I Wanda Put a Spell on You (An iWitch Mystery Book 2), Page 3

  Then she notices my shirt.

  Shoot. Maybe rummaging through her stuff to find clothes was a bad idea.

  I can tell I’m losing her. I do the unthinkable. Help with dishes.

  “Well, it has been a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Lowry,” she says, evidently finished with what she needs to get done for the evening. I can tell she is ready for me to leave. I would be too after working such a crazy shift, but I’m determined.

  Go big or go home. “You know, Maeve, I would love to buy you some lunch or get some coffee. I’m only in town through tomorrow.”

  “Sorry, Chuck, but I’m working,” she says with her nose scrunched up slightly.

  Did she just turn me down?

  I don’t get turned down! My mind scrambles for a response. I’ve never been turned down by a woman in my life. I hold out my hand.

  “Well, that’s a shame,” I say with the warmest smile I can muster. She takes my hand as though she is trying to shake it, but instead I clasp her hand between both of mine. Our eyes meet, her cheeks go rosy again. “I could have sworn I felt … a little magic between us.”

  Her eyes open wide, and her pupils dilate.

  Oh, yeah, good ol’ Chuck knows how to keep a lady on her toes!

  She yanks her hand away, and I keep my smile and confidence. “Magic?” she questions. “I can’t say that I believe in magic, Mr. Lowry.”

  “Oh, but I do,” I say, leaning forward. Her entire face is red, the slight pinkish look no longer subtle.

  She’s swooning, I think.

  Yeah, totally, that’s what’s happening.

  “And I definitely feel it in this café. You’ve put … put your magic touch on this place, haven’t you? And you, darling, have definitely cast a spell on me,” I say, enunciating the words as clearly as I can. Then I lock my eyes on hers and say, “And if it’s not too much trouble, I’d love for you to cast another-”

  And then the pain starts.

  This horrible, shooting pain goes up and down my left arm all the way to my chest. I step back and grip my chest with my good arm.

  “Mr. Lowry? Are you all right?” Maeve asks, stepping toward me with a concerned gaze.

  Oh my God, I’m having a heart attack!

  “I … I …” I stutter.

  I’m a little out of breath.

  I’m way too young to be having a heart attack! I eat right, I exercise–got to stay looking good for the camera, you know? Why is this happening? I’m about to tell her to call 911 when I see a woman’s face in the reflection of the café window.

  Selena!

  She shakes her head at me and mouths the word “leave.”

  I grit my teeth, but I nod at the woman in the window.

  “I’m sorry, I just remembered I have to be somewhere. It’s been a pleasure, Ms. O’Dare … I’ll stop by tomorrow morning for some coffee!”

  I practically run out the door. I dart down the dark street and hide in the alley, dropping down to the ground. A part of me wonders if this had been Selena’s plan all along: get me so scared of not listening to her that I’ll crawl into a back alleyway to die instead of doing the reasonable thing and have Maeve call for an ambulance!

  I might be paranoid, but then again who could blame me? I got turned into a dog by a witch, and now I’m pretty sure she’s causing me to go into cardiac arrest!

  I grip at my chest in horror as I prop myself up against the wall of the building. The burning pain continues pounding through me, and I can’t stop shaking.

  This is it.

  This is the end of Chuck Lowry!

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk,” a familiar voice taunts, and a hound-like growl erupts from my throat.

  Then, suddenly, there is this green electric light swirling in the alleyway in front of me. Before I know it, there she is, Selena–the witch who did this to me! I bolt up. I want to tear her face off, but as soon as I move, the pain in my chest gets worse. I surrender to the cold ground and moan.

  “You almost broke the rules!” she exclaims.

  I stare at her. She doesn’t look like a witch. Just a pretty blonde in her nice button up shirt and khaki jeans.

  Frankly, she looks like a housewife. Not an evil sorceress.

  “Rules?” I question but speaking hurts. I grab at my chest and take slow breaths. If I had the energy, I’m pretty sure I’d be strangling her right now.

