Enchanting Blend (A Paramour Bay Cozy Paranormal Mystery Book 3) Read online

  Enchanting Blend

  A Paramour Bay Mystery

  Book Three

  KENNEDY LAYNE

  ENCHANTING BLEND

  Copyright © 2018 by Kennedy Layne

  Kindle Edition

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-943420-66-7

  Print ISBN: 978-1-943420-67-4

  Cover Designer: Sweet ’N Spicy Designs

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  Dedication

  Jeffrey—You enchanted me from that very first email…I love you!

  Cole—Your first semester is coming to an end. Only seven more to go! Remember, you can do anything you set your mind to!

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  About the Book

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  About Haunting Blend

  Books by Kennedy Layne

  About the Author

  Shenanigans are brewing up once more in Paramour Bay as USA Today Bestselling Author Kennedy Layne continues her cozy paranormal mystery series…

  New Year’s Eve is just a week away, and Raven Marigold knows exactly how she wants to spend the remainder of her holiday break before the glittery ball drops—solving a fifty-three-year-old murder and clearing her grandmother’s reputation!

  Raven doesn’t have a lot of time between memorizing enchanting spells, creating magical tea blends, and finally going out on her first date in months, but she’s willing to combine all three if it means eliminating the shadow of guilt that has loomed over her family’s surname for over five decades.

  Grab your pointy party hats, bring your mystical noisemakers, and ring in the New Year with the quirky characters of Paramour Bay!

  Chapter One

  “Is that who I think it is?”

  My best friend’s meddlesome inquiry captured my attention immediately. Heidi always had this tone of excitement when something big was about to happen, and today’s alert was no exception to the rule.

  “Who?” I peered over the edge of the counter as I attempted to look around the cash register. All I could see from my vantage point was the twinkling Christmas lights outlining the glass door. The generally accepted time to take them down was only a few days away, so I wouldn’t buck the system. I would wait until the day after the new year to store them until the next holiday season. “I can’t see anyone from here.”

  “I’m pretty sure you’re about to get an unexpected visitor.”

  “Then hurry and flip the open sign to closed,” I retorted, going back to my task at hand. “I finally have a long weekend ahead of me, a date that is obviously way overdue, and an oddly worded enchantment to conquer. Who would have thought taming eyebrows required an entirely different spell than the hair growth remedy I created for Candy over at the salon?”

  I restocked the last of the brown paper bags I used for my customer’s purchases, pleased with frayed edges that gave the different-sized shopping sacks an antiquated appearance that my grandmother would have liked. The fact that the print distributor had added Tea, Leaves, & Eves in a scripted font was just icing on the cake for me.

  The entire day had pretty much been spent getting the tea shop ready for the start of the new year. New Year’s Eve was on Monday, and I wanted a fresh beginning with the upcoming year. If the holiday weekend ahead was any indication, the following three hundred and sixty-five days were going to be even better.

  A flurry of butterflies had set up residence in my stomach at the thought of my first date with Sheriff Liam Drake. There was something about the man’s character that left me breathless. We were supposed to have gone to dinner a few weeks ago, but our initial plans got sidetracked when his sister surprised him with a visit for the duration of the holidays.

  “Heidi?” It took me a minute to realize she hadn’t moved toward the front door. “Did you—”

  Heidi’s hand came out of nowhere to land on top of my head the moment the glass door to the shop activated the golden bell. She quickly pushed me back down and shifted closer, not caring that I barely caught myself from tumbling off my lowly stool to the floor.

  “Mrs. Barnes, what a pleasant surprise,” Heidi called out, though her greeting wasn’t sincere in the least. Trust me, her reaction was warranted. I even had to stifle a groan of irritation at the thought of the woman’s arrival myself. “What can I do for you today?”

  My knees were beginning to ache the longer I stayed in this position, but I was afraid I’d alert Cora to my hidden location below the counter if I so much as stretched my legs. The last thing I wanted to do was have Cora Barnes figure out that I was hiding from her behind the cash register.

  “I was hoping to speak with Raven,” Cora announced, the haughtiness in her tone impossible to miss even with my clenched teeth. I rolled my eyes, not having to hide the fact that I was annoyed at this development. I didn’t get a lot of me time as a relatively new small business owner, and Cora was one of the few residents in town who hadn’t exactly welcomed me with open arms. “Is she in the back room? I know that she hasn’t left the shop for the holiday weekend.”

  Dang it.

  Busted.

  Heidi looked down at me in chagrin and gave me a small shrug. Well, she’d tried her best. The loyalty of a best friend was priceless.

  “Hi, Cora.” I had shifted on my black knee-high boots and popped up from my hiding spot with a smile on my face, attempting to act as if hiding behind the counter was the most natural proposition. My grin might have grown a smidgen when the older woman startled a bit, but I did try and curb my satisfaction at giving her a start. The last thing I needed to do was have bad karma on my heels when my life was finally getting on track. “We were just about to close up the shop and close out the receipts on this year’s accounts. Was there something you needed?”

