Kiss and Spell (11 Valentine's Day Paranormal Short Stories)

by Liz Schulte

  Lucy had grabbed the guy’s coat. She pulled him to the ground. He raised his hand back and was ready to punch her when Nicolas appeared out of nowhere. He had a way of doing that. It wasn’t the first time. Nicolas grabbed the guy’s hand and yanked him to the ground. Liam ran over and they were able to subdue the guy. The trees rustled again, as if laughing at the guy and the fact that he’d been caught. Lucy raced over and yanked the mask from his face.

  “Noah, what are you doing?” Lucy asked.

  “You know this guy?” I asked.

  “He’s my ex-boyfriend.” Lucy placed her hands on her hips.

  “Why did you do something to the spell?” I demanded.

  Noah narrowed his eyes and glared at Lucy. “I didn’t want her to date any other guys.”

  “So you messed up a love spell for everyone else?” Liam asked.

  Noah shrugged. “She was just doing a love spell to hook up with some other dude.”

  “Newsflash, that’s her business,” I said. “You had no right.”

  “It didn’t really cause any harm,” Noah said.

  “I don’t know if it did or not. There are people in there just waiting to fight with each other. The only thing that stopped them is the spell I cast.”

  “It’s no big deal,” Noah added.

  “You’re in a lot of trouble for this,” I said.

  Just then a lot crash rang out. We exchanged a look and all ran for the front door. Liam and Nicolas rushed in ahead of us. Once we stepped inside the manor, we found the couples were tossing things at each other.

  “We have to stop them,” I yelled over the noise.

  Nicolas shook his head. “I have to step outside. This just makes me too angry. I think it’s the spell.”

  Obviously it was since Nicolas never acted this way. Nicolas walked out the door. I just wanted to reverse this spell so that things would be back to normal.

  I grabbed Noah by the shirt. “You’re coming with us to reverse the spell.”

  He didn’t try to fight it as he rushed with us through the party-goers. We dodged plates, glasses, and vases. The decorations littered the floor. The hearts had been torn into pieces. The banners had been ripped down from the walls.

  Once we reached the kitchen it was a little quieter, but the sound of the fighting still carried from the other room. My nerves were on edge just knowing that I had to fix this huge problem.

  I motioned for everyone to get close to the cauldron. “Come over here, everyone.”

  Lucy dragged Noah by his arm over to the cauldron.

  “Okay, Noah. What did you do to the spell?”

  He shrugged. “I just added a spell that I found in an old book. It called for a chopped up four-leaf clover. It took me forever to find one. It was supposed to get rid of the good luck.”

  That explained why I had to spend my time outside sifting through the grass. Amazingly, I still had the clover.

  “Excuse me.” I turned my back to them and then pulled the clover from my bra. I tossed the clover into the water. “Recite after me. “Element of Earth, I call to you to stop the bad love spell.” I motioned for Noah to speak the words. “Element of Air, I call to you to bind the negative in the spell.” Pushing forward with the words, I said, “Element of Fire, I call to you for an end to the fighting.” Everyone was looking at me as I finished. “Element of Water, I call to you to restore the love.”

  The water bubbled instantly. I held my breath, hoping that this would actually work. The sound of dishes breaking and yelling stopped. The next thing I knew, someone grabbed me from behind. When I spun around, Nicolas pulled me into his arms. He planted a kiss on my lips.

  Finally, he looked at me. “I guess the spell’s broken.”

  About the Author

  Rose Pressey is a USA Today bestselling author. She enjoys writing quirky and fun novels with a paranormal twist. The paranormal has always captured her interest. The thought of finding answers to the unexplained fascinates her.

  When she’s not writing about werewolves, vampires and every other supernatural creature, she loves eating cupcakes with sprinkles, reading, spending time with family, and listening to oldies from the fifties.

  Rose suffers from Psoriatic Arthritis and has knee replacements. She might just set the world record for joint replacements. She’s soon having her hips replaced, elbows, and at least one shoulder.

