Hexes and Ohs Read online

  He slid his arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. “I know I’m right.”

  3

  My heart pattered in my chest as I stared straight ahead. It was a beautiful early spring day. The air was brisk, but the birds had songs on their beaks and the sun shone brilliantly. I gave a little tug on Chesney’s leash, encouraging him to stop sniffing and keep walking.

  “Ruff!” he barked happily, excited for his morning walk.

  I kept my eyes trained on the building ahead. Bailey’s Bakery and Sweets. Vic Bailey’s shop. I sucked in a big breath of air, savored the feeling of it filling up my lungs for a moment, and then blew it out between puckered lips. You can do this, Linda!

  I nodded, as if I’d convinced myself. Plunging ahead, Chesney and I crossed the street and pulled open the bakery’s glass doors. The warm, moist aroma of freshly baked bread surrounded me. My stomach immediately churned, wishing I could gobble up some of Sweets’s delectables.

  Sweets appeared almost instantly. “Good morning! Welcome to Bailey’s Bakery and Sweets,” she said brightly before evening seeing who she was greeting.

  “Good morning, Sweets,” I said with a grin.

  “Linda!” She gave me a surprised look.

  I nodded. I rarely went anywhere during the morning breakfast rush at Habernackle’s. But once I’d told Reign that I’d decided to pay Sweets a visit, he’d begged me to drop everything and go. “I know, funny seeing me here.”

  “Yes, it is! What can I get you?”

  Her question made me stop and look at the glass display case full of assorted cupcakes with piles of decadent colored frostings and beautifully designed candies and truffles. I sighed. I hadn’t come in for food, but by golly I was leaving with food. “Oh gosh. I’ll take two slices of your strawberry chocolate mousse cake.”

  Her eyes perked up excitedly, but she was calm as she asked me, “To go?”

  “Yes, please.”

  As she set about preparing my to-go order, she peeked over the display case at me. “You know, this is what I made for you last Thanksgiving.”

  “I know. I never got to try a slice, remember?”

  She giggled. “I do remember. While it was unfortunate for you, Vic and Char didn’t make out so badly.”

  “True,” I said, grinning, wondering how to even broach the subject I’d come to discuss.

  Maybe Sweets noticed my waning smile, or maybe she just had an innate interest, being a magical matchmaker and all. “If you don’t mind me asking, how are things going with your love life these days? Now that I’m living at the B&B, I noticed that I don’t ever see Mark or Merrick coming or going.”

  My mouth gaped open. I didn’t know what to say. Instead, I sighed.

  “That bad?” she asked.

  I nodded. “I just can’t decide. They both mean a lot to me.”

  Sweets closed the lid on the little Styrofoam container and wiped her fingers on her apron. “I know they do.”

  “But I have to make a decision. They both invited me to the Sweethearts Dance at the fire hall this weekend.”

  “This weekend? Don’t you mean tomorrow?” she giggled.

  I rolled my eyes. “Ugh, how does time get away from me so fast? Yesterday I had two days left, now I’m down to one day! I can’t decide in one day. I have Merrick on one side, who was the one that got away. He’s my father’s son, and he’s been the love of my life since I was a teenager. And then on the other side, I’ve got this new exciting man. He’s rugged and sweet. We could be great together, but there are no guarantees!”

  Sweets looked at me sadly. “Unfortunately, there are no guarantees with Merrick either.”

  I bobbed my head. “I know. I desperately need a guarantee.”

  “Well, you know you came to the right place, don’t you?” She handed me the desserts.

  I dug my wallet out of my purse and handed her some cash. “Yes, I do know. In fact, it’s sort of why I’m here.”

  She smiled while making change. Handing me the bills and a few coins, she tipped her head to the side. “I wondered. Well, if that’s what you want, I can whip you up something special to help you make things clearer.”

  My heart felt like leaping for joy. “Oh, could you, Sweets?”

  “Of course! It’s my favorite thing to do in the whole world! I love matchmaking.” She gestured around the counter to the dining area. “Let’s have a seat and work out a few details, shall we?”

