A Charming Wish (21 page)

All was well with the world...so
far.

Chapter Twenty-Six

There was nothing better than the
feeling of getting back to work…well, having Oscar back would top
it, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. Once you denounce your
spiritual side, it’s gone forever.

At least that was all the research I
had found when I got my Village President role back after the Order
of Elders, otherwise known as the Marys, gave the okay after
reviewing all the evidence proving I didn’t kill Kenny.

I was lucky that Oscar was at the
Piggly Wiggly that afternoon getting a salad for dinner. And I was
relieved to realize Adeline had worked with Kenny for years, as did
her father before her. She said she recognized him on the steps of
my shop that night and felt like she needed to come to his funeral,
and she recognized Faith at the funeral.

Adeline said Faith was hanging around
the produce section a little too much and she hired the private
investigator to keep an eye on her. He was the one who called the
day I was at her house to tell her he had pictures of Faith and
George kissing outside the Piggly Wiggly by the cupcake
car.

She darted out the door, but the P.I.
had told her to stay put because he knew she was upset. That’s when
he came to her house and found me putting the spell around her
house.

Meow, meow.
Mr. Prince Charming sat on the counter of A
Charming Cure and batted at my charm bracelet as it dangled in the
air as I brushed the potion bottles with the duster.

“
Yes, I’m glad it’s over.”
I put the duster down and walked over to the windows to pull the
shades open.

The direct sunlight darted in the
front windows. The shop came to life. All the bottles sparkled and
gleamed. I couldn’t help but look over at Glorybee. That was the
only crime that hadn’t been solved.

The ostrich was still missing, and we
still didn’t know where the animals had even come from. I hadn’t
seen Petunia since Kenny’s murder had been solved, but I had a
feeling she still believed I had something to do with that
bird-napping.

Petunia was running around the shop,
feeding all the animals. So I looked back at the clock. I saw Mr.
Prince Charming taking some time to clean himself. I had twenty
minutes until the shops in Whispering Falls opened.

“
I’ll be right back,” I
told Mr. Prince Charming and set out for Glorybee.

I stopped just shy of the pet shop and
turned around. Whispering Falls had never been so beautiful. All
the cottage shop window boxes were in full bloom, bursting with
every color of the rainbow. Each shop was in tip-top shape. Every
storefront ornamental gate twinkled in the sunlight, giving off a
magical feel that no one but the residents of Whispering Falls
could explain.

“
Here goes nothing.” The
overhead bell dinged when I walked in the door, letting Petunia
know I was there.

“
I wondered when you were
coming to see me.” She knew it was me before she turned
around.

“
I had to come over and
see you.” I had forgiven everything I overhead, when I was
disguised as a fairy at the funeral. I knew she and Faith were
hurt. “You have to know that I have nothing to do with the missing
bird.”

“
Missing bird.”
Squawk!
The macaw jumped
around. “Really like your wings, like your wings.”

“
Why didn’t anyone
steal
him
?”
Petunia threw a peanut up in the air and the macaw caught it. “Now
I know how much Patience gets on Constance’s nerves with her
repeating.”

Ugh.
I doubled over with a shot to the gut. Words began to flood
my head.

“
I got the wrong bird. I
really like your wings. Bad ostrich.”

“
Are you okay?” Petunia
dropped the animal food on the floor and rushed over to
me.

“
Yes.”

Patience.

“
Petunia, I’ll be back!” I
grabbed the long stick with the noose at the end that Petunia was
trying to rope the ostrich with and ran out the door and down the
street toward Two Sisters and a Funeral.

If my hunch was right, and the way the
macaw talked, my intuition told me Patience Karima’s name was
written all over this bird napping.

“
Good boy, good boy!”
Patience yelled. It was bouncing off all the walls in the funeral
home.

I opened all the doors and stopped
when I came to the last door.

“
You are a bad ostrich!”
She screeched right before I burst through the door.

The hardwood floor creaked under her
ample girth as Patience swayed back and forth with her arms
outstretched to the side. The ostrich stared her down, taking a jab
here and there as she got closer.

Quickly I swung the pole over my head
and wrapped the loop around the bird’s neck.

“
I…I...” Patience
stuttered. “I can explain.”

The ostrich darted out of the room
with me holding on.

“
Yes, you will!” I yelled
with my feet in mid-air, holding on for dear life. “At your hearing
in front of the Village Council tomorrow night!”

I tried to look back as the bird flung
me all over Main Street on our way back to Glorybee. Patience stood
on the steps of Two Sisters and A Funeral, sobbing into a
handkerchief.

Izzy, Gerald, Bella, Faith, Raven,
Constance, and Petunia stood on the street watching as I held
on.

“
Don’t let go!” Petunia
held the door open to Glorybee as the bird ran straight for
her.

Once inside, I let go. The bird
stopped at the bird feeders and started to peck, leaving a trail of
a mess.

“
How did you figure it
out?” Petunia stroked the bird as if he had done something
good.

“
Let’s say the macaw told
me.” I looked up at the macaw and winked.

“
Good bird. Good bird.” He
danced from leg to leg on the top branch of the tree.

“
You better get to work.”
Petunia continued to pet the ostrich while she nodded at the
door.

A line had already formed in front of
A Charming Cure.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“
That was crazy!” I pulled
Madame Torres out of my bag at the end of the day.

There was one customer after another,
which was good, because I didn’t have time to think about Oscar and
how I was going to win him back.

