A Southern Charms Cozy Potluck Box Set Read online

  “Let me take the lead this time,” Mason whispered to me.

  I agreed. “Be careful. She’s been dealing with a controlling monster for who knows how long.”

  The detective pulled out one of the metal chairs, scraping it on the concrete slab. Shelby whipped around with a yelp, almost losing her balance.

  “I’m sorry to surprise you, Miss Michaels,” he said, taking her arm to steady her. “We came by to ask you a few more questions.”

  She flinched away from his touch at first before shaking her head. “I’m sorry, Detective. It’s not you. I’m a bit on edge.” Offering a weak smile, she took the seat.

  I sat down across from her, trying my best to reassure her with a smile and distributing the glasses of tea around the small table.

  “I’d really like to understand the nature of your relationship with Duke, if you could give us some more details. How long have you known him?” Mason asked.

  Shelby blew out a breath. “All of my life. He was mean as a kid, too, always trying to find ways to blame me for the stuff he did. Mom never thought that I’d be the one attached to him since she was a full banshee, and most of them outlive generations.”

  “What happened to her?” My question interrupted Mason, and I mouthed an apology.

  Shelby traced a finger following the condensation on the outside of her glass. “I was in my first year of college when I got the call. Duke’s mother had passed away, leaving him without anyone else in his family. I was in the middle of a lit class when I felt the first tether binding Duke and me together right when I got a text message.”

  Mason wrote down some notes. “With your mother’s passing, you became the banshee attached to Duke at age eighteen?”

  She blinked back some tears. “I never did find out what happened to her. Duke told me she’d drowned in the bathtub. I think he wanted me to think she committed suicide or something, but she would never do that.”

  I took a sip of the tea, carefully formulating the question that nagged at me. “Forgive me if this seems too abrupt, but why didn’t you leave him if he was so awful?”

  Shelby smirked. “I’ve asked myself that same question for years. Wondering if I could have paid someone to sever the link between us. Between my mom never really teaching me what it meant to be a banshee, Duke’s lies, and my naivety, I set myself up in my own little prison. The only relief I had was cooking and baking.”

  Blythe interrupted us, setting down a tray of freshly baked strawberry muffins still warm from the oven. Done with the task, she left without saying anything or even glancing at me. The irritation from earlier stirred into anger. Even though the muffins smelled amazing, I couldn’t stomach one.

  Shelby reached for a muffin and savored the aroma. “It’s weird not being the one doing the kitchen work. I’m not used to it.”

  “You haven’t answered my question yet.” Mason scooted his chair closer to the table. “How long were you with Duke?”

  The young woman calculated in her head. “I’ve been tethered to him for ten years, two of those doing all the behind-the-scenes operations of his so-called catering business. You know, I tried leaving him once. Stole his keys, got in the car, and drove away.

  “Mom never told me that the binding contract she signed for the two of us all those years ago would hold me forever. I got to the edge of town before the physical pain became too unbearable and I returned, seeing him waiting for me with that menacing grin he always wore.” She shivered at the memory.

  The whole time Shelby spoke, I couldn’t help but wallow in my disappointment with Blythe and her blatant choice to ignore me. Figuring that Mason had things covered in the interrogation department, I pushed back from the table.

  “Y’all excuse me, please. I need to find the restroom.” I hurried inside, intending to find my friend and fuss at her until she caved.

  Ms. Althea met me in the hallway. “Charli Goodwin, you’re lookin’ mighty fine today. You here with the detective to speak to that poor girl?” She gave me a quick hug around the neck.

  “We’re trying to get some more details to paint a fuller picture,” I admitted.

  “My boy Ezekiel told me a little bit when he brought her here and then went through the bad man’s room. There are people that sometimes set your hair on end from the moment you clap eyes on them.” Ms. Althea shivered. “I told Zeke it was a wonder he was still walkin’ this Earth for as long as he did, the evil that he was so wrapped up in.”

