Magical Blessings

by Candace Colt

  “Ah, this one will work.” Luna handed Abby the paper and pencil. “Write down your intention. I don’t need to see it. This isn’t a college exam, so don’t write an essay. A few words work best. When you’re done, fold the paper in half.”

  That was so easy. Abby wrote reverse curse, folded the paper as instructed, and held it tightly, anxious for the next steps.

  Luna shut her eyes and sat quietly for a few moments. Then she directed Abby to light the paper on fire, place it in the dish to burn and repeat each phrase after her.

  Candle bright

  With white light

  May this curse be gone

  Before the dawn

  For what seemed like hours, but was a few minutes, they both remained silent. Then Luna passed the lapis stone over the candle flame and handed it to Abby.

  “The stone is charged now. Be patient. This was a severe curse, and it will take some time to clear it completely.”

  Abby’s heart clutched. “I thought it would be before dawn?”

  “No doubt it will be, but annoying remnants can linger. The stone helps speed it up. We should stay here together until the candle burns out. And you must drink the water before you leave. It acts as an insulator for your body while your electrical system resets. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?” Luna asked.

  Abby turned the smooth stone in her hand as a hundred things came to mind. But there was one giant elephant in the room.

  “Since you asked, is there a reversal spell for a kleptomaniac cat?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Abby was tempted, but she didn’t dare push her luck. With absolute faith that the reversal spell had worked, Abby shivered to think leftover bits of the curse might be floating inside her.

  While she waited on Luna’s front porch for Beau, she admired the well-maintained and quiet neighborhood. Abby had visited Cat’s Paw Cove and Theo’s family often. She’d spent the summer here the year before starting high school. As a kid, she’d thought the place was hokey and old-fashioned. Not anymore.

  How cool was it that a person could walk or bike everywhere? And that the beach was a short distance from town. And that there were restaurants of all kinds. Restaurant? Food? The session at Luna’s had left Abby hungry. She wondered what tonight’s special was at the Galley. Her mouth watered for their Shepherd’s pie. Too bad her finances were a bit lean at the moment.

  Beau pulled up and offered a bright smile that sent a tingle up Abby’s spine. The word dangled on the tip of her tongue. “Please, oh please, no. It’s too early yet,” she said in a quiet voice as she squeezed the blue lapis in her pocket.

  She climbed into the passenger side of Beau’s truck and held the box of papers again on her lap.

  “Go well?” he asked.

  “Luna said it was a severe curse.”

  “And it’s g—one?”

  She nodded.

  If neither the word nor her feelings were cursed, and the problem was inside her, she was resolved that she could do this. What her aunt said about Beau being the right man was a bigger problem.

  “We need to talk about Scarlett,” Abby said. “Please tell me about the deal.”

  From the way his brow furrowed, he wasn’t very excited about this. Had Scarlett made him promise to give up his first-born child?

  His chest swelled with a deep breath. “She’ll stop if….”

  “If what?”

  At the next four-way stop, he looked over at her. “If I ask you to the Va—lentine’s….”

  “Ball?” she asked.

  He gave her a crooked smile. “Cra—zy, right?”

  What had Luna told her? I could give you a dozen examples.

  Well, Abby would not be an example anymore!

  “I’d l—.” Not yet. “I’d like that very much.”

  When he pulled into The Magic Potter driveway, Beau held the box of papers while Abby got out.

  “By the way, but what is all that?” Abby asked.

  He squinted and pursed his lips. “My book—keeper quit.”

  Abby thought a moment. Would it be too forward to ask? She had some pretty decent skills in the area. “I have an idea.”

  Beau’s forehead crinkled again. “Seem that every—one has an i—dea for me.”

  “I was an accounting major in college; that is before I quit.” She cleared her throat. “I got A’s in all my business courses. I need a couple more humanities classes, and I need one more English course. But because of the curse….”

  Beau held up his hand. Ooops. She’d wandered down Jabberwocky Street again.

