I’m afraid they’re all not here for us. Julian has quite the following. He’s a bit of a celebrity in whatever enchanted realm it is he’s living in.”
We laugh at the thought just as Caleb waves over a couple of men.
“Bizzy, I’d love for you to meet a few of my groomsmen,” Caleb says as he holds out a hand to the men before us. “This is my brother, Zeke.” He points to the one who shares his sharp features and dark crimson hair.
Zeke holds out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Bizzy. I apologize for everything that’s about to take place from this moment until after the cleanup committee goes home the day after the wedding.”
A laugh bounces from me. “Don’t apologize. McKenna is one of my oldest friends, and I won’t hold a thing against her.”
Caleb points to the dark-haired gentleman on the end.
“And this is my old college buddy, Archie Alden.” Caleb shoots the tall man with a crooked nose with his fingers. He has olive skin and an overall handsome appeal. I’m betting Macy zeros in on him sooner than later. “Arch knows where all the bodies are buried.”
Another burst of laughter erupts from our small circle.
Archie lifts his hands as if he were being held at gunpoint. “Not true. These two have never included me in their homicidal shenanigans. Besides, it’s Julian who’s the troublemaker.”
Speak of the devil. Julian pokes his head between the men I just met.
“Did someone call my name?” He breaks out into a giant grin, and he’s all teeth and a leftover summer tan.
“Ah, here he is”—Zeke loses the jovial expression on his face—“anyone in need of a charlatan? We’ve got one at a discount.”
Julian’s smile dissipates as well. “Zeke. Always a pleasure.”
Archie chuckles. “Everything’s a pleasure when you don’t
mind mowing others down in life.”
Julian nods his way. Spoken like the true two-bit magician he is.
“Is everyone ready to take their seats?” Julian takes a deep breath, his eyes hardening over our small circle. “I hear the water is getting cold. I’d hate to meet with an icy death.” He winks my way before elbowing Zeke and Archie in the ribs. “Help me with the last-minute details, would you?”
They take off and McKenna touches Misty’s pink nose to Fish’s.
“We’d better get to our seats,” she says as they take off with Lucky hopping along behind them.
Jasper steps in and heads my way just as the lights begin to dim.
“Where were you?” I say as he lands a kiss to my lips.
“I got a call from the station. I thought they might have had a break in the Anita Dolman case, but no such luck.”
“I’m sorry to hear it. Hopefully this show will help lighten your mood, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll take you back to my place and give it my best shot.”
His lips curve with dangerous intent—and it’s my favorite look on him.
“Expect me at your place regardless.” He lands a kiss to my lips. “I’ll let you give it a shot all night long if you want.”
A laugh bounces from me. “Three weeks from now, that all-nighter of a party will never stop.”
“Can’t wait.”
I glance to the front of the room and spot a woman with short dark hair having a rather animated conversation with Julian—and I can’t help but muse, it looks as if he’s two-for-two tonight.
One of the men I was just introduced to, Zeke, heads their way, and Julian raises his hand to him before stalking off behind the water tank.
The lights blink on and off, and Jasper and I quickly take our seats near the front next to Emmie and Leo.
Bright pink and yellow lights begin to swirl around the stage area, and soon Julian takes his position to a warm applause.
“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen.” He gives a polite nod. “Tonight, we honor two very special people as they’re about to tangle themselves in unholy matrimony.” A round of laughter ripples through the room. “I’d like to ask for an assistant from the crowd.” He stalks forward and points to a girl with short brown hair, and judging by the way her arms are folded tightly across her chest, she seems to be an unwilling participant. He takes her by the hand despite her resistant efforts and the audience breaks out into cheers.
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