  As relief washed over me, I glanced down at Chesney and felt tears of joy spring to my eyes. It felt like the weight of the decision at hand had suddenly been removed from my shoulders. Swallowing hard, I finally looked back up at Sweets with a smile. “Yes, that would be great. Thank you.”

  Sweets gave me a confident smile. Though she was usually reserved and not quite sure of herself, I could see that she was in her element. This was Sweets’s thing. “I’ve wanted to help for a while, but I don’t like to be pushy,” she admitted. “I felt like it had to be your idea.”

  “I appreciate that,” I said. “I wasn’t ready before. There was too much going on, getting the business up and running, but now it’s running pretty smoothly. We’re hiring now. There’ll be more time for Reign and me to have a life outside of work.”

  “Yay!” said Sweets excitedly as she curled up into a booth with a notepad and a pen.

  I slid into the seat across from her as Chesney wandered as far as his leash would allow. “So, how will we do it?”

  “Well, first of all, have you made any decisions about who you’re going to the Sweethearts Dance with?”

  I shook my head. “Not at all. I mean, I feel like whoever I choose for the dance is sort of my final pick. You know? So by picking my date, I’m actually telling the men who I’d like to continue dating. I’m a one-man woman. This dating around thing has me frazzled.”

  “Okay, so you didn’t tell them who you were going with?”

  I shook my head.

  Sweets nodded and jotted something down.

  I held up a finger. “Oh, but I did make a date with both of the men. I told them I’d meet them for a drink at Rawley’s tomorrow at eight and I’d have my answer then.”

  Sweets smiled. “Ahh, that was a good idea. You don’t want to spoil the dance by inviting the rejected man there also. Good plan.”

  I shrugged. That hadn’t really been my intent. I’d only thought it would be a little more private and quiet than to tell them at the dance in front of the whole town. But Sweets was right. It was definitely better not to ruin the dance by inviting both men to it, only to let one down.

  She looked up from her notepad then. “So you’re having a drink together. Perfect!” She punctuated her words with a flourish of her pen on the notepad. “It’ll be in a drink.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “The potion,” said Sweets with lifted brows. “It’ll be in their drink. I think that will work. Don’t you? You slip them each the love potion in their drinks?”

  My mouth hung open as the realization of what I was about to do hit me. Drugging my love interests… “Maybe this is silly.”

  “Silly? No! It’s not like you’re doing anything wrong. You’re just going to let the spirits guide you to a realization of who the right one is for you.”

  “Really? The spirits will guide me?”

  She nodded. “Absolutely. It’s foolproof.”

  I swished my lips to the side. “Foolproof, huh?”

  “Yup. You’ll know within minutes, maybe even seconds, who you’re meant to be with. It’ll be obvious.”

  I sighed.

  “Trust me?”

  With my head tipped to the side, I glanced up at Sweets. The big smile on her cherubic face promised me results. “Oh, fine. I trust you.”

  4

  “Wow, you look stunning, Mom,” said Reign from the threshold of my room at Habernackle’s.

  I finished putting on my last pearl drop earring and turned to face my son, the hem of my asymmetrical red
dress flaring at my knees as I turned.

  “Yeah, Mom, you look hot,” said Mercy from the bed.

  “Steaming hot, Auntie Linda,” said Mercy’s roommate, Jax.

  Holly, another of my daughter’s finishing school friends, caught my arm. “Oh, wait!” She plucked at a few strands of hair that had frayed loose from the sleek chignon she’d styled for me and then added a third layer of hairspray to the updo. “Just to be safe.”

  “Thank you, Holly,” I said, giving her a little air-kiss as I didn’t want to mess up the red lipstick she’d applied.

  From the chair in the corner, Holly’s roommate, Alba, nodded at me. “You clean up real nice, Ms. H.”

  “Thank you, Alba. Now girls, Reign, do you mind if Sweets and I have a minute alone before I go?”

  Mercy looked at me curiously. I hadn’t told her that I was working with Sweets. “With Sweets?”

  “Yes, we have a few things to discuss,” I said, ushering the girls out the door.

  “Sure thing, Auntie Linda,” said Jax pertly before skipping out of the room.

