Sugarplums Spells & Silver Bells Page 2

  “What’s your name, honey?” I asked.

  “Charlotte,” she said over a mouthful of cakepop. “Charlotte Leigh.”

  “Okay, Charlie,” I said.

  She giggled over that. “Nobody calls me Charlie.”

  “Well, the Sugarplum Fairy does as she pleases.” I winked at her. “Where’s your mom and dad? I bet they’re pretty worried about you.” I glanced towards the window in case a desperate parent was running past. But there was no one.

  “My daddy wandered off,” Charlie said, matter-of-factly. “He does that sometimes.”

  My stomach clutched in sympathy. “Would you like some water to drink?” I asked her while the music in the store cued up to Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy”.

  “Sure.” Charlie began to swing her feet back and forth in time to the music. “I like this song,” she announced.

  I got a bottle of water out of the mini fridge, twisted off the top and handed it to her. She was very well dressed. That was a high end brand of winter coat she was wearing. She had on heavy jeans, and chamois colored boots. Probably leather.

  “How old are you, Charlie?”

  She wiped her mouth on the back of her coat sleeve. “Aren’t you s’posed to know stuff like that? Santa Claus would know.”

  Clever little hooligan, I thought. She appeared to be Kindergarten age, possibly first grade. That made her six maybe? “Well I was double checking my records.” I got another cake pop and held it just out of reach. “So, the Sugarplum fairy thinks you’re six years old.”

  Her eyes lit up. “I’ll be six pretty soon!” She reached out and snatched the cakepop so quickly that I could only be impressed. She demolished that too.

  “Tell you what Charlie,” I said, easing back for the store phone. I’m going to call a friend of mine and see if she can help find your Daddy.”

  “Can I have another sugarplum?”

  “You bet.” I grabbed the last two purple sprinkled cakepops and handed them to her. I dialed the police station and waited for the operator to pick up. I explained to the operator how I had found the girl. I relayed what I knew about her: name, age, and how she was dressed.

  “Can I get down?” Charlie wanted to know.

  I tucked the phone under my ear and helped her down off the high countertop. “Stay inside, okay?” I said.

  “I will.” She grinned and flashed a missing front tooth. “It’s pretty in here.”

  “She doesn’t seem afraid,” I said. “I’m betting she wandered off from her parents.” The operator told me she had a unit responding and chuckled hearing Charlie’s bright chatter in the background.

  “I’ll let Officer Bishop know the child is safe and entertained,” she said. “Try and keep the child inside until the officer arrives.”

  “I’ll watch for Lexie.” I thanked the operator and hung up. Lexie Proctor-Bishop was a friend, and the mother of two young children. She was also a fellow Witch. I felt better knowing Lexie would be the one to help the girl find her parents.

  “Purple and pink Christmas trees!” Charlie sounded slightly shocked as she stood in front of the sugarplum candy trees. “I’ve never seen pink and purple trees before.” Suddenly, she spotted the flowers. “You have flowers inside!” She raced to the glass fronted cooler. “Flowers in the winter time.” She pressed her face against the glass. “You must be magick.”

  “Truer words...” I chuckled and found myself thoroughly entertained by my surprise guest.

  A few moments later a police car zipped up in front of the shop, red and blue lights flashing. While Charlie chattered on, counting the poinsettias on the sales floor, Lexie climbed out of her cruiser, and a silver haired man jumped out of the back seat.

  The father. I realized. He was rushing into the shop ahead of Lexie. “Charlotte!” He called. Despite his distress, the man’s face was striking, and somehow...familiar.

  Charlie saw him and ran straight for me instead of her father. “Hey!” I laughed as she grabbed ahold and hung on tight. “Charlie, it’s going to be okay. He’s not mad.”

  “Charlotte Leigh!” The father’s voice was sharp and angry. “I’ve never been so frightened in my entire life! I’ve been everywhere—”

  “Hey, ratchet that down,” I said, wrapping an arm around the girl’s shoulders.

  The father’s lecture stopped mid-sentence. He scowled when our eyes met.

  “Easy, Dad.” Lexie Proctor-Bishop smoothly stepped forward. “Let me handle this,” she said and knelt down at Charlie’s level. “Charlotte, My name is Lexie.”

