by Lynn Cahoon
“I don’t see how. You just stand up there and tell them how you do it. Add in some funny stories and you’re good. You sold over three hundred dollars in carryout this morning, so you did something right.” Grans looked around the now-empty lobby. “I’m going upstairs to put up my feet. Why don’t you bring up one of those pans of chicken enchiladas for lunch? I can make a salad to go with it.”
“Sounds good. I’ll clean up down here, then I’ll be up.” She glanced at the door through which Bethanie had disappeared. “Silas Miller’s daughter came to the class today.”
Grans paused at the bottom of the stairs. “Bethanie? I didn’t see her.”
“She was the last one to leave the classroom. You might not have recognized her because she was wearing normal clothes. I bet her budget for designer duds tanked when her dad went to jail.” Mia tucked the leftover recipe books into a box to put in her business office. “Weird thing was, she said she was hanging out with Christina.”
Grans shrugged. “They’re the same age; I would be shocked if they didn’t run in the same circles. It’s a small town, Mia. There aren’t a lot of options in the friend pool in a small town.”
“I know, but wow. It kind of took me off guard.”
Grans pushed a lock of hair back into place, off Mia’s face. “You worry too much. Sometimes people can change. You just have to give them a chance.”
“Okay, okay. I get it.” She nodded to the stairs. “Go watch your shows. I’ll get the place back in shape.”
Grans made her way to the bottom of the stairs. “When were they coming to check for lines? Maybe you could have them look at that plug outside that doesn’t work.”
“Not the same people, Grans. I need to call in an electrician for that. I’ll go out to see if they’ve been here yet. I’d like to be spending the weekend digging up a garden spot. And I think I’m going to hire someone to put in some flower beds, especially around the front of the house. It needs some color.”
“Make sure to check your color listing for the right mix.” Grans started upstairs as Mia went back into the kitchen to clean up after the class.
The phone rang and Mia picked up the kitchen extension. She also had the ability to transfer the business’s calls to her cell so she didn’t have to be near the office all the time. “Mia’s Morsels, what can I make to delight you for tonight’s dinner?”
“Mia? Is that you?”
“Yes, it’s Mia. How can I help you?” She thought it was Elizbeth from the library, but she wasn’t quite sure.
“Mia, this is Elizabeth. I just wanted to confirm that you’re still doing the library tea in two weeks.”
Mia walked over to the calendar she’d hung on the kitchen wall to keep track of catering events. “I have you scheduled on the seventeenth at one. I’ll be there to set up at twelve thirty. Why, is there a problem?”
Elizabeth exhaled. “No, I was just hoping you weren’t going to shut down before the event.”
“What do you mean? I’m not shutting down. I’m trying to build my business, not close it.” A knot was forming in Mia’s stomach. “Who told you I was shutting down?”
“I’m not sure now. We were standing around talking about the event and how amazing it’s going to be, and someone asked who the new caterer was. Maybe it was Sarah Baldwin. Or maybe Florence Meadows? Anyway, she’d been getting her hair done and heard it from someone at the beauty shop, who’d heard it from someone at church. I guess I can’t tell you who’s been telling people that you’re leaving town.”
Mia figured just because Elizabeth couldn’t, didn’t mean Mia couldn’t, and she’d only need one guess. “Well, you can stop worrying about the catering for the event. That’s all handled and you’re going to love the meal, I promise.”
“That’s all I needed to know. And if anyone else comes up and tells me you’re closing the business, I’ll let them know they don’t know what they’re talking about. Thanks, Mia.”
After she’d hung up the phone she scrubbed the kitchen, trying to get the mad out of her brain. It wasn’t working. She went into her office and picked up the card John had left her. She dialed his cell number. When she got his voice mail, she let him have it. “You’re messing with the wrong person here. I don’t take well to intimidation. So just stop the games. I’m not selling the school, and even if I had to, I’d rather sell it for less than market price than to you. You can just crawl under a rock and die. That would make my life much easier.”