  Rose lives in the beautiful commonwealth of Kentucky with her husband, son, and two sassy Chihuahuas.

  Visit her online at:

  http://www.rosepressey.com

  http://www.facebook.com/rosepressey

  http://www.twitter.com/rosepressey

  Rose loves to hear from readers. You can email her at: rose@rosepressey.com

  If you’re interested in receiving information when a new Rose Pressey book is released, you can sign up for her newsletter here. Join her on Facebook for lots of fun and prizes.

  Rose Pressey’s Complete Bookshelf

  Chase Charley Series:

  Book 1: For Old Crimes Sake

  Book 2: Seems Like Old Crimes

  Haunted Tour Guide Mystery Series:

  Book 1: These Haunts are Made for Walking

  Book 2: A Walk on the Haunted Side

  Book 3: Haunt the Haunt, Walk the Walk

  Haunted Vintage Series:

  Book 1: If You’ve Got It, Haunt It

  Book 2: All Dressed Up and No Place to Haunt

  Book 3: Haunt Couture and Ghosts Galore

  Book 4: Haunted is Always in Fashion

  Book 5: Untitled 2016

  Maggie, P.I. Mystery Series:

  Book 1: Crime Wave

  Book 2: Murder is a Beach

  The Halloween LaVeau Series:

  Book 1: Forever Charmed

  Book 2: Charmed Again

  Book 3: Third Time’s a Charm

  Book 4: Charmed, I’m Sure

  Book 5: A Charmed Life

  The Hadley Wilds Series:

  Book 1: Dead Girl’s Guide to Style

  The Rylie Cruz Series:

  Book 1: How to Date a Werewolf

  Book 2: How to Date a Vampire

  Book 3: How to Date a Demon

  The Larue Donovan Series:

  Book 1: Me and My Ghoulfriends

  Book 2: Ghouls Night Out

  Book 3: The Ghoul Next Door

  Book 4: Ghoul of My Dreams

  The Mystic Café Series:

  Book 1: No Shoes, No Shirt, No Spells

  Book 2: Pies and Potions

  Book 3: Spells a la Carte

  The Veronica Mason Series:

  Book 1: Rock ‘n’ Roll is Undead

  A Trash to Treasure Crafting Mystery:

  Book 1: Murder at Honeysuckle Hotel

  Book 2: Honeysuckle Homicide

  The Haunted Renovation Mystery Series:

  Book 1: Flip that Haunted House

  Book 2: The Haunted Fixer Upper

  Romance By The Bay

  Book Two

  In the

  A Blossom Bay Short Story Series

  Tonya Kappes

  Romance by the Bay

  by Tonya Kappes

  Copyright © 2015 Tonya Kappes.

  All rights reserved.

  Printed in the United States of America.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Author Tonya Kappes, P.O. Box 176988, Ft. Mitchell, Ky. 41017

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Summary

  Drea Daily, Veterinarian and owner of Nose 2 Tails animal clinic, has a special gift…she can talk to animals. Tourist Holt Major brings his beloved dog into her clinic for an emergency, she's f
inding it hard to resist his charm. If she reveals her special gift, she will lose it. But if she doesn't jump on the chance for true love, she will lose Holt. Will her deep, dark secret keep them apart? Or will his deep dark secret keep them apart?

  Note from Tonya

  Welcome to Blossom Bay Short Story Series. This series was built out of love for my reading all the time. I mean the grocery store line, kid’s car line, sports practices, waiting in the doctor’s office, waiting on the doctor. . .waiting, waiting, waiting. The wait is long enough to read a short story, but too short to get invested into a novel. I found myself looking for fun and easy short story reads and having a hard time doing it. That is how I came up with this series. Each short story introduces you and takes you on a ride into one of the Blossom Bay residents that spans over different genres. The one cohesive bond between each short story is the small ocean town of Blossom Bay. The Bay is just as much a character as the rest of the cast. I hope you fall in love with this cozy town and fun characters as much as I love writing about them!