  Charlie peeped around my leg. “Hi,” she said softly. “Are you a police lady?” She reached out and touched the collar of Lexie’s uniform.

  “I sure am,” Lexie said.

  “Am I in trouble?” Charlie asked.

  Lexie smiled. “Listen kiddo, your dad’s been really worried. When he couldn’t find you he called the police.”

  “He did?” Charlie sounded awed but not afraid.

  “Yes he did.” Lexie nodded. “We’ve been searching for you for the last few hours. You scared him pretty good.” Lexie stared hard over her shoulder at the father. “But he’s not angry at you.”

  “He’s not?” Charlie’s voice was hesitant.

  The father knelt down too, and held out his arms. “No baby, I’m not mad.” His voice was softer. “I’m sorry that I shouted. I was scared when I couldn’t find you.”

  At her father’s words the girl ran across the room and flung herself into his arms. I saw tears in his eyes as he picked her up. Without another word, he walked straight out the door with the girl.

  “Thanks Violet.” Lexie gave my arm a friendly squeeze. “I’ll go take the Bell family home.”

  “Bell?” I felt a tingling at the base of my neck and I blinked. “The girl’s last name is Bell?”

  “Yup.” Lexie opened the door. “See you.” She gave a wave and left.

  I gazed numbly out the window as the handsome man held his daughter and waited for Lexie to open the car door. I automatically locked the shop’s door as father and daughter got in the squad car. The man leaned over, put a seatbelt on his child, and pulled her close to his side. There was something about his gesture that had my belly flipping first in reaction, and then with old memories.

  “Oh my goddess,” I whispered, and my heart began to beat faster in my chest.

  He’s changed. I thought, studying the man intently. His hair has turned mostly to silver...that’s why I hadn’t recognized him. I stood there and continued to gawk out the window at the man who I’d never gotten over, even though he’d broken my heart seven years ago.

  My ex, Matthew Bell, was back in William’s Ford.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The following morning, I was downstairs in the flower shop before sun up. We had a Saturday evening wedding, and words couldn’t describe how grateful I was for the distraction of the holiday weekend wedding flowers. Anything that would keep my mind off of Matthew Bell and his child was a good thing.

  Plus, I reminded myself, my friend Autumn Bishop was scheduled to arrive at nine a.m. for her own wedding flower consult, and I’d been looking forward to that for a while.

  I hadn’t managed to get any rest, as I’d spent most of the night wrestling with my emotions. First, I had to deal with the guilty thrill of seeing Matthew again. I’d never stopped loving him. That was a fact. He was literally ‘the one that got away’—or more correctly, the man I’d walked away from.

  Secondly, I wondered what he was doing in William’s Ford. Had he taken a teaching position at the University? Was he visiting his family? Lexie had said she was ‘taking the Bells home’. Home where? Was he living in town? It shouldn’t matter, and yet it did. Back and forth my mind had gone, from guilt, to shame, to anger, and crazily to hope.

  I staggered out of bed, and assessed the damage in the bathroom mirror. My narrow face was too pale, and the circles under my blue eyes were pronounced. However, I couldn’t hide
in my apartment all day, I had flowers to do. I drug my cosmetics out and got to work, being careful with my makeup and liberal with the concealer.

  The cool braided hairdo Marie had done for me was still holding, so I’d fluffed the top a bit and secured the rest into a low ponytail. Other than the hair, it was regular old me today. The only concession I’d made to displaying my crappy mood was the 80’s rock I had blasting in my ears, and my purple sweatshirt that read, I can’t adult today. The snarky sweatshirt was mostly covered up by a green work apron, otherwise I’d never get away with wearing it.

  Three hours and three cups of coffee later and the two bridesmaid’s bouquets were finished and resting in stands on my work station. All of the boutonnieres were completed, and I’d started on the bride’s bouquet. Carefully, I began to build the bouquet, one stem at a time. The bride had chosen well. The red roses, sprigs of goldenrod, orange Gerbera daisies and golden sunflowers were cheerful, autumnal and charming. Humming along with Joan Jett’s, “I Hate Myself For Loving You”, I tucked in some red hypericum berries, rotated the bouquet and added seeded eucalyptus.