  I didn’t know what particular talents Zeke’s mother possessed, but she definitely read Duke right. “Did you ever see Mr. Aikens with a black book at any time?”

  She nodded. “I sure did. Was walkin’ by his room and saw him produce it out of thin air. Neat little spell.”

  My stomach flipped with excitement. “Did Zeke find it when he searched the room?”

  Ms. Althea’s face fell. “My boy did a thorough job and took away a number of items to catalog at the station. He might have mentioned his disappointment in not finding that one item to me.”

  “Oh.” So much for hoping.

  “But since you’re helping out with the investigation, you can take a look yourself.” The deputy’s mother pointed up the stairs. “At the top, it’s the last room on the left.”

  Forgetting my desire to talk things out with Blythe, I thanked Ms. Althea and hustled to the second floor. I stood in the doorway, surveying the empty room lit by the afternoon sun shining through the windows. Anything of Duke’s was long gone, and yet my gut forced me inside to take another look.

  I walked around the small space with slow, deliberate steps, not touching anything. Everything had been tidied up spic and span. As much as I liked Zeke, I wondered how thorough the young deputy had been in his search? Dropping to my knees on the carpet, I lifted the pleated lace dust ruffle and peered under the bed. Not even one dust bunny tumbled underneath.

  In disappointment, I sat back on my haunches thinking through everything I knew. My eyes lit on the bottom of the wooden nightstand. If I were searching for something, I would move every piece of furniture to check. And if I moved furniture in haste, chances were that I might not put it back in the same position. Yet, the stand looked like it hadn’t been moved in ages.

  Pushing on the wood, I moved it to the right a few inches. I didn’t find a black book, but my eyes caught something round nestled into the shag of the rug. With excitement, I picked it up and held it in the palm of my hand.

  The cool metal of what looked like an old coin warmed against my skin. Bigger than a quarter, the surface was dull, making it hard to distinguish any details. I flipped it over and ran my fingertip over the outline of some sort of figure.

  Maybe the coin belonged to Duke? Maybe it was something long lost by one of Ms. Althea’s boys. I moved the nightstand back in its place, making sure the entire bottom sat in the original grooves on the carpet. Placing the coin in my pocket, I left the room to rejoin the interrogation.

  The grandfather clock in the hallway echoed, and I counted the first chimes and then the hours it marked. In a panic, I ran downstairs to find Mason escorting Shelby inside.

  I pulled on his sleeve. “We’ve got to go. I forgot all about the second spell class, and I haven’t planned anything. I’m gonna need you to drive me back to my place and then to the school as fast as your warden behind can go.”

  Without delay, I entered the classroom a little breathless, holding onto a small bag. All heads turned in my direction. Their pleasant expressions and lack of heads buried in their spell phones gave me hope that maybe I wasn’t a total dead loss as a teacher.

  Heading to the desk at the front, I did my best to hide my trepidation and turned to address their eager faces. “My grandmother used to tell my brother and me that magic requires focus. And if you can't focus, you're gonna have a hard time controlling the outcome. Raise your hand if you've ever tried a spell, it didn't work, and the more you tried the worse you felt until you couldn't cast anything.”

>   Everyone waved a hand in the air, including me. Before I could continue, the bag slung on my shoulder wiggled.

  Helen pointed at it. “What’s in there?”

  I placed the pouch with care on top of the desk. “I forgot all about our guest professor today.” A little orange head popped up, and everyone gasped.

  Peaches hopped out and shook her head like a rattle, licking her paw and cleaning her whiskers. The girls squealed at her cuteness while the guys chuckled.

  Glad that my last-minute idea to distract them worked, I rubbed my orange cat’s head. “It happens to all of us, so when you're taking your test, don't panic and think you're the only witch in the world who feels that way. There are tricks you can learn and things you can do to help you find the best way to center yourself and work through the problem.”

  To punctuate the point of centering, Peaches turned three times in the middle of the desk, spread her legs, and focused on bath time. The students snickered.

