The Cupcake Coven

by Ashlyn Chase

  “Well, it was nice seein’ you,” he said. “We’ll stop by later.” With that, he took Rebecca’s hand and led her to the door that must have been the boss’s office or library or…whatever.

  Dru knocked and they were answered by a gruff voice. “Come in.”

  As soon as Dru opened the door a man the size of a bear lumbered from behind the desk and strode to embrace him.

  “Dru! I never thought you’d see fit to come home. This ain’t Shasta,” he said and nodded at Rebecca.

  “No. This is Rebecca Colby, a friend from New Hampshire.”

  “No kiddin’. Any friend of Dru’s, and all that…Welcome, Rebecca.” After a quick handshake he turned back to Dru. “I heard you finally found Shasta. Where is she?”

  “I did. She’s still in New Hampshire.”

  “Now I’m confused,” the old man said. “I thought you were bringin’ her home.”

  “So did I. It’s a long story. Do you have time?”

  “Sure. Let’s go into the living room. Would you two like some iced tea?”

  Rebecca hadn’t realized how thirsty she was until he mentioned iced tea. “I’d love some. Can I get a pitcher and some glasses for everyone while you two catch up?”

  “Naw. I’ll ask Juanita to get it,” Earl said.

  Before she had a chance to protest, he had already called out the woman’s name. And as soon as Juanita hurried into the room, he told her to bring three glasses of iced tea. It seemed as if the woman was more than cook and housekeeper. She was treated like a servant. Rebecca didn’t know how to feel about that—except to realize she was a fish out of water here. Is this how Dru felt in New England?

  “Some kind of official letters came for you a while back. Let me get ‘em before I sit down,” Earl said. “You two get comfortable though.”

  Dru and Rebecca strolled across a giant braided rug to the couch and sat. The furniture was made of thick wood with sturdy red cushions. A few throw pillows and some plaid curtains showed a little bit of the feminine touch. Most of the decor was utilitarian. A couple of books on the coffee table. Lamps and an ashtray on the end tables. A sturdy arm chair that matched the couch and a rocking chair completed the grouping.

  “He seems nice,” Rebecca said.

  “Mostly.”

  Dru didn’t elaborate, probably because the office wasn’t that far away and his boss hadn’t closed the door. He returned quickly, carrying two long, white envelopes.

  “Here. Looks like they’re from some kind of law office.”

  Dru glanced at the return address and opened the first letter. He scanned the contents then looked up, frowning.

  “What is it?” Rebecca whispered.

  “Some estate lawyer says Shasta and I are named in a will, but we missed the date.” He looked over at Earl. “That’s weird.”

  “Open the other letter,” Earl said.

  Dru tore into the second envelope and said, “Yep. We missed the reading of the will, but he says to call him and we’ll set up a time.” Dru glanced at a large decorative clock on the wall. “I imagine the law office is probably closed after five o’clock.”

  Earl shrugged. “You never know. Sometimes they work late.”

  “I doubt the person who answers the phones will be there.” He tucked the envelopes into his pocket. “I’ll call tomorrow. I’m curious as hell though. Do you know anything about another will, Earl?”

  The big man shook his head. “Nope.”

  Juanita entered with a tray carrying three iced teas and three long spoons. A few sugar packets lay beside the glasses. “I didn’t know how you take your tea,” she said to Rebecca as she set the tray on the coffee table in front of her. “Two sugars for you and Mr. Earl, right, Dru?” she asked.

  “Yep. Thanks, Juanita. That’s mighty nice of you to remember.”

  “You were gone a couple of months, not years. I’m not losing my memory, yet.” She grinned.

  “Speakin’ of memories. Why don’t you have a seat too, Juanita. I’ll tell ya’ll what happened to Shasta.”

  She scurried to the rocking chair and sat down, a worried look on her face.

  “Now, I don’t want to get into a bunch of personal details,” Dru said. “But you should know that what happened to Shasta wasn’t her fault. She’s fine now, but for a while there she had some kind of amnesia. Didn’t know who she was or where she came from. She lost her phone and all her belongings. That’s why she didn’t get in touch beyond the call saying she’d made it to Massachusetts.”