  “I already told you once, Chuck. Although to be honest you were barking at me the whole time, so maybe you didn’t hear. You get twelve moon cycles to break the curse. You’re down to eleven now. If you tell someone what you are while you are human, you will die. And you almost told Maeve, didn’t you?” Selena laughs at me. “I could have sworn I felt a little magic between us,” she says in a taunting tone and then laughs at me yet again.

  My breathing becomes wheezy. I feel like I’m going to pass out. “Am I going to die?” I ask, and I’m not too macho to admit that I’m terrified right now.

  “Tonight? No, sadly,” she says. “But know the pain you’re feeling now is because you almost broke the rules of the curse. You can’t tell a single person about your curse while you are in human form! As if anyone would believe you anyway. You have to tell them while you’re … oh, what’s the silly name they gave you? Wanda?”

  I grit my teeth. Slowly the pain in my chest starts to settle down, but I don’t dare move from my seat on the ground.

  “Tell me one thing. Once I find a way to tell Maeve the truth as Wanda, then what? How do we break the curse? She doesn’t even realize she’s a witch!”

  “Now, Chuck, it’s not fun if I tell you all my secrets!” Selena says, and she laughs. “Oh, and just you wait. There will be more trials to come, you little pooch. Soon, you’re going to be a real lady.”

  I jump up, tired of her games. I lunge at her, and a bolt of green lightening strikes down where she’s standing. And just like that, she’s gone.

  “You crazy witch!” I roar. I pause and then shout into the night, “Wait, what did you mean by real lady?”

  She’s gone. I swear if I sprout breasts I’m going to lose it. Although walking around as a woman wouldn’t be half as bad as walking around as a stupid female dog!

  Would it?

  Okay. Deep breaths, Chuck. Deep breaths.

  You could have died tonight, but you didn’t. Okay, keep to the rules from now on. I’ve got to play Selena’s game if I’m going to make it out of this thing alive.

  How long before I’m a dog again?

  I think back to Selena’s first conversation with me about the curse. When the full moon rises, I’ll turn back into a man, but I won’t turn back into a dog until the next moon rise. That means I’ll be a man all day tomorrow until the moon rises again!

  Man, where am I going to sleep tonight?

  I doubt Maeve is going to let me sleep on her couch. I wonder if she’ll be worried when she gets home and Wanda isn’t there? Jeez, this curse stuff is complicated!

  I walk down the street in the general direction of Maeve’s home–not that I’m dumb enough to go to her house. Maeve would freak out if she thought I was stalking her. Problem is, I don’t have anywhere to stay. I think about walking back into town to find a bank. But they’re all closed at this hour and without my wallet an ATM isn’t much use.

  Without cash how can I stay at a Motel?

  Just as I am about to turn around, I spot good old Tommy Ether on the side of the road attempting to pull a stubborn cow out of a ditch, using only the light of the moon to guide his futile attempt.

  “Come on, you stubborn girl!” the old man groans.

  Mr. Ether was the first person who was kind to me after I changed into Wanda. For six days, I’d been eating nothing but stuff I’d dug out of dumpsters. Then when I got to Wisteria Pines, I found a marketplace where the man was selling some of his crops. Mr. Ether fed me peaches and strawberries as Wanda.

  I wonder where his kids are and why they’re not helping him. I assume they’re at the farm
asleep. He’s one of those stubborn old farmer types who still thinks he can do the work of a twenty-something. I groan, but I decide I can’t leave the poor old man alone to deal with a stubborn, oversized cow.

  “Need a hand?” I ask, heading up the road towards him.

  Up close, I see he has a flashlight hanging around his neck, but we’re honestly getting more light from the moon and stars.

  “Do I know you, son?” he asks.

  “I doubt it,” I say. “I’m from out of town. You need some help?”

  I can tell he wants to say no. He’s too proud, but he knows he’s been defeated by the stubborn beast. Who knows how long he’s been trying to get her out of that ditch before I showed up?

  “I reckon I do,” he says. “My good-for-nothing hired help left my gate open before he left my farm this evening, but thankfully only one cow got out. Now she’s stuck in a ditch.”