  Holly laced her arm through Reign’s crooked elbow. “Come on, Reign. I’ll let you walk me downstairs.”

  Alba was the last to leave. “Good luck tonight,” she said before disappearing out the door.

  “Thank you, Alba.”

  I shut the door behind her and looked at Sweets, who had an ear-to-ear smile that would rival any toothpaste commercial actress’s. “Well… are you excited?”

  Both of my hands went to my stomach. “Nervous is more like it.”

  “It’s going to be fine. Don’t worry! This is literally a no-fail plan.” She reached down into her bag and pulled out a bottle of wine with one hand, patting it with the other. “I put the potion in here and then relabeled it to make it look like it’s never been opened. The guys will have no idea their future fate is in this bottle!”

  I took the bottle from her and looked down at it, reading the fancy label. “So, what do I do?”

  “Okay. So, you tell them whatever you want to say, you know, make a little speech. And then tell them you want to make a toast. Pour them each a glass of wine. Hold the glasses up. Say,

  Cheers to you, cheers to me,

  And cheers to what we will be.

  Drink it up. Drink it straight.

  Drink to which shall be my mate.

  Eenie meenie miney moe.

  One of you has got to go.”

  My mouth gaped open. “Seriously? I have to say all of that?”

  Sweets grimaced. “It sounds worse than it is.” Then she held up both of her palms defensively. “But I promise neither of them will remember the toast when it’s all said and done. It’s part of the spell. You just have to invoke the spell with the toast for the magic in the drink to work. Then the three of you drink, and the magic happens!” She handed me a little slip of paper. “Here, I wrote it down in case you can’t remember it.”

  I blew out a nervous breath. “Thank you, I appreciate you doing this for me.”

  Sweets wrapped her arms around my shoulders and gave me a little squeeze. “I’m happy to do it. You’re like a second mom to me, and I owe you a lot. You have no idea how thankful I am to be allowed to stay here with Mercy and the girls. It’s really made the transition to full-time bakery manager easier.”

  I grinned. It had been nice having Mercy and all of her friends living at the B&B recently. “It’s been my pleasure,” I told her honestly. I looked down at the royal-blue dress Sweets wore. “You look beautiful, by the way. Corey’s jaw is going to hit the floor.”

  Sweets fingered her satin gown and fluffed her shoulder-length brown hair. “Thank you. I sure hope so.” She giggled.

  I squeezed her arm. “Alright, I better get going. I don’t want to be late for my double date. Hopefully, if everything goes smoothly, I’ll be coming back tonight with a boyfriend on my arm!”

  Sweets put a hand on the doorknob. “Not just a boyfriend, Linda. The future love of your life.” She opened the door and walked into the hallway. “I’ll see you later. Good luck!”

  I stood in quiet silence for a moment, taking in my reflection in the mirror. My hand trembled as I tucked the bottle of wine into my shoulder bag. I swallowed hard. The future love of my life. What a heavy thought. I let out a sigh. “One can only hope.”

  5

  Despite the Sweethearts Dance happening just down the street, Rawley’s Pub was a happening place. The room was filled with the clinking sound of pool balls bouncing off one another, barstools dragging across the wood floor, and the steady buzz of conversation and laughter over the jukebox music. I felt slightly out of place in my fancy red dress and heels. Sitting alone at a table, I’d already drawn more than one curious glance from the male population. I was starting to wonder if I’d picked the right meeting place, or if I would have been better off just to have met Mark and Merrick at the fire hall.

  My green eyes flicked up to glance at the oversized Miller Lite clock on the wall. Seven fifty. I uncrossed and then recrossed my legs, adjusting the hem of my dress to cover my knees and wishing Mark or Merrick would show up so that I wouldn’t be alone.

  And then I heard his voice. “Linda!” It was Mark.

  I stood up and turned to see him coming in from the door on the other side of the bar, not the one I’d been anxiously watching. “Mark! Oh, I’m so glad you’re here. I felt a little out of place.”

  Once I had turned to completely face him, he stopped walking. The bright smile on his face completely faded. His eyes widened, and he swallowed hard.