  “I was hoping to speak with you privately.” Cora slid a squinted glance in Heidi’s direction along with a forced smile, but there was no way I was going to be in the company of a woman who disliked my family without the aid of my BFF. Okay, dislike might have been too generous of a verb. I was pretty sure I’d seen fire coming out of her facial orifices the last time she and my mother had been in the same room. I had almost called the fire department out of desperation. “There’s something I need to say that’s long overdue.”

  To say it was tempting to hear Cora’s reason for seeking me out was an understatement. I came very close to asking Heidi to go into the back room that I used as a storage area to appease the woman, but I wasn’t that crazy.

  “There’s nothing you can’t say to me in front of Heidi,” I informed Cora, resting my hands on the counter. I had a pretty good inkling on what she wanted to discuss with me. Did she have to show up here and rub
the guilt in my face? “This is about the Secret Santa gift exchange, isn’t it? I didn’t know that Monty was allergic to peanuts. No one told me. I’ve already apologized profusely to him, and I’ll make sure that I don’t include that type of tea blend in an anonymous gift exchange ever again.”

  Monty was an older gentleman who owned the hardware store, and he’d participated in the Christmas party that the shop owners in town had thrown last weekend. The get-together had given me an opportunity to get to know the other residents, but having an ambulance called to the festivities hadn’t exactly been in the cards.

  I’d learned a very valuable lesson that night—never compile a tea gift basket without keeping the labels on the tea bags.

  Monty loved his tea, so it hadn’t struck me as odd when he’d asked the bartender at the tavern for a cup of hot water after he’d opened his present. It wasn’t like everyone didn’t know the gift was from me. Tea, Leaves, & Eves had been delicately hand painted on the porcelain tea mug.

  Unfortunately, it wasn’t long afterward that Monty had broken out into red hives while his face began to change to a color that one could easily recognize as purple.

  I thought for sure I was going to be responsible for the man’s peanut oil induced death.

  “This is…personal,” Cora declared, clasping her gloved hands behind her back as if she were facing off with an adversary prior to a duel.

  Personal?

  Oh, this couldn’t be good at all.

  What had my mother done now?

  I was tempted to tell Cora to turn back around on those expensive brown winter boots of hers, but I managed to refrain myself from lashing out. You see, my mother and Cora have a history of bad blood between them. The feud started way before I was born, but I guess I should introduce myself before I give away any more of their backstory.

  My past is a bit complicated, and I wouldn’t want you to be lost in the story.

  My name is Raven Lattice Marigold, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.

  Around two and a half months ago, I discovered some things about myself that might surprise you. It certainly did me. Or maybe not, if the blurb of this particular tale caught your interest.

  Anyway, I come from a long line of witches.

  That’s right—the magical kind.

  Witches.

  It took me some time to adjust to the news myself, but I’ve come to embrace my newfound powers. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be a witch capable of casting magical spells?

  Honestly, I still get rather giddy just thinking about it.

  My unexpected gift came along with my Nan’s familiar. I’d introduce you to him, but Leo left around lunchtime and hasn’t reappeared for some reason or another. I should warn you that he can be rather snarky and downright rude at times, but he’ll grow on you. Of that, I’m certain.

  I actually have a soft spot for Leo after all he’s been through, but I’ll catch you up on his history later. It’s a bit more complicated than my accidental tale.

  Anyway, no one in the small town of Paramour Bay, Connecticut is aware that the Marigolds are actual bona fide witches. I’ve been told its one of the coven’s rules, not that I’ve ever personally met another witch from outside the family. I’ve been trying not to take offense at what must certainly be a snub of some sort, but I’m pretty sure it has to do with the fact that I’m new to this whole supernatural thing.

  Either that or someone discovered that I’d broken the sacred rule by telling Heidi the truth about my family’s history. I wasn’t normally a rule breaker, but I was definitely a bad liar. Awful, if truth be told.

  It was a huge relief to know that I no longer had to keep a secret from my best friend as I tumble along on this wondrous journey.

  All that aside, I’m pretty sure that Cora has a sense that all is not right with the Marigolds. Maybe she sensed the supernatural nature of our family’s origins. It could have something to do with my little side business that all started with my grandmother’s desire to help the community of Paramour Bay.

  You see, Rosemary Lattice Marigold was the original owner of Tea, Leaves, & Eves. My grandmother had a pretty successful reputation of dabbling in…are you ready for this? Herbal remedies and holistic medicines. Natural cures for the body. Pretty nifty, huh? I’m sure you noticed the words herbal, holistic, and natural are italicized.

  You see, my Nan sprinkled a bit of magic over those particular remedies.

