Pumpkin Blend (A Paramour Bay Cozy Paranormal Mystery Book 14) Read online

  “Oh, I have quite a few scarves with that color,” Mindy said excitedly, her mind completely off the fact that she’d caught us snooping red-handed. “I’ll see you soon!”

  You know, my on-again soulmate continuously earns my respect at her ability to steer a bad situation into calmer waters. Is there a spell in the family grimoire that involves duplicating someone’s attributes that—

  I spun around fast enough that Leo did his blip thing. It was a good thing that he’d been standing behind Heidi and me so that no one saw his disappearing act.

  “I still say that if you think the pumpkins are being used for their legendary purpose, we should go over the list of residents who have lost a family member or friend who lacked in the decency department,” Heidi said, adjusting the lapel on her jacket to keep the morning coastal breeze from sneaking down the back of her neck. “You have the names that we came up with last night. We can browse through the obituaries to see which ones left out the usual compliments.”

  “You know what? Maybe we should talk to Ivan,” I proposed, my previous idea about getting in touch with him sounding better by the moment. “Think about it. I was joking with Leo about inquiring about his appointments, but who better to ask about any malevolent souls than Ivan?”

  My earlier suggestion about the local grim reaper was not sounding too bad at the moment, and I’d make sure to head over to the cemetery after closing up the teashop this afternoon.

  “During daylights hours, right?” Heidi asked, always wary of Ivan and his profession. She’d professed numerous times that she wasn’t ready to keep that kind of appointment, and I didn’t blame her. With that said, Ivan really was a sweetheart. “I mean, you’re not thinking of heading over there after dark, are you?”

  “During daylight hours,” I promised her with a smile.

  I did your bidding, and now I get an extra helping of blueberry-filled edibles.

  “What in the world happened to you?” I asked, quickly leaning down in an attempt to pull off what looked like tiny bits of paper that had gotten stuck to his fur. “Did you fall into a box of confetti?”

  I’ve come to the conclusion that there are some things best left kept in the dark. Take this new shop, for instance. Do we really want to know what services or merchandise will be sold? I don’t think so, especially with so much on our supernatural plate at the moment. I mean, we have mysteries to solve that don’t include adding another one, right?

  “Leo, why would we have to add on another mystery to the one we already have?” I asked warily, taking a piece of confetti out of his fur so that I could study it a bit more closely. “Heidi, what is that?”

  Heidi leaned down and got a better look at the black crescent-shaped confetti in my hand. She scrunched her nose when she made her determination, but she was just as confused as I was about the itsy-bitsy paper.

  “It looks like a moon, but that doesn’t make sense. What kind of business would have confetti in the shape of a moon?”

  “Hold up there,” I cautioned Leo as he began to walk toward the teashop. “Not so fast, buster.”

  I clearly went wrong upon our first introduction. I should never have spoken to you until you properly addressed me. Mr. Leo. How hard is that to learn? Where did buster even come from, anyway?

  “It’s a term of endearment,” I murmured as I picked another piece of confetti from his tail. It was had a shiny gold sheen to it, and that roller-coaster sensation that all was not right in Paramour Bay took control of my stomach. Oddly enough, the palm of my right hand wasn’t warm at all. “Leo, what did you find inside the storefront?”

  Have another sip of your coffee, and then maybe I’ll tell you.

  “Ohhh, Heidi,” I groaned, wishing I could cast a spell to rewind the day. Of course, that would be in my best interest. The consequences of such an incantation could be dire, so I forged ahead. “Leo is about to deliver us some bad news.”

  I stood and handed her the tiny gold star that I still held in between my fingertip and thumb. Her cinnamon-colored lips parted in a perfect O as she began to connect the dots.

  In unison, we both took a big gulp of our morning beverages.

  I changed my mind. I’m not telling either one of you anything.

  I arched my eyebrow as I stared down at Leo in warning. Heidi simply took another healthy sip of her specialty coffee drink, probably assuming that Leo was telling me what he’d discovered behind the door…the very one that we happened to be standing in front of an hour before I was due to open the teashop.