  I’d like to thank Cyndy Ranzau for being such a fabulous editor. Thank you to Kappes Krew Recipe member, Joanne Kocourek, for submitting the Spiced German Cookie recipe that is used by Blossom Bay Bed and Breakfast chef Priscilla Daily. Thank you to Kappes Krew Recipe member, Peg Halley, for submitting the Liver Dog Brownies recipe that Priscilla Daily makes for the local furry friends. Last, I want to send tons of love to Kappes Krew! Without you crazy bunch of lovable readers, I’d never be able to follow my dream. Thank you!

  Romance by the Bay

  by Tonya Kappes

  Drea Daily heaved the big black trash bag into the dumpster that sat just outside the back door of Nose 2 Tails, her animal clinic. She slammed the black plastic lid shut and stood there for a minute with her eyes closed, letting her long blond hair blow gently from the cool night breeze coming off Blossom Bay.

  She deeply inhaled, letting the salty air curl around her. It’d been a long day of chattering from birds to lizards, not to mention her own inner voice nagging her about the upcoming meeting the Blossom Bay community had volunteered her to speak at.

  “We got us a live one!” Dodger ran out the door and stood next to her. His tail wagging a million miles a minute.

  “Oh, Dodger,” Drea groaned, reaching down to pet her beloved mutt. She’d rescued him when she was driving back from a veterinary clinic outside of Charleston when she saw the black and white fur ball dodging in and out of traffic on the interstate. That was exactly how he had gotten his name. “You think they are all emergencies.”

  “This one is!” He panted and ran around and around in circles until she gave in and followed him inside. “Real sick. Like I bet we have to do surgery.”

  Drea rolled her eyes. Dodger loved it when Drea had to operate. If he were human, Drea knew he’d be a surgeon.

  It was times like these when Drea wished she could have an assistant. Someone to take out the trash, file the paperwork, refill all the medications, and get ready for the next day. But she knew better. Her family secret kept her from hiring anyone outside of the family and she knew that working with family never turned out good.

  Her family secret was also what made her so good at her job. She was able to communicate with animals. Have conversations with them. Her first vivid memory was when she was a child and she had gone down to the bay where she loved to curl her toes in the sand. Tourists, a young boy and his family, were there and they had uncovered the secret deep under layers of sea floor. Sand dollars.

  They were digging them up and taking them to the beach, laying them in the hot sun to dry out and die.

  Young Drea’s ears filled at first with multiple silent whispers that rapidly turned into screams. She had covered her ears unsure of the source of all the noise, but as she walked closer to the dying sand dollars, she knew it was them calling out in pain. One by one, Drea threw each one back in the ocean, even when the boy’s family yelled at her for doing so. That night was when Drea’s mother told her about their family secret. It was that night that Drea vowed to become an animal doctor so she could help sick animals.

  “I know your sign says that you are closed, but I need some help here.” The man stood in the front lobby of the old Victorian house she’d converted into an animal clinic.

  He stood about six foot one. She noticed his lovely shade of brown hair was parted to the right with the perfect amount of hair gel, plus the color of his hair matched his eyes perfectly. He wore a blue button down tucked neatly in a pair of black dress pants with a belt around the waist.

  “Oh, help me.” The dog attached to the leash the man was gripping lay on the wooden floor and rolled over, belly side up.

  “Oh buddy.” The man bent down and rubbed the dog’s undercarriage.

  “No, no, no, no.” The dog squirmed. “Don’t do that. Why does he do that?”

  “Why don’t I take a look at him.” Drea didn’t know exactly what was wrong yet, but she did know that the pooch didn’t want the man touching him.

  Drea took the leash, avoiding eye contact with the man she instantly found attractive. She never let herself get involved in relationships. She knew she was never able to reveal the family secret or her powers would be gone forever. The animal kingdom depended on her and she couldn’t imagine not helping them. Even at the expense of a romantic love with another person.