  My heart stopped. I had hoped for a better reaction than that. Did he not like the dress? I felt my smile fade, mirroring his expression. “What?”

  He hesitated before taking an awkward step forward. Then he took both of my hands. “I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful in my entire life.” He pulled me closer and whispered into my ear. “I thought I was looking at an angel.”

  I felt heat rushing to my cheeks. So he did like the dress. “You scared me when your smile disappeared. I thought you didn’t like the dress,” I said with a little nervous giggle.

  He squeezed my hands. “To be honest, the realization that tonight might not go as I hope sank in for a moment.” He gave me a tight grin. “It’ll hurt if I’m not the one.”

  My heart sank and my mouth went dry. I didn’t know what to say to that. I was feeling the exact same way. “Mark, I…”

  He held a finger to my lips. “Shh,” he whispered. “I’m not going to make this hard on you. I promised myself. I’ll accept whatever you decide, and I’ll wish only the best for you and your decision. Whether it’s me or it’s Stone.”

  “Someone said my name?” said a voice from behind.

  My heart lurched. I wasn’t ready for my alone time with Mark to be over. I swallowed hard and then turned. “Good evening, Merrick,” I whispered.

  Merrick’s eyes lit up when I faced him. “Oh my word, Linda. You’re a vision!” he breathed. “Let me see all of you.” He took my hand and lifted it up high so I’d give him a little twirl.

  I obliged, though I felt silly doing a twirl in front of all of the bar patrons.

  He couldn’t peel his eyes off me. “Linda, you literally haven’t changed, even after all these years. It’s like you’re still sixteen in my eyes.”

  “Thank you, Merrick. Sometimes I still feel that young.”

  He kissed me on the cheek. “You make me feel that young again.”

  Mark cleared his throat. “I hate to break this up, but can we get down to business? I think we’re both ready to hear your final decision.”

  Merrick reached a hand out to Mark. “Yes, I believe we are, and may the best man win.”

  Mark stared at Merrick’s extended hand. I could tell the last thing he wanted to do was to shake it, but he’d just gotten done promising me that he wasn’t going to make it hard on me.

  “The best man indeed,” agreed Mark.

  I gestured towards the ta
ble, where I had three wineglasses filled and waiting. “I got us some wine,” I said trepidatiously, sitting down in the chair that Mark pulled out for me. Of course I wouldn’t tell them that I’d brought my own wine, courtesy of Sweets Porter.

  “Very nice,” said Merrick, pulling his glass to his side of the table. “What shall we toast to?” He held his glass up in the air. “How about we toast to Linda, the woman who halves my sorrows and doubles my joys?” he said before swallowing a big gulp of wine.

  My eyes widened. “Merrick,” I gasped. I’d been unprepared for someone else to make a toast and beat me to it!

  Mark let out a little grunt. “How about this one? To Linda. May you have him in your arms whom you love in your heart.” He tipped his glass slightly and then took a big glug of his wine, nearly swallowing down the whole glass. With only a few drops left, he put it down on the table next to my glass.

  I stared at it in astonishment. This wasn’t going as planned. “Mark!” Both of their glasses were now nearly empty. I debated refilling them with the bottle of wine in my purse, but I knew Merrick, as a powerful wizard, would immediately be suspicious that I’d spiked their drinks. No, I’d have to just carry on with it and make it work. I pulled out the little note that I’d stashed in the bra of my dress. “Actually, I brought my own toast, if you don’t mind?”

  Merrick grinned. “How lovely. I don’t mind a bit.”

  “I’d love to hear it.”

  I nodded. Swallowing hard to moisten my mouth, I began to read.

  “Cheers to you, cheers to me,

  And cheers to what we will be.

  Drink it up. Drink it straight.

  Drink to which shall be my mate.

  Eenie meenie miney moe.

  One of you has got to go.”

  I slowly folded the piece of paper and stashed it away, carefully gauging both of their reactions.

  Merrick crooked an eyebrow but cautiously lifted his drink, though he didn’t say anything. I was banking on the fact that they wouldn’t remember Sweets’s ridiculous toast once the spell took effect.