  Both Earl and Juanita looked shocked, but neither of them interrupted.

  “I followed a few leads and gathered that she’d gone to the New Hampshire seacoast. I showed her picture to everybody and their uncle, but she’d changed her hairstyle and no one was sure they recognized her. A few thought they might have seen her though, so I didn’t want to give up if I was close.”

  Earl nodded. “Understandable.”

  We finally crossed paths, and when we did, she acted like she didn’t know me. Turns out, she really didn’t at the time.”

  Juanita’s hand clutched the dress fabric over her chest. “How horrible! She must have had quite a bump on the head to forget her own hermano.”

  Dru winced. “Well, that’s where it gets kind of tricky. She wasn’t in any kind of an accident. It was more like a psychological trauma. I’m not sure how much she wants people to know, so I’d better say nothin’ and let her fill you in if she wants to.”

  “Where is she?” Juanita asked.

  “She’s still in New Hampshire,” Dru said. “Turns out, she likes it there. She’s seein’ a young man. An E.M.T. He seems nice.”

  “So, she’s happy?” Juanita asked.

  “Seems like it,” Dru said. “She might change her mind when one of those Nor’easters hits, and buries the place in snow.”

  Juanita turned to Rebecca. “Miss Rebecca, what do you think? Will she ever come home?”

  Rebecca had no idea what to tell them. She barely knew April, aka Shasta. “I guess it will depend on her.”

  Dru squeezed Rebecca’s hand. “Rebecca here’s been kind enough to offer Shasta the use of her guest room and a job in her bakery. I’d really like her to finish college, but as was already pointed out, it’s all up to Shasta. She’s an adult and I can’t make her do anything…not that I ever could.”

  Earl laughed. “Yup. That sister of yours has a mind of her own. She’ll come back and visit someday.”

  “I’m sure of it. Meanwhile, Earl, I need to talk to you about my job.”

  The big man frowned and rose. “Why don’t we go into my office? Ladies, will you excuse us?”

  Uh oh. The expression on Dru’s face looked like a man being led to the chopping block.

  Hanna put her feet up at the end of a long day. Before she had a chance to turn on her TV, Fayleen appeared on the couch next to her.

  Hanna jumped. “Sheesh. I’ll never get used to that,” she muttered under her breath.

  “Sure you will. Watch. Now you see me…” Fayleen disappeared, but her voice echoed, “Now you don’t.”

  Hanna rolled her eyes. “You’ve had your fun. What do you need?”

  “I need to train your witch.” Fayleen reappeared on the nearby armchair. “What was her name again?”

  “Seriously? You can’t even remember the name of the one who’s joining us?”

  “It’s not that. I know the one I’m looking for is named Rebecca, but she’ll be using her witch name. I don’t think I ever heard Rebecca’s witch name.”

  “That’s because she doesn’t have one,” Hanna said. “She was named after Rebecca Nurse, one of the innocent Salem witches hung on Gallow’s Hill in 1692.”

  Fayleen nodded. “Morbid, but oddly touching. I think I’d like her parents.”

  “If you can find them…” Hanna let out a deep breath.

  “You want me to?”

  Hanna sat up straight. “You can?”

  “Of course. Get a p
icture of the couple and an object they’ve touched. Even if I can’t…she can.”

  “Oh, for Goddess’s sake. Why didn’t I think of that? Rebecca’s been putting up with some major harassment from a loan shark. He’s trying to collect on her father’s debt.”

  “Who is this scumbag?”

  Hanna picked a piece of lint off her skirt. “The man we questioned didn’t know exactly. The guy goes by Marvelous Marv. Apparently he hires others to do his dirty work.”

  “Fat lot of help that is,” Fayleen mumbled.

  “Look, if you can find Rebecca’s father, he can probably tell you how to find the guy he borrowed money from.”

  Fayleen sighed. “The girl hasn’t even started earning her powers yet, and already she’s a pain in the ass.”