  No amount of caffeine is going to help prepare either one of you for what I have to say. So, my suggestion is this—we ignore what I saw in there and call it a day.

  “How bad is it? Are all the pumpkins inside?” Heidi asked, seemingly ready to head back to the police station. “We really need to find out who the new shop owner is, don’t we?”

  “Leo hasn’t told me anything yet,” I revealed warily, kneeling once more when a glint of light bounced off one of the small pieces of confetti. It was another star, this time silver in color. “What in the world could be decorated with moons and stars?”

  The night sky on a cloudless night?

  “Okay, Leo,” I stated with determination. I hadn’t stopped by the teashop yet, so I still had my tote bag with me. Heidi took my drink while I rummaged around the bottom of the bag. I was finally able to pull out a secret stash of blueberry-filled edibles that I’d decided to carry around in case of emergencies after last night’s stakeout. This situation definitely constituted as an emergency. “For each treat I give you, I get to hear something about the interior of this shop.”

  You play dirty, Raven. I like it. Deal.

  “Did you spot any pumpkins inside the shop?”

  I thought that Leo would eat the blueberry-filled edible right out of my hand, but he was staring at it like I’d picked it up out of the dirt.

  You might as well have, Raven. It’s squished.

  “Squished?” I asked with a frown, catching movement out of the corner of my eye. Eugene and Albert were walking this way, but they would stop when they reached the hardware store in order to set up their chess board on the table that Monty provided for them. “My laptop must have pressed on the treats that were at the bottom of my tote bag. It still tastes the same.”

  What if you squeezed out all of the properties that give me mental antioxidants?

  I had to reach for my pumpkin-flavored macchiato so that I didn’t say something that would delay this interrogation any more than it had already been this morning. After a calming sip and my urgency to know what was inside the shop quelled somewhat, I explained to Leo that he didn’t have to worry about the effectiveness of the premium organic catnip treats.

  “When oranges are squeezed for fresh juice, where does the Vitamin C go?” I asked with what patience I had been able to garner from my drink.

  There are times that you surprise me, Raven. If the Vitamin C remains in the squished orange and also in the juice, then my mental antioxidants should be safe. Duly noted.

  “You two crack me up,” Heidi said, having gotten the gist of the conversation from my mention of Vitamin C and the fact that Leo had been hesitant to eat his treat. “Not to rush this along, but we’re starting to get stares from the foot traffic.”

  At first, I thought that Heidi was talking about Eugene and Albert. It turned out that she was referencing a woman who appeared to be in her sixties.

  Oddly enough, she was dressed much like me.

  I loved broomstick skirts and flowy blouses, but this woman took it up a notch. She also had a few scarves that flowed around her neck as she walked, with bracelets that clinked in a melodic manner.

  Uh-oh. Raven! Raven! Give me a couple more of those edibles, and then I’ll tell you all of it!

  Leo had purposefully whacked the bag of treats to the ground, which had caused a few catnip edibles to come out of the opening. Heidi had motioned for me to stand quickly so as to not get caught t
alking to him. He took advantage of the moment and gobbled up what he could before I was able to pick up the baggie of treats.

  “Why, good morning,” the woman practically sang to us as she got closer. Her smile was wide, though her makeup looked like it had been put on with a spatula. I had a feeling that was how she applied her eyeshadow every day, though how she was able to get her hair so high on top of her head was beyond me. “How do you do? My name is Madam Rose, and I’m afraid I’m not open quite yet. I’ll start taking appointments on the first of November. I’m a firm believer that there should be no palm readings, tarot cards, or séances performed this close to All Hallows’ Eve.”

  Heidi began choking on her caramel macchiato, while I was still trying to decipher the words that I heard come out this woman’s mouth.

  Madam Rose?

  Palm readings?

  Tarot cards?

  Séances?