  “Man, you are in good hands with Dr. Drea.” Dodger wagged his tail while sniffing the poor sick dog. “Ain’t that right, Doc?”

  “You are in good hands.” Drea bent down and looked at the dog in his big round black drooping eyes.

  The dog and Drea looked at each other for a long few seconds before the dog’s eyes popped open. Like a lightning bolt, that one look from the dog sent a shock straight to Drea’s heart.

  “You can talk to me?” the dog asked. Drea gave a slight nod so the man didn’t notice. “Not like my idiot human who thought it was smart to give me a chicken tender. Sure, I begged for it, but I’m a dog. Idiot.” The dog kept mumbling as Drea took the leash and walked him back to one of the exam rooms.

  She stopped shy of the door and looked back at the man still standing in the entrance.

  “Well? Are you coming?” she asked.

  “Um, um.” The man fumbled around and darted back to join them.

  The dog was right, Drea thought. Idiot.

  “Holt Major. And this is my dog, Ranger.”

  “Drea Daily.” She nodded and pushed the dog steps up to the exam table. If she didn’t move it after each client, she’d find Dodger fast asleep and it took a bulldozer to wake that dog up.

  “I’m guessing you aren’t from Blossom Bay.” Drea made small talk. She took out a small brown bottle from the china cabinet. She’d bought the old cabinet at a flea market and had repurposed it as a medicine cabinet for the exam room. Nose 2 Tail’s only exam room.

  She didn’t like the cold steel exam tables most veterinary clinics had. She wanted a cozy clinic that matched Blossom Bay. A clinic where a sick animal felt loved and happy, like a child did when they were sick and their mom was home taking care of them.

  “No. Tourist.” He smiled and looked around the room. “This is definitely different.”

  “I’m assuming that’s a compliment.” She patted the wooden stairs for the sick dog to climb up and get on the exam table that was once used as a baby changing table. Another flea market find she had bought and turned into an exam table.

  “She smells nice.” Ranger ran up the steps and laid on the table. “Comfy too.”

  “Yeah, she does.” Dodger sat next to Drea, dragging his tail along the floor. “And don’t get used to that bed. I like to nap up there.”

  “You sure are a lucky dog.” Ranger nestled down a little more in the cotton homemade bed one of Drea’s clients had made specially for the exam table.

  Drea was having a hard time concentrating between the two conversations.

  “This is a very nice clinic.” Holt walked
over and put his hand on his dog. “Do you know what’s wrong with Ranger?”

  Drea sighed. She put her dainty hand on Ranger’s head and looked deep into his eyes. “You look like a Ranger.”

  She uncorked the brown bottle and retrieved a dropper from underneath one of the compartments on the changing table. She used the dropper to put a couple drops of the homemade medicine in Ranger’s mouth.

  “What are you doing?” Holt asked, his voice held a note of alarm. “Do you know what is wrong with him?”

  “I do.” Drea suddenly remembered this man was not part of Blossom Bay. “I think he has a bad case of tummy aches.”

  “Oh man,” Holt shook his head. “I knew I shouldn’t have given him those . . .”

  “Chicken tenders,” Drea opened her mouth and quickly shut it. She grabbed her stethoscope hoping Holt didn’t hear her.

  “How did you know?” The crease between his eyes narrowed.

  Drea put the stethoscope on Ranger’s belly and listened.

  “Lucky guess.” She smiled up at Holt, who returned her smile. His bright teeth sent a chill right to her heart. She had to move the stethoscope from her ears because her own heart beat was overriding anything going on in Ranger’s body. “I gave him a little home remedy that should settle his stomach.”

  She picked up the bottle and showed it to Holt. Blossom Bay residents had gotten to know Drea and her ways. They just assumed she was really smart and she let them. When in reality, it was her clients telling her what was wrong. It was the dying clients that were the hardest.

  Luckily, she had never had to put one of them to sleep. She had always been able to give them something to make them comfortable and die on their own time.