  The two of us grab hold of the cow, and he attempts to chase her up out of the ditch while I push her from behind. “Stop pushing me,” I hear the cow moan, and I jump in surprise. Okay, so apparently it’s more than cats and dogs I understand with this curse.

  This gives me an idea. I get up towards her head and look the thing in the eye. I give my most serious expression. “Move,” I say.

  “I’m not listening to you,” the cow says.

  “Yes, you are listening to me,” I say, and the cow’s head cocks to the side.

  “Do you understand me?” the cow asks.

  “Yup,” I say in a whisper so Mr. Ether doesn’t think I’m bananas. “So you’re going to move for me, otherwise we’ll be out here all night, and that’s not fair to the old man, got it?”

  “Fine, but tell him to stop touching me. His hands are cold!” the cow gripes.

  I sigh and glance up at Mr. Ether who is attempting to push the cow with his bare hands. “Sir, can I make a suggestion?” I ask.

  “Sure, why not,” the old man says. “It’s not like anything we’ve tried so far is working.”

  “Do you have some gloves?” I ask.

  He pulls some out of his overalls.

  “Try putting those on,” I say.

  Mr. Ether rolls his eyes at me, but he puts on the gloves anyway. Pretty sure Ether thinks I’m a know-it-all city boy.

  “Thanks,” the cow says to me. Much to Mr. Ether’s amazement, the cow suddenly moves forward as he pushes her up and out of the ditch.

  “Well, how in the world did you know that was gonna work?” he asks with a toothy grin.

  “Just a hunch,” I say. “It’s … um … a bit cold out tonight. Thought maybe your hands were cold to her, so she was being stubborn.”

  He looks me up and down. “Pretty good for a city boy,” he says. “I never would have guessed I was annoying her because of my hands. This cow has a strange personality, I’ll tell you what! This is the most stubborn cow I’ve ever dealt with, but she’s a good breeder. Gives me good calves every year, and her babies always wind up being great dairy cows, so I put up with her.”

  The next thing I know, I’m walking with Mr. Ether and the cow down the road. I help the old man return the cow to the pasture. After hearing I have no place to stay for the night, to thank me for my assistance Mr. Ether offers to let me sleep out in his barn. It’s better than out in the cold, I suppose.

  They have a little cot set up in the barn. He tells me he sleeps out there when a cow is getting close to birthing. I smile because I’d pictured sleeping on hay when he had offered up the barn. He thanks me again and tells me his wife will have breakfast ready at dawn before leaving.

  I smile, looking around. “This will do,” I say to myself.

  “Who’s this guy?” I hear a horse ask, and I roll my eyes.

  “I don’t know,” says another. “I saw him come in with Tommy, though.”

  Great.

  Roommates.

  Chapter Three

  Maeve

  Maeve arrived at the café the next morning, surprised to see five people standing in line in anticipation of its morning opening.

  Maybe I should open earlier, she thought to herself as she jumped out of her purple Volkswagen.

  “Morning, everyone!” she called to the small line. “Just give me a few minutes to get the café ready, and then I’ll be able to open!”

  The group nodded approvingly as Maeve slipped inside her café, mentally ticking through her opening tasks.

  First take down the chairs, she told herself. That way those people out there can come in and sit down while they wait for me to get the machines started up.

  As she entered, however, she saw that this task had already been done. “What in the world?” she questioned out loud, but before the words could finish leaving her lips, she spotted Gracie stepping out of the back kitchen.

  “Morning, sunshine!” Gracie sang. She was dressed in a canary yellow dress with matching strappy sandals.

  “You look like a blast of sunshine yourself,” Maeve said.

  Gracie smiled.

  “Uh … but Gracie?” Maeve questioned. “How did you get in here?”

  “You didn’t change the locks. This was my grandfather’s old knickknack shop, remember?”

  Maeve grabbed a flowered apron off a peg and handed it to Gracie. “You need to cover up if you’re going to bake in that outfit.”

  Gracie slipped the apron over her dress. “Right! I need to careful after last night. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the coffee stain out of my top.”

  “Cold water and vinegar,” Maeve said.

  “Vinegar? Really?”

  Maeve nodded.

