Witching For Grace
Premonition Pointe, Book 1
Deanna Chase
Bayou Moon Press,LLC
Copyright © 2020 by Deanna Chase
Editing: Angie Ramey
Cover image: © Ravven
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals, business establishments, or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.
Bayou Moon Press, LLC
www.deannachase.com
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
About This Book
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
More Paranormal Women’s Fiction
Deanna’s Book List
About the Author
About This Book
Welcome to Premonition Pointe, where witches take care of their own.
Grace Valentine had the perfect marriage and a great career managing her husband’s real estate office. Or so she thought until three months ago when she was served with divorce papers. Thanks to her philandering ex, not only is she out of a husband, she’s out of a job, too.
At the age of forty-five with the help of her coven, Grace is ready to pick up the pieces and move on. But her only job prospect is at the rival real estate office, and it’s only for a trial run. She’ll need to prove that she can sell the haunted properties of Premonition Pointe before she’s hired permanently.
But who has time to deal with haunted houses when she’s testing out every anti-perspirant on the market to combat her escalating hot flashes, trying not to succumb to the advances of the hot thirty-four-year-old in her office, and ignoring the urges to hex her ex with erectile disfunction? Okay, maybe she doesn’t ignore the urges. She might be a witch, but she’s only human. Can Grace prove to herself and her new boss she has the magical touch to sell the impossible and find the courage get her groove back… even if her new love interest is a decade younger?
Chapter One
“Erectile dysfunction!” Joy exclaimed as she stood and raised her wine glass toward the churning ocean. Her long blond hair flowed out behind her, lifting gently on the breeze as if she were in some sort of shampoo commercial. “That’s it. That’s the curse we’re going to inflict on that no-good, two-timing jackhole.”
Grace eyed her normally even-tempered friend. She loved this new diabolical side of her and forced herself to shake off the tiny stab of jealousy that tried and failed to creep in. Joy Lansing was youthful-looking with her tall, model-thin physique and luxurious golden locks. Even at the age of forty-eight, most people guessed her to be in her early thirties. Lucky bitch. Grace on the other hand, who was five feet seven, twenty-five pounds over her goal weight, and in desperate need of coloring her silver roots to match her auburn-dyed hair, was only forty-five and had recently been given the senior citizen discount at the local dry cleaners. When she’d scoffed, the cashier just shrugged and said there were advantages to aging gracefully. Grace had instantly made a note to schedule an appointment at the spa for every treatment available to de-hag her appearance. So far she hadn’t gotten around to it.
“I don’t think Grace needs the karma that would come along with that sort of hex,” Hope said, brushing her black curls out of her dark eyes. She was the short one of the group but full of self-confidence, and she had an air about her that just made people listen when she spoke. It was part of why she was such a great event planner. Hope smirked at Joy and raised her wine glass in solidarity as she added, “But I like your style.”
Grace eyed her two closest friends, taking in their windswept appearances and glinting eyes, and decided they were brilliant. She didn’t need an ungrateful husband who’d already moved on to a woman half his age. Good luck to him when his new fiancée had no idea how to run his office. The place had to have erupted into chaos on her first day. Grace was sure of it, since she’d been the one running his office for the past twenty years. But he definitely deserved some sort of other retaliation for walking out on her three months ago and moving right in with her replacement.
He hadn’t even been gone a week before he’d asked her to sign divorce papers. After getting the settlement she wanted, two weeks later, they’d both signed. Everything was done on their end, only now they were in the six month waiting period for the state to finalize things. She couldn’t wait for the day her divorce certificate showed up in the mail so that she would finally be free of the bastard. Twenty years was a lot of wasted time on someone who just dumped her for the next best thing. She straightened her shoulders, determined to wreak some havoc on her ex, and said, “Nope. That’s the curse we’re doing. That… jackhole? Is that what you called him, Joy?”
“Yep. Jackhole. Douchecanoe. Poopstain. Take your pick.” The tall, willowy blonde downed the rest of her wine before adding, “I hope his girlfriend gives him genital warts. That would serve him right.”
“Poopstain?” Grace choked out a laugh, wondering just how much wine Joy had sucked down. Normally her friend was the stoic voice of reason. Of the three of them, she was the only one with children and often played the role of den mother of their little coven. “Genital warts? Who are you right now?”
“It’s been a rough week, okay?” Joy poured another glass of wine, filling it almost to the rim, and sat next to Grace. “Hunter got into a fender bender, Britt started dating that biker guy from Hollow Hills, and I walked in on Kyle when he was… uh, having a private moment while watching free porn on the internet. And you know where Paul was for all of this?”
Grace shook her head, but she’d already guessed that Paul had been at work, too busy to help Joy deal with anything on the home front.