After she’d hung up she thought of several other, better comebacks that would have worked, but she figured the less said the better. She didn’t want to come off as crazy. Unless it would keep him away from her. Mia’s luck was so bad that now that she’d told him she knew about his current sabotage, he’d probably see it as more of a challenge and keep coming at her.
She glanced around the office and decided she’d done enough for one day. She didn’t have any pickup orders for today, so she turned the phones to voice mail and locked up the office and kitchen. Then she went upstairs to eat lunch with her grandmother. Maybe after lunch she’d spend some time reading or researching gardens so she got the right mix of herbs and vegetables.
Grans was on the phone when she came into the apartment. She went straight to the kitchen and put the enchiladas into the oven. Then she grabbed a soda out of the fridge. She picked up a new cookbook she’d just purchased and sat down to read it while she waited. When Grans finally came into the kitchen, Mia knew something was wrong.
“What’s going on? Is everything okay?” Mia watched as her grandmother mirrored Mia’s actions and grabbed a soda.
Opening the soda, she took a small sip, then set it down and took a place at the table. “That was Dorian’s daughter, Cindy. She’s coming into town next week to deal with an estate matter and wants to meet with me.”
“About what? Dorian?” Mia put a piece of paper next to a recipe she might try this week. “Maybe he left you something in his will.”
“We hadn’t been together very long. I doubt he had time to change up his will for a woman he was just dating.” Grans picked up a second recipe book I’d left on the table. “I’m not sure, but she sounded frightened. Like she needed help.”
“With?” Now Mia was curious.
“She didn’t say.” She pushed the book away. “Let’s eat lunch, then I’m heading home. I need to work on some spells.”
“Like the one for Mr. Darcy?” Mia went to the fridge, and the salad Grans had just made was sitting there waiting. “The enchiladas have a few more minutes in the oven, but by the time I get the table set, they should be ready.”
“The enchilada dish is a strong seller. You should keep it in the rotation.” Grans picked up the recipe books and put them on the bookshelf.
They chatted about nothing for a while, then ate lunch. Afterward, as they were cleaning up, Mia’s grandmother grabbed her arm. Mia glanced down, and Mary Alice’s face had gone white. “What is it? Are you okay? Do you need to sit down?”
Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Mia. “What? No, I’m okay. An idea just occurred to me. What if Cindy tried one of the spells in the grimoire and it backfired?”
“You should ask her.” Mia put the leftover enchiladas in a plastic storage container. From her calculations, she had enough to make a dinner out of that as well.
“Oh, sure, I could just call her back to see if she’s been playing with magic spells. She’d never talk to me again. And you’d probably get a visit from a lovely social worker from the Department on Aging, making sure I wasn’t a danger to myself.” She grabbed her purse. “I’m heading home. Call me if you need help cooking for this week’s orders.”
“You don’t have to help all the time.” Mia followed her to the front door. “I appreciate your help, but if you have something else to do—”
“What else would I do? Get a part-time job at the gas station?” She patted Mia’s arm. “I enjoy working with you.”
Mia walked downstairs wi
th her under the pretense of checking to see if the office was locked up, even though she knew she had locked the doors earlier. After her grandmother left she wondered if Grans was lonely. She’d lost not only her best friend, but her new boyfriend in the last six months. No wonder she was hanging out more with Mia.
She grabbed the extra set of keys from the desk drawer in the foyer and went outside. She took pictures of the front, where she wanted the flower beds. And then stepped back to take pictures of the whole front. She needed to have a sign made for the business. Maybe the open hours listed. Or maybe that could be underneath, and she could change it out if necessary. She recorded a short note on her phone to remind her of the idea, then walked up the driveway into the small parking lot. She needed flower containers here too. Maybe those that would make the area look like a small European town. She’d find pictures tonight. When she hired a landscaper, that was going to cost her a fortune, but it would be worth it.