  Raven, you’re beginning to sound a bit panicky. This is what I was trying to avoid, but the proverbial cat is out of the bag. In this case, that would be me out of the shop that just so happens to have a crystal ball sitting in the middle of a round table that has confetti all over it in the shape of moons and stars. On the bright side? No pumpkins. Our job here is done. Off we go! Raven? I said—off we go! You’re not walking, Raven. As a matter of fact, no other thoughts have gone through your mind as far as I can tell. Is now when I should officially start to worry? I’m asking for a friend.

  Chapter Ten

  “Do you think that she’s the real deal?” Heidi asked in wonder as she peered across the street at the new shop. “And how come we’ve never heard of Madam Rose before this?”

  Our supernatural group of misfits isn’t accepting any new applications at the moment, are we?

  We’d been too shocked by the revelation of crystal balls and tarot cards to ask anything other than inane questions of Rose before Eugene and Albert came scampering along to introduce themselves. Let’s just say that Eugene wasn’t too overjoyed that he’d lost some money to Albert on the bet regarding what type of items would be sold in the shop.

  I’d spent a good hour or two talking amongst the other shop owners in the back alley. That was our go-to meeting spot when things were happening that affected our small row of businesses.

  Janice owned the pet shop, and she’d been the first to come knocking on the backdoor. It wasn’t long before Desmond joined in, who just so happened to be Cora’s husband. From there, the rest of the of shop owners joined in until we had a small working group wondering how Rose had convinced the mayor that her unique kind of shop would bring more tourists into the area.

  Heidi had minded the few customers that had come into the teashop. Sundays were usually slow, and she’d only sold a few purchases to two customers. I usually used the downtime to restock the shelves or rearrange the items to better catch the eye of the sophisticated tea-drinking tourist.

  “Well, Nora stopped into the shop on Friday,” I replied, after having spent a good amount of time talking with a local realtor during the week. “She said there was a new family that wanted to buy the empty house two doors down from Larry Butterball’s residence. She said the couple had two little boys and a bulldog. Other than that, most of the property that was selling was out along the bay. Those waterfront vacation homes turn over fairly regularly. Nora didn’t mention anyone by the name of Rose.”

  Well, Ms. Communicator of the Dead is not on our list of grand theft suspects. You can cross her name off the list.

  “How is Madam Rose not a suspect, Leo?” I asked, restocking boxes of the Pumpkin Crème teabags that had been a hit this past month. “Her place of business is all boarded up until the first of November. She has the perfect hiding spot for the missing pumpkins. Let’s face it. You didn’t get a chance to look under any sheets, in the back room, or anywhere else. You did say there were a few things that had been covered up.”

  Not in the shape of a pumpkin, Raven. I know my shapes and colors, by the way.

  Leo had succumbed to his morning nap and had been out like a light since we’d entered the teashop. Nothing had interrupted his light snoring, not even the fact that Ted had stopped in to relay another message from Agnus.

  The village druid was pretty adamant that Ted stress to me that everyone in town should have a pumpkin. His warning had produced a wave of piercing tingles in my palm, and I’m relatively sure they began to heat more with each individual prickle.

  I’m up for packing our bags, if we’re casting votes. Skippy and his ninja squirrels can handle a couple rounds of mysteries while we’re gone. We can join your mother and my VVBFF in Transylvania. I’ve heard the place grows some excellent premium organic catnip.

  Leo was leisurely cleaning his face while sitting on his cat bed in the display window. He would never admit it, but he was a bit OCD when it came to certain parts of his day. Treats always came first, then a nap after his daily cleaning before it was off to the races to discover where the neighborhood squirrels kept their hibernation stash of acorns.

  “Are there certain kinds of witches who can tell the future?” Heidi asked, leaning against the wall near the entrance so that she could keep an eye on the shop across the street. She’d switched to a cup of tea, though the one she’d chosen tasted exactly like a caramel macchiato. “I can’t believe that is something that we never talked about before.”

  Some things are better left unsaid. Like what Ted and Justine get up to in that shed of his…a perfect example.