  I felt my friend let herself in the backdoor, more than I heard her. Autumn’s personal energy was vibrant and cheerful. I reminded myself to relax. Otherwise she’d pick up on—

  “Violet?” Her hand dropped on my shoulder.

  “Hi ya,” I said, tugging an earbud out with my free hand. “Be with you in a minute.”

  “No worries.” Autumn considered the work station. “Wow, you got an early start.”

  “We have a wedding tonight,” I said.

  “How was your Black Friday?”

  “Awesome.” I clicked off the music and set the iPod aside. “We broke our sales records.”

  “That’s great!” Autumn said. “Hey, did you know that you’re all over the town’s website this morning? That Sugarplum Fairy costume was a huge hit.”

  “Really?” I struggled not to be embarrassed. “I had no idea.”

  She unbuttoned her royal blue coat and pulled off her gloves. “Did Marie do your makeup?”

  “She did.”

  “Tell me about the lost child you found.” Autumn winked and set her coat aside, revealing a bright red sweater.

  “How’d you know?” I asked.

  “Your picture wasn’t the only thing that was on the town’s website.”

  “Aw Jeez.” I shut my eyes against embarrassment.

  “Meet Violet O’Connell.” Autumn deepened her voice. “Mild mannered florist by day—Sugarplum Fairy and witchy hero by night.”

  “Yeah, that’s me.” I added another sunflower to the bride’s bouquet. “I guess the girl was wandering Main Street hunting for the Sugarplum Fairy. Anyway, I spotted her, and brought her inside. Got her warm and called the police.”

  “I heard Lexie was the officer that responded.”

  I tucked more berries in the bouquet. “She was, and she had the girl’s father with her.” I managed to make that statement casually, and was pretty damn proud of myself.

  “Ooh...” Autumn came closer to see the bouquets. “Look at those fall flowers!”

  “You can pick one up if you like,” I said.

  Autumn gently lifted a bridesmaid bouquet. “So, was the father careless, or did the little girl simply wander off?”

  I shrugged. “He didn’t stay long enough for me to get any details.” I secured the bouquet’s arrangement with floral wire and set it in a holder to rest my hands.

  Autumn sniffed the maid’s bouquet. “Well I’m sure he was very grateful that you found her.”

  “I wouldn’t know. He never even said thank you.”

  “Seriously?”

  “He scooped her up and left without a word.” I heard the slightly bitter tone and could’ve bitten my own tongue.

  “What’s wrong, Violet?”

  Damn it. I worked up a smile. “Nothing. I only wanted to get a jump on the flowers for tonight, so I could enjoy the bridal consult with my friend.”

  “You’ve been at it a while to get all of this done,” Autumn pointed out. “And I can tell you didn’t get any sleep last night.”

  “So much for my under eye concealer,” I joked. At my friend’s bland stare I added, “I had a hard time winding down after Black Friday.”

  “Violet, are you okay?” Autumn asked quietly, and replaced the bouquet in its holder.

  “I will be,” I assured her.

  “Talk to me.” Autumn put an arm around my shoulders. “You were there for me when I faced my feelings for Duncan.”

  I leaned into her for a moment. “Do you remember when I told you about the man from my past?”

  “Yes, of course I do.” Autumn nudged me to the little consult table. We sat across from each other, she set her purse aside, and waited patiently.

  I steeled myself. “The missing child’s father, was Matthew Bell.”

  Her green eyes were round. “Your ex?”

  “Yes, my ex.” I blew out a long breath. “He’s back in William’s Ford.”

  “What did he say when he saw you?” Autumn asked.

  “Nothing. I don’t even know if he recognized me. Like I said, he scooped her up and walked straight out the door,” I reminded her.

  Autumn adjusted her glasses. “Your makeup was very elaborate, Violet. He might not have known it was you.”

  “To be fair, I didn’t recognize him right away.” I dropped my hand to the table and Autumn took it, giving my fingers a supportive squeeze.

  “He’s changed.” Her voice had a far-away tone, and her eyes became unfocused. “His hair is all silver now.”

  Witnessing my friend’s clairvoyance first hand had a chill rolling down my back. “What do you see?” I asked her.