  She gave a sheepish grin. “Sorry. What I meant was, I’d like to take a crack at organizing these.”

  Beau drew back in surprise. “I c—ouldn’t ask you.”

  “Why not? Until Theo gets back, I have free days when the store’s closed to customers. I’m about done with cleaning up the apartment.” Abby could almost taste her excitement over the idea. “I bet I could get you back on track before I leave town.”

  Beau laid his hand on the box. “Hold on. I’m not in a g—ood place ri—ght now. I had to p—ay the woman who q—uit even though she did—n’t do the j—ob.”

  “You mean money?”

  Beau ducked his head. “Yeah.”

  “Who said anything about paying me?” Abby asked.

  “But….”

  “I don’t have to be at the shop tomorrow. Is ten too early?” She got out of the truck. “By the way, where is your place?”

  “But….” he tried again to stop her.

  She waited until he finally told her the address. Though she had no idea how she’d get there, she’d worry about that tomorrow. She squeezed the blue stone again, trusting somehow that the situation would work itself out.

  As she opened the front door to The Magic Potter, she sensed someone staring at her. She turned her head slowly, and with a relieved huff, she realized it was a wide-eyed Scarlett on the porch swing.

  She took a seat next to the cat and ran her hand over Scarlett’s silky fur. “You’ll be happy to know, Beau told me about your deal.”

  Scarlett’s soft purring abruptly ceased, and she snapped her head in Abby’s direction.

  “I accepted,” Abby said.

  Scarlett jiggled into a comfy position, closed her eyes, and went into a half-sleep.

  “Not so fast.” Abby lightly tapped the feline’s head. “What about your half of the bargain?”

  Scarlett gave Abby a slit-eyed stare.

  “A deal is a deal. It stops now. Understand? And you are going to help me return all that stuff to where it came from.”

  The cat fluffed her fur, growled in what Abby interpreted as a kitty swearword, and jumped off the porch swing. Scarlett looked over her shoulder at Abby and waited at the front door.

  “All righty, then. I take that to mean we start now.”

  Inside, the savory aroma of food made Abby’s stomach growl. Deidra had taped a note to the register. In all the day’s events, Abby had forgotten her aunt was working today. And Deidra had made a slow-cooker full of chicken and dumplings. Heaven!

  As she started upstairs, Abby glanced at the doll shelf. The lonesome last one was gone. The store was closed today except for lessons. Had the instructor sold it?

  Her aunt had explained that the dolls picked who they’d help. Who had that one chosen?

  Chapter Seventeen

  Beau popped open a cold beer and sat at his desk, tapping his newly found glove on a stack of folders. Not only had Abby accepted his invitation to the Ball, but she also planned to be here tomorrow. Should he try to organize the mayhem before then? But where to start? Ask him to repair a mega-volt line, and he’d be right on it. Even the idea of touching paperwork sent him into paralysis.

  He’d only known Abby since Monday, but what a whirlwind. The longer he was with her, the more he liked her. But she’d be gone soon, and it didn’t make sense to get involved.

  Kristy Wilshire will be happy. Sh
e had won the bet. Abby and Beau were going to the Valentine’s Day Ball. Together. This event was a big deal in Cat’s Paw Cove. It would spread all over town that he’d brought a date, even though he still hadn’t embraced the idea that it was an actual date. He preferred to think of it as fulfilling a condition of a deal. With a cat.

  If he could control the tongue-tied crap, the evening should be tolerable for both of them. Scarlett had better darn well keep her side of the bargain. If she’d reneged, he’d make sure everybody, or at least every cat in town, knew about her habit.

  His stomach growled as a reminder that he’d eaten lunch hours ago. Too exhausted to go out, he decided to open that blasted canned spaghetti left from his hurricane supplies. Not a very appealing cuisine, but it was cheap and easy. Maybe he’d tackle some of the paperwork with food in his belly. Or not.

  He tossed the glove beside its mate.

  “Hey, would you mind?”

