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

by Liz Schulte

  She was gifted in putting special ingredients and mixing the right ingredients in her food that put a happy song in the tummies and hearts of anyone who was lucky enough to taste her food. Her food gave people a boost of confidence to tackle the world and any problem they ever had.

  “Isn’t your meeting today?” Priscilla reminded Drea of an impromptu meeting with the lawyer of the property owner of the animal sanctuary Drea served as a board member. One of the two board members.

  “It is.” Drea didn’t have a great feeling about it. The call was left on her machine and didn’t leave a phone number. She didn’t have caller ID on the shop phone and couldn’t call back. She did call the owner, who lived out of town, but had yet to hear from him. He was an elderly man who was very hard of hearing.

  “Maybe I should pack you up some cookies.” She winked at her younger sister.

  “What are you making now?” Drea asked, taking her mind off of the meeting. She was afraid the owner was going to cut funding like he’d done the last time she’d seen him. They were already barely making ends meet and she even provided her veterinary services for free.

  When she told Holt that she didn’t cook, she didn’t lie. That was why she kept canned tuna in the bare cabinets at the clinic. What she didn’t finish, she gave to her cat clients for treats. If she was having a real lucky day, Priscilla would bring a little basket of food to last Drea a week to nibble on.

  “Southern beef stew.” Priscilla was too busy cutting up meat into little cubes to notice Holt and the dogs had come in. “Are you coming for a candlelight dinner?” Priscilla joked.

  “Dr. Dr!” Ranger excitedly ran over with his tail swinging around in circles above his body. “My human talked about you all night.”

  “Oh, Ranger. You flirt.” Drea joked, hoping he’d tell her more.

  “Flirt?” Priscilla dropped a bay leaf in the pot and cocked a brow.

  “I guess I’ll be going.” Drea noticed the time. She noted she had only fifteen minutes to run down the hill and take a quick shower before Bebe Fontaine, owner of Bebe’s on Main, the only flower shop in Blossom Bay, brought her macaw in for his annual check-up. Time watching Holt went by fast.

  “I guess you better.” Priscilla looked over at her baby sister. Drea didn’t dare look at her. Priscilla could read her like a book and both of them knew there was no way Drea could ever give into her feelings for Holt. He was off limits. Her family secret depended on it.

  “Drea, darling, are you here?” Zsa Zsa the macaw spoke with a Hungarian accent exactly like her namesake. She loved to watch Eva Gabor on Green Acres on that new television channel that shows the old sitcoms. Sometimes she spit out some of her quotes.

  “Good morning!” Drea called from the kitchen in the back of the clinic before Bebe even stepped in. “Come on back.”

  Bebe Fontaine sashayed into the kitchen. One jeweled-covered hand (each finger held a big gem ring) gripped a bunch of long-stemmed, white calla lilies. Her pointer finger stuck out on the other hand with Zsa Zsa perched on top next to a forearm lined with silver bangle bracelets clear up to her elbow.

  Her long silvery grey hair was styled in a loose bun on top of her head. She wore a long silk black kimono with jeweled flip flops on her feet.

  “Drea darling, please tell Bebe that I need some peanuts. Hard shelled peanuts.” Zsa Zsa squawked.

  “Here, honey.” Bebe handed Drea the flowers. “Fresh from the delivery truck this morning.”

  “These are beautiful.” Drea graciously took them and got a vase from underneath the sink and filled it with water.

  “They are from the Royals’s daughter’s never-to-have-happened wedding.” She lifted her brows and her eyes darted sideways. Bebe was Blossom Bay’s town crier.

  Priscilla couldn’t stand her. That was one reason Drea didn’t tell Priscilla that Bebe was her first client. She’d have started in about Bebe and it was something Drea didn’t have time for.

  “I heard about that.” Drea ran her hand over the flowers and said a little prayer to the Universe to help Cassidy Royal. She’d been planning her wedding for a year. Drea hated to admit she’d had a hand in the demise of the engagement, but she couldn’t let Cassidy marry a man that was cheating on her with his secretary. That was according to her Maribelle, her Maine coon cat that had to watch him have the affair when Cassidy went out of town to the Atlanta Merchandising Market to find the unique items she sold in her shop, Boutique By The Bay.