  “This is my pet, Peaches. Or I’m hers, since she kind of chose me. How many of you have an animal that’s part of your family?”

  Several hands went up. Anna waved her hand. “I’m pretty sure I have a familiar. He’s a newt.”

  Her sister Emily snorted. “He's not the familiar.”

  “He could be,” Anna argued. “He likes to watch when I practice spellcasting.”

  A young man named Connor, sitting next to Eric in the back, spoke up. “We have a black cat named Midnight. He was Mom's familiar before she met Dad. He's lived a long time, so we don't really use him for magic anymore. I guess you could say he’s in retirement.”

  I rubbed the top of my cat’s head. “You bring up a good point. Because familiars have the ability to channel our magic, it affects their life spans, and some can live a long time. But a pet doesn't have to be a familiar to help. Anna, how do you feel knowing that your newt is watching you?”

  Her cousin Helen teased, “Her newt’s name is Newt.”

  “It's Sir Isaac Newt, to be exact,” corrected Anna. “And he makes me feel calm.”

  “Exactly. And if you can recall how that feels when you're casting, then you can draw on the power of that sense memory to help you feel the same way. Let's do a demonstration.” I picked up my fur baby.

  Peaches settled in my arms and demanded rubs. A steady purr vibrated against my touch, and I held her small body against my ear, listening to it.

  “When I hold Peaches, she gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling, no matter how bad my day’s going.” I scratched under her chin and my kitty closed her eyes. “I need a volunteer for this next part.”

  Almost everyone stood up. I chose a quieter girl named April to hold Peaches. Like the good cat she is, my orange bundle of joy rubbed her head against April’s hand, enjoying the extra attention. The girl beamed at my kitty, talking to her in a quiet voice.

  “I think you’ve made a friend,” I said to April. “Now, I want you to keep petting her, but I’m going to place a feather on the desk. See if you can lift it while focusing on how holding Peaches makes you feel.”

  Loving on my furry baby distracted the girl in the right away. She kept rubbing my cat between the ears, almost ignoring the feather all together.

  The class applauded and she glanced up in puzzlement. The white feather floated down and landed on the desk.

  I beamed at April. “Did you feel any sense that she shared your magic while holding her?”

  She pondered for a second and admitted, “No. But she's just so cute and adorable that I didn't even think that hard about the spell.”

  “Exactly,” I exclaimed. “If you can hold onto that feeling and try to use it when taking your permit test, you might be able to make it through without panicking.” Taking back my cat, I addressed the rest of the class. “Line up if you want a turn with Peaches.”

  They scrambled to their feet, and for the next thirty minutes, my cat got all the lovin’ she could possibly want. After getting so spoiled, there was a good chance she’d start attending school on her own.

  My chest filled with pride, and I marveled at my ability to pull a lesson out of my behind that wasn’t that bad.

  By the end of the hour, I had them performing all the spells they needed to pass the permit except one. “You get to pick an original spell to perform, and I highly suggest that you work with what you got. I'll give you an example. My gift is finding things. During my test, I had the proctor hide an object while I left the room, and when I came back, I found it for them.”

  Helen frowned and blurted out, “What if we don’t know what we’re good at?”

  Grabbing some blank paper from a nearby bookshelf, I passed it out. “Try not to focus so much on the negative. Give some thoughts to what you can do and write it down on the paper.”

  I gave them time to scribble down some ideas and then let each of them share with the class, adding in my suggestions or encouraging another student to add their thoughts as we went around the room.

  When I arrived in front of Eric, I stared him down. “I don't see anything written on your paper, but I could have sworn I saw you writing. Care to show me?”

  He shook his head and tried to crumple the papers.

  I stopped him. “Here, I’ll write down one of my ideas.” Using the pencil, I scratched something on the paper and marveled at it. “So where did it go, Eric?”

  The taller Mosely boy pulled a second sheet from under the first full of writing.