  Beau whipped his head from side to side. Sounded like a woman. Was someone calling him? He reached for his phone. Nope. Not that. Was somebody outside? He shrugged it off and started toward his apartment.

  “You there. I’m here. Inside the glove.”

  Beau raised to his full height and turned around.

  “If I was alive, you could have killed me,” came the voice again.

  He gave a knowing nod. His old work buddies must have planted a microphone.

  “Nice work, guys. You had me there for a minute.” He examined all aspects of the glove.

  “What the hell is that?” Beau tossed the glove in the air, and it landed with a thunk.

  “I beg your pardon, kind sir. I am not a ‘that.’ Help me get out of this stifling thing.”

  “What are you?” Beau asked in a low voice.

  “I’m a doll, you fool.”

  Beau shut his eyes and remembered where he lived. Natural and normal for cats to talk here. And for him to speak to them. Cat’s Paw Cove had witches. Mediums. Ghosts. Time travelers. But talking dolls were downright creepy.

  “Hey, you asleep?”

  He shook out of the reverie. “I wish,” Beau said as he tentatively reached two fingers into the glove.

  “Watch it. Your big fingers nearly smashed my nose. I’m only clay, you know. Gently take me out by the cap.” The more it spoke, the more it sounded like a female. A very cranky female.

  Beau gritted his teeth and gave it another go. He could manage hot circuits, so he could darn well do this. He held the glove to the light and peered inside at the pointy tip of a knitted cap. He lightly pinched it and eased it out.

  Once he extracted it, he laid the thing on the table and backed away. She, he, it, whatever, looked like what he’d seen those women holding at The Magic Potter. But here?

  “There’s a microphone inside this, right guys? Still pranking me, aren’t you?” From a safe distance, Beau inspected it as though it was a fallen alien.

  He leaned down until his face was a few inches from hers.

  “Boogey boogey,” she said with a chuckle.

  Beau jumped back. “Dammit,” he muttered.

  “Sit me up and take a chair. We don’t have a lot of time.”

  “Is this for real?”

  “Get over it. Now listen up. And please close your gaping mouth.”

  “I—I didn’t realize—sorry.”

  “Whatever. Now here’s how things work.”

  Fifteen minutes later, the doll had finished her story. She ended with telling Beau to close his mouth, again.

  “But I hardly know Abby,” Beau said.

  “And?” she asked. “Is that a problem?”

  “But what happens if it’s not really love but some kind of temporary spell?”

  The doll cackled. “Did you, or did you not listen? That is our purpose. We bring people together. People who are meant to be with each other.”

  “But—”

  “Son, you have more ‘buts’ than the view from the back of a pig trough. We don’t usually use this approach, but you and Abby are hardcore resistant. All the more reason I was the one selected for the job.”

  “Selected by who?”

  “The universe. Zeus. Aphrodite. Harry Potter. Take your pick. It doesn’t matter who. It matters that you get together.”

  “If this is true—”

  “If?”

  “Yes, if this is true, what happens to you after the couple gets together?”

  “Honey, I am now and always will be part of your family.”

  What a deal. A mate and a bossy doll. Life was too good.

  Beau massaged his temples. He wasn’t drunk. He wasn’t asleep. He wasn’t dead. But he was numb.

  “I have a question,” he asked.

  “Ask away.”

  “Just how’d you get into that glove in the first place?”

  “I wondered if you’d ask me that. I had help.”

  It hit like a bucket of ice. “Let me guess.”

  Still floating on clouds, Abby celebrated with a second helping of savory chicken and dumplings. Clearly, her aunt had fixed enough for an army, but who cared? She’d gladly eat the meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

  The teddy bear sat on the kitchen table next to her. Somewhere there was a very sad child. She should make that call and let the parents know she had it.

  After its trek from the park to here, the bear could use a bath. A small tag stitched into a seam had the washing instructions. The least she could do was spiff it up.