  “Please don’t look at it that way,” Hanna said. “We all have challenges from time to time. The coven helps each other whenever possible. Rebecca created some sigils for protection, and I cast a truth spell on the guy who threatened her. He’s going to jail for quite a while based on a lengthy confession.”

  Fayleen smiled and nodded. “Not bad.”

  “We try.”

  Dru and Rebecca lay in bed in his cabin. Rebecca had popped back to Portsmouth and told Shasta—er April about the will and that she might be needed in Texas, so not to make plans for the following day.

  “Did she give you any trouble about coming back home?” he asked.

  “Yes and no. She seemed a bit suspicious at first, but I assured her I wouldn’t be involved in any underhanded plot to get her back to Texas and leave her there.”

  “Is that what she thought this was?” He was hurt that his sister thought he could trick her like that.

  “She wasn’t sure what to think. And if I may be so bold as to point it out, neither are you.”

  “True. It’s a lucky thing you could turn back time a bit and I caught the receptionist before she left for the day. Even luckier she had an appointment open up with the lawyer for tomorrow afternoon. I’m mighty curious about being named in a will I knew nothin’ about.”

  “Well, the good news is you and Shasta are named in a will, not a lawsuit.”

  “That’s for sure. Reminds me of something else Mamma used to say.”

  “What was that?”

  “Sometimes you get. Sometimes you get got.”

  Rebecca smiled. “I’ve heard it like this; sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you.”

  Dru shivered on purpose. “Good thing there’s precious few bears in Texas.” He rolled onto his side and pulled her against him. She wrapped her arm around his back and tipped up her face as if she knew he wanted to kiss her. Their lips met, and then as if synchronized, they opened to each other simultaneously. Their tongues stroked one another, deepening the kiss.

  Their relationship was going so well, and even though they’d only known each other for six weeks, it felt like they’d been together forever. Maybe they had. Witches believed in reincarnation. There was no doubt in Dru’s mind that he wanted to spend the rest of his life—or lives with Rebecca.

  He palmed her breast and kneaded. She moaned into his mouth and he took the cue to break the kiss and move a little lower. When his lips latched onto her nipple, she arched and moaned aloud.

  “This cabin might seem private, but anyone could be walkin’ by, so try not to scream. Okay?”

  “Should I ask you to try not to make me scream?”

  “I don’t know. Should you?”

  “Hell, no,” she exclaimed, and they both laughed.

  He gave her other breast the same attention and she expressed her joy in quiet mewls and whimpers.

  Then he slid down her body until he was eye level with the apex of her thighs. He placed little kisses over her quivering flesh and eventually, teased her folds with his tongue. She sucked in a deep breath whenever he reached her clit.

  “Please, Dru…”

  He paused long enough to say, “Please what?”

  “Don’t play innocent. You know exactly what I want.”

  Indeed he did, and he wanted to give it to her. “Promise you’ll scream into the pillow if you have to.”

  She ran her fingers through his hair. “I’ll stuff it in my mouth if it’ll get you to do what you do so well.”

  He grinned. With that kind of reputation to uphold, how could he not?

  He flicked his tongue like a hummingbird’s wings across her sensitive bud.

  She grabbed the pillow and dragged it out from under her head. Flopping it over her face, she was free to enjoy the release from her toes to her lungs. The muffling action worked. He could still hear her, but she wasn’t so loud she’d scare the horses.

  As her noises became louder and more constant, she pressed the pillow over her mouth. It did a decent job of squelching her screams as she came apart. Her orgasms always lasted a long time, but by the time this one was finished, she seemed as limp as a rag doll in a rainstorm.

  “Are you okay, darlin’?”

  “Oh. My. Goddess,” she said between deep panting.

  A female voice said, “Nope. It’s just little old me!”

  The two of them jolted and stared in the direction of the voice.

  Fayleen appeared with her hands over her eyes. “Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time to begin your training.”

  The two of them scrambled under the sheet.

  “Are you joking?” Rebecca sounded like she was trying to reign in her anger. “I’m kind of busy here.”

  “I thought you were finished. I waited until you were quiet.”