  Drea just so happened to know Cassidy was going out of town and Maribelle faked being sick. The cheating fiancé brought the sick cat to Dr. Daily and left her with his phone number. She “accidentally” called Cassidy instead who immediately came home, where she found her cheating fiancé.

  “Maybe she can help you with the cat sanctuary issue. After all, she has that big scary lion-like cat.” She shivered.

  “Lion-like cat! Squawk.” Zsa Zsa flapped her wings. “If I don’t repeat her every so often, she sticks her face in mine and talks that baby talk to me and she has bad breath. Tell her about the peanuts.”

  “I do have that meeting this afternoon.” Drea had a bad feeling about the sanctuary. She’d been summoned by the lawyer of the sanctuary to attend a meeting. She wasn’t sure what the meeting was about. “How did you know about the meeting?”

  “People talk to me. I guess I just have one of those faces.” She smiled. Her cheeks balled. “Isn’t that right?”

  Zsa Zsa jerked backed and flapped her wings. “If I could smack her, I would.”

  “Bite her. I double dog dare you.” Dodger ran into the kitchen.

  “Look who’s here.” Bebe did that baby talk thing to Dodger.

  “Here,” Drea stuck her forearm out, “let me have a look at Ms. Zsa Zsa.”

  Drea walked out of the kitchen and Dodger rushed past her. When Bebe’s cell rang, she had nothing to do with anyone around her. She was so caught up in gossiping with the other person on the other end, that she didn’t even realize Drea had left the kitchen.

  “Drea’s in love.” Dodger had a big dog mouth.

  “Love? Darling?” Zsa Zsa squawked. “Take it from a gal who knows, husbands are like fires, they go out when unattended. Just ask Maribelle.”

  Drea gestured for Dodger to leave. She wasn’t in the mood nor had time to listen to stories of love or think of Holt. He was off limits and Dodger knew it too. Drea couldn’t imagine a life without talking to her furry friends and that was exactly what was going to happen if she gave into love.

  “How is my baby girl doing?” Bebe came in to check on Zsa Zsa.

  “She’s healthy. But I noticed her beak is a little rough.” Drea held up her fingernails. “They can get rough like our nails and she’d benefit from a few shelled peanuts a day.”

  “Oh no, my baby,” Bebe stuck her face in Zsa Zsa. “Mamma will give my baby as many shelled peanuts as she wants.”

  “My baby. My baby.” Zsa Zsa flapped making Bebe jump. Bebe laughed. Little did she realize it was Zsa Zsa’s way of getting her out of her face.

  “Anyways, that was Paisley Parker down at the bank. She said that someone came in with the Power of Attorney for the sanctuary’s owner and closed out the bank account.” Bebe glanced at Drea.

  “I don’t like hearing that.” Drea’s heart sank. She’d put a lot of time and effort into the sanctuary. There wasn’t a local shelter and any rescue was sent to a kill shelter. It was the whimper of a feral cat that had caught Drea’s attention when she was restoring the old Victorian. The cat was a tortie, which was a female. She was hiding under the front porch in the very back corner where no animal retrieval hook could get her. The cops had gotten her three kittens and taken them off. She told Drea that the police officers said they would send them off to the shelter an hour away and Drea knew what that meant.

  She quickly got on the phone with Clint Cruz, the police chief and friend from high school. He did owe her a favor from a long time ago when his pet guinea pig in high scho
ol had gotten sick and stopped eating. The local veterinarian at the time had told Clint’s mom that the piggy was just old and not eating. The piggy told Drea that her back teeth were too long and prevented her from eating because they dug into her cheeks creating sores. Drea pretended like she knew something about piggies and looked into the animal’s mouth. She told Clint about the teeth and he told the vet, who then filed down the pig’s teeth. Voilà. She lived for another six years.

  Needless to say, he owed her and he stopped the cops right before they had dropped the kittens off and had the cops bring them back to Drea. Luckily she found a home for them, but it was then that she went on a mission to find a perfect place for a cat sanctuary.