  While the washer cycled, Abby went back to work on the remaining kitchen cabinets. The last chore was sorting out only the best utensils. She put the triplicates in a box along with the extra bakeware. Who needed four angel food cake pans? Why bake one, with a place like Sugarland in town? There wasn’t much more to do after that, except figuring out a charity where the items could go. To be safe, she’d wait till Theo got home, but she doubted her cousin had a clue how much stuff she had.

  Except for Theo’s personal items, Abby had straightened, cleaned, and sorted the whole place. What a difference. There was room to move in the apartment now. Once her cousin started a family, she’d need the space.

  Funny how adamant Theo had been about not marrying, and heaven forbid, having kids. After traveling to the 1700s, she’d returned with a new attitude about the Blessing family gift of magic. The fact she’d fallen for the sweetest and most handsome man ever, had helped. It wouldn’t be long before their first child came along.

  Now that Abby’d had the epiphany of epiphanies today, she needed to think about her own future and settling down somewhere. Maybe she’d head to Key West where friends there could find her a job. Or so they’d said. But these were the same friends who’d talked her into the psychic fair. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to trust their judgment. Right now, she needed to put teddy into the dryer.

  Scarlett had scarfed down her kibble and had nestled into a corner of the sofa for a nap. Abby looked behind the couch and, to her relief, saw nothing—no toys, tools, garments, anything. Because the cat had behaved today, it didn’t mean she’d keep her word tomorrow.

  She took Scarlett’s cue and nodded off until the dryer buzzer woke her. The teddy bear came out fresh and fluffy as if it were brand new. She retrieved a ribbon from a drawer she’d organized, cut a section for a bow, and tied it around the bear’s neck.

  “I think you’re ready to go home.”

  When Abby called the number on the poster, a woman answered. They agreed to meet in Wilshire Park tomorrow at nine. She hung up and basked in happy thoughts as she looked for Scarlett before she locked the pet door for the night.

  “For the love of Pete, where are you?” Abby clamped her mouth and waited. She’d said the word. No flicker. No outage.

  And still no cat.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The following morning, even shaking the kibble container didn’t rout Scarlett from hiding. Not knowing if the cat was in or out last night, Abby hadn’t locked the pet door. But she susp
ected Scarlett had broken her end of the deal and was already out on recon patrol.

  With only twenty minutes to get to Wilshire Park, she’d have to walk fast. She squeezed the lapis stone in her pocket, then remembered there was a bike with a basket on it out in the shed. There were left-overs from last night’s meal. Why not take some to Beau?

  Abby filled one of Theo’s six identical baking bowls, wrapped it in foil, and slid it into a casserole carry case. She grabbed her purse, and the teddy, which she’d put into a plastic shopping bag, and headed to the shed.

  After she packed everything into the bike basket, she took a moment to admire how the hand tools were hung up according to size. The yard implements were clean and shiny. Yes, her cousin was in good hands.

  Not surprising, the bike was in pristine condition. Like a ten-year-old again, she waved and rang the handlebar bell several times along the route through town. At the park, Abby found the woman and a young child. When Abby unwrapped the bear, the boy squealed as he hugged it. “My baba.”

  The mother’s smile could have lit the moon. “I never thought we’d see it again. My child had it in his arms while we were petting the cutest little kitten, then the next minute, the bear was gone. We looked everywhere. I can’t thank you enough. You even washed it.”

  Cutest little kitten, huh? Abby skillfully dodged how she’d found the toy behind the couch in an upstairs apartment. Washing it was the least Abby could have done after the toy had survived a trip across town in a cat’s mouth.

  “Would you please take this small reward?” The woman offered Abby a ten-dollar bill.

  “Oh, I couldn’t,” Abby said. “The joy on your son’s face is all the reward I need.”

  “Hello. It’s me.” Abby waited just inside the shop as Beau came from the stockroom. He looked like he hadn’t slept. His hair was mussed. He hadn’t shaved, and she was pretty sure he was still in the clothes he’d worn yesterday.

  “There you are. I figured we’d be hungry later, so I brought this. Where’s your refrigerator?” Abby asked.