  “Good to know,” Gracie said. “I about got the breakfast treats ready to go. I followed the recipes you had sitting out. There was some leftover from last night, but I figured you would want a fresh batch. This place was really popular last night, and I imagined a coffee shop would do just as well first thing in the morning and that you might need an extra set of hands. And paws.”

  “Paws? Is Wanda here?” Maeve looked frantically about the shop.

  Tonya, Penny’s cat peeked around one of the booths. “Hey, Tonya,” Maeve said, stroking the black cat. The cat stretched and purred to let her know it appreciated the gesture. “Tonya, you wouldn’t happen to know what happened to my Wanda, would you?” she asked, and the cat meowed and sat up.

  “Uh-oh, what happened to Wanda?” Gracie asked as she led Maeve back into the kitchen to show off the prep work she’d already completed.

  As Maeve stepped into the kitchen, the smell of freshly baked goods greeted her.

  “Wanda’s missing,” Maeve said. “My crazy pooch is nowhere to be seen. I got home late last night, and my house was empty. I mean, Wanda has always been a bit of a wanderer, but she always comes back. I didn’t even worry about her last night; I figured she would come home this morning, but she wasn’t. I’m starting to feel anxious. I hope nothing bas happened to her.”

  A timer went off, so Gracie popped open the oven and pulled out the fresh blueberry muffins.

  “Perfect,” Gracie said under her breath. She placed the tray on to the counter to let it cool and turned to Maeve. “I’m sure she will find her way home. She did escape the pound that’s an hour away and make her way back to your house, remember?”

  “Oh, I remember.” Maeve laughed at the memory of it. Wanda had made it clear to her early on that she was not going anywhere. “I’m a little worried. I probably should have known something was up when Chuck Lowry walked in with Tonya. He said he found her wandering around the road, and Tonya had been at my house with Wanda last night. I must have left the door propped open or something. I could have sworn I locked up!”

  “There’s no sense worrying yourself right now,” Gracie said. “If she’s not back by tomorrow, I’ll help you make up some lost dog posters. Wanda was a stray before you took her in, so I’m sure she’s roaming around town. She can take care of herself.”

  “So, where is Penny?” Maeve asked.


  “With her mom. They’re having a girl’s day, and I got stuck watching her cat,” Gracie said as Tonya twirled around their ankles.

  Maeve nodded and thanked her friend again for showing up early to help. “I should consider putting you on payroll,” Maeve teased as the two of them finished up the opening duties.

  “With the way this place is popping, forget payroll and put me on a profit share,” Gracie teased. By the time they were finished prepping, the line outside had doubled in size.

  A warm feeling filled Maeve. It’s going to be a good day! She thought.

  I can’t believe it’s only my second day, and people are already forming a line out the door!

  She opened the shop, and people swarmed in to get their early morning coffee before work. Among the crowd was her one actual employee, Donnie.

  Maeve looked at the clock. “Donnie, you don’t have to be here for another hour?”

  Donnie smiled. “Yeah, well, it’s your first full day. Thought I would show up early and lend a hand.”

  Maeve studied the kid. He was far from the punk teenager type he liked to present himself as. “Thanks, Donnie,” she said, motioning him behind the counter to take orders.

  They worked their way quickly through the crowd of customers like a well-oiled machine, but shortly after the morning rush, the café turned into a ghost town.

  “Well,” Gracie said, sounding disappointed. “I was hoping that luck would have continued at least another hour or two.”

  “You and me both,” Maeve moaned.

  “Forget the profit share,” Gracie joked, lifting the cat off the counter. “I need to get Tonya back to Penny. I wanted to make sure you were covered during that morning coffee rush.”

  “I really appreciate it, Gracie. You too, Donnie,” Maeve said, as Gracie bid her farewell and departed. Maeve stood upright. “Well, looks like it’s going to be you and me for a while, Donnie.”

  “Did you ever get that alcohol permit approved?” Donnie asked.

  Maeve huffed. “We’re good through the weekend since I managed to get that temporary one, but I don’t know what I’m going to do about it now. Mayor James is being a real tool!”