  “There are true psychics and even mediums,” I admitted, placing the last box that I’d brought out from the back onto one of the high-top tables for more of aesthetic reasons than anything else. “I didn’t get the sense that Madam Rose had any access to that type of energy, though. I’m not saying that I have an awareness for when other witches are around, but there would usually be a touch of what you might call free floating ions in the area of a witch who didn’t have her guard up. It’s similar to when a storm is blowing in and you can sense lightning in the air before it happens.”

  Skippy always has his guard up. Hey, you don’t think he has some sort of natural ability to sense my presence, do you?

  “We were standing in front of the woman’s place of business, looking like we were contemplating breaking in and taking whatever we could get our hands on,” Heidi said wryly, her gaze flicking toward me with a dramatic eyeroll. “I’m sure her guard was up and then some.”

  Never mind. My on-again soulmate has a point. My nemesis always knows that I’m watching, so he’d always have his guard up. Carry on.

  “Agreed, but I still don’t think that Madam Rose has supernatural abilities.” I picked up the empty box that I’d used to bring out the inventory and began to make my way to the back room. “It’s very unusual for a real witch to put herself out in public in the manner that Madam Rose is doing with her store. No one in the supernatural realm is comfortable with being on display for the world to see, which is why it is rare that a true psychic or medium would take money for their services. What worries me is the fact that these types of people who ply the trade are very observant. They study body language and read people extremely well. Having a pair of trained eyes watching so closely might not work out so well for any of us.”

  I managed to store the empty box in the back room and make it out just as the bell above the door rang. Heidi had nonchalantly shifted away from the entrance so that it looked as if she’d been browsing the shelves and not the new shop across the street.

  Sweet angel of mercy, I left behind evidence of my snooping! She’s going to have me arrested, Raven. Do something!

  Sure enough, it was Madam Rose who’d entered the teashop.

  How in the world the so-called psychic managed to show up without Heidi seeing her cross the street was beyond me, but I managed a fake smile so that the new tenant didn’t think anything was amiss.

  You call that a smile? You look like you stepped on a Lego in the dark!

  “
Rose, it’s nice to see you again,” I replied, doing my best to relax my lips so that I didn’t appear as if I was in pain. I had positioned myself behind the counter, which I was very thankful for since I wasn’t sure how to act. “We didn’t get to talk much this morning. Where are you from originally?”

  Raven, this is not a job interview! This Communicator of the Dead clearly knows that I was snooping around her shop. I must have left paw prints in the confetti. You have an in at the police station, so you’ll just have to convince the good ol’ sheriff that you’d deputized me in this case.

  “Oh, please call me Madam Rose,” she said with a bright smile. “It helps with business when the tourists come to visit town. I’m actually from Florida, so this winter is going to be a pretty harsh adjustment for me. I actually stopped by to visit you on the sheriff’s recommendation. He said that you sell holistic teas, and I was wondering if maybe you and I could sit down sometime next week to talk about exchanging a bit of promotion.”

  Hold up the prison train! Does that mean I’m off the hook? Raven, give this woman whatever she wants to keep her from changing her mind about pressing charges against me.

  The fact that Madam Rose didn’t react at all to Leo’s relentless commentary on being arrested for breaking and entering told me that she wasn’t a true witch. The tension eased from my shoulders, and I was able to actually give her a genuine smile.

  Really? You’re not concerned that the woman is a charlatan who is taking advantage our friends and neighbors who miss their loved ones? Shame on you!

  Well, when Leo put it like that…

  “I would love to discuss the opportunity, Madam Rose.” I wasn’t lying about working with her, either. It would be wise of me to keep close tabs on her. “The shop owners in town strive to help the community in many ways, and the teas leaves and herbs that I blend together cover many ailments.”

  “How about lunch next week? Say Wednesday at noon?”

  “I’m sure that would be fine,” I replied, noticing that Heidi was still feigning interest in the glass jars that held the various tea leaves that I currently had in stock. “I’m shorthanded next week, but I usually close up shop for a half an hour each day.”