It was good to hear he had some
feelings for me, at least that was what I thought I heard him say
the day I was at the police station collecting dirt for a spell,
but I couldn’t be sure. I was in a fog then and my mind could have
made up anything to believe Oscar was still in love with
me.

“
Yes it was.” Madame
Torres appeared a little more relaxed since the last time I saw
her. “What are we going to do with
that
?”

I followed her eyes to Belur’s bottle.
There was a faint glow.

“
I don’t know.” I popped
the cork to let him out. He had been cooped up in there for quite a
while now.

A stream of purple smoke danced out
and into the air, filling the entire shop.

Cough, cough.
I fanned the smoke.

“
Don’t you just love a
grand entrance?” Belur’s face had a smile that would light up the
worst of days.

He was a pain in my butt, but he was
very entertaining.

“
I really wish I knew who
you belong to.” I smiled, shaking my head. It would have been nice
to confirm he was Kenny’s, but I guess I wasn’t going to have any
luck with that since Kenny was dead.

“
Belur!” A very small
Kenny look-a-like rushed through the front door of the shop. “I
wondered where you were.”

That was strange. The boy blew in with
the wind. . .

“
You…” I pointed at him
after I recognized him. “You are Kenny’s son.”

“
Yea, I’m KJ, Kenny Jr.
How did you know?” He smiled, looking exactly like his
father.

“
I was at the funeral and
saw you sitting on the side with your family.” I couldn’t tell him
that I was dressed as a fairy.

“
I’m sorry.” He looked at
me as if he was trying to recall seeing me. “There were so many
people there.”

“
No, you don’t have to
apologize.” I smiled back. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“
Your wish is my command.”
Belur crossed his arms in front of him and stared at me. He didn’t
look KJ’s way.

“
Oh, no.” KJ looked
aggravated. He turned back to me. “You didn’t make any wishes did
you?”

“
No!” Vigorously I shook
my head.

“
Did too!” Belur shouted
as he floated in the air, glaring his big blue eyes at
me.

“
No, I didn’t!” I shouted
back.

“
Um,” Madame Torres
appeared in her ball, “yes you did.”

She disappeared, leaving the ball to
play like a television screen of my thoughts and
actions.

I wish I knew how to use a
genie. I wish I could have a break in the murder. I wish I could
teletransport like Aunt Helena. I wish I could be disguised so I
could go to Kenny’s funeral.

Madame Torres reappeared. “Do I need
to play anymore of your wishes?”

My mouth dropped. “Do you mean I can’t
really teletransport?”

Madame Torres nodded. “Not
without
that
.”
Her eyes darted toward Belur.

My memory flooded with all the cool
stuff that I had been doing.

“
So none of those cool
powers are from being Village President?”

“
Nope.” Madame Torres was
good at not sugar-coating anything.

Belur didn’t say anything. He simply
floated on his purple cloud with his lips tight.

“
I’m sorry, but I’d like
to have my genie back.” KJ burst my bubble.

“
Just one more wish?” I
really wanted Oscar to remember us.

“
No, I’m sorry.” KJ picked
up the bottle. “Belur!”

The air went dry as Belur was sucked
back into the bottle. KJ stuck the lid on.

“
The good news is that I’m
going to be taking over for my dad.” He smiled and pulled out a
bundle of sage. “I think you need this.”

He winked. . .and blew out with the
breeze.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

It felt good getting to go back to the
cottage and life as I had begun to know it.

“
Are you ready to go to
bed?” I rubbed down Mr. Prince Charming’s back as he lay next to me
on the couch.

After KJ left the shop, I was tired
and didn’t bother restocking the shelves. I made a plan to get up
bright and early, maybe catch Eloise cleansing the streets of
Whispering Falls, and grab a coffee at the Tea Shoppe before
work.

That would give me plenty of time to
stock the inventory before the shop opened.

Mewl, mewl.
Mr. Prince Charming yawned, jumped off the couch
and darted to the bedroom.

Knock, knock,
knock.

“
Who’s here?” I glanced up
at the clock. “It’s ten o’clock.”

I got up and pulled the shade on the
door aside. Oscar was standing in the light of the moon.

“
Hey!” I opened the door.
I didn’t care if I got any sleep tonight. The second we were
together, time fell away from me.

“
I thought I’d stop by and
give you some of these.” He held out a pink and green Wicked Good
Bakery box. I didn’t have to look to know what was in
it.

“
Come in.” I held the door
open. My legs went spongy. Seeing him made me miss him even more
than I already had.

I had to look away from his lips. I
felt like a breathless eighteen-year-old girl.

“
Nah. I can’t.” His smile
faded away. “I’ve got to get back to Locust Grove. I have to work
early.”

I took the box from him. Static
electricity tingled between our fingertips.

“
Oh.” I pulled my hand
away. “Thank you.”

There was an odd distance between us,
but a familiar look in his eyes.

“
Are you sure you can’t
come in?” I asked again, hoping he’d change his mind.

“
I can’t.” There was an
odd twinge of disappointment on his face. My gut told me he wanted
to, but time was going to have to be on our side.

Somehow, and sometime soon, I was
going to have to let him in on my little secret of being a
spiritualist.

“
You need to come back
when you can stay.” I urged him.

“
About that.” He stood at
the door with his hands in his jean pockets. “Do you want to grab a
pizza tomorrow night?”

“
Like a date?” Suddenly I
was wide-awake.

“
Something like that.” He
looked down at his feet and shuffled his foot on a loose piece of
gravel.