  Impressed, I whistled. “Now that's clever. When did you come up with it?”

  “I don’t know,” Eric said, his cheeks getting a bit pink. He slumped in his chair.

  I motioned for the rest of the class to gather around. “Show them.”

  With all eyes on him, Eric straightened in his seat and wrote something on one paper. My name is Eric appeared in his handwriting on the other.

  “Cool,” exclaimed Connor. “It's like that map in the third movie where it’s blank but then you can see where everybody is if you know how to make it appear.”

  Patting Eric’s shoulder, I hoped they young man recognized his talent. “I don't think you need to search for anything else. You've got your personal spell right there. It's one heck of an enchantment.” I returned to the front of the class. “We have a couple more chances to review before the end of the course. We’ll go through some practice runs together so you’ll know what to expect.”

  Most of the students stayed behind to ask questions or to give Peaches more love. They thanked me and walked out excited.

  Before he left the room, I handed Eric a stack of blank paper to take with him and let him know how impressed I really was. His ears turned bright red, and he gave me a genuine smile, waving as he left to join his friends.

  I located my kitty chasing a spider into the corner of the room and picked her up. “Come on, Professor Peaches. Let’s go home, and I’ll give you all the kitty treats you want in payment for your work today.”

  Refusing to jump back into the bag I brought her in, she trotted in front of me, leading me out of the classroom like she was the one in charge. Since I followed behind her, perhaps she was right.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Pleased but exhausted after the class, I lay down for a mid-afternoon nap. I woke up groggier than when I first fell asleep.

  My spell phone rang as I brushed my teeth. “Hello?” I answered with a mouth full of paste.

  Lavender’s happy voice chirped, “If you don't have anything planned before dinner, can you come to my place? I think Alison Kate has some good news she wants to share.”

  I squealed and spit toothpaste flecks all over the mirror. “Did Lee pop the question?”

  “You'll have to come over and find out for yourself. Get here as soon as you can.” She hung up the phone and I rushed to pull myself together.

  The entire bike ride over, my heart skittered with happiness for my two friends. Unlike Mason and Logan, it took Lee too long to clue in on Alison Kate's affections for hi
m. It took a disaster of a singles mingle event thrown by a failed cupid to get them over their shyness. Thoughts of big, poofy, flouncy hideous bridesmaids dresses danced in my head all the way to the house.

  I parked my bike and ran inside, not waiting to knock on the door. “Here comes the bride,” I sang off tune.

  The angry expression on Blythe’s face stopped me cold. “What's she doing here?”

  “I’m pretty sure this is an ambush,” she said, crossing her arms.

  Alison Kate entered the dining room from the kitchen with a platter full of baked goods. “It's not an ambush, it's an intervention for two of our closest friends. It's a friend-tervention.”

  “No one needs to intervene on my behalf,” I protested. I'm not the one with the problem.”

  Blythe leaned forward. “And I am?”

  I unleashed all my frustration and let it pour out. “You're the one who won't talk to me. I could barely get two words out of you at Ms. Althea's. Frosted fairy wings, I didn't even know you were working there. You’ve barely talked to me for months.”

  “You're the one who treated me like everything had changed,” she accused. “I’m the one who had her head messed with. Do you know what it's like to have no control of your own thoughts? Or not know whether the thought in your head is yours or was planted there by someone else? It's no picnic with fried chicken.”

  “I know,” I yelled back. “I was there, unless you can't remember. I'm the one who took on the vampire who did all that to you. I risked everything to make sure you were safe.”

  Blythe’s voice cracked. “You don't think I know that? You could have died for me, and I would have to live with that. You wouldn't have been in that situation if I'd been strong enough to fight Damien myself.”

  She clasped her hands over her mouth, but a sob escaped. Blythe was the strongest girl I knew, and I could count on one hand the amount of times I'd seen her cry. But she needed the release, and the whole room erupted in tears.