  “Dancing...the Black and Gold Masquerade. The man you danced with that night... he didn’t wear a wedding ring, but he also never spoke to you, did he?”

  “No,” I admitted. “I thought it was sort of cool at the time. Gothic atmosphere, this masked, buff, silver-fox held out his hand and invited me to dance without saying a word...” Suddenly it hit me. “Shit! That was him wasn’t it?”

  “He recognized you during the Masquerade, but he didn’t last night. He was too terrified searching for his daughter.” Autumn released my hand and shook herself out of wherever she’d been.

  “Can you see if Matthew has been here in town for a while?”

  Autumn shut her eyes and concentrated. “I see an old two-story brick house by the University. Pumpkins on the porch... So I’d say he’s been here since October.”

  “I wonder if he’s still married,” I said before I thought better of it.

  Autumn opened her eyes and studied me. “I’m sorry about all this, Violet. Are you alright?”

  “No, I’m not,” I admitted, my voice shaking. “I never stopped loving him, and this hurts like hell. But I need to suck it up. The William’s Ford gossip mill will be exploding about this soon enough, and I don’t need to add any fuel to the fire.”

  “You are allowed to feel hurt and angry,” Autumn said. “He cheated on you all those years ago, got some other woman pregnant…then he rolls back into town and tricks you into dancing with him.”

  I was humiliated just thinking about it. “Damn it,” I muttered. “He played me the night of the Masquerade.”

  Autumn nodded in agreement. “It was sneaky. Would you have even danced with him if you’d realized who he was?”

  “Hell, no.” At least I didn’t think I would have.

  “He’ll come back,” Autumn said with conviction. “To the shop. He’ll want to thank you in person for finding his little girl.”

  “I appreciate the head’s up.” He wouldn’t catch me off guard this time. I’d be cool, calm and distant as the moon. I decided. He would never have any reason to guess now how I felt.

  “I figure he’ll show before the day is up. Late this afternoon probably.”

  “Well then.” I drummed my fingers on the table top and consid
ered my options. “I’ll be more than ready for him.”

  Autumn crossed her arms. “You gonna go all bad-ass Witch and turn him into a newt for acting like such a jerk?”

  I wiggled my eyebrows. “Oh I’ll be much more creative.”

  “You’re my hero.” Autumn gave me a knuckle bump.

  I sat back in my chair and considered my friend. “You know what?” I said. “We’re not here to use the hour before I open the shop to talk trash about my ex. We are here to choose your May wedding flowers.”

  “We can do both.” Autumn raised a single eyebrow. “I can multitask.”

  Her serious face had me grinning. “Let’s put it aside for now.” I rubbed my hands together to make her smile. “Now, what do you have in mind for those flowers?”

  “Well I made a few pin boards, like you suggested,” Autumn said, taking her phone out of her purse.

  I pulled out my wedding notebook. “Good. What are you thinking?”

  “Please don’t smack me,” she pleaded. “I have lots of boards, and lots of pictures.”

  “Of course you do. Every bride does. What sort of budget do we have in mind for the flowers?”

  Autumn cleared her throat. “Ah...Duncan’s uncle is paying for everything. The tents for the reception, the music, the food, and the flowers. We tried to talk him out of it, but he wants us to have a perfect day...”

  “That’s wonderful.” I jotted the information down. “Stop feeling guilty, honey. Thomas Drake can afford it.”

  “Still, I don’t want to take advantage of his generosity, so I don’t want to go too crazy.”

  “Noted,” I said, dryly. “I’ll restrain myself from doing a bunch of thousand dollar centerpieces.”

  “I knew I could count on you,” Autumn said soberly. She sat for a moment and pressed a shaky hand to her heart. “Gods! I’m getting married, Violet!”

  “You know, I heard that somewhere...”

  “Well I was thinking, since the date is close to Beltane...and I had this vision, white tents on a green lawn, a ceremony in the garden. Maypole ribbons in sherbet colors...” She stopped herself. “And I’m babbling. Sorry.”

  “You’re fine,” I assured her, writing as fast as I could. “That’s a fabulous idea by the way. A ‘Beltane Garden’ theme.”