She walked around the area in the trees where they’d plotted out the garden. No paint on the ground. Hopefully they’d show up tomorrow morning. She really wanted to spend the weekend outside. It was supposed to be a lovely, mild spring weekend. No rain, just sun and a bit of wind to keep the temperatures down. Besides, having a project meant she wouldn’t be stewing over the crap John Louis was pulling on her all the time. She’d told the man clearly and enough times she wasn’t selling, it should have gotten into his thick skull by now.
Her fingers itched to grab the phone to call to yell at him again. Or maybe it was her magic wanting to be let out to play. Unfortunately, if that happened, the rule of three would make her pay for her lack of self-discipline. If she cursed his hair to fall out, hers would fall out and grow back pea green. If she cursed him with an inability to speak, she’d lose her voice and be rendered deaf at the same time. It might even affect her vision. Using magic for impure purposes was a mistake a young witch learned early and made only once. If she was smart, that was. No, Mia would stick with making potions and food magic that made people happy and healthy. That kept her karma clean, as well as helped out the townsfolk of Magic Springs.
She took a few more shots, then decided to take the pictures back to the apartment to make some new sketches. She could even finalize her planting list for the garden. So if the guy didn’t get the plot cleared, she could still go shopping at the landscape center for plants and seeds. She paused at a spot under the weeping willow. Maybe she needed a fishpond and benches out here for people to take breaks when they were in class or waiting for a class to start.
She could see the rock fountain where the water would trickle down. She snapped a shot, then headed to the front door. She needed to get out of here before she thought of a thousand other new projects that just screamed to be done.
Upstairs, she worked on her designs until the light in the kitchen dimmed. She stood and turned on the overhead light, stretching the kinks out of her shoulders. Mr. Darcy wove himself through her legs. “It’s probably dinnertime for you as well, isn’t it, buddy?”
He meowed his response, probably too polite to tell her it was way past his dinnertime. The clock on the wall pointed that out.
She put her own dinner into the oven after feeding the cat and putting the papers she’d sketched into a folder and putting that onto her desk. Her grimoire was still out on the bookshelf and she remembered the promise she’d made her guardian; she took it to the bedroom and put it in her safe. No one but she knew where the safe was located. Well, she and the past school principal who’d had it put into the wall behind the bed. She didn’t know what he’d had to keep safe, but she was glad he’d been a bit of a paranoid.
Mr. Darcy, who’d been sitting on the floor watching the door, meowed loudly, then focused his attention on Mia.
Mia shivered, the cat’s unease flowing into her own senses. “I feel something too. Let’s go check and make sure I relocked the front door. But no trying to sneak out.”
When they’d finished their tour of the house, Mia took the stairs back to the apartment. All the doors were locked, even the inside one to the chemistry room with the secret entrance to the building that was hidden behind the teacher’s desk. She might not be able to keep people from coming into the room, but that was as far as they would get. Unless they wanted to try to tear down a wall. And the walls were very sturdy. She double-checked the apartment door and then settled in for the night. The enchiladas were warm by the time she got back to the apartment. She turned on some music and, after dinner, spent time with a novel she’d been reading for a few days.
Chapter 4
The bell on the front door rang first thing Saturday morning. Mia checked the video feed, and Christina’s smiling face filled the screen. “Hey, I didn’t expect you until later today.”
“I rode up from Boise with a friend rather than wait for Isaac to bring me home. I really need to buy a car.” Christina’s tone dropped. “Of course, when I suggested that as a gift for my birthday, Mom told me I should be grateful for the Bermuda trip. Which, of course, I am. But a car would have been cheaper and more practical.”
“Your mom has strong opinions. Hold on, I’ll be right down.” Mia slipped on sandals and hurried downstairs, leaving the apartment door open. She was excited to have Christina back. And, even better, she didn’t have to see her ex-boyfriend, Isaac, to do it. Yes, it was weird having your ex’s sister as a roommate and employee, but Mia had left Isaac, not broken her ties with his little sister. Besides, she knew their friendship bugged Isaac, so it was a total win for Mia. Not that she was vindictive or anything.