“At the office… pretending he’s important?” Hope asked as if the answer would ever be anything different. She sat cross-legged in front of them on the grassy cliff and wrapped a shawl around her curvy frame.
Grace snorted at Hope’s question. Hope Anderson was always the one to tell it like it is. But she was also never short on optimism, while being the fiercest and most loyal person alive. It sometimes amazed Grace that Hope had never gotten married or had children. Not because Grace thought there was anything wrong with that choice. In fact, in light of Grace’s impending divorce, she was starting to think she should’ve followed in Hope’s footsteps. No, she was amazed because when Hope loved someone, she stuck. She was even godmother to the children of two of her former boyfriends.
Joy sighed and rubbed her temple with two fingers. “Of course he was at the office. And it’s not even tax season. If it wasn’t
for his fear of STDs, I’d suspect he was having an affair.”
Grace bit down on her tongue. Hard. Three months ago, she’d have sworn her husband wasn’t having an affair either. There hadn’t been one sign. Not even a slowdown in their love life. They’d been making love once a week, just like clockwork, on Tuesdays after a night out for dinner at their favorite sushi restaurant. She hadn’t even minded that the variety was gone or that Bill often had trouble keeping it up unless she was giving him a blow job. He’d always taken care of her needs, and that was enough, right?
No. Not right.
It turned out that he’d had trouble keeping it up because he was dipping his pecker in the office blonde. Grace let out a low growl as an image of the perky younger woman flashed in her mind. She sneered and wished them both an acute case of the genital warts Joy had mentioned. Her hand tightened around the wine glass as she jerked it back up to her lips.
“Um, Grace?” Joy said, lightly placing her hand on Grace’s arm. “You might not want to drink that.”
Grace froze and eyed the glass. She blinked and then frowned at the now putrid-smelling green liquid. “What the hell?”
“Looks like you turned your wine into some sort of potion.” Joy eyed the liquid. “A really nasty one. What the heck were you thinking about?”
“Ohmigod!” Grace jumped up and ran over to the edge of the cliff and flung the putrid potion into the ocean. The saltwater would neutralize it.
“That bad, huh?” Hope asked from right behind her, laughing.
“STD bad,” Grace confirmed. She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. “Genital warts.”
“Holy shit, Grace.” Joy snorted. “It’s a damned good thing I stopped you.”
An entire body shudder shook Grace to the core. “Good goddess. I can’t believe I just did that.”
“I can.” Joy swept her long hair out of her eyes and smiled gently at Grace. “You’ve been hurt. Wounded and—”
“Joy,” Grace said with a heavy sigh. She didn’t want to think about how devastated she’d been for the first few weeks after her husband replaced her. It had been a dark time, and she was just now starting to feel like she was ready to move on. “Do we need to do this now?”
“Yes,” Joy said, her eyes glinting in the moonlight. “It’s time to reclaim your self-confidence.”
“I have self-confidence,” Grace insisted, looking around for the bottle of wine. If she’d ever needed another drink, now was the time.
“Of course, you do. That’s why I said reclaim it. Now is the time to acknowledge what happened and what you went through so you can completely let it go.” She produced the wine bottle she’d apparently been holding behind her back. “Hope and I are your witnesses.”
“Exactly.” Hope stepped up to form a small three-person circle and held out a box wrapped in silver paper. “These are for you and your interview tomorrow.”
“What? You didn’t have to get me anything.” Grace stared at the box and felt her heart swell. Who needed a no-good husband when she had friends like Hope and Joy?
“We didn’t have to, but we wanted to. It’s just a little something for your interview tomorrow.” Hope took the bottle of wine from Grace and placed it and the box in the middle of their circle. “Now, repeat after me.”
Grace snorted. “We’re doing a ritual without candles?”
“I have candles,” Joy said, flicking her wrist and pointing at the shoulder bag she’d left on the ground. Three large white pillar candles slipped out of the canvas and floated through the air until they stopped right in the middle of their small circle. With another flick of her wrist, the candles came to life, their flames flickering in the wind.
“Well, you two did come prepared,” Grace said.
“Of course we did.” Hope raised her hands toward the sky and again said, “Repeat after me.”
Smiling, Grace joined her friends and raised her hands toward the night sky.
Hope nodded to Grace and said, “I, Grace Valentine, am a new woman.”
Without hesitation, Grace repeated the words.
“Tonight, I shed any remaining ties to that bastard Bill Munch and invite love, opportunity, and adventure into my life.”
“Love?” Grace narrowed her eyes at Hope. “I don’t think so. Been there. Done that. Got the divorce to prove it.”
“Yes, love,” Hope insisted, staring Grace in the eye. “This is about moving forward and not letting that jackass affect your future, whatever that may be.”