  Originally she wanted to open a shelter, but Blossom Bay didn’t have the extra tourist dollars to open one, so the sanctuary was the next best thing with donations and volunteers to keep it running. As with the owner of the old Victorian, Drea had helped the owner of the property the sanctuary now sits on keep his dog happy and comfortable until it was time for him to cross the rainbow bridge.

  “Do you think they are closing the sanctuary?” Bebe sounded concerned.

  “There isn’t another bank to open a new account and I do have a meeting with the lawyer today.” Drea wasn’t sure what she was going to do. “Did Paisley say anything to the person who came in?”

  “She said she asked him some questions, but he said he was here to do a job and didn’t know the particulars.” Bebe’s lips turned down. “What are we going to do about stray animals and feral cats?”

  “I guess we will do what we always do.” Drea didn’t have the answer now, but she didn’t want to send anything alarming to anyone. She let Zsa Zsa transfer back to Bebe. “Instead of wondering what the meeting is all about and speculating, I guess Clint and I will go to the meeting and see what’s going on.”

  Yes. Clint was the other board member. He’d gotten the mysterious call too. He was going to come by and pick her up a few minutes before they were supposed to be at the sanctuary. She’d cleared her schedule for the meeting and had decided not to open up in the late afternoon just in case it was bad news and she had to put together a game plan of what to do.

  “I’ll be praying for you.” Bebe stuck Zsa Zsa on her shoulder and made her payment to Drea before she left.

  There was no denying that the sanctuary was a valuable piece of property. It was on the peninsula side of Blossom Bay and was an untouched, natural landscape. Sand dunes between the ocean and the buildings on the property were thick and full. The path of a few sea turtles started from the sand dunes and dragged to the water’s edge. There was a law to protect the turtles, but not the other animals that lived in the buildings. It was a shame too. Where would all these animals go?

  The thought of relocating them to different shelters didn’t sit well with Holt. He wasn’t sure how the sanctuary board was going to take his client’s news. This was the part of his job he didn’t like. Living up to the asshole stereotype of being a lawyer. Acquisition lawyer.

  “It sure is pretty up here.” He looked out over the sand dune and took in the view. Ranger sat next to him. “You like it here.” Holt looked down at his trusty companion.

  Ranger hadn’t been his feisty, running around, hyper dog self he was back at home.

  Ranger lazily wagged his tail.

  “Yeah.” Holt rubbed the top of his dog’s head, giving Ranger a good scratch. “I feel relaxed and happy here too.”

  Ranger barked as if he understood his human. Holt swore that Ranger did understand him but knew it was impossible. He chalked it up to the whole Puppy Love theory he’d seen on Anderson Cooper—the notion that serotonin increased with their own dog was a very powerful thing. There was an undeniable bond between Holt and Ranger.

  He looked back at the fenced-in area of the sanctuary where a couple of little dogs were running around. He couldn’t help but wonder about them and their future. He knew Ranger was going to a wonderful apartment in the city where he was fed, warm, played with and happy. Though he did seem a lot happier here in Blossom Bay.

  Holt looked concerned as he watched the Blossom Bay Police car drive up. His heart dropped into his toes (that were crammed in the fancy black dress shoes that he hated putting on every morning before he left for the office) when he saw Drea get out of the passenger side of the cruiser.

  Their eyes met. The vibrant sparkle he’d only seen in her blue eyes had dulled. Her perky lips turned down and her cheeks flushed.

  “Holt?” She was a little confused when she saw him standing there. She had hoped it was by chance that she was seeing him again like when she’d run into him this morning at her secret cliff, but her gut told her differently.

  “Ah oh.” Ranger ran up to her and dodged in between her legs. “Don’t tell me you are in charge of this acquisition.”

  “Acquisition?” Drea questioned out loud.

  “I guess you know what is going on.” Holt walked over. He kept his eyes on her, but she couldn’t bear to look at him. She turned her head to the building where the animals lived. Tears sat on the edge of her lids. She gulped back the urge to blink in fear Holt would see her vulnerability.

  Instantly she got mad at herself for even thinking he was the sweet, kind, and handsome man he’d portrayed himself to be.