Mia opened the door and gasped. Christina had stepped close to the camera so Mia could only see her face. Now she could see the rest of her, and the natural blonde who’d turned into a redhead at a whim was now sporting goth black hair. Mia reached out and touched the straight locks that tumbled onto her multicolored dress. “Wow. This is new.”
Christina spun and laughed. “Do you like it? I mean, everyone can come home from Bermuda with bright clothes, but I wanted my hair to make a statement too.”
“Well, it certainly does that.” Mia glanced out to the parking lot. A smaller-sized truck was in the lot. It had a company name on the door, and the logo for the underground utility call center on the back. “Looks like we’ll be able to work in the garden today, as soon as he gets his job done.”
“What garden?” Christina stared at the truck, then back at Mia.
She picked up one of Christina’s suitcases. “Exactly.”
Before they finished moving the suitcases inside the door, a man in a yellow emergency vest and a hard hat ran up to the porch. He was on the phone and his eyes were wide. “Hold on a minute. Lady, what’s your name?”
“My name? Why do you need my name?” Mia glanced at Christina, who looked as confused as she felt. “Are you with the locating company for my garden?”
He nodded. “Look, the 9-1-1 operator wants to make sure she’s sending the cops to the right place. You’re Mia Malone, right?”
When Mia nodded, the guy focused back on the call. “It’s in the backyard, but I’m staying out here in front. The homeowners are here too.”
“Homeowner,” Mia corrected. “This is Christina.”
He nodded but didn’t correct his misstatement. “Yeah, I’ll stay on the line. I’m pretty sure I must be dreaming, so maybe having you on the line will help.”
“Christina, run inside and get a bottle of water for . . .” Mia glanced at the name tag on the man’s vest, “Jim. There’s cold water in the downstairs kitchen.”
“Thanks for the water, although I’d really like a beer.” He looked at the steps. “Do you mind if I sit?”
“Not at all. What’s back in the garden area? A snake? Oh no, it’s not a mountain lion, is it? I’ve heard they come down this far, but not usually in the spring. Maybe he’s lost.” Mia took the water Christina brought back and handed it to Jim, who was now sitting on her front steps. “Here you go. No beer in the house
right now, sorry.”
He took the water, opened it, and guzzled half of it down. “No worries. I was kind of joking about the beer.”
“So a mountain lion, then?” Mia hadn’t seen someone that scared for a while. It must have been huge. She pulled the front door closed so Mr. Darcy couldn’t get out. Maybe she should send Christina to find him and shut him in the apartment. She’d left the door open. She turned to tell Christina just that when Jim spoke again.
“Lady, that was no mountain lion. You have a dead guy behind the house.”
Christina looked up at the sound of the approaching sirens. “Tell Baldwin I just got back into town. This isn’t my fault. I’m going upstairs with my suitcases.”
“Make sure Mr. Darcy is in the apartment, please. I don’t want him getting out.” Mia started to say, “Because of the mountain lion,” but there wasn’t a big cat in her yard. She turned to Jim, who had finished his water and was methodically crunching the plastic bottle. “Who is it?”
He frowned at her question. “The dead guy?”
“Yeah, the dead guy.”
Jim shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m only here doing this area temporarily because the regular guy got fired. Are you missing someone from the house? You must have a lot of people living here, it’s huge.”
“Actually, only me and my assistant live here. It’s a cooking school.” She hesitated and wondered why she’d just told a stranger that two women were alone in the big school. She wondered if he’d even heard her statement as he watched two police cars and an ambulance pull up into her driveway, lights and sirens going. They turned off the sirens but left on the lights.
Jim spoke into his phone. “They’re here.” Then he disconnected the call. He stood and touched the brim of his hat. “I’m going to talk to them, then I’m out of here. Have a nice day.”
Mia sat down and watched as Jim directed Mark Baldwin, the police detective in town, along with the other officers back to the area where he’d found the body. She didn’t want to find out who it was. Her first thought was that it had to be some drifter.