  “Not yet. I haven’t returned the favor.”

  Fayleen parted her fingers and peeked at Dru. “Oh. Well, hurry up.”

  “Shit,” Dru said. “I think I just lost the mood.”

  Fayleen grinned. “Good! Then you can finish this later. Get dressed, cupcake. We have important work to do. You need to battle world hunger, one cupcake at a time. I’ll be back in a flash.” The magical witch chuckled and disappeared.

  Rebecca hung her head. “I’m sorry, Dru.”

  He cupped her cheek. “It’s okay, darlin’. Sounds important. I’ll be here when you get back.” He kissed her until Fayleen’s voice echoed, “Get a move on, S.W.I.T.”

  Rebecca jumped out of bed and grabbed her underwear off the floor.

  “Swit?” Dru asked.

  “Supernatural witch in training,” she said. As soon as she had her jeans zipped and her blouse buttoned, Fayleen reappeared in a flash of light and the two women disappeared before Dru’s vision readjusted to the dark cabin.

  The following morning, Rebecca got up with the sun, kissed Dru repeatedly, and teleported back to her bedroom in New Hampshire. She showered and dressed and met April in her apartment’s kitchen.

  Her new boarder and baker was pouring cereal into a bowl. “You never told me what happened with my brother’s job. Did Earl fire him for being gone so long?”

  “No. I think he was a smidge happier to have him back than mad about getting along without him.” Rebecca snagged the orange juice from the fridge when April opened it for the milk. “Why don’t you have something from the bakery?”

  “I don’t want to eat the profits. I figure I can buy the next box of cereal and milk.”

  Rebecca laughed. “It’s all the same to me. I might grab something from the display case later—usually something that’s getting stale. That way, it’s preventing waste, not eating profits.”

  April smiled. “In that case, I’ll probably have something almost stale for coffee break. Oh! I do get a coffee break, don’t I?” Instead of sitting at the table, she leaned against the counter and ate standing up.

  “Of course, but today you’ll only work in the morning.”

  “Why? Our appointment with the lawyer isn’t until two-thirty.”

  “Don’t you want to see Mike or shower and change or something?”

  “Nah. I like to bake. Are you coming?”

  “No. I’ll take
you there, but then I’ll have to come back.” Rebecca had told April about her ability to teleport, but had made it sound like she’d developed the power as a witch…not had it bestowed upon her by the Unholy Grail. Fayleen might be upset, but she had to explain why April didn’t need a plane ticket to get to Texas.

  “I wish you could stay for the reading of the will,” April said.

  “It doesn’t involve me, and I have a cake order to fulfill.”

  “Really? What kind of cake?”

  “German chocolate layer cake. It’s for an exchange student who’s going to Berlin.”

  “Mmm…I wish I could stay and learn how to make that.”

  “Next time,” Rebecca said. “Or, maybe you’ll inherit a fortune this afternoon and decide to go buy one in Germany.”

  April rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.” She paused to chew a spoonful of cereal, and then asked, “Does Dru have any idea whose will this is? Our Mamma had a will, but we’ve already read it.”

  “Could she have had a second one?”

  April frowned. “I doubt it. She didn’t have much in the first place, and we already split it down the middle. You think maybe she had an offshore bank account?”

  Rebecca shrugged. “I’m as curious as you are.”

  April finished the cereal and placed her bowl in the sink. “Mind if I go downstairs and get started?”

  “Mind?” Rebecca laughed. “Go for it. I showed you how to make coffee. That’s all you really have to do before I get down there.”

  “Great. It’ll be ready in a jiffy.” April skipped down the stairs to the industrial kitchen.

  Rebecca couldn’t help being grateful for April’s help, but would it last? Dru’s sister was still young. If she were given a large inheritance, what would she do with it? Hard to say since she didn’t know the girl well.

  “Rebecca?”

  April was calling her from the kitchen. She didn’t feel like yelling up and down the stairs, so she just called out, “I’ll be right there,” and tipped up her orange juice glass, finishing it. She rinsed the glass and left it in the sink next to April’s bowl and spoon, then jogged downstairs.