  “Clint Cruz.” Clint looked between Drea and Holt before he stepped up. “I’m the other half of the sanctuary committee. We aren’t real big as you can see. But we are curious as to why you called a meeting.”

  “I can tell you.” Drea lifted her chin. She turned to Clint. “Mr. Major is here as an acquisition lawyer and he’s here to take our sanctuary. Isn’t that right?”

  Drea didn’t need his answer. Ranger had already told her.

  “Drea, let’s let Mr. Major state his business and we will move on from there.” Clint took the cop stance and rested his hand on his belt.

  “Mr. Big, the owner, has passed away and his son is a builder. He’s going to build a luxury resort on the property. We are giving you three weeks to clear out the facility to be ready for construction.” He pulled out some papers from the pocket of his suit. “Here are all the legal papers that you will want to look at and the permits.”

  Drea snatched them out of his hands. Clint looked over her shoulder as she opened them. They took a minute to read down.

  “How on earth did this get approved without us hearing about it?” Drea was dumbfounded. Mr. Big’s son had definitely kept it on the down low and had obtained all the right stuff. Even the death certificate for Mr. Big was there.

  “I’m sorry, Drea. I had no idea this had anything to do with you,” Holt said.

  If he thought his kind words were going to make her feel any better, he was wrong.

  “You are sorry?” she spat. “Let me show you who will be sorry!”

  She stalked up to the building. Clint and Holt followed behind her. She flung open the door and headed straight past the front desk where one of the many volunteers sat petting a couple of the stray animals and opened the first door on the right.

  Inside there were a couple cat scratch trees and cozy climbers that were strategically placed along with water, food, and litter boxes. Drea walked over to a cat lounging on top of one of the climbers the elderly owner of the property had made with his own hands. It was her favorite climber to sleep on.

  “This is Miss Cuddlywumps.” Drea ran her hand down the fifteen-year old feline’s back. Miss Cuddlywumps arched her back and purred.

  “You have the best hands and it makes the arthritis in my back go away for a few minutes.” Miss Cuddlywumps purred. “Is something wrong?”

  Drea bit her lip, forcing back the tears. She knew what scientists had discovered. Animals are in tune with human feelings and Miss Cuddlywumps could smell the fear in Drea’s soul.

  “She was put on the street from a car traveling on Main Street near Bebe’s On Main. Bebe herself watched as the owner tossed this precious baby out. Of course Cl
int caught up with the owner and the owner said Miss Cuddlywumps was old and they couldn’t afford to keep giving her the meds she needed to help out with her arthritis.” The fire in her soul was spitting out of her mouth. “Not to mention her.” Drea’s voice cracked.

  Clint put his arm around Drea.

  “Mr. Major, I’m sure you can understand Drea is passionate about the sanctuary. It’s her heart’s passion seeing she’s our local veterinarian. It was her idea and push to open the sanctuary. I’m sure I’m speaking for both of us when we say we hate to hear this news. Not only for the sanctuary, but for Blossom Bay.” Clint was so level-headed. That was what made him a good cop and Drea knew that.

  That still didn’t prevent her from wanting to sock Holt right in the face.

  “We’ve taken a lot of pride in our small ocean town and have really stayed away from the big resorts and condominiums. As a matter of fact, our town passed a law that states no franchised business allowed.” Clint picked up Miss Cuddlywumps and snugged her to him. She purred so loudly that it hurt Drea to even think what would happen to the elderly feline. “If your client hadn’t been so sneaky, we would’ve fought the resort tooth and nail even if they did get rid of the sanctuary.”

  Drea had heard enough. She couldn’t stand looking at Holt for the mere fact he made her sick. Nor did she want to look into the eyes of her furry friends. They would begin to ask her questions and she couldn’t lie to them or tell them that were just served an eviction notice. She had three weeks to either find them all homes or come up with a plan.

  The next couple of days Drea spent in a haze. She called everyone she knew that might be interested in adopting a pet or knew someone who was interested. There were a lot of “we’ll see” and “let me know if you don’t find anyone else,” but no definite adoptions.