  Her success rate was incredible.

  To sum it up, Nan used the gift of her ancestors to help others overcome their ills.

  I’ve continued her traditions, with a few minor setbacks. Really, just minor side effects. Nothing to worry about. Learning spells and using my power hasn’t been altogether easy, you know. Much to Leo’s displeasure, I was a slow learner in the enchantment area. I have had a few successes, though.

  Take the former sheriff—Otis Finley. His arthritis was becoming worse and worse until Nan had created a tea blend under the guise of an herbal remedy. Within days, Otis was back to fishing and enjoying an occasional night out with his lovely wife. I might have caused Leo’s tail to go completely numb for a few hours, but it was one of the first enchanted blends that I was able to create.

  It really was just a small hiccup partway through. Nothing too drastic.

  As for my most recent visitor, Cora Barnes, she was completely against aging.

  Cora had entered her fifties kicking and screaming, and there didn’t seem to be an end to what she’d do to keep those wrinkles at bay. I’d swear that she would actually bathe in Earl Gray tea if it meant shedding a few years off her body. Money was no object for her, but I’d cut off her supply of the bewitched Chai tea blend that she’d been getting from Nan due to Cora’s temper.

  Cora made the mistake of being rude to my mother.

  I mentioned before that loyalty was priceless, and I stand by my convictions.

  My mom and I might butt heads too often, but she was still my mother.

  “Heidi, would you mind grabbing my winter dress coat from the back room?” I asked, nodding toward my best friend so she’d know that I was okay being alone with Cora.

  Maybe I was crazy, after all.

  Heidi arched an eyebrow that was just a smidgen darker than her blonde hair. She wasn’t known for her tact and tended to speak her mind.

  For that matter, so did I.

  We were both from New York, and it had taken me a while to get used to the small-town mentality of hospitality before tempest—which meant I mind my manners and accept that anything I said or did could be front page fodder for the local paper.

  Hiding the fact that I was a true witch certainly wasn’t easy in a population of three hundred and fifty-five residents.

  “What is it that you want to talk to me about, Cora?” I’d waited for Heidi to disappear between the strings of magical ivory-colored fairy beads, which screened the storage area from the front of the shop. The melodic clicking soothed my nerves and reminded me that this was my turf. I held the upper hand. I didn’t mean that completely in a territorial manner. I was just more confident in my place of business than anywhere else in town, not that I’d have to hide a body later or something like that. “If it’s not Monty’s peanut allergy, is this about the New Year’s Eve party at the wax museum?”

  I know what you’re thinking.

  A wax museum in such a small town?

  I’d thought the same thing the first time I’d heard about it, but the odd out-of-place business was still there all the same.

  “No, it’s about our…relationship.”

  Relationship?

  As in business relationship?

  It was a known fact that Cora and her husband, Desmond, wanted to expand their malt shop. In order to do so, either myself or Molly would have to give up our leases on our stores and move to another spot on the main road—River Bay.

  Molly owned the quaint boutique on the other side of the malt shop, and she wasn’t about to give up an
y space when she’d coveted such a great storefront on the town’s main thoroughfare. For that matter, neither was I.

  “Cora, I thought you’d already heard from Oliver that I renewed my lease for the next three years. I know I can sell the shop in one year, according to Nan’s will, but I like Paramour Bay too much to leave.” It was almost a relief to know that this was why Cora had come into the tea shop. Anything else might have ruined my upcoming weekend, and I didn’t want my anticipation tainted in the slightest. “I know that’s not what you wanted to hear, but I—”

  “Raven, dear, I’m not here about the storefront issue.” Cora somehow managed to straighten her shoulders even more, and that wasn’t an easy thing to do considering she was one of those women who had perfect posture. I suddenly had a bad feeling that my long overdue extended weekend wasn’t going to work out quite as I’d planned. “I’m here to…”

  What had she said?

  I caught myself leaning over the counter to hear the mumbled word she’d uttered toward the end of her sentence, but I had to have heard incorrectly.

  “I’m here to…”

  Once again, I couldn’t quite make out what Cora was trying to say.

  Her thin red lips seemed to distort in an odd manner every time she tried to finish her statement. The crazy thing about this rather odd conversation was that it was coming across as if she was attempting to apologize.

  That would never happen.

  Would it?

  An unexpected thud came from the back room, telling me that Heidi had knocked something over. She most likely had her ear pressed against the string of ivory-colored fairies, doing her best to hear my exchange with Cora.

  Heidi was probably just as surprised as I was.

  “Cora?”

  I wasn’t one to hold grudges, unlike my mother. Now that woman was a pro in the grudge department. A person could seal their fate in an instant with one wrong move. Honestly, it was a wonder she hadn’t received some type of medal for her commitment to hoard years of resentment inside of her conflicted soul.