Offering Jonathan one of the lattes she’d just bought, Gail delivered him to one of the corner couches where he was currently engaged in a conversation on his cell phone. As he talked on the phone his long, slender fingers carelessly flipped page after page of one of our design magazines before tossing it carelessly to the side. Turning her back on Jonathan and shrugging her shoulders, Gail and mouthed to me, “Why is he here?”
That was a good question, but I had no idea what the answer was. The last time I had seen Jonathan had been a disaster and I had been really clear that I never wanted to see him again.
“I want you out of my life, I can’t trust you anymore,” I had shouted.
And he had made it clear that he wanted no part of me either. “With pleasure,” had been his parting remark.
After three years, our relationship had crashed and burned and I could still feel that same empty hurt that I had felt the day we ended.
As he finished up his phone call I got a chance to steal a look at Jonathan Maxwell. He was dressed impeccably in a pair of pressed beige khakis and a long blue denim work shirt with a company logo emblazoned on it. Standing six feet tall with longish black hair he had eyes the same striking copper color as my cats.
The eye thing had initially kind of weirded me out, but I had gotten used to it over time. Unfortunately, Miss Cassandra never had and often noted that “there’s something wrong with that guy.” Boy had she been right.
Appearing to wind down his conversation Jonathan turned to smile at me informing his listener that he was “Just tying up a few things here and then I’ll get back at you.”
That smile. Oh, that smile had been the thing that had stolen my heart the first time he had shared it with me. The room just came alive when Jonathan smiled. And it had taken me a very long time to extinguish the flame that had been lit in me by each of his smiles.
Handsome was an understatement when it came to describing Jonathan Maxwell. His father was half Black Foot Indian and half Italian and his mother was a full blooded Swede. You know how sometimes two good looking people get together and create a really ugly baby? What? Don’t mock me! You know that it actually happens all the time. But not this time.
I’d only met his parents once when they were in town for some builders’ convention, but it was enough for me to validate that this time two equally beautiful people had tempted fate and created one gorgeous baby.
I watched as he hesitated just a second to carefully tuck a loose strand of his raven black hair behind his ear and I remembered that glorious feeling of running my fingers through that thick mane and falling madly, helplessly in love. But my love had been extinguished after he had burnt me by having an affair with one of the girls at school. A witch never forgets and rarely forgives. So I had moved on or at least I had moved away. Away from that smile and the web that he was famous for spinning.
Standing up and looking directly at me Jonathan smiled, “Oh, Olivia, it’s great to see you. I had heard that you moved to New York,” he said, eying Gail as he spoke. “What brought you back here?”
“Yes, well, there was a change in my plans. How did you know I was here?”
Before he had a chance to answer, Mrs. Schwartz walked through our shop front door and waltzed right up to Jonathan saying, “Hello handsome. And where have you been hiding this guy, Olivia?”
Laughing, she moved towards Gail telling her that she’d come to be fitted for an outfit like the one, “Olivia sports when she runs on the beach in the morning. Mr. Schwartz said that he bet you guys couldn’t design me one just like hers. Let’s go prove him wrong. Oh, and don’t forget to remind me to sign up for that class on making kitchen aprons. I may be giving up my housecoats, but every good housekeeper needs a fashionable apron of her own.”
Gail ushered Mrs. Schwartz over to the design center before offering her several sample fabrics to choose from. From that point on the shop just seemed to flood with people. Shoppers came in wanting to sign up for our craft classes, buy fabrics or gift certificates. And it seems as if a more than normal number of beach wanderers came in to just check out our wares. Any other time I would have been thrilled; today, not so much.
“Boy, it’s busy in here,” Jonathan said looking around and acting more than a little put out that I was not giving him my full attention. Same old Jonathan I thought.
“Uh, sorry about that, but this is just not a good time for socializing. I really do need to get back to work, but thanks for stopping by.”
I walked Jonathan to the door, hoping that he would get the hint and leave. I didn’t want to know why he came to New Moon Beach. I didn’t want to see that smile again. I just wanted him to leave; leave before I either screamed my head off or gave in to my instincts to turn him into a toad. Wouldn’t that be amusing to see?
As we reached the door, he turned to me saying, “Livy, I’ve really missed you. I want to take you out to dinner real soon. I’ll call you.” And without waiting for my response, he reached down gently stroked my cheek, planted a kiss firmly on my lips and said, “I still love the smell of that lotion you live in.”
“Goodbye,” was all that I could get out as I noticed him get in his car. Was that his Black Alpha Romeo I had seen before? Was he the guy who had flipped me off? Maybe I should turn him into a toad or worse, a newt!
Feeling a little unfocused, I walked to the counter and attempted to hold a coherent conversation with one of our many customers. A moment later, I think that I felt their presence before seeing either of them.
Constance and Harmony were standing at my door; Constance with her apron with the big pickle on it and Harmony in her suit sporting a Harmony Merriman, New Moon Beach Mayor lapel pin. Oh boy, double trouble. I suddenly remembered that we were going to meet up today to talk. And we had a lot to talk about.
“Was that Jonathan, who just walked out?” Before I could offer an answer Constance continued her interrogation “What was he doing here?”
“Didn’t he smash your heart for good, what more does it take?” demanded Harmony. “I cannot believe that you invited him here.”
“Wait, hold up, don’t attack Olivia,” interjected Gail, who’d raced to my aid. “She was as surprised as me when he just appeared.” Walking up to me Gail put her arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a much needed hug. Unfortunately, the mere embrace let loose my penned up waterworks and the tears began to effortlessly run down my cheeks.
“Wow! What a hunka hunka burning love that guy is Olivia,” Mrs. Schwartz sang out in her best Elvis impression as she danced out of the store, never noticing me or my tears. “Bye-bye, girls can’t wait to see what magic you create. I need to bring in Mr. Schwartz with me next time. I just love this store, you never know who or what you’ll find here.”
Chapter 8
You know how everyone always says that bad things usually come in threes? Well, I guess today was my day for three weird, crazy, annoyingly bad things to come my way. First, news of an impending hotel that would make trouble for my new shop, then Jonathan arrives unexpectedly and now I was sitting talking with my sisters about our father who had magically popped up in my cauldron this morning. I would ask what more could happen, but I’d be afraid of the answer.
“You are always so hard on him,” Harmony said.
“I am not. I am just realistic,” responded Constance. “Has he ever not let one of us down?”
“Wait a minute. He did provide us with a house and food,” offered Harmony.
“And old Mrs. Macintyre. The meanest house keeper slash babysitter on the block,” said Constance.
“Hey, I kind of liked her,” I said.
“That’s because you were the baby of the family and she had to be nice to you. I was the middle child and she wasn’t very nice to me at all.”
“Okay, remember that she was raising three little witches, without knowing that’s what we were. And we did sort of take advantage of that,” I said.
“Do you guys remember when we f
ound out that she had a crush on our plumber and we kept making the toilet magically overflow so he’d have to keep coming back? I just wanted him to fall in love with her and take her away,” said Harmony.
“That wasn’t magic; I was the one who kept stuffing the toilet with TP until dad got the plumber’s bill and nearly killed me,” Constance admitted. “It’s no fun having a dad who’s a witch. You can’t hide anything from him.”
“Speaking of hiding things Harmony, we need to talk! Why haven’t you told Constance and me about some beach hotel that is going to crush our shops? I have a feeling that you and dad are involved and it’s not a good thing, Harmony. Come on and fill us in. Oh, and what in the heck is going on between you and Larry?”
“Larry? Harmony and Larry? I was ready to launch into Harmony about plotting against us with dad. But Larry? I never heard about her hotel scheme, including Larry,” said Constance with a bewildered look on her face. “Did Larry pop up in your cauldron too? Was he with dad? Who else is plotting against us?”
“What a pair of negative ninnies! You and Constance have the wrong idea all together. What do you mean, crush your shops? The new hotel will bring in many more tourists and their money. It can only help the city and your shops too,” said Harmony skipping over the Larry question. “And dad is not the problem. It sounds like you two are. You are both jumping to conclusions that don’t make sense.”
“Okay, so share some of your important mayoral information. Where specifically is this hotel supposed to go?” I asked deciding that I would focus on one question at a time.
“We’re not exactly sure yet,” she said, looking at us both. “But possibly, down next to the beach at the end of the Esplanade,” she muttered with her head now turned downward.
“But that means that both my shop and Constance’s are sure to be gobbled up for hotel parking or some other part of that soon to be built monstrosity. Am I right? How could you do that Harmony? Oh, and is this yet another time when our dad favors you over us? He supports the hotel and the city and we lose our shops?”
“Hold on a second Drama Queen,” Harmony answered more than a little annoyed. “We don’t have an exact location confirmed yet. The Coastal Commission has to approve it and that may mean that the hotel has to go further down the beach or to another location all together. We don’t have all of the answers yet so why don’t you both just take a chill pill!”
Looking at Harmony with eyes that were filling with tears Constance began her emotion filled charge, “Harm, why didn’t you tell me? You know how hard I’ve worked to build up Supernatural Subs.”
“And I spent everything Meghan and Marv left me, along with a whole lot of hard work and sweat to fix up my shop. I can’t afford to start all over again.”
“You won’t have to afford anything. If this goes through I’m pretty sure that the Max-Don Land Development Corporation will give you seed money to open a new shop,” replied Harmony. “Or they may even make a spot for your shop inside of the hotel.”
“And what if we don’t want to start up new shops?” both Constance and I cried out.
“I like my shop exactly where it is.”
“I do too,” said Constance.
“I am considering this for the good of the city. It’s my job to make New Moon Beach financially secure and this hotel will bring in much needed revenue. I would think that you would both understand that and support me.”
“But right now we have other things to worry about,” Harmony interjected. “What have you done, Olivia, to bring dad into town? I thought that I would never get him off the phone this morning. And why do you both think that he has anything to do with this hotel business at all?”
I spent the next five minutes telling Harmony about how I heard about the hotel, what both Mrs. Schwartz and Officer Parker had to say and how I heard that Lawrence Webber had made a new friend; HARMONY.
“Okay, I have to admit that I’m not really sure if dad even has anything to do with all this stuff that is happening. All I did this morning was to cast a small spell. I needed to use my magic to find out what was really happening.”
“You idiot, Olivia. You should know that dad is magically connected to each of us. Of course he would know just what you did. By the time you’d blown out the last candle he’d have been erupting. You know that he won’t put up with any of your mystical fooling around.”
“Just for the record, I was not snooping into anything about dad,” I said defensively. “And by the way, you never answered, does dad or Larry have anything to do with this new hotel? Please be honest with us Harmony,” I said as Constance nodded her head up and down.
Sidestepping the question she offered, “Why don’t you two come to the next city council meeting? I’ll have handouts by then describing everything and you can meet all of the real players,” said Harmony.
“Does ‘all of the players’ include our father?” I asked.
“You just don’t give up, do you Olivia?”
Without answering my questions, Harmony responded, “Just show up tomorrow night so that you can learn everything that I know.” Giving each of us a kiss on the cheek, Harmony left my shop.
And with that my shop doors slammed shut as Constance, Gail and I all exchanged concerned looks.
“Hey, wait,” I said. She never did tell me what’s going on between her and Larry. And what about our lunch? I was starving.
Chapter 9
Finishing updating my class registration information, I made sure to add the flyer for Creating Your Own Blingy Beach Tote Bag. It’s one of my favorite projects because it’s so easy to do and so useful too.
Turning as I heard Gail close and lock the shop front door, I noticed a beautiful arrangement of roses and carnations on my counter; a large white basket filled with my two favorite flowers.
“These just came for you,” said Gail as she handed me the small card that had been attached to the basket. “I bet that my sister Harmony sent me I’m sorry I’ve been such a bitchy witch flowers,” I said reluctantly reaching for the card. But I had been wrong, so wrong.
Opening up the card I read, “I miss you, Livy.” That was all that the card said. It was enough. I felt the blood rush to my head and my stomach hit the floor.
“Damn,” I recognized that writing. I knew that Jonathan had sent those flowers to me. No one else called me, Livy.
“Fill me in girlfriend,” teased Gail with a smile.
All I could say was, “Jonathan.”
Her smile faltering and sensing my need to be alone, Gail busied herself straightening shelves and filling in empty ribbon containers.
“Wait Gail, I have to get my head around this. Why has he come back into my life…. and why now? What is going on?”
The more I thought about it, the more upset I grew. I had loved him so much and it had taken me too long to get over the pain. But I was a lot stronger now. And anger quickly took the place of self pity.
“He broke my heart. This is not fair. How dare he just show up again?” I had been so careful. Piece by piece I had put my life back together. But now I realized that I had been missing the biggest piece; Jonathan.
I threw my hands up in rage. “And flowers, he has to send me my favorite flowers. I hate him.”
“No, no, no. I will not let myself get hurt again by Jonathan Maxwell or anyone else. I have a new life now and I love it,” I yelled over and over again as the wind silently began to whirl within my shop and things began flying off the shelves. Buttons detached themselves from their cards and flew across the store. Bolts of fabric began to unwind, uncurling themselves on my floors. Patterns flew out off the cabinets and rolls of ribbon and lace raced across my counters while the paddles on my ceiling fans twisted uncontrollably.
“Never again,” I shouted. “Never again.” My hair flew around my face, swiping at angry tears that had begun to flow. Baskets of dried flowers fell over and oasis and Styrofoam shapes crashed into each other.
Suddenly I felt
Gail’s arms tightening around me “Stop, Olivia. Stop. I am so sorry, but this is not helping, please stop.”
Somehow feeling Gail’s arms around me calmed me and the wind began to die down. I took a deep gulp of air and wiped away the last tear as I fought to untangle my hair.
I don’t know exactly why, but looking around the store, I started to giggle, struggling to stop myself. Looking at the mayhem I had just unleashed I said “OMG, did I do that? I didn’t even know that I could do that. I didn’t realize I was so upset. I’m so sorry Gail, I’ll clean it up.”
“Are you okay now?” she asked. “Are you done?”
Before I could respond I noticed patterns returning to their cabinets and bolts of materials floating back to their original places. Baskets hung mid air as rolls of yarn and ribbon were mystically tossed in.
There was certainly one good thing to be said about having your shop haunted by two loving spirits; they were always there to help pick up the pieces.
“Thank you guys,” I said. “Sorry I made such a mess!”
“Marv wants to take on Jonathan for hurting you,” interpreted Gail. “And Meghan says that you are too good for him,” as the basket of flowers floated towards the trash bin.
“No, wait. Don’t throw them away. They’re so pretty,” I said, taking the basket back into my own hands. “They look nice in the shop. The customers can enjoy them.”
“Thanks everyone for your help,” I said as I turned down the shop lights intent on heading home.
_____
On Tuesday night I picked up Gail and Constance in my VW Bug and headed for the city council meeting.
“You need to get a bigger car Olivia,” Constance said uncomfortably turning her long legs sideways and scooting over to allow her to fit better in my back seat. “I never realized how small this car is. I guess I’ve never been in the back seat before,” I said.
“Sorry, I should have sat back there,” Gail giggled, delighting in the fact that she could stretch her toes all the way forward and still not touch the end of the wheel well. She was so tiny; she could easily fit in my peanut shell of a car.
Morning Magic Page 5