“I’m not dating again,” Grace said, lowering her arms. She was deadly serious as she added, “I’m done with men.”
“Fine.” Hope smiled serenely at her. “Perhaps a sexy woman will pop up and buy you a drink then.”
Joy laughed, and the sound was ethereal in the wind.
“You think you’re being funny, but at this point, if she were fun and attractive, then why not?” Grace grinned, though she didn’t really mean it. She’d never been attracted to women, but she often thought her life would’ve been easier if she had been.
“Why not indeed?” Hope asked, grinning at her. “Did I tell you about the blind date I had last week?”
“What?” Joy dropped her arms and rounded on her. “You were holding out on us.”
“Not intentionally.” Hope chuckled. “It just slipped my mind. Imagine me, sitting at Claire’s nursing a margarita, when Chris walks in, orders me another, and places her hand on my knee.”
“Her hand?” Grace asked.
“Yes. Her.” Hope nodded. “Macey, the caterer I’ve been recommending to my clients lately, set us up. She just assumed I was a lesbian because I’m over forty and have never been married.” She rolled her eyes. “But let me tell you… if I did play for the other team, I’d probably still be in bed with Chris. Not only is she smart, she’s hot as hell. I mean, talk about the full package. So, Grace, if you do decide to give it a go, I’ll set you up.”
“Nah. I’m good, but we should set her up with my neighbor Kristen. Her ex blew out of town a couple of months ago, and she deserves some fun.”
“We’ll do that. Now, back to this ritual.” Hope raised her hands again and nodded for Grace and Joy to join her. “Repeat the words, Grace. Tonight, I shed any remaining ties to that bastard Bill Munch and invite love, opportunity, and adventure into my life.”
Grace considered arguing again but knew she’d never win that fight. Hope and Joy just wanted the best for her, and she knew that. After sucking in a deep breath, she echoed Hope’s words, putting some of her magic behind them as they faded into the night.
The candles burned brighter, and the flames shot up into the air just before they disappeared, leaving the three witches bathed only in moonlight.
“Well?” Hope asked. “Did it work?”
Grace straightened her shoulders and shifted her gaze to the sky. A lightness filtered through her as if an invisible weight had been lifted off her, and a small smile played at her lips before she grinned at her friends. “You know, I think it did. I feel… weightless and free in a way I haven’t in years.”
“Perfect.” Joy kneeled down and grabbed the box. “Here. Open it.”
“You guys really didn’t need to get me anything,” she said as she lifted the lid off the box. “Hanging out with you, performing rituals and—” She let out a gasp as she stared down at the gorgeous blue high heels with the stunning gold accents. Grace ran a light finger over one of the shoes and chuckled when a ripple of magic sparked over her skin. “They’re spelled?”
Joy nodded, looking pleased with herself. “It’s just a little self-confidence spell. Wear these tomorrow for your interview. The spell can’t hurt, and at the very least you’ll be the most fashionable real estate agent Kevin Landers has ever laid eyes on.”
“These are too much,” Grace said, unable to tear her eyes away from the shoes she’d been drooling over since she’d spotted them in Miss Kelly’s shop window three months ago.
“Nop
e. Not too much,” Joy insisted.
“She’s right,” Hope added. “And don’t even think about refusing them. We won’t take no for an answer.”
Grace glanced at her two friends, one tall and willowy, the other shorter and full of fire. Grinning, she shook her head. “No way I’m refusing them. These babies were meant to adorn my feet.” After quickly shucking her ballet flats, she shoved her feet into the most comfortable heels she’d ever encountered and then flung her arms around her two friends. “I love you both, you know that?”
They both hugged her back. Joy kissed her on the cheek while Hope whispered in her ear, “Of course we do. Now, you walk into that office tomorrow and make Kevin believe he can’t go another day without hiring you.”
“Count on it,” Grace said, squeezing her eyes shut and praying she landed the job at Landers Realty. “If not… well, I might as well embroider my name on an apron, because the only other place hiring is the local diner.”
Hope cackled. “You can’t be a waitress. You’d dump a milkshake on the first person who ordered one.”
Joy laughed too and shook her head. “Or she’d take a bite out of the sundae before serving it. You know how she can’t resist chocolate fudge.”
“Okay, enough,” Grace ordered, but she couldn’t help laughing. They were right. She’d be a terrible waitress. But there was one thing she’d been doing for twenty years, and that was selling houses while her soon-to-be ex-husband took all the credit. There was nothing she wanted more than to be hired at the competing firm so she could outsell his cheating ass. She’d already gotten her license, now she just needed contacts. And since all of hers technically belonged to her ex’s real estate office, they were off limits. “I’m obviously not going to be a waitress. I just need to convince Kevin